Key West Pride Parade To Strut Down Duval St. On Sunday
KEY WEST – Costumed walking groups, female impersonators and a 100-foot-long rainbow flag are to star in Sunday's late afternoon Key West Pride Parade on the island's Whitehead and Duval streets.
The sea-to-sea procession of diversity, so called since Duval Street stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, is to begin at 5 p.m. on Key West's historic Truman Waterfront and reach Duval shortly afterward.
The grand marshal is activist Erin Davies. After her Volkswagen Beetle was defaced with anti-gay graffiti in 2007, because of its rainbow sticker, she turned the negative act into a 58-day odyssey around the United States and Canada. Parade spectators can see the now-famous VW, dubbed "Fagbug," leading the procession.
Also to be spotlighted is a 100-foot rainbow flag carried by community members and supporters. The flag is a section of a 1.25-mile-long banner constructed in Key West by the original rainbow flag's creator, Gilbert Baker. It was unfurled along the entire length of Duval Street during the 2003 Pride celebration as a sea-to-sea symbol of acceptance and diversity.
The all-welcome 2012 parade also features a costumed pirate troupe, female impersonators, community groups including the Key West High School Gay Straight Alliance, decorated floats and more.
The event is the culmination of Key West Pride, which began June 6.
The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.
