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NITIN BALI LATITUDE 28 AT THE JW MARRIOTT CLEARWATER BEACH RESORT & SPA
TONY BRUNO THE BRINEHOUSE
TRACI BRYANT JACK PALLINO’S
CAMERON CAPRI QSOUTHERN BBQ
CHARLES BANDEL CAFE GALA AT THE DALI MUSEUM
DAVID REYES ST. PETE DISTILLERY
LEE AQUINO BIRCH & VINE
ROSS DALTON HIGHLAND HOUSE
Never forget
Photos by Dave Decker
The last two years have been especially hard on Palestinians, but many who’ve fled the country remembered another difficult period in their history last Sunday during a Nakba commemoration at Tampa’s Copeland Park. As previously reported, on paper, “Al Nakba,” or “the catastrophe,” happened 75 years ago during the 1948 Palestine war and creation of the Israeli state. Others believe that the occupation of Palestinian territory started much earlier and continues to this day via the annexation of land, attacks on homes in Gaza and continued U.S. support for Israel.
At last Sunday’s gathering organized in part by local activist groups, mourners visited a scroll with the names of more than 50,000 Palestinians killed since October 2024 when Hamas attacked Israel igniting the latest, still-ongoing, war.
Palestinian Author Younes Freajah also read from his book “Echoes of Exile” while others celebrated their culture by painting and practicing tatreez needle work. See more photos via cltampa.com/slideshows.—Ray Roa
Uchikake with Manmaku, c.1900–1940, Silk, Selected works from the collection of Norma Canelas and William Roth
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from May 29 - June 04
Odd world
Mix it up
About 15 weeks after entering the chat, the new owners of Jug & Bottle are ready to make it official. The Seminole Heights staple, which opened 10 years ago and changed hands last February, is quickly becoming Tampa’s version of a dimly-lit Brooklyn bar and bottle shop from the early-aughts with a cool record player and a new plant on the shelf every other day. And the predominantly wine and sake-based cocktails are no joke either. Just ask the magnum of yuzu juice living in co-owner Jessie Wohlers’ purse. “We got it from Wismettac,” she told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay as she mixed a new sangria for service a few hours later. The distributor famous for its sake selection is just one of the reasons inventory at Jug is starting to feel like raiding the pantry at your cool aunt’s house (April Wachtel’s Cheeky cocktail mixers are in the house along with wines that other retail and restaurants don’t have or can’t sell at a reasonable price). And Wohlers is finally having a grand opening party, with free welcome cocktails and wine tastings. Since Wohlers is an alum of the since-shuttered Ichicoro Ramen, there’ll be plenty of Ichi Koroshi noods and karaage to slurp and munch on at this grand re-opening, too. Music will come care of the emergent Greenhouse collective popping up in Tampenõ third spaces like Elevation Coffee and La Sétima. Read more via cltampa.com/food.
Jug & Bottle super cool grand re-openings: Saturday, May 31. 6 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover.
& Bottle, 6203 N Florida Ave., Tampa. @jugandbottledept on Instagram—Ray Roa
Ybor City has its Tabernacle of Oddities, and now St. Pete gets to have an afternoon of weird, gotta-have, shit, too. A traveling oddities expo lands at one of the Sunshine City’s most special gathering places for a one-day market that’ll include performers, talks and macabre guest speakers, too. On site-tattoos come from Villain Arts while other companies provide live painting, burlesque and more. Think Barnum & Bailey meets a funeral home version of “Antiques Roadshow.” VIPs can pay a little extra to get in an hour early at 10 a.m. And you might want to prep your kid for what they might see if you’re bringing the little one along.
World Oddities Expo: Saturday, May 31. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. $20-$25. The Coliseum, 535 4th Ave. N, St. Petersburg. worldodditiesexpo.com—Ray Roa
Sing along at the water tower
This season, Tampa Bay’s beloved philharmonic saw more stage-to-screen shows, a gala with Yo-Yo Ma, and a salute to women in music with the best program name of all time, “Bette, Babs and Beyond.” Its season wraps up with another installment of its Pops in the Park series, finally taking the ensemble to River Tower Park after months of waiting. This free outdoor performance promises “family-friendly music, film scores, classic favorites such as Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’ and a patriotic finale,” under the direction of Resident Conductor Chelsea Gallo. Bring the kids if you want, but assuming there’ll be fireworks, maybe leave the dogs at home.
The Florida Orchestra—Pops in the Park: Saturday, May 31. 7:30 p.m. No cover. River Tower Park, 401 E Bird St., Tampa. floridaorchestra.org—Josh Bradley
RAY ROA
Jug
Surreally shining
A play about Salvador Dalí’s possible gay lover closes this weekend in Tampa, but across the bridge, one artist continues to explore the fluidity of identity in the context of the surrealist icon. “I was inspired just as much by Dalí’s work as by his identity and presence in the art world, and the impression he left on me as the archetype of the eccentric artist,” Lauren YS, told reporters at the Dalí Museum last week. The Los Angeles artist is one of 13 painters from across the world who’ve transformed the temporary exhibit space at the museum into an indoor mural festival. YS’ work—curated by SHINE Mural Festival’s Allison McCarthy—lives next to trippy stuff from Naomi Haverland, an immersive Greg Mike, plus signature work from beloved locals like Nicole Salgar, Bask, Tes One, Chad Mize and Palehorse. McCarthy hosts a coffee talk on Wednesday, June 4, while Mize does a Pride-related talk next Thursday, June 5. Read more—and see photos of the “Outside In” murals in progress—via cltampa.com/slideshows.
‘Outside In: New Murals Inspired by Dalí’: On display through Oct. 26. Included with museum admission. Dalí Museum, 1 Dali Blvd., St. Petersburg. thedali.org—Ray Roa
Don’t blow it off
Hurricane season officially starts this week, but you still have time to get ready for the next big storm. The City of Madeira Beach, which was devastated by last year’s Hurricane Helene, hosts an expo to teach barrier island residents how to prep early and what to do right before, during and after a storm. The half-day includes expert guest speakers, emergency access passes, hurricane home improvement vendors and light bites. Plus, learn about sea turtle season and wildlife friendly lighting. Madeira Beach’s event isn’t the only one happening this weekend in Pinellas this weekend. St. Petersburg hosts a free Hurricane Preparedness Day expo where there’ll be a generator giveaway, storm supplies, sandbag demos, shots and microchips for lets, free food, and Bay News 9 meteorologists, too.
Hurricane Preparedness Expo: Saturday, May 31. 10 a.m.- 1p.m. No cover. Madeira Beach City Hall, 300 Municipal Drive. madeirabeachfl.gov—Selene San Felice
Meat me there
No one’s gonna judge you if you pack a cooler for this special edition night market. St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch will be on hand around 5:30 p.m. to help the city honor Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Welch, who plans on running for reelection next year, is familiar with the community and hosted a “Words With Welch” conversation with local AAPI leaders a year ago—and this event is a chance for the rest of the city to get acquainted and celebrate the culture, too. Expect food from every corner of the continent, plus pop music, traditional dances, and more. The park itself is slim and trim compared to other Sunshine City greenspaces, and parking is best found offsite at USF St. Pete, the garage behind the Mahaffey and Dalí museum, and even the SouthCore garage near Central Avenue N and 1st Street S (just hop on the trolley if the walk is too far).
HAAPI Asian Festival: Saturday, May 31. 3 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover. Albert Whitted Park, 480 Bayshore Dr. SE, St. Petersburg. @FridayNightStreetMarket on Facebook Ray Roa
THEATER ART CULTURE
Gay agenda
Celebrate Pride in big and small ways.
By Selene San Felice
Dunedin residents will be sporting rainbows and ridin’ birdie this weekend. The city’s yearly Golf Cart Parade on Friday, May 30 is just the beginning in a week of LGBTQ+ Pride events in the small town (and a full month of shindigs across the Bay area).
Starting at the lot on Virginia St and Orange Ave, dragged up golf carts will cruise from Mease Manor, down Main St with a special U-turn at Main and Broadway and end and park at TD Ballpark lot for the Dunedin Blue Jays Pride Night game.
All golf cart parade participants will get free tickets to the game against the Clearwater Threshers where the celebrations continue.
Pride isn’t just a parade. There’s lots of ways to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community all month across Tampa Bay, including drag shows, pet celebrations, faith-based gatherings, youth activities, comedy, cinema, roller derby and more.
Visit cltampa.com/arts to see even more big and small ways to celebrate around Tampa Bay. Don’t see your Pride event here? Please help our team out by submitting to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s user-submitted events calendar. Links to more information available via cltampa.com.
Talent Contest—happening the next day—will be available at the Dunedin Pet Supply table. Saturday, May 31, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. No cover. Dunedin Pet Supply, 1045 Main St., Dunedin. @ DunedinPetSupply on Facebook—Jani Burden Pride& Passion 2025: Timeless Tragedy
This “Romeo and Juliet”-themed gala includes Renaissance-inspired art and a performance from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star and fan of all things old, Suzie Toot. The Museum of Fine Art has been putting on the event for the last 18 years, to stand up for Tampa Bay community members who have been marginalized because of their ethnicity, race, gender identity or sexual orientation. All proceeds from the event directly support the Museum’s Art Space and Connections programs, which helps people struggling with mental health or trauma. Saturday, May 31, 8 p.m. $155. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa. tampamuseum.org—JB
A&E EVENTS
Puppy Pride No, the + in LGBTQ+ doesn’t stand for puppy. But that doesn’t mean pets can’t celebrate Pride, too. Dunedin Pet Supply hosts its sixth annual Puppy Pride Party to show off adoptable pooches and get people involved in the rescue community. Rita’s Italian Ice will have dessert for humans and frozen puppaccinos for the animals. St. Petersburg’s first no-kill shelter, Friends of Strays, will also have adoptable pups ready to play; the organization has helped thousands of animals get adopted in its 46 years. The store’s grooming station will be open so your pet can make the purrfect impression for their furry friends. Along with ulti-mutt sales all over the store, local craft and pet vendors will be on site. Dunedin Pet Supply will donate 10% of all sales on Pride merchandise in store to The Trevor Project—an organization that provides crisis services, advocacy and peer support for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Sign ups for Dunedin Pride’s Puppy Pride Costume &
Pride Dance Party The floor is hot pink at Deviant Libation, and that’s just the tip when it comes to how founder-brewerdistiller Tim Ogden has worked to carve out a truly inclusive space in Ybor Heights. This party finds selectors Jeremy Gloff (Dear Gloffy) and DJ Janky Shanks going until Ogden kicks them out. Sunday, June 1. 6 p.m. No cover. Deviant Libation, Tampa—Ray Roa
Suzie Toot at Cocktail’s Pride Kickoff No, it’s not a Kori King Cameo. The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 17 Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses showed her range from tap dancing 1920s flapper to sexy rock clown and lipsync assassin. After performing at Tampa Museum of Art’s Pride & Passion gala on May 31, Toot headlines the first of Cocktail’s Pride season events. The party starts with DJ sets and local talent, but don’t expect Miss Toot to come out until the wee hours of Monday morning Saturday, May 31. 7 p.m. No cover. Cocktail, St. Petersburg. cocktailstpete.com
Stan Baker: ‘Party Clown of the Rich and Famous’ The Human TV puts on an autobiographical solo show before a screening of “Gen Silent.” Baker tells his story of entertaining New York City elite while navigating the highs of the city’s party scene and lows of the HIV/AIDs crisis. The succeeding 70-minute documentary
follows the lives of six gay and trans seniors living in Boston in the early-2000s, who must choose whether to hide their sexuality to survive in the long-term health care system. The $50 price of admission includes libations and light bites from Pisces Sushi and rainbow cake. Tuesday, June 3. 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. $50. Scottish American Society, Dunedin. cm.dunedinfl.com
Shuffle with Pride St. Petersburg was once God’s waiting room, and Shuffleboard was once for old folks. Now, St. Pete and its token sport are both cool and gay. St. Petersburg
Shuffleboard Club—now St. Pete Shuffle after a slay rebrand—hosts a no cover benefit for PFLAG Safety Harbor with music, food and cocktails. All money raised from beverage sales, silent auctions, raffles, and donations goes to the organization supporting Pinellas County LGBTQ youth and their families. Shuffling is free for members, $10 for newbs. Courts are on a first come first serve basis. Friday, June 6. 7 p.m No cover. St. Pete Shuffle, St. Petersburg. @ platinumgroupstpete on Facebook continued on page 19
MOVIES
THAT’S MY DOG: Jeremy Gloff puts the glizzies down for his Pride DJ party.
