Key West is this week celebrating the LGBTQ+ community “with a little bit more passion” — as it hosts its last Pride festival to be aided by public funding before a Florida DEI ban kicks in.
The city attracts thousands of visitors during its Pride festival, which helps to kick off Pride Month. It is a significant date in Key West's cultural calendar as well as for its tourist industry.
As Robert Dougherty, executive director of the Key West Business Guild (KWBG) puts it, the LGBTQ+ community is “one of the building blocks of Key West, going back decades.”
The KWBG, a nonprofit promoting the city to LGBTQ+ travellers, kicked off celebrations this week under the theme being “Color the Island”. The festival will feature drag performances, pool parties, street fairs and more, ultimately ending with the popular Pride Parade running down Duval Street.
And this celebration has an added dimension after events in the last 12 months.
Last September, Key West’s iconic rainbow crosswalks at the corner of Duval and Petronia streets were painted black after a statewide law banned colorful street art. In April, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1134 into law banning local DEI funding, which will eliminate funding for events like Key West Pride.
“This year [the Pride festival] even more important because of a lot of the challenges that the LBTQ+ community has experienced across the state of Florida and not just in Key West.” Dougherty said in an interview. “What we’re doing this year seems to have a little bit more passion behind it.”
The Florida law is effective Jan. 1 2027, so the Pride festival and other events will still receive funding from Monroe County Tourist Development this year.
Loss of $200,000 in funding
The KWBG receives funding through an application process submitted to the TDC. Dougherty said the money is used to pay for digital print marketing.
“This year we got $74,000,” said Dougherty. “Now that’s not money that comes to us directly, it’s stuff that’s helping us broadcast Key West Pride across the world.”
Other major events by KWBG like Womensfest, held in September, and Tropical Heat, held in August, are essential to the Key West economy, which is heavily reliant on tourism. According to Dougherty, about $1.2 to $3.5 billion are at risk of being lost due to the amount of tourists they attract.
“These events are planned to take place in the off season to boost restaurants, to boost hotels, to boost retail, to boost tourists,” said Dougherty.
In 2027, the KWBG will be losing a little over $200,000 in funds towards Key West Pride, Womensfest and Tropical Heat, as well as support for the Gay Key West Visitor Center, said Dougherty.
Dougherty said he is confident that Key West Pride will continue next year as the Key West Business Guild looks at other avenues of funding.
“We’re Key West, we’re gonna persevere, we're going to be strong,” he said. “Our community has a history of just coming together when times get rough.”
IF YOU GO
What: Key West Pride
When: June 3rd - June 7th
Where: Key West, Florida
More information here https://gaykeywestfl.com/pride/
