Pat “Taz” Fearns - Chair
Pat is a “Sand in Her Shoes” Native, who was born in St. Petersburg and grew up in Crystal River.
Pat relocated back to St. Petersburg in 1979 and has resided in the Greater Tampa Bay area ever
since. Utilizing her BA Degree in Mass Communications, TV, Radio Programming and
Production. Pat has worked for WTOG-44 TV, F Productions and Home Shopping Network.
Currently Pat works for the National Medical Electronic Health Records software company,
Greenway Health and has served as a Chair of their LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group and
PRIDE+GRN.
Pat is a Bone Marrow and 58+ Gallon Blood Donor. Since “Coming Out” in 1992, Pat has been a
staunch Community/Social Activist and Volunteer. Pat was a Performing Member of Crescendo,
The Tampa Bay Women’s Chorus while serving as Board Secretary and was a Board Member
of Tampa PRIDE. Pat’s Activism and volunteer efforts have benefited Equality Florida
(previously the Tampa Bay Human Rights Task Force), Tampa AIDS Network and Service
Association of Pinellas (now umbrellaed under EMPATH HEALTH and d/b/a EPIC), METRO
Inclusive Health, Unitarian Universalist Churches in Greater Tampa Bay, American Cancer
Society and various KOMEN charities, United Way Suncoast, Feeding America, Tampa Bay and
The Kind Mouse (to name a few). Pat has been active with Come Out St. Pete since 2021 and is
proud that her commitment to this organization aligns with her life path to “Be the Change You
Wish to See in the World.”
Bill Kody / Co-Chair
Bill was born and raised in West Michigan. He has one daughter that lives in Ohio and was married in 2022. From a very early age, Bill knew he had a love for music. In 1986 he decided that he wanted to play music for other people and became a DJ. In 2012 he decided that he wanted leave cooperate America and move to Saint Petersburg to DJ year round. He loves the Grand Central District and decided to join the Come Out St Pete board in 2018. Bill got married to the love of his life, Jeremy Kody in 2019. In 2021 Bill & Jeremy started to manage Casa Del Merman @ Gay St Pete House. He loves his community and 100% believes in equality for everyone.
Joshua Wallace / Treasurer
Chris Gorman - Secretary
Christopher has been born and raised in the Pinellas County area. His first introduction to Come Out St. Pete came after attending Seminole High School, Christopher came out as gay and had his family attend Come Out St. Pete’s Pride Night at the Rays, where he remembers feeling so empowered that there were organizations trying to promote positive change in our community.
Shortly thereafter, Christopher had to struggle with what many youth are facing, where he was forced into a situation where he had to struggle with the still ongoing low-wage and non-affordable housing crisis’, which has since inspired him to do whatever he can to help those in need. Currently, Christopher resides in St. Petersburg, going to St. Petersburg College as a full-time student studying Political Science, and is committed to working to better the area to make a more diverse and loving community for all.
Chris Jones
Chris Jones has been a resident of St. Petersburg since 2002. He has been active in many events over the years as a market vendor as well as fundraising event coordinator with King of Peace MCC while serving on their board of directors from 2005-2008. He attended Sunstate Academy in Clearwater for massage therapy and became a licensed massage therapist in 2011. He has owned his own private massage practice now since 2011 and currently has a studio on 7th Avenue.
He became involved in Come Out St. Pete in 2017, participating as a vendor with his wood carvings and was elected onto the board of directors in 2018, in which he was the coordinator for the vendor market. He is currently chair for Come Out St. Pete and is looking forward to the opportunity to attempt to make a difference and become more involved within our LGBTQ community! He draws inspiration by his late husband, Fred Burns in that we may never know what a difference we may have made in someone's life, but we should at least do our best to help them in any way we can!
Mick Ferrari
MICK FERRARI GREW UP IN ST. PETERSBURG AND HAS HAD A VARIED PROFESSIONAL LIFE AS A BUSINESS OWNER, PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER, MEDIA PERSONALITY, AND AN EVENT PRODUCER/HOST AND IS AN ORDAINED PASTOR. IN ADDITION TO HIS WORK ADVOCATING FOR THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY WITH COME OUT ST PETE, MR. FERRARI ALSO SERVES ON THE BOARDS OF A LOCAL FOOD PANTRY AND A STATEWIDE STUDENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAM AND SERVES AS CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY BOARD FOR TRADE EDUCATION FOR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. MICK'S PHILANTHROPY HAS ALWAYS FOCUSED ON THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE UNDERSERVED OR FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS. APPOINTED TO THE BOARD OF COME OUT ST PETE IN 2021, MR. FERRARI HOPES TO CONTINUE HIS MISSION SUPPORTING LGBTQ+ YOUTH HERE IN TAMPA BAY. MICK HAS 6 ADOPTED CHILDREN, 19 NIECES AND NEPHEWS, AND PROUDLY RESIDES IN ST. PETERSBURG