DAVE DECKER
Gulfport Pride Gulfport’s gay, y’all, and the seaside town still recovering from back-to-back hurricanes knows how to party. This one raises funds for local nonprofits by tapping nearly 150 vendors and small businesses to turn two of the city’s main thoroughfares into a giant festival complete with two mainstages and a marching band. Saturday, June 7. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Beach and Shore Boulevards, Gulfport. gulfportprideflorida.com—RR
Polk Pride kickoff Small towns can be tough places to stage Pride events, but organizers in Polk County haven’t batted a single bejeweled eyelash as they stage their celebrations. Located at a popular music venue, this kickoff includes three queens and a king— Aquira Sherrington, Sadie T. Elise, Ja’Staria Rayen and Sky Lemay. Saturday, June 7. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. $15. Union Hall, Lakeland. @ PolkPrideFL on Facebook—RR
Silver Pride This IS your grandma’s pride celebration. Our LGBTQ+ seniors have aged like fine wine, and now it’s time for a poppin’ party.
Project Pride SRQ hosts a no cover community event with food trucks, live entertainment and a health care expo. Valet parking available. Saturday, June 7. Noon-5 p.m. No cover. Senior Friendship Center, Sarasota. ppsrq.org
Drag Queen Bingo at Mad Hatters Alexis De La Mer hosts this bingo benefiting Project No Labels, a nonprofit providing free or discounted therapy to LGBTQ+ Florida residents. Sessions are available state-wide via telehealth or in person at Cypress Wellness Center in St. Petersburg. A $10 donation gets you 10 games with chances to win gift cards, swag and more. Mad Hatters is a kava bar, so expect a trippy Alice and Wonderland vibe with no alcohol. Wednesday, June 11. 9 p.m.-11 p.m. Donations suggested. Mad Hatters Kava Bar, St. Petersburg. @ProjectNoLabels on Facebook
Neon Jungle White Party Sarasota doesn’t have a Pride Parade, but two organizations make sure the south Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ community feels the love. A little more intense than the aforementioned Sliver Pride and grittier than the Grand Carnival gala from Project Pride SRQ, this party is the first of two Sarasota Out “Big Gay Weekend” events. The dress code is sexy and chic, bright whites or neon colors. There’s no mention of blacklights in the event but you may want to make sure there’s no hidden surprises in your outfit just in case. Friday, June 13. 10 p.m. Soldout. Rose & Ivy, Sarasota. biggayweekend.com
Polk Pride after Dark: Denali The ice skating queen of “Drag Race” and competitor in the current All Stars season glides into Lakeland. The Polk Pride grand finale at the indoor and outdoor venue includes performances from Kathryn Nevets, De DeLovely and Olivia Rae Taylor. It’s $29 to get in and $75 for admission and a meet and greet. Saturday, June 14. 9 p.m. $29-$75. Union Hall, Lakeland. polkpridefl.org
Juneteenth, Pride, Freedom Take a break from the partying and soak in some knowledge courtesy of the Sulphur Springs Museum. University of South Florida associate professor David Ponton gives a talk celebrating the history of diverse lives and loves of Black people through slavery and beyond. Sunday, June 15. 2 p.m.3:30 p.m. No cover. Man-Wagnon Memorial Park, Tampa. @SulphurSpringsMuseum on Facebook Transtastic As Orville Peck and Willie Nelson once said, “Inside every lady, there’s a cowboy who’d love to come out. And inside every cowboy, there’s a lady who’d love to slip out.”
Tampa Bay’s rootin’ tootin’ western art museum hosts this intimate celebration of St. Pete’s trans and nonbinary folks. All ages and folks are welcome to enjoy live (uncensored) performances by local artists and a cash bar. Wednesday, June 18. 6 p.m. $10-$40. James Museum of Wildlife and Western Art, St. Petersburg. stpetepride.org
Rhythms of Pride: Latin LGBTQ+ Pride Night Cynthia Lee Fontaine brings her CUCU to The Wet Spot for a celebration of queer Latin culture. Start the night with a Latin dance workshop at 7 p.m. before the celebration featuring Karen’s Hora Loca and local Latin American drag entertainers. Then it’s time for the Puerto Rican All Stars to shine. Thursday, June 19. 7 p.m.-11 p.m. No cover. The Wet Spot Pool Bar & Day Club. 2355 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. cocktailstpete.com/pride-2025
Womyn in Comedy Chaunté Wayans the famous brothers’ niece, but her comedy stands up on its own. After growing up on the “poor side” of the famous family, she was estranged from her uncle Marlan after they got in a pre-show argument and he farted on her. But they’ve since
cleared the air, and she’s made her own big, gay name for herself. She headlines this show with the hilarious Paris Sashay. Saturday, June 21. 7 p.m.-10 p.m. $20-$50. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. stpetepride.org
Pride Brunch: Jewels Sparkles Tampa drag queen Jewels Sparkles made the Bay proud last month when she placed second in the season 17 finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Now, she’s back home to serve up some Leche at a rooftop drag brunch. Saturday, June 22. 11 a.m. $100. Azure at Tampa Edition, Tampa. opentable.com
Serving Pride Drag Brunch There are too seatings for anyone hoping to break bread (and cure hangovers) with Tampa Bay’s very own Brianna Summers. Entry to the family-style feast is 21-and-up and includes bottomless mimosas, sangria and swag. Proceeds from the show also featuring Dorae Saunders, The Lady Janet and Sky Lemay benefit EPIC (Empath Partners in Care), a nonprofit that provides comprehensive, wrap-around services for people living with HIV throughout Tampa Bay. Sunday, June 22. 10 a.m. & 1 p.m. $75. Red Mesa Cantina, St. Petersburg. redmesacantina.com—RR
A&E EVENTS
Festivities start along the downtown waterfront at 2 p.m. but marching won’t happen until a few hours later. The Trans March starts at 5 p.m. from Vinoy Park to Albert Whitted Park. There, around 6 p.m., the massive Pride parade travels along Bayshore Drive back to Vinoy with music, freebies, and tons of rainbows. The event is te chnically pet-friendly, but it’ll be crowded and hot AF. Stay as cool and hydrated as you are proud. Free parking and shuttles will be available from St. Petersburg High School and Tropicana Field lots 6 and 7 from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, June 28. 2 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover. Bayshore Drive, St. Petersburg. stpetepride.org Rocky Horror Pride Extravaganza If you were on the fence about being gay before watching “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the cult classic definitely made things more clear. To cap off a sweaty day at the parade, Hell on Heels takes over downtown St. Pete’s indie coffee house for a double screening where all the props, call backs, and beer, will flow. Saturday, June 28. 8 p.m. & 11 p.m. $15. Green Light Cinema, St. Petersburg. hellonheelsrhps.com—RR
Willam Live! The “Drag Race” season four star and host of the “Race Chaser” podcast is Cocktail’s first Loud & Proud headliner for Pride 2025. The no cover 21-and-up show starts with local talent at 8 p.m. But you know it’ll be a late night. Thursday, June 26. 8 p.m. No cover. The Wet Spot Pool Bar & Day Club. 2355 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. cocktailstpete.com/pride-2025
St. Pete Pride Trans March and Parade Florida’s biggest Pride celebration is finally here.
Aja at St. Pete Pride’s Sunday Street Fair While “Drag Race” star Aja, who joins Denali on All Stars 10, she also headlines Mari Jean’s Cocked ‘N Loaded mainstage for St. Pete Pride. The no cover all ages street show starts at noon with local talent on the 2300 block of Central Avenue. It’s the heart of the Sunday Street Fair, with street performers, vendors, and freebies from hundreds of local organizations. Sunday, June 29. Noon-5 p.m. No cover. Mari Jean, St. Petersburg. stpetepride.org
SMILES & SUNSHINE: The largest Pride parade in the Southeast takes over St. Pete in June.
DAVE DECKER
Weekday Lunch
Served Tuesday - Friday from 11am Select $5 Cocktails 11am - 4pm
“Political climate be damned, we’re going to keep showing our Pride.”
Small town, big Pride
Tampa Bay communities do more with less for LGBTQ+ residents.
By Selene San Felice
Some of the nation’s biggest LGBTQ+ Pride events have reported big corporate sponsors backing out this year for fear of President Trump’s anti-DEI agenda. Tampa Bay Pride organizations have learned that small communities aren’t immune to those losses. But they’re still celebrating love and progress in big ways.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay talked to three local organizations about the ups and downs of planning small but mighty queer joy celebrations. Oh, and if you’re wondering about Pasco Pride, the date for its big event this fall will be announced soon.
Dunedin is a bit of a paradox. Conservative townies and Toronto snowbirds alike saddle up to its breweries. And Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hometown elected its first openly gay mayor last year. Mayor Maureen “Moe” Freaney raises the rainbow flag at City Hall in a ceremony this weekend.
The city’s chamber of commerce leads its third-annual Pride week at the start of June, which has only gotten bigger since the chamber took it over from a third party last year. More than 150 dragged-up golf carts are expected to roll through Main Street for its first event on May 30 leading into the Dunedin Blue Jays’ Pride Night game (more on p. XX).
But events director Janette Donoghue told CL that a big corporate sponsor dropped out this year, and two other corporations are still contributing but had their names pulled.
