Watermark Issue 23.11: Orlando's Big Gay Weekend

watermark Your LGBT Life.

iSSue 23.11 • June 2 - June 15, 2016 WaTerMarkonLine.CoM

FEEL THE

BERN(hard) sandra bernhard brings

her politics, music and inimitable attitude to Orlando

daytona beaCh • orlando • tampa • st. petersburg • Clearwater • sarasota

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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I’d play baby Jane – I’d be torturin’ her.

depArtMents 6 // MAiL 7 // editor’s desk 13 // orLAndo news 16 // tAMpA BAy news 21 // stAte news 23 // nAtion & worLd news 33 // Arts & entertAinMent 51 // coMMunity cALendAr 53 // tAMpA BAy out+ABout 55 // orLAndo out+ABout 57 // AnnounceMents/weddinG BeLLs 56 // tAMpA BAy MArketpLAce 58 // orLAndo MArketpLAce 62 // uprisinGs

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39

Because she’s always viewed as the bad girl, you know! They’d make her the good girl and I’d be the bad one.

—cyNdI LAuPEr ON whIch rOLE shE wOuLd PLAy IF shE ANd mAdONNA wErE TO rEmAKE WHAT EvER HAPPEnED TO BABY jAnE?

on the cover

PAGE

PAGE SANDRA OH,

33

MY!: Comedian Sandra

Bernhard talks politics, parties and her P. House visit with Watermark’s Billy Maines.

scAn qr code for

wAterMArkonLine.coM

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puppet MAsters:

The Mad Cow Theatre brings the Tony-award winning musical Avenue Q to Orlando for Pride month.

wAterMArk i ssue 23 .11 //J une 2 - J une 15, 2016

LeAdership hunt

eyes on poLk county weiGhinG in?

uprisinGs

PAGE The Metropolitan Business Association and the Central Florida GLBT Center are both looking for new executive directors.

PAGE Lakeland tries to celebrate Polk Pride while the murder of a Haines City transgender woman is rocking the community.

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

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Florida Rep. Janet Adkins asked State AG Pam Bondi to weigh in on Obama’s directive on public school bathroom policies.

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Attacking Barney Frank, the Federal Government and Facebook posts; this week in politics sure has a lot of people in fighting stances. FINISH HIM!

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stay loCked onto watermarkonline.Com for the best and most extensive Coverage of your 2016 gay days!

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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top weB coMMents “All LBGTs already have ‘equality.’ Our Constitution gives them the same equality as anyone else. Giving them more rights than everyone else raises them ABOVe everyone else.”

—GrETTA

wAterMArkonLine.coM: on 11 states suing federal government over mandating bathroom eQuality:

“So what’s this REALLY about? It’s about ‘mainstreaming’ this peculiar deviance, and while we are at it, a good way of forcing the gay lifestyle onto the rest of society while, at the same time, giving a kind of access by gays and lesbians to the rest of us. Oh, they may not be able to change non-gays’ minds, but they can ‘shop’ the merchandise.

By gradually exposing the mainstream to their wrong behaviors, maybe they can gain acceptance.

And THAT, folks, is dangerous.”

—JERRY OXENDINE

on the top 10 fringe-iest pieCes at visual fringe:

LEADING THE CHANGE

“Thank you so much for including my piece.

I’ve been having a rough month, a rough year really, and this has significantly lifted my spirits.”

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on the Chaos in d.C. as house republiCans embraCe lgbt disCrimination:

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Ormond Beach 386.898.0303

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Winter Park 321.203.2900

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watermark Your LGBT life.

“All LBGTs already have ‘equality.’ Our Constitution gives them the same equality as anyone else. Giving them more rights than everyone else raises them ABOVE everyone else to

give them more rights, ADDITIONAL rights that they will more than likely use against everyone else just because they have that additional power over everyone else. How fair and equal is that?”

on a gay senate Candidate winning kentuCky primary and taking on rand paul in the general:

on orlando gay Chorus restruCturing and reaChing out:

on a florida lawmaker Calling on pam bondi to take on obama’s bathroom direCtive:

—GRETTA

“Thanks for the great coverage, Watermark!

Wonderful photos and excellent way to help us get the word out!”

—DEBRA PROCTOR OWENS

wAterMArk’s fAceBook: on terry deCarlo leaving the glbt Center:

“Congratulations, although you’ll be sorely missed.”

—JAMES KALINSKY

on the gay marriage fight Costing florida $200,000 (so far):

“Good. Just sorry that Pam Bondi doesn’t have to pay out of her personal funds.”

—HOLLY HURST

on the san diego padres reCeiving CritiCism from gay men’s Choir:

“There’s no way that we will ever know, and idle speculation is disingenuous and not likely to be at all productive.”

—CHUCK STORM

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“This guy any good?”

—JASON ANTHONY

“He will be getting my vote.”

—DIANNA MODER

“Rep. Adkins took time out from her busy day to do her part in holding back the hands of time.

She is still concerned with racial segregation! She just needs more time!”

—TIM STAHL

on whether an illinois ChurCh saying gay Congregants bring new life would make new people attend ChurCh:

“I really haven’t had the desire to go in 25 yrs. The last time I was in a church was for my father’s funeral in ‘07.”

—LUCAS BARSZCZ

“No. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

—ZACHARY BARR

on u.s. monument status not guaranteeing stonewall inn’s future:

“But isn’t that true for hotels that have become museums, or single family houses that have become a bed and breakfast?”

—VERONICA DRAKE

editor’s

billy manes editor

BIlly@WatermarkOnline.com

“I

desk

ThINK ThAT ThE rEPuBLIcAN

Party has been, you know, and I am not the first to say this, I have seen op-eds about it ad nauseam but it certainly makes sense that the Republican Party has been assembling this monster for a very long time with all of their covert racism and sexism and homophobia. And the list goes on and on with the things they want to control and help destroy.

“You know, rights of women, reproductive rights, the environment and healthcare and poverty and education and healthy eating initiatives. You know, the list is a thousand miles long. They got their monster, but their monster is also unpredictable, and they don’t know what he really is about. So it’s sort of the ultimate endgame for them.”

These are the words that opened my candid conversation with comedian Sandra Bernhard – she’s part of the zeitgeist, you know; fuck Madonna – and the rest of her genius can be witnessed on the

wAterMArk stAff

pages herein. These are crazy times, rife with any kind of disdain you can muster in even your calmest moods. However, these, too, are amazing times. Bernhard joins a cornucopia of talented performers and concerned exhibitionists in taking Central Florida by storm this week. We would say a certain trademarked term, but for reasons all to familiar to those in the gay-pub business, we’ll just keep it to your Big Gay Weekend, your One Magical Weekend, your GayDayS, and play nice with everyone. And this year’s is going to be a trip.

There was a funny moment in putting this issue together that may have only been funny to this editor.

There was a fear that Bernhard – a genius in her own right – might rise above the brows of the oonceoonce beat-collectivity of our LGBT population. Would people just sit and listen to someone talk? Well, Bernhard does more than talk, and she’s more than a consummate entertainer. She’s a joy to connect with, and she’s a huge part of this community’s push forward. Without her, we’re not exactly nothing, but we’re lesser in value. She’s a gem.

Obviously, in the glut of the days that are gay, things get lost and broken like iPhones on It’s a Small World, but it’s great to know that some constants remain. Bernhard is certainly one of them, and I personally am glad to have had the chance to spittle ideals at an idol.

Without her, I’d be nothing.

However, there are so many other things going on, even as we don our red shirts and trip the humidity fantastic. And that, dear readers, is why we’re here. On the Orlando side, we have some fairly important updates on just how the GLBT Center is going to advance as its leader Terry DeCarlo departs. Meanwhile, we get a little more insight into how the Metropolitan Business Association is going to move forward from a period of discord and leadership changes.

Hint: Everything will work out fine.

Over on our Gulf Coast, we wag fingers and roll eyes at what has become of the Hulk Hogan sex-tape scenario (there’s a gay angle! Also, Gawker!), ponder Sarasota’s continued conservative dismissal of federal directives to adjust transgender bathroom policies and wish we could make the Cyndi Lauper concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall or even at Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center.

“For me, all I wanna do is a good job. I wanna be a great singer. I wanna learn. I wanna always learn.

I study music constantly. I try and listen to what’s happening,” Lauper

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told our reporter. “I try and listen to what’s happened, to what I might’ve missed. I think music is… I love it and I think it lifts people up. I think I finally did a record that makes people happy, ya know? Maybe I learned that from Kinky Boots.”

And making people happy is what this weekend is about, political frays be damned. We hope you’ll join us as we sweat our way through our old pants, make appearances at all of the wet, dark and late parties, push forward with our “gay agenda” and try to make equality take hold

speaking as someone who carried a Jackie siegel bag to the beach this weekend, even though she is in the bag for Trump, let’s let loose, take off our shirts, make new friends, probably get in some trouble, and wake up on the other side. You are beautiful; own it.

in a manner that can no longer be questioned.

Speaking as someone who carried a Jackie Siegel bag to the beach this weekend, even though she is in the bag for Trump, let’s let loose, take off our shirts, make new friends, probably get in some trouble, and wake up on the other side. You are beautiful; own it.

Mostly, though, we wish you heaven with a sprinkle of magic.

These gayest of days didn’t come easy, but nothing worthwhile ever has. We’ve got this. Come along, won’t you?

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

contriButors JASON LEcLErc

is a near lifelong resident of the I-4 corridor, currently in South Tampa. He publishes poetry online at PoetEconomist. blogspot.com. His first book, Momentitiousness, was published in 2014. His new book, Black Kettle, will be published in 2016. Page 25

dr. sTEVE yAcOVELLI

is Owner & Principal of TopDog Learning Group, LLC, a learning and development consulting firm based in Orlando that provides guidance and solutions in diversity and inclusion. Page 27

chrIs AZZOPArdI

is the editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBT wire service and has interviewed a wide range of celebrities, including Cher and Lady Gaga. He lives in Canton, Mich., and can be reached via his website at Chris-Azzopardi. com. Page 39

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

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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central florida news

MBA headed in a director direction Jamie Hyman

T FINAL VOTE:

The Brevard School Board votes 3-2 to set a final hearing and vote on updated anti-discrimination protections July 19.

Photo by Gina Duncan

Heated hearing Brevard Schools anti-discrimination protections headed to final vote Jamie Hyman

D

espite a strong showing from the hate group Liberty Counsel and a speaker being carried out by police, updated antidiscrimination protections for the Brevard County School District are moving toward a final vote.

At the May 24 special meeting, the board voted 3-2 to set a hearing for July 19, where the board will vote on a proposed overhaul to their anti-discrimination policy, which would add protections for LGBT students and staff.

Board members John Craig and Karen Henderson were the dissenting votes.

Scott Wall-DeSousa, a key advocate for the protections and whose husband teaches in the district, says the goal is to protect Brevard Schools by getting them up to the standards of Neola, a company that recommends best

practices in school policy. For schools in compliance, Neola provides a warranty against lawsuits should they be sued for following those best practices.

“Unfortunately, Brevard County Schools at this point is not upto-date, and it has not been since 2005,” Wall-DeSousa says, adding that the district bylaws state the policies have to be addressed every two years.

During the meeting, Dean Paterakis, who is running for a spot on the Brevard County School Board, approached the podium for his comment period and began talking about a teacher allegedly showing a photo of his penis to students. School Board chairman Andy Ziegler warned Paterakis to stop and that his comments were “not appropriate.” Paterakis refused to leave the podium, and when security officers approached him, he sat down on the floor.

Eventually, officers carried him out

of the room. Brevard County police charged Paterakis with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without violence, and he was released from county jail on $750 bond.

