Pride March Report - 6/27/25

Sweet 16.

I am writing the first paragraph below about two hours before I am leaving for the march. I’ll update the post after. EDIT: This should have gone up yesterday, but I took a day off. As always, thanks for reading.

BEFORE: I am straight, but I am ally to the LGBTQ community, so don’t fuck with my homies. My first action as a baby antifa was March 31st, 2022. Ocala had a Pride march that day to coincide with the Trans Day of Visibility. They were concerned and had received at least one threat. So I left work, grabbed my gun, and marched with to provide security. Despite that threat, we had a march of about 70 people that day. During that march, we had several people drive by in little dick trucks, filming us on their phones and cussing at us, as they drove by trying to intimidate us. That was it. This time, with the Proud Boys being at our latest rally, who knows. There hasn’t been a lot of chatter, and we expect a very small turnout. I guess we will see.

AFTER: The local LGBTQ community is understandably concerned being in a very MAGA area, who view their orientation and genetics as choice and sin. As a result, this march wasn’t very heavily advertised or organized by the local LGBTQ community. I think the Proud Boys showing up at our last political protest scared a few off. We are going to do a much better job next year. Also, this was organized for a Friday, when it is hard for people to attend, but there were other things going on that kept us from organizing on a better day. We had 16 people total between organizers and marchers. That’s OK, and we marched anyway.

If you don’t know, you should understand that Ocala/Marion County is DEEP red MAGA country. It is filled with dozens of very conservative churches. If you are newish to my Substack, I’ve written about how we have KKK, Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and other groups like that here that are fairly active. It is a beautiful part of the state, but it is full of hate and hateful people. People who are a part of the LGBTQ community just aren’t accepted and tolerated the way they should be. So for 16 people to show up and march for those rights that are under attack right now is a big deal. Like I said, next year we are doing it bigger and louder, but I’ll keep that under wraps for the sake of OPSEC for now. I can tell you the city is going to get tired of us eventually. Heh.

We aren’t going anywhere.

The weather was great. A little hotter than I’d like, but humidity was low, so I could march. With all my gear on I get super hot and soaked regardless, but that’s OK. I feel a much larger sense of purpose marching with queer people in Florida than I did marching anywhere in the Army, so I’ll suffer a little for them. We got everyone together, and the other 15 left the Ocala square to march to City Hall, chanting “Love is love!” I stayed behind to see if we had any late ones showing up and to make sure our march wasn’t being followed by agitators, and after a few minutes I left to catch up.

City Hall is about five blocks away from the square. I could hear the crowd chanting three blocks away, and at two blocks I could clearly pick out my son’s voice. It was loud as hell for only 15 people, since I wasn’t close enough to start chanting yet. He is also straight and an ally, and he has been having a lot of fun at these protests and marches. He is turning into a true activist, and I never had to force him or anything. “Hey, wanna go protest for human rights?” He always says yes. He will be 18 soon, so he is old enough to be in the streets fighting with his old man if he wants to.

As I walked up, I saw a pickup with the fascist plates parked in the lot, and the guys inside the truck were eyeballing everyone HARD. What fascist plates you ask?

These plates came out a while back and have become immensely popular. (Florida makes a lot of money from custom plates.) Our stupid fucking governor started calling us the “Free State of Florida” and now this. If you are out of the loop on this, the flag featured is called the “Gadsen Flag.” The Gadsen Flag was designed by a general in 1775 to symbolize resistance against oppression. Somewhere during the Obama years, the Tea Party (most of whom later became MAGA) started flying this flag in protest against Obama, claiming to be oppressed. I know. Straight, white, Christian, conservative males are quite obviously the most oppressed group ever in history, right??

Morons. This is all nationalistic bullshit is meant to stir up the masses.

Today, MAGA has been using the Gadsen flag. They like to fly this flag and the American flag and claim they are the true patriots, while trampling the Constitution and the rights of people like my LGBTQ homies. So I automatically assume anyone with this license plate is a fascist piece of shit and potentially a bad actor if they are in proximity to anything like our march. Given how many cars and trucks around here have both these plates and a Trump flag or sticker, I’d say my assessment is accurate.

So Eric and I kept an eye on them until they left. It looked like they were there on business and we showed up, so they weren’t following us or anything. I just didn’t like the way they were gesturing and looking at everyone - you could clearly see they did not approve. You have to be paranoid. In a state like Florida where everyone has guns, what if they got confrontational? That’s why I’m out there putting myself between people and protesters.

If you enjoy my writing, please make a small donation and buy me a coffee. Thank you!

We stood in front of City Hall chanting and having a good time. The entire hour we stood there, we had only a couple of middle fingers. One lady very bravely rolled down her window and told us to “go home” before speeding off. I’m proud of her. Lol.

After an hour, we marched back up to the square and stood on Silver Springs Boulevard for a while and chanted some more. A few minutes after we did, OPD showed up. I love it. He parked up on the sidewalk and watched us.

Every single time we protest downtown, OPD shows up. Good. We are stirring up shit, getting noticed, and disrupting the system. That is what protest is supposed to do.

I encouraged everyone to get up on the sidewalk in front of the pigmobile and protest. Some were hesitant, but I finally got them to do it. After about 15 minutes, the cops decided we weren’t a problem and left. As he drove off I see he is one of the ones that let the Nazi go back in May. Sigh.

Talking with Eric and some others later, they mentioned that we had closer to 2,000 people for the No Kings rally, not the 1,500 or so I wrote about. It would have been incredible to have even 150 or 200 for the march, but again, that is OK. Ocala and Marion County may be full of hate, but slowly people are coming out with us, led on by our example, and taking courage from the group.

Bravery doesn’t always come from within. Sometimes, we need another person to inspire us to greatness. I’m fucking terrified sometimes, but I’m out there, because you and my homies are. I was terrified in Iraq, but I was out there and did my job well, because I had my squad of idiots with me, and we took care of each other. That’s what we all need to do as civilians now. Take care of each other, because we are all in this foxhole together until the fight is over. Remember, rebellions are built on hope.

Be good y’all.

#22ADay #Slava Ukraini! Heróyam sláva!