Without a lot of fanfare, Pride Fort Lauderdale (PFL) is moving forward with plans to resurrect the event after years of financial troubles and cancellations.
The news was announced on Happening Out TV.
An exact date has yet to be set, but PFL CEO Jeff Sterling says they are looking at the first or second weekend of February 2026. Hollywood’s Pride is generally the last weekend of January, and Sterling doesn’t want to have a conflicting date.
Sterling, who’s run Stonewall Pride in Wilton Manors for years, and his colleagues absorbed PFL this year. They are still assessing the situation’s physical and financial assets.
PFL has only held two main Prides since 2019, partially due to the pandemic. But community support waned and mistrust grew as former PFL leaders refused to be transparent about how money and in-kind donations were being used.
Embattled president Miik Martorell resigned in October, and things have been moving quickly since. Jason Nuñez became vice president, and was looking at options to bring back Pride, including moving it to autumn and to a different part of the beach. However, he quickly resigned because his job leading the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce could be considered a conflict of interest.
After a few weeks, it was determined the best way forward was to be absorbed by Sterling and the Stonewall crew. Since then, they have ruled out moving to the fall and are looking early February.
Sterling says an actual date should be announced in March.