The South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble (SFPWE) is launching Youth Pride Band of South Florida, a new honors band with the goal of promoting understanding through music.
Twenty-seven students ages 15-18 had their debut concert earlier this month. Some of the students are LGBT, joined by straight allies from their schools.
Alain Ortiz, SFPWE president, said there are a number of adult gay bands across the country, but the Youth Pride Band of South Florida is the first of its kind.
Christina Dunbar, 18, is a bisexual flutist and the president of the Gay Straight Alliance at Pembroke Pines Charter High School.
“[The Youth Pride Band of South Florida] is a side of the gay community that I hadn’t seen,” she said in a media release. “It’s amazing how supportive everybody has been.”
The band is also producing a video for the “It Gets Better” project.
