Watermark Issue 19.06: The Mayors

DAYTONA BEACH • ORLANDO • TAMPA • ST. PETERSBURG • SARASOTA • ISSUE 19.06 • MAR. 15 - MAR. 29, 2012 • WATERMARKONLINE.COM

TAMPA BAY EDITION

YOUR LGBT LIFE.

JOAN S R E V I RBRINGS HER OAWKENLAND TO Y T I L A E R

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FO T X E N UP TAMPA

: D E T A T S N REI ITH GAY W DS BACK R E H C A TE PAST HEA PORN SS TO CLA

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T I S T E G O H W R O Y A M N R O H K C U B BOB MMITTED O C Y S T N I I L A A REM LGBT EQU PA TO IN TAM

We created two covers this issue!

With two incredible mayors in our

coverage areas, we had a really hard time choosing just who to put on the cover. So, we decided not to!

Througout Tampa Bay we featured the wonderfully supportive Mayor Bob

Buckhorn and in Orlando, we have the equally amazing Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Enjoy!

DAYTONA BEACH • ORLANDO • TAMPA • ST. PETERSBURG • SARASOTA • ISSUE 19.06 • MAR. 15 - MAR. 29, 2012 • WATERMARKONLINE.COM

ORLANDO EDITION

YOUR LGBT LIFE.

S R E V I R AN

JBROINGS HER OAWKENLAND L O T Y T I REAL

R O F S D I NDO B

: D E T A T S REIHNER WITH GASYBACK TEAC PAST HEAD PORN SS TO CLA

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MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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• Board Certified Optometrist • Eye Exams and Contact Lenses • Most Vision Plans Accepted • Serving our community for over 16 years

TOGETHER We Can Build a Better Orlando.

We’ve come a long way the past few years, but there is still work to be done and Buddy needs your help.

Help build an Orlando that makes us all proud. Vote Buddy Dyer for Mayor.

Election Day is April 3rd.

Early voting is March 26th - 31st at the Supervisor of Elections office located at 119 W. Kaley Street.

Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Buddy Dyer for Mayor of Orlando

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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I’m happy to pick on you for a lot of reasons.

DEPARTMENTS

Your sexuality should never be one 53 of those reasons.

6 // MAIL 13 // ORLANDO NEWS 17 // TAMPA BAY NEWS 22 // STATE 25 // NATION & WORLD 31 // ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 39 // EVENT PLANNER 41 // TAMPA BAY OVERHEARD 43 // ORLANDO OVERHEARD 44 // TAMPA BAY MARKETPLACE 45 // TRANSITIONS 47 // ORLANDO MARKETPLACE 52 // CLASSIFIEDS 53 // SPORTS 54 // GALLERY

PAGE

—MARK CUBAN, DALLAS MAVERICKS OWNER

ON THE COVER

Orlando

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is seeking reelection and was recently awarded the Voice of Equality award by Equality Florida.

Page 13

Tampa Bay

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is about to wrap up his first year in office, and he has stood by his commitment to LGBT equality.

Page 17

Preview

PAGE

36

NOT SO PLASTIC:

Despite her busy schedule as a reality star and QVC spokeswoman, Joan Rivers talks to us about her career and why gay audiences make her live performances like the one March 22 at the Lakeland Center so much more fun.

W A T E R M A R K I S S U E 1 9 . 0 6 // M A R . 1 5 - 2 9 , 2 0 1 2

ORLANDO NEWS

TAMPA BAY NEWS

STATE NEWS

GALLERY W

Read it online!

In addition to a Web site with daily LGBT updates, a digital version of each issue of the publication is made available on WatermarkOnline.com

SCAN QR CODE FOR

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PAGE Orlando Mayor Buddy

13

Dyer seeks re-election in April on the heels of the successful implementation of a domestic partnership registry.

We talk to him about his career, his critics and what his future holds; Orlando plans to bid on the 2018 Gay Games; more.

PAGE As Bob Buckhorn

17

approaches his oneyear anniversary as the mayor of Tampa, he talks of his commitment to LGBT equality, his views on a proposed domestic partnership registry and how he’s preparing the city for this summer’s Republican National Convention; more.

PAGE Miami-Dade substitute

22

math teacher Shawn Loftis who was fired last year when his gay porn career as “Collin O’Neal” was uncovered, is back on track to receive his teaching certification; As the custody battle between former lesbian partners escalates, it could impact Florida law.

PAGE The annual Taste of Pride

benefitting 54 fundraiser St. Pete Pride packed

the Salvador Dali Museum with a sold out crowd on March 10. Fifteen restaurants offered samples of their food throughout the night and several notables were in attendance, including St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster.

GET WATERMARK IN YOUR INBOX EVERY WEEK! SIGN UP FOR THE ENEWSLETTER AT WATERMARKONLINE.COM. MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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3 Antique Shops & 4 Thrift Stores within easy walking distance

Make Downtown Oviedo Your All Day Antique Destination!

KEN

FOR ORLANDO MAYOR WWW.KENMULVANEYFORMAYOR.COM

Go vegan like Henry I was thrilled to see Henry Rollins on the cover of Watermark [Issue 19.05]. He is not only a great musician, artist and supporter of the LGBT community, he is also a vegan, meaning he consumes/ wears no animal products.

Who cannot love this guy?

March 20 is the Great American Meat Out, a worldwide event that encourages the public to try a vegetarian diet. Each year billions of animals suffer in barbaric ways and are needlessly killed for their flesh. In this day and age there are so many delicious alternatives to a meat-based diet and many local restaurants that cater to vegan and vegetarians.

Meat isn’t only bad news for animals, but also for your health and the environment. Billions of animals raised for food need to eat and drink, which means land is being destroyed to grow feed, and half the water consumed is used for livestock. Also, a large amount of waste is produced by these animals that ends up in our rivers and lakes.

March 20, join Henry and try a meatless diet, even for just a day. The animals, your body, and the planet will appreciate it.

CARLA WILSON WINTER SPRINGS

“Hold on to your faith, but find one that fits where you are now.”

—REV. LISA HEILIG

Find a faith that fits In regard to Steve Blanchard’s Editor’s Desk [Issue 19.05], let me assure you there is indeed a way to hold onto faith and still have great respect for logic and science, be progressive, and take the Bible seriously and not literally.

Spiritual well-being is as important as physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. And just as different practices work better for others in those areas (I’d rather walk miles than even try to lift weights), so different practices work better for others spiritually.

It sounds like Steve has outgrown some old practices.

So, now the exciting part is to discover new ones.

Hold on to your faith, but �ind one that �its where you are now. I wish him many blessings in the journey.

REV. LISA HEILIG ORLANDO

Religion is a fairy tale One of Steve Blanchard’s best Editor’s Desks was in the last issue of Watermark

REAL PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO

BUILD A BETTER FUTURE WWW.KENMULVANEYFORMAYOR.COM 503 W. CENTRAL BLVD (CORNER OF CENTRAL AND DIVISION AVENUES) ORLANDO, FL 32801 407-730-9962 KEN@KENMULVANEYFORMAYOR.COM

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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[Issue 19.05]. I just want to comment that I wish more people would wake up and realize there is no Santa, no Easter Bunny, no Tooth Fairy and no God! Fairy tales, folk tales, Christianity and �iction are all the same.

What makes your God real and Buddha is not? What makes your God real and Zeus not? What makes your God real and the Egyptians Gods not? I am sure you can see where this is going.

They are all versions of a “story.” It is all based on NeoPagan (Astrology & Nature).

Anyway, good editorial.

TOM ZIRI ST. PETERSBURG

The struggle with faith is relatable I enjoyed Steve Blanchard’s Editor’s Desk [Issue 19.05].

I felt his pain, struggle, disappointment and I hope many readers were touched by it. So many of us can relate to it and it was absolutely awesome. Thank you.

ANDY CITINO BRADENTON

CONTRIBUTORS

editor’s

Steve Blanchard EDITOR

SteveB@WatermarkOnline.com

I

Desk

CAN ADMIT IT. I’VE ENJOYED READING

posts and commentary surrounding the debacle that has become the Rush Limbaugh Show.

For those who have been vacationing in the Arctic for the past month, let me recap brie�ly.

The conservative talk show host who is broadcast on some 600 stations throughout the country came under immediate �ire in early March for his attacks on Sandra Fluke, a 30-year-old college student who argued that birth control should be covered by her insurance. That argument, the commentator said, made Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.” He even went as far to say that she should make adult �ilms—free for us all to view—since she was in essence getting paid for her dirty habit of sex.

It took a couple of days, but the self-appointed spokesperson for the right-wing of the GOP issued

WATERMARK STAFF

an apology, of sorts, saying that he chose his words poorly. The entire argument coincided with Washington’s sudden interest in women’s reproductive health.

Despite Limbaugh’s apology, advertisers pulled their spots immediately and a few days later more followed suit, no doubt encouraged by a massive Facebook campaign.

Limbaugh has said on his show that he’ll weather the storm and that no one is losing money because of the way syndicated radio advertising works. More than likely, he’s right. He’ll be around for years to come and will offer his views on the evils of Democrats and liberals for the foreseeable future.

That’s his right and changing

Publisher: Tom Dyer • Ext. 305 • Tom@WatermarkOnline.com Chief Financial Officer: Rick Claggett • Ext. 108 • Rick@WatermarkOnline.com Administrative Assistant: Erik Caban • Ext. 100 • Erik@WatermarkOnline.com Editor-in-Chief: Steve Blanchard • 813-470-0899 • SteveB@WatermarkOnline.com Online Media Director: Jamie Hyman • Ext. 106 • Jamie@WatermarkOnline.com Proofreading: Ed Blaisdell Art Director: Jake Stevens • Ext. 109 • Jake@WatermarkOnline.com Production Assistant: Andrés Duputel • Ext. 107 • AdProduction@WatermarkOnline.com Sales Manager: Mark Cady • Ext. 103 [Orlando] • Mark@WatermarkOnline.com

his opinions will be as likely as getting Rick Santorum to be a groomsman at a same-sex wedding ceremony.

Blogs and commentators opposing Rush have called him a hypocrite for attacking reproductive medicine because of a Viagra incident at an airport a few years back, when he was stopped with the drug that had not been prescribed to him.

Viagra, of course, is not the same as contraceptives and while it’s related to sexual health, it has a very different purpose.

Comparing Viagra to birth control is a lazy argument and is comparable to the GOP saying women’s reproductive health is suddenly a priority since arguments about the economy are weakened by constant numbers to the contrary.

What better way to stir up some news coverage than to push social issues back out onto the center stage?

Somehow the pro-life branch of the Republican Party has managed to convince at least some in its ranks that subsidized birth control is a bad thing. Yet, aborting unwanted fetuses or overwhelming the foster care system with unwanted children is just as bad.

They fail to explain how both can be correct.

I am not advocating abortions and I am not saying we should deny a woman’s right to choose.

In all honesty, I don’t know where

I stand on the abortion issue—but I do know that a woman is more quali�ied to make that call than I. Delaying childbirth until one is ready to raise a child, spacing one’s children and limiting the size of one’s family are respectable decisions that can create healthier, more stable households. Even though birth control has other bene�its, using it just for family planning is a good reason for sexually active American women to use a form of it at some point in their lives.

A recent study found that unintended pregnancies account for 90% of abortions, which is a statistic most sane people would use to advocate for birth control.

The world of talk radio is a treacherous place and it can be dif�icult to decipher what is real and what is shared simply for the ratings that will ensue.

Limbaugh had Elton John perform at his fourth wedding and has had guest voice-overs on the liberal animated show Family Guy. So he can’t be all bad, can he?

But he’s also gone after people with Parkinson’s, pondered if environmentalists were somehow behind the huge BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and now, of course, women who want to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies.

But what else would you expect from the man who once said, “When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation.”

No Rush, in this case— as in many others—you are entirely wrong. |  |

Changing his opinions will be as likely as getting Rick Santorum to be a groomsman at a samesex wedding ceremony.

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MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

STEPHEN MILLER

is a long-time Watermark contributor and author of Screened Out, our movie reviews column. He is also an Orlando playwright and business consultant. Pages 33

BRETT STOUT

is a veteran of the US Marine Corps and lives in Washington, D.C..

He was named

by Gay.com as one of the hottest voices of 2010. Page 27

CHRIS AZZOPARDI

is the editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBT wire service and has interviewed a wide range of celebrities, including Cher and Lady Gaga. He lives in Canton, Mich., and can be reached via his website at Chris-Azzopardi.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHY Nick Cardello, Angie Folks, Tom Eckert, Julie Milford, Travis Moore, Chris Stephenson

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The

one

for me

Patient model. Pill shown is not actual size.

INDICATION COMPLERA® (emtricitabine 200 mg/rilpivirine 25 mg/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) is a prescription HIV medicine that contains 3 medicines, EMTRIVA® (emtricitabine), EDURANT™ (rilpivirine), and VIREAD® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) combined in one pill. COMPLERA is used as a complete single-tablet regimen to treat HIV-1 infection in adults (age 18 and older) who have never taken HIV medicines before.

COMPLERA does not cure HIV and has not been shown to prevent passing HIV to others. It is important to always practice safer sex, use latex or polyurethane condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with any body fluids, and to never re-use or share needles. Do not stop taking COMPLERA unless directed by your healthcare provider. See your healthcare provider regularly.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Contact your healthcare provider right away if you get the following side effects or conditions while taking COMPLERA: • Nausea, vomiting, unusual muscle pain, and/or weakness. These may be signs of a buildup of acid in the blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical condition • Light-colored stools, dark-colored urine, and/or if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow. These may be signs of serious liver problems (hepatotoxicity), with liver enlargement (hepatomegaly), and fat in the liver (steatosis) • If you have HIV-1 and hepatitis B virus (HBV), your liver disease may suddenly get worse if you stop taking COMPLERA. Do not stop taking COMPLERA without first talking to your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider will monitor your condition COMPLERA may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how COMPLERA works, and may cause serious side effects.

