Watermark Issue 23.06: Triple Proud

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

Trim: 9.25”w x 10.1”h Bleed: N/A

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

Ph. (407)849-0976 www.LakeLucerneTowers.com

Departments 6 // maiL 7 // eDitor’s Desk 8 // orLanDo neWs 12 // tampa bay neWs 17 // state, nation &WorLD neWs 29 // in-Depth 37 // arts & entertainment 43 // Community CaLenDar 45 // tampa bay out+about 47 // orLanDo out+about 48 // tampa bay marketpLaCe 49 // transitions/WeDDing beLLs 50 // orLanDo marketpLaCe 62 // uprisings

PAGE

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We have come too far.

We are all on this earth deserving of equal treatment and equal chasing of our dreams. My message to any kid is you walk into the room, you present yourself proud and focus on what you want to do.

—dIANA NyAd

on the CoVer

PAGE

37

PAGE TRIPLE PROUD:

29

Tampa Pride looks to spark some of that magic from last year’s inaugural year but Tampa Pride existed prior to the GaYbor’s incarnation

sCan Qr CoDe For

WatermarkonLine.Com

she’s the boss:

Kathy Griffin brings her forked tongue to Florida to skewer pop culture and politics alike.

Watermark i ssue 23 .06 // marCh 24 - apri L 6, 2016

sChooL’s baCk in

home sWeet home

the pop kiDs

uprisings

PAGE Brevard School Board provides an audience for LGBT protections, but few answers.

PAGE ASAP homes Home 3050 as CDC release startling new HIV study.

PAGE

PAGE

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

08

12

41

Pet Shop Boys return with Super after more than 30 years of pop and circumstance.

Things are heating up in primary season, but we can’t stop staring at the troubles of Rubio and Bondi. OK, Trump, too.

54

take our marCh madness “gay iCon” Challenge at watermarkonline.Com! watermark Your LGBT life.

Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

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“I’m still astounded this apology was accepted by anyone.”

BEFORE

AFTER

on hillary Clinton issuing an exPanded aPology about her Comments on the reagans and hiv/aids:

—SCOTTIE CAMPBELL

on sCott maxwell winning orlando’s wave award for favorite writer:

“Such a great human being. A well-deserved honor.”

—DOUG BOWSER

on orlando folk hero terri binion and her new release:

“What a beautiful voice!

Where can I buy the CD?” —CHRISTINE BOWEN

on #gaylybeloved, WATERMARK’s toolkit for tying the knot:

“Most excellent. My partner and I are doing this now, and it has been rather difficult over some really basic steps (such as this), because we just...didn’t know.”

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on roCking l ranCh turning away same-sex CouPles for weddings:

“I am saddened to hear how these couples were treated: Two couples who love one another, who want to have a beautiful wedding to remember. I fought for the human rights ordinance in Palm Bay because I want equality for all people not just some. I know one day here in Brevard we will have that equality. “ —MICHELE PICINI PACCIONE

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watermark Your LGBT life.

on lgbt ProteCtions stalling before brevard sChool board:

“Thank you Brevard County School Board, Palm Bay City Counsel, and the good people of Brevard county for taking a stand for securing a healthy school and community environment for all of us.

There is no anti this or that to this concern. It is a matter of common sense that school children and adults use bathroom facilities according to their birth gender. We need to honor the long held principle in this country that the majority rules – something that has been lost recently in our society.”

—JADDODD

Watermark’s FaCebook: on oPenly gay santa fe mayor drawing CritiCism for “i am Cait” aPPearanCe:

“Caitlyn is the Clarence Thomas of politics.”

—WARREN ROWLEY

on marCo rubio suggesting he’s done with PolitiCs Come november:

“Well it must have been a rude awakening for him... No one likes him but the ones he fooled. He should resign now and pay back the people of Florida.”

—ELIZABETH NICOLE

“It’s the other way around.

Politics is done with Rubio.”

—STEVE WATSON

“He’s done with politics because there’s a cushy lobbyist position ready for him.”

—GARRETT L. GRAINGER

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“Good riddance Little Marco!”

—ALAN FRASER

on advoCates Celebrating the demise of all oklahoma anti-lgbt bills:

“As a native of Oklahoma I am pleasantly surprised by this.

Sadly though, the stupid that legislature comes up with goes far beyond Anti LGBT legislation.”

—JOE DELUSTRO

on alabama senate moving to abolish marriage liCenses:

“What would you expect from a bunch of backwards, backwoods good ol’ boys stuck in the 40s group of people. That’s why we sold and moved to Florida from the great state of Alabama.”

—JAMES EVANS

on hillary Clinton issuing an exPanded aPology about her Comments on the reagans and hiv/aids:

“It is a rare politician indeed who will say ‘I totally screwed up, now let me set the record straight.’ Cynics will say she had to do it because this threatened to derail her campaign. Supporters will point to it as another example of her willingness to admit mistakes, correct them, and move on. I accept both answers as probably true. Whatever reason, it’s refreshing to see any public figure go beyond the standard, ‘I’m sorry if I offended anyone,’ nonapology apology.”

—BILL HIRSCHI

“While I appreciate her comments, it is really embarrassing that she made that blunder to begin with. The Reagans were famously anti-LGBT.” —KYLE WELKER

Contributors

PHOTO BY ROBERT BARTLETT

editor’s

billy manes editor

BIlly@WatermarkOnline.com

I

Desk

F INdEEd AmERICA lOVES SECONd

chances and good things come in threes – except maybe celebrity deaths, right? – then it’s fair to say that, even in this shifting sociopolitical landscape of rancor and finance, that Tampa Pride has hit its sweet spot in its third iteration.

Once the epitome of what everybody understood a pride celebration to be – think poppers, leather, and Priscilla the Queen of the Wong Foo – the annual event’s organizers aren’t bothering with so much bachanalia these days.

Like similar celebrations the world over, the substances have been traded for substance, the hook-ups for hope.

There’s certainly an argument to be made for the old, leatherdaddy days of tripping over a drag queen’s wayward Lucite heel while running toward a rather attractive man-mirage.

That outsider mentality wherein cultural miscegenation that was frowned upon by antiassimilationists is deeply embedded in the LGBT psyche, right there next to Anita Bryant’s pie face and 4 a.m. couch surfing after being abandoned by your parents for being gay. What we used to do was throw it all out the window, don a frock and a wig and make the celebratory best of it.

Don’t get us wrong; it’s easier to glorify our sideways glances of bad behavior when they are indeed in the rearview mirror.

Many of us lost numerous friends

Watermark staFF

to irresponsible sex, drug use, even violence. It was a civil war, and it doesn’t really need to be reenacted. (Although, it’s fun sometimes. Not gonna sanitize everything, are we?)

In this week’s issue, that trajectory couldn’t be more clearly elucidated than in the history of Tampa Pride, resuscitated just last year in the face of marriage equality and to the delight of huge crowds. There are vodka-dry cruise ships, torrential downpours and social shifts projected on this mini-history, but Tampa Pride wouldn’t be held down. And for that, we are incredibly grateful.

We still love to party, but we also love ourselves a little bit more, generally speaking.

Once again, we’re faced with the question of a pride celebration’s purpose when all the battles have been won, and once again we’re staring down those generalizations. We have to. HIV/ AIDS is on an historic rise in the state of Florida; workplace rights are still not ensured; and you can still be kicked out of your house by your parent or, now, your landlord, grown-up. The anthill kicked up by strides in equality isn’t going to hose itself down the driveway. We’ll politely escort it there in a parade.

But that’s not all we have this week, obviously. With politics taking center stage on its own parade to the August primaries and the November general election, it’s somehow comforting to hear that comedian Kathy Griffin – who is playing precisely 5 million Florida shows in coming weeks – has some ridiculous stories about Donald Trump as, effectively, #floridaman. Just ask Suze Orman!

Our political column Uprisings returns, ruminating on the need

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watermark Your LGBT life.

for unity in among progressiveminded people as our arenas burn with conservative rage. Oh, also, is Pam Bondi going to be in Trump’s cabinet? Also, poster boy for nothing-to-say Marco Rubio drops out of the primary? The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Just one more reason, then, that we’re happy to welcome the return of Pet Shop Boys with their reasonably optimistic – by PSB standards – album Super. It isn’t easy being so nostalgic and futuristic at the same time, but somehow our old friends manage it in spades.

We still love to party, but we also love ourselves a little bit more, generally speaking.

As usual, you’ll find updates on pending regional news – birth certificates for same-sex couples, school board fights over promoting homophobia and ignoring compassion, the comings and goings, the love and laughter, of a gay spring in bloom.

So, take a minute, water yourself with a light cocktail (or not, if you’ve outgrown that!) and soak us in. As for me, I’ll be watching the streets for leatherdaddies and Lucite heels, poppers and broken glasses, wigs and won’ts. I wouldn’t want to trip and fall, not in this golden age. We’re all getting a little older, wiser and clumsier. Happy Pride, Tampa.

Second time’s the charm. Three is a crowd.

“Let me let you let me run.”

orLanDo oFFiCe 414 N. Ferncreek Ave. Orlando, FL 32803 TEL: 407-481-2243 FAX: 407-481-2246

tampa bay oFFiCe TEL: 813-655-9890 FAX: 813-849-2986

Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

KRISTA dITUCCI

is a freelance writer and family advocate for Manatee Children’s Services. She lives in Sarasota with her husband and children. Page 12

GREG STEmm

lives in Gulfport, Fla., and has worked as a freelance writer for several local publications. He is a founding member of St. Pete Pride and active politically in Tampa Bay. Page 23

AARON AlPER is a

photographer and writer in St. Petersburg.

He holds a Masters in English Education from the University of South Florida. Page 37

aaron aLper, sCottie CampbeLL, susan CLary, krista DituCCi, kirk hartLage, Joseph kisseL, Jason LeCLerC, mary meeks, stephen miLLer, DaViD moran, gregg shipiro, greg stemm, Dr. steVe yaCoVeLLi, , miChaeL WanZie

photography brian beCneL, niCk CarDeLLo, angie FoLks, bruCe harDin, JuLie miLForD, traVis moore, Chris stephenson, Lee VanDergriFt, tinkerFLuFF

Distribution LVnLiF2 Distributing, Lisa JorDan, JiLL bates, ken CarraWay CONTENTS of WATERMARK are protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher.

Unsolicited article submissions will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Although WATERMARK is supported by many fine advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers.

Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles, advertising, or listing in WATERMARK is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons or members of such organizations.

WATERMARK is published every second Thursday. Subscription rate is $55 (1st class) and $26 (standard mail).

