JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – News4JAX is celebrating Pride Month this June by highlighting our unique and vibrant local LGBTQ+ community.
We’ll be featuring local organizations and LGBTQ+ resources available locally all month long.
Jax River City Pride is a local 501 (c)(3) nonprofit all-volunteer organization that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community with a festival and parade each October in the Five Points area.
The roots of Jax River City Pride go all the way back to 1978 with Jacksonville’s first Gay Pride Festival at Willowbranch Park.
The organization evolved over the years from the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Jacksonville to the Jacksonville Gay Pride Committee to First Coast Pride.
After a short gap, River City Pride was born in 2010 and became a nonprofit in 2017.
Two years later, the LGBT community celebrated a major milestone with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in 2019. The uprising was a pivotal moment in the birth of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
That year’s pride celebration marked the largest turnout in River City Pride’s history.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Jax River City Pride marked a milestone in 2023 when Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan became the first sitting mayor to be Grand Marshal of the October parade.
And last year, the heart of the parade route in Five Points unveiled Jacksonville’s first rainbow walkways, a nod to the role the area has played as a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community through the years.
Jax River City Pride also has several exciting events lined up to celebrate Pride Month.
Join the group for Pride Night with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on June 5, enjoy free admission to the Cummer Museum on June 6, and don’t miss the signature parade and festival later this year.
Click here to learn more about all upcoming events.
