Wikipedia
GaYBOR District Coalition in Historic Ybor City is a non profit 501 c (6),organization located within Ybor City in Tampa, Florida. It is an organization of LGBT Bars, Nightclubs, Restaurants, Shops, non Profit Organizations & More thru out the West Coast of Central Florida, with its headquarters in Historic Ybor City . The organization has many participants and is sponsored by both Gay & Straight members. The district is roughly centered on 8th Avenue and 15th Street in Ybor, with large rainbow flags & GaYBOR signs as markers. A yearly event around the 4th of July called "GaYBOR Days" is held in the district featuring celebrity appearances and street celebrations. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio originally met with the leaders of the group on several occasions to help with planning and issues such as police protection, including that by gay and lesbian officers. Current Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn has met several times with the Coalition. As an organization, there are members of GaYBOR across the states of Florida & Georgia.
Tampa Bay's large LGBT community is a catalyst for this neighborhood, with a study by UCLA placing Tampa as a "surprising" number four in the nation for LGBT citizen population at 6.1% in the city proper and 5.9% in the metro area as a whole. The area was given national attention when Super Bowl XLIII came to Tampa. Despite the name more than half of the businesses in the GaYBOR District Coalition are straight-owned.