“It’s been challenging,” Donoghue said. “I’m not gonna lie, this year has been completely different than past years.”
Still, the city’s lifeblood—its local businesses—made up for the losses.
“They’re loud and proud to be a part of it,” Donoghue said. “They want their name out there and say, ‘If people don’t like it they don’t have to come to my store.’”
The city is prepared for physical threats after an anti-LGBTQ+ protester stood outside City Hall with a blowhorn last year. After Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016 and homophobic protesters showing up at local Pride events over the years, the city has cops securing all its events—including a celebration for kids and pets in Pioneer Park.
“I never thought I would have to have sheriff’s officers and undercover officers at a family
park event,” Donoghue said. “But it’s required because of our political climate. … So we’re preparing for everything.”
In the end, the stress is all worth it, Donoghue said, adding, “Our hope is that one day everybody can be accepted and treated equally. That’s what it’s all about. We are a city that is welcoming to everyone.”
Sarasota isn’t a small town. But it is largely conservative. With no main Pride parade, two organizations fill in the gaps each year. Sarasota Out and Project Pride SRQ (PPSRQ) each host two events this month, and the latter has its biggest celebration, Gulf Coast Pride, in October.
The first of them is PPSRQ’s annual Grand Carnival gala, themed “Palm Royale” this year, on May 31. The six-year-old nonprofit then hosts Silver Pride on Saturday, June 7, celebrating Tampa Bay’s queer elders with a community event and health care expo.
Justyn Hunter-Ceruti, who steps up as the nonprofit’s president on June 1, told CL that its corporate sponsorships also scaled back this year.
“Some of our partners in the community that work at some organizations, they’re getting mixed signals from folks above them on what they can and cannot do,” he said. “So we have seen a little bit of an impact, although, by and large, we still have a large group of people that do support us.”
Despite Trump’s anti-DEI mission, Sarasota County and City officials haven’t withdrawn their support for Pride. The city still flies PPSRQ’s name and flag on downtown street banners.
This year, the nonprofit launched “Diverse perspectives,” a monthly panel open to all. The interfaith Community Day School hosts the next event on June 26, focused on LGBTQ+ inclusive education.
events under the theme “InTENtionally Proud.” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Denali makes an appearance at its Pride After Dark after a week of celebrations.
Board member Dustin Shay told CL that beyond partying, the week is meant to connect Polk residents with LGBTQ+ friendly organizations that will support them year-round. Its Pride in Faith event brings together multiple religious centers at Beacon Hill Fellowship in Lakeland. The Lakeland Youth Alliance, a safe-space organization for LGBTQ+ youth and allies, co-hosts its Youth in Pride event.
LOCAL NEWS
“We’re a small town organization, but our voice is heard throughout the Tampa Bay region,” HunterCeruti said.
Ten years ago, a group of friends in Polk County wanted to celebrate Pride with a picnic. They didn’t expect the conservative area to put on a parade, but they also didn’t expect how many people also wanted a celebration. Through word of mouth, that informal picnic turned into a gathering of about 1,000 LGBTQ+ residents, marking the first Polk Pride.
Now, the formally organized group is celebrating its decade of advocacy with a week of
Shay said Polk Pride’s sponsorship has increased each year, and if sponsors have dropped, they haven’t given a political reason.
“Where some people pull back, other people ramp up,” Shay said. “We’ve seen some organizations give more this year than they have in the past. So, yeah, we might lose some somewhere, but I think we make up for it with the allies and the sponsors who double down.”
The organization doesn’t take for granted that a largely Republican City Commission has granted its permits and that the Lakeland Police Department is providing security.
“Political climate be damned, we‘re going to keep showing our Pride.”
JENNIFER
RIDIN’ BIRDIE: Dunedin Pride gets the party started this weekend.
WHERE TAMPA COMES TO
“The Constitution demands specificity when the state restricts speech.”
Drag on
Feds uphold block on Florida law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows.
By Jim Saunders/News Service of Florida
Describing the law as “substantially overbroad,” a federal appeals court on May 13 upheld a preliminary injunction blocking a 2023 Florida law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows.
A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, backed the Central Florida venue Hamburger Mary’s in a First Amendment challenge to the law. The state appealed in 2023 after U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell issued a preliminary injunction. Tuesday’s majority opinion said that “by providing only vague guidance as to which performances it prohibits, the act (the law) wields a shotgun when the First Amendment allows a scalpel at most.”
“The Constitution demands specificity when the state restricts speech,” said the 81-page majority opinion, written by Judge Robin Rosenbaum and joined by Judge Nancy Abudu. “Requiring clarity in speech regulations shields us from the whims of government censors. And the need for clarity is especially strong when the government takes the legally potent step of labeling speech ‘obscene.’ An ‘I know it when I see it’ test would unconstitutionally empower those
who would limit speech to arbitrarily enforce the law. But the First Amendment empowers speakers instead. Yet Florida’s Senate Bill 1438 (the law) takes an ‘I know it when I see it’ approach to regulating expression.”
But Judge Gerald Tjoflat, in a 45-page dissent, said the majority “reads the statute in the broadest possible way, maximizes constitutional conflict and strikes the law down wholesale.” He argued that the federal court should have sent the case to the Florida Supreme Court for help in interpreting the law—a step known as “certifying” a question to the state court.
It defines adult live performances as “any show, exhibition, or other presentation that is performed in front of a live audience, which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or specific sexual activities, … lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”
It would allow regulators to suspend or revoke licenses of restaurants, bars and other venues that violate the law. Also, it would prohibit local governments from issuing public permits for events that could expose children to the targeted behavior.
FLORIDA NEWS
“Instead, the majority sidesteps the very tools our system provides—tools designed to respect state authority, foster comity, and avoid unnecessary constitutional rulings,” Tjoflat wrote. “By casting aside those safeguards, today’s decision stretches this court beyond its proper role and departs from the humility and restraint that federal courts owe when state law is in question.”
The law, dubbed by sponsors the “Protection of Children” bill, sought to prevent venues from admitting children to adult live performances.
While the law does not specifically mention drag shows, it came after Gov. Ron DeSantis’administration cracked down on venues in South Florida and Central Florida where children attended drag shows. It also came amid a series of controversial laws passed by Republicans in Florida and other states about transgender-related issues.
This month’s majority opinion focused, in part, on the use of the words “lewd conduct” in the law. It said the term is overbroad and that Rosenbaum and Abudu “understand the act’s prohibition on depictions of lewd conduct to reach speech that is constitutionally protected, even as to minors.”
“The result is that venues like Hamburger Mary’s are prone to restrict minors from consuming speech that they are within their constitutional rights to access,” the majority opinion said. “Not
only that, but the act’s sweep risks indirectly squelching adults’ access to nonobscene speech.”
Tjoflat, however, wrote that the law’s “enumeration of terms is not perfectly sorted by specificity, but its ordering still lends credence to the idea that ‘lewd conduct’ was intended merely as a catchall phrase, rather than a significant expansion of the statute’s scope.”
“Simply put, the question before us is not whether (the law) is stylishly and elegantly written,” Tjoflat wrote. “The question is whether the statute violates the Constitution, and our review requires us to engage with the statutory text, as written, in good faith and with the presumption that the Legislature did not intend to infringe on constitutional rights. By applying the aforementioned principles and reading the statute harmoniously, we can and should conclude that the statute reaches only speech that would be considered obscene (under a U.S. Supreme Court precedent).”
Hamburger Mary’s was located in Orlando at the time it filed the lawsuit but later announced plans to move to Kissimmee. It said in 2023 that it had run “family friendly” drag shows for 15 years.
May 13’s majority opinion said the fact that Hamburger Mary’s left the Orlando location after filing the challenge did not make the lawsuit moot. It said in “cases involving businesses that pause operations but may resume them, courts take a common-sense approach to evaluating mootness.”
QUITE CONTRARY: The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed Hamburger Mary’s in a First Amendment challenge.
Proud, and loud
Meet the gay people protesting St. Pete Pride.
By Valerie Smith/Sapphic Sun
Not every Pride protester is a homophobe with a megaphone and a cardboard sign reading “REPENT.” This year, a large contingent of protesters of St. Pete Pride will be gay and transgender individuals who believe the event has strayed from Pride’s roots by partnering with the police, weapons manufacturers, and businesses who—according to dissidents—don’t represent the progressive values historically associated with the Pride movement.
People’s Pride Coalition (PPC) consists of local organizations, including Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Justice Advocacy Network, the Tampa Democratic Socialists of America, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization of Tampa. PPC formed in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s ensuing attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
create a coalition within the LGBTQ+ community, with a mission to “return Pride to its roots” as a celebration of resistance against oppression.
The first Pride parade occurred to commemorate 1969 riots against the police following a raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City.
in a 2011 op-ed as “a deliberate strategy to conceal the continuing violations of Palestinians’ human rights behind an image of modernity signified by Israeli gay life.” Now, the term is applied to any company that publicly supports LGBTQ+ rights to gain the favor of progressives while engaging in unethical practices such as rent gouging or war profiteering.
COLUMN
V, an organizer with PPC, says that Israel’s abhorrent treatment of Palestinians led many people to learn more about the ties between Israel and their own communities. It also led people to boycott companies they deemed complicit in the violence, and to protest U.S. support for the Israeli military. V and other activists seized this momentum to
For many years, Pride largely represented being proud of one’s identity in defiance of an oppressive society and government. Pride’s meaning was often intertwined with solidarity for broader progressive and antifascist views, including anti-apartheid and anti-nuclear-weapon sentiments. As gay and trans people gained more social and legal acceptance, Pride celebrations became more widely respected, and corporations began to view Pride as an advertising opportunity. According to PPC, Pride should not just be a corporatized event, but should also be a protest— not just for gay and trans liberation, but for the liberation of all people.
PPC says that while St. Pete Pride attempts to modernize each year, including recent efforts to boost racial diversity and inclusion of trans and nonbinary people, they still partner with organizations who engage in “pinkwashing.” Gay activist Sarah Schulman defined pinkwashing
V asks: “When there are weapons manufacturers that are sending money to fund Pride, we have to be thinking: is this something that we want queerness to be represented by? If a bomb drops and it’s rainbow colored, is it still a bomb?”
PPC had a meeting with several St. Pete Pride board members last July and presented them with a list of demands. This included a “naughty list” of Pride partners who they say fail to uphold Pride’s historical role as a radical and progressive movement. One such sponsor on the list is GE Aerospace, one of the world’s largest military contractors, who manufactures parts to be used in weapons worldwide.
Florida aquifers. In 2021, a leak at another site posed a flood threat to local communities, so 215 million gallons of wastewater were released into Tampa Bay. Recently, Mosaic has proposed injecting its wastewater thousands of feet underground beneath aquifers, receiving legal challenges from environmentalist groups. PPC says that participation from companies such as these distances Pride from its history as a march against oppression.
“If a bomb drops and it’s rainbow colored, is it still a bomb?”