Do not take COMPLERA if you are taking the following medicines: • other HIV medicines (COMPLERA provides a complete treatment for HIV infection.)

• the anti-seizure medicines carbamazepine (Carbatrol®, Equetro®, Tegretol®, Tegretol-XR®, Teril®, Epitol®), oxcarbazepine (Trileptal®), phenobarbital (Luminal®), phenytoin (Dilantin®, Dilantin-125®, Phenytek®) • the anti-tuberculosis medicines rifabutin (Mycobutin), rifampin (Rifater®, Rifamate®, Rimactane®, Rifadin®) and rifapentine (Priftin®) • a proton pump inhibitor medicine for certain stomach or intestinal problems, including esomeprazole (Nexium®, Vimovo®), lansoprazole (Prevacid®), omeprazole (Prilosec®), pantoprazole sodium (Protonix®), rabeprazole (Aciphex®) • more than 1 dose of the steroid medicine dexamethasone or dexamethasone sodium phosphate • St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) • other medicines that contain tenofovir (VIREAD®, TRUVADA®, ATRIPLA®) • other medicines that contain emtricitabine or lamivudine (EMTRIVA®, Combivir®, Epivir® or Epivir-HBV®, Epzicom®, Trizivir®) • rilpivirine (Edurant™) • adefovir (HEPSERA®) In addition, also tell your healthcare provider if you take: • an antacid medicine that contains aluminum, magnesium hydroxide, or calcium carbonate. Take antacids at least 2 hours before or at least 4 hours after you take COMPLERA • a histamine-2 blocker medicine, including famotidine (Pepcid®), cimetidine (Tagamet®), nizatidine (Axid®), or ranitidine hydrochloride (Zantac®). Take these medicines at least 12 hours before or at least 4 hours after you take COMPLERA • the antibiotic medicines clarithromycin (Biaxin®), erythromycin (E-Mycin®, Eryc®, Ery-Tab®, PCE®, Pediazole®, Ilosone®), and troleandomycin (TAO®) • an antifungal medicine by mouth, including fluconazole (Diflucan®), itraconazole (Sporanox®), ketoconazole (Nizoral®), posaconazole (Noxafil®), voriconazole (Vfend®) • methadone (Dolophine®) This list of medicines is not complete. Discuss with your healthcare provider all prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, or herbal supplements you are taking or plan to take.

PALIO Date: 02.15.12 • Client: Gilead • Product: Complera • File Name: 21208_pgitvd_journal_ad_Watermark_lo.indd

YOUR LGBT LIFE. MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06 page 1 8 Ad watermark • Trim: 9.875” x 10.375”

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COMPLERA is a prescription medicine used as a complete single-tablet regimen to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV medicines before. COMPLERA does not cure HIV or AIDS or help prevent passing HIV to others.

COMPLERA.

A complete HIV treatment in only 1 pill a day.

Ask your healthcare provider if it’s the one for you.

Before taking COMPLERA, tell your healthcare provider if you: • have liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection • have kidney problems • have ever had a mental health problem • have bone problems • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if COMPLERA can harm your unborn child • are breastfeeding; women with HIV should not breast-feed because they can pass HIV through their milk to the baby Contact your healthcare provider right away if you experience any of the following serious or common side effects: Serious side effects associated with COMPLERA: • New or worse kidney problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. If you have had kidney problems in the past or take other medicines that can cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider may need to do blood tests to check your kidneys during your treatment with COMPLERA • Depression or mood changes can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: feeling sad or hopeless, feeling anxious or restless, or if you have thoughts of hurting yourself (suicide) or have tried to hurt yourself • Bone problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Bone problems include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your healthcare provider may need to do additional tests to check your bones • Changes in body fat can happen in people taking HIV medicine. These changes may include increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), breast, and around the main part of your body (trunk). Loss of fat from the legs, arms and face may also happen. The cause and long-term health effect of these conditions are not known • Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider if you start having new symptoms after starting your HIV medicine

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Common side effects associated with COMPLERA: • trouble sleeping (insomnia), abnormal dreams, headache, dizziness, diarrhea,

nausea, rash, tiredness, and depression Other side effects associated with COMPLERA: • vomiting, stomach pain or discomfort, skin discoloration (small spots or freckles), and pain Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of COMPLERA. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Take COMPLERA exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it • Always take COMPLERA with a meal. Taking COMPLERA with a meal is important to

help get the right amount of medicine in your body. A protein drink does not replace a meal • Stay under the care of your healthcare provider during treatment with COMPLERA and see your healthcare provider regularly

Please see Patient Information for COMPLERA on the following pages.

Learn more at www.COMPLERA.com

PALIO Date: 02.15.12 • Client: Gilead • Product: Complera • File Name: 21208_pgitvd_journal_ad_Watermark_lo.indd MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06 • Trim: 9.875” x 10.375”

LGBT LIFE. watermark YOUR Watermark

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FDA-Approved Patient Labeling Patient Information COMPLERA® (kom-PLEH-rah) (emtricitabine, rilpivirine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) Tablets

COMPLERA may help: • Reduce the amount of HIV in your blood. This is called your “viral load”.

• Increase the number of white blood cells called CD4+ (T) cells that help fight off other infections.

Important: Ask your doctor or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with COMPLERA. For more information, see the section “What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking COMPLERA?”

Reducing the amount of HIV and increasing the CD4+ (T) cell count may improve your immune system. This may reduce your risk of death or infections that can happen when your immune system is weak (opportunistic infections).

Read this Patient Information before you start taking COMPLERA and each time you get a refill. There may be new information. This information does not take the place of talking to your healthcare provider about your medical condition or treatment.

What is the most important information I should know about COMPLERA?

COMPLERA does not cure HIV infections or AIDS. • Always practice safer sex.

• Use latex or polyurethane condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with any body fluids such as semen, vaginal secretions, or blood.

• Never re-use or share needles.

Ask your healthcare provider if you have any questions about how to prevent passing COMPLERA can cause serious side effects, including: 1. Build-up of an acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis can happen in HIV to other people. some people who take COMPLERA or similar (nucleoside analogs) medicines. Lactic Who should not take COMPLERA? acidosis is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death.

• Do not take COMPLERA if your HIV infection has been previously treated with Lactic acidosis can be hard to identify early, because the symptoms could seem like HIV medicines. symptoms of other health problems. Call your healthcare provider right away if you • Do not take COMPLERA if you are taking certain other medicines. For more get any of the following symptoms which could be signs of lactic acidosis: information about medicines that must not be taken with COMPLERA, see “What • feeling very weak or tired should I tell my healthcare provider before taking COMPLERA?” • have unusual (not normal) muscle pain • have trouble breathing What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking COMPLERA? • have stomach pain with Before you take COMPLERA, tell your healthcare provider if you: - nausea (feel sick to your stomach) • have liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection - vomiting • have kidney problems • feel cold, especially in your arms and legs • have ever had a mental health problem • feel dizzy or lightheaded • have bone problems • have a fast or irregular heartbeat • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if COMPLERA can harm your unborn child Pregnancy Registry. There is a pregnancy registry for women who take antiviral medicines during pregnancy. Its purpose is to collect information about the health of you and your baby. Talk to your healthcare provider about how you can take part in this registry.

Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms • are breast-feeding or plan to breast-feed. The Centers for Disease Control and of liver problems: Prevention recommends that mothers with HIV not breastfeed because they can pass • your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice). the HIV through their milk to the baby. It is not known if COMPLERA can pass through • dark “tea-colored” urine your breast milk and harm your baby. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best • light-colored bowel movements (stools) way to feed your baby.

• loss of appetite for several days or longer Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription • nausea and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

• stomach pain 2. Severe liver problems. Severe liver problems can happen in people who take COMPLERA or similar medicines. In some cases these liver problems can lead to death.

Your liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and you may develop fat in your liver (steatosis) when you take COMPLERA.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are COMPLERA may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking COMPLERA or a similar affect how COMPLERA works, and may cause serious side effects. If you take certain medicines with COMPLERA, the amount of COMPLERA in your body may be too low and medicine containing nucleoside analogs for a long time. it may not work to help control your HIV infection. The HIV virus in your body may become 3. Worsening of Hepatitis B infection. If you also have hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection resistant to COMPLERA or other HIV medicines that are like it. and you stop taking COMPLERA, your HBV infection may become worse (flare-up). A “flare-up” is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Do not take COMPLERA if you also take these medicines: COMPLERA is not approved for the treatment of HBV, so you must discuss your HBV • COMPLERA provides a complete treatment for HIV infection. Do not take other HIV medicines with COMPLERA. therapy with your healthcare provider.

• the anti-seizure medicines carbamazepine (CARBATROL®, EQUETRO®, TEGRETOL®, • Do not let your COMPLERA run out. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare TEGRETOL-XR®, TERIL®, EPITOL®), oxcarbazepine (TRILEPTAL®), phenobarbital provider before your COMPLERA is all gone.

(LUMINAL®), phenytoin (DILANTIN®, DILANTIN-125®, PHENYTEK®) • Do not stop taking COMPLERA without first talking to your healthcare provider. ® ® • If you stop taking COMPLERA, your healthcare provider will need to check your health • the anti-tuberculosis medicines rifabutin (MYCOBUTIN ), rifampin (RIFATER , ® ® ® ® , RIMACTANE , RIFADIN ) and rifapentine (PRIFTIN ) RIFAMATE often and do regular blood tests to check your HBV infection. Tell your healthcare provider about any new or unusual symptoms you may have after you stop taking • a proton pump inhibitor medicine for certain stomach or intestinal problems, including esomeprazole (NEXIUM®, VIMOVO®), lansoprazole (PREVACID®), omeprazole COMPLERA. (PRILOSEC®), pantoprazole sodium (PROTONIX®), rabeprazole (ACIPHEX®) • more than 1 dose of the steroid medicine dexamethasone or dexamethasone sodium What is COMPLERA? COMPLERA is a prescription HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) medicine that: phosphate • is used to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV medicines before. HIV is the • St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).

If you are taking COMPLERA, you should not take: • contains 3 medicines, (rilpivirine, emtricitabine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) • other medicines that contain tenofovir (VIREAD®, TRUVADA®, ATRIPLA®) combined in one tablet. EMTRIVA and VIREAD are HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency • other medicines that contain emtricitabine or lamivudine (EMTRIVA®, COMBIVIR®, virus) nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and EDURANT is an EPIVIR® or EPIVIR-HBV®, EPZICOM®, TRIZIVIR®) HIV-1 non-nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI).

• rilpivirine (EDURANT™) It is not known if COMPLERA is safe and effective in children under the age of 18 years. • adefovir (HEPSERA®)

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YOUR LIFE. MAR. 15-29, // ISSUE 19.06• File Name: 21208_pgitvd_journal_ad_Watermark_lo.indd watermarkonline.com PALIO LGBT Date: 02.15.12 • Client: Gilead2012 • Product: Complera BSwatermark page 1 • Trim: 9.875” x 10.375”

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Also tell your healthcare provider if you take: The most common side effects of COMPLERA include: • an antacid medicine that contains aluminum, magnesium hydroxide, or calcium • trouble sleeping (insomnia) carbonate. Take antacids at least 2 hours before or at least 4 hours after you take • abnormal dreams COMPLERA. • headache • a histamine-2 blocker medicine, including famotidine (PEPCID®), cimetidine • dizziness (TAGAMET®), nizatidine (AXID®), or ranitidine hydrochloride (ZANTAC®). Take these • diarrhea medicines at least 12 hours before or at least 4 hours after you take COMPLERA. • nausea ® ® ® • the antibiotic medicines clarithromycin (BIAXIN ), erythromycin (E-MYCIN , ERYC , • rash ERY-TAB®, PCE®, PEDIAZOLE®, ILOSONE®), and troleandomycin (TAO®) • tiredness ® • an antifungal medicine by mouth, including fluconazole (DIFLUCAN ), itraconazole ® ® ® (SPORANOX ), ketoconazole (NIZORAL ), posaconazole (NOXAFIL ), voriconazole • depression (VFEND®) Additional common side effects include: • methadone (DOLOPHINE®) • vomiting Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you are not sure if your medicine is • stomach pain or discomfort • skin discoloration (small spots or freckles) one that is listed above.

Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your • pain healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. Your healthcare provider and your pharmacist can tell you if you can take these medicines with COMPLERA. Do not start any new medicines while you are taking COMPLERA without first talking with your healthcare provider or pharmacist. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that can interact with COMPLERA. How should I take COMPLERA? Stay under the care of your healthcare provider during treatment with COMPLERA. • Take COMPLERA exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it.

• Always take COMPLERA with a meal. Taking COMPLERA with a meal is important to help get the right amount of medicine in your body. A protein drink does not replace a meal.

• Do not change your dose or stop taking COMPLERA without first talking with your healthcare provider. See your healthcare provider regularly while taking COMPLERA. • If you miss a dose of COMPLERA within 12 hours of the time you usually take it, take your dose of COMPLERA with a meal as soon as possible. Then, take your next dose of COMPLERA at the regularly scheduled time. If you miss a dose of COMPLERA by more than 12 hours of the time you usually take it, wait and then take the next dose of COMPLERA at the regularly scheduled time.

• Do not take more than your prescribed dose to make up for a missed dose.

• When your COMPLERA supply starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. It is very important not to run out of COMPLERA. The amount of virus in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time.

