PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — When St. Petersburg held its annual Pride Flag raising ceremony Thursday, it was the first time the new administration, and its new faces, were hoisting the flag pole at City Hall.

In some ways those new minority faces — Mayor Ken Welch and four of the eight city council members — helped influence St. Pete Pride, and its new president Tiffany Freisberg, to take a critical look at its own face. 

“It felt essential that we’re listening to the voices in our community that maybe historically that haven’t been heard,” Freisberg said. “And that really shaped our mission and our programming moving forward.”

Now, St. Pete Pride has seated a board that is the most diverse group in its 20-year history. 

“When I looked at Pride, I didn’t see a reflection of myself," said new board member Darius Lightsey. “I didn’t think that it represented me or people like me.”

Now, he is one of four African Americans on the board, and is hoping to make a difference.

“I truly want Pride, as a whole, to be reflective of the entire community," he said. “Because it was a Black trans woman who started it all. They were the ones who started Pride.”

He is speaking of Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman who helped lead the charge in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, when Greenwich Village erupted into two nights of rioting after New York Police raided the now historic bar, Stonewall Inn.

From it, the gay rights movement and Pride Month was born, and now Lightsey says he hopes to reconnect Pride with the Black community through a joint Juneteenth Celebration.

“It’s about time. It’s about time," said St. Pete NAACP President Esther Matthews, who added that the makeup of the new Pride Board could be a game changer for Pride and all people of color.

“This really builds the inclusivity bridge that’s needed," Matthews said. “And that does not necessarily mean that my brother is the same color as me. But there are some bothers out there, and some sisters, and some that don’t identify as either or that need to feel that they are truly a part of St. Pete.”

“All Black lives matter, whether you’re part of the LGBTQIA spectrum or not," Lightsey said. “You can’t say that this person’s life matters, but this person’s life doesn’t matter. Either lives matter for all Black people or they don’t matter for any.”

“It’s gonna take a while for us to earn the trust of everyone who hasn’t seen themselves represented," Freisberg said. “But we feel confident that with time, our hearts are in the right place and we’re doing the work, and we will become that organization for St. Pete.”