Attention St. Petersburg: Watch out for Mollie Saumier.
Don’t let that smile fool you! Known as Margaret Scratch-her, #79 on the Bradentucky Bombers roller derby team, this 5’0″ dynamo packs a mean shoulder-check if you get in her way. But she promises to play nice at this year’s St. Petersburg Pride festival, June 21-23, where she will join the 200,000+ people who will attend to watch the parade and shows from headliners like Lisa Loeb and Rita Ora.
As part of the Pride Insiders series, we asked Saumier what she likes about pride, and where to find all the hot women in the St. Pete area.
What makes the St. Petersburg area a great place to live?
The thing that I love most about it is that there’s eclectic people and groups and activities if you know where to look. I found my people through roller derby. Through them, I’ve found more interesting places and people. I usually hang out in downtown St. Pete, or in Gulfport there’s a strip that’s on the water where there are old buildings and restaurants.
Related: Aaron Drake on St. Pete’s Pride, the gay beach and clothing-optional pools
What’s your favorite bar?
Green Bench Brewery and Webb’s City Cellar have really cool local experimental brews, and tons of options for those of us that don’t love beer. It’s very hipster gay. Beer gardens scream nature-lesbian. My girlfriend loves beer and loves their Postcard Pilsner. I hate beer, but I like cider.
I love cider when it is extremely cold.
Yes! They’ve had a raspberry cider that I’ve been really into.
Besides running amok in beer gardens, where do queer women hang out to meet each other?
The Honey Pot in Tampa has a Ladies Night on Saturdays. My girlfriend and I kept running into each other there before we started dating.
Where do you go for brunch? St. Petersburg must be a great place for brunch, with that beautiful weather.
Absolutely. I go to Alésia for Saturday brunch. They aren’t open on Sundays. It’s a Vietnamese-French fusion restaurant and it’s awesome. They have a beautiful outdoor patio. My girlfriend always gets their croque monsieur and lobster bisque.
Pride in St. Petersburg is the largest Pride festival in Florida. What makes it special?
I think that the thing that makes it feel so huge and special is that there’s a lot of conservative areas nearby, so it’s a chance to get out and be with thousands of queer families. It’s like a big gay carnival. Without the rides.
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Where is the place to see-and-be-seen?
Definitely at our roller derby games in Bradenton. It’s a super queer-centric sport, and we get about 200 people at each of our games. We call ourselves “Bradentucky” because Bradenton is hick town, compared to other towns nearby like Sarasota, which is hoity-toity. It’s a reclamation of the derogatory name.
Let’s say a person is coming to town for Pride the first time, and they aren’t a roller derby jammer who can fight through a crowd. Where is a good place to watch the parade?
You have to get there early and stake out a spot right on the waterfront if you want to see all of the action up front. The parade goes down the street that’s right on the bay. You get to watch the water and the leather daddies all glistening in the sunlight.