Wall-DeSousa says a number of the people present who were part of the Liberty Counsel group expressed disappointment that Ziegler said the evening’s discussion would not cover who can use school restrooms and locker rooms. That topic has been hotly debated on a national scale, with states and municipalities approving rules about restroom use. President Obama has issued a directive that public schools should allow transgender students to use facilities aligning with the gender with which they identify.

“The Liberty Counsel came in full force, [the meeting] went totally insane,” Wall-DeSousa says.

“You could hear a resounding chanting and cheers every time somebody got up to speak with a bible in their hand.”

Despite the pushback, he says staff is reviewing some wording in the proposal, answering questions from board members and the proposal is on track for a final

he Metropolitan Business Association is restructuring, investing in a full time executive director to lead the LGBT chamber of commerce’s continued growth.

Nayte Carrick, who has served as part-time executive director for about 18 months, says nothing is finalized yet, but he’s “in the final steps of pursuing new opportunities.”

Carrick says he’ll continue to consult and volunteer for the MBA, but he needs to go back to working full time.

Lu Mueller-Kaul, MBA president, says they’re already advertising for a new executive director. The position will begin as a part-time job that pays about $30,000 a year with a plan to build out to a full-time position with a salary “as high as $75,000, if we have enough coming in.”

A successful candidate will have experience in grant writing, volunteer coordination and event management.

“When you hire an executive director, you fundraise for about one-third of the salary needed per year, and then it’s the job of the executive director to mobilize the rest,” Mueller-Kaul says. “That’s why we need a good grant writer.

There are a bunch of grants for chambers lying around that we’ve never applied for, because we’ve never had the time.”

She says one of Carrick’s accomplishments is separating the jobs of board president and executive director into two separate roles.

“The organization has always needed an executive director,” Mueller-Kaul says. “Whenever the MBA had problems, it was because the president had to fulfill both roles of being president of a working board and trying to encourage and supervise a lot of different personalities and fulfill the role of an executive director to oversee the standard operating procedures, invoicing, memberships.

That always led to the president of the MBA having an unpaid full-time job, which of course, always led to burnout. “ She says the goal is to hire the MBA’s new executive director in September.

The GLBT Center is looking for a new leader Jamie Hyman

A

fter a little more than a year and a half as executive director, Terry DeCarlo is resigning.

DeCarlo migrated to Orlando from South Florida, where he was Director of Marketing, Public Relations and Events at Broward House for eight years. He was hired to head The Center in October of 2014. Once his resignation becomes effective June

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central florida news

disney coMps LGBt youth for GAy dAy At MAGic kinGdoM

| uu | LgBt Center looking for leader from pg.13 24, DeCarlo will return to South Florida for his new role as regional director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Until then, DeCarlo says he’ll assist in the search for a new executive director.

“I even put off starting my new role for a month so that I may help and make sure the transition is as smooth as possible,” he says. “I would never leave The Center in a lurch.”

DeCarlo says they’re hoping to hire quickly enough to bypass the need for an interim executive director.

“Hopefully someone will be hired that I can work with, so that everything will transfer over completely without a need for an interim,” he says.

During his tenure, DeCarlo oversaw the ongoing renovation of The Center’s headquarters downtown – a project he reports is about 65 percent completed – and increased health services provided by The Center, with STD testing and the addition of an Early HIV Intervention Specialist to the staff.

The Center’s Board of Directors has already begun vetting new candidates for the role.

Jamie Hyman

A

gaggle of red shirt-wearing LGBT youth will converge upon the Magic Kingdom June 4, thanks to a donation of comped tickets from Disney to the Zebra Coalition.

According to Zebra executive director Heather Wilkie, 60 people are going: 45 youths and 15 chaperones.

“We think [the outing is] a really important thing for youth to be able to raise awareness and participate in a Pride event, promoting it in a very healthy way on the youth level,” Wilkie says. “A lot of the events at Gay Days... may be more focused on adults, and I think that having that youth component is great because it does separate us, but at the same time, they’re able to experience Pride with adults.”

Disney says they’re happy for the second year in a row to provide tickets to the organization’s youth to visit Magic Kingdom Theme Park for a family-friendly experience.

“We’re also going to be wearing red shirts that have Zebra Coalition branding on them, to support the Pride day, because everyone wears red at Disney on Gay Days,” Wilkie adds.

She says Mears Transportation is donating “a charter bus, pick up and drop off to and from Zebra Coalition to Magic Kingdom on that day.”

Zebra and Disney have a standing relationship. Zebra receives a $10,000 grant from Disney each year to support art and theatre programming that allows LGBT youth to express themselves and develop leadership skills.

| uu | heated hearing from pg.13

vote July 17.

“We’re going to make sure that all of the LGBT community and the allies we have in this community, which is an immense amount, all of these people are going to be there [July 17] and we are going to make a very large presence known,” he says. “Unfortunately, so will the opposition. But I am OK with that; we all are OK with that. We know what we got ourselves into.”

The changes have been in the works since late 2015 and almost seemed to be a lost cause in March 2016, when Liberty Counsel speakers flooded meeting and the board voted to move the issue to a workshop. Since then, LGBT advocates have been able to get the anti-discrimination updates back before the school board and on track for a vote.

Visit WatermarkOnline. com to see a video of Paterakis’ removal from the meeting.

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Sweet 16 Parties Quincenera Bar/Bat Mitzvahs Corporate Meetings

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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Work with an agent the community trusts.

ROUGH N READY FOR GAY DAYS!

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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tampa bay news

sArAsotA county stiLL not ALLowinG BAthrooM equALity for trAnsGender students Anna Johnson

T

he Sarasota County School District, after four months of community upheaval over the issue, still has no official policy that protects the rights of transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identities.

In January, Pine View Charter School created a policy that gave transgender students the right to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. This change came about after Nate Quinn, a transgender senior at Pineview, organized a call-in day for allies to encourage the Pine View administration to adopt an inclusive stance. Since then, the Sarasota County School Board has heard from community members on both sides of this issue through their participation in protests, emails, phone calls and public board meetings.

In the months since Pine View’s initial action, the school board has yet to issue any official directive in relation to transgender bathroom equality, and local groups have been voicing their dissatisfaction.

The American Civil Liberties Union met with Quinn earlier in the year and offered him legal assistance if he decided to file a lawsuit against the Sarasota County School Board.

“We’ve offered to represent Nate if he ever felt as though he was being deprived of his federal rights,” Michael Barfield, the Vice President of the ACLU’s Florida chapter, says.

At the moment though, there is no pending lawsuit on Quinn’s behalf against the school board .

ANSWER Suncoast, a coalition of anti-war and civil rights organizations that has supported Quinn since the original conflict at Pine View, hosted a call-in day on May 25. The event instructed participants to call board members and “let them know that the time has come to listen to students and the community and comply with federal guidelines,” according to the Facebook event page.

Bryan Ellis of ANSWER Suncoast calls the board’s lack of thorough response “astonishing.”

“They’re still trying to dismiss the issue,” Ellis says.

“They’re all so disconnected from the community and don’t see just how important this is.”

As of right now, Sarasota County School Board Chair Shirley Brown has informally said that the county will work on having trainings on transgender rights for its teachers.

Ellis believes that this is just an effort at appeasement for a progressive community in revolt. “[Brown] hasn’t laid out specific protocol on how these trainings would work,” Ellis says. “She’s also said at a different time that the community isn’t ready for such a drastic shift.”

The board hasn’t given any clear instructions on what

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mErcEdEs’ ruLE:

mercedes Successful was a popular performer in her hometown of Haines City.

Another trans murder

Local transgender performer’s body found in Haines City Jeremy Williams

T

he body of Mercedes Successful, a transgender woman, was found shot to death May 15 in the back parking lot of a Big Lots in Haines City.

Successful, who is identified by her birth name and male pronouns in several local media reports and police statements, was 32 years old. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.

The investigation is ongoing and leads are being looked into and followed, according to a statement from the Haines City Police Department.

Successful was a native of Kingston, Jamaica, and a well-known entertainer in Haines City’s LGBT community.

Successful is the 12th transgender women to be murdered in the U.S. since January 2016 and the second murdered in the Tampa Bay area.

The body of India Clarke was found in a community center playground in Tampa July 2015.

“This is a thing we need to be able to move past but it’s only getting worse,” says Lucas Wehle, the Trans and Youth Coordinator for Metro Wellness. “We are dehumanized very

watermark Your LGBT life.

often, and that’s why we are viewed as disposable by so many. That’s honestly how it feels when my family is being murdered and not being taken care of in many spaces.”

Wehle says the best way to stop trans violence is to get education on transgender issues out into the communities and to create environments where trans people feel safe and comfortable coming out.

“At the end of the day all we are wanting to do is live our lives authentically as you are so we shouldn’t be seen as any lesser than,” Wehle says.

A tribute is planned for Successful at Polk Pride, which is being held in Lakeland June 18.

“We are saddened by this tragedy in our own community,” says Scott Guria, co-chair of Polk Pride. “A moment of silence will be declared from the stage to honor Mercedes and all the members of the LGBT community that have experienced violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Anyone with information regarding the death of Mercedes Successful is asked to contact the Haines City Police Department.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

poLk county is GettinG reAdy to Let their pride fLAG fLy for the second yeAr Jeremy Williams

G

ather the family together, because Polk Pride is coming back.

Polk County, nestled between two metropolitan areas with huge Pride celebrations of their own, has always been viewed as more conservative than its surrounding locations. So, it came as a surprise to some when the Lakeland Youth Alliance and PFLAG of Polk County came together in 2015 to throw a Pride celebration in Lakeland’s Munn Park.

“We were unsure of the way that we would be received,” says Scott Guria, co-chair of Polk Pride. “But we were welcomed by the city government and so many of our residents, and were overwhelmed by the turnout for all of the events that we had.

We had an estimated 4,000 participants and we look to grow even bigger this year.”

The event was met with nothing but a positive response from the community, which led the groups to bring it back for 2016.

“The LGBTA people that are from Polk County and surrounding areas were surprised and excited

Continued on pg. 18 | uu |

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

17

tampa bay news | uu | Sarasota County from pg.16 their next steps on this issue will be.

ANSWER Suncoast has a list of demands for the board on behalf of Quinn. The campaign is called #NatesList, and is composed of three main facets: getting the school board to amend its policy against discrimination to include protection based on gender identity and gender expression, adopt district-wide policy and guidelines reflective of those in the Broward County Public Schools and create a collaborative initiative by members of the school district and organizations such as ALSO Youth and Equality Florida.

The hashtag formed from the desire to continue Quinn’s work even in his absence.

“We are really doing our best to make sure that the campaign can last even after Nate and the other students fighting equality have graduated and gone off to college,” Ellis says.

ANSWER Suncoast hopes to arrange a public forum soon with other LGBT-focused organizations, such as ALSO Youth and Equality Florida to educate on the issue before the new school year starts.

Quinn’s work in inspiring this movement has yet to come to fruition in Sarasota County as a whole, and will not until the school board makes a ruling on the topic.

| uu | Polk County Pride from pg.16

to have an open public event that welcomed all people,” Guria says.

“I have even had straight parents that have reached out thanking us for bringing this celebration of diversity to this community, because they are trying to raise children that accept and embrace people from all walks of life.”

The city commissioners from Polk County’s two largest cities, Lakeland and Winter Haven, will be making proclamations for Pride week this year. The event has also been welcomed by the largely Christian community of Polk County. Lakeland alone has more than 300 churches.

“We have several LGBT-affirming churches in the area that will be vendors at the Pride festival and are organizing an interfaith worship service,” Guria says.

While Pride in the Park, the main Polk Pride festival, will take place June 18, again in Lakeland’s Munn Park, the celebration will actually spread across five days.