The official views of WATERMARK are expressed only in editorials. Opinions offered in signed columns, letters and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper’s owner or management. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication.

WATERMARK is not responsible for damages due to typographical errors, except for the cost of replacing ads created by WATERMARK that have such errors.

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7

central florida news

BREATHE OUT: Out lesbian and record-breaking distance swimmer Diana Nyad opens her keynote address with reveille on bugle. Photo by John Manners

IN SESSION:

Supporters of LGBT protections in Brevard Schools return to the school board meeting to ensure pro-equality voices are heard.

Diana Nyad inspires Women’s Leadership group Jamie Hyman

R

ecord-breaking distance swimmer Diana Nyad does not like labels.

“I’m gay, I’m a pacifist, I’m an animal lover, I’m a Democrat, I’m a liberal, I’m a lot of things, but I refuse to be defined by any of those terms,” Nyad told Watermark shortly before stepping onstage and speaking to nearly 1,000 attendees – mostly women – at the 9th annual United Way Women’s Leadership Luncheon March 17.

Her keynote address focused on her relationship with her Armenian father and how he and other role models helped shape her into the woman who persevered through five attempts to swim through shark-infested waters from Cuba to Florida before she finally succeeded in 2013, at the age of 64.

“You don’t have the big perspective in front of you, you have a moment,” she told the luncheon attendees.

“Once you have the dream in your vision, tuck it away and get to work with focus and discipline.”

When Watermark asked how she would inspire young LGBTs, especially during the current tumultuous political times, Nyad admitted that Ted Cruz “scares me to death when it comes to the gay community and the women’s community,” citing what she believes is his desire to intermix church and state, and she feels the LGBT community has a shame problem.

“We have come too far. We are all on this earth deserving of equal treatment and equal chasing of our dreams, “Nyad said. “My message to any kid is you walk into the room, you present yourself proud and focus on what you want to do.”

Bob Brown, president of Heart of Florida United Way, says they chose Nyad to speak “because of her tremendous story of perseverance, because she’s such an inspiration to everybody.”

Brown says the 2016 Women’s Leadership Luncheon is the biggest one yet. The funds raised will provide electronic reading devices to schoolchildren in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties to help with literacy.

8

Photo by Lexi Wright

School’s back in Brevard School Board provides an audience for LGBT protections Jamie Hyman

B

revard’s LGBT activists are feeling more optimistic after a productive meeting with the Brevard County School Board. This is in sharp contrast to the previous school board meeting, where the hate group Liberty Counsel steamrolled over the chances of LGBT protections moving forward.

At odds is a proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the school district’s nondiscrimination policy. Lexi Wright, Space Coast Pride executive director, says when she and other activists attended the board meeting in February, they expected to learn the protections would move forward as promised.

Instead, they faced a flood of antigay comments from detractors, an unprofessional atmosphere and were told the proposal would move to workshop, which Wright says usually means the end of the discussion.

watermark Your LGBT life.

She says they entered the March 15 meeting with three goals: to set a date for the workshop, for the school board members to hear that the anti-gay comments they heard last time do not represent the majority of Brevard County and to get a public apology from board chair Andy Zigler, who Wright says failed to maintain order at the February meeting.

They mostly reached their goals. Wright says the workshop date is April 26, time and place to be determined.

“We had over twenty speakers, we filled up one third of the room with supporters and I believe [the board] heard loud and clear not only from the LGBT community but from our allies that the people who spoke at the last meeting do not represent Brevard County,” she says, adding that only two people spoke in opposition.

Wright says Zigler only apologized after Scott WallDeSousa, who she says has been “side by side” with her throughout

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this effort, reminded Zigler that he had not yet issued the promised mea culpa.

“Andy did apologize but limited his apology to not interrupting at least one of the [anti-gay] speakers,” Wright says. “Those were his words.”

As far as the plans for the upcoming workshop, it’s open to the public, but there will be no public comment.

“The purpose of the workshop is for the board to research and have more discussion about the topic, to get this done in a way that is acceptable to every member of the school board,” Wright says. “We are currently gathering statements and stories from people who have faced discrimination, and I’ve been given permission by a school board member to accept anonymous statements to submit so we can get our voices heard in the room.”

Wright says she’d like to receive statements from district employees, students, parents of students and employee family members. Statements can be sent to Pres@SpaceCoastPride.org, to Space Coast Pride’s Facebook page or via SpaceCoastPride.org.

There is also another general school board meeting April 12, where Wright says they hope to fill the room with support.

Be prepared.

Your lung cancer can spread to your brain.

Rose, age 59, Texas

Smoking caused Rose’s lung cancer. She had to move from the small town she loved to get the treatment she needed, including chemo, radiation and having part of her lung removed.

Recently, her cancer spread to her brain. You can quit.

CALL 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

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Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

11

tampa bay news

ASAP’s Home 3050 opens as CDC releases startling new HIV study Jeremy Williams

E

mpath Health’s AIDS Service Association of Pinellas (ASAP) opened Home 3050, an all-under-one-roof HIV/AIDS care and services location, just as a new CDC study named Florida one of the top states most likely to have increased HIV cases.

“This study was put together from a highly respected group of people with many, many years of work in HIV/ AIDS,” ASAP’s Executive Director William Harper says. “This is the first comprehensive study that was put together on the lifetime chances of individuals getting an HIV diagnosis.”

The CDC study not only breaks down the chances of an individual getting an HIV diagnosis by state, but more alarmingly, breaks down the odds based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

“The numbers are a little frightening,” Harper says. “The current statistics has one in six men who have sex with men (MSM) being diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. The risks vary significantly when it comes to race and ethnicity: With black MSM, it is one in two and in Latino MSM one in four, compared to one in 11 in white MSM.” Harper says one of the main reasons for the drastic differences in the odds based on race and ethnicity have to do with the stigma of being gay and HIV-positive in the prominently religious black and Hispanic communities, a stigma that he says ASAP is working to remove.

“We are seeing a turn in the stigma,’ he says. “We have created relationships with many black churches in the area, which is exciting cause they are letting us come in and test, they have let us come in an educate, so we are helping to flip that stigma a bit, but it is still quite large.”

Florida was among one of the worst states in the CDC study. While many point to Florida’s increasing population and more people getting tested as possible factors for the rise in HIV infections, other states with similar populations and ethnic and racial backgrounds, such as California and New York, have far lower odds of individual’s contracting HIV. “It comes to the expanded Medicaid,” Harper says.

“California has done a wonderful job with expanding Medicaid and offering healthcare to their people. Same thing goes for New York. Florida is just behind the times in providing these opportunities for more medical care.”

Unlike California and New York, Florida did not choose to expand Medicaid as a part of the federal Affordable Care Act. This makes the opening of Home 3050 all the more important in Tampa Bay. Home 3050 offers primary care, HIV specialty care, pharmacy, counseling, HIV and STD testing, support groups and more. Harper hopes having all the support and services a person with a recent HIV diagnosis would need in one location will help them to be more proactive in their own personal health.

“A lot of people don’t bother looking for treatment or assistance because they don’t think they can find or afford it,” he says.

12

For the Children:

ALSO Youth is getting all dressed up fo their Stepping Out of Hollywood.

Photo by Cliff Roles

Forever young ALSO Youth steps out in Hollywood for gala Krista DiTucci

F

or a night filled with red carpet finesse, Hollywood movie stars, and dancing with friends, join ALSO Youth in celebrating the “Stepping Out in Hollywood” gala.

The event will take place on April 2 from 5:30-10:30 p.m. on the eighth floor of Lido Beach Resort in Sarasota.

Tony Boothby, ALSO Youth board member and gala committee chair, says the fundraiser was competing with many other galas in the past when it was held in November. This year, the board decided to merge ALSO’s two largest fundraisers – the gala and the annual brunch – into one event in April, which Boothby says has generated more response.

“We put forth a lot of effort into both of these events,” ALSO Youth program coordinator Molly Swift says. “It makes sense to have one event that’s bigger and badder than ever before.”

This will also be the first year that the gala is held at Lido Beach Resort, allowing guests to sip cocktails while overlooking the beach and watching the sunset.

Guests will begin the evening by having their picture taken on the red carpet as they enter the resort.

Once they arrive at the eighth floor,

watermark Your LGBT life.

guests will be surrounded by classic Hollywood movie star cutouts and will have photo opportunities with celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Audrey Hepburn.

“I’m excited to take selfies with all these movie stars!” Boothby says, laughing. “And I’m really excited about looking down at the beach – the eighth floor is all glass.”

While guests are meeting Hollywood stars, they can also enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a threecourse dinner and raffles.

Arthur Boyce, gala committee member and raffle co-chair, says raffle prizes are valued from $50 to $500 and will include prizes such as coffee baskets, alcohol baskets, a television, dining cards, gym memberships, dinner and theater ticket packages, champagne and chocolates, and gift baskets for pets.

Guests will enjoy an awards ceremony to celebrate two role models within the ALSO community.

Sam Armbruster will be honored as “Person of the Year” due to their many hours and projects dedicated to ALSO. Sheldon McCloud will be honored as “Youth of the Year.”

“Sheldon has shown up to every single event ALSO ever had, whether he was asked to or not,” Boothby says. “He is always volunteering and acting as an

Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

ambassador to new youth, and he is just so proactive in supporting ALSO.” Following the awards ceremony, guests can boogie as comedian Jennie McNulty provides entertainment for the night.

The gala has secured 18 sponsors so far. Platinum sponsors – those who have donated more than $3000 – include Community AIDS Network (CAN), Boothby and his partner Christopher Best, and Mark Steinwachs and partner Jarred Wilson.

“I’m looking forward to having this event so the kids can get the benefit of the community’s generosity,” Boyce says. “We can have all the fun we want, but the bottom line is we want them to get the benefits.”

To date, ALSO has sold over 100 seats, more than half of what they had sold by this point in previous years.

This year also includes an option on the RSVP to sponsor a youth ticket. Swift says youth ticket sponsorships have gotten a large response.

“It’s going to be great to have the youth present for the community to see them, and also for the parents to see the community that supports them,” Swift says. “I’m looking forward to seeing the youth and their families interact with donors and stakeholders.”

ALSO Youth is a nonprofit in Sarasota dedicated to providing Advocacy, Leadership, Support, and Outreach (ALSO) to LGBTQIA youth and allies through peer support, education, advocacy, and referrals.

Proceeds from the night will go toward raising money for ALSO programs and continued funding for a third employee at the new satellite location in Venice. Tickets are $125 and can be purchased at alsoyouth.org.

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state, nation+world news

Florida birth certificates strike same-sex parents Wire Report

W

INTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) | Viktoria GerthStephenson’s spouse has been involved through every step of her pregnancy.