• If you take too much COMPLERA, contact your local poison control center or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away.

•

What are the possible side effects of COMPLERA? COMPLERA may cause the following serious side effects, including: • See “What is the most important information I should know about COMPLERA?” • New or worse kidney problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. If you have had kidney problems in the past or take other medicines that can cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider may need to do blood tests to check your kidneys during your treatment with COMPLERA. • Depression or mood changes. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: - feeling sad or hopeless - feeling anxious or restless - have thoughts of hurting yourself (suicide) or have tried to hurt yourself • Bone problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Bone problems include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your healthcare provider may need to do additional tests to check your bones.

• Changes in body fat can happen in people taking HIV medicine. These changes may include increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), breast, and around the main part of your body (trunk). Loss of fat from the legs, arms and face may also happen. The cause and long term health effect of these conditions are not known.

• Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time.

Tell your healthcare provider if you start having new symptoms after starting your HIV medicine.

BS page 2

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

These are not all the possible side effects of COMPLERA. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088).

How do I store COMPLERA? • Store COMPLERA at room temperature 77 °F (25 °C).

• Keep COMPLERA in its original container and keep the container tightly closed.

• Do not use COMPLERA if the seal over the bottle opening is broken or missing.

Keep COMPLERA and all other medicines out of reach of children.

General information about COMPLERA: Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Patient Information leaflet. Do not use COMPLERA for a condition for which it was not prescribed.

Do not give COMPLERA to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have.

It may harm them.

This leaflet summarizes the most important information about COMPLERA. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about COMPLERA that is written for health professionals. For more information, call (1-800-445-3235) or go to www.COMPLERA.com.

What are the ingredients of COMPLERA? Active ingredients: emtricitabine, rilpivirine hydrochloride, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate Inactive ingredients: pregelatinized starch, lactose monohydrate, microcrystalline cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, povidone, polysorbate 20. The tablet film coating contains polyethylene glycol, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, triacetin, titanium dioxide, iron oxide red, FD&C Blue #2 aluminum lake, FD&C Yellow #6 aluminum lake.

This Patient Information has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Manufactured and distributed by: Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, CA 94404 Issued: August 2011 COMPLERA, the COMPLERA Logo, EMTRIVA, HEPSERA, TRUVADA, VIREAD, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. or its related companies.

ATRIPLA is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb & Gilead Sciences, LLC. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. © 2012 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved.

202123-GS-000 02AUG2011 CON12115 2/12

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06 PALIO Date: 02.15.12 • Client: Gilead • Product: Complera • File Name: 21208_pgitvd_journal_ad_Watermark_lo.indd • Trim: 9.875” x 10.375”

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SUNDAES HOT DOGS

NEWS

COVER STORY ORLANDO EDITION

ROLE MODEL: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer championed a Domestic Partner Registry that is now serving as a model for cities like Tampa. PHOTO BY JAKE STEVENS

The Mayor Advocate Under Buddy Dyer, Orlando has become a model for urban LGBT equality in Florida.

Tom Dyer

TOM@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

O

RLANDO | In a glittering high rise condo last week, Mayor Buddy Dyer posed proudly with the 2012 “Voice for Equality” Award just presented him

by Equality Florida, the statewide LGBT lobbying organization. Behind him, Orlando’s inviting downtown skyline twinkled through sheer curtains. In front, more than one hundred LGBT-and-friendly activists and supporters applauded enthusiastically.

Dyer, who hopes to be elected to a third term on April 3, received the award for his efforts to advance LGBT equality during a decade of leadership. When he �irst took of�ice in February 2003, the city council had just suffered an ugly display of prejudice before voting 4-3 to include sexual orientation among the classes protected by its Human Rights Ordinance. Mayor Glenda Hood, who left of�ice early to become Florida’s Secretary of State, opposed the measure.

But things changed when Dyer

entered City Hall. Working with Commissioner Patty Sheehan, also a 2012 Equality Florida honoree, Dyer quietly but forcefully turned back efforts to repeal expansion of the HRO. He became the �irst mayor to participate in Pride parades and rallies. In 2008 he announced that the city would offer bene�its to the domestic partners of city employees. In 2010 he publicly opposed Florida’s Amendment 2 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and the ban on adoption by gays and lesbians. And most recently, he championed creation of a Domestic Partner Registry—the �irst of its kind in Central Florida.

The day it was implemented, he served as notary when Sheehan and partner Jocelyn White were among the �irst couples to register at City Hall.

“Under Mayor Buddy Dyer’s leadership, Orlando is leading the region in recognizing and protecting LGBT families,” said Equality Florida �ield director Joe Saunders in presenting the award.

“The creation of Orlando’s Domestic Partner Registry has inspired local governments across the state to

Orlando to bid for Gay Games 2018 Jamie Hyman JAMIE@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

explore how they too can protect our families.”

CRITICS AND FANS

Support for Dyer is by no means universal. His three opponents in the upcoming election, including a sitting councilman, denounced Dyer during a March 7 debate for employing a “Buddy system” of favoritism for well-connected businesses and campaign donors.

“I think the mayor has favored his friends,” said Commissioner Phil Diamond. “I think he’s focused too much on downtown special interests, and I think he’s cut bad deals with developers.”

Former Orange County Democrats chairman Doug Head chided Dyer for funneling large contributions through the Florida Democratic Party to bypass campaign laws. “This is the kind of behavior that makes everybody doubt whether there is any credibility in the system,” Head told the Orlando Sentinel.

In�luential Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell has criticized the mayor for “play[ing] fast and loose with the public’s money” in pursuit of ambitious downtown development goals, and “pick[ing] unnecessary �ights with peaceniks.”

And Orlando Weekly featured columnist Billy Manes, who happens Continued on page 14 |  |

orlando

ORLANDO BOUND?: The Gay Games return every four years.

Orlando Converge, Orlando’s LGBT visitor’s bureau, and the city of Orlando are teaming up to score as host of the 2018 Gay Games.

Mikael Audebert, Converge executive director, said the bidding process will take about two years with the host city decision announced in 2014. Two elimination rounds will narrow the �inalists down to three top cities, with the last one standing the winner of the bid. Only the three �inalists will be judged via site inspections.

The Gay Games used to be managed by a single organization that split over a licensing disagreement.

The two groups are now in the process of remerging and working on the request for proposals (RFP).

“When released, that’s when the process will start,” Audebert said. “I expect later this month.”

He added that although the City of Orlando is a partner in the process, Converge is not relying on the city for funding. Converge is working with the Central Florida Sports Commission.

“They’re going to handle all the venues and site selections for the sports,” Audebert said.

He said Converge will handle the other aspects, such as those relating to the attendees or other nonsporting events.

“The next step is going to be to put the team together and go after funding, private sponsors and commitments to make sure it’s properly �inanced,” Audebert said. “It is a major part of the RFP: Can we get sponsors to properly fund this event?”

Audebert said the idea was planted in 2010, when Come Out With Pride’s theme was the Olympics and he contacted the Gay Games about broadcasting their opening ceremonies in Orlando. That didn’t work out, but Audebert said the Gay Games host idea resulted from those discussions and the bid has been in the works for the past two years.

The last Gay Games were held in Cologne, Germany in 2010. The Gay Games 2014 will be in Cleveland, Ohio, in August of that year. |  |

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

13

orlando NEWS

—ORLANDO CITY COMMISSIONER PATTY SHEEHAN

COVER STORY ORLANDO EDITION

|  | Mayor Dyer from pg.13

to be gay, routinely rips the mayor as an elitist self-promoter with questionable ethics.

But his many supporters in the LGBT community are equally passionate.

“Mayor Dyer is a true friend of the LGBT community,” says attorney and activist Mary Meeks.

“Every time—and I mean every single time—I have gone to him over the years and asked him to do something to support our community, he has said ‘yes.’ He truly gets it.”

“Mayor Dyer believes in doing the right thing, and he has been a passionate, committed advocate for his LGBT constituents,” says attorney Jeff Miller, who along with partner Ted Maines was named a “power couple” by Orlando Magazine. “Gay and lesbian issues aside, he is just a great mayor for our city.”

“Mayor Dyer is as proud as anyone that Orlando was ranked as the second gayest city in the nation by The Advocate,” notes Randy Stephens, executive director at the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida. “It’s been a transition, but I’m grateful that we now have a mayor who will proudly stand by the LGBT community and embrace the unique character we bring to Orlando and Central Florida.”

THE MOD COWBOY

14

I consider the man a visionary.

Dyer, 53, whose given name is John, grew up in Kissimmee, the son of a bull-riding cattle trucker and a Tupperware secretary who worked at Disney before opening The Mod Cowboy western wear store on U.S. 192 during—you guessed it—the 1970s.

“I still have a pair of boots from

VOICES OF EQUALITY: Mayor Buddy Dyer and fellow honoree Commissioner Patty Sheehan (right) are surrounded by well-wishers at the Equality Florida Winter Mixer. PHOTO BY TOM DYER The Mod Cowboy,” Dyer laughed during a recent interview at his City Hall of�ices. “At one point my mother sold more pairs of Wrangler jeans than any nonchain store in Florida.”

At Osceola High School, Dyer was captain of the baseball team and Key Club president. And though neither of his parents attended college, he wanted to attend an Ivy League School. He settled on Brown University in Rhode Island, where he enjoyed being “the hick kid from the South” and played rugby with John Kennedy Jr. “One time the whole team went to a party at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port,” Dyer remembered. “It lasted well into the morning and at daybreak there were a bunch of people half-sleeping and half-passed out on the lawn. When I woke up, John was running around shaking people to get them up because his mother [Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis] was due by 9 a.m.”

Dyer graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and worked in that �ield in Houston and Orlando before attending law school at the University of Florida.

Again he excelled, serving as editor of the Florida Law Review and then achieving the highest score on the Florida Bar Exam.

watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

“We worked together and because he was one year ahead of me he was one of the graders when I took the Bar Exam,” remembers Meeks. “For weeks he carried around a stack of blue books and joked that my exam could be in there. He is de�initely smart, meticulous, and a great strategic thinker—all qualities that have made him a good mayor.”

In a runoff, Dyer was �irst elected to the Florida State Senate in 1992. He easily won re-election in 1996 and 2000, and was chosen State Senate Democratic Leader for three of those years.

“When I started there were 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans,” Dyer said. “We shared power, so you couldn’t pass anything without working with the other party. We’d go out together at night. We had personal relationships that allowed us to work together. It’s become much, much more partisan.”

In 2002 Dyer ran for State Attorney General and lost to Charlie Crist (who needed three tries to pass the Bar Exam). He was preparing to serve as general counsel for Sen. Bob Graham’s presidential campaign when people—including Sheehan— began approaching him to run for

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

mayor after Hood’s unexpected defection.

SURPRISE MAYOR

“I’d never, ever considered being the mayor of Orlando—in fact, I’d never set foot in City Hall.

But there was this groundswell of support for the idea,” Dyer said.

“My family agonized about it and prayed about it, and then one morning I got a call from Pastor Sam Green of St. Mark’s African Methodist Episcopal Church asking me to run to help unite Orlando. That was kind of the �inal straw for me.”

Dyer inherited a huge budget de�icit, rising crime, and a stagnant downtown. Because he’d never worked in local government, he admits there was a steep learning curve. For the �irst three years, he held twiceweekly meetings with his cabinet and supervisors.

“We went around the room and they told me what they were doing and what was going on in their departments,” he said. “I learned how to listen, and how to create an atmosphere where people aren’t afraid to share different points of view.”

He also developed a vision for a sophisticated urban environment fueled by sparkling venues, mass transit, and an

watermarkonline.com

exciting and livable downtown populated by a diverse workforce.

His tenacity in accomplishing these goals has ruf�led feathers.

But even detractors concede that Dyer has tackled his biggest priorities successfully.

“Downtown has grown. The de�icit is gone. Yet somehow the city’s tax rate is lower than any other big city in Florida,” wrote the Sentinel’s Maxwell in a recent column. “Crime is down.

Amenities are up. Transit is on the way, along with a growing Medical City in the east.”

“I consider the man a visionary,” says Sheehan. “There were many times that we were about to lose big ticket items like SunRail and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

He kept pushing on, working behind the scenes to build consensus for the good of Orlando. I think that’s remarkable in our current climate of food �ight politics.”

ECONOMICS OF EQUALITY When it comes to LGBT issues, Dyer de�lects credit for positive strides taken within the city.

“I think our community as a whole is more tolerant and more accepting than it was ten years ago, so it’s become easier,” he said. “You’re not going into armed battle like Commissioner Sheehan and others did when the city expanded the Human Rights Ordinance back in 2002. Look at the difference now. We passed a Domestic Partner Registry and only two people spoke out in opposition.”

And Dyer emphasizes that LGBT equality is consistent with his vision for the city.

“Successful cities have to attract bright, talented people, and the way you do that is by showing that you’re a tolerant and progressive community,” Dyer said. “Actions that we’ve

Continued on page 15 |  |

|  | Mayor Dyer from pg.14

orlando

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Watermark publisher Tom Dyer are not related.

NEWS

taken further that notion—in addition to simple, basic fairness and equality and the idea that good things happen when you treat people right.”

Saunders says this economic argument for equality is powerful.

“Creating laws that recognize and protect gay families isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s literally good for business,” he says. “No one gets that better than Buddy Dyer.”

As for the future for LGBT equality in Orlando, Dyer says he’s willing to listen and consider different ideas.

“My attitude is that I can’t pretend to know what’s best for the LGBT community, or what’s most important to them,” he said.

“I didn’t initiate the Domestic Partner Registry; Commissioner Sheehan and a committee of people brought that to me. As far as implementation, I wasn’t going to substitute my judgment for that of the people the registry is there to help.”