The Lakeland Youth Alliance starts off with a teen event for ages 13-20 at St. David’s Episcopal Church. Pride 4 Youth is a gathering of the young LGBT community to meet and mingle over food, music and fun.

The celebration continues at St. David’s Episcopal Church June 16 with Pride in Faith, a nondenominational service of worship.

Lakeland’s Lake Mirror Theater will feature Jade Esteban Estrada in ICONS: The Gay and Lesbian History of the World, Vol. 1 June 17.

“It is a hilarious performance, and I couldn’t think of a better way to start Pride weekend,” Guria says.

ICONS is a solo musical comedy created and performed

by Estrada. During the course of the show, Estrada portrays Sappho, Michelangelo, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Rivera and Ellen Degeneres in a showcase of LGBT history.

Pride in the Park is the main event for Polk Pride and will be bigger than last year.

“This year will see more vendors and there will be live music,” says Guria. “We will have local bands including Polk County native

Danny Pate, who was a contestant on American Idol, as well as Mike Monts De Oca and a performance by Kathryn Nevets with the cast of Club Main Street.”

The party continues after the festival at Club Main Street for Pride After Dark hosted by Nevets.

The celebration concludes with an LGBT speaker forum brunch at Frescos Underground June 19.

Guria recognizes that between Orlando’s Come Out with Pride and the gulf coast’s huge numbers at Tampa Pride and St. Pete Pride, the community of Polk County has lots of celebrations to pick from throughout the year, but nothing can compare to your community celebrating in your own backyard.

“Pride celebrations are an important part of being a visible part of a community. Having a pride celebration in your own community shows the value of diversity and creates a sense of belonging for every member in the community,” Guria says. “Lakeland has a warm, vibrant and growing downtown experience, and Polk Pride is an integral part of it.”

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fLoridA reActs to trAnsGender BAthrooM GuidAnce Nicole Dudenhoefer and Alex Storer

F

lorida activists, lawmakers, school board members and parents are in a frenzy as the transgender bathroom issue is deliberated in the state. Letters are being sent and legal actions are filing as Floridians are in a panic over where students spend their five-minute bathroom breaks.

On May 13, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education issued a joint letter to public school districts across the nation informing them that “when a school provides sex-segregated activities and facilities, transgender students must be allowed to participate in such activities and access such facilities consistent with their gender identity.”

While North Carolina has made national headlines regarding the guidance, Florida too has had its share of newsworthy events related to the issue.

In a May 15 letter, Florida Rep. Janet Adkins (R- Fernandina Beach), asked State Attorney General Pam Bondi to weigh in on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education’s position on public school bathroom policies.

“While we do not seek to discriminate against anyone in Florida, it should be clear that the role of the federal government is limited and it is up to the individual states and local school boards to decide whether to adopt laws or rules related to the use of locker rooms and bathrooms by individuals who identify themselves as transgender,” Adkins’ letter reads.

Adkins states the “significant guidance” issued at the federal level will create discrimination against those students with religious beliefs that conflict with the directives.

“The larger public need is to ensure that the schools have a framework that allows for the orderly management of the schools, classrooms and athletic facilities,” the letter reads.

Deputy Attorney General Kent Perez responded to Adkins on behalf of Bondi May 18.

“Thank you for your recent letter requesting assistance in interpreting the intent of the United States Department of Justice,”

Perez’s response says. “We do not issue legal opinions on Federal law.”

Bondi also received a letter from the ACLU of Florida on May 19 encouraging her, as well as Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Department of Education Commission Pam Stewart to follow the guidance established by the Departments of Justice and Education.

In a letter sent May 19, the ACLU urged the officials to follow the guidance not only because it is the law, but because “protecting transgender students is simply the right thing to do.”

A copy of the ACLU letter was sent to every school superintendent in the state and emphasizes that a safe, supportive school environment should be provided to all students.

In another course of legal action, a mother of four from Jacksonville is suing the Duval County Public School District for allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and changing facilities consistent with their gender identities.

Filed on May 17, the lawsuit comes on the heels of Duval County Public Schools’ decision to accept the Obama administration’s newly clarified policy concerning transgender students.

“The school district will continue to adhere to federal requirements per Title IX which includes complying with regulations related to gender definition, gender identities and use of school bathrooms,” says Nikolai Vitti,

The ACLU also filed a complaint May 12 with the U.S. Department of Education calling for investigation into a policy at Marion County schools that discriminates against transgender students.

According to the organization’s website, the complaint was filed after a transgender student was suspended for using a restroom consistent with his gender.

The incident came days after Marion County passed a resolution which requires transgender students to use restroom facilities consistent with the sex they are assigned at birth on April 26.

The NCLR is another group that is taking steps to encourage school board officials to protect transgender student’s bathroom rights. The group sent a legal memorandum May 19, on behalf of Equality Florida, warning the Clay County School Board it is against federal law to discriminate against transgender students and doing so could result in funding loss.

“The decision by the Clay County superintendent to rebuke the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice’s guidance is sending a clear message of discrimination to all Clay County students, parents and teachers,” says Gina Duncan, EQFL’s transgender inclusion director, on the organization›s website.

superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, in a media release.

Wryshona Isaac, whose children attend public schools in Duval County, is the plaintiff in the case.

Her lawsuit attacks the district’s “blind adoption” of the policy as “factually and legally baseless” and “as a blatant violation of the privacy rights of children … inconsistent with the provision of a safe, nurturing and supportive education environment for children during a critical juncture in their lives.”

In a public Facebook post on May 22, Isaac said, “I do not have anything against the LGBT community, however, I do stand by what I believe in and that is [that] bathrooms and locker rooms should remain separate as male and female and those lines should not be crossed.”

Although a representative of the school district refused to comment on the lawsuit, they did clarify that Duval County’s public schools were already in compliance with the federal government directive and that “gender identity” terminology had been added to the district’s equity policy in 2012.

The lawsuit, which was filed

by Jacksonville attorney Wesley White, has yet to receive a court date. White says he thinks the lawsuit has “excellent” chances of succeeding.

“Protecting transgender students is simply the right thing to do.” —AcLu

watermark Your LGBT life.

first trAnsGender deLeGAte eLected in fLoridA Nicole Dudenhoefer

J

AcKsONVILLE | Florida is making history with the state’s first transgender delegate.

Monica DePaul of Jacksonville was elected May 7 to the Democratic National Convention.

She’s a district-level delegate from Florida’s 4th Congressional District. mAKING chANGE: DePaul will be one of 30 monica DePaul, an adjunct delegates from the LGBT English professor at the University of North Florida, is community meeting in July at the convention in Philadelphia the first transgender delegate where the Democratic to be elected in the state. candidate for President Photo by cheLSea Whiteman of the United States will be nominated.

DePaul has pledged to Senator Bernie Sanders because of his stance on non-discrimination policies, environmental issues and healthcare.

DuPaul says she plans to use her expertise in rhetoric to change the conversation in the Democratic Party from “vote Democratic to stop Donald Trump” to focusing on real progressive policies.

Terry Fleming, president of the Florida LGBTA Democratic Caucus says DePaul’s election to a delegate position “shows that people care about folks that work hard to elect Democrats and don’t care so much about the issues people are trying to wedge over.”

GAy MArriAGe fiGht wiLL cost fLoridA Wire report

TALLAhAssEE, FLA. (AP) | Florida is going to pay at least $213,000 for its losing battle to keep intact a voter-approved ban on gay marriage. State officials have agreed to pay that much to the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida to cover attorney fees and other costs. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is also actively negotiating a settlement with another group of attorneys involved in the case.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ordered the state in April to pay the fees of attorneys who successfully sued the state.

Howard Simon, the executive director of the ACLU’s Florida affiliate, said his organization quickly agreed to an amount earlier this month so they can move on to other cases.

Whitney Ray, a spokesman for Bondi’s office, said that state officials agreed to pay the $213,000 because the “settlement amount was appropriate under the circumstances of this case.” Lawyers who filed federal lawsuits challenging gay marriage in other states wound up collecting more than the ACLU lawyers.

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

nation+world news

11 states suing federal government over mandated bathroom equality Wire Report

T

exas and 10 other states are suing the Obama administration over its directive to U.S. public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

The lawsuit announced May 26 includes Oklahoma, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, Arizona, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia. It asks a North Texas federal court to declare the directive unlawful in what ranks among the most coordinated and visible legal challenges by states over the socially divisive issue of bathroom rights for transgender persons.

The Obama administration has “conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic

privacy rights,” the lawsuit reads.

Many of the conservative states involved had previously vowed defiance, calling the guidance a threat to safety while being accused of discrimination by supporters of transgender rights. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has previously said “there is no room in our schools for discrimination.”

The White House had no comment on the lawsuit. The Justice Department said it would review the complaint and did not comment further.

Texas’ lieutenant governor has previously said the state is willing to forfeit $10 billion in federal education dollars rather than comply. The directive from the U.S. Justice and Education Departments represents an escalation in the fast-moving dispute over what is becoming the civil rights issue of the day.

Pressed about whether he knew of any instances in which a child’s safety had been threatened because of transgender bathroom rights, Republican Texas Attorney General

Ken Paxton said “there’s not a lot of research” during a news conference about the lawsuit. He said he his office has heard from concerned parents, but didn’t say how many, and said he did not meet with any parents of transgender students before drafting the lawsuit.

The question of whether federal civil rights law protects transgender people has not been definitively answered by the courts and may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. But schools that refuse to comply could be hit with civil rights lawsuits from the government and could face a cutoff of federal aid to education.

The guidance was issued after the Justice Department and North Carolina sued each other over a state law that requires transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law applies to schools and many other places.

Supporters say such measures are needed to protect women and children from sexual predators, while the Justice Department and others argue the threat is practically nonexistent and the law discriminatory.

issues and asked that all groups that have requested participation be allowed to attend.

“Given that transgender people are 49 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population, their exclusion from the high level meeting will only impede global progress in combatting the HIV/AIDS pandemic and achieving the goal of an AIDSfree generation,” the letter, dated May 13, stated.

According to the OIC letter to Lykketoft, the U.S. group now banned from the conference is Global Action for Trans Equality.

The European Union letter, signed

by Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida, expressed concern that the groups had been struck from the initial list of participants at the conference and asked for information about which countries objected and why.

“If you’re serious about getting to zero (AIDS cases), then it’s vital to include all communities,” Britain’s deputy U.N. ambassador Peter Wilson said. “It’s wrong to block access to the U.N. for transgender organizations and gay organizations that have every right to participate in this important

discussion.”

Canada’s Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative Michael Grant said his country also sent a letter expressing concern that members could remove civil society groups from a conference without providing any justification.

“It’s quite concerning, especially on an issue like HIV/AIDS,” Grant said.

Australia’s U.N. ambassador also wrote a letter of protest.

When Lykketoft negotiated arrangements late last year for the AIDS conference, to be held at U.N. headquarters on June 8-9, some members insisted on being able to object to an NGO’s participation without any public explanation.

Over 400 NGOs wanted to participate in the meeting and Lykketoft’s office said there were objections to 39, which the assembly president narrowed down to 22.

Lykketoft responded to the protests in letters saying that he had done everything in his power to ensure the broadest participation but he was limited by his mandate which did not allow him to provide the names of the objectors.

51 Muslim Nations block LGBT groups from U.N. AIDS conference Wire Report

M

ajor Western nations are protesting a move to block gay and transgender groups from attending a high-level United Nations conference on AIDS. A letter from Egypt on behalf of 51 countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation asked that 11 organizations not be allowed to attend the conference next month. The letter, dated April 26 and obtained May 18 by The Associated Press, gives no reason for the objections.

The non-governmental organizations the 57-member OIC requested to be banned were from Egypt, Estonia, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru, Thailand, Ukraine, Africa and the United States. All focus on gay, lesbian or transgender rights.