Her spouse accompanies Gerth-Stephenson to all her doctor’s appointments. Her spouse regularly kisses GerthStephenson’s belly and talks to the fetus inside. And the spouses were side by side for a recent baby shower.

When Gerth-Stephenson delivers her son in April, though, her spouse’s name won’t appear on the birth certificate issued by the Florida Department of Health.

Instead, Rebecca Stephenson, Gerth-Stephenson’s wife, must go through a stepparent adoption to obtain a legal connection to the baby.

That requirement means an additional expense and a delay that creates a limbo period during which Stephenson would have no legal custody of the baby if Gerth-Stephenson were to die or become incapacitated.

A historic ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court gave same-sex couples the legal right to marry in Florida starting Jan. 6, 2015.

More than a year later, though, lesbian married couples who choose to have a baby face a much different legal landscape than heterosexual parents.

Only the woman who carries out the pregnancy is recognized on the birth certificate as the baby’s parent.

The Winter Haven couple says they were shocked to learn Stephenson must pursue a court order to ensure she is recognized as a parent of the son they plan to name Maverick. ``I don’t think it’s fair I have to do a stepparent adoption when that’s my son,’’ said Stephenson, 25, a carpenter. ``If I was a guy, he would be my son. In our eyes, it’s not my stepchild, that’s my child.’’

Lesbian couples don’t face this predicament in most other states, according to Hannah

Willard, policy and outreach coordinator for Equality Florida, which promotes legal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2015 established a nationwide right to samesex marriages, most states changed their policies and began issuing birth certificates for married lesbian couples listing both spouses as parents on birth certificates. Florida remains a holdout.

The Winter Haven couple has been together about two years and got married last October.

In contemplating a family, they decided they want three children, two of them biological. GerthStephenson would carry the first child and Stephenson the second, and they would adopt a third.

The couple decided to use intrauterine insemination.

It was only when they began making arrangements for Gerth-Stephenson to have the baby delivered at Winter Haven Women’s Hospital that they learned the birth certificate wouldn’t list both women as parents.

They called the Polk County Courthouse for clarification and were directed to get advice from a lawyer. They learned no legal action can be taken until after the baby is born. A stepparent adoption typically takes three to six months, a lawyer told them, and costs $2,500 to $3,500, including legal fees.

Gerth-Stephenson received an initial due date of May 11, but she developed diabetes during her pregnancy, and her doctor has scheduled a delivery for April.

Those health issues raise another concern for the couple.

If Gerth-Stephenson was to die during the delivery—or any time before the adoption is finalized— her spouse would not have legal custody of the baby. Custody would go to Gerth-Stephenson’s parents, they said.

Although Stephenson said she has a good relationship with her in-laws, that’s not the case for all

same-sex couples.

Another local couple recently endured the same anxieties.

Nashan Davis used in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant using an egg from her wife, Adriana Davila, combined with sperm from an anonymous donor.

Davis, 40, gave birth in September to a son, Adrian. Not long after that, the Mulberry couple began the process of having Davila, 29, become the adoptive stepparent of the baby bearing her own DNA. It took more than four months before the adoption was approved.

Davis said the couple planned to get married before the due date, but when they learned that status wouldn’t get Davila’s name on the birth certificate they delayed the wedding until after the birth.

Davis said the legal uncertainty compounded the worries of her pregnancy. She said hers was labeled a high-risk pregnancy, and she faced the possibility of a heart attack or stroke.

Circuit Judge Kevin Abdoney presided over the final adoption hearing Jan. 22 in Bartow. Davis and her lawyer, Walter C. Thomas Jr., said it is thought to be the first adoption in Polk County for a same-sex couple whose baby is genetically related to the birth mother’s spouse.

Stephenson and her wife plan to move in July to Luxembourg, Gerth-Stephenson’s native country. They are going mainly so Gerth-Stephenson can take over a family business, but Stephenson said Europe also appeals to them because its countries readily acknowledge the parenthood of same-sex spouses. ``When we move to Europe, I don’t have to worry about having any kind of adoption because over there it’s completely accepted and (there are) equal rights,’’ she said, ``and I’m considered Maverick’s mother, regardless.’’

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Georgia lawmakers pass bill shielding gay marriage opponents, NFL responds Wire Report

A

TLANTA | Georgia lawmakers have sent a contentious bill protecting same-sex marriage opponents to Gov. Nathan Deal.

The proposal unveiled March 16 seeks to resolve years of heated debate over concerns that various bills shielding religious people would excuse discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people.

But gay-rights advocates blasted the bill as discriminatory.

The changes approved by the House and Senate would prevent government burden of religious belief and government penalty against faith-based organizations, including refusal to serve or hire someone. It also protects religious officials who decline performing gay marriages.

Mindful of Atlanta’s bid to host the Super Bowl, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said March 18 he opposes the bill approved by the Georgia Legislature.

The NFL acknowledged that the religious exemptions bill, passed by both houses of the Legislature but still needing the signature of Gov. Deal, could have an impact on the selection process for the championship game in 2019 and 2020.

Atlanta is one of the finalists for the next two Super Bowls to be awarded, along with New Orleans, Miami and Tampa. The city has been considered a clear favorite because of its new retractable-roof stadium, set to open next year.

The religious exemptions bill could change that.

“NFL policies emphasize tolerance and inclusiveness, and prohibit discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other improper standard,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

“Whether the laws and regulations of a state and local community are consistent with these policies would be one of many factors NFL owners may use to evaluate potential Super Bowl host sites.”

Blank said he opposes the bill, the latest in a string of business leaders to come out against the proposed law.

He was a co-founder of Home Depot and has owned the Falcons since 2002.

“I strongly believe a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Georgia is critical to our citizens and the millions of visitors coming to enjoy all that our great state has to offer,” Blank said in a statement Friday. “House Bill 757 undermines these principles and would have long-lasting negative impact on our state and the people of Georgia.”

The city had hosted the game two times, in 1994 and 2000. Subsequent bids failed to gain approval, with the NFL saying the city would be in a much stronger position if it built a new stadium to replace the 24-year-old Georgia Dome.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is going up next door to the Georgia Dome, which will be leveled after its replacement opens. The new $1.4 billion facility has already helped Atlanta land the college football championship game in 2018 and the NCAA Final Four in 2020.

No word whether Georgia’s anti-gay policy would affect either of those scheduled events.

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viewpoint

Jason Leclerc

The other side

of life Art: Established

F

rom the same academic

program at the same state university, we arrived in Orlando within a year of each other in the early 1990s. Our paths zig-zagged upon the surface streets of Orlando’s trendy neighborhoods.

We flirted with each other at Barnes and Noble on Colonial before Grindr and in the age of Firestone.

We bleached our super-gelled 1990s hair at the same overpriced Washington St. hair salon and drank mimosas on the same Sundays at Dexter’s brunches.

We became buddies.

We were on opposite ends of the 1990s culture wars— he a larger-than-life flaming liberal and I a rather boring, haughty conservative with a nice smile.

We cut our colors on Clintons and Bushes. We tightened our brushstrokes along the way with ideological distractions that made us feel better about ourselves.

With varying degrees of contra-torpidity, we sketched ourselves into issues that might otherwise have skewed our panoramas.

Lovers of letters and linguistics, we sharpened our pencils and our tongues upon the rhetorics du jour, often holding our noses as we had to defend the assholes and moral failures (disappointments, at least) that aligned themselves upon the political palette we’d been handed.

He ran for mayor of Orlando and made a movie.

He became a celebrity and a blistering commentator.

He became heralded editor of a respected “progressive” magazine.

I entrepreneured and published a book. I became a poet-economist-blogger with a pretty cool international audience. He hired me to be a counterpoint columnist in his respected “progressive” magazine.

We were both born in the 1970s. Gloria Steinem embodied feminism and Ronald Reagan embodied

conservatism. Stonewall and AIDS were puffy clouds in our consciousness. Over the next forty years, generations and spouses of Clintons and Bushes have painted themselves into a vast complex that has nurtured our proclivities and needs.

From the CIA to Department of State to statehouses to the White House, reaching out to wider and wider interests and constituencies, Bushes and Clintons have brought America to a position of such greatness that it is almost unrecognizable from within its blinding pursuit of liberty’s blessings.

All the while, we have had our ups and downs, pulled just to the left and just to the right of a contrived ideological divide that’s been painted as a canyon, but that is really little more than an institutional ravine: perspective.

Meanwhile, he and I have been engaged in activism and discourse framed by what has seemed two parallel lines. In reality, we have been engaged in a series of intersections where two sets of parallel lines met: the corners of a frame around an institutionalized debate. We have been the strident poster children for a semi-organic matting embodied by the Bush-Clinton-media complex.

We have become totems to an establishment, arguing theory and embracing pragmatism.

We have, together, come to reflect a picture of each other, he a little cooler, I a little more reserved: a picture in a frame that Sanders-Trump populism has neither time nor respect for.

Our Clintons and our Bushes are as much a part of our conjoined DNA as our gay genes.

We may not be part of the dense political machinery of Washington, D.C. We are, however, beneficiaries of its machinations. The trickling down of civil rights, the bubbling up of money from nowhere, the protection of our borders, the proliferation of technology and media: these are all externalities created by the maintenance of institutionalized power by modern government and

its direct benefactors. These blessings of modernity are the result of “the establishment.”

We, he and I and you and you, are utterly dependent upon the establishment. WE ARE THE ESTABLISHMENT. His side of the establishment may want a

myopia. Populism that seeks to upend the establishment does so from within the safety of the frame it wishes to shatter.

The establishment has every right—a responsibility—to preserve itself against those political and cultural forces which have strapped bomb-

education and political dealmaking and trade and healthy discourse and diversity and the rule of law and equity and hope; who understands the establishment, and is beholden to it—or not.

In this presidential contest year, I know one thing. That

little more deficit spending while I may want a little less. Mine may want fewer abortions while his wants more access to women’s reproductive rights. But these are tints upon the same canvas upon a painting that is being incrementally perfected. We are framed by the greatest, most complex and compelling piece of modern collaborative performance ever conceived.

This establishment is what has made America great, and anybody who says that it isn’t suffers from a hypocritical

belts across their waists and implanted themselves on the borders of our establishment’s frame: our malleable and richly textured Constitution.

I need a president who understands religion and science, who can speak to them, who is beholden to them—or not.

I need a president who understands croneyism and capitalism, who can speak to them, who is beholden to them —or not.

I need a president who understands unions and

thing is the establishment and the Bush-Clinton beholdenness to its classically liberal tenets. Whichever side of that faux divide I may be on, I need one of them—a Bush or Clinton—in my life. I need to either faux-fawn or faux-fend.

