Showing Up with Grit and Joy: PFLAG Safety Harbor at the Let Us Live March and Pride at the Capitol

In late January, hundreds of LGBTQIA+ Floridians, families, educators, and grassroots allies converged on the steps of the Florida Historic Capitol for the third annual Let Us Live March and Equality Florida’s Pride at the Capitol.

Representing Upper Tampa Bay, a dedicated delegation from PFLAG Safety Harbor (including Wendy, Devika, Silvestre, Adam, Aaryn, Kristin, Ash, and fellow advocates) traveled to Tallahassee. Alongside local drag queens, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (Tampa Bay), and sibling PFLAG chapters like PFLAG DeLand, we brought a message of community care, resilience, and unyielding solidarity.

Community Care in Action

Real advocacy begins with taking care of one another. Before heading to the Capitol, our co-director Wendy organized a communal home base that housed our chapter members and coalition partners under one roof. Shared meals, debriefs after long hearings, and mutual support grounded our delegation throughout a grueling legislative push.

Out on the pavement, Silvestre and Adam took to the streets with microphones, conducting interviews with attendees who marched from Cascades Park to North Monroe Street. When asking everyday Floridians why they braved the winter freeze to march, the answers were clear: courage, grief, love, rage, and unwavering hope.

In one unforgettable moment, Silvestre conducted interviews wearing a hat gifted by a PFLAG abuelita who had been forced to flee the country to protect her transgender family. Moments like these remind us of the human stakes behind Florida politics: community care is our greatest defense.

Speaking Truth to Power in Legislative Committee Rooms

Advocacy isn’t just marching on the steps; it is looking lawmakers in the eye and refusing to let them legislate our communities out of public life.

Members of our PFLAG delegation, including Wendy, Adam, Devika, and Aaryn, stepped up to the podiums during high-stakes committee hearings to testify against discriminatory legislation and anti-DEI measures:

• House Bill 1119 (Expanding School Book Bans): PFLAG board members testified directly against ongoing state efforts to censor literature, silence LGBTQIA+ history, and strip inclusive books from Florida public school classrooms.

• Senate Bill 1134 & Anti-Diversity Mandates: Adam delivered public testimony exposing how vague state preemption bills punish local city and county governments simply for recognizing the diversity of their residents, warning lawmakers that using state power to reward bad-faith lawsuits hurts real families.

• Healthcare & Workplace Attacks: Our chapter stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Equality Florida to oppose bills targeting transgender healthcare access (HB 743 / SB 1010) and measures suppressing LGBTQIA+ identity in the workplace (HB 641 / SB 1642).

  
  

As Floridians across our state struggle with skyrocketing property insurance rates, soaring housing costs, and healthcare shortages, lawmakers continue to push manufactured culture wars as a political distraction. We showed up to ensure they could not ignore the voices of families who demand real solutions over political theater.

"Every Day You Wake Up Is a Day You Go Undefeated"

As rainbow and transgender pride flags waved across the Capitol plaza, Angelique Godwin, Director of Transgender Equality at Equality Florida, took the mic to remind the crowd:

"Every day you wake up is a day you go undefeated."

PFLAG Safety Harbor returned home with renewed determination. Whether we are hosting quiet sensory spaces like our upcoming Art Night and Disability Support Group, supporting parents at monthly chapter meetings, or walking the halls of the state capitol, our commitment remains unshakable: we are still here, and we will keep showing up for every member of our LGBTQIA+ family.