In a letter to General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the groups that were singled out appeared to have been chosen for their involvement with gay and transgender

watermark Your LGBT life.

in other news Philadelphia LGBT officers questioned as Pride grand marshals Some are questioning the decision to have a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender police officers serve as grand marshals of Philadelphia’s LGBT Pride parade. Philly Pride has asked the Greater Philadelphia Gay Officer Action League to be grand marshals at the June 12 parade. The pride group last year had LGBT city workers serve as grand marshals.

But the station says a petition has been started against allowing the police group to serve in that capacity in this year’s parade. The parade grew out of riots against police, which is why some in the LGBT community are opposing the move. They believe marching with officers is OK, but honoring them is not. The transgender president of the police group says they’re honored to be involved.

San Diego Padres receive criticism from Gay Men’s Choir The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus is criticizing the San Diego Padres for mishandling the group’s scheduled performance of the national anthem. The chorus said on its Facebook page that 100 of its members gathered to perform the song before the game May 21 against the Los Angeles Dodgers when the Padres instead played the recorded voice of a woman singing the anthem. Their statement said no attempt was made to stop the recording and that the group received “homophobic taunts” while being escorted off the field. Chorus members called for the Padres and Major League Baseball to investigate whether anyone intentionally played a woman’s voice “with the purpose of denigrating and/or ridiculing gay men.” The Padres issued a statement on the night of May 21 saying a mistake was made that prevented the chorus from performing and that “we apologize to anyone in the ballpark who this may have offended.” The Padres said they’d reached out to the chorus “to express our deep regret for the error.”

Church of Scotland allows same-sex marriage for clergy The Church of Scotland has voted to let its ministers enter same-sex marriages – though saying it “maintains its traditional view of marriage between a man and woman.” At its general assembly, meeting in Edinburgh, voted May 21 to allow congregations to “opt out” from traditional teaching if they wish to appoint a minister or a deacon in a same-sex marriage. However, Church of Scotland clergy will not be allowed to conduct same-sex weddings. A debate on whether to sanction gay marriages within the church won’t be held until the church’s Theological Forum presents a report next year. Gay marriage has been a divisive issue for religious groups around the world. Scotland’s official church is a Presbyterian denomination with about 400,000 members.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

and Vegeterian Cuisine Greek, Mediterranean, viewpoint

Jason Leclerc

The other side

of life I’ll Bet You Think This Essay’s About You

G

rowing up, my parents

had an extensive record collection.

Yes, albums: the big kind with long-feather-haired thin artist’s portraits fronting cardboard covers and cursive writing heralding singers’ names.

Stacked up in a corner next to the giant speakers that pretended status in the mid-’80s, 1970s music stars stared at us as we ate microwaved TV dinners from the breakfast bar of our 1960s-built splitplan ranch.

As far back as I remember, we never listened to a single one of those albums. Nonetheless, they litter my memories of childhood. One album stands out more than any other, mostly because the over-skinny, longhaired, jowly face of Carly Simon staring back at me from beneath those jumbo-sized speakers looked a lot like my mother.

It wasn’t until I was much older that I actually put together a faceless oldie that I heard on the radio with that face. Like that stack of albums, there are nearly as many people on my Facebook feed that I don’t know as those I do.

1.) Besties. Those people that I know and love. We like each other’s stuff and even comment on each others’ pages. We may not see each other in person very often, but when we do, it’s as if we haven’t missed a beat.

Many of them already know the story about my fascination with Carly Simon. They have similar stories

about ‘70s pop stars like the Carpenters and the Gibbs and Elvis, depending upon whether they were first, middle, last, or only children.

2.) Childhood buddies, favorite teachers, boyfriends (ex and current, every single one), ex-girlfriends, most family members, church friends, and a few randomly spectacular people I’ve been lucky enough to meet along the way comprise this group.

I’m friends with their parents and their siblings and their current and past lovers and their children.

I love sharing life with them and being shared with.

Their accomplishments buoy my heart. Their despairs break it. I like their kitten pics, absurd philosophical musings, and Trump rants.

We argue politics and still love each other despite our differences. I’ve shared their new and broken relationships with them. They know my deepest secrets and keep them, except perhaps among each other when appropriate.

They read my poetry and buy my books. I like their DJ pages (good Jesus, how many DJs and drag queens do I know?), and their business pages. I’ve watched their children grow up and go off to college. I’ve watched some of their children’s children do the same. I’ve watched some of them die.

3.) Hook-ups. As it turns out, even if I “met” a guy or girl only once or (if they were lucky) twice, many have found their way into my FB world. I’m not going to say that this is a huge number (I stopped counting in the early aughts in the triple digits), but others might. Some famous, some rich, some hard-working, some idealistic, some disappointingly lazy or frustratingly angry. I’ve watched them go back to school, get new jobs, move far away. I’ve watched them fall in and out of love. I’ve watched them get sober and off drugs. I’ve watched sadly as some failed quite publicly. Some, it turns out, unexpectedly crossed over to the “Bestie” category.

They’ve seen me naked (or at least partly so) after all.

And I them. That breaks down a lot of barriers and smooths over a lot of discomfort.

We may not share the same memories about music, or about Carly Simon, but we appreciate current

and cocktail wieners for a reason, but they got drunk one night and recognized my name on some friend’s list and sent me an invite.

They’re lots of work. They pop in and out of my feed with offensive non-sequiturs, sometimes spouting ignorant

good ol’ days of the Jim Crow South. They listen to the radio or old CDs in the same beat up hoopty they parked under the pier while skipping school in 1991.

While I love Facebook for the way it’s shrunk the world, it’s also made the navigation

pop together – Taylor Swift and Adele and Nick Jonas – the kind of stuff we stream on iTunes while scrolling through Facebook.

I keep them around with the hope that they’ll cross over, that one day we may reconnect, fully-clothed, and become friends.

4.) Assholes. I wasn’t friends with them in high school, or at the clubs (in the day), or in college, or at the gym, or at that stupid party where we talked for a couple minutes over cheap vodka

anti-gay, anti-Christian, anti-American, or anti-other blathering. ANTI-anything is litter on “my” Facebook.

Other times, it’s woe-is-me, the world-is-awful-and-it’sall-somebody-else’s-fault lamentations. They comment on my posts with statements that make no sense or worse yet re-post others’ drivel that makes no sense.

For some reason, whenever they mention music, it’s like THE WORST! Obscure hair bands or terrible fiddle country about the

of personal relationships different. For better or worse, it’s a source of idea-sharing and angst, a venue for laughter and tears, a source for news and entertainment.

Most of all, it is a mirror – maybe a prism – through which we can see ourselves and others and ourselves in others. It’s like a soundtrack or an LP that we produce and consume. It is banality.

It is vanity: “With one eye in the mirror as we watch ourselves gavotte.”

I love sharing life with them and being shared with. Their accomplishments buoy my heart. Their despairs break it.

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

viewpoint

steve Yacovelli

homo e r eC tus:

the evoLution of us

Purple Reign: The Top 5 Things I’ve Learned from Prince

I

hAVE TO AdmIT sOmEThING: I didn’t think of myself as the biggest Prince fan.

Sure, I liked a lot of the songs by Prince Rogers Nelson. “Little Red Corvette” was a snappy tune, I wondered what the future would be like while jammin’ to “1999,” and yes, my fraternity brothers and I danced along to “Batdance” back in the day.

But as I reflect on the legacy that Prince left and read some of the articles and blogs that appeared after his death, I realized that this artist impacted my life in ways I didn’t expect. Here are the top five things The-Artist-Formerly-Known-and-Then-Re-known-asPrince taught me about life.

Early Prince songs helped define my developmental years, and one memory in particular is forever locked with “Purple Rain.” I recall one summer day when that video was on high rotation on MTV. I was hanging out with my friend, and he and I would watch MTV in his basement because it was too hot out and neither one of our houses had air conditioning. It was in the cool basement when youthful curiosity and experimentation happened, and it was to the tune of “Purple Rain” that we, ahem, got to know one another a little bit better.

“I never wanted to be your weekend lover/I only wanted to be some kind of friend.” my TAKEAwAy: Hearing Purple Rain was one of those times when I realized that a specific moment in my life will forever be tied to a song, and whenever I hear it I’m instantly transported back to that cool basement and that nervous, anxious, excited feeling of

discovery and awakening.

In 1993 Prince changed his name to a symbol.

At first I thought he was doing it for a promotional gimmick or just to be “artsy.”

But upon learning about the reason why – as a snub to his at-the-time record label and frustrated over their lack of releasing his vast library of material – I realized it was a defiant move of protest and independence.

This symbol – later dubbed “The Love Symbol” – was a combination of male and female. That seemed fitting for someone who embraced androgyny, flamboyance, and his duality as an artist. He defied labels, much like he defied a traditional name. my TAKEAwAy: Don’t let others define you. When in doubt, make your own definition of who you are and what you stand for (even if it’s a symbol no one can pronounce). Be original, and stick to your convictions even when challenged.

“Manic Monday,” “Sugar Walls,” “Stand Back”: These were a few of the songs penned by Prince yet made famous by others. But it was when I realized Prince wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U” that it redefined how I looked at him as an artist.

I knew he was a singer/ songwriter, but it wasn’t until years later that I understood his impact on not just the lyrics and music for others, but his whole approach to being a “musical magpie” and taking pieces of many genres and creating an original sound that influenced countless musicians and helped give them a voice. my TAKEAwAy: Don’t assume because you know what someone can or cannot do that that’s the breadth of their strength and talent.

You don’t always know the support or tools someone gives others to make them successful. Try not only to make your own success, but find ways to support the success of others.

I didn’t realize until after his death what a generous, compassionate giver Prince was.

But what’s most striking is that Prince didn’t focus on causes that supported one political ideology or another.

Van Jones, who worked closely with Prince on his green-job-creating initiative

Prince and his amazing story is the one that most astonishes me: this incredible genius DIDN’T HAVE A WILL. WTF? I’ve attended way too many memorial services for members of our community recently, and many of them it turns out didn’t have a will. I’m only 45, and I’m

need to know. Don’t let the state or family members you don’t want to have your legacy have it. And most importantly, define what you want done with your remains, and the memorial/ funeral arrangements as well. Don’t leave it to others to guess what you’d want: write it down and get

“Green for All,” was quoted in the April 25, 2016, edition of Rolling Stone saying, “He wasn’t red, and he wasn’t blue, he was purple. … His cause [was] humanity.” my TAKEAwAy: Give quietly, and give what you can. Whether it be money or time or knowledge or all the above, help others who aren’t as fortunate as you.

The most pragmatic lesson I’ve learned from

seeing peers and those in both the generations above and below me pass away, and many without proper preparations. my TAKEAwAy: Write a will. It doesn’t matter how much or how little you have to pass on, define what you want done, talk about it with your family (the kind you were born with or the kind you’ve cultivated over time), and share it with those who

it notarized.

Hopefully, you’ve learned a few things from my Princely education.

Regardless, be sure to look at those around you for additional nuggets of wisdom. We all have a little Prince (or princess) in each of us, if we look hard enough.

Don’t assume because you know what someone can or cannot do that that’s the breadth of their strength and talent.

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talking points I get messages from kids on the daily saying how relatable [The Real O’Neals] is for them and the older generations of gay people saying they wished they had something like this on TV when they were younger.