I need my frame and, whether you know it or not—whether or not you can recognize the always-already greatness of this work of art called America—you do too.

We, he and I and you and you, are utterly dependent upon the establishment. WE ARE THE ESTABLISHMENT.

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viewpoint

Greg stemm

positiVe LiVing The Importance of Our Straight Allies

I

HAVE A BUmPER STICKER

on the back of my car that reads: “I don’t mind straight people as long as they act gay in public.”

Now before you roll your eyes about my well known snarky sense of humor, just let me say that that bumper sticker was a gift … a gift from a straight ally friend. If you are like me, relationships with the “opposite sex” (hetero v. homo) are rewarding and treasured bonds. I adore my straight friends, and some of them are more “family” than any gay “family” members could ever be. As a community, too, our straight allies have time and time again rushed to our defense, stood solidly against the powers of discrimination and given us comfort and support at times when we’ve needed it most.

We are lucky here in the Tampa Bay area to be blessed with political leadership on both sides of the bay that fall squarely in the “straight ally” camp. Mayor Rick Kriseman in St. Petersburg has given that city the kind of leadership that the new San Francisco of the East deserves – progressive and outspoken with a rainbow flag flying proudly over city hall during the largest gay pride celebration in Florida. In Tampa, Mayor Bob Buckhorn has shown strong and consistent support of the LGBT community. You do not have to look far to find pictures of him with community leaders from the GaYbor district or marching in both St. Pete and Tampa Pride parades. Even in little gay friendly Gulfport, a straight gay ally mayor was recently endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats over an openly gay challenger. A friend of mine recently put

it perfectly when he said, “Isn’t it great to live in an area where cities are actually competing to see who can be the most gay friendly?”

On a national level, our president may go down in history as the first gay president of the United States. While Michelle might have a word or two to say about that, his record as an ally of our community is unprecedented in American history. When he took office we couldn’t serve openly in the military and save for one or two states marriage equality was just a dream. I live in Gulfport. Living in Gulfport is like living in a big social experiment. It’s like some mad social scientist said, “Let’s see what happens when we create a city where one third of the population is gay; another third are mostly straight but funky, artsy, progressives; and the final third are straight families with kids who live here specifically because of the LGBT influence and that the atmosphere of diversity and acceptance it creates.” Whether you are gay or straight, Gulfport has been working hard to demonstrate that there shouldn’t be any barriers between our two communities. The result?

Gulfport is flourishing.

Many of our local faithbased organizations are treasure troves of straight allies. I’m currently serving on a committee of grassroots faith leaders to put together the second annual Interfaith Pride Worship Service scheduled for Thursday, June 23, at the MCC Church in St. Petersburg. I’m brushing elbows with a number of open and affirming churches, temples and meetinghouses, and it is uplifting to see such strong support among their straight members.

When I was co-chair of St. Pete Pride in 2005, fully 25 percent of the entries in the parade were from faith-based organizations Speaking of Pride, St. Pete Pride is a perfect

example of how important it is that the alliance be a two-way street. I believe one of the biggest reasons St. Pete Pride has become so successful is because the founders and the leadership which followed them have made that celebration family and straight friendly. Not

comes from Pride too. A couple of years ago, after we had unfurled the blocks long rainbow flag, there were literally thousands of people helping to hold it up.

I happened to be alongside a block where the six misguided-but-outspoken protestors who always

all going to hell.” Much to their surprise (and obvious consternation), the entire group of people holding the flag in that block turned to them and identified themselves as a group of straight friends. That spontaneous display of love showed me that the support

too many Pride celebrations offer a children’s play area.

And you may not know it, but Pride celebrations around the world often refer to St. Pete Pride as the “prude pride” because you won’t see any halfnaked porn stars or floats trumpeting sexual lubricants in our celebration.

One of my favorite “straight allies” stories

show up from their pitiful little church in Georgia were doing what they do best: misrepresenting God’s message of love and making complete fools of themselves.

This little group of antipilgrims was shouting things to those who were holding the flag in that block. Things like “one man one woman”, “God hates fags”, “You’re

we get from many of our straight friends is real and not dependent on who might be watching or listening.

Yes, I love our straight allies. Now if they would just stop embarrassing me and start acting a bit more gay in public.

a friend of mine recently put it perfectly when he said, ‘isn’t it great to live in an area where cities are actually competing to see who can be the most gay friendly?’

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ZERO BILLS ADVANCED LEAVING OKLAHOMA WITH NO NEW ANTI-LGBT LAWS IN 2016.

—oklegislature.gov

—CAITlyN JENNER RESPONdING IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ADVOCATE WHEN IT WAS SUGGESTEd SHE COUld BE CRUZ’S “TRANS AmBASSAdOR”

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS reboot will feature lead CharaCters as oPenly gay

T

HE WORldWIdE SUCCESS IN THE ‘90S OF THE SyNdICATEd TElEVISION SERIES XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, a mythological fantasy show about a female warrior on a road to redemption followed by her faithful companion Gabrielle, has led NBC to look at launching a reboot of the dynamic Greek duo for primetime. NBC has ordered a pilot from The 100 screenwriter Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Many wonder if the new show will keep the lesbian subtext of the original or let the lead characters be out and proud, but according to Grillo-Marxuach, we can expect that closet door to be kicked down.

He wrote on Tumblr, “Xena will be a very different show made for very different reasons.

There is no reason to bring back Xena if it is not there for the purpose of fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication in the 1990s.”

seCond waChowski sibling Comes out as transgender

F

OUR yEARS AFTER MATRIX FIlmmAKER lANA WACHOWSKI REVEAlEd SHE IS TRANSGENdER, her sibling and filmmaking partner, formerly known as Andy Wachowski, has also come out as transgender. Her name is Lilly, according to a statement posted March 8 on the websites of the Windy City Times and advocacy group GLAAD. In her statement, the Chicago-born director – known for the richly constructed worlds of the Matrix series, V for Vendetta and Cloud Atlas – said she had already come out to family, friends and colleagues. Lana Wachowski, 50, came out in 2012 and received the Human Rights Campaign’s Visibility Award that year.

watermark Your LGBT life.

emma watson, forest whitaker kiCk off heforshe art week in nyC

E

mmA WATSON, THE U.N. WOmEN GlOBAl GOOdWIll AmBASSAdOR, and Forest Whitaker, a UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace, joined U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on International Women’s Day at The Public Theater in Manhattan to announce a week of arts events aimed at initiating a dialogue about gender equality. Arts venues around New York City are taking part in the first HeForShe Arts Week to spotlight the work of U.N. Women, especially the idea that men and boys can become agents of change in reaching gender equality goals. The 45-nation U.N. Commission adopted a declaration “to strive for the full realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women by 2030.”

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Cw’s ARCHIE-insPired show RIVERDALE Casts gay CharaCter

T

HE CW IS dEVElOPING A NEW TV SERIES based on the long-running, popular comic book Archie and it will include Kevin Keller, the first openly gay character in the Archie universe. The show, called Riverdale after the fictional town the Archie gang live in, will be a drama that “explores the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade,” according to the show’s producers.

Newcomer Caset Cott will play Keller, along with newcomers KJ Apa as Archie and Camila Mendes as Veronica. Surviving Jack’s Lili Reinhart will be Betty, Cole Sprouse from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody will be Jughead and Beverly Hills 90210’s Luke Perry has been cast as Archie’s dad.

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 7, 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

in-dePth: tamPa Pride

triPle Proud

Tampa Pride looks to spark some of that magic from last year’s inaugural event, but Pride existed in Tampa prior to GaYbor’s incarnation

C

Jeremy Williams

ARRIE WEST, PRESIdENT OF

Tampa Pride, has been around for a long time, and there are many things he is proud of in his more than 30 years in the Tampa Bay area.

He moved to region in the early 1980s with his partner Mark Bias, who is also the secretary of Tampa Pride, to attend the University of South Florida. Since then they have had their hands in many endeavors, one of which is GaYbor.

“Mark and I came to Ybor City and started GaYbor,” says West, sitting at the bar in Hamburger

Mary’s. “When we started GaYbor, we were asked, ‘Why does it have to be GaYbor?’ We told them, ‘We have developed this area so you can hold hands and kiss and feel comfortable in a safe zone.’ You knew if you saw the GaYbor sign that you were in a safe area in case you were being hassled. It is very popular for this area. GaYbor

revitalized Ybor City and it is now one of the safest places in Tampa for the LGBT community.”

It’s the success of GaYbor that allowed Tampa’s magic couple to get Tampa Pride up and running again last year.

“It was the time; it was just right,” West says. “We knew the right people and we had GaYbor going strong and decided now was the time.”

The timing could not have been better. More than 100 vendors packed the street festival in anticipation of 10,000 attendees.

Thanks to strong word of mouth and a nicely placed high school

watermark Your LGBT life.

drama convention, the actual attendance climbed to nearly 30,000 people.

At the time Tampa Pride board member Tom Barker said, “It has surpassed our expectations.

It’s amazing to see all of these people – and we’ve gotten amazing feedback.”

It was also the first time Tampa resident Thomas Pena had ever attended a Pride celebration in his own town.

“It’s emotional,” Pena said. “I loved St. Pete Pride last year – and the year before. But it feels a little different celebrating who I am right here at home.”

Ma rch 24 - a pr il 7, 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

With most of last year’s crowd consisting of young students and kids, that feeling of being able to finally celebrate who you are on your own streets seemed new. But GaYbor’s Tampa Pride was not the first time the city of Tampa came out to show their Pride.

we found Pride in a hoPeless PlaCe

For the first sparks of Tampa Pride you have to travel back to 1981, when being gay meant constant attack and scrutiny.

“Mark and I were going to USF

Continued on Pg. 31 | uu |

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1

| uu | Tampa Pride

2

from pg.29

at the time,” West says. “Back then they were still doing police raids and you would get pulled over immediately after leaving a gay bar.

You would drive out of the parking lot and get pulled over, and they would ask you ‘Where were you at?

What were you doing there? Were you drinking there?’”

Tampa Pride started as a way to gather with other community members and enjoy each other’s company.

“We had the first Tampa Pride on the sand dunes out there at USF,” West says. At the time, USF was out in the middle of nowhere, up a two-lane road.

“For a few years they did it there, and it was so rural that a lot of people came in on horses to Tampa Pride,” West says. “Each of the bars had formed softball teams and each one had a barbecue set up and it was open to everybody. A couple of times while we were out there, we had folk singers come in and perform; it was mostly just several little events and people in the community coming together and meeting new people.”

