SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — The vibrant spirit of the ‘Gulfcoast Pride Festival’ made a much-anticipated return to downtown Sarasota on Saturday, following a hiatus last year when Hurricanes Helene and Milton swept through the region.

“Our community endured immense hardship with two consecutive hurricanes. After such a tumultuous hurricane season, we truly needed this day to come together and celebrate,” shared Tom Edwards, who leads Project Pride SRQ.

While the festival buzzed with joy, Edwards highlighted notable changes compared to previous years.

“We’ve witnessed the removal of crosswalk art and the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,” Edwards remarked.

The Florida Department of Transportation has mandated the removal of all street artwork, citing concerns over traffic safety.

Moreover, recent federal and state policies have led to the suspension of numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Festival attendees, though, pushed back with their rhetoric Saturday.

 “We won’t shut up, go pride! Go pride!” said Megan Ferry of Clearwater.

This year’s Pride event in Sarasota merged with Manatee Pride, drawing people like Ferry and her partner Amy Schale who also wanted to support Sarasota’s Harvest Church. 

“They’re not actually a gay church, but they are gay friendly, gay welcoming, and they made me feel like I could be a part of a church again so I came to support them,” Schale said.

Ramiro Chavez and his partner Donaldo Garza said they could not miss the festival.

 “I feel awesome, I feel like no one can judge you here, you can do whatever you want you know,” Chavez said. 

“I think it’s really important for the community to get together and just know that there’s always going to be people supporting us,” Garza added.

Brianna Morales echoed the sentiment. 

“A lot of the times, like there’s just like that stigma around the gay community and I don’t think there should be any questions of the sort, like the people are who they are. Love is love. That’s what I go by,” she said.

Project Pride SRQ’s next event will be a holiday pop-up trivia coming up in December.