Andy Stack and Matthew Seaman hadn’t been boyfriends long when Seaman’s younger brother Daniel invited the pair to join him and Matthew’s sister Brooke at Tampa Pride in March.
“They had invited us to go and make it kind of a family affair, so we’re like, ‘Heck yeah. Nice little road trip,’” Stack tells LGBTQ Nation.
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“There’s so much love in our home and we all take care of each other.”
Stack and Seaman live across Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, and Stack says this was his first visit to Tampa Pride. There was lots to recommend it.
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“Just getting to see the people express themselves and be who they are, comfortable with who they are,” Stack says. “And not only that, but standing up for who they are.”
Describing the selfie Matthew took of the pair at the Diversity Parade that day, Andy says, “I’m the white guy. He’s the Black guy. His dad was really Black, so I like to call him my brown guy.”
Tampa doesn’t have the longest parade — just eight blocks down 7th Avenue through the gayborhood — but the march was packed with lots of people and good vibrations.
Stack loved seeing “all the different groups represented there, some churches, and police, too. We enjoyed that. And, of course, the mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, she’s gay. So it was very welcoming.”
Asked about the beads piled on the couple, Stack isn’t sure how it happened.
“I don’t know, people just started giving them to us. We’re just hanging around and I think we asked for some, but then people were very generous and everyone was giving us beads.”
Stack said attending Pride this year, in particular, was special.
“We certainly wanted to be there and represent our pride as a gay couple,” he explained.
“I’ve been out for 20 years almost,” Stack says. “And so I’m proud to love the person that I want to love, and be with that person, without laws and restrictions and judging from other people that aren’t paying my bills.”
“I guess I’m proud that we live in a country — however long that will last — that there is still a voice for everybody. Everybody’s part of it together. I feel real strongly about that. We make it a better country by bringing all of the people together.”
Pride in Pictures is LGBTQ Nation’s annual series celebrating Pride across the country. We asked our readers to send in their pictures and stories of Pride and we got so many rainbows. Keep an eye out for more heartwarming stories to get you ready for Pride Month 2024.
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