By the end of a third term— Maxwell says the odds for re-

election are “much better than even money”—Dyer wants to see SunRail and the performing arts center operational, continued growth for the Medical City (“our most important economic engine for creating quality jobs”), and the �irst phase of the ambitious Creative Village envisioned for the old O-rena constructed and in use.

And he wants to maintain the high level of public safety created by the award-winning �ire and police departments.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff started, so making sure we complete them is my priority,” Dyer said.

Speaking to LGBT supporters at the Equality Florida event, Dyer shared that he believes being Mayor of Orlando is the most important job in Florida.

“Where we go, others follow,” he said. “What we do, others emulate.”

Ten years ago, who would’ve thought that would include strides toward LGBT equality. |  |

A GRAND OPENING:

Oviedo Antique Mall owners Eric and Richard Jones—father and son—celebrated the grand opening of their business at 95 Geneva Dr., in Orlando the weekend of March 3. The mall showcases more than 50 dealers and 5,000-square-feet of antiques. The mall is inside the Oviedo Shopping Plaza.

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15

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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Tampa City Council set to approve DPR

TAMPA BAY EDITION

NEWS

Steve Blanchard EDITOR@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

T MAYOR-ADVOCATE: Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is approaching his first year in office and continues to express his support of diversity and the LGBT Community. Photo courtesy the City of Tampa

Showcasing Tampa’s strengths Under Bob Buckhorn, Tampa continues its legacy of embracing equality Steve Blanchard

EDITOR@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

T

AMPA | A year ago, the citizens of Tampa overwhelmingly elected Bob Buckhorn as their new mayor. It was a decision not taken lightly, especially in the LGBT community, where the city’s support for equality in a conservative county was bolstered by two-term mayor Pam Iorio.

In his �irst year as the leader of Tampa, Buckhorn has stayed true to his support of the LGBT community by retaining the domestic partnership bene�its for city employees enacted by his predecessor and by supporting LGBT organizations and events with proclamations and his presence.

“I think Tampa has moved light years from when even before I was involved in the public process,” Buckhorn said. “I’ve been pleased at the pace at which change has

come and occurred. There have been some roadblocks and there will continue to be. But in the city I feel we are recognized largely because of mayoral leadership going three administrations that recognized diversity as our strength.”

Buckhorn, a former councilman, was involved with both of the previous mayors in some capacity.

Carrie West, president of the GaYbor District Coalition and co-owner of MC Film remembers meeting Buckhorn back in 1993, when he visited West and his partner Mark Bias in their South Hyde Park store.

“He said that he was an assistant to Mayor Sandy Freeman and he wanted to meet us and asked us to call him about any concerns or issues,” West remembered. That relationship continues today. “Mark and I have had long coffee talks with Bob over his positions and he said that he wouldn’t turn his back on the LGBT community. So far he has proven to be a great supporter to all

of Tampa’s LGBTs and our allies.”

Maintaining that commitment to equality is important not only socially, but economically, Buckhorn said. By embracing the LGBT community, Tampa has the ability to attract more businesses to the area and increase the power of the local economy.

“I told Watermark this when we talked before the election, but we are more competitive economically as a city because of our diversity,” Buckhorn said.

“When we’re out there looking to relocate companies, that diversity is a strength. They want to know that if they move their operations to Tampa, their employees—all of them—will be welcomed, celebrated and participating in a community irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, religion or orientation.”

Buckhorn has stood by his support for diversity in a public way.

He spoke during the opening night of the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in October and was present at the Equality Florida Gala in Ybor City last month.

Those appearances mean a lot to organizers.

“When he came on stage and welcomed the audience and shared Continued on page 19 |  |

AMPA | The Tampa City Council was expected to overwhelmingly green light a domestic partnership registry at its 9 a.m. meeting March 15.

During its Feb. 24 meeting, the council voted 5-0, with Charlie Miranda and Frank Reddick absent, to ask city attorneys to draft an ordinance similar to the one Orlando implemented in January and report back on March 15.

The registry would allow unmarried, cohabitating couples—both gay and straight—to have protections related to end-of-life issues and hospital stays. According to census estimates, Tampa has just over 9,000 unmarried-partner households. Fewer than 900 of those are same-sex couples.

“It’s what it says to the world about the level of tolerance in this community,” councilman Harry Cohen told the GaYbor District Coalition during a March 9 meeting. “Because of things like Confederate �lags on the side of the highway, Tampa has a reputation as a place that’s not open and friendly. It’s important that the local government puts out that regardless of policies in other parts of the state and in Hillsborough County, we’re going to treat people with respect.”

Tampa has a long history of being inclusive to the LGBT community. Former mayor Pam Iorio implemented domestic partnership bene�its for city employees in 2003 and Mayor Bob Buckhorn has continued supporting diversity in the city, attending many LGBT-speci�ic events.

The ACLU is optimistic the domestic partnership registry’s will pass, and a similar measure could appear before the St. Petersburg City Council later this spring.

“We are working on a domestic partnership registry in both cities, Tampa and St. Pete,” said Joyce Hamilton Henry, the West Central Regional Director of ACLU of Florida.

Mayor Buckhorn said he would sign a registry modeled after the City of Orlando’s and Cohen believed the measure would pass unanimously.

Equality Florida state �ield director Joe Saunders is con�ident that any economic worries the city may have regarding such a registry will be unfounded.

“There is almost no �iscal impact,” Saunders explained.

“Couples pay to register. It’s just like paying to get a marriage license.

“There is an immeasurable positive economic impact,” Saunders added. “People want to move where they can be comfortable and happy and companies want to relocate to areas where their employees can be happy and productive.”

If approved, Tampa would join the Florida cities of Orlando and Gainesville and the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach to have domestic partnership registries. |  |

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

tampa bay

et

COVER STORY

17

tampa bay NEWS

Transgender dispute at St. Pete bar offers educational opportunity Steve Blanchard

Selena Fuller joins Watermark’s Tampa Bay staff Steve Blanchard

EDITOR@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

EDITOR@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

ST. PETERSBURG | After the Bishop Tavern refused to let Alex Borrego participate in ladies’ night promotion March 1, the incident went international through press outlets. Fortunately the con�lict between the transgender patron and the bar turned into an educational opportunity for St. Petersburg’s bar community.

“The manager made it sound like I just put on dresses to get free drinks,” Borrego said. “I told the manager that I hadn’t gone through all of the therapy and legal expenses to change my gender just for a few free drinks.”

The bar apologized for the incident and said it would use it as an opportunity to educate the staff.

Michael Keeffe, executive director of Trans*Action Florida (formerly FORGE), was happy with the apology, and offered to help educate the bar’s staff free of charge. So far the bar hasn’t taken him up on the offer. |  | Read more about this story at WatermarkOnline.com

Be Yourself

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This is such a close-knit community that it really doesn’t matter whether you’re gay or straight.

Everyone from A to Z comes together, supports each other, and has fun together. We love it here. Come out and hear us play during Art Walk!”

Mario and Mike (Double M Band)

T

AMPA | Watermark’s Tampa Bay staff now has three full time members, thanks to the addition of Florida native Selena Fuller.

Fuller, who lives in Seminole Heights, is the newsmagazine’s newest advertising account manager, who brings experience and familiarity with the area to the position.

“I’ve been in Tampa Bay for four years and came here for the better job market and more opportunities,” said Fuller, who has dated her boyfriend for about a year. “I can’t think of any place I’d rather live.”

Fuller, who is a retired massage therapist, has lived throughout the state—most recently in Sarasota and, before

that, Orlando. While she is a part of the LGBT community, this is her �irst active, public role within it.

“One of the reasons why I wanted this job was I see Watermark being so much for this community and putting a voice to it,” she said. “It gives me an opportunity to be more involved than I have in the past.

It also provides a chance for networking, meeting new people and really making a difference.”

Fuller has been a long time reader of Watermark and even won a WAVE award in 2008 for her work as a massage therapist in Sarasota.

“This job lets me bring more of a spotlight and voice to the community,” Fuller said. “Even with advertising you’re talking to people who might be a little uncomfortable with the LGBT community or may not be

Gulfport Florida

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familiar with us. I get to help spread the word.”

To reach Fuller, e-mail Selena@WatermarkOnline.com or call 941-284-1029. |  |

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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TAMPA BAY EDITION

—TAMPA MAYOR BOB BUCKHORN

|  | Mayor Buckhorn from pg.17

that he was proud of our Film Festival, it was so memorable for me,” said Ken Hodges, president of TIGLFF. “He said he would be back every year on opening night for as long as he was mayor.”

Seeing Buckhorn at the Equality Florida Gala in February gave executive director Nadine Smith a chance to speak with Buckhorn, who reiterated to her his support for the domestic partnership registry scheduled to go before the Tampa City Council March 15.

“He understands that it is the right thing to do and that it improves Tampa’s reputation as a place that is welcoming and inclusive,” Smith said. “That matters a great deal when it comes to �iring up the economy.”

At press time, the Tampa City Council was scheduled to vote on a Domestic Partnership Registry during its March 15 meeting, and Buckhorn was con�ident that such a registry would pass.

“I said publicly that I would sign the Domestic Partnership Registry Yvonne Capin spoke about,” Buckhorn said. “It’s allowing people to be treated with the dignity they deserve, irrespective of their relationship.

It’s about hospital visits, death and burial issues—it’s important that partners be allowed to participate and to make those important life decisions.”

Since his public statements, Buckhorn said he has not received one e-mail or phone call objecting to his plan to sign the registry.

“That tells you how far we’ve come,” he said. “That to me shows

how far this community has come. It’s a no-brainer and it will pass the council and it will be implemented.”

It’s uncertain if the more conservative Hillsborough County Commission will take up a similar mesasure, but Buckhorn would like to see that happen.

“I think it would be helpful if Hillsborough County followed suit,” he said. “It would be common decency and it’s the right thing to do.”

Buckhorn has at least one ally on the Hillsborough County Commission with Kevin Beckner.

“Mayor Buckhorn has been an invaluable partner in fostering and forging a stronger working relationship between the City and County,” Beckner said.

“His pride and passion for our community transcends beyond the boundaries of Tampa.”

TURNING THE CORNER

Equality issues are important to Buckhorn, but so is action.

On the campaign trail, the thencandidate published a detailed plan outlining ways to build on Iorio’s successes and also help Tampa survive the economic downturn.

“We’ve been working very hard and have accomplished a lot of what we’ve set out to do,” Buckhorn said. “In the �irst year we laid a lot of groundwork for the items that will take a bit longer—so it’s been very busy.”

Buckhorn said that his administration has cleaned up the permitting process, put the federal courthouse on track to be redeveloped as a boutique hotel and set in motion a master plan for development in downtown and urban neighborhoods.

that is this city.”

And Buckhorn is quick to add that the city is called Tampa, not Tampa Bay. “Fish live in Tampa Bay, there is no city of Tampa Bay,” Buckhorn said.

A BUSY 2012

COMMUNITY SUPPORT: GaYbor officers Carrie West, left, and Rich Kerin flank Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn at Equality Florida’s Tampa Gala in February. PHOTO COURTESY EQUALITY FLORIDA Those plans haven’t gone unnoticed, Buckhorn said. He’s received positive feedback from the citizens of Tampa, which is energizing for the �irst-term mayor.

“There is a belief that as we come out of this recession, things are getting better,” Buckhorn said. “I’ve worked hard at using my of�ice and the pulpit afforded to me by the of�ice to talk about Tampa and inspire people.”

He is especially focused on the business community to invigorate the local economy.

“We’ve got to get the economy back on track and work every day to make that happen,” he said.

THE NATIONAL STAGE

As 2012 continues, Buckhorn sees opportunity—speci�ically in August when the Republican National Convention convenes in downtown Tampa.

“The convention is an international event of the

magnitude of nothing we’ve ever done before,” Buckhorn said.

“Other than the Olympics, this will be the most watched television event in the world this year. We will have 15,000 journalists alone in Tampa for this.”

And it’s an opportunity to showcase Tampa and to relay a positive message, Buckhorn said.

“This is not a political event,” the mayor said. “This is an economic development opportunity.”

Buckhorn added that planning is essentialand and seizing the opportunity and publicity to advance Tampa’s future is smart leadership.

“We are still facing economic challenges,” Buckhorn said.

“We have to take care of the fundamentals surrounding the convention but we also have to be ready to tell Tampa’s story to the world. It is so important that we do this right. It’s not just downtown, it’s the great paella

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

Other than planning for this summer’s RNC, Buckhorn has plenty of other challenges and goals to meet this year.

The city is anticipating a $30 million de�icit and it’s Buckhorn’s job to get a budget to the City Council by July. He’s also focused on the continued revitalization of downtown Tampa and preparing for business expansion.

“I’m seeing more deals come across my desk and more permits are getting pulled,” Buckhorn said.

“Last year I tried to set the table for us coming out of the recession.

Now we’re ready for the next step.

I’ve never felt the optimism like what I’m feeling right now, and that’s from all segments of the community.”

In a city as large and as diverse as Tampa, its not always feasible to be liked by everyone within the city limits. But Buckhorn bluntly admits that he’s not concerned about that.

“It’s hard for me to say what people think of me,” Buckhorn said. “I’m less concerned about that then what they feel about the city. People seem excited about the change in leadership and people are re-energized. All the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together and that’s the air that I breathe. I’m feeding off the aspirations of the city for Tampa to explode out of this recession and continue being a leading city in the state and the country.” |  |

watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

watermarkonline.com

Staff Report

S

ARASOTA | Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta, Georgia brought members of the sold-out crowd at Michael’s on East to their feet with his keynote address during Sarasota County Democratic Party’s KennedyKing dinner Sunday night, March 4.