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idina menzel responds to fan petition to give fRoZen’s Queen a girlfriend

T

witter is not going to let it go. When a Disney fan tweeted to the House of Mouse’s official Twitter page asking for them to give Elsa, the lead character in the Disney animated film Frozen, a female love interest in the upcoming sequel, it stirred social media up, causing the original message to be re-tweeted more than 2,200 times. That sent the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend to Twitter’s trending list. Now the voice of the ice queen herself Idina Menzel is speaking out. Talking with Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at the Billboard Music Awards May 22, Menzel said, “I think it’s great that she’s stirring it up; Disney’s just got to contend with that.” Menzel, who is also working on a new album of original music, said that she will be back to voice Elsa in Frozen 2 “no matter what.” Frozen 2 is currently in production.

whoopi goldberg bringing transgender model series to oxygen network

w

hoopi Goldberg will be an executive producer on the Oxygen Network’s new docu-series Strut. Strut will follow a set of transgender models as they attempt to become household names in the world of fashion. Slay Model Management, the world’s first exclusively transgender modeling agency, will also be involved in the show. Strut follows in the steps of other successful transgender docu-series currently on cable such as I Am Cait, I Am Jazz and Becoming Us. This is the second LGBT-themed series Goldberg signed onto in the last month. ABC announced a few weeks ago that Goldberg, along with Rosie O’Donnell, would be joining the cast of their gay rights miniseries When We Rise. Both shows premiere later this year.

watermark Your LGBT life.

kevin spaCey moCks donald trump at aids fundraiser

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evin Spacey bashed Donald Trump during an AIDS fundraiser, saying he would enjoy visiting a place with “so many casinos to bankrupt.” Spacey served as master of ceremonies at May 19’s annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS fundraiser, held during the nearby Cannes International Film Festival. Besides poking fun at GOP presidential candidate and businessman Trump over his Atlantic City, N.J., casino history, Spacey did impressions of former President Bill Clinton and the late actor Jack Lemmon. The 1970s-disco-themed dinner, complete with glitter balls, featured a Sister Sledge performance of “We Are Family,” a song from the Village People and Katy Perry’s disco rendition of her biggest hits as the finale.

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demi lovato shows transgender solidarity at billboard musiC awards

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outure with a cause! Demi Lovato’s shirt at the Billboard Music Awards was as a show of support for the transgender community. The shirt featured the silhouette of a person as on a bathroom sign, but with one half of the person styled as a male and the other half styled as a female with a skirt. The Billboard Music Awards aired on ABC May 22. In the past, the “Heart Attack” singer has tweeted in support of transgender youth. She cancelled both North Carolina stops on her and Nick Jonas’ “Honda Civic Tour: Future Now” in protest of HB2, the state’s infamous “bathroom law,” that requires transgender people to use public restrooms that match their gender at birth, regardless of how they identify.

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arts and entertainment

FEEL THE

BERN(hard) sandra bernhard brings her politics,

music and inimitable attitude to Orlando

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| uu | Sandra Bernhard from pg.33

was launched into the celebrity atmosphere of cheek kisses on red carpets and Madonna, with whom she was rumored to be canoodling in the wayback days. She made headlines on Roseanne as a lesbian character, then turned around and stripped everything off for Playboy.

She meant to do that. She lives as an anachronism.

These days, Bernhard is in “Sandyland” as a host on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy (a product of Bravo chat-master Andy Cohen), interviewing movers, shakers and staring-at-the-camera-types about current events. We caught up with her in advance of her June 4 show at Parliament House for Gay Day Weekend, and she was at the ready with the currents of the events. And she’s still getting better.

Watermark: Let’s talk about the Donald Trump Situation.

I know that you are engaged politically; you’ve always been. How do you feel about how this narrative has played out, especially with the Republican Party? And we can get to Hillary and Bernie later.

It seems so apocalyptic with Trump at the helm right now.

Sandra Bernhard: I think that the Republican Party has been, you know and I am not the first to say this, I have seen op-eds about it ad nauseam, but it certainly makes sense that the Republican party has been assembling this monster for a very long time with all of their covert racism and sexism and homophobia.

And the list goes on and on with the things they want to control and help destroy. You know, rights of women, reproductive rights, the environment and healthcare and poverty and education and healthy eating initiatives. You know, the list is a thousand miles long. They got their monster, but their monster is also unpredictable, and they don’t know what he really is about. So it’s sort of the ultimate endgame for them.

I wonder if it’s showing all of our scars since the Reagan years. The huge fight to dismantle public education, to dismantle public anything: public jobs, state jobs. And I’m not here to get super political with you, but to me it’s a strange conundrum.

Yeah, it is and it isn’t. I think in a certain way it has to happen. It’s like a boil that keeps festering and

I think that the Republican Party has been, you know and I am not the first to say this, I have seen op-eds about it ad nauseam, but it certainly makes sense that the Republican party has been assembling this monster for a very long time with all of their covert racism and sexism and homophobia.

— Sandra Bernhard

suddenly it’s been popped and it’s revealed the superficiality of it all.

And you know on the Democratic side, I think it’s obviously going to be Hilary Clinton. I think she is one of the most brilliant women in the world. She sits in the trenches, she’s been through a lot, she’s made some missteps, but I think that she is a formidable opponent, and somebody who will step up to the plate and will be able to handle herself in debates and public discourse when it comes to Trump. I mean, I’m not going to spend too much time fretting about it. I think that the outcome will be positive. I think the bigger issue is whether we can reinstate a Democratic Congress and Senate so that she has the support to get some stuff going here that the Obama’s had to pull teeth to accomplish.

We’re a gay publication, obviously, and you’re coming

here for Gay Days, but there’s a sort of “gays for Trump” entitlement ruse going on right now that I am not comfortable around. I wonder what your thoughts are on that, when people vote against their own rights?

I don’t know; I’m not sure what it all means. I just think in the long run, and when it comes to the general election, he’s going to see how people really feel about him.

I think people who would have voted for Ted Cruz will not vote for Donald Trump.

Let’s talk about bathrooms and the lying liars who use them. North Carolina obviously raised the gauntlet on peek-a-boo sex-shooting in the stalls by men who should know better. Also, the state effectively presented

watermark Your LGBT life.

an argument that dismissed transgender individuals outright in retaliation for a municipality seeking to make things more respectful.

I think that we have had a president that is about gay issues. He has everybody’s human rights at his fingertips and he cares very much about that. It’s all positive. I think things will shift; it’s outrageous. It really shows you how divisive the Republican Party is. The good news is it’s all going to get cleaned up soon.

Speaking of cleaning up, you had Rachel Maddow on your show recently. Do you feel that she has a fair sense of what’s going on in this country? Everyone is in this really polarized position over Bernie and Hillary, Hillary and Trump, bathrooms and safety. I feel like when Maddow

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comes in and says something, she’s always measured about what she’s saying.

Well, because she knows what she is talking about more than anybody I know. She is so well informed that it makes anything that I have to say inconsequential. And that’s why we turn to people like that so that we can cut through the gristle of the political conversation and get down to the meat of it all.

You do a good job of mixing politics and entertainment on your Sirius XM Show. Is there a trick to the balance?

How do you schedule that?

I don’t really. Everything that I do on my show is very improvisational.

If something happens that catches my eye and I want to talk about it, I can talk about it. So I like to mix it up. I don’t like to drive people crazy with things they have been hearing day and night either, so I try to stay away from the obvious political stuff and talk about things that are fun and interesting and different and whimsical, and then I throw the political stuff in. I like to try to make it as irreverent and fun as possible.

Do you have a close relationship with Bravo legend Andy Cohen?

Oh, yes.

Is he a fun person to be around?

Oh yeah, he’s the reason I am on his channel. He wanted an anchor, a person who’s willing to do the show daily and do something at the level he knew that I would do. Yeah, he has my confidence and my support and I have his confidence and his support.

He’s definitely a good friend.

Let’s talk about your celebrity status and where it comes from. Going back to Kings of Comedy or Roseanne or Without You I’m Nothing or Madonna. Do you feel there has been an arc? Do you feel there has been a peak?

No, my career keeps evolving. You know I think you have different peaks throughout your career, and I am sort of approaching another one right now, which is very exciting. I think when you evolve as a person in so many different directions it’s exciting when you get to reflect that in your work. That’s what the show is about, my radio show. I am writing and other things are happen and I can see the energy is shifting again, in terms of people remembering and

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| uu | Sandra Bernhard from pg.35

understanding and wanting to work with me again. It’s a really fun time.

who do you Consider your peers? speCifiCally, who do you Consider your ComediC peers?

I think there are so many people. There are those people that I started out with

so, you’re Coming here for gay days. what are your feelings about florida in general? we are the butt of every joke, obviously. do you have any sense of what florida is about? you probably do.

Well, I have spent enough time in different parts of Florida for years and years and years. It’s a beautiful state; it’s a great place to come and chill. In terms of the general population

“I think you have different peaks throughout your career, and I am sort of approaching another one right now.” —sANdrA BErNhArd and there are new people.

Everyone is influenced by the previous generations and I see parts of myself in younger women who are out there doing their thing. Which is great, because I think that is why Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler were my influences and heroes. You borrow from people and you make it your own. you were effeCtively Queer before it was “Cool” to be Queer, but was it a shoCking thing TO DO THE RoSeanne role as a bisexual?

No, because we weren’t out to do something superficial.

It was sort of fun and crazy to take that character in that direction because she started out being straight and then she decided that being married to Tom Arnold was too repulsive so she was going to end up with a woman and so that was how it unfolded. It wasn’t like, so now let’s beat people over the gay with the character. And that’s why it was so successful and had an impact because it wasn’t something contrived. and you also had the morgan fairChild moment that was Censored.

Yeah, exactly.

and who would deny a morgan fairChild moment?

Nobody would.

it’s very eclectic. From a huge Jewish population to Hispanic to sort of, you know, the right-wing key types and backpack water types. There are all kinds of people there, you know, it’s a microcosm of America, of who we are. Actually, I don’t think about it.

nobody here does either.

I don’t think anybody does anywhere. You are where you are: sometimes by choice, sometimes just by chance. You got to keep making it all work.

reCently, you made some publiC noise about the flint, miChigan, water Crisis. that’s where you’re from, so it must be important to you.

I think it’s a part of the problem of cynical politicians to say they love this country and they want to make it great again and yet, when it calls for something [like repairing] the infrastructure to keep people healthy, they don’t know about it. So, I think those are some of the things that need to get fixed and some of the issues that need highlighting. I am sorry that people suffered. This had to be the sort of turning point. They need change there and they need change everywhere. We pay taxes.

It’s part of what we are owed in this country. It’s basic rights and, you know, health.

do you think, and i am not asking this as sort of a leading Question, god forbid, that’s sort of a symptom of where the privatization of everything is going: broken sChools, broken pipes, broken prisons, broken bridges?

Right, that’s why I am hoping when Hilary Clinton wins, she can take the next step and start actually doing something about it. That’s what she says she wants to do, and I take her at her word. I hope that there is a big change in how this country is run and where we spend our money. tell me a little bit about what people Can expeCt from your show here when you are here in june.

You know, all my shows are very eclectic, ranging from personal, anecdotal stories to musical pieces and improvisation all woven in with the band and my song range from rock to Jazz, and some are my original songs and some are covers.

Everything is interwoven, so everything becomes kind of this wonderful evening of Sandy: All elements on point. “oh, sandy” then. so it’s slightly musiCal, but it’s kind of this new Cabaret thing.

Sing with the Bach Festival Choir

Yes, exactly.

QuiCk! what’s the most defining moment from your illustrious Career?

FINEST

Well, I think it’s good to look forward. Of course everybody can look and Google and know what I’ve done and know what I’m doing. But on a creative basis, I feel like I am in the trenches and continuing to do what I love and I’m very lucky that I get to do that.

-Terry Teachout Wall Street Journal Arts Critic

More inforMAtion

Who: Sandra Bernhard (with Deborah Cox) When: June 4 Where: Parliament House TiCkeTS: phousegaydays. eventbrite.com

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2016-17 Season

AUDITIONING NOW

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music

Dixie chick

Watermark: I love the irony of you, mega LGBT activist, taking on a genre that’s not historically known to embrace the LGBT community.

