ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Thousands gathered Sunday for the St. Pete Pride Festival, where vendors, churches, and community members carried a unified message: kindness and love for everyone.
Walking through the crowds along Central Avenue, the theme was impossible to miss. At nearly every booth, the message was the same.
One of those booths belonged to Kevin, the founder of a brand called Kindness is Sexy, who made the trip from Miami specifically for the event.
"My business is Kindness is Sexy. We're all about promoting kindness, promoting positivity, making a statement, and wearing your values. So we believe that compassion is community, and we're super glad to be here at St. Pete Pride," Kevin said.
WATCH: At St. Pete Pride Festival, thousands find the message they needed: God loves you, and kindness is sexy
Kevin said the brand's message resonates across generations.
"Everybody is on board with, you know, just spreading the word that kindness is sexy, love each other, love loudly, support over shade, radical resilience, honesty heals," Kevin said.
He said St. Pete Pride was the brand's very first event, a deliberate choice.
"Apparently, it's the biggest pride event in Florida, supposedly. So I was like, you know, go big or go home, so it all worked out," Kevin said.
Kevin said he plans to return next year and continue expanding the brand to other events.
Also set up along Central Avenue was a booth from Christ the Cornerstone Church, where Pastor Jamie Shonk and her congregation came to deliver a message they said they carry year-round.
"God loves every single person. He's made us all beautifully, wonderfully, and that's the message that this church wants everybody to know about," Shonk said.
I asked Shonk about the church's decision to show up at Pride, especially given how many in the LGBTQ+ community say they have felt rejected by religion.
"That is exactly why the message is so important that we're out here. So many people in our community have been hurt, traumatized, and just preached hate in our community. That's why we read scriptures differently. We see Jesus differently. So we come down here to tell people, and try to say, hey, no, no, no, that's not what really happened, that's not what Jesus really talked about. That's why it's so important," Shonk said.
Shonk said the response from festival-goers has been meaningful, with many stopping to say the church's presence was exactly what they needed to see.
"We get a lot of that, a lot of that. Thank you for being here," Shonk said.
She added that several other churches were also represented along Central Avenue on Sunday, giving people multiple opportunities to reconnect with faith on their own terms.
Amid the celebration, many who came out Sunday carried worries. Some wore their stance. Others stopped to receive a message they needed to hear.
Sunday marked the close of this year's St. Pete Pride festivities. Organizers said they will take a couple of days off before getting right into planning next year's event.
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