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“It’s amazing to me how it’s grown and what it’s become,” he says. He’s proud of the strides the city has made, and is looking forward to continuing that journey. “Our market was pretty well spread out as it was designed, so I don’t think it would be too hard to make that a little safer by spreading it out a little bit more and still have a good event that doesn’t have the huge crowds that people worry about.”įor Longstreth, leaving Punky’s doesn’t mean abdicating his position as a voice for equality in St.
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“We probably won’t do a parade but we’re talking about doing another flag unfurling and maybe a very distanced market,” he says. Pete Pride parade from the Grand Central District-historically the cultural epicenter of the city’s LGBTQ+ community-to the downtown waterfront. Pete, the annual festival he initiated in 2017, partly as a reaction to the relocation of the St. (Photo by Scott Harrell)įurther down the road, Longstreth is also making plans for October’s edition of Come Out St. “We’re looking at doing a vigil involving our rainbow flag and partnering with some other organizations to honor George Floyd and Black Lives Matter and trying to bridge that community.” “We’re talking about doing something on Saturday, June 27, the original date of the St. He isn’t going to let Pride Month go by without an event, however. As one of the people who “got the ball rolling,” Longstreth, 59, isn’t happy that COVID-19 necessitated the celebration’s cancellation. “My business partners have been great, we’ve all gotten along pretty well throughout the whole process and over the years, I feel really confident that will be around for a while.” And he thinks he’s leaving the enterprise in good hands. Longstreth’s departure was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing shutdown, but he feels like the restaurant, which hosts drag shows and live music in addition to offering food and a full-liquor bar, is getting back to business, if not exactly business as usual. Really I wanted to get back to focusing on, my real estate stuff, and other stuff I’m working on in the community.” “I had been planning for it for several months, talking about it with my current partners. “And I felt we were at that point where everything was starting to run pretty smoothly, once you cross that five-year mark with a restaurant, it got to that point where everything was pretty settled. “It’s just too much to juggle everything,” he says. Pete House, is leaving Punky’s Bar & Grill, the Grand Central District gathering spot he helped open in 2015. Pete co-founder and owner of the Central Oak Park mini-resort Gay St. Pete’s iconic LGBTQ+-friendly institutions. Now, an individual who helped the city achieve those goals is moving on from his position at one of St. Longstreth plans to celebrate Pride Month with an event on June 27.Petersburg restaurant will continue to be a focal point for the LGBTQ+ community Local LGBTQ+ community voice Brian Longstreth is parting ways with Punky's Bar & Grill.