Cyndi Lauper on fame, going country and her dream to be in ‘What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?’ with Madonna

(above)

Shape shifting: Cyndi Lauper turns country.

Photo by Chapman Baehler

I

Chris Azzopardi

t’s not just about having fun anymore.

For Cyndi Lauper, music runs deeper than her ‘80s-era eccentricities may have seemed to suggest. A collection of classics from the Great American Songbook, deep Memphis-based blues, the feel-good Broadway romp Kinky Boots, which won her a Tony in 2013 for best score – Lauper changes musical guises like she changes dye jobs.

The 62-year-old singer takes another sharp turn on Detour, her latest reincarnation, this time as a full-on Southern belle. The spunky

pop priestess trades in her pink for plaid and saddles up with a slew of Nashville mainstays, including Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Emmylou

watermark Your LGBT life.

Harris, to sing signature mid-20thcentury country ditties.

To talk about her twangy transformation, Lauper called just as she was leaving Los Angeles, where she recently received her much-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lauper was her usual chatty and chirpy self as she dished on longing to be the “unknown singer,” shoe struggles and forever wanting to take on Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’ infamous revenge relic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? How exactly? By starring in a version of it alongside Madonna, of course.

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Cyndi Lauper: There are a lot of LGBT people who love early country music! They love Patsy Cline, they love Loretta Lynn. I loved Loretta Lynn when I was little and when I heard her sing “The Pill” (a cheeky take on birth control) it was like, “Holy cow!”

But I just know that when I went to Nashville everyone was very kind and they were sweet to me, and it feels like a small town and it doesn’t seem like everybody is like that – it just seems like they don’t talk about it a lot. I talk about it because we did a lot of research about the kids running away, the homeless LGBT kids (in 2011, Lauper opened a homeless shelter in NYC for LGBT youth). We found that if the parents just said, “You’re my kid and I love you and you gotta give me a minute to get my head around this gay thing,” because where the heck are parents gonna go? You can’t go to the preacher man because he’s gonna condemn you and your kid to hell. You’re not gonna go to the school and out your kid. You can’t go to the neighbors. So, where do you go? You have to have an outreach program for the parents and the kids, but you have to have the information to help parents because, you know, I think most parents just love their kids, and when they’re teenagers, you’re gonna fight about everything – I know, I have a teenager. You fight. Hell, that’s the dynamic.

I didn’t think about that when I did this. I did this for the love of music. I did this because I saw a segment on CBS’s The Early Show about all the great Nashville session players. One group was called the Nashville Cats and they played with everyone back in the ’60s and ’70s, and I was a little jealous because I felt like I missed out. I saw the Muscle Shoals documentary and I kind of wished sometimes – I felt like I was born in the wrong time. I was so busy being famous that I missed out on all these wonderful things. I just wanted to go back. In the beginning everything is, “You can’t do this! You’ll be ruined!” And you believe it!

At what point in your career did you feel creatively liberated?

I guess in 1991. I wanted to work with Muff Winwood (English songwriter and record producer known for his work with Dire Straits) and he believed in me as an arranger and as a producer. You know, I should’ve moved to England but I didn’t. I loved New York. I was born

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of what we did on “Funnel of Love,” but there’s a whole resurgence and group of people doing that kind of surf bass-y sound but rock.

| uu | Cyndi Lauper from pg.39

there and I would’ve missed my family and my friends, so I didn’t go.

But it was a lot easier in England; the English people were different.

And he wanted me to do this thing for him. It was around that time that I realized, “If you’re gonna be doing this, maybe you should start practicing the rhythm of your own beat and sing your story, not try and do a story with other people’s stories,” which is OK because that’s what singers do, but at that point I wanted to do that and then I wanted to work with (Detour producer) Seymour Stein. I wanted to go and do a blues record. I wanted to do the blues since 2004, and then when I finally got to do it in 2010, you know, I felt blessed because I was able to do something I really wanted to do as a singer. And then I wanted to do this country record, and I hoped that I could sing as best as I could sing. I wanted to do a good job.

You’ve called your new label, Sire Records, your “dream label.” And actually, Madonna’s self-titled debut was released on the same label in 1983. Do you think you and Madonna might have done a duet if you’d been on the same label back in the day? Was there ever talk of that happening?

Oh, not by business people. You know, I always felt for me, I would’ve loved to do What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with her... ’cause I think that’s very funny! (Laughs hysterically) Which part would you play?

Come on! Who do you think I’d play?

I’d play Baby Jane – I’d be torturin’ her. Because she’s always viewed as the bad girl, you know! They’d make her the good girl and I’d be the bad one. Or (we could do Joan Crawford’s 1954 western-drama) Johnny Guitar – she’d be the righteous one (laughs).

But whatever. Who knows! For me, all I wanna do is a good job. I wanna be a great singer. I wanna learn. I wanna always learn. I study music constantly. I try and listen to what’s happening. I try and listen to what’s happened, to what I might’ve missed.

I think music is… I love it and I think it lifts people up. I think I finally did a record that makes people happy, ya know? Maybe I learned that from Kinky Boots.

Pop, rock, country, blues. Is there anything you can’t sing?

Why can’t you put your name on it?

I don’t know. Because I don’t want to be judged. I’d rather do new music with a paper bag over my head and be the unknown singer. (Laughs) But you’ve been in the spotlight for almost your entire life. Aren’t you used to critics?

No, I know, but there are things that I can do as Cyndi Lauper and things that I can’t. Just ’cause I can’t doesn’t mean I won’t. I just won’t do it in a conventional way.

You never have, though!

That’s why you’re so adored.

True colors: Lauper reflected and re-engergized. Photo by Chapman Baehler Really, this is the roots of rock, that’s what I sang, you know what I’m sayin’, hun? It’s all the roots. The blues was the roots of what we sing and so is this. There was a time when country and R&B were very linked. The songs would go from R&B to country, country to R&B. A perfect example of that would be the Wilma Burgess hit “Misty Blue,” that was a hit in 1966 and then in 1975 for Dorothy Moore. But they were pop songs.

When I was little, Patsy Cline was on the radio. She was not country radio – she wasn’t segregated to

listened to her. You listened to the amazing Brenda Lee, but Wanda Jackson was just a little dirtier.

Why is it important to you to still perform in North Carolina despite the state’s new discriminatory legislation known as the “bathroom bill?”

North Carolina is a very important place to go because once people are disenfranchised the way they have been, it’s very important to bring light to a place where people have none and also educate people on

understand the way the government works right now and make it move forward instead of stopping it every frickin’ two minutes and costing people who pay taxes a lot of money.

It’s a little disconcerting – the whole frickin’ thing – and it’s gone on for too long.

It’s been seven years since Bring Ya to the Brink, your last full album of original non-musical material. Do you write? Are there plans to release original material under your own name?

I realized, ‘If you’re gonna be doing this, maybe you should start practicing the rhythm of your — Cyndi Lauper own beat and sing your story.’

country radio, and neither was Loretta Lynn and neither was Johnny Cash. Those guys were on the pop stations. And we had three AM stations, and everybody was on ’em in New York. You know, some of the stuff, especially “Funnel of Love,” it was a rockabilly song and Wanda Jackson was one of the earlier rockers, and when I was in Blue Angel (Lauper’s pre-solo career rockabilly band) – oh, she was prominent on my playlist because she was an early rocker and there weren’t a lot of women rockers that you listened to, but you always

what the real concerns are and get people involved in their own destiny.

It’s hard for me to even string these words together, but because you were on Celebrity Apprentice: What if Donald Trump becomes president?

Ugh. Everybody keeps asking me the same question. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I wouldn’t feel that good about it. I don’t think people should campaign to stop Trump. I think people should vote, for one, and vote for the person they feel is most responsible and can really

watermark Your LGBT life.

Well, I’m probably gonna write another Broadway show.

Oh, you are?!

Yes. I think if I wrote (for a solo project) I’d probably write under a pseudonym and sing under a pseudonym because it’d just be a lot easier to have it be received better.

Why do you say that?

Oh, you know, I like good music (laughs). There’s a really great sound coming out of California – the Southern Bay area has a whole kind of surf, kind of rock sound. Little bit

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

Well, thanks. I mean, with this record, I was very fortunate to have some really incredible people on it. I don’t even know – it just happened.

It snowballed and the producer, Tony Brown, knew somebody and I knew Emmylou Harris and wanted Emmylou Harris to come and sing.

It’s a kind of small town, so I had met with (songwriter / producer) Buddy Cannon who was working with Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson and all of a sudden it started to come together just like that.

I had gone to see Vince Gill and kind of knew him through his wife Amy (Grant) when I did a concert years ago and he had liked a song that I did called “Water’s Edge.” I went to go see him with the Time Jumpers, and when I went to do Detour I felt like if we had him lay down the track with a couple of the Time Jumpers it would really make sense and feel right because they understood real cowboy swing.

Tony contacted him and he said he would come in and he did. It just fell together. And if you went to see him with the Time Jumpers, you wouldn’t believe it because he’s really that good. I just thought to myself, “Oh my god, these musicians are great – pinch yourself now because you’re actually really doing this.”

more information

Who: Cyndi Lauper When: June 8 (Clearwater); June 9 (Orlando) Where: Ruth Eckerd Hall; Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Tickets: rutheckerdhall.com; drphillipscenter.org

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DIS MENT

SYMBOLS AND JOURNEYS

DAVID TAYLOR, Border Monument No. 198, (detail) 2009, Archival ink-jet print, Edition 1/4, From the series Monuments: 276 Views of the United States-Mexico Border Courtesy of the artist and James Kelly Contemporary

May 21–September 4, 2016 rollins.edu/cfam

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watermark Your LGBT life.

FREE ADMISSION Courtesy of Dale Montgomery ‘60

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

theater

Puppet pedigree

Avenue Q’s director brings puppetry experience to show’s run at Mad Cow

(above)

FUZZY FRIENDS:

The cast of Avenue Q, (L to R) Maya Handa Naff, Paul Padilla, Adam Hose, Faith Boles, Kurt von Schmittou, Christina Sivirch and Sonia Roman, comes together with their puppet pals to present a raunchy and unexpected tale of growth and acceptance.

Photo by Tom Hurst

A

Jamie Hyman

venue Q has three defining

characteristics: a mix of actors and puppets, the raunchy mischief those puppets deliver, and the shock value of seeing fuzzy puppet friends in some very adult situations. That means puppetry – which is harder than it looks – is key to Avenue Q’s success. When Mad Cow Theatre executive director Mitzi Maxwell hired Orlando director Juan Cantu to direct the show, she hired a director with past experience working with puppets at Disney World. watermark Your LGBT life.

Cantu, knowing how key puppetry is to Avenue Q, brought in even more experience: Michael Ziegfeld, a comedian and puppeteer who has worked with Jim Henson. Together, they trained the cast, which Cantu says he chose based on their singing and dancing skills, because he says it’s easier to teach actors puppetry than to teach puppeteers how to sing and dance and act.

Despite the emphasis on puppetry, Cantu tells Watermark that Avenue Q is a very human story which he hopes will start a conversation among those who see it.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

Watermark: The show’s been

around for more than a decade.

Do you think it’s still timely?

