Science on Parade

This weekend Parmvir and David attended St Pete Pride.

As one of the largest pride events in the US, it was already an amazing experience to attend, but in our capacity as science outreach practitioners, it had a little something extra for us.

We were there as official observers for the first float by our friends at the St. Petersburg Science Festival.

Photos taken by: Parmvir Bahia, David Basanta and Ben Prueitt.

How does this count as science outreach, you may well ask. Firstly, the festival team did well to add a scientific theme to their float that fit in with Pride. They staged the sun, some rain and a rainbow at the end of the float to recreate the environmental conditions to generate a rainbow. While on the parade route they handed out glasses that refracted the light into rainbows.

But even without the direct connection to scientific ideas, the festival team showed that scientists are people too, from all different backgrounds. By participating at Pride, they showed support for their local LGBTQ+ communities which is important, because we can’t disconnect the science from the people.