For the first two years, Tampa Pride was just a gathering organized by the local bars to get out and have some fun in the sun. “These little bars are the ones that made Pride happen,” West says.

In 1983, things started to change.

“In ’83, that’s when The Line was started,” West remembers. “The Line was a welcome center in Tampa that you would call to find out what was going on at the bars, any activities that were going on, and it was also a help line if you were suicidal or needed emotional or physical help.”

The Line began Tampa Pride’s first fundraising efforts, later going on to be renamed the Tampa AIDS Network.

“There was so many people getting sick unexpectedly, and nobody knew why, and then they started dying. These were friends of yours who you had just been talking to, and then they were dead.

I mean, nobody knew what was going on, and people were dying left and right and nothing was being done from the government and local officials,” West says.

The AIDS crisis changed the scope and message of Tampa Pride.

In 1986, the Tampa AIDS Network started to get funding from the CDC and had the opportunity to expand Tampa Pride from not only a celebration, but to a time and

3

1

DINING ON DONUTS:

Tampa Pride has always enjoyed the F-words; Family, Friends, Fun and Food.

2

GETTING US WET: You

can’t have Pride in the Bay area without beach bodies and loaded guns at the Wet Party.

3

4

DIVAS DISHING: A lot has been added and removed from Pride, but the queens will always represent. (L-R) Chi Chi LaRue, Pepper Mashay, Stephanie Shippae, and The Lady Chablis.

4

LEADER OF THE PACK:

Equality Florida’s Nadine Smith with less hair but with the same amount of passion.

we went to,” West says. “We filled the performing arts center, we filled the convention center. The city suggested going into Raymond James Stadium.”

One event that occurred with Tampa Pride from 1998 to 2001 was the Pillage and Plunder cruise.

It was the highlight of the Tampa Pride celebration, but would also prove to be one of the things that would destroy it in the end.

“It’s was well documented and reported when Tampa Pride shut down, but the Pride board had a big drug problem,” West says. “Also, the money spent on the cruises was out of control.”

Drugs and lavish spending became commonplace; Tampa Pride lost focus and became just about the party.

“One year, while still in port, they had to hold up the ship because the ship ran out of vodka before it even left the port. They had to bring a truckload over and restock the ship with more vodka,” West says. “It was quite the time; I haven’t seen anything like it in my life. That last year they didn’t have enough money to pay the cruise ship, The Regal Empress, and they went bankrupt.”

When 2002 came around, it was going to cost $40,000 just to pay to the city to hold Pride again. With crippling debt and bacchanalian controversy, the members of St. Pete Pride decided that it was better just to move there operations back to the other side of the bay.

“The city wanted $40,000 to hold Pride. We said, “Look, we have Georgie’s Alibi and Suncoast Resort in St. Pete now; we should have our own Pride there. That $40,000 would go a long way in St. Pete,’” West recalls.

In February 2002, West— along with Bias, business owners and community members in St. Petersburg—began the efforts to start St. Pete Pride. Tampa Pride was dead.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Pride

place where they could distribute education and awareness of this disease that was killing thousands.

“We continued to hold it during Stonewall every year, and they provided the money to get out and really do it right and make sure we had the awareness of what AIDS was doing to us every year,” West says.

Toward the late 1980s Tampa Pride moved from the last week of June to the July 4th weekend.

“They realized a lot of people

left the area during Fourth of July weekend because nothing was going on, so they moved Pride because there was no competition from anything else going on,” West says.

It was around this time also that a small, grassroots effort started in St. Petersburg to have a Pride of their own.

“In the early 1990s, Tampa Pride would move between Stonewall weekend and the July 4 weekend, and St. Pete Pride would schedule theirs either right before or right

watermark Your LGBT life.

after,” West says.

The mid-‘90s brought the two Prides together when it was decided that a regional Pride served the community better rather than separate city Prides.

This was also the time the Gay Days began in Orlando.

Tampa Pride flourished after the merger from 1998 to 2001; they saw their largest crowds, with attendance topping over 20,000 people.

“We were filling up every venue

Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

In 2006, an event looked likely to become the resurrection of Tampa Pride, but under a different name.

“What we held in Tampa starting in 2003 was a Valentine’s Dayof-action which actually turned into a pride event down the road,” says Zeke Fread.

Fread at the time was the Florida coordinator for the national organization Don’t Amend, an organization fighting then-President George W. Bush from enacting a

Continued on pg. 33 | uu |

31

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

| uu | Tampa Pride from pg.31

Constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

“We held the day of action at Lowry Park Zoo, and that first year 150 people showed up,” Fread says.

“It was basically a pride event; we had local organizations, churches and speakers, just like a normal pride event. A friend, Brian Feist, said you might as well start back up a Tampa Pride, so that’s what we did.”

In 2006, Fread, Feist and several members of the community launched Winter Pride Tampa Bay. “We picked winter because the weather is usually better, and we did not want to compete with St. Pete Pride,” Fread says. “So we held our first Winter Pride in 2006 and it was phenomenal. We held it at the Lowry Park bandshell.”

Winter Pride grew out of the space that first year and in 2007 moved in to Al Lopez Park. They held 50/50 raffles to raise money and even paid for parts of it out of their own pockets.

“Everything we could get donated was donated. It blew up from day one.

It wasn’t a money making endeavor.

It was just to get the community together,” Fread says.

Winter Pride went on through 2008, when it was met with disastrous weather.

“The weather destroyed us,” West remembers of the affair. “We had water up to our knees, the tents caved in, everything was ruined.”

That was the beginning of the end.

“We got clobbered with a terrible rainstorm,” Fread says. “Which affected our ability to recoup money, and by 2009, we had to cancel because of lack of funds.”

Pride rises like a phoenix

When West and Bias rebooted Tampa Pride, they didn’t necessarily want to harken back to the Prides of past.

“We want to look forward; we’ve always been the type of guys who keep looking forward,” West says.

They are looking forward to making Tampa Pride 2016 even bigger and better than last year.

“A lot of things have changed [for Tampa Pride] this year,” West says. “The locations have changed from last year, the festival moved from 8th Avenue to Centennial Park to increase the [surface] area, and we will be using two city parking lots. We will have a wet-zone area this year with beer tents. It looks like about 130 venders, and we

are going to be working together with—and partnering with—Ybor Saturday Market, so they will have around 80 additional venders and tents out there.”

Along with a larger festival, Tampa Pride will also have two entertainment stages: one at Centro Ybor and one in Centennial Park, with performances going on all day long.

They will honor Lorraine Langlois, CEO at Metro Wellness and Community Centers, and Russell Rhodes, FOX NEWS 13 Morning Anchor for “Good Day Tampa Bay” as the grand marshals, as well as fashion photographer and reality show star Mike Ruiz as the celebrity grand marshal.

It’s was well documented and reported when [the original] Tampa Pride shut down, but the Pride board had a big drug problem.

Also, the money spent on the cruises was out of control.

—Carrie West “We are also introducing the GLBT Supporters Award,” West says.

“The recipients of that award are those have worked with the GLBT community and support our efforts, as well as help promote the GLBT areas of Tampa.”

Tampa Pride will honor two recipients this year: Tampa business owner Joe Redner and former city mayor Pam Iorio, now the CEO of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, who relocated base operations from Texas to here in Tampa.

With so many Pride celebrations up and down the I-4 corridor, Tampa Pride looks to distinguish itself as the first Pride of the year, as well as to have its own flavor and voice.

“Tampa Pride’s voice is that of relaxed fun with a country attitude,” West says.

watermark Your LGBT life.

Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

33

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Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

arts and entertainment

SHE’S THE

BOSS Kathy Griffin brings her forked tongue to Florida to skewer pop culture and politics alike

C

Aaron Alper

OmEdIAN KATHy GRIFFIN’S 80-CITy

“Like a Boss” tour is coming to Florida with a staggering six shows beginning on March 30 at Daytona Beach, which will be followed by shows in Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Clearwater, Jacksonville and Melbourne.

To see Griffin live is an experience that is akin to seeing a great live musician; it is unique, in the moment and will never happen again. Unlike other comics who never deviate from a set, Griffin changes her sniping shtick nightly to cater to whatever audience she’s in front of. The deviations are always improv gold (Griffin was a Groundlings member in her early days) and often take center stage over the thing that made her famous: spurof-the-moment shit-talk about the ridiculous people in Hollywood.

With such a full schedule, it’s amazing Kathy has time for sleep, let alone press, but we were lucky to nab her for a few to talk about her upcoming shows and what kind of scathing hilarity she will be bringing to the Sunshine State.

WATERMARK: hello kathy! this interview is suCh a big deal for me!

kathy griffin: Oh, you’re such a doll. I am looking at the [Watermark’s] website and I also love Justin Trudeau,

and I am glad that he stands with the LGBT community. I hope everyone in Clearwater agrees, because I am playing six cities in Florida, and I am going to make fun of your people right to your faces.

i onCe heard an aCid-triPPing swami refer to florida as “the twilight zone,” and it was really aPt.

(Laughter). Yes. I think one of the reasons I love touring, and doing 80 cities in a year, it’s pretty insane, but one of my favorite things I get to tell my friends is that you have to realize when you go to a state like Florida, every city is so different. When I am on stage at Ruth Eckerd, you guys might just vote to secede. it’s beCause we’re all sCientologists and the elderly.

That’s right. Anything can happen.

Kirstie Alley could be beamed in … or you could just stay laugh at my jokes

Continued on Pg. 39 | uu |

watermark Your LGBT life.

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

| uu | Kathy Griffin from pg.37

for a couple of hours; and the most important message I can tell you it’s that it is going to be all new material. There is so much going on with future first lady Melania Trump.

Oh, I knew we we’re going to talk about that.

Yes! We have to! I don’t like it when people tweet me and say, “Stay in your lane, just talk about the Kardashians.”

No. Trust me, we are going to talk about everyone from Kylie to Caitlyn, who frankly is really just Kylie at the end of the day. We’re having fun with everybody. This is a great time to be a stand-up comic, and as a female, not to mention a female over 50 with two

that’s very shocking to say to a gay man…

I mean, I would never sleep with a younger man. Never.

Never! Never! It’s inappropriate! How dare you?! Anyway, Bette calls him ‘the baby’ and she is like “When are you gonna dump the baby for a rich old guy?

David Foster is single now, and he’s loaded.” I said, “Bette, I’ve been with this guy for five years and I am a fool for love.” She’s like, “You gotta get out of that! Wise up, kid!

It’s time for you to be with an old rich guy who’s gonna kick the bucket in a week.” Those kind of conversations are very different than going to see someone talk about airline peanuts and the differences between cats and dogs. I have to talk about it. The

you, as a comedian, are saying “thank you,” but as a person you’re sweating with this kind of reality?