Mayor Reed spoke of the hard work of civil rights leaders of the past, of the victories, and the need to carry that

communities around the state.”

To maintain the momentum she urged Democrats to stand up for who they are and for their values, to always challenge falsehoods spread by others, and to go “all-in” for Democratic candidates like Barack Obama who support Democratic values.

“We were thrilled to have two such powerful speakers joining us for this event,” said Rita Ferrandino, Chair of the Sarasota Democratic Party, “and even more thrilled with the response and support from our local community.”

Ferrandino said that attendance at this year’s dinner was double of last year’s and

work forward into the future.

“Equal opportunity, not equal outcomes—that is a core Democratic value,” Mayor Reed told the crowd..

And those equal opportunities should also be extended to the LGBT community, according to Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida.

Smith opened the program with comments on the state of civil rights for the LGBT community in Florida.

“We are winning in Florida,” she said, “we are winning in

LOOKING FORWARD: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed spoke about the need for ongoing fights for civil rights during a special dinner hosted by the Sarasota County Democratic Party March 4. PHOTO COURTESY SCDP that tickets had sold out nearly a week in advance of the event.

“Both speakers noted the size of the crowd and the energy in the room,” Ferrandino said. “Their message and their experience in the struggle for civil rights are so important right now— and both speakers received

standing ovations for their remarks.”

The Kennedy-King dinner named for President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King is an annual fundraising event for the Sarasota County Democratic Party. “Civil Rights: The Struggle Continues” was the theme of this year’s event. |  |

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

21

state NEWS

Teacher with gay porn past reinstated Staff report

Same-sex custody battle could change state law Wire report

O

RLANDO | The Miami-Dade substitute math teacher with a gay porn past is on his way back to the classroom.

Shawn Loftis, 36, was �ired last year from his substitute teacher position in the Miami-Dade School District, after administrators found out he used to act in adult �ilms as “Collin O’Neal.” Then, the state banned him from earning his teaching certi�ication for �ive years. Last week, the Florida Education Commission in Orlando ruled that he can pursue his teaching certi�ication, but Loftis is on probation for two years and required to get a mental evaluation.

Loftis told a reporter that the next step is to petition the school district.

Loftis was �ired based on a district rule that states employees must “conduct themselves, both in their employment and in the community, in a manner that will re�lect credit upon themselves and the school system.

A district spokesman told reporters that a teaching certi�ication does not guarantee a job. |  |

A

custody battle in Florida between two lesbians could fuel the growing national debate over the de�inition of motherhood. It also might force state lawmakers to reconsider a 19-year-old law regarding the rights of sperm and egg donors.

The women, now in their 30s and known in court papers only by their initials, were both law enforcement of�icers in Florida.

One partner donated an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other. That woman gave birth in 2004, nine years into their relationship.

But the Brevard County couple separated two years later, and the birth mother eventually left Florida with the child without

telling her former lover. The woman who donated the egg and calls herself the biological mother �inally tracked them down in Australia with the help of a private detective.

Their �ight over the now 8-yearold girl is before the state Supreme Court, which has not announced whether it will consider the case.

A trial judge ruled for the birth mother and said the biological mother has no parental rights under state law, adding he hoped his decision would be overturned.

The 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach obliged, siding with the biological mother and saying both women have parental rights.

At issue is the 1993 state law meant to regulate sperm and egg donation. Scholars debate whether the constitutional right to procreate includes outside-

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

watermarkonline.com

the-body technologies used to conceive.

Also at issue are constitutional questions about gay people’s right to raise children and claim equal protection under law. Another appellate court ruled Florida’s ban on gays being able to adopt unconstitutional in 2010.

The biological mother, however, isn’t concerned about being a legal or social pioneer, her lawyer said.

She just wants her child back in her life.

“She hasn’t seen her daughter in years, and it’s been terribly, terribly dif�icult for her,’’ said Robert A. Segal, a family law attorney in Melbourne.

The birth mother’s lawyer, Robert Wheelock of Orlando, did not respond to written questions sent by email . |  |

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2/24/12 10:02:44 AM

Wire Report

‘Emo’ killings raise alarms in Iraq Wire Report BAGHDAD, IRAQ | Young people who identify themselves as socalled “Emos” are being brutally killed at an alarming rate in Iraq, where militias have distributed hit lists of victims and security forces say they are unable to stop

crimes against the subculture that is widely perceived in Iraq as being gay.

Of�icials and human rights groups estimated as many as 58 Iraqis who are either gay or believed to be gay have been killed in the last six weeks alone— forecasting what experts fear is a return to the rampant hate

given the culture wars that have erupted in the U.S. this campaign season.

U.S. bishops have been at the forefront of the campaign against same-sex marriage, with at least �ive U.S. states scheduling ballot measures on the issue in coming months. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the head of the U.S. conference of bishops and archbishop of New York, unsuccessfully lobbied against the legalization of gay marriage in his state. |  |

crimes against homosexuals in 2009. This year, eyewitnesses and human rights groups say some of the victims have been bludgeoned to death by militiamen smashing in their skulls with heavy cement blocks.

A list distributed by militants gives the names of 33 people and their home addresses. |  |

EARLY EFFORT FAILS FOR OHIO GAY MARRIAGE MEASURE Supporters of a measure that would repeal and replace a 2004 state constitutional amendment that says Ohio only recognizes marriages between a man and a woman have failed in their initial efforts toward getting the issue on the ballot. Attorney General Mike DeWine said March 9 that Freedom to Marry Ohio hadn’t supplied an adequate description of the measure.

DELAWARE GAY MARRIAGE ‘INEVITABLE’ Democratic Gov. Jack Markell said March 2 that gay marriage in Delaware is “inevitable” and he expects that Delaware will take up same-sex marriage legislation within the next few years. Markell said he supports legalizing gay marriage. The state implemented a same-sex civil union law in January.

PRIEST WHO DENIED COMMUNION TO LESBIAN SUSPENDED Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, the priest who denied communion to a lesbian at her mother’s funeral, has been placed on leave.

A letter from an archdiocese official said that Guarnizo was placed on leave for engaging in intimidating behavior.

HRC SELECTS NEW LEADER The Human Rights Campaign named Chad Griffin to replace outgoing president Joe Solmonese, who announced last year he would step down after seven years at the organization’s helm. The campaign’s directors voted March 2 to hire Grifin.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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V

ATICAN CITY | Pope Benedict XVI waded deep into U.S. campaign politics March 9, urging visiting U.S. bishops to beef up their teaching about the evils of premarital sex and cohabitation, and denouncing what he called the “powerful’’ gay marriage lobby in America.

As debate over health care coverage for birth control rages

in the United States, Benedict said there was an urgent need for Catholics in America to discover the value of chastity—an essential element of Christian teaching that he said had been subject to unjust “ridicule.’’

Benedict has long championed traditional marriage between man and woman, as well as opposition to premarital sex and �idelity within marriage. But his strong comments to visiting U.S. bishops took on particular signi�icance

IN OTHER NEWS

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Pope denounces gay marriage lobby to U.S. bishops

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Sexual Education vs.

Sexual Experience

I

N 2011, SHAWN LOFTIS, A

Florida substitute teacher, was suspended from his job when his previous career as a porn star was uncovered. On March 9, 2012, the education commission reversed his dismissal.

His gay porn past was not listed on his resume and many considered his failure to disclose this past was a form of dishonesty. Critics cited a clause that says teachers must “conduct themselves, both in their employment and in the community, in a manner that will re�lect credit upon themselves and the school system.”

However, it has never been required that a person list their entire occupational history on a resume.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say that it has. And, if legal occupations are up for moral review, why stop there? If a moral verdict can be issued for work experience, then all conduct should be available for moral review: Asking someone how many sexual partners they have, when they lost their virginity, if they would marry for money, if they had modeled in sexually proactive clothing. If these

questions are undeniably absurd, what can/should we judge on a person’s resume?

If a sexual job experience is ground for moral dismissal, it would stand to reason that other occupations should be weighed on similar moral grounds.

Violence seems far more likely to negatively impact children than sexual behavior. Yet, we consider professional violence an asset. It strains credulity to consider professional sex immoral when professional violence is not. Nonetheless, it is hard to even imagine a person being terminated for playing football, rugby, wrestling, or serving in the Marines. It is strange logic that it is acceptable to be paid to beat for sport or kill for country, but a sexual act, where no one is harmed, is morally bankrupt.

Ironically, the same people calling for Loftis’ dismissal praise persons of faith who’ve reformed from their wicked ways.

It is important to consider the moral authority required of a teacher. One can view a teacher as representing the “brand” of their school district, but must their personal history undergo public scrutiny and be quali�ied as a life lived by example? We do, for example, require a public examination of our politicians’ backgrounds.

But, while there is credence to considering the history of a person who legislates conduct, there is far less credence for a job requiring a certi�ied skill.

Some disagree on the grounds that teachers have a powerful in�luence on children. If in�luence is the bar, then one has to wonder why great outcry for resignation didn’t exist for Brett Favre when explicit photographs of him were exposed. Surely the argument can be made that he has in�luence over a greater number of children. But amateur nudity is acceptable but professional nudity is not. More crucial yet is the general consensus that porn production is morally intolerable but porn consumption is not?

Even if pornography remains the only objectionable legal occupation, what and who de�ines pornography? One could argue

Loftis’ porn career hasn’t been a distraction for students—it has been a distraction to parents.

subjectively where porn begins and entertainment ends and, in fact, people have been arguing this for some time.

For many in our sex-negative culture, the line is at the penis. The rules for acceptable female nudity are wholly different from the rules for men. Loftis’ participation in gay porn seems a greater moral transgression because there were two penises—the sin is twice as bad.

Some have also claimed that the professional past of this teacher creates an insurmountable distraction in the learning environment. But Loftis’ porn career hasn’t been a distraction for students; quite the contrary, it has been

a distraction to parents. Ultimately the point is this: Either a job is legal or it isn’t. The equal protection clause of the constitution guarantees us with the right to pursue our life, liberty, and happiness. The laws that establish what is permissible in this pursuit cover pornographic work. People who have sexual experience in their work history have a right to pursue whatever work they want. And, when it comes to legal work that is not in violation of the law, moral judgment has no relevant bearing.

We can like it or we can dislike it, but in a nation that exalts capitalism, when it comes to work everyone has a right to have both a past and a future. |  |

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TALKING POINTS Mister Campfield… if we can’t say gay, we’ll just say Takei.

So here’s an ‘It’s okay to be Takei shirt to wear to help you grow a brain.

—GEORGE TAKEI ADDRESSING SEN. STACEY CAMPFIELD’S (R-TENN.) ‘DON’T SAY GAY” BILL AND COMPARING HIM TO THE WIZARD OF OZ’S SCARECROW.

MARRIED BY THE ‘NANNY’

LOGO GOES STRAIGHT-ISH

N

OT THAT YOU’LL REALLY BE ABLE TO TELL A DIFFERENCE, but Logo announced this month that it was shifting its focus and will no longer be an “LGBT network.”

According to Queerty.com, a more pop-culture approach to broadcasting is evident in the network’s 2012 lineup. But don’t stress: RuPaul’s Drag Race isn’t going anywhere.

The new lineup for this year includes the canine makeover series Design My Dog, and Wiseguys, which follows

PEOPLE ARE TALKING AT WATERMARKONLINE.COM ON GAY REPUBLICANS: “I think it ridiculous to be gay and Republican. The Log Cabin Republicans are to gay equality as the Sonderkommandos were to Jewish advancement [or even survival].”

—HERB SIMPSON “As a lifelong registered Republican, I’m �ighting for the survival of the ‘moderate’ wing of the party. Not all GOP people are ogres. Because many of them have a libertarian streak, they want to keep government out of the bedrooms.”

—TOM BROWN

“While I don’t agree with all the policies of the far left liberal, ‘progressive’ wing of the Democratic Party, at least the Democratic Party does not hate me for being gay like the Republican Party does. As long as this is the case, I’ll continue to believe that it is not possible to be gay and Republican. Why would I support a political movement that hates me solely for who I am?”

—DON MITCHELL

GREETING B

a straight ma�ia princess’ adjustment to life in L.A. Also on the schedule are pop-culture countdown shows Scandalicious and Outrageous, and two family/relationshiporiented series, Love Lockdown and The Baby Wait.

General manager Lisa Sherman told the site that the mission of the seven year old network hasn’t changed, but that LGBT people are more prominent throughout the TV landscape, giving Logo more �lexibility to reach a broader audience.

logger and former ballerina Kidist Paulos Asrat was extremely offended recently by her favorite game show, Jeopardy. The unthinkable happened when a male contestant said hello to his husband right in front of the cameras and the audience!

“It threw us all for a loop,” she wrote. “[Alex] Trebeck didn’t (couldn’t) react, since there is no time to ask detailed questions, and to do so would be ‘homophobic.’ The audience, like me, was given unsolicited information about a controversial social arrangement during a normally pleasant evening show. I ended up turning off the TV.” Asrat added that “homosexuals will accost you with aggressively upfront references” to husbands and wives.

Her followers must not have agreed, because she eventually deleted and shut down the comments section of that entry.

MALE JEOPARDY CONTESTANT’S

TO HUSBAND

FREAKS

OUT

VIEWER

F

RAN DRESCHER HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED THE LGBT COMMUNITY— even back when she was the ‘Nanny’ and before playing the ex-wife of a newly out husband in Happily Divorced. But the television star took things a step forward this month by of�iciating a kosher wedding of a gay couple at XL Nightclub in New York City.

Even though the couple are now legally newlyweds, the pair have spent the past 20 years together and are raising several children, who served as ring bearer and �lower girl. The couple won the ceremony through Drescher’s “Love is Love” same-sex marriage contest.

