Pride Month kicks off Sunday on Jacksonville's Riverfront
June is Pride Month, and Jacksonville's LGBTQ+ community and its allies plan to celebrate.
On Sunday, June 1, two events are planned Downtown.
The 5th Annual Acosta Bridge Pride March will begin at 6 p.m. Anyone interested in taking part is asked to wear rainbow colors, bring Pride flags, and meet under the Acosta Bridge by the San Marco Skyway Station.
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After that, at 8:20 p.m., will be the Pride in our Freedoms Community Bridge Lighting.
Participants will line the pedestrian walkway of the bridge and shine rainbow-colored lights. At the same time, there will be a watch party at Friendship Fountain.
In a news release, organizers said, "Born from resistance to the Florida Department of Transportation's attempt to dim the Acosta Bridge Pride lights in 2021, this year marks the fifth anniversary of the Acosta Bridge Pride March. Five years later, our message remains the same: Lights or no lights, there will always be rainbows on the Acosta Bridge in June."
They issued a similar statement about the Main Street Bridge lighting. "The Main Street Bridge faces the Acosta Bridge. The latter, up until 2023, was illuminated in rainbow colors at the start of Pride Month. Today, it is illuminated in red, white and blue. The two color schemes, facing each other, symbolize the interconnection of Pride and Freedom. There can be no freedom without diversity, and there is no diversity without freedom. These ideals are inextricable and inalienable."
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