Now more than ever! That’s why it’s great to be on tour.

Chris Rock was kicking himself that he didn’t use the Oscars as a time to launch a tour, because this is really a time that’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my life. I know that sounds over the top, and I would never want to be dramatic to a gay man.

Kathy Griffin being dramatic to a gay?!

Never! Appalling! Someone send a letter to GLAAD! Anyway, yes, it’s the political landscape crossing over with the pop culture landscape because, honestly, if you put Kanye West’s Twitter feed next to Donald Trump, you

“I have to talk about it. The Kardashians are multiplying and there are Republican debates. It’s too delicious not to. I know these people. I have a story that I am going to tell at Ruth Eckerd. I’ve known that crazy-ass Donald Trump for 15 years.” —Kathy Griffin

Emmys and a Grammy, I am fearless. I have nothing to lose.

And this tour, ‘Like a Boss,’ this is the first tour you’ve given a name to, but you really are a touring artist like Tori Amos or the Grateful Dead, because you change your set list nightly.

Yes, and thank God my peeps come to see me over and over, because they know that. In fact recently I had a run-in with Barbara Streisand, and I am going to give every juicy detail, because I actually saw her with Robert Redford! Now I would never characterize gay people into one group, god forbid; we are LGBTQIH345Caitlyn, but you gotta give me a little bit of a gay gasp that I saw them together. Come on! A The Way We Were reunion?

(Gasps). That’s a transgenerational gay gasp.

I also saw Bette Midler a week ago and she was giving me so much shit about my young boyfriend. He is 18 years younger than I am, and I know

Kardashians are multiplying and there are Republican debates. It’s too delicious not to. I know these people. I have a story that I am going to tell at Ruth Eckerd. I’ve known that crazy-ass Donald Trump for 15 years.

You guys have had your run-ins. I mean, you know each other pretty well.

Yes! We have. Look, anybody can talk about Trump’s hair, and I am happy to talk about it, but it’s really about the stories. I was emailing out and proud lesbian Suze Orman, and we were going over a time where the two of us were with Trump at this supercrazy event honoring the great Larry King, and we were just reminding each other how crazy that was. Nobody wanted to sit next to the Donald, because at that time, we didn’t know how crazy he is. But she got a picture of me sitting next to the Donald and she’s holding it for ransom.

And Donald Trump running for president!

Are there moments where

Laurie Ross Photography

can’t tell the difference. I mean, look honey, Ruth Eckerd Hall has been very good to me, but I am expecting walkouts.

This tour has been where I let the fur fly, which I’ve always done, but people are getting more divided, and they’re getting more sensitive. Thank god the LGBT community is actually having a good year; feminism not so much.

Tampa Bay area Equality Florida Official Photographer Contributing Photographer to Watermark News Magazine

I saw you in Sarasota last year and you were wild.

I can barely keep up with all the crazy shit that has been going on. The things that some of the politicians are openly saying is really alarming.

I’m 55, so I am coming at you from a place of someone who is a) banging a guy who is 18 years younger and b) someone who has been around to witness some of these crazy things. I follow it graciously though and I am fascinated, and Florida, well, you have to congratulate yourself. You’re at the epicenter of every election. But I have a secret for you… I have actually played more shows in Florida than any state in the union.

watermark Your LGBT life.

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Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

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A CELEBRATION OF FRIENDS, INC. Presents:

AN EVENING WITH CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK During our

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MARCH 15-27, 2016

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ON-LINE REGISTRATION:

www.celebrationoffriends.org Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

music

The pop kids

Pet Shop Boys return with Super after more than 30 years of pop and circumstance

(above)

Super Boys:

Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant.

Photo Courtesy Pelle Crepin/ x2 Records

“W

Billy Manes

e were never being boring,”

Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant slyly ruminated on 1990’s release Behaviour.

“We were never being bored.”

He was right. Sandwiched somewhere between elegy and eloquence, the pop duo – Tennant out front, Chris Lowe fiddling with the keys and technology in back – have made a mark on pop culture in all of its facets over three decades, sometimes with a slight frown, but always with a pop hook. There have been films, ballets, books, scores and tours, but Pet Shop Boys have always had that somewhat cocked brow of high art threaded just so – along with an incredibly palpable dryness of humor – allowing for an unparalleled career in the pop pantheon.

On April 1, Pet Shop Boys release

Super, the second in a rumored trilogy following 2013’s Electric, a top-five smash in their native U.K. Tennant, who helmed pivotal pop magazine Smash Hits (Star Hits in the U.S.) during post-punk’s golden age of new wave as an editor, once coined the phrase “Sir William of Idol,” as a matter of fact. If you’re old enough, you know to whom he was referring.

“Smash Hits was never afraid to puncture the pretensions of pop stars – indeed that was another of its functions,” he wrote in the forward to Smash Hits retrospective in 2007, “but nothing would have been possible without the enthusiastic

watermark Your LGBT life.

cooperation of pop stars who wanted their brilliant moments captured in color, preferably on the cover.”

Which brings us to now, an era of pop stars whose pretense is bought and sold on the stock market or supermarket shelves; an era when Pet Shop Boys are officially, and deservedly, elder statesmen held in high esteem. They’re always standing there at the front of a cultural zeitgeist, always bleeding wit and beauty.

“In the inner sanctum, you’re a star/ The girls, the guys, they all know who you are,” Tennant sings on Super’s hypnotic teaser track “Inner Sanctum.”

If Electric’s blatant rushes to the dance floor – via tracks with titles like “Vocal” and “Love is a Bourgeois Construct,” no less – were indicators of how 60-year-old British gentlemen process nightlife without looking like grumpy uncles, then Super is

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the after party. “Happiness,” the first track, is the sound of that small room on that small couch at 4 a.m., poppers ahoy. “It’s a long way to happiness, a long way to go/ But I’m gonna get there boy, the only way I know,” Tennant sings before spelling out “H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S,” a backward nod to previous Pet Shop Boys spelling records (“Shopping,” “Minimal”).

First single “The Pop Kids” follows at an equally ecstatic stride, evoking the early ‘90s house, hands-in-the-air euphoria that would be a forgery of past signature victories had Pet Shop Boys not created the document upon which that signature was signed.

“Oh, I like it here/ Oh, I love it,” comes the bridge. “I am never going home.” And then, because it’s Neil Tennant, “I loved you,” as a side of melancholy served with a boiled heart.

In many ways, Super succeeds in areas where Electric distracted.

Over-the-shoulder-gazes point more to Introspective (1988) than more recent electronic efforts. And though they may never regain their “Imperial Phase,” which in Pet Shop Boys parlance references the first three records, Super has a bite to it that is unmistakably part of the Pet Shop Boys brand. “Twenty-Something” pops along like something off Very (1993) as if it were at a Vanity 6 recording session; “The Dictator Decides” pushes and pulls and twinkles with appropriate authority (and typical Pet Shop Boys politics/ history references; Neil Tennant is a sad politico at heart). The only slowie comes in the form of “Sad Robot World” – “they can manufacture what you want to capture” – which carries its icy futurism to Blade Runner, sci-fi proportions. Then everything goes Georgio Moroder toward the end.

Producer Stuart Price is effectively a bright blue neon sign on “Burn.”

“We’re gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes,” Tennant sings. “It feels so good.”

There’s something uneven about cultural nostalgia, bad suits and bad brokers. It can come off as desperate.

Were Pet Shop Boys attempting to be references to themselves more than 30 years ago – back in the Bobby O days – sure, it would work here in its own way. But they aren’t. They’re simply being themselves, brilliantly.

And as tried and tested formulas go, you can’t get much better than the Tennant/Lowe model.

“We need some practical dreamers/ And maybe a few magicians,” Tennant sings on closing track “Into Thin Air.” Thankfully, we already have them.

41

orlandofringe.org PRESENTING SPONSORS GRANT SPONSORS

42

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

event Planner

arts+entertainment

Community CaLenDar

orlando

orlando

The Tempest, Feb. 10-March 27, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Orlando. 407-447-1700; OrlandoShakes.org

Orlando prep rally

She Loves Me, March 17- 26, Theatre UCF Main Stage, Orlando.

407-823-1732; PerformingArts. cah.ucf.edu

THURSdAy, mARCH 24, 6:00- 8:00 P.m.

SAVOy, ORlANdO

Inherit the Wind, March 18- April 3, Volusia County Courthouse, Deland.

386-736-1500; AthensDeland.com gotham City easter egg hunt w/ Chi Chi Larue, March 24, Southern Nights, Orlando. 407-412-5039; SouthernNightsOrlando.com Chris tucker, March 25, Hard Rock Live, Orlando. 407-351-5483; HardRock.com/Live2 Courtyard street Party!

March 26, Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com babes in bonnets 2016, March 28, Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com Dirty Dancing, March 29- April 3, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org the roast of sean finnerty, March 30, Spacebar, Orlando.

407-228-0804; Facebook.com/ SpacebarOrlando the artegon Co-op grand opening gala, March 31, Artegon Marketplace, Orlando. 407-351-7718; ArtegonMarketplace.com spooky empire, April 1- 3, Wyndham Orlando Resort, Orlando. 877-999-3223; WyndamOrlandoResort.com Monte Carlo Casino Night, benefiting hope & help, April 2, Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com urban Nights: Woodstock, April 7, The Full Moon at Woodstock, Orlando. 407-802-2874; WoodstockOrlando.com

SOUTHERN

CHI-CHI-CHARM Chi Chi Larue brings the noise and the funk to Southern Nights, first in Orlando to let you hunt for her Easter eggs March 24, then to Tampa March 25 to show off some #ManMeat.

tamPa bay Love Without Labels: an Lgbt singles event, March 25, Metro Community Centers, St. Petersburg. 727-321-3854; MetroTampaBay.org burLy! burlesque tampa Pride Kick off Party, March 25, Honey Pot, Tampa. 813-247-4663; Facebook.com/Honey-Pot Chi Chi Larue’s #ManMeat, March 25, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813-559-8625; SouthernNightsTPA.com

open arms homeless Ministry, April 3, Hyde Park United Methodist Church, Tampa.

813-253-5388; HydeParkumc.org

una Voce: Dudes Doing Divas Cabaret, April 1-2, The Space at 2106, Tampa. 813-575-0230; TheSpaceAt2106.com

tbgLCC annual Luncheon, April 7, The Tampa Club, Tampa.