PPC also doesn’t want the police at the parade. They say police presence makes members of the community feel unsafe, particularly Black trans people who, per the ACLU, are most likely to experience physical force by the police among all LGBTQ+ people. Now that the St. Pete Police Department has partnered with ICE through the 287(g) program, PPC worries that immigrants will be discouraged from attending the parade.
The company provided engines for Israel’s F-16 fighter jets, which were used in 2021 to bomb residential buildings in Gaza along with Al Jazeera and Associated Press offices. St. Pete Pride also partners with Mosaic, a Fortune 500 fertilizer company operating phosphate mines across Florida. In 2016, a sinkhole formed under one of Mosaic’s mining operations causing 200 million gallons of contaminated wastewater to be released into
“I wouldn’t blame any immigrant for not coming to Pride if there’s a police presence,” says V, “but then they can’t celebrate who they are. There is no joy. There is no resilience. There is no connecting with the community, … and that’s the whole purpose of Pride.”
Other demands from PPC include that St. Pete Pride commit to boycotting all products that fund or support genocide, and that Pride leadership be educated on pinkwashing. St. Pete Pride reportedly told PPC that they would make
continued on page 39
ICKLED PINK: PPC says that St. Pete Pride still partners with organizations who engage in ‘pinkwashing.’
DAVE DECKER
an attempt to meet the latter of these demands with a presentation to board members. St. Pete Pride did not follow up to confirm whether this presentation ever took place.
PPC says their goal is not to protest Pride as a whole, but to encourage St. Pete Pride to better represent Pride’s history. PPC is attempting to work directly with St. Pete Pride to demonstrate how they can meet these demands. For example, law often requires a contract with the St. Petersburg Police Department for an event that involves road closures or alcohol consumption, but PPC says that they’d like for St. Pete Pride to explore whether or not they could skirt this restriction by holding the event on unincorporated territory without alcohol. PPC also suggests relying entirely on private security rather than contracting with the police. PPC says that this year’s focus is on illustrating the ways in which their demands are achievable to show that they are driven by more than just idealism.
Pride Coalition, and look forward to more ongoing discussions with their team.”
COLUMN
Byron Green-Calisch, board president of St. Pete Pride, issued the following statement to The Sapphic Sun:
“Let’s set the record straight—we have never and will never work with ICE agents. It is completely antithetical to the very core of our mission. For 22 years, our primary commitment is and has always been to ensure safety and enjoyment of our community and all participants involved at our Pride events. For the last five years, as our Pride celebrations have grown, the City of St. Petersburg has graciously partnered with us in order to provide ample space and security for St Pete Pride’s 500,000+ attendees annually. This year will be no different. … We are honored to have mission-aligned sponsors who invest, volunteer, and support our robust LGBTQIA2S+ communities who gather here from across the Southeast region. We have also been in active and productive communication with the People’s
While Green-Calisch says that St. Pete Pride will never work with ICE agents, he did not comment on the St. Petersburg Police Department’s partnership with ICE through the 287(g) program. Green-Calisch also says that St. Pete Pride’s sponsors are “mission-aligned.” He does not address any concerns about unethical practices by some of these sponsors, and does not clarify how the sponsors are aligned with St. Pete Pride’s mission statement, which reads: “To strengthen St. Petersburg’s legacy of inclusion and diversity, providing a safe space for the education, self-exploration, and celebration of our LGBTQIA+ community and allies. By championing equity and representation, we aim to create an open and compassionate community where people are empowered to thrive. No matter who they are.”
While St. Pete Pride declined to provide The Sapphic Sun with reasons why they have not accommodated PPC’s demands for eliminating police presence and dropping sponsors, PPC remains committed to pushing for a more progressive Pride.
“We’re aware as a coalition that we are playing the long game, and that doesn’t deter us,” V says. “The immediate gratification of getting all of our demands met in a year is probably unrealistic, because there’s so much change that needs to happen on St. Pete Pride’s end.”
They also say their demands will continue to evolve with the landscape; this year they added a demand that St. Pete Pride ban ICE and DHS presence from its events.
“We’re gonna add more and more demands the more and more that we see Pride diverging from its roots as an uprising, as a tool for liberation for queer people.”
This post first appeared in the June edition of the Sapphic Sun.
NOMINATE
BAD BOYS: PPC says police presence makes members of the community feel unsafe.
A milli
A
new public transit tax could be on the way, and this Tampa group is ready to plan next steps.
By Ray Roa
At its May 5 meeting, the board of Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) voted to amend its charter and clear the way for residents of the county to tax themselves to boost resources for public transit.
The next step is for the board to ratify a millage increase from a half-mill to a fullmill—aka from 50 cents per $1,000 assessed property value, to $1 per $1,000. If that happens, voters could decide on the referendum on the November 2026 ballot.
A new community group, Transit Now Tampa Bay (TNTB), pointed out that the millage has not increased since 1979. Without new funding, TNTB and HART staffers warned, the transit agency could face another round of drastic funding cuts resulting in service changes, layoffs and more.
faiths, all languages—it really is like America is on that bus,” she told the HART board. “If citizens are the lifeblood of this great county that we live in, the buses are the veins.”
After the vote to amend the HART charter passed, board chair and Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera was heard uttering, “I’ll be damned.”
In a text to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Viera said he was proud to support the effort, and lauded the efforts of Temple Terrace Councilman Gil Schisler, even as political dynamics have changed in the last six years.
LOCAL NEWS
Transit Now Tampa Bay coalition meeting Thursday, May 29. 7 p.m. Virtual @TransitNowTampa on Facebook
HART’s lack of funding was something brought up by Melissa Zornitta, Executive Director of the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, during this morning’s State of Tampa’s Downtown Forum—and it was referenced over and over again during public comment at the May 5 meeting.
Dr. Neil Manimala, a physician, told the board that he serves eastern and southern Hillsborough, a fast growing part of the county.
Patients of his have missed appointments not because they didn’t care, but because a bus did not come on time.
“Not only is the need still there, but it has gotten more acute in a post-Covid Florida,” Viera added. “Sometimes you have to take a stand and give people a choice on the direction that we can go as a community. But you gotta take a stand.”
After the vote, Dayna Lazarus, a longtime transit activist and organizer of the new TNTB group told CL the community wants functional public transit and that her organization will continue to rally so that people’s voices can be heard.
“This isn’t just about a bus. It’s about who counts and who gets left waiting.”
“I’ve heard of families in Wimauma walking half-a-mile to a stop only to miss the bus by one minute and wait another hour in the heat. In that hour, what’s lost? Sometimes a job, sometimes a diagnosis, but it’s always a lost opportunity for a chance to move forward,” he said. “This isn’t just about a bus. It’s about who counts and who gets left waiting.”
Jade Scott did not plan on speaking at the meeting, but took the microphone during public comment to share three main reasons she loves the bus: the independence it gives her and her neighbors, how it gives her an opportunity to engage with the community, and because she hates traffic.
“Being on the bus, it really is a mix of people from all class systems, all values, all
“I appreciate the HART Board for doing their duty by updating this ancient funding mechanism policy in their charter,” Lazarus wrote in a text message, while acknowledging that there’s still a long road to get a millage increase on the ballot, and that there’s a lot to worry about.
“Of course we’re concerned but we have no choice,” she added. “We’re not going to sit back and let HART die.”
If the HART millage does make the November 2026 ballot, it has hope for passage. In 2018, Hillsborough County voted to implement a 1% sales tax that collected $589 million before being deemed unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court three years later.
Next steps will be discussed during Transit Now Tampa Bay’s next meeting, happening virtually on Thursday, May 29. Also on the agenda for the open-invite meeting are short term goals for the group, updates on Tampa’s now-free-to-ride route one bus, and upcoming events.
STOP: There’s a long road to get a new transit tax on the 2026 ballot.
Tread carefully
League of Cities briefs local officials on new hurricane-response legislation.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Local government officials are attempting to come to terms with recent legislation (SB 180) intended to make sure they are better prepared to handle the aftermath of a major storm or hurricane.
Pinellas County Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie sponsored the measure. He said it was “personal” for him, having observed homeowners’ frustrations dealing with their local governments in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Helene and Milton last fall.
After the Senate initially passed the bill last month, he issued a statement saying that, following a major storm, citizens need a “clear path to recovery, not roadblocks.”
“When local bureaucracy overshadows the needs of citizens, Floridians are left picking up the pieces,” he said. “We’re fighting for families to focus on rebuilding without additional delays or burdens, especially for those who sustained damage or lost their homes. Working with our state and local responders, we can streamline restoration efforts and improve emergency response coordination, fortifying and strengthening our communities before the next storm.”
The bill contains more than a dozen provisions affecting everything to do with emergency
management preparedness and response, as described during a Zoom conference call last Thursday organized by the Florida League of Cities,
Perhaps most controversially for local governments is that it prohibits a county or a city located entirely or partially within 100 miles of a hurricane’s track from proposing or adopting moratoriums on construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of any property.
It also prohibits adopting a “more restrictive or burdensome amendment” or “burdensome procedure” to their comprehensive plans or land development regulations concerning review, approval, or issuance of a site plan, development permit, or development order until Oct. 1, 2027, applied retroactively to Aug. 1, 2024.
“You may be asking what is ‘burdensome’ and what is ‘more restrictive?’ said Matt Singer with the League, who cited a lack of a clear definition as the reason the League opposed the measure.
‘A lot of legal uncertainty’
The bill allows for a “cause of action,” meaning citizens and/or business owners would be able to challenge any local update on the ground that it is burdensome or more restrictive to them.
“And so it’s really, really important that you check this language and see if any of your local updates that have already been made would be affected, and whether there’s any liability created there,” Singer said.
“As a result of that, there’s a lot of legal uncertainty,” he said, adding that the League worked closely with DiCeglie and the House bill (HB 1535) sponsor, Sarasota Republican Fiona McFarland, to have that provision removed, but it was ultimately placed back in the House bill.
That provision is already drawing attention from local lawmakers who say that it could prevent them from making changes to prevent future flooding from storms.
and provide multiple locations offering building permit services.
ENVIRONMENT
“It affects every county and every city in the state that you can’t control the way that you’re developing and the way that you’re managing your own land,” Volusia County Commission Chairman Jeff Brower told WESH-TV in Orlando this week. “And local governments should be doing that.”
Special procedures
The bill requires local governments to develop post-storm permitting plans to expedite recovery and rebuilding by providing for special building permitting and inspection procedures following a hurricane or tropical storm. Plans must include adequate staffing for building inspection, permitting, and enforcement
The measure says that local governments participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) may not adopt what is known as a “lookback” period. That means any work completed on a house within a specified period (which can be as long as 5+ years) when determining what counts towards FEMA’s 50% rule. The NFIP’s 50% Rule states that repairs made to a home in a designated flood zone cannot exceed 50% of the home’s market value unless the entire structure is brought into full compliance with current flood regulations. Singer did tell members of the League that “there are positive things in this bill,” specifically a $5,000 penalty for breach of contract for goods and services during a storm.