Juan Cantu: I think that shows that are written well like this one... through the years and through the decades, they’re just as poignant for different reasons. So this show deals with homosexuality, it deal with racism, it deals with comingof-age. The coming-of-age story is always relevant, we always either went through it ourselves or are going through it or have kids who are going through it. And then we

Continued on pg. 47 | uu |

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

OKAY TO BE GAY: Princeton (Kurt von Schmittou) and the rest of the residents of Avenue Q are convinced Rod (Adam Hose), a Republican banker, is gay, but he vehemently denies it. Photo by Tom Hurst

| uu | Avenue Q from pg.45

have the issues of homosexuality and racism, and even though that’s been around for some time, we’re still dealing with it. We’re still dealing with, for example, the transgender-bathroom law and how people view that and all the hatred and bigotry, and even though it might not be the exact same thing, we’re still dealing with the perception and the paranoia and the hatred. So, it’s still a conversation that needs to be had. And I think the racism topic, specifically, it’s very relevant due to, in recent years, stories in the media where race has been a huge topic [along with] police brutality and mistreatment and equality.

I think it’s still a very relevant subject, and I think it will be for quite some time. Unfortunately, we tend to move very slow in learning to accept everyone.

I think puppets are allowed to do things that humans might not get away with, and that’s part of the fun and charm of this show.

—Juan Cantu, director Speaking of the bathroom bills and the battle for transgender rights, if the show was written today, how do you think it would handle things like that?

of hatred and acceptance; then we can start to heal and start to let go of these things that we’ve unfortunately learned.

Well, it handles the topics as written so wonderfully. They’re very real and palpable, and it’s told in a way that we may have had those conversations with our buddies, and I think if it was written today, it would be done in a similar fashion. It would be handling that with honesty and with a sense of humor. I think when we can laugh and admit that we all have issues

Absolutely. In fact, there are two places in the script where the authors have allowed the director and/or producing organization to fill in the blank, so we actually do have a comment on one of our possible nominees. I don’t

Do you think Avenue Q’s characters would Have something to say as far as what’s going on in the current presidential race?

watermark Your LGBT life.

want to give it away, but there is some commentary on that in the show.

Ooh, exciting! What do you think your patrons are going think of these puppets and all the naughty stuff they get into?

Well, it’s hard to say what everyone’s going to think, but having seen the show myself when it was on tour and several regional productions, people are always shocked but end up having a blast. I think puppets are allowed to do things that humans might not get away

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

with, and that’s part of the fun and charm of this show.

It’s starts out feeling like it’s going to be a very “children’s show” experience, then all of a sudden you get that it’s not, but what allows it to work is that it’s a very human experience that these characters are going through and so that’s been my goal in directing it, is to make sure that even though it’s a mixture of humans and puppets telling the story, I wanted it to relate to the audience as something that we are going through or that we have gone through.

more information

What: Avenue Q Where: Mad Cow Theatre When: June 3 - July 3, 2016, Thursdays - Sundays Tickets: Schedule and tickets at MadCowTheatre.com

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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community calendar

event planner

Arts+entertAinMent

orLando

orlando

Central Florida sounds of Freedom Band & Color Guard’s 5th Anniversary Concert

Pi@Ph , June 2, Parliament House, Orlando. (407) 4257571; ParliamentHouse.com night of Perpetual comedy, June 2, Parliament House, Orlando. (407) 425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com avenue Q, June 3-July 3, Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando.

407-297-8788; MadCowTheatre.com Platinum Gay Days bash, June 3, Pulse, Orlando. 407-649-3888; PulseOrlandoClub.com ruby rose at tier nightclub, June 3, Tier Nightclub, Orlando. 407-222-9732; Tiernightclub.com Girls in Wonderland ’16, June 4, House of Blues, Orlando. 407- 934-2583; HouseofBlues.com rocky horror experience: Live at Gay Days, June 4, Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at Seaworld, Orlando. 407352- 1100; Gaydays.com the Days of Gays: Locals Party with DJ Dlux and DJ nela, June 4, Southern Nights Orlando. 407-412-5039; SouthernNightsOrl.com Gay Days comedy night with brad Loekle, June 5, Parliament House, 407- 4257571; ParliamentHouse.com Secret Sunday Season Finale, June 5, Pulse, Orlando. 407-649-3888; PulseOrlandoClub.com Jason bonham’s Led Zeppelin experience, June 6, Hard Rock Live, Orlando. 407-351-5483, HardRock.com cindy Lauper w/the Peach Kings, June 9, Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

QUEER

BreW

Come out and enjoy craft beer with the community at one of St. Pete’s newest microbreweries, cage brewing, for the St. Pete Queer craft brews event June 11.

Snap! Downtown Gallery tour with artists, June 11, Snap! Downtown Orlando, Orlando. (407) 286-2185; SnapOrlando.com tony awards Watch Party, June 12, The Abbey, Orlando.

407-704-6261; AbbeyOrlando.com Darcel’s Drag Dinner Show at the Persian room, June 15, The Persian Room, Longwood. 407-637-2890, AlibabaHouseofKabob.com

tampa bay Jersey Boys, June 1-5, Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa. 800-955-1045; StrazCenter.org A Tale of Two Cities, June 1-26, Raymond James Theatre, Tampa.

727-823-7529; AmericanStage.org Florida community bootblack contest Weekend, June 2-5, Flamingo Resort, St. Petersburg.

727-321-5000; FlamingoFla.com

“Weird al” yankovic, June 3, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg.

727-893-7832; TheMahaffey.com open arms’ help Feed the homeless, June 5, Hyde Park United Methodist Church, Tampa. 813-253-5388; BalanceTampaBay.org mentorship with tbGLcc & BTB, June 6, The University of Tampa, Tampa. 727-755-8390; TBGLCC.org cyndi Lauper, June 8, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater.

727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.net beer + art Lounge, June 10, Mary Alice McClendon Conservatory at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.

727-896-2667; MFAStPete.org make them Say “ha!” comedy Show, June 10, Metro Wellness and Community Centers, St.Petersburg. 813-232-3808; MetroTampaBay.org

St. Pete Queer craft brews event, June 11, Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4278; Facebook.com/Cage-Brewing urbanights cocktail Party, June 14, The Tampa Club, Tampa. 813-676-6683; TheTampaClub.com Pride 4 youth - Polk Pride 2016, June 15, St David’s Episcopal Church, Lakeland. 863-686-4143; StDavidsLakeland.com

sarasota hetty Feather, June2-June 26, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota. 941-351-8000; AsoloRep.org barrel 87 Grand reopening, June 3-4, Barrel 87, Sarasota. 941-924-4609; LGBTSarasota.com

suNdAy, JuNE 12, 3:00-5:00 P.m.

OrLANdO rEPErTOry ThEATrE, OrLANdO The Central Florida Sounds of Freedom Band & Color Guard is celebrating five years of performances with the concert “Looking Back, Marching Forward.”

The evening will feature the LGBTA marching and concert band and color guard performing some of their most popular pieces as well as a few new surprises to show you how far they’ve come in just five years. Tickets are $10 and available at CentralFloridaSoundsOfFreedom.com or at the door.

TaMpa Bay

OuTstage LGBT Theatre Festival FrIdAy, JuNE 10- suNdAy, JuNE 12, cArrOLLwOOd PLAyErs ThEATrE, TAmPA Poetry, storytelling and music are combined at this celebration of LGBT lives and art as the Carrollwood Players Theatre bring you three days of shows. Come out to see “Bent” by Martin Sherman, “The Divine Sisters” by Charles Busch and dust off your best undergarments as you get ready to Time Warp with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The big event comes Saturday with OUTspoken, an event filled with original poetry and music. Visit CarrollwoodPlayers.org/blackbox for tickets and more information.

SARASOTA

Menopause the Musical TuEsdAy, JuNE 7, 2:00 P.m. mANATEE PErFOrmING ArTs cENTEr, BrAdENTON A hot flash and bottle of wine inspired writer Jeanie Linders to celebrate women who find themselves at any stage of “The Change” in Menopause the Musical .

Four very different women meet by chance at a lingerie sale in a department store. A sisterhood develops between the women as they commiserate over their forgetfulness, mood swings, wrinkles, night sweats, chocolate binges and terrible hot flashes. Through their complaints these diverse women find that they no longer need to endure “The Silent Passage” alone.

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

event pLAnner And coMMunity cALendAr is BrouGht to you By curtis protective services • 1-800-551-8368 • curtissecurity.coM watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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overheard

tampa bay out+about

the Changes of veniCe

T

hE VENIcE ThEATrE hAs mAdE chANGEs to the 2016-17 season which they announced last January, and the ax has come down on a few princesses. The two shows, both of which are being pulled from the schedule because of licensing issues, are Disenchanted and Cinderella. A Florida tour announced for both the shows led Venice Theatre to have to pull them. Disenchanted, which was to play this December, has been replaced with Six Women with Brain Death or Expiring Minds Want to Know. So pull out the disgruntled princesses and throw in “a fast-paced, take-no-prisoners feminist satire of life at the end of the millennium.” Cinderella is being thrown overboard for the Caribbean adaption of the fairy Tale The Little Mermaid called Once On This Island. This Tony-nominated musical is from the same team that brought audiences Seussical and Ragtime.

F

Cruise Control

AcEBOOK hAs BEcOmE A POPuLAr BrEEdING GrOuNd of false articles promising that one of Hollywood’s biggest stars has grown tired of the phony lifestyle that Los Angeles has to offer and is moving to a town near you. They always turn out to be clickbait lies, but this time it appears to be true. According to PEOPLE magazine, mega movie star (and couch-jumping, anti-pharmaceutical taking Scientologist) Tom Cruise is heading to the Gulf Coast. The Top Gun himself sold his Beverly Hills mansion last year for a whopping $40 million and is now eyeing the birth place of the thetan-cleansing headquarters of his favorite religion, Clearwater, Florida. Of the many reasons Cruise is looking to get out of L.A. one of the big ones may be the rumors of his sexuality that have followed him since the beginning of his career but have been much louder since the end of his third marriage to actress Katie Holmes.

O

lawsuit mania

PENLy GAy PAyPAL cOFOuNdEr and sworn enemy to Gawker Media Peter Thiel was named as the secret legal-fees funder to former wrestler Hulk Hogan’s sex tape lawsuit against Gawker. Thiel, who is also one of the earliest backers of Facebook and valued around $2.7 billion, publicly attacked Gawker in 2007 when the media site’s Silicon Valley-focused publication, Valleywag, attempted to out the tech billionaire. Thiel publicly came out on his own in 2009. Thiel has not held back when given the opportunity to attack Gawker, saying they have the “psychology of a terrorist” and are “the Silicon Valley equivalent of Al Qaeda.

A Pinellas County judge awarded Hogan $141 million in damages in a court case that included Hogan lying under oath about the size of his penis, and the editor in chief saying he would think about releasing a celebrity sex tape of anyone over the age of four. Thiel originally declined to comment on the issue, but spoke with the New York Times May 25 confirming that he has been the secret financial backer for Hogan the entire time.

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PArAdIsE cITy: Jennifer real (L) and rachel Leigh celebrate Leigh’s birthday at Paradise Farms Organic in Homestead May 30. Photo courteSy oF racheL LeiGh

2

TyING ThE KNOT: After 19 years together Sonny and Steven Gonzales married at the Hollander Hotel in St. Petersburg May 24. Photo

courteSy oF marK & carrie

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POOL PArTy: alexis De La mer (L) and DJ billy get some sun during the T Dance at Flamingo Resort in St. Petersburg May 29. Photo courteSy oF

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FLaminGo reSort St. Pete

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GOT yOur BAcK: A who’s who of Tampa Bay power players surround Florida House Rep. hopeful carlos Guillermo Smith (Center) at the EQFL PAC fundraiser in St. Petersburg May 20.

Photo courteSy oF eD LaLLy

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rAINBOw cONNEcTIONs: (L-R) christina Jane, brian craft, Jackie richards and matt yauslin celebrate equality with EQFL’s Annual Suncoast Connection at the Manatee Performing Arts Center in Bradenton May 18.