WATERMARKONLINE.COM POLL ARE YOU MORE LIKELY TO VOTE FOR AN LGBT CANDIDATE? No. I do not take sexual orientation into consideration when voting.

Yes, regardless of their political affiliation or office.

Maybe, but it depends on the candidate’s political affiliation.

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but no to a transgender candidate.

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candidate, but no to a gay candidate.

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what office they’re running for.

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ARTS &

ENTERTAINMENT

TAKES OFF

THE FACE Legendary comedian on her ‘other’ self, gay crushes and going lesbian again with Babs

J

Chris Azzopardi CHRISAZZOPARDI@PRIDESOURCE.COM

OAN RIVERS HAS NEVER BEEN ONE

to question her actions. But today, she’s doing just that: “I’m listening to Katy Perry and I don’t know why.”

Besides being a �irework herself, Rivers has little in common with the ubiquitous pop tart. There’s this, though: they’ve both kissed a girl and—as the legendary queen of snark (and facial recon�igurations) admits in our recent chat—liked it. So much, in fact, that she’d be up for some more lez loving. But for now Rivers is focused on promoting her wacky reality show, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best, now in its second season on WE TV, and her ongoing stand-up appearances.

She’s schedule to appear at the Lakeland Center on Thursday, March 22.

In our interview, Rivers dished on the new installment (what if her daughter Melissa

actually were a gay man?), how her humor’s always been “gay,” and her face—before she redid it.

WATERMARK: I’M A BIG FAN— BUT I’M SURE EVERY GAY MAN TELLS YOU THAT. JOAN RIVERS: No, no.

No gay men tell me that.

I DON’T BELIEVE YOU.

Well, every now and again.

YOU KNOW, I’M GLAD THIS ISN’T A FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW BECAUSE, SINCE YOU’RE A MEMBER OF THE FASHION POLICE, YOU WOULDN’T APPROVE OF MY OUTFIT TODAY.

You wouldn’t approve of

Continued on page 36 |  |

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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Danny DeVito voices the lead in The Lorax.

Leila Hatami and Peyman Moadi in the Oscar-winning film A Separation.

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Stephen Miller

STEPHEN@WATERMARKONLINE.COM

A Separation

There is a distinct reason this amazing, gritty �ilm won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It may be a small, insular story, but its complications and setting make it intensely gripping.

Moadi and Hatami are the loving couple. She wants to leave and he wants to stay and respect his ailing father who suffers from Alzheimer’s.

Mom �inds her own place, and their daughter (Farhadi) stays with dad and grandpa, hoping for reconciliation. A

caretaker (Bayat) is hired to watch the old man, and things go horribly wrong (in ways I won’t reveal as not to spoil the surprise). The �ilm leaves everyone pleading to an unseen judge— someone who says theirs is “a small problem.”

It doesn’t feel small. It seems huge and heartbreaking to the people involved. Camera angles are close, claustrophobic. Complications arise, and everyone starts to doubt others’ intentions. In the end, we must make up our own minds. However, we also learn something about the universality of family con�licts, as well as the uniqueness of these issues under Islamic law.

John Carter actor Taylor Kitch

The Lorax

John Carter

Voiced by Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Betty White

Starring Taylor Kitch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong

Dr. Seuss’ tale of the creature who Disney did a good job by hiring an “speaks for the trees” grows into an actor named Kitch to play the lead.

ADHD musical extravaganza.

This is epic, corny stuff, played to the Efron is a love-struck teen, living in hilt for seriousness. It’s based on a the plastic town of Thneedville, where series of action-packed books written nary a plant grows. His girl wants

by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan) a tree, so he sets on a quest to �ind starting in 1912, before we knew much one. In the barren badlands outside about Mars. of town, Efron meets the Once-ler Super-sexy Kitch is a post-Civil War (Helms) who says he’s responsible for gold-digger who gets miraculously the ecological disaster. The Once-ler transported to the Red Planet. Because takes an inordinate amount of the lowered gravity, this of time to tell a simple tale man is a superhero thrust in from long ago, replete with RATINGS GUIDE the middle of a multi-species singing �ish and dumb teddy war. Two species look pretty bears. The main character humanoid, replete with cool in his story is the Lorax tribal tattoos. The third side is Overflowing (DeVito), the mystical gigantic, green, and tusked— with glittery orange hairball sent from they have six arms. In amongst fabulousness elsewhere to dissuade the the three tribes are evil raping of the forest. people who use the Force—or Pretty damn It’s pure Seuss stuff, a something like it—to bring good, but it’s no classic from his socially about imminent doom to Sunset Boulevard conscious period. However, Mars, and possibly later, Earth. the movie version feels John Carter is in no way a little stunted. The �irst An entertaining unsubtle stuff – combining enough flick problem is that splitting aspects of Star Wars, with perhaps up the narrative kills both Dune, and Avatar—though a few holes stories. The villain is more Burroughs did it �irst. He also ridiculous than scary. In fact, blatantly borrowed a lot from all of these characters are a Ever so slightly the Spanish and Americans watchable, just little �lat. The adorable �ish �ighting over Native American for that hot actor and bears are tacked on for land. This movie version distraction. The musical is nothing but fast and fun numbers are buzzy and pulp: shallow, brainless, and Two hours of forgettable, with garbled your life you’ll entertaining. It’s also blatantly, never get back lyrics. So much of this seems visually stunning. borrowed from better �ilms, The original series was like WALL-E and Babe. aimed at young teens, the same ones The animation is colorful, and the who half a century later would collect pace is lively. It just could’ve used comic books. This feels right, because more emotional resonance. There are the ridiculous bravado precludes only two moments when The Lorax Superman’s Action Comic posturing slows down and speaks from the heart. and early Batman gravitas. Will you These two scenes make the rest of this enjoy it? Only if you like your material �lick feel very plastic. as weightless as life on Mars. |  |

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

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Gay audiences make a show. come from different people.

It’s like an audience: always different every night. That sounds funny, but it’s true.

|  | Joan Rivers from pg.31

what I’m wearing right now, either! I’m wearing a stolen hotel bathrobe. One of those white bathrobes that say, “Don’t take these.”

Somewhere along the line I did.

WHAT HAD YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT THIS SECOND SEASON OF JOAN & MELISSA: JOAN KNOWS BEST?

There’s an uber-WASP friend of ours who turns Jewish; Melissa breaking up with the boyfriend; taking (my grandson) Cooper to New York, and he gets lost.

All of which is true. Things happened that are just fabulous.

DO YOU ALWAYS TAKE THINGS FROM HOTELS?

Yes. Always those little shampoos, little soaps, all those cute little things.

Sewing kits—you can’t get enough of those! (Laughs.)

YOU GOT MORE PLASTIC SURGERY DURING THE FIRST EPISODE, “SKINTERVENTION,” AND MELISSA DIDN’T APPROVE.

WHICH CELEBRITY NEEDS A LITTLE MORE GAY FASHION INFLUENCE, AND A LITTLE LESS?

Oh, I don’t know. Every week it changes so much and Melissa (Rivers), the exec producer, throws a hundred pictures on the table and you start from scratch again, so it’s always changing.

YOU’VE BEEN DOING PRESS INTERVIEWS FOR A LONG TIME. YOU MUST GET THE SAME QUESTIONS. WHAT ARE YOU SICK OF TALKING ABOUT?

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No, you get different questions because they

No, she totally didn’t. But you know, it’s a business where we all have to look good. You look at anybody—I mean, Jane Fonda running around with a whole new face and body and pretending she’s done that through eating apples?

You wanna go, “Oh stop it!”

YOU DIDN’T GET THAT FACE FROM EATING APPLES?

I got this face from eating artichokes and apples and having a great diet. Yeah,

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WHAT DON’T THEY TELL YOU ABOUT PLASTIC SURGERY?

Oh, I don’t know. I don’t listen. I have a friend who wanted to know everything the doctor was going to do.

I don’t want to know. He doesn’t ask me how I write jokes and I don’t ask him how he operates. The less I know, the better.

RIGHT. THAT’S WITH A LOT OF THINGS. LIKE KATY PERRY.

I’m trying like hell. She’s very pretty but I don’t get the music.

YOU’RE NOT IN A TEENAGE DREAM?

No, not in a teenage dream. (Laughs.)

WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO?

I hate to tell you: show tunes. You could sing it and I could tell you where it’s from. Yeah, show tunes my whole life. My housekeeper goes, “Ew, here comes the score of Bells Are Ringing.

Err!”

IS FILMING DONE FOR THE SECOND SEASON OF JOAN & MELISSA: JOAN KNOWS BEST?

Lesbian lover!

WOULD YOU GO LESBIAN AGAIN?

If Babs is available. She was an amazing kisser! We still both laugh because that was our �irst scene—for both of us. She was still in high school.

If I look out in an audience and there are six gay men in the front row,

YOU WERE AWARE OF YOUR GAY FOLLOWING EARLY ON, WHILE PERFORMING AT CLUBS IN GREENWICH VILLAGE. WHY DID YOU CONNECT WITH GAY PEOPLE SO INSTANTLY?

I know we’re going to have fun tonight.

—JOAN RIVERS

It’s done. Thank god! But things never stop happening, that’s the trouble.

WITH YOU THEY DON’T, BECAUSE YOU’RE A WORKAHOLIC.

Yeah, you’re right. I just went down to Williamsburg, Va. with Judge Judy and I thought, “Where are the cameras?” It might be in the third season.

Things are always happening.

YOU RECENTLY JOKED ABOUT WISHING YOU COULD REPLACE MELISSA WITH A GAY SON. HOW WOULD THE REALITY SHOW BE DIFFERENT IF THAT WERE TRUE?

Well, it’d be a lot of different.

We’d have a whole episode devoted to Judy Garland. There’d be nothing to discuss here.

MAYBE EVEN A WHOLE SEASON.

A whole season on, “Was Judy happy?”

WHAT DOES JOAN KNOW BEST?

Being a good grandma.

(Cooper) will appreciate me after I’m dead a lot more. Right now I’m grandma, but later on when he’s in college with his friends, he’ll get how fun grandma was. She was… not cool—that’s the wrong word— but she was crazy.

IS ANYTHING OFF LIMITS WHEN THE CAMERAS ARE ROLLING?

No. If you’re going to do a reality show, you have to show your real reality; otherwise it’s gonna be stupid. And they know, people are not that—well, I shouldn’t say that, because look at the Kardashians. So people are not, usually, that stupid.

ANYONE YOU WON’T MAKE FUN OF?

No. If you’re in the public eye, you’re in the public eye. And you have no right to say “I’m off limits.” Nonsense. Then you’re in the wrong business. Go work at Kmart and no one will care and you can have the most private life of anyone in the world.

IN THE ’80S YOU BECAME THE PERMANENT GUEST HOST ON THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARSON. WHY DON’T WE HAVE A WOMAN HOSTING A LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOW ON A MAJOR NETWORK CURRENTLY?

Because there just isn’t anyone good enough. Somebody that was great would be on. I don’t know what that means, but that’s what it means.

HOW ABOUT KATHY GRIFFIN OR CHELSEA HANDLER?

Chelsea: I’ve never seen so I have nothing to say about her.

Never watched the show but once and I thought, “This sucks.”

And I don’t know if Kathy would want to do it, or even has the

right equipment for it. It’s a very different hat to put on.

SO YOU’RE SAYING IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GENDER BUT RATHER TALENT?

It’s the talent. That’s why I think Jimmy Fallon is genius.

He’s got what Carson had. He’s a fan, he lets his people be funny; he doesn’t compete with his guests, and he just sits back and lets the guest do it. He’s amazing.

WHAT ABOUT ELLEN DEGENERES?

Ellen is the most boring white woman in the world.

BUT THE MOST EXCITING LESBIAN IN THE WORLD?

Oh, that’s right. I forgot about that. One of the funniest episodes of her sitcom was when she announced it by mistake over the microphone.

Everybody is. You show so many different things on stage.

My act is one kind of talk. In real life, I can be something else.

We’re all so different in different ways.

I like to cry a lot.

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?

What doesn’t? Christmas carols make me cry.

IN DRIFTWOOD, YOU PLAYED BARBRA STREISAND’S…

YOU USED TO GET A LOT OF FLACK FOR SOME OF YOUR JOKES— ESPECIALLY ONES ABOUT AIDS. IS IT EASIER TO JOKE ABOUT TABOO TOPICS LIKE THAT NOW?

Oh, of course. But that’s the way you get people to pay attention. You know, I did the �irst AIDS bene�it when it was still called “gay pneumonia.” We were in such danger that we had men on stage carrying guns because we got death threats.

YOU RUFFLED SOME FEATHERS RECENTLY WHEN YOU TOLD THE ADVOCATE THAT GAY ACTORS SHOULD STAY IN THE CLOSET BECAUSE THEY WERE COMMITTING CAREER SUICIDE.

WHEN I SAW YOUR 2010 DOCUMENTARY, A PIECE OF WORK, I WAS REALLY SURPRISED BY HOW MUCH OF A SOFTIE YOU CAN BE.

SO WHAT’S JOAN LIKE OFFCAMERA?

I didn’t purposefully connect with them. It was always there.

I worked all through college decorating Lord & Taylor windows, and all the window display men were gay. We loved each other.

I think my humor has always been a gay kind of humor. Gay humor is the smartest humor in the world. And gay audiences make a show. If I look out in an audience and there are six gay men in the front row, I know we’re going to have fun tonight.

You are. If I knew Tom Cruise was gay when I was a 7-yearold girl, that would’ve been it.

I would’ve put my fantasies on somebody else.

TOM CRUISE IS GAY?

