AP News reported Pride organizers in the Florida cities of Tampa and Fort Myers will not hold their annual Pride events this year, citing funding issues.
There will be no Pride Southwest Florida in Fort Myers in November, according to Michael Hange, a board member for Pride-SWFL, the nonprofit that has historically organized the event. Pride Southwest Florida debuted in 2009 and returned last year after a multiyear Covid-19 hiatus, according to organizers.
Adam Larivee, the president of LGBTQ nonprofit Visuality, which has had a longstanding relationship with Pride Southwest Florida, said the annual event will not happen because of a lack of sponsorship dollars. He said his organization recently agreed to combine with Pride-SWFL and take over the event going forward.
“The unfortunate part was we just didn’t have enough planning time for us to be able to put it on for 2025 so with that, we are shooting for 2026,” Larivee said.
Fort Myers is at least the second Florida city that has changed its Pride plans.