Port St. Lucy - Friday April 21, 2022: This Saturday's gay pride parade in the City of Port St. Lucie has been cancelled and other PrideFest events have been restricted to people 21 years and older after the state legislature passed a bill banning children from adult performances which Governor DeSantis is expected to sign into law.
The Pride Alliance of the Treasure Coast, after conversations with Port St. Lucie officials, decided to change this Saturday's planned PrideFest events in order to avoid conflict with the legislation that is soon expected to become law.
“We hope that everyone understands that this is definitely not what we wanted at all and are working with the city to assure our safety as well as produce a positive event,” read the post on Alliance's Facebook page.
HB 1423, and its companion bill in the Senate, SB 1438 , would allow the state to revoke the food and beverage licenses of businesses that admit children to adult performances. The legislation is aimed at restricting access to and limiting the performances of drag shows.
Earlier this year, before the legislation passed, the DeSantis administration had already moved to pull the liquor license of a Miami hotel that hosted a Christmas drag show, alleging children were present during “lewd” displays.
"The concern was that, if the Governor signed Senate Bill 1438 before the event and it took effect immediately, last minute cancellations would be more harmful to the event than scaling it back ahead of time," explained Port St. Lucie City Attorney James Stokes in a statement issued to the media Friday. He said the decision to scale-back the PrideFest 2023 event followed a conference call last Friday between City officials and the event organizer, Jack Waldroup.
The decision to limit attendance to those over 21, rather than 18, "was made by Mr. Waldroup because of their intention to sell alcohol at the event," said Stokes. "This was not brought-up by the City. " Stokes went on to say that "Mr. Waldroup also expressed his concern that his organization’s nonprofit status could be in jeopardy if his organization violated the new law," and that "all items scaled-back were either suggested by Mr. Waldrup or agreed-to by him during this call."
READ the City of Port St. Lucie's statement in FULL below:
April 21, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement from the City of Port St. Lucie regarding PrideFest 2023 - Statement for the media from Port St. Lucie City Attorney James Stokes:
Last Friday, April 14, 2023, a conference call between City staff and Mr. Jack Waldroup (the event’s organizer) occurred, and the mutual decision was made to scale-back the PrideFest 2023 event. The concern was that, if the Governor signed Senate Bill 1438 before the event and it took effect immediately, last minute cancellations would be more harmful to the event than scaling it back ahead of time. Mr. Waldroup also expressed his concern that his organization’s nonprofit status could be in jeopardy if his organization violated the new law. All items scaled-back were either suggested by Mr. Waldrup or agreed-to by him during this call. The letter was confirming the agreement.
The reason both City staff and the Organizer felt it was important to act before knowing whether SB 1438 would be signed into law by Saturday was because last minute cancellations would be more harmful to the event and more difficult to accomplish. The Organizer and City staff believed that agreeing to a scaled-back event in advance would be more manageable.
The decision to limit attendance to those over 21, rather than 18, was made by Mr. Waldroup because of their intention to sell alcohol at the event. This was not brought-up by the City. Primarily, the concern was regarding the sale or consumption of alcohol by an attendee under 21 years of age. The Liquor License at the Mid Florida Event Center is held by the City. Should SB 1438 be in effect during the PrideFest event, there is potential risk that the MIDFLORIDA Event Center’s liquor license could be revoked as the consequence of a violation of the Bill. Public and private events (weddings, anniversaries, corporate events, private celebrations, festivals, holiday celebrations, etc.) are a mainstay of the Event Center’s business model in serving the public. Loss of the ability to serve alcoholic beverages would critically reduce revenue used to operate the facility forcing dependence on increased taxes and higher rental fees.
The cancellation of the Kid Zone was announced by Mr. Waldroup before the topic ever arose during the call. He indicated that they had not planned bounce-houses like in years past, so cancelling it entirely was not a problem. Mr. Waldroup was specifically told that he could proceed with the parade, provided it didn’t include any lewd conduct, and Mr. Waldroup said because the parade was going to be outside the fenced event area, he could not control it and would rather cancel it.
The meeting and calls where these agreements were made were held with the organizer and City staff. The Mayor and City Council are not involved in the management, or the negotiations of what occurs, at the events at the Event Center. Per the City’s Charter, the Council has no authority or ability to manage or negotiate these events on behalf of the City. This is staff’s responsibility. Therefore, neither the Mayor nor the City Council were involved in any of these conversations and were not made aware of the agreed-to changes in PrideFest 2023 until after they were publicly announced.
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