Hundreds 'glow up' Jacksonville bridge in rainbow colors in support LGBTQ+ Pride Month

A vibrant rainbow of colors from gleaming glow sticks held aloft by hundreds of marchers lit up the Acosta Bridge amid the backdrop of the built-in red, white and blue railing lights Saturday night.

Reflected on the waters of the St. Johns River below, the glow sticks ― shining red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet ― the colors of the LGBTQ+ Pride flag ― resembled the twinkling of distant stars.

The 2024 Acosta Bridge Pride March drew at least 200 participants ― young and old, Black, white, Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern ― carrying glow sticks along with signs bearing hand-written messages of love, hope, unity and protest ― across the bridge and then back to celebrate Pride Month.

The rainbow lights could be seen from the Southbank and Northbank as well as glimpsed by motorists traveling on the neighboring Fuller Warren Bridge.

"Lights or no lights there will always be rainbows on the Acosta Bridge in June. ... We're going to glow up the bridge," Amy Glassman, lead organizer of the march, told the Times-Union.

The Acosta March came four weeks after a similar gathering June 1 ― the beginning of Pride Month ― when the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters lined the Main Street Bridge pedestrian walkway and lit the bridge in rainbow lights using flashlights.

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Both the Acosta and Main Street bridge demonstrations were meant as a show of solidarity and protest against "continued LGBTQ+ hate legislation and identity erasure" in Florida, several of the marchers said.

The state wouldn't light the Acosta Bridge with rainbow colors to raise awareness and show support of LGBTQ+ Pride so residents, community activists, church leaders and other supporters from across Northeast Florida came together in a grassroots effort to do it.

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Equal parts memorial, protest and celebration, Saturday's event was intended to demonstrate support for the city's LGBTQ+ community as well as emphasize that "everyone has a right to speak up and contribute in this space," Glassman said.

She emphasized that they didn't want to turn off the red, white and blue lights on the bridge.

"We wanted to add the rainbow colors to the top of the bridge via the glow stick party to showcase that diversity and America are inextricably linked to one another," Glassman said. "Celebrating diversity in our country is the foundation of what being American is."

A matter of rights

Shannan and Karla Foley, married in 2022, brought a sign bearing a heartfelt message to the march. Decorated with hand-drawn hearts, the brown cardboard sign read: "YOUR RIGHTS END WHERE MINE BEGIN!!!! LGBTQ+ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS."

It's been an upsetting time right now, because of the hate-filled atmosphere toward the LGBTQ+ community, they said.

"It's not so much just about gay rights anymore. Now it's about women's rights and so much more," Shannan Foley said as Karla Foley added, "It's human rights."

Ed Tooker and Don Tanner, who each carried large Pride flags, said they came to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

"We want a community where everybody is respected, and everybody is valued and everybody matters," Tanner said.

Tooker said it's also about ensuring the LGBTQ+ community has access to necessary services.

Paying homage to lives lost

The march began by paying homage to the victims killed and injured during the June 12, 2016, mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. A gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 more before Orlando police fatally shot him.

Many consider the Pulse nightclub shooting as one of the worst mass killings in the nation as well as the deadliest attack targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

Peaceful demonstration

Coming at the end of Pride Month, the Acosta Bridge march also was designed as a show of resistance to the decision by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to turn off the LGBTQ+ Pride rainbow lights on state-owned bridges.

FDOT decided that the Acosta Bridge and others would be lit in red, white, and blue for the state government's "Freedom Summer" from Memorial Day through Labor Day. That decision meant the Acosta's lighting system wouldn't have rainbow lights for Pride Month as it did the previous three years.

That decision not only discriminates against the LGBTQ+ Pride but also Juneteenth and other segments of the community, several marchers said.

The two groups of colors on the bridge ― red white and blue and the LGBTQ+ rainbow ― "don't have to compete. They belong together," Glassman said.

Rainbow lights shine bright

Glassman noted the Acosta Bridge lights have long been used to celebrate and honor the city, the diversity of its people, and illuminate the commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive city.

"Lighting the rainbow lights for LGBTQ+ Pride continues this tradition and anything less undermines our city's commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion. We are a beautiful mosaic of people in Jacksonville, and we should celebrate that every chance we get," Glassman said.

The significance and symbolism of the rainbow lights on the bridge extend beyond Jacksonville, she said.

"It's important because the people in our community, and not just in Jacksonville, but really across the state of Florida, especially the LGBTQ+ people need to be able to not only see themselves in the community, but also see the support that they have around them in their community," Glassman said.

She said when things like DE&I initiatives, rainbow bridge lights and school system programming that support LGBTQ+ children are removed, it has far-reaching implications.

"We can't just sit idly by and let those things be taken away from us when we've spent generations fighting for this recognition in our own communities," she said.

"It's important for us to have that camaraderie and support and really to be able to identify all the wonderful people in our community who do support our LGBTQ+ people. And really showcase that we're a forward-thinking city that is going to continue to lean into inclusivity and make sure that everyone feels welcome here," Glassman said.

Mayor's historic proclamation

On Friday, Mayor Donna Deegan proclaimed June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month and the rainbow-colored flag flew over Jacksonville City Hall for the first time.

Deegan is the first Jacksonville mayor to issue a Pride Month proclamation, just as she was the first mayor to attend the Jax River City Pride Parade when she was its grand marshal last year.

"It is with immense pride and joy that I stand before you today to celebrate the city's first official Pride Month event," Deegan said to a crowd gathered in City Hall's rotunda. "I can promise you it won't be the last."

Deegan also that the city has "much more work to do." She noted that Jacksonville scores lower than other big Florida cities on the Human Rights Campaign scorecard for municipal laws and programs supporting LGBTQ people.

Jacksonville scored 76 out of 100 in the 2023 scorecard. Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale all had perfect scores of 100.

She announced the creation of an LGBTQ advisory board that she said will be a liaison with her office and City Council. The board will issue an annual report with recommendations. Deegan created the board with an executive order.

Acosta Bridge Pride March among several statewide

The Acosta Bridge Pride March was among several similar grassroots LGBTQ+ bridge lightings statewide scheduled to take place Saturday night. Similar peaceful demonstrations were scheduled Saturday in Melbourne, Tampa and Orlando.

Project Pride SRQ, a Sarasota nonprofit, planned to carry a 700-foot rainbow flag over the John Ringling Causeway at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Grand Flag March, reported the Sarasota Herald Tribune, quoting Paul Lotierzo, executive director of the organization that works to raise awareness of the LGBTQ+ community.

“It’s not just a rainbow flag. We wear pride colors to signal to the queer couple and to the person across the street, and to the transgender person so that people know that they are safe and they are not alone," Lotierzo told the Herald Tribune.

Meanwhile, The Light Up Melbourne Causeway with Pride event was set for 8 p.m. Saturday at Front Street Park, reported Hometown News Melbourne citing Awake Brevard Action Alliance, one of the event organizers.

Times-Union staff writer David Bauerlein contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Demonstrators light up Jacksonville bridge in LGBTQ+ rainbow colors