727-755-8390; TBGLCC.org

an evening with sophia Loren, April 1, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.net

sarasota

Neibearhood takeover Circuit Cub glow Party! April 1, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813-559-8625; SouthernNightsTPA.com

happy tampa Pride at the ritz ybor, March 26, The Ritz Ybor, Tampa. 813-247-3729; TheRitzYbor.com bill engvall, March 26, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater.

727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.net balance tampa bay’s March service, March 26, Ybor City Historic District, Tampa. 727-512-1304; BalanceTampaBay.org

Kathy griffin, April 2, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.net

honey Pot balcony Party and Price Poppycock, March 26, Honey Pot, Tampa.

813-247-4663; Facebook.com/ Honey-Pot

6th annual Kickball 4 Kids, April 2, Hyde Park Softball Park, Tampa. 727-512-1304; BalanceTampaBay.org the Cheaters, April 2, Flamingo Resort, St. Petersburg.

727-321-5000; FlamingoFla.com

All the Way, Jan. 14-April 9, Asolo Rep Theatre, Sarasota. 941-351-8000; AsoloRep.org Bye Bye Birdie, March 17- April 3, Manatee Performing Arts Center, Brandenton. 941-896-8131; ManateePerformingArtsCenter.com aLso gala – stepping out in hollywood, April 2, ALSO Youth, Sarasota. 941-951-2576; ALSO Youth.org

Come out to SAVOY to learn about PrEP (Preexposure prophylaxis - Truvada) and hear about how it can add a layer of protection against HIV. On hand will be community members currently on PrEP and Dr. Edwin DeJesus of the Orlando Immunology Center, one of the premier HIV medical facilities in Orlando. Food for this event will be sponsored

by Gilead Pharmaceuticals, and the event itself is sponsored by Walgreens. For more information contact the GLBT Center at 407-228-8272 or visit TheCenterOrlando.org.

tamPa bay

Gasp!: The Gasparilla Fringe Festival 2016 FRIdAy, APRIl 1, 6:00- 10:00 P.m.

TAmPA mUSEUm OF ART, TAmPA For the third year in a row, Creative Loafing and Tampa Museum of Art present the last gasp of Gasparilla with Tampa Bay’s only Fringe Festival.

Come out and see emerging and accomplished local Tampa Bay area performers in a one-night not-tobe-missed event filled with amazing theater, dance, puppets, video, spoken word, radio, cabaret, music and much more. Enjoy free tapas and beverages from Sono Café/Mise en Place and free admission to select art exhibits. General Admission is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. For more information call 813-274-8130 or visit TampaMuseum.org.

cheers for pride – polk pride 2016 SATURdAy, APRIl 2, 6:00- 10:00 P.m.

HURRICANE AllEy, lAKElANd Join Polk Pride FL with Lakeland Youth Alliance and PFLAG of Polk County at Hurricane Alley in Downtown Lakeland and give Cheers for Pride! A $5 cover at the door gets you music, dancing, raffles and much more. A portion of all drinks sales will be donated for the express purpose of organizing your 2016 Polk Pride. This is an event of the Lakeland Youth Alliance, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

For information about sponsorship and vendor opportunities available for Pride in the Park email Polk Pride at info@PolkPrideFL.com.

To submit your upcoming event, concert, performance, or fundraiser visit watermarkonline.com.

watermark Your LGBT life.

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FIND YOUR FLORIDA Close to everything and yet a world away!

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Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

overheard

tamPa bay out+about

the go-go’s go bye-bye

A

FTER 38 yEARS OF ROCKING OUT TOGETHER the Go-Go’s – Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey and Gina Schock – have announced a farewell tour. That’s right; these beauties are stopping the beat to head on a permanent vacation without any more stops on the talk show circuit. God bless the Go-Go’s. Don’t you worry fans of the Go-Go’s who live by the Bay-Bay, cause these rocking ladies are kicking off their farewell tour right here in the Tampa Bay area. The only all-female band to top the charts who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments attempted to do a farewell tour back in 2010. That tour was cancelled when Wiedlin injured her knee, but this time around they are going through with it. So tease up that hair and shake out those leg warmers, because the ‘80s are heading to the Capitol Theatre in August.

the unbreakbale Cesar rodriguez

C

ESAR ROdRIGUEZ WAS WEll KNOWN throughout Tampa and Ybor City. He owned several businesses in the area throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including well known bars frequented by the LGBT community including Rene’s and KiKiKi. He was also well known in the area for having survived several attempts on his life from the mob. Rodriguez passed away March 12 at the age of 85, a long successful life lived with a past that sounds more like the plot of a Godfather movie. Now, it’s no secret that the clubs and bars of Ybor City were owned and run by the mob.

According to the Tampa Tribune, when Rodriguez tried to expand his business in the Ybor area, a rival mob strapped a bomb to his car in an attempt to get him out of the way. But luckily for Rodriguez, his daughter’s boyfriend got into the car instead. The teenager received only minor injuries. A few weeks later, Rene’s was set on fire and was ruled arson by local officials. A couple of months after that, two gentlemen tried gunning Rodriguez down with a shotgun, but when the gun wouldn’t fire Rodriguez, the gun-toting thugs had a car chase through the streets of Tampa.

Who knew that the streets of Tampa back in the day were directed by Martin Scorsese? Rest peaceful Mr. Rodriguez; your streets are in good hands.

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WE ARE WHAT WE ARE: (L-R) rachael Knowles, brian finnerty and Casey Kelley are all glammed up for tech rehearsal as The Players of Sarasota prepare for La Cage Aux Folles March 20. PHOTO

Courtesy of briaN fiNNerty

2

I’m SHIPPING UP TO yBOR: Leugim “Leo” Quintana is lit up to the nines to sling whiskey and Guinness for St. Patrick’s Day at Southern Nights in Tampa March 12. PHOTO

Courtesy of LeugiM QuiNtaNa

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4

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dON’T RAIN ON my PARAdE: Manatee Pride didn’t let a little rain dampen their good time as the crowd enjoyed the drag performances in Bradenton March 20. PHOTO

Courtesy of PrisM youth iNitiatiVe

4

BERNING dOWN THE HOUSE: Presidential hopeful bernie sanders packed 10,000 democratic voices into the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa March 10. Photo Courtesy of MoMeNts With Mario

5

lET US ENTERTAIN yOU: scott & Patti bring down the house with a tremendous performance at Watermark’s 2016 WAVE Award party at Southern Nights Tampa March 10. Photo by robert CasteLLi

6

PUTTING ON THE RITZ: Presidential hopeful hillary Clinton (L) and Tampa Mayor bob buckhorn speak to a crowd of supporters at The Ritz Ybor in Tampa March 10. Photo by NiCK CarDeLLo

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TASTE THE RAINBOW: (L-R) barclay harless, eric skains, Jeremy grimins and Nick Janovsky sample the best eateries in the area at the Taste of St. Pete Pride at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg March 19. PHOTO

Courtesy of NiCK JaNoVsKy

8

HAPPy BIRTHdAy, mR. COUNCIlmAN: steve Kornell (R) celebrates the big 5-0 with bobby Poth and Linda foley Norris at Gigi’s Italian Restaurant in St. Petersburg March 17. Photo Courtesy of LiNDa foLey Norris

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overheard

orlando out+about

a new hoPe

H

OPE ANd HElP’S HEAddRESS BAll HAS ANNOUNCEd THEIR NEW THEmE ANd NAmE for the upcoming fundraiser. Every year there seems to be a theme and this year’s theme is universal. Scheduled for September 17, 2016, LOVE Headdress Ball’s tickets are already available. The 27th annual fundraiser features over-the-top Las Vegasstyle performances and incredible auctions all benefiting the Hope and Help Center. This year’s Headdress Ball will also be held at a new location: the World Center Marriott.

Along, with the new name and the new venue, Watermark has heard a rumor of a new look coming to the Hope and Help’s logo. Presently the new logo is currently under wraps but will most likely be revealed right before the upcoming AIDS Walk scheduled for April 16.

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drag is an art

S

ANFORd’S HISTORIC dOWNTOWN ARTS dISTRICT became a total drag on March 19 as they celebrated the first ever Art is a Drag! This was an interesting take on the typical art walk, replete with a twist, sashay and a fierce look! The walk included an art exhibit, artists sketching live models (who happened to be drag queens), a queen-for-a-day selfie station—gilded throne included—and of course a Drag Transformation station, where make-up artists would turn the art lover into a queen that would rival any of the RuPaul Girls. No word yet when the 2017 Art is a Drag will return to Sanford, but we’re breaking in our heels just in case.

milk for breakfast

m

IlK IS A VITAl PART OF A HEAlTHy BREAKFAST, RIGHT? Well on May 16, you can join Stuart Milk, nephew of LGBT hero Harvey Milk, for this annual breakfast hosted at Dubsdread. Presented by the Center and the Harvey Milk foundation, the 4th annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast and Awards will include a special appearance by trans youth Ryland and his family. A short film titled Raising Ryland has been viewed over 7.5 million times on YouTube, and it tells the story of Ryland and his family as they accepted their trans son and supported his transition. Civil rights attorney Mary Meeks, Sentinel scribe Scott Maxwell and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer are all set to be honored for their work in the LGBT community.

4

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SHAKING HANdS: Business owner Jean-David Parlier and T Network members Dana Ng and Camille brandon learn about supplier diversity at MBA’s Synergy for Equality on March 17 at Orlando City Hall. Photo by aDaM MaNNo

2

FUNNy GIRl: David Wyzynski (left) and his husband, Jeff Prystajko, talk Tupperware with Dixie Longate after Dixie’s Tupperware Party, March 15 at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Prystaiko won their tickets through a Watermark giveaway.

Photo Courtesy PrystaiKo

3

dIVERSE dISCUSSION: Marisol romany, Lisa brown and sherri absher network at MBA’s Synergy for Equality: Supplier Diversity event March 17 in downtown Orlando. Photo by aDaM MaNNo

4

ST. PATTy’S dAy: Orlando City Commissioner Patty sheehan spreads some Irish cheer March 17.

Photo by regiNa hiLL

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TOP FORm: Ken terrell from The Center and steve addona with Hope and Help of Central Florida, Inc. share crucial LGBT health-related information at The Center’s GLBT Health Fair, March 11.

Photo by JaMie hyMaN

6

THRONE FOR TWO: Carol Lee and Miss sammy take a load off during the Art is a Drag exhibit and art walk in downtown Sanford March 12. Photo by yVette Waters

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Fly lIKE AN EAGlE: After being pulled onstage by the president of Century 21, Orlando realtor David Dorman sings Take It Easy at Century 21’s 2016 Global Conference, March 19 at Rosen Shingle Creek. Photo by sCott PeNyaK

8

THEy’RE WITH HER: Margo and Jack Dixon, along with Roxy Santiago, celebrate Hillary Clinton’s Florida primary victory at a watch party at The Hammered Lamb.

