ST PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Pride Festival celebrated its 22nd year to celebrate and honor our LGBTQIA+ community. 

The festivities began Saturday afternoon with the 6th annual trans march, followed by the pride parade. 

In the parade, representatives from roughly 30 Tampa Bay churches joined in the festivities. 

Pastor Andy Oliver with Allendale United Methodist Church said this event is a chance to connect with a community that hasn’t always been welcome. 

“To have 30 churches marching together, it’s a tremendous show of solidarity for the LGBTQ community,” he said.

Oliver said he and all these churches are taking part in showing love, support, and to let everyone know the LGBTQIA+ community is welcome in their churches. 

Oliver said their church brought an inflatable showing Jesus in drag because even though this representation might not be what everyone thinks of, he believes there’s no better way to show their dedication to welcoming this community. 

“When LGBTQ people see Jesus looks like them, they know that they’re loved and cherished by God. This is an opportunity to show that the resurrected Christ shows up on the margins with the drag queens and actually makes them the center. That’s why they’re the center of our T-shirt design and our float this year,” he said.

On Sunday at St. Teresa of Calcutta at 10:30 in St. Pete, they’ll be holding mass for anyone interested in coming and are welcoming all members of the LGBTQIA+ community to be a part of the service.