“This is in response to some local perspectives that we were able to share with the legislators where cities have had contracts in place with debris removal, and contractors unfortunately just no-show, no-call, and go to another place where they can get some more money,” he said.
“The bottom line here is that Senate bill 180 would reshape many aspects to municipal emergency response across the board, and it imposes a lot of new planning and publication duties,” Singer added.
The measure has yet to be sent to Gov. DeSantis desk.
“There’s a lot of legal uncertainty.”
MURKY WATERS: Flooding in Zephyrhills, Florida in October 2024.
explorers... Spaniards emigrated to the United centuries? “Invisible Immigrants. exhibition that has been touring Tampa Bay History Center. Using and archives, the exhibition tells American saga of immigration.
Bear down
Despite pushback, FWC moves closer to allowing Florida’s first bear hunt since 2015.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) gave preliminary approval on May 21 for the first bear hunt in Florida in nearly a decade, to take place later this year. Commissioners will return for a final vote in August.
Their decision followed several hours of comments both for and against the FWC’s proposed rules for a 23-day bear hunt, tentatively proposed to take place in December, plus annual hunts from October through December beginning in 2026.
There hasn’t been a bear hunt in Florida since 2015, when a scheduled week-long hunt was shut down in just 48 hours after more than 300 bears were killed. That’s also the last year that FWC counted the bear population, which it estimated at approximately 4,050 bears statewide.
In justifying the need for a hunt, the agency has said that since that 2015 count, they believe that the four largest subpopulations of bears have grown annually and no subpopulations have shown evidence of decline.
The FWC’s plan is to remove 187 bears from four “Bear hunting zones”: 68 in the East Panhandle area; 46 in the North; 18 in Central Florida; and 55 in the South hunting area. As of now, the plan calls for the permits to be issued through a random drawing and they would cost $100 for a Florida resident and $300 for those from out of state. The applications for those permits would cost $5.
‘Gun-toting individuals’
That was the backdrop of Wednesday’s meeting, held at FWC’s headquarters in Ocala, where the public was limited to just one minute due to the large number of people who signed up for public comment.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods supports the hunt. He said that in the past nine months there have been 107 reported interactions between bears and human beings in his county but that he believes there were at least three times as many, or at least 300 humanbear interactions.
The elimination of black bears should be regulated, Woods said, adding of his residents that “they’re gun-toting individuals, and I love them for it. They will protect their selves. They will protect their property. And they will have my support.”
“Emotions don’t drive wildlife policy. Science does,” said Travis Thompson, executive director of the conservation group All Florida. “It’s time to have a bear hunt.”
Thompson’s comments that the decision by the FWC was based on science and not emotions was a common theme among those who supported a bear hunt.
“What we need to do is follow the science. It’s that simple,” said Thomas Van Note, with the South Florida chapter of Safari Club International, who added that through his Ring door camera he now sees bears on a regular basis at his home in Ocala.
“I do agree that science should drive actions, ” said Gina Camilleri. “The data that you are using for a data-based decision is over 10 years old. My question—why hasn’t that data been updated in time for a proposed hunt?”
“This is a trophy hunt and there is no good reason to hold it,” said Megan Sorbo. “The proposal for this bear hunt is unethical and unpopular. Hunting does not regulate bear-human interactions. The answer to this problem is reducing attractants in human areas. There is no scientific backing to this suggested trophy hunt. It is rooted in emotion and the desire to hunt.”
ENVIRONMENT
“This is getting to the point where something needs to be done. Science-based hunting is the answer,” he asserted. “This isn’t a political issue, this is a science issue, and we need to follow the science.”
Elizabeth Bland, Florida chapter president of American Daughters of Conservation, disputed the notion that bear hunters are unethical. “We are not evil, vile monsters that some may portray us to be. We genuinely want the habitat, and the species sustain and thrive.”
‘Trophy hunt’
Critics assailed the proposal, arguing that in fact the science isn’t settled.
Another opponent was Diamond Bergeron, daughter of “Alligator” Ron Bergeron, who served two terms as an FWC Commissioner. Although she is a hunter herself, she might be able to support the plan if it were “clearly grounded in science and demonstrated to be in the best long-term interest of the bear and our ecosystem. This is a comment about rushing a premature decision,” she said, adding that “much of the data appears outdated and incomplete.”
Bobbie Lee Davenport from Collier County said there are “thousands” of people like herself living in a “bear habitat” and that the real issue is a lack of sufficient trash receptacles. “The problem is with trash, that’s why the bears are coming.”
The idea of a bear hunt is not popular with the public. In a survey conducted by the FWC by UCF that was displayed on Wednesday of more than 13,000 self-selected participants, 75%
opposed the proposal, with just 23% in support.
Other polls, such as a Remington Research survey commissioned by the Humane World for Animals showed that 81% of Florida residents opposed the reopening of a bear-hunting season.
The FWC ultimately voted, 4-1, to support what was labelled as “Alternative 2,” which includes the option of allowing bear hunting with dogs and the taking of bears at game feeding stations, where food is displayed to attract the animal.
Morgan Richardson, FWC’s director for hunting and game management, said that when a bear comes to a feeding station, hunters can judge the size of the bear. He noted that most female bears weigh 250 pounds or less, while most males weigh more than that.
“When they’re at the feeder, hunters can see them for an extended period of time and judge their size, and they’re less likely to take females—particularly less likely to take females with cubs—because they would see the cubs with her. So it’s a more selected method.”
The vote came less than two weeks after the FWC confirmed the first Florida black bear fatal attack of a human being in state history. The death involved an 89-year-old man in a rural area east of Naples, just south of the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, according to WESH-TV.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
Go inside
DeSantis quietly signs proposal barring golf courses, hotels in state parks.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Gov. Ron DeSantis last Thursday signed a bill born out of the backlash against his administration’s plan last summer to build golf courses, hotels, and pickleball courts at nine state parks.
The Legislature unanimously approved HB 209, which prohibits construction of specified sporting facilities and public lodgings in state parks, such as golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball courts, and ball fields.
Southeast Republican Rep. John Snyder pitched the proposal following backlash and protests from Republicans and Democrats alike, who opposed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s leaked plan to build such facilities.
While state officials dropped the plan, DeSantis tried to distance himself from it. He also told reporters during a press conference on May 7 that he would sign the bill. The governor’s office announced his approval of the bill among a list of 17 bills DeSantis signed on May 22.
need to get done is really unwinding the red flag laws in our state,” Donalds said.
“When I was in the Legislature, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas bill came through the Legislature. I was a freshman at that time and I opposed that legislation. And I opposed it because I thought that red flag laws really did take away your Fifth Amendment rights as a citizen, and I also felt that there should not be a two-tier system for adults between the ages of 18 and 21.
“I felt that was wrong then, and I still feel that way, so I would tell you that making sure that those two provisions—those constitutional rights are actually restored will probably be job one.”
STATE NEWS
“What began as the so-called ‘Great Outdoors Initiative’ to develop our parks has ended in a landmark law ensuring they are protected forever. This achievement is nothing short of historic,” Florida’s chapter of the Sierra Club posted on Facebook.
The new law requires the state to announce public hearings regarding projects in state parks 30 days in advance. The department had scheduled meetings to gather public feedback on the same date and time across the nine state parks, prompting further outrage and causing the postponement of those meetings.
Byron Donalds says he supports repealing Florida’s red-flag law
Byron Donalds says “job one” for him if elected governor of Florida next year would be the repeal two provisions of the gun-safety package passed by the Florida Legislature following the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
However, so does Ron DeSantis, and the two measures in question—the state’s “red-flag” law and the ban on individuals under the age of 21 from purchasing a long gun—very much remain the law of the land in Florida.
Donalds appeared last Thursday on the “Bob Rose Show” in Gainesville, where he was asked if he would push for Florida to legalize the open carrying of firearms, another idea the governor has said he supports but which the Legislature has not enacted. “I would support and push for that, but I think that the bigger thing that we
Formally known as risk-protection orders, the red flag law allows courts to order someone to surrender their firearms if they pose a threat to themselves or others. Former Panhandle Republican Joel Rudman filed a measure to repeal that law late last year, but he resigned to run for Congress in January, and his legislation was never picked up by any of his colleagues during this session.
Owners of ‘dangerous’ dogs will need $100,000 liability insurance under newly signed law
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law last Wednesday bringing harsher penalties and restrictions for owners of dogs that severely injure or kill people.
The bill, known as the “Pam Rock Act,” honors a mail carrier who was mauled to death by five dogs in Putnam County in 2022. Starting July 1, owners of dogs that have attacked humans, severely injured or killed pets, or menacingly chased people will have to carry liability insurance of at least $100,000.
“This legislation is not just a policy change; it’s a proclamation to every Floridian that their safety matters,” Green Cove Springs Republican Rep. Judson Sapp, who introduced HB 593, said in a press release. “Pamela’s tragic death was a preventable loss, and with this act, we aim to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
Additionally, owners of such dogs must present current certificates of rabies vaccinations, have an enclosure with warning signs, microchip, and spay or neuter the dog.
Animal control gains authority to confiscate dogs pending investigations of incidents and humanely euthanize dogs deemed dangerous that are surrendered.
Owners who don’t comply could face fines of up to $1,000 per violation.
If a dog that has already been classified as dangerous severely injures or kills a person, the owner commits a felony of the second degree. However, for dogs that haven’t been officially deemed dangerous, owners would still face firstdegree misdemeanors if they showed disregard for their dogs’ behavior.
Rock’s family and the family of Michael Millett, an eight-year-old boy from Volusia County who was killed by a dog in January, attended the bill signing ceremony, according to the press release from Sapp’s office—Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix
HANDS OFF: St Petersburg resident Caroline Chomaniacs at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin on Aug. 27, 2024.
Join us for beautiful blooms, melodic music, fantastic festivals, Brunch at Bok, and quality time with friends and family!
BRUNCH AT BOK
FRIDAYS - SUNDAYS THROUGH AUGUST 31
WAWA SUMMER FUN DAYS COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION
MAY 29 & 30, JUNE 26 & 27, JULY 24 & 25, AUGUST 28 & 29
FAIRY FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
FATHER’S DAY AT THE GARDENS SUNDAY, JUNE 15 (FREE ADMISSION FOR DADS)
FRUIT FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, JULY 12
Terroir alert
South Tampa’s new ‘French-ish’ bistro and more local food news.
By Jani Burden
Anew restaurant group is bringing its Michelin-star experience to South Tampa.
Tastes Pretty Good, which is behind two of Tampa’s Michelin-star winning Rocca and the Michelin-recommended Streetlight Taco, will open Bar Terroir next month at 3636 Henderson Blvd. (former home of gluten-free spot Little Leon, which closed in 2022).