Photo by riCK CLaggett

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

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-Est. 20

announcements

wedding bells

Jill Bracero, 36, and Karla Mundo, 31 from Orlando, Florida

years together:

8 years

engagement Date:

december 20, 2013

WeDDing Date:

January 23, 2016

WeDDing Venue:

crystal ballroom on the lake in altamonte Springs

WeDDing oF CoorDinator:

charlene areizaga

WeDDing Caterer:

r&y catering

WeDDing CoLors:

plum, lavender, silver and ivory

First song:

a ballad and bachata medley of “Stand by me.”

interesting FaCt:

karla pursued her nursing degree after being inspired

by Jill’s nursing stories.

Photo by DBatista Photography

“S

HE’S AlWAyS WHO SHE IS,”

Karla says about Jill. “No matter where she’s at, and as much as it might drive me crazy sometimes, she’s just genuinely Jill.”

Jill Bracero, who is a registered nurse at Florida Hospital East, and Karla Mundo, a registered nurse at Florida Hospital Orlando, met in 2007 on MySpace.

“It was just random,” Karla says. “Jill was still living in New York and I was living in Puerto Rico at the time. I stumbled across a request from her, so I went to her page and thought she was interesting. We started messaging and then we started talking on the phone. Eventually four months later, we met in person—and that’s where it started.”

Karla offered to help her sister in Florida move, and Jill suggested that they meet as she was going to be in Florida as well.

Karla even extended her trip five days, because once she met Jill, she didn’t want to leave. Jill said she was nervous because it was meeting a new person. She didn’t know what to expect.

“She always knows what to say and how to say it,” Jill says. “She’s

good with words.”

Over time, their relationship grew, they became closer and put down roots in Florida.

“It was always a work in progress,” Karla says about their relationship. “We kind of grooved together through the years.”

Jill was the inspiration to Karla to become a nurse. She says despite both being nurses, working in different units allows them to share different stories with each other.

Jill told a couple of friends that she decided she was going to propose to Karla. She told everyone to go to Parliament House, and that’s where she would propose. Jill put together a video with music that she was able to put on the television screens at Parliament House, then she appeared out of nowhere and dropped down on one knee and popped the question.

“There was so many times that I could have sworn she was

going to propose,” Karla says.

“But this time, she completely had me stumped.”

Karla recalls that it was something like out of a movie.

Following the proposal, the unforgettable night was full of celebration with their closest friends.

For about a year, the couple was going back and forth about just having a commitment ceremony because marriage was not legal in Florida at the time.

Once it was legal, they started looking at venues. In March 2015, they booked Crystal Ballroom on the Lake because they loved it.

They both said their most memorable moment from the wedding day were their first looks—it was very emotional and special. The wedding also was unforgettable for them both.

“I feel secure,” Jill says. “There’s no difference in what we felt before to now, but that little piece of paper makes me feel secure that if something happens to me, Karla will get the house and all that.”

They went to Savannah for a couple of days, but the couple is taking a cruise in November for their honeymoon.

LoCaL birthDays Fratboy adam Conrad, St. Petersburg-based Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps board member eric Peak, Bowled Over Promotions star Lisa brown (March 24); plant whisperer Jennifer Parrish, Tampa’s todd brown (March 25); Tampa photographer 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 Olde Town Brokers Jay Wood, St. Petersburg chef Domenica Macchia, Naked Eye Studio’s John Caroll, Tampa Karaoke Jockey extraordinaire and straight ally Normie Dunn (March 27); Tampa softballer randal spiller, Sarasota equality advocate Jen Drake, New Church Family Inc. of Daytona Beach administrative assistant Jerry Corlis (March 28).; St. Pete gym rat and former Watermark editor steve blanchard (March 29); XL 106.7 FM diva rae, Orlando trivia host and WAVE-winning actor Doug ba’aser (March 31); Orlando-based DJ Lindsey Leigh, former St. Petersburg resident and Equality Florida supporter elizabeth albelo (April 1); former cover model aaron sanford, Orlandobased flight attendant James sparkman, former Watermark graphics artist Catherine thompson, Tampa Bay-based Concept Bait’s frank Clemente, Palm Beach County Human Rights Council founder and president rand hoch (April 2); funny glamour girl bridgette galore a.ka.

Darren Charles, Bowled Over Promotions’ Karyn bell, Orlando’s Didi Panache, AKA Douglas Mcgeough (April 3); Hedwig actor/Shakespeare director, hero David Lee, Dawn Kallio of Bowled Over Promotions (April 4); Sexy Tampa banker Jeff baker, St. Pete nurse and former editor of The Gazette, brian feist, Orlando Front Runner scott feneck, St. Petersburg entertainer Meagan towers (Michael Jones), Tampa MCC go-toman activist Mac Mcgowan (April 5); Orlando accountant Leah James (April 6)

Do you haVe an announCement? haVing a birthDay or anniVersary? DiD you get a neW Job or promotion? see your news in Watermark! send your announcement to editor@Watermarkonline.com or go to Watermarkonline.com/submit-a-transition.

it’s that easy!

Do you have an interesting wedding or engagement story you’d like to share with Watermark readers? if so, email the details to editor@Watermarkonline.com for consideration as a future feature on this page.

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Ma rch 24 - A pr il 6 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.0 6

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Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

53

uPrisings

the long tale

There is almost a universal recognition that we need to do this better.

Doing this doesn’t make us any less anti-drug, but it’s a realization that the penalties that have been imposed have done more damage to the trajectories of young peoples’ lives than the offenses have warranted.

—TAmPA mAyOR BOB BUCKHORN ON dECRImINAlIZING mISdEmEANOR AmOUNTS OF mARIJUANA IN TAmPA (VIA TAMPA BAY TIMES)

off the marCo

W

E’RE NOT ONES TO dANCE ON POlITICAl GRAVES HERE, but the demise of former Florida House Speaker and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s heralded presidential campaign will someday be buried in middle school social studies textbooks next to Terri Schiavo and Jeb Bush. Take a man of pretense but devoid of political substance, have him lie about his Cuban migration to Florida in print, have him take on the immigration reform issue in the Senate, take your hand out of his puppet posterior and throw him to the wolves with a tiny bottle of water. Boom! Failed candidacy. Rubio dropped out just 15 minutes after polls closed on March 15, because, well, he barely charted. Thanks for playing, Patrick Bateman. You looked great.

54

I

bondi-ng in?

F yOU WANTEd TO HEAR THE CRINGE OF AN ENTIRE lGBT COmmUNITy with its hands willfully wrapped around a curling iron, then you should have been huddled around the community political theater surrounding Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s rousing endorsement of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in Tampa on March 14. Speaking in code, she said, “We have been friends for years and years, and I know his family personally. I’ve seen firsthand how he leads, and how he cares deeply about the people of this country.” That “firsthand” got called by the media, however, when some suspicious campaign finance deal – Trump donated $25k to Bondi’s re-election PAC in 2013, it turns out, likely prompting her to stop investigating Trump University.

Uh-oh. Still, a popular St. Pete blogger issued a Facebook comment on the mess, suggesting that in this absurd climate, Bondi will likely be named VP for Trump. Feel that burn?

suPreme failure

y

OU mIGHT THINK THAT AS REPUBlICANS ARE RECOIlING from their Cruzshaped Bible blisters or Trumpdesigned frauds, they’d be interested in at least giving the appearance of moderate behavior that could save their political brand. There are downticket races to concern themselves with. But jowl-lover and Republican senate leader Mitch McConnell is pulling his best dumbfounded Eeyore in allowing President Barack Obama – or, indeed – potential next-President Hillary Clinton from moving forward with a replacement for old, dead bag of hate rhetoric Justice Antonin Scalia on the court, even though Obama has already picked Merrick Garland, an unassuming bit of middle-of-the-road fancy who Obama has every right to nominate. McConnell is rumored to be taking a call with Garland, but doesn’t want to waste his time on actually doing his job and furthering the process. Jackass.

watermark Your LGBT life.

L

Billy Manes

IKE SO mANy WOOd-PANElEd FIGHTS BETWEEN ‘70S PARENTS in various shades of sexual, financial and fuel crises, this year’s presidential preference primary has inspired few, angered quite a few and scared the shit out of nearly double those numbers. Actually, to be fair, the ‘70s – minus a Watergate scandal or Iran hostage crisis or whatever – carried with them the last vestiges of civility in the political arena.

In the ‘80s, the fringes started to show, with folks like Ross Perot and David Duke wide-eyeing from the sidelines and pushing everyone into their respective frenzies. And the ‘60s – minus a Cuban Missile Crisis and a war in Vietnam – saw their biggest campaign moments in the reflections from the sweat blobs on Richard Nixon’s debatehead when faced with the coming surge of John F. Kennedy. Neither era saw the amplified rhetoric we’re witnessing at the Klan rallies (ooops, Donald Trump rallies) in recent weeks.

OK, so little has changed. On Tuesday, March 15 – affectionately known as “mini-superTuesday,” because it’s cute like a small puppy – Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton virtually swept five states: Florida, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri. In Florida, the Clinton campaign reports, the former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and First Lady nabbed 141 delegates – nearly double that of competing Dem. (-ish) Sen. Bernie Sanders. The popular vote showed a more than 30-point spread between the two in the Sunshine State, which was just about enough to silence the 30 years of violent criticism Clinton has fielded in her public and private life. Right?

Wrong. While Republicans have been running smears – all discounted eventually – now the “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party is playing its #bernieorbust card (meaning, there’s a pledge to not vote for Clinton in the general should she win the primary). It’s a bit of a fringe movement of its own that smells something like green tea at a party, if you catch my drift.

Clinton, who in the LGBT scheme of things has been a fighter and an ally for social and HIV/AIDS global initiatives, issued her gaffe heard round the world at Nancy Reagan’s funeral, immediately apologized profusely (nice lady says something nice at funeral; news at 11) and reopened a discussion about our LGBT history. And so the Sanders-Clinton, “he said, she said” rift made its way into your local gay bar. While we were fighting, however, a fascist gained a lead of more than 50 percent in the Republican Party in a swimming pool of national unrest, racism and acrimony, hairpiece intact.

Let’s agree that the Hillary narrative is, if nothing else, dragging the discussion down. By all means, we should protect our rights (something both Sanders and Clinton agree on NOW). But right now we need to unite and fight an unfathomable and disgraceful conservative right bench. Go hug a small puppy.

You’ll feel better.

Ma rch 24 - a pr il 6 , 2016 // issue 2 3.0 6

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