Oh, I don’t think so. Do you?

YOU TELL ME. YOU’RE THE CELEB GURU.

I don’t know. You hear so many rumors circulating. But I think in certain professions you can’t come out and be America’s romantic idol. Ricky Martin was brilliant in how he handled his career.

BUT WITH THE SOCIAL CLIMATE MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

ARTS &

ENTERTAINMENT CHANGING, DO YOU STILL BELIEVE THAT TO BE TRUE?

You’re not talking about that.

You’re talking about somebody that young girls are going to pay money to see and fantasize about. I think it’s a very dif�icult position for somebody to be put in. It’s unfortunate, but it’s life.

When I was a child, I was madly in love with an actor named Van Johnson—mad about him, had his picture up.

In third grade I did a whole notebook on Van Johnson. Then I grew up. He was still adorable, but he was gay and he was wearing mascara and I thought to myself, “If I had known then, I wouldn’t have loved Van Johnson. I would’ve fallen for John Wayne.”

So I think it’s a very dif�icult choice for an actor to make if he’s going to make his living as a romantic lead for young girls to adore. Or women. Well, men like to challenge women. Men love to challenge a lesbian: “Oh, I could turn her around.” That’s a good challenge for a man.

AS SOMEONE WHO’S HAD A GAY FOLLOWING FOR YEARS, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PEOPLE CLAIMING THAT LADY GAGA AND KATHY GRIFFIN PANDER TO GAY AUDIENCES AND AREN’T ACTUALLY GENUINE?

I don’t know and I don’t care.

How about that? I worry about myself. I love my gay audiences.

They’ve been with me forever, they’ll stay with me forever, and I’m very happy. It’s that simple.

||

MORE INFORMATION WHO: Joan Rivers WHERE: The Lakeland Center WHEN: Thursday, March 22 TICKETS: TheLakelandCenter.com

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

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Event Planner QUICK PICKS

Bill Clinton

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AMPA | Former president Bill Clinton brings his speaking tour to Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, March 21, to talk about the country’s political climate, his experiences as the 42nd President and what he has experienced since leaving the nation’s highest of�ice.

Since leaving his two-term presidency in 2000, Clinton has come out in support of same-sex marriage and supported the New York and Washington D.C., legislation that made same-sex marriage legal.

On his tour, called Embracing our Common Humanity, Clinton speaks on the challenges of globalization, emphasizing our growing interdependence and pointing the way toward a common future based on shared goals and values.

Whether or not you were a fan of his presidency, his appearance in Tampa will no doubt be historic.

For tickets, visit StrazCenter.org or call 813-229-7827.

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Wilson Phillips

Horrible Portraits

The women of Wilson Phillips hit pay dirt in the 1990s with their smash hit, “Hold On,” which skyrocketed them to the top of the pop charts and super stardom.

Now, 20 years later, the girls are back with a new album, Dedicated, which pays tribute to their famous parents— members of the Beach Boys and the Mamas & The Papas.

Of course, with a new album comes a new tour, and Wilson Phillips will perform

at the King Center in Orlando on Thursday, March 22, and at the Capitol Theater in Clearwater on Friday, March 23. The women will also, no doubt, promote their upcoming TV Guide channel reality show, Still Holding On, which premieres in April.

For tickets, visit KingCenter.com or RuthEckerdHall.com.

Sometimes paintings are so bad that they become another form of art entirely. That’s the case with Danny Rhodehamel, who’s painting has earned him quite a bit of attention.

It’s his portraits, however, that are showcased in an exhibit appropriately titled The Horrible Portraits Series at Stardust Video & Coffee this month beginning March 16.

The work of Rhodehamel, younger brother of Doug Rhodehamel, is described in a press release as “zen-like

MARCH 23 King of Peace MCC Una-Voce.org

landscapes to cartoonish bumble bees. His imagry is colorful, expressive and sometimes playful. His portraits, however, are really bad.”

The release goes onto say that the portraits are not only bad, but they’re horrible—and oddly hilarious.

The opening reception begins at 7 p.m. on March 16, and the display is scheduled to be up throughout the rest of the month. Stardust Video & Coffee is at 1842 E. Winter Park Rd. in Orlando.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

Sarasota

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MORE INFORMATION For more events or to submit your upcoming show, concert or performance, visit WatermarkOnline.com.

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1- FUN ON 7TH: (L-R) Vince Magyar, Scott Buttelwerth and Tim Bratton celebrated the first year anniversary of Bradley’s on 7th in Ybor on March 3. PHOTO COURTESY CARRIE WEST 2- LET’S MINGLE: This group of women enjoyed the first Thursday Girls Mingle at the Flamingo Resort in St. Petersburg March 1. PHOTO

COURTESY PROSUZY.COM

2

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3- PICTURE PERFECT: Linda and Tom Leyden of Leyden Photography were on hand to capture memories during Taste of Pride at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg March 10. PHOTO BY STEVE

BLANCHARD

4- REASON TO CELEBRATE: Liquid owner Manny Alvarez, left, celebrates the grand opening of his new bar in Ybor City with employees and friends March 9. PHOTO BY CARRIE WEST 5- GRAND OPENING: The two-level Liquid Tampa brought in a hefty crowd during its grand opening weekend March 9. PHOTO BY CARRIE

WEST

6- A READING: Staci Backauskas, left, offered tarot card readings at Taste of Pride at the Dali Museum March 10. PHOTO BY STEVE

BLANCHARD

7- HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Bradley Nelson, left, owner of Bradley’s on 7th, celebrated one year of business with his employees on March 3.

PHOTO COURTESY CARRIE WEST

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8- WRANGLERS REUNION: (L-R) Shannon Lindsey, Kermit Ortiz, Mike Sklarz, Rob Greeley and Aleta Bernstein shared a drink and stories of old times during the Wranglers Reunion at the Flamingo March 10. PHOTO COURTESY TODD BROWN

OVERHEARD LOCALS HOPE FOR RUPAUL’S ALL-STAR CAST Florida is a powerhouse when it comes to the reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Queens from throughout the state have appeared on the Logo network’s signature series, which is in the midst of its fourth season and was the vehicle that spawned Drag U. Now, word from the network is that another spin-off is in the works, called All Stars: RuPaul’s Drag Race, where favorite contestants from the past will compete in an all new series of challenges—and local favorites

Alexis Mateo from Season 3 and Alisa Summers from Season 4 are hoping to take part.

The cast of “dragtestants” will be chosen by fans and both locals have already begun an active Facebook campaign for online votes. Find RuPaul’s Drag Race on Facebook to cast your vote. The new series is set to debut this fall and the network will announce who’s in the cast on NewNowNext.com.

TIGLFF SETS UP SHOP IN YBOR

The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

has a new home. The 23-yearold festival moved into its new of�ices on 7th Avenue in Ybor City the weekend of March 10 and Executive Director Larry Biddle said he expected the new location to be fully operational within a week.

The new location is within the Metro Wellness and Community Center near the Hampton Inn and gives the festival a base of operations as well as a storefront from which it can sell tickets.

Until now, TIGLFF has operated out of an of�ice space inside the King of Peace Metropolitan Community

Church in St. Petersburg. The new location puts Biddle within walking lunch-date distance of his husband during the day.

His husband, David Warner, is the editor of Creative Loa�ing, which has an of�ice just a few blocks away in Ybor City.

TASTE OF PRIDE BREAKS RECORDS

Walking through the Dali Museum on March 10 plenty of oohs, ahhs and mmmms could be heard from the huge number of people attending the Taste of Pride. According to St. Pete Pride executive director Chris

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

Rudisill, the annual celebration of all things tasty in St. Petersburg was a sold-out event and by far the most successful Taste of Pride ever. This was the second year for the event at the Dali Museum and 15 restaurants set up tables throughout—and outside—of the iconic museum.

Plenty of notables were there, from Nadine Smith of Equality Florida to several DJs with Play 98.7 FM. Even St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster made an appearance, although he disappeared from view only shortly after the event got underway.

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watermark YOUR LGBT LIFE.

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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1– CLEAN CAUSE: Libby’s Legacy Breast Cancer Foundation scrubbed cars for cash at a fundraiser March 3. PHOTO BY MARK CADY

2– MBA TEAM: Mikeal Audebert, MBA executive director, networked with Michael Wallman, MBA board member, at the Metropolitan Business Association’s March networking social at AesthetiMED. PHOTO BY MARK CADY 3– DRIVING FORCE: Nicole Salzman, left and marketing director for Sport Subaru on Colonial Drive, stands near a car the dealership donated to Judy’s Pet Rescue. PHOTO BY MARK CADY

7

4– STATELY ADDRESS: Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, left, shook hands with a city police officer at the mayor’s 2012 State of the City address, Feb. 29 at the UCF College of Medicine at Lake Nona. PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF ORLANDO 5– SPRING BREAK TWIST: UCF students volunteered with West Care Georgia to conduct free youth HIV testing in Downtown Orlando, sponsored by LGBTQ Services and VolunteerUCF. PHOTO COURTESY UCF LGBTQ SERVICES

4

6– PASS THE CHILI: The Yes Deer Chili Company’s mascot made the rounds among the hundreds who attended a chili cookoff March 3 at Blue Jacket Park. PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MCCARTHY 7– INCOMING!: Sabrina “Ellen Degenerate” Napolitano (far left) braced for impact from Becca “T-Bex” Fisher at the Orlando Psycho City Derby Girls March 11 game at Semoran Skateway. PHOTO COURTESY PHANTOM PHOTOGRAPHICS 8– OUR VOICE: Danny Humphress presented city commissioner Patty Sheehan with Equality Florida’s “Voice for Equality” award at the Equality Florida Winter Mixer, held March 8 in Humphress’ home. PHOTO BY TOM DYER

5

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OVERHEARD LIKE IT SCRUFF?

Scruff is coming to Orlando!

The fastest growing LGBT social media company will host an of�icial Scruff party Friday, April 20, at Parliament House Orlando. Meet Johnny Scruff, Jason Scruff, Joey Dubé, and the entire Scruff team.

According to Parliament House event manager Drew Sizemore, the company has only had these events in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The social network is known for its app which allows you to connect with more than a million Scruff gay guys in your neighborhood and around

the world via your iPhone or Android Smart Phone. Scruff men are generally bears and jocks.

OUT AND PROUD… AND TRANSGENDER

On March 7, Veterans Affairs released a statement conveying its support for transgender veterans. Though the military does not allow transgender individuals to serve, many veterans come out as transgender after their terms of duty. The directive made clear that transgendered veterans deserve and will continue to receive the same physical and

mental health care as other veterans. The statement, posted to the Out and Proud Veterans Facebook page, states all VA staff must provide care to transgender patients “without discrimination in a manner consistent with care and management of all Veteran patients,” emphasizing equality in treatment. It also reiterates coverage for medically necessary healthcare for transgender veterans, such as sex-speci�ic care like mammograms and pap smears, and transition-related care like hormones and mental health services. However, the VA is still

prevented from performing or paying for sex reassignment surgery, in accordance with existing regulation.

NOT-SO GRAND OPENING

March 1 marked the grand opening of The Brink, the new LGBT nightclub in downtown Orlando. However, many were perplexed when upon arriving at the 9 o’clock advertised opening time, there were no visible signs the locale was even operational. Patrons noticed that not only were the doors locked, no personnel were around and the sign on

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

the building still showed Hoops Tavern. After more than 45 minutes, the once occupied sidewalk of eagerlies began to dissipate. It was later found out the nightclub opened at 10:30 p.m. The late start clearly didn’t faze business. According to many in attendance, the place was packed. One person posted, “Nice place. Reminds me of when Pulse �irst opened,” referring to the club’s interior and clientele. The free drinks the club offered all night probably didn’t hurt attendance either.

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BIRTHDAY BOY: Esthetician Tabor Winstead, pictured with friend Valorie Morken, celebrates his birthday on St. Patrick’s Day.

Transitions

CHANGE-OF-LIFE COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS Passings Scott Lane Dole, 53, of Trilby township in Pasco County passed away on Sunday, March 4. Dole lived in Pasco County but hailed from Hutchinson, Kan., where funeral arrangements will be handled.

Local Birthdays Out and proud St. Petersburg City Councilman Steve Kornell, skincare genius Tabor Winstead (March 17); Associate Director of Admissions for Stetson Law School in Gulfport Darren Kettles (March 18); St. Petersburg massage therapist Terrell Ray, Tampa boot-scootin’ Florida Mavericks dancer and St. Pete Pride volunteer Dale Crocker (March 19); former Tampa resident and exotic animal expert Scott Lope, Sarasota ALSO Out Youth director Sue Westcott, Tampa icon and “Hey Everybody!”-coining performer Stephanie Shippae, Hyde Park Antiques owner Randy Strebing (March 20); derby girl and inspirational speaker Emily “The

EmPaleHer” Easterly, Homosassa hotelier Robert Bruno, St. Petersburg-based trucker Bucky Fergus (March 21); fratboy Adam Conrad, Watermark’s Sarasota freelancer and personal trainer Renee LePere, Rightously Outrageous Twirling Corps board member Eric Peak (March 24); derby girl and plant whisperer Jennifer “Venus Deathtrap” Parrish, Tampa’s Todd Brown (March 25); Tampa photographer and USF student John Kantor, former St. Pete Pride board member Delores Ringgold, St. Petersburg nurse and former Gazette publisher Brian Feist, Orlando’s handsome video game wizard, husband of Watermark online administrator Jamie Hyman and straight ally Matt Huertas (March 26); Orlando’s former LAVA Lounge bartender and current realtor at the Condo Store Jay Wood, St. Petersburg’s 3 Birds Tavern chef Domenica Macchia, Tampa Karaoke Jockey extraordinaire and straight ally Normie Dunn (March 27); Tampa softballer Randall Spiller, Sarasota equality advocate Jen Drake, New Church Family Inc. of Daytona Beach administrative assistant Jerry Corlis (March 28).