A press release says the menu at Bar Terroir features “French-ish” offerings in a casual fi ne-dining setting. Classics like onion soup, escargot, steak frites, beef bourguignon, and cassoulet all make appearances alongside a “French-forward” wine selection.
The kitchen will be led by former executive sous chef at Rocca, Max Mckee. With the previous assistant general manager at Rocca for over two years, Kyle Burton, taking the position of the general manager.
Bar Terroir’s grand opening is on Thursday, June 5.
With “terroir” alluding to all of the factors— such as the climate, soil and elevation— that go into producing wine grapes in a vineyard, the bistro takes their wine very seriously and offers an expansive list. Its wine-forward character delves into traditional French flavors, but through a local lens.
and fresh pastas to roasted prawns, grilled sea bream and local red grouper served with brown butter, caulifl ower and Castletreveno olives.
is on Thursday, June 5.
The dining experience will be relatively intimate at Bar Terroir, which can seat 38 people inside, plus 64 more between the bar and outdoor patio.
Bar Terroir will be open 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and 4 p.m.-10 p.m. On Thursday and Monday.
Taste Pretty Good’s team includes Jack Murray III, PDQ co-founder Nick Reader, Pulpo Hospitality founder Greg Proechel II, and Chef Bryce Bonsack, leader of Rocca which was one of the first Tampa restaurants to earn a Michelin star.
The
Vinoy’s fine
dining restaurant Elliott Aster opens in St. Pete
Located inside the recently renovated Vinoy Resort & Golf Club lies a shiny new restaurant from an award-winning chef. Elliott Aster, the new fi ne dining concept from the Chicago-based Boka Hospitality Group, opened last week in downtown St. Pete.
Reservations for Elliott Aster at 501 5th Ave. NE are now live at Opentable.com, although it’s booked out for the rest of the month.
While the restaurant is described as Italian and Mediterranean in nature, it offers a variety of upscale entrees—from wood-fi red steaks
Smaller plates include a handful of salads—like the endive and beets salad with Florida citrus, lemon poppyseed vinaigrette, feta and candied walnuts—meatballs, housemade focaccia with cheese and sunfl ower honey, grilled octopus, beef tartare, tuna crudo and fried seafood appetizer with prawns, calamari and a Calabrian chili aioli.
In addition to its massive dining room, the kitchen at Elliott Aster will also provide eats to the hotel’s waterfront patio. Its lounge menu offers most of the snacks and appetizers from its dinner menu, with dishes like a daily salumi platter, marinated olives, roasted eggplant spread and an artichoke dip.
to 2024—Italian spot Alla Vita, GG’s Chicken Shop and pizza shop Zarella.
Head to @elliottasterstpete on Instagram for the latest updates on the new restaurant’s menu, reservations, and more.
After its highly-anticipated debut last week, Elliott Aster is now open from 4 p.m.midnight Tuesday-Sunday—and reservations are strongly recommended.—Kyla Fields
Ducky’s closes Tampa bar after 12 years as coowner Evan Longoria retires from Rays
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
For dessert, a few Italian favorites like olive oil torta and tiramisu are offered, as well as a variety of gelato and sorbettos. Its expansive beverage program offers a range of Italian, French, Spanish and American wines, champagnes, and craft cocktails.
Elliott Aster is Boka Restaurant Group’s fi rst foray into Florida, with a majority of its upscale concepts residing in Chicago, Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Award-winning Chef Wolen partnered with the restaurant group in 2014 and has opened several eateries since then, including Boka—which retained a Michelin star from 2011
Ducky’s Sports Lounge is closing its flagship West Kennedy location. The Tampa bar co-owned by Rays player Evan Longoria and known for its mini-bowling announced its closure on social media last Tuesday, thanking patrons for 12 years of support. Ducky’s lease on its building at 1719 W Kennedy Blvd. is ending, per WFLA. A final day was not announced. Longoria’s retirement from the Rays was also announced this month. The Associated Press called the third baseman “the greatest player in franchise history,” reporting that he’ll sign a one-day contract with his first team to end his career on June 7.
Ducky’s spot in Tampa International Airport’s A terminal will still be open.
For a time starting in 2016, Rays fans could get crab cakes, turkey wraps or salad from the Ducky’s Deck in now-defunct Tropicana Field. Selene San Felice
Bar Terroir’s grand opening
MELISSA SANTELL
Thursday, May 29, 2025 • 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM EST
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BTM Dance Company: Rhythms of the Seasons @ HCC Performing Arts Ybor City 1411 East 11th Avenue Tampa Starts at $25 bit.ly/BTMdance
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ANXIETY ATTACK
FUTURES THEORY
TOTS 4 TEACHERS
TAKING BACK TAMPA
UPCOMING
REVIEWS PROFILES MUSIC WEEK
Love me tenderpunk
Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin on fulfillment and fighting fascists.
By Ray Roa
It’s a pretty good time to be Sarah Tudzin.
The leader of Illuminati Hotties is in the midst of a European tour where she just celebrated her 33rd birthday in Scotland, and is approaching her second wedding anniversary this summer. The in-demand Los Angeles-based producer is also riding high off a Grammy win for her work on Boygenius’ debut full-length, The Record (band and album name stylized in all-lowercase). On Friday—days ahead of a show in Ybor City—her rock band also releases a new EP, Nickel on the Fountain Floor
The release is made up of stuff that didn’t make last year’s criticallyacclaimed album, Power, a record about love and grief where Tudzin mines the ongoing extreme lows and highs of losing her mother to cancer and finding a life partner in musician Maddie Ross.
everything—on business, on family, on daily life, and on top of that, just a support system that’s reliable, and tried and true,” she said.
The most special thing about Maddie, Tudzin noted, is how she is a cheerleader not just for her, but for so many friends in their lives. For the first time ever, Tudzin—fiercely independent, but also capable of writing all-time couples tunes like “Sleeping In”—didn’t have to squeeze into someone else’s picture frame.
INTERVIEW
“She’s a person who’s perfectly happy letting me do my thing, and doing her thing, and celebrating the overlap,” she added.
Illuminati Hotties w/Georgia Maq/Allie
Tuesday, June 10. 7 p.m. $20-$25 Crowbar, 1812 N 17th St., Ybor City crowbarybor.com
But the world outside of that relationship has started to get darker, especially as Republicans voted to pass Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which, in part, would rip healthcare access away from transgender Americans regardless of their age.
“Maybe [the songs] didn’t serve that story as much,” Tudzin told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay last week as the band prepared for soundcheck at Paris 500-cap venue La Maroquinerie. “There’s some that, I think, feel less emotionally close to the surface, especially now with just my perspective changing and life changing.”
Grief, she added, is like having a cloud on a leash.
“There’s a lot of people who are in control that don’t need to have power.”
“Sometimes it’s doing its own thing and it’s like 40 feet away and you’re not really noticing it. And sometimes it’s like, the leash is tight and it’s very close,” she said, adding that there are a lot of people dealing with similar trauma. “It’s not a thing that happens and that you move further and further away from every day.”
Someone Tudzin does grow closer to daily is Ross, with whom she shares two dogs, a German Shepherd mix named Zeus, and Maeby, an agedefying pitbull mix. Marriage wasn’t on Tudzin’s mind as a kid, and isn’t required for fulfillment in her eyes, but the seriousness of having someone to navigate the future with has been a welcome surprise. “It’s just so beautiful to have a teammate on
Tudzin, a supporter of the nonprofit suicide prevention Trevor Project, has never shied away from sharing her views; she even modified lyrics for the angular kraut-pop jam “Mmmoooaaaaayaya” (stylized in all-caps) to point out how the Democratic National Committee fucked Bernie Sanders ahead of the 2016 convention.
Last month on the NPR Tiny Desk, she took the remix even further with lines about fascist babies ruining the country and free healthcare for everybody.
Watching the rest of the country experience what Florida’s been going through for at least two legislative sessions has been scary for Tudzin, who was careful not to get too much on the soapbox. From Europe, where certain people have been targeted for removal, she can see the parallels back home.
“It’s really so obvious to me that we’re trending toward absolute destruction of what it means, I think, to live in a beautiful society,” she said, “which is a community of people from all over the world who are working to have a better life together.”
Negotiating with power and control, Tudzin pointed out, means reckoning with oppression, but also empowering yourself. “There are a lot of people in control whose power can be taken, and there’s a lot of people who are in control that don’t need to have power,” she said.
So in Tampa, Tudzin knows that activism will creep into the set, like it does every night.
“Existing in this world the way I do inherently has activism woven into it, it has to have steps of education woven into it,” she said,
adding that presenting her life in a certain way is inherently an activist act.
While there are far more intentional forms of activism, the job feels punk to her, especially when she can make her voice heard onstage and resonate with the group of people in front of her doing work in their own communities to push back.
“These are people who are inviting their friends to be a part of changing the fucked up shit that’s happening right now,” Tudzin explained. “At home and in the rest of the world.”
POWER MOVES: Illuminati Hotties leader Sarah Tudzin is a sought after indie-rock producer, too.
