NEW SMYRNA BEACH—It what was being billed as a record turnout, hundreds of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and their families and supporters celebrated diversity and acceptance las Saturday at the third annual Volusia Pride Festival in New Smyrna Beach’s Old Fort Park, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal

Daytona Beach residents Debra Hamblin and Tonya Bridges, who hope to be married by 2016 in Florida, attended the festival with their daughters.

“This is a no-judgment zone,” Bridges said about the festival, “We want people to see that we are an everyday family just with two girls.”

The event was sponsored by Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbian and Gays, the national group’s only sanctioned gay-pride festival in Volusia County. The event featured live entertainment and informational booths from local businesses, nonprofits and several churches.

“It’s important for the gay community to know that they are supported and have allies that will support issues such as job security to marriage equality,” PFLAG President Kathy Seibert told the Daytona Beach News Journal.

During the festival New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer read a city proclamation that expressed the city’s support for the festival and the LGBTQ community at large.

“This is a celebration of all lifestyles and we have a very diverse community,” Barringer said, adding that he hoped the event would send a positive message to all cities and residents in Volusia County.

While the festival is not political in nature, it gave several gay-rights advocates and couples the opportunity to voice their support for the legalization of gay marriage –– a heavily debated issue in Florida that is awaiting a ruling by a U.S. District Appeals Court.

In August, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the state’s gay marriage ban was unconstitutional but placed a stay on the decision.

Hamblin and Bridges said they hope that recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings favoring same-sex marriage will pave the way for them to be eligible for the same rights and benefits as traditional couples.

“If states in the Bible Belt can recognize same-sex marriage then you’d think Florida, one of the no. 1 tourism destinations in the planet, would do the same,” Hamblin said.