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Dear Too Soft, Sometimes, I think my gentle readers are messing with me by planting one sentence in an otherwise thought-provoking letter that turns over the apple cart. I think you know the phrase of which I speak: “While we were lying in bed spooning each other.” Really, Sara? By the point you have decided that you’re not going to make it as a couple, you are of�icially broken up.

Was she indelicate in her timing to tell you?

Yes. Was in bed the right place to tell you? No. But you know very well that you shouldn’t have been in bed with her in the �irst place.

Ending relationships, particularly where there are entanglements like property, requires discipline and maturity to ensure no one gets hurt and everyone has their needs met.

You (the plural you, as in you both) clearly botched this one. That it bothers you so much that she has a date says there are still a lot of unresolved feelings there. That you are still sleeping in the same bad says even more about the nature of your relationship. If you are both serious about separating, then separate—as in at very least one of you sleeping on the couch.

Dear A Hag By Any Other Name, While it’s lovely that you are such a friend to the community, your friendships—be they with other straight women, gay men, or any other permutation—shouldn’t be an encumbrance on your dating life. I get that Wade is tall and sort of a blue collar stud, but do ‘a lot of gay men hit on him’ really? Gay men typically will admire from afar a man who seems very straight, no matter how hot, particularly when that someone is dating one of their female friends. I think that Wade might be a little 1) arrogant to assume that all gay men are after him; 2) substantially homophobic as I think we’ve already established.

That Wade doesn’t want to go to a gay bar with you is perfectly understandable.

That he behaves petulantly around your friends—no matter what his prejudices might be—bespeaks someone who has substantial maturity issues. I don’t think the boys are your problem—Wade’s immaturity and sel�ishness are. You need to �ind someone with whom you are entirely compatible and it doesn’t sound like Wade is it. |  |

y girlfriend, Sheryl, and I have been together since 2007.

Recently, we realized that even though we love each other very much, we’re not meant to be a couple. Because we own a house together and have lots of shared property, we decided to take our time in dissolving our relationship because we didn’t want to end up �ighting. Last weekend, however, while we were lying in bed spooning each other, Sheryl announced that she was going on a date that week. I was speechless. Now I can barely stand to be in the same room with her, but I don’t know what to say without causing a huge argument. I guess she has a right to see other women, but shouldn’t she wait until we’re of�icially broken up? And why tell me while we’re in bed? Am I imagining things, or was Sharyl totally out of line?

—Sarasota Soft Touch

I

am a straight 24-year-old woman and a long-time reader of Watermark. I have a lot of close gay friends—I call them “my boys” and they call me “mama.”

My problem is that my boyfriend, Wade, doesn’t like to hang out with my boys.

Wade is a construction worker from the Panhandle, so he hasn’t had much exposure to gay men or the bar scene. When I’ve managed to get Wade and my boys together, he acts like he’s pissed about something and barely says a word. Part of the problem is that Wade is really hot (he’s 6’3” and he works out every day) so a lot of gay guys hit on him. It’s getting to the point where my boys don’t want to hang out with me if Wade’s around.

My boys are really important to me but I need to �igure out how to get Wade to see how wonderful they really are. Help!

—Worried Orlando Mama

You know very well that you shouldn’t have been in bed with her in the first place.

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DEAR TRUTH,

M

Name:

DO

DEAR TRUTH,

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

watermarkonline.com

attorney

accountant

attorney

Law Office of Michael E. Morris, P.A.

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Michael E. Morris Jeffrey A. Miller

• Bankruptcy (Chapter 7, 11 & 13) • Civil Litigation/Foreclosure Defense • Family Law • Criminal Defense • Estate Planning

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PO Box 540287 Orlando, FL 32854-0287

P: 407-255-2077 F: 407-738-4722 mike@mikemorrislegal.com

www.mikemorrislegal.com

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BANKRUPTCY L AW GROUP

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FREE initial consultations Weekday & Evening appointments Abogado habla Español

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The hiring of a lawyer is an importan decision that should not be based soley upon advertisements.

Before you decide, ask us to send you information about our qualifications and experience.

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Bankruptcy Law Group

MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

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attorney

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attorney

BANKRUPTCY PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1997

• Chapter 7 & Chapter 13 • Free 60 minute consultation • Evening Appointments • 18 years Bankruptcy Experience • Payment Plans “Do not go gentle into that good night, rather, ride fast and hard, we can rest when we die.” par aphr ase of dyl an thomas

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407-770-0100

924 West Colonial Drive | Orlando, Florida 32804 The hiring of an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon any information included on this page, nor upon any advertisement that you might view.

Before you decide to retain any individual attorney or law firm, you are strongly encouraged to ask that you be sent free written information about qualifications and experience.

407.841.4912 352.343.5554

The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisement. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about my qualifi cations and experience.

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“Domestic Partners? Don’t Pay a Higher Attorney Fee Than a Married Couple”

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Read It Online!

Head to WatermarkOnline.com and click on the Digital Publications link to a read a digital version of the printed newspaper!

www.AcevedoLawFirm.com Offices in Orlando & Tampa Bay Metro Areas

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orlando marketplace

coaching

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Jase Interactions Services CENTRAL FLORIDA Performer/Entertainer Culture Event

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BEGUN!!! · · · · · · · · ·

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relationship relationship counseling counseling Serving Central Florida Since 1978 Certified Building Contractor 1254459

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• All phases of commercial and residential construction • Energy Conservation Expert • Renovation Specialist • Free in-house design and consultation

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if this were your ad, thousands of readers

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orlando marketplace

Dr. J.L. Alvarez Comprehensive General Dentistry

tel: 407.898.1621

www.FineDentistryOrlando.com 429 N. Ferncreek Avenue, Orlando, FL 32803

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health food store

funeral service

lawn care

TREAT YOUR BODY RIGHT!

Arie Groen’s

property maintenance

Find It Locally For Less & We’ll Match Or Beat The Price

Commercial and Residential Licensed specializing in:

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CARDINAL MEMORIALS Designers of Distinctive and Innovate Memorials

( 407 ) 599-1228

BETH SHALOM MEMORIAL CHAPEL Dedicated to Serving Our Community For Over 25 Years. Locally Owned and Operated.

Nature’s Market Discount Nutrition

3074 Curry Ford Road

James R. Cardinal Sammy Goldstein ( 407 ) 599-1180 640 Lee Road, Orlando

funeral service

(Between Crystal Lake Dr. & Primrose Ave. in the Winn Dixie Plaza)

s e r v i c i n g

o r l a n d o

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NOW HIRING EXPERIENCED LANDSCAPERS Arie Groen’s Property Maintenance

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(727)505-0205 • agroen33@yahoo.com

non-profit organization

home improvement

RED is operated by MBAOrlando.org, Orlando’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce

•FREE ESTIMATES

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Planning your final arrangements in advance is an important responsibility, and one of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones.

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MBAOrlando.org J O I N O r l a n d o’s P R E M I E R LG B T B u s i n e s s e s & A l l i e s !

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Best orchids in town

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of LGBT businesses visit

the Purple Pages on

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MAR. 15-29, 2012 // ISSUE 19.06

orlando marketplace

plastic surgeon

personal chef

407.857.6261

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WE KNOW THIS TOWN

Trust your face and body to a board certified plastic surgeon

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407-244-1222 Peer-to-peer support group and social activities for LGBTQ youth ages 13 – 24.

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[CLASSIFIEDS] central florida

407-481-2243 • Deadline for classifieds is March 9, at 5:00pm.

Visit WatermarkOnline.com for Brand New Listings Every Day!

real estate for sale

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employment offered Help Wanted – Posner Park Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Winter Haven Fiat have openings for individuals with a strong passion for success! We have the following positions available: New/ Used Automotive Salesperson and Service Advisor. 5 day work week. Just be willing to learn the products. Paid training. Health benefits, 401k and competitive wages.

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personal services Got a hot date? Call “Nurse Amanda” to help you prepare. E- Nurse fetish session and/ or shaving. By appointment only. Call: (863) 838-6504. NO blocked calls, NO text messages. NO, I am NOT a real nurse.

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Should there be a swimsuit competition for Realtors??

Sure that may seem silly but what is your criteria for selecting an agent to represent you with the most expensive asset you will probably ever own? Although my swimsuit days are over, my real estate career is still in full force. If you are thinking of buying selling or investing in real estate; think of me first. Stan Madray–Keller Williams Realty (407)928-7791 / www.

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•Keep Integrity - Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. •Seek the Win-Win - Negotiate effectively to meet our needs and our objectives. Making real estate dreams come true! *BTW… If you do require your prospective agent to compete in talent, I will be twirling a fire baton to “Half-Breed” by Cher.

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TOP GAY REALTORS WWW.GAYREALESTATE.COM Instant Free Access to Florida and the Nation’s Top LGBT Realtors.

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professional services BODY SENSATIONS - WHERE Did you know you could be in your new home in 45 days or less? Call me to find out how! Buyer

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Watermark does not knowingly print advertisements for sexual services. Beyond printed content, Watermark does not inquire into the nature of personal or professional services advertising. Payment for sexual services is illegal in the State of Florida, and respondents to classified advertising should govern themselves accordingly. As required by law (Florida Statute 480.0465), Licensed Massage Therapists include their license number in all advertising.

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Mark Cuban apologizes for ‘boyfriend’ remark Staff Report

Wire Report

C

OLUMBUS, OHIO | Ohio State coach Urban Meyer apologized to the school’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender alumni group for a practice in the football building which was deemed offensive.

Meyer was contacted by Tim Valentine, president of the Ohio State’s Scarlet & Gay, after it was learned that coaches make players who aren’t quite performing to their maximum effort wear lavender shirts.

“Lavender is associated as a feminine color, so it deals with masculinity,” Valentine told Ohio State student newspaper The Lantern. “It would appear, if (lavender) was the color

(of the mesh shirts), that the coaching team is trying to say, ‘If you are loa�ing, if you are not performing up to par then you are performing in a feminine way, and so we are going to label you with a color that makes you non-masculine.’

“Hidden under the guise of being a competitive motivator or ‘the only color left,’ the choice of lavender reinforces homophobia and promotes bullying amongst students. The color lavender is associated with the LGBT community.”

In a written resonse, Meyer said, ““The use of purple was never intended to be used to offend anyone, but since it has, we have taken steps to change the color.

“Please accept our sincere apologies.

SEEING LAVENDER: Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer apologized to the school’s LGBT alumni group for making players wear lavender shirts in practice as a form of punishment.

Meyer responded with a letter of apology, dated March 1, which read, in part: “The use of purple was never intended to be used to offend anyone but since it has, we have taken steps to change the color. ... Bias has absolutely no role in how we think or operate.”

The color of the shirts was �irst reported by the school’s newspaper. |  |

D

allas, Tex. | In a lengthy blog post published March 9, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban apologized for a homophobic remark �irst reported by the Phoenix on March 7 that he made over the weekend at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston. The comment came during on on-stage interview with ESPN’s Bill Simmons when Cuban told the story of how he’d almost �ired a Mavs employee for encouraging Dallas fans to do the wave, he found himself in hot water.

“I’d rather have 60 minutes of Kiss Cam,” he said, to laughs. Simmons has long been on record as being a fan of the Kiss Cam. “I like the Kiss Cam,” Simmons said.

“That’s because you and your boyfriend are always on it,” Cuban spat.

After some pressure, Cuban issued an apology for the statement and even called it “totally sophomoric.”

“I’m not trying to defend my sense of humor. I’m not trying to convince you I’m not a homophobe,” Cuban said. “I’m happy to pick on you for a lot of reasons. Your sexuality should never be one of those reasons.” |  |

sports

Meyer offends, apologizes to gay group

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STARTER SAMPLE: A supporter of St. Pete Pride accepts a sample from a vendor inside the Dali Museum

TWO HOT DISHES: Justin Carbaga mans

the Ricky P’s table.

ON AIR: (L-R) Play 98.7 DJs Chad Pitt, Miguel Fuller DASHING DIVA: Andromeda and Jay Styles broadcast live from Taste of Pride.

Strain was on hand throughout the night enjoying Taste of Pride.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: With 15 restaurants showcasing their food, visitors had difficulty deciding what samples to try.

PHOTOPGRAPHY: TASTE OF PRIDE

Galleryw

Photography by Steve Blanchard More photos at watermarkonline.com

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A

SOLD OUT CROWD SHOWED UP AT THE SALVADOR DALI Museum in St. Petersburg March 10 to celebrate Taste of Pride, an annual fundraiser bene�itting St. Pete Pride. In all, 15 restaurants participated in the event and manned booths inside and outside the museum.

watermarkonline.com

PAIRED LOVE: (L-R) Long-time partners Harvey Tavel and Norman Glick enjoy the outdoor patio behind the Dali.

You may be eligible to join a research study for an investigational drug.

You may qualify if you are at least 18 years of age, have been diagnosed with HIV and have not started treatment.

Payment may be available to assist with childcare and transportation during study participation.

Participants in this Study May Receive the Following at No Cost: • Study-Related Physical examination • Study-Related Laboratory and medical assessments • Study medicationsPayment

To see if you qualify, call:

407-647-3960 Ext.2115 or log onto www.oicorlando.com

www.clinicaltrials.gov keyword: Flamingo

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RUPAUL'S ONLY USA APPEARANCE! ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND PART 1 MARCH 29 – APRIL 2, 2012

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ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND PART 2 APRIL 5 – APRIL 9, 2012

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