SHERVIN LAINEZ
By Ray Roa
THU 29
Dylan Gossett No matter how old or successful you are, it can be pretty mind-blowing to hear your own song in a major motion picture. The 26-year-old country singer-songwriter got to feel that last summer when his song “Stronger Than A Storm” appeared on the “Twisters” soundtrack. The Austin boy (who actually writes his own songs) is months away from releasing a debut LP Westward (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)—Josh Bradley
FRI 30
Anxiety Attack w/These Times/Dead Angels/Eleni and the Uprising Band/ Bozo As woo-woo as it sounds, the invention of the smash room is a sign that the universe cares about our mental health. Local poppunk quintet The Anxiety Attack recently took to iSmash Tampa to film the music video for “The 1% Of Germs Lysol Doesn’t Kill,” off of its year-old debut Decent. Earlier this month, another music video for “Make Believe” (the first single off of its impending sophomore album) was released, which depicts the guys—having splattered themselves and a whole room with neon paint—performing the new part-melodic-part-screamo jam. This stacked, homecoming gig is the penultimate date of a brief Florida summer tour, so you really have no excuse to not check the band off your bucket list by month’s end. (Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa)—JB
Aubrey Wollett No one in country music really embraces where they come from in their material the way Wollett, a Bay area expat, does. Most of the singer-songwriter’s material takes place on the beach (a setting she adores enough to cite as her reasoning for not staying in Nashville after attending Belmont University), and it makes you wonder what Jimmy Buffett would have sounded like had he gone country. The 34-year-old (a Dunedin High graduate) started by pursuing a music business degree at Belmont and working with Luke Bryan songwriter, and has since opened for Tanya Tucker and Wynonna Judd, and sporadically releasing twangy singles and EPs. (Sponge City Brewing, Tarpon Springs)—JB
C Beat Marauders 2: Johnny Champagne w/Vinnie the Beat Dealer/Kalib Music/ Jay Wizz/SlopFunkDust/Sponatola/Vern Senior/more There’s a moment the book “Dilla Time” where author and professor Dan Charnas writes about discussions on the Okayplayer message boards, and the moment when North Carolina rapper-producer Phonte posted the first-ever tracks by Little Brother (his then-nascent project with Dilla-influenced producer 9th Wonder). “An Okayplayer from
Florida posting as Slopfunkdust, offered to make the group their first web page, posting four Little Brother songs; after he launched it, the traffic crashed his server,” Charnas—who taught an NYU course on the producer who changed music forever—explained. That’s all to say that the tenured Tampa producer has always been on the cutting edge of hip-hop; that’s why this bill is a must-see for any selfrespecting head hoping to also have a listen to what’s coming in the local scene. Emergent scene staples like Johnny Champagne are on the poster along with Lion’s Den Podcast cohost Vinnie the Beat Dealer, Jefferson High School alum Jay Wizz, Vern Senior, and more. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
C Heaven’s Gate w/Mass Panic/Rubes For Florida fans of heavy music, Heaven’s Gate is a band to hang a hat on. The supergroup features members of Cannibal Corpse and Municipal Waste, but more importantly wears the Bay area on its sleeve—and in the case of a new album, quite literally. The cover of Tales From a Blistering Paradise features the since-destroyed Clearwater Virgin Mary apparition, and opens with an ode of sorts to the religious figure, “Frail Mary.” Tracked in part by Ryan Boesch at Tampa’s Candor Studios, the LP also takes us on the bridge (“The Causeway Cannibal”) and even to “Cassadaga” in unsurprisingly brutal fashion. Flanked by two Sunshine State bands with equally-hardcore bonafides— Gainesville’s Rubes and Melbourne Thrash outfit Mass Panic—Heaven’s Gate releases the record with a show and party at one of the best vegan restaurants in town. (Good Intentions, St. Petersburg)
C The Pilfers w/The Brainiacs featuring Ed Lowery/Saganaki Bomb Squad Ska’s old heads still go hard, and this bill is proof. The Pilfers go all the way back to
THU MAY 29–THU JUNE 05
the late-’90s, and The Brainiacs have roots that go back that far, too. The latter, which includes members of beloved NYC ska band The Toasters will even welcome Ed Lowery, frontman of Bay area ska giant Magadog, the the stage for this one. (Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg)
C Reverend Horton Heat w/Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas This year marks 40 years since Jim Heath first picked up the moniker he’d eventually share with his soon-to-be psychobilly trio. Needless to say, evolution is inevitable for a genre—especially psychedelic strains—and while the Heat contributes to it, there’s also plenty of representation for the classic, trippy surf-guitar jams that pioneered the genre. It’s not a new, half-assed trick up the trio’s sleeve either, which may be why a 2023 rockabilly covers album Roots of the Rev (Volume One) turned out so well. Oh and, of course “Wiggle Stick” was used in a “Beavis and Butthead” episode. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)—JB
C Will Quinlan w/The Burke Brothers/ The Wandering Hours/June Bunch If the weather lets up a bit, this no-cover backyard show featuring four of the Bay area’s biggest gifts to songwriter, could end up being the best hang to wrap up the short week. (Shuffle, Tampa)
SAT 31
C Austen van der Bleek Austen van der Bleek is known for putting a modern spin on original Chicago, New York, and Detroit house music during his sets. Fresh off a trip to Detroit—the birthplace of techno— van der Bleek brings his unique taste (and record store finds) back home. Many argue that EDM was a European trend, but it was in Motor City basement studios and abandoned Detroit warehouses where many strains began, and thanks to artists like van der Bleek that history won’t be lost. Van der Bleek— who explores the stories of underground cultural movements in his performance—was voted best DJ for Best of the Bay in 2019 and has continued performing in the area. (Bar Mezzo, St. Petersburg)—Jani Burden
C Nekrogoblikon w/Revocation/Ov Sulfur/Brat Nekrogoblikon—try saying that 10 times fast—is spearheaded by lead-singer and goblin-mask-wearing John Goblikon. The melodic death metal group is known for its goblin themed songs (“...Show Me Your Goblin"). Despite a never-ending carousel of band members since 2006, the group has been able to travel the world and share songs with Goblikon Nation. The band blew up in 2012 when a video for “No One Survives” went viral, receiving over 1.5 million views in its first three months. It capitalized on that sudden jump in popularity and to this day, fans keep gobblin’ up their new music. Started by two friends in a basement in Palo Alto, California, Nekrogoblikon even landed
in the sights of Post Malone when the rapper mentioned the band on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast calling the band “incredible.” Nekrogoblikon—touring behind two new singles—even had Rogan speculating that its leader might be a real goblin that just happened to become a rockstar, a testament to how good the costume really is.(Orpheum, Tampa)—J. Burden
Shrek Rave XXL Last year’s Shrek Rave at The Ritz may have been the best 4/20 party in town, and now that we know a little bit about what next year’s “Shrek 5” will look like (for better or worse), there’s no better time to get weird. While we’re no strangers to these raves, there’s never been an “XXL” edition in town, which according to the tour, is typically reserved for bigger clubs (“special guests and super crazy visuals” are promised). And, while we know ogres are like onions, it’s hot as hell outside, so please, for the love of Pete, wear deodorant. (The Ritz, Ybor City)
Styx w/Kevin Cronin/Don Felder The Beatles and the Boss are doing it so it makes sense to see more of our boomer favorites feeling nostalgic and looking into their vaults for something to restore. One of those artists is Don Felder. Around the turn of the decade, the ex-Eagle—who opens for Styx and Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon’s first solo—opened a storage locker containing long-forgotten tapes, and decided to take them home to his studio. Once transferred to digital, Felder found sounds of the Eagles rehearsing. Also in the heap were lost recordings that have since evolved from the first demo he ever did for the countryrock band (which apparently, Don Henley loved) to “Move On,” serving as the opening track and lead single for the aptly-titled The Vault . “I took the original inspiration, like you would from a demo, and turned it into a master,’” he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Read our full interview with Don Felder at cltampa.com/music. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
SUN 01
C Umphrey’s McGee Kris Myers, who has played drums for the Indiana rock outfit since 2003, just announced his departure from Umphrey’s McGee to focus on other projects. Days later, Dopapod drummer Scotty Zwang was confirmed to take over for Myers, but for this run of Florida dates only, Widespread Panic drummer Duane Trucks (who, if you know anything about Southern rock, is part of one of its most prolific families) is set to bang the cans. “Playing with Duane is always an honor and our time connecting with Scotty last fall uncovered something special—an intangible spark we’re excited to explore further,” the band wrote in a statement. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
See an extended version of this listing via cltampa.com/music.
C CL Recommends
Heaven’s Gate
Clearwater Jazz Holiday finally gets to start a new chapter in its nearly 50-year history this fall—and last week music fans learned who’ll provide the soundtrack.
Trombone Shorty, Vulfpeck’s Cory Wong, Trampled by Turtles, and Tower of Power are among the headliners coming to downtown Clearwater in October, along with Lady Blackbird (pictured), St. Paul & the Broken Bones, The War and Treaty, plus Richard Elliot and Rick Braun’s RnR ensemble.
The bill for the festival—which takes place Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 16-19 on the green at downtown Clearwater’s Coachman Park—includes nearly two dozen national and local acts playing three stages stretching between the pier and the large green “Sunset Bluff” which will be accessible for just $5.
Making the blanket and lawn chair-friendly bluff accessible for such a low price is a throwback to the days when Clearwater Jazz Holiday was free-to-attend. That vibe is something organizers wanted to bring back last fall before back-to-back hurricanes changed plans.
Tickets for Clearwater Jazz Holiday happening Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 16-19 at Coachman Park are on sale now and start at $5. As usual, tickets that give concert goers access to seating and VIP areas are also
Jessie Murph Wednesday, Sept. 10. 8 p.m.
$52.55 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
Oso Oso w/TBA Wednesday, Sept. 10. 8 p.m. $12.49. Crowbar, Ybor City
Ken Carson Tuesday, Sept. 16. 8 p.m. $52.40 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
97X Next Big Thing Legends: Cage The Elephant w/The Moonrocks/Girl Tones Wednesday, Sept. 17. 7 p.m. $45 & up. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater
Anuel AA Sunday, Sept. 21. 8 p.m. $85.50 & up. Amalie Arena, Tampa
Mooney Metal Fest: Sister Killcycle w/ Rising Up Angry/Skinharvest/Blood of Angels/Alive In Stone/more Saturday, Sept. 27. 2 p.m. $10. Brass Mug, Tampa
Lorna Shore w/The Black Dahlia Murder/Shadow of Intent/PeelingFlesh Wednesday, Oct. 1. 6:30 p.m. Prices TBA. Yuengling Center, Tampa
Kings Kaleidoscope w/Hollyn Monday, Oct. 6. 7 p.m. $29.99 & up. Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg
available. Main lawn general admission tickets start at $35.
Steve Weinberger, CEO of Clearwater Jazz Holiday, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the park can handle approximately 6,000 people a day. See the full ineup via cltampa.com/music and check out Josh Bradley’s weekly roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa
Steve Miller Band Tuesday, Oct. 7. 8 p.m. $179.35 & up. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tampa
Dear Oracle, my husband and I love each other very much. We have been together for over a decade and have an amazing kid. I think he’s an incredible father and, as a partner, has stood by me through tragedies and hard times. However, over the past five years, I’ve realized that I’m asexual. He’s allosexual. Sex is infrequent (not never), but if I’m honest, I do it for the love of him, not out of personal desire. I tell him that I’m worried I trapped him, and he says he doesn’t feel that way and loves me and our family, but I know it’s weighing on him. Do the cards suggest a path forward?—A plus plus?
Cards: The Chariot (reversed), Seven of Wands (reversed), Ace of Cups, The Lovers
Dear A, thank you so much for trusting me with your question. While I’m so glad you’ve had the space to discover something crucial to your identity, I’m sorry that it comes with the price tag of complicating a loving relationship.
With The Chariot reversed, I’m guessing when you told your husband your truth, you both took a “we’ll make it work!” stance and drove straight ahead. The Chariot is a master of their own will, someone who can whip their conscious mind into shape and plow towards their goal. But sexuality isn’t about will. It isn’t about our conscious mind. We cannot force ourselves to be something we’re not just because we want it to be.
The Seven of Wands is a turning point that often refuses to let us go on as we previously were. Something has to give. Frequently, it can
be a card of anger (traditionally it’s of a soldier fighting, six to one), but it’s a type that comes from a buildup of pressure. I am not saying that your husband or you are angry with each other. But it seems like strong emotions are building up (you already mentioned guilt in your letter.)
I think you should both talk, deeply and frequently, about what you want out of love. The Ace of Cups is our ideas of love, what we feel in our core, and the connection it brings. It’s eros, philia, agape, and every other type. What does a loving relationship with each other mean to you?
