Coronavirus officially shuts down Pride events in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale
Upcoming Pride events in Florida have been postponed as the pandemic continues.
By Will Stroude
Two of Florida’s biggest Pride events have been postponed as the world continues to deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers of Miami Beach Pride and Pride of the Americas in Fort Lauderdale announced on Thursday (12 March) that they will be rescheduling events until later in the year after a state of emergency was declared in Florida this week.
Miami Beach Pride, which was due to be held between 28 March and 5 April, said it would be postponing all but a few small symbolic events as the number of cases of coronavirus in Florida reached 42.
A rainbow flag-raising ceremony at city hall, a Pulse nightclub remembrance ceremony and a pop-up art exhibition are still set to go ahead as planned on Monday 30 March, organisers confirmed.
“Upon further collaboration today with the mayor of Miami Beach and our health-related partners, the Board of Directors of Miami Beach Pride has announced the rescheduling of the 2020 Pride event, with the exception of the smaller, outdoor events scheduled for Monday, March 30”, a statement read.
“The decision was based on safeguarding the health of the event’s guests, sponsors, volunteers, staff and community-at-large.
“The dates for the other Pride events to be rescheduled will be announced upon further dialogue with City officials.”
Pride organisers in Fort Lauderdale, where the first ‘Pride of the Americas’ was due to be held between 21-26 April, also announced that the event had been postponed until the autumn.
“This is obviously a disappointing blow to the entire Pride Fort Lauderdale team, our sponsors and partners,” said Pride Fort Lauderdale president Miik Martorell.
“However, the safety of the public is always our utmost concern.”
The UK’s first major Pride event is set to take place in Birmingham on the weekend of 23-24 May – an event which is currently still due to take place.
Prime minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Thursday (12 March) the government will not yet be be imposing any restrictions on large public gatherings, but added that the current tactic of ‘delaying’ the UK’s coronavirus outbreak could mean that the country is 10-14 weeks away from seeing its peak rate of new infections.