Six days after he declined to sign a proclamation citing June as LGBT Pride Month in St. Petersburg, Mayor Bill Foster did so Wednesday afternoon, the first time he's done that since being elected in 2009, and the first time any St. Pete mayor has done so.
The mayor's omission on that proclamation last week was notable in that all eight members of the City Council had done so, the first time in St. Pete's history.
"We're happy. He wrote it himself and it was very nicely worded, " says Susan McGrath, president of the Pinellas Stonewall Democrats.
However Foster will not be attending the Pride Parade, scheduled for Saturday, June 29.
Foster told McGrath that he'll be out of town that day, driving his son up to Gainesville, where he will resume classes at the University of Florida the following Monday.
On the campaign trail in 2009, Foster told an audience he would not sign such a proclamation, and has often described the annual parade as too "adult-themed" for his tastes.
That's not the attitude of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who will attend the parade, the highest-ranking elected official scheduled to do so.