And then, with The Lovers, what does sex mean to you both as a couple? Is it necessary? Is it not? What does it really mean to you to have sex that you don’t want to have, and what does it mean to your husband to not have sex he does want to have? Can that desire be separated from your love for each other and your willingness to be a couple?
place of honesty and that you figure out a path forward, whatever that may be.
Dear Oracle, I practice relationship anarchy with a few beautiful, kind, incredible, and unapologetically queer partners. As we approach our late-30s, we have seriously discussed raising a child together as a nest. Obviously, we’re worried about the political climate (and climate-change) and worry about what it would mean for our family to exist. Any advice?—Queers in Babeland
Cards: Four of Pentacles, The Hanged Man (reversed), Ace of Wands, Judgement (reversed)
Dear QBs, I want to start with the two reversed major arcana because they’re in dialogue with one another.
ORACLE OF YBOR
Send your question to oracle@cltampa.com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram
(I’m assuming that if you were both OK with an open marriage, you would have done so already.)
While you both may have started out with The Chariot’s brute force and speed, it is time to slow down and evaluate. What has to change? Sometimes, honesty can feel cruel, but speaking with intuition and compassion can alleviate that.
I know it’s difficult, but I hope that binding love and dedication can help you both come to a
This task—of starting and growing a family with your partners—is going to be a difficult one and you will be treated like outsiders. I’m sure you know that on the dotted line, only two of you can be listed “officially” as parents but that document dictates a lot of the responsibility—like who’s allowed to take the kid to the doctor’s office, take them on an airplane, get them a library card.
Like The Hanged Man, you know you’ll be misunderstood. You know going in that your family’s future will consist of countless fights with bureaucrats and administrators, many of which you will lose. You’ll be judged, often and occasionally without mercy.
But creating this family is what you are meant to do.
Judgment is the card that calls us home. It is a resurrection and reminder of what our
true self—our soul—really is. You understand that this will be difficult, but it’s always the rewarding path you were meant (and want) to take. It is a transition from your old life into a new one, an evolution that feels natural.
With the examining Four of Pentacles, I do think your unit should find a queer affirming therapist and talk about a lot of these things (including introducing a parenting hierarchy into your relationship anarchy) before you start trying because as many new parents—gay, straight, single, coupled—will tell you, that shit is difficult. Even tiny issues in a relationship get magnified after three months of no sleep. So work through your fears, stresses, and sticky issues and prepare yourself to create a family unit that will protect your child from the cruelty of the world and give them the love and space to grow.
And then, get a family-rights lawyer because you’ll need to navigate a LOT of legal red tape down the road. Also, talk to an accountant about setting up savings, education funds, trusts, whatever you need to do financially to raise a kid without a collective checking account.
I understand the deep (and well-deserved) fear that comes from being an outsider in our current political climate. But, we cannot let fear blow out our flicking hope. The Ace of Wands is a card of beginnings, potential, and hope. It’s the belief that despite everything, joy--rattling, ringing joy—can triumph.
I hope that it can and I hope for you and your partners, this path offers so many glorious, hopeful, soul-quenching moments that you are able to enjoy. Best of luck, my dear.
See more of Caroline and learn about her services via carolinedebruhl.com.
Hurt people
By Dan Savage
I’m a 33-year-old gay man in a big city. I am currently in a five-month relationship with a wonderful, sweet man who loves me very much. I love him, too. Prior to this I was in a throuple for three years. That relationship was toxic. I was the new addition to the throuple, and I was more in love with one of them. There were a lot of jealousy issues, and a lot of hurt that took me a long time to get over when I finally moved on. Truthfully, even when that relationship ended, I was still very much in love with my main partner from that throuple. Our sexual chemistry was unlike anything else, and the deep passion we have for each other was unmatched. But we did break up. And I spent a lot of time healing. And now I met this wonderful man. My main ex from the throuple—the one I loved most—just reached out to let me know that he and his other partner broke up and he wants me back. All of a sudden, my ex is telling me how much he loves me, how much he wants me, and how he wants to be my only partner—all of the things I would’ve killed to hear him say a year ago. I now find myself torn between my new boyfriend, who has done nothing wrong, and my ex, a man I love so much and have this INCREDIBLE sexual chemistry with but who really hurt me. It should be noted that I am incredibly submissive in bed, and although my new partner tries to be dominant, it doesn’t come naturally to him. My ex was fantastic in that role. And if I’m being honest, I have to admit that that kind of sexual play is something I need in a relationship. I’m torn and don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but find myself in the impossible position of choosing between two people I care deeply about. Help!—Tormented Over X In Chicago “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”— Oscar Wilde
SAVAGE LOVE
different—it’s more destabilizing—in a triad. If the partner you weren’t into could tell you were only tolerating him while not-so-subtly fantasizing about peeling off his boyfriend… that’s not just an awkward vibe or a price-of-admission power imbalance a person can learn to tolerate. That’s an existential threat. Whether the other guy—the guy your dream man just dumped— was always the problem or he became a problem when he sensed not just what you wanted, TOXIC, but what his original partner also wanted… it’s easy to understand why he was unhappy. It’s a situation that could bring out the worst in anybody—you included.
Anyway! Your throuple ended! You did the work! You found someone new! Someone kind! Someone who loves you! Someone you love… kinda… but not as much as you love the man who just walked back into your life.
As much as it pains me to say this— because the only person we know for sure is blameless in all this is the lovely man you’ve been seeing for the last six months— you should dump the new guy.
hurt down the road. But while you won’t be able to avoid hurting your current boyfriend’s feelings, TOXIC, you can avoid wasting his time by ending things cleanly and soon. But don’t move right back in—or pick up right where you left off—with your ex. Date him. Take it slow. You may have fantasized about being with your ex on his own, TOXIC, but you’ve never known him on his own.
P.S. You’re faced with a choice between two men you love—your ex from that disastrous throuple and the man you’ve been seeing for six months—and you’re hesitating, in much the same way your ex faced a choice between you and his original partner and hesitated.
he’s damaged my siblings. But I also don’t want to destroy my mom’s life and what little stability my younger siblings still have. I feel trapped between blowing it all up and protecting the people I love. What the hell do I do?—Despicable And Deceitful Asshole
Your dad is a dick with an expiration date— the health issues he’s neglecting—and here’s hoping the stress of leading a double life moves his expiration date forward. But besides rooting for the massive coronary your dad deserves, DADA, it doesn’t sound like you have other good options.
You spent three years in a throuple that turned toxic—or maybe was toxic from the start—and when it ended, all you wanted was for the guy you truly loved to choose you… and he didn’t. So, you did what people are supposed to do when a bad relationship ends: you moved out, you moved on, you met someone else. And now the relationship gods have decided to fuck with you: the man you wanted is single and now he wants you and only you—so, your prayers have been answered, but a year too late.
Let’s rewind. You joined a couple as a third—as their third—but you weren’t a perfectly balanced third. You were more into one than the other, TOXIC, which you most likely realized going in. That happens in lots of relationships; even in couples, one partner is often more invested/besotted/committed than the other. But an imbalance like that hits a little
You’re already comparing the new guy to your ex… and the new can’t meet your needs the same way your ex did… which means you’re going to be thinking about your ex each and every time he tries and fails. And the longer you go on measuring the meh sex you have with your current boyfriend against the insanely hot sex you had with your ex, TOXIC, the more you’re going to miss your ex and find yourself fantasizing about what might’ve been.
So, while staying with the nice guy sounds like the nice thing to do—while it sounds like the decent thing to do—staying with someone to avoid hurting their feelings only sets them up for more
My dad is a dick. He’s been married to my mom for a long time. They have nine kids. I’m the eldest at 24, and the youngest is nine. My mom is a stay-at-home parent who has devoted her life to raising us kids and supporting our father. Lately, my dad has started disappearing. He leaves on solo international trips with no notice, sometimes without telling my mom where he’s going or how long he’ll be gone. She wakes up alone and heartbroken. He recently told her he’d be “offline for three days” while “traveling via China.” She was beside herself—my father has health issues, and he gave her no way to contact him. When I checked his iPad, I not only found his location, but evidence of years of affairs. I told one of my sisters, only to discover she and two of my other siblings already know. Worse, he’s been blackmailing and bribing them into silence. He’s spent years preparing for the fallout if he’s ever discovered. If my mom leaves him, she’ll be left with nothing. He’s made sure of that. I hate what he’s done to us. I hate that he’s a coward who won’t be honest with my mom. I hate how
Telling your mom means blowing up her life—and the lives of your younger siblings— but staying silent, as some of your siblings have opted to do, will make you feel like you’re enabling a monster. And it’s not just short-term fallout you have to worry about: when (not if) your mom finds out what’s been going on, she may be even more devastated to learn that the people she loves most in this world—her own children—knew what her husband was doing and didn’t come to her. For many, the betrayal of infidelity is made worse by the realization that they were the last to know…. and if your mom is still dependent on your father when this all comes out, there’s a non-zero chance she could direct anger at you and your siblings that should’ve been directed at your father. So, when that day comes—when the day comes that your mom finds out on her own, from you, or from someone else—you’re gonna wanna be able to point to concrete things you were doing to help mom prepare for life after dad. If I were you, I would encourage mom to get a part-time job—your youngest sibling is nine, not an infant—and nudge her to get her own bank account and her own credit card, so she can start creating her own credit history. Then if she projects her anger onto you when the shit hits the fan (or even if she doesn’t), DADA, you’ll be able to look your mom in the eye and say, “We didn’t feel like we could tell you when we found out—we weren’t sure you would want to know—but we were trying to protect you.”
And the next time dad is “traveling in China,” DADA, get on his iPad and gather up all the evidence you can: download incriminating emails, take screenshots of bank statements, print out anything that could document your dad’s financial schemes, etc. Then guilt your siblings into using the money your dad paid them to hire an experienced divorce attorney and a forensic accountant to look through what you manage to find. If it turns out your dad was bluffing—if your mom isn’t as screwed as your dad claims—then it’ll be dad’s life that gets blown up and mom who gets everything. Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
Notice of Public Sale Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell, to satisfy lien of the owner, at public sale by competitive bidding on www.storagetreasures.com. ending
on June 13, 2025 at 10:00 am for units
located at Compass Self Storage 1685 Hwy 17 N Eagle Lake Florida
33839 . Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at time of sale. All Goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase.
Compass Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid. Sale is subject to adjournment. The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes and appliances, unless otherwise noted. Unit 1048 Kevin Johnson, Unit 3025 Michele Mann, Unit D310 Charles Greene. Run dates 5/29/25 and 6/5/25.
Notice of Public Sale Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell, to satisfy lien of the owner, at public sale by competitive bidding on www.storagetreasures.com ending on June 13th, 2025 at 10:00 am for units located at: Compass Self Storage 2291 S. Frontage Rd, Plant City, Florida 33563 Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the time of sale. All goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase.
Compass Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid. Sale is subject to adjournment. The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes and appliances, unless otherwise noted. Unit 2039 Erika Saniago. Run Dates: 05/29/2025 & 06/05/2025
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