Photo courteSy oF the manatee PerForminG artS center

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ThE PrINcEs OF TIdE: The hot guys were out in droves for the Riptide Boy Contest at Southern Nights in Tampa May 23. Photo courteSy

6

oF Southern niGhtS tamPa

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AmErIcAN hONOr sTOry: American Horror Story’s angela bassett (L) stopped by the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota to see Deborah Cox and matthew mcGee (R) performing in Josephine May 29. Photo

courteSy oF mattheW mcGee

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sAyING GOOdByE: tracy christner (L) and William harper at Harper’s farewell lunch from ASAP at Café Ponte in Clearwater May 17. Photo

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courteSy oF tracy chriStner

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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Student discount - tickets are $25 with valid student ID Children under 18 pay $25 with accompanying adults *This is not recommended for children under the age of 14.

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

overheard

orlando out+about

Calling all artists

T

he first ever LGBT Music and Art festival was just announced to be coming to Orlando in November, and if you’ve got artistic talent, you can be a part of this inaugural event. According to event producer Tim Evanicki, the LGBT Music and Arts festival is seeking artists, vendors, food trucks and sponsors. The goal is to have a minimum of 150 artists participating in the event, the festival will run for two days, November 12-13 and will include a live outdoor concert with a soon-tobe-announced headliner for Saturday night.

The LGBT Music and Art Festival will be hosted at the Parliament House Resort. For more information, visit: lgbtfest.com.

2

danielle hunter gets wood

A

LThOuGh, IT dOEsN’T sEEm FuNKy mONKEy BAr & BIsTrO on I-Drive is closing its doors in May as previously reported, one sign of a big change will be that Danielle Hunter will no longer be a part of their drag show. Recently, Danielle Hunter announced she will be headlining and working as the entertainment director for The Full Moon at Woodstock. Danielle was once the entertainment director and lead performer at RBARR before their title changed back to Southern Nights.

She later went back to FMI, which owns Funky Monkey, for Divas Orlando, a drag-show dinnertheater concept that was totally Bananas (at Bananas) before it closed. Now, at Full Moon at Woodstock, Danielle promises to bring new light to their entertainment. Her final day at Funky Monkey is scheduled to be June 8.

I

helping hannah

N 2010, OrLANdO PErFOrmANcE ArTIsT, BrIAN FELdmAN put out a call requesting for a stranger to marry him to point out how ridiculous it would be for random strangers to marry when people in the LGBT community couldn’t. The brave stranger who took the challenge is Hannah Miller. After the purposely sham marriage, Hannah pointed out, “It’s terrible that we could do this and they couldn’t,” gesturing to a loving lesbian couple who were denied a marriage license by the Orange County courthouse employees just moments before Miller and Feldman, two strangers, wed. It’s brave allies like Miller and Feldman that paved the way for the legalization of same-sex marriages in Florida in 2016.

Unfortunately, Hannah has recently fallen ill and she’s created a GoFundMe account to assist with her mounting medical bills; she’s suffering from a severe neuromuscular disease called Generalized Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Hannah has asked for assistance. As someone who stood up for us, we’re passing along her request for help; you can assist Hannah by visiting her GoFundMe page: www.gofundme.com/ breathe4hannah.

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hONK hONK: Members of RED Group Winter Park, an MBA networking meet-up, indulge in a little comic relief for Red Nose Day May 26. Red Nose Day uses humor to fight childhood poverty. Photo by

chriS StePhenSon

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hAPPy hAPPy: the minx helps a guest celebrate her 99th birthday May 29 during Broadway Brunch at Hamburger Mary’s. Photo by LeXi WriGht

3

FIrsT FrINGE: Jeff Jones, the man behind hit Orlando Fringe show The Animatronics, greets Fringe first-timers estaban rios (left) and christopher Pineda, visiting from Miami.

Photo by Danny Garcia

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dIVINATION dErIVATION: nicky monet gets psychic as Professor Sybil Trelawney at Hamberger Mary’s during a Harry Potter-themed Broadway Brunch. Photo by

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FINE FINE LINE: The cast of Avenue Q gives a special performance at Watermark’s Third Thursday social, May 19 at Mad Cow Theatre. Photo by JaKe SteVenS

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BANG BANG: Watermark columnist Scottie campbell snaps a selfie while working on a Habitat for Humanity Build May 11. Photo Via

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camPbeLL’S FacebooK PaGe

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chOP chOP: (L to R) amy Watkins, Jennifer Freeman, Fiona Wollard, alice copeland and mistie Watkins channel the Lumberjanes during Megacon. Photo by ryan WoLLarD

8

sPLIsh sPLAsh: City Commissioner Patty Sheehan braves the dunk tank at Ten 10 Brewing Company May 30 to benefit Main Street Mills 50.

Photo by Joanne Grant

Danny Garcia

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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announcements

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yeArs toGether:

9 years

enGAGeMent dAte:

David Karst of Gulfport passed away May 31. Karst was one of the pioneers in the fight against HIV/ AIDS in the Tampa Bay area. As ASAP’s Project coordinator, he started their testing and educational services at the old Suncoast Resort, a program so successful that even after the resort closed, the program continued, and still continues today at the Flamingo Resort. He also helped to create and maintain the mobile testing units seen all over Tampa Bay. Karst touched many lives throughout the Gulf Coast and will be sorely missed.

February 15, 2015

weddinG dAte:

May 20, 2016

weddinG venue:

Crystal Ballroom Veranda

weddinG pLAnner:

Antony Larry

weddinG cAterer:

Fat and Happy Catering

weddinG coLors:

The theme was 1920s glitz and glamor with their colors being royal blue, champagne and beige.

first sonG:

“Here and Now” by Luther Vandross

interestinG fAct:

They are the couple featured on the cover of Watermark’s 2016 Wedding Guide.

Photo by Chris Stephenson, Snap Out Loud Photography

“w

hEN I FIrsT mET hEr face-to-face, I fell in love,” Amelia says.

Amelia Dixon, who is the owner of a local processing solutions company, and Pamela Hampton, who is a service manager for Optum, first met online, where they talked and dated for a year and half before meeting each other in person.

The couple’s first date was spending a weekend together.

Both were excited to know that when they finally met in person, it was a love-at-first-sight type of occurrence, and they were both happy to be able to meet in person and take their relationship to that next level.

Pamela says that she had that “ah-ha” moment and felt the instant chemistry the first time they met.

“On top of the getting to know each other, we have three kids who are my biological kids, so it was not only her getting to know me but getting to know my kids as well and developing a really close relationship with them,” Amelia says.

Pamela says that being in a relationship prior to Amelia where there were children involved made the transition smoother and allowed her to develop that

relationship with her children and create bonds. Amelia’s kids are ages 19, 14 and 10, and Pamela is actually going to be adopting one of Amelia’s children in July.

“What I love about Pam the most is that Pam not only loves me, but she loves my kids as much as I do,” Amelia says.

As the years passed, their relationship grew, and Pamela knew it was time to take that next step.

Amelia was away on business, and it was during Valentine’s Day. Pamela took Amelia out to their favorite restaurant the next day.

Not spending the holiday together, she just thought they were going out to celebrate a late Valentine’s Day. She didn’t think anything of it.

When Pamela popped the question she was excited teary-eyed.

“I was nervous and excited at the same time,” Pamela says. “But, I mean, after being together for so long, I was expecting a ‘yes.’”

And of course Pamela got the answer she was hoping for.

Both ladies say the wedding planning went great and particularly smoothly.

“As far as the venue, we actually

condoLences christine reynolds, 68, of Tampa died May 20, ending an extraordinary life. Reynolds served for more than 10 years as an F4 fighter pilot in the US Air Force, attaining the rank of Captain. She then pursued a successful career in photography, winning numerous awards. Her captivating photos were published in several publications, including more than a dozen covers of Watermark. Reynolds is survived by her wife, Cheri Gattshall, and numerous friends and admirers.

found the venue when we went to Gay Days 2015,” Pamela says. “We were looking through the magazine and we saw the venue, and it said ‘LGBT friendly’ and I gave them a call.”

Pamela says one of her favorite things about the wedding day was being able to have their Methodist church pastors there for the ceremony, [especially] with the issue of same-sex marriage dividing various churches and religions so much recently. Amelia’s favorite thing was saying her vows, which she wrote a year in advance and had memorized.

“My favorite thing would definitely be her personality,” Pamela says about Amelia. “She really seems like she’s in the wrong timeframe. She’s what you would call an ‘old soul’. We watch a lot of old movies- with Audrey Hepburn and things like that.”

They plan on going to Amelia Island for a week toward the end of June for their honeymoon.

The original photo from the 2016 Watermark Wedding Guide cover, which features them, was blown up, framed and put in front of the venue when people first came in, which they both thought was an awesome thing to display.

LocAL BirthdAys Southern Nights Tampa general manager chris “tadpole” hannay, Equality Florida public policy director mallory Garner-Wells, Mojo Man’s Lane blackwell, Parliament House Orlando bartende Joel Gran, Ronda Storms nemesis and Brandon Pride founder mark Ferguson and marketing director timothy evans (June 3); Watermark freelancer and derby icon Krista Ditucci and Handsome Tampa Coldwell Banker realtor Steve Wessels (June 5); Watermark Cover Girl and all-around drag-andbartending delight addison taylor (June 8); KangaGirl Productions diva and longtime Orlando scenester margaret nolan and Tampa Francis House Executive Director Joy Winheim (June 9); Tampa Bay real estate agent and former TIGLFF president Ken hodges, Tampa marketing whiz La’trice “Lady LaLa” Sharpe and St. Pete SoyBright Candle Company co-owner tim huff (June 11); Watermark Tampa Bay staff writer and all around joy to be with Jeremy Williams, St. Petersburg city councilwoman and Pride grand marshal Darden rice, and schoolteacher and Orlando activist Wendy elkes (June 12); Remarkable TBGLCC president ashley t. brundage and Department of Transportation employee John Stimis (June 13).

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!

—Samantha Rosenthal

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.

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

61

uprisings

in plain view

This whole fiction of closing our eyes and pretending that men and women are the same ... is just madness.

T

—FLOrIdA FAmILy POLIcy cOuNcIL PrEsIdENT JOhN sTEmBErGEr ON ThE scOurGE OF BAThrOOm BILLs

bernie v. barney

T

hIs TImE, IT’s PErsONAL. It’s no secret that former Congressman Barney Frank has a beef with Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders; they’re both a little gray around the muzzle and have been in the legislative hurricane for decades. Frank made headlines a few weeks ago by pouncing on Sanders’ record and personality, so there were bound to be repercussions.

But as the Wall Street Journal reports, Sanders isn’t taking the Bernie/Barney battle lightly. Frank, it turns out, is a representative for the Democratic National Committee’s rules committee, and the only LGBT voice, at that. Moreover, Sanders is dragging Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy into the mix, claiming, as he does, bias.

“Their criticisms of Sen. Sanders have gone beyond dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the senator and his campaign,” Sanders’ attorney said in a letter to the DNC. The complaint has apparently been denied. For the record, the word “oligarchy” was reserved for a later date.

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trans-mission

B

EcAusE ThE whOLE wOrLd Is ExPLOdING over the notion of people hiding in stalls with sexual identities they do not understand, at least 11 states are now suing the federal government over President Barack Obama’s edict that school districts allow students to use whichever bathroom they identify with.

And who would have possibly thought that Florida might have an opinion on the issue, what, with it’s federal lawsuit leadership on losing battles against Medicaid expansion and Obamacare? Florida is notoriously quiet on these issues, dontchaknow. But not so much when the frightening hologram of Florida Family Policy Council president John Stemberger shows up in his best Boy Scout garb. He’s pressuring Gov. Rick Scott to join the lawsuit, as he does, saying that it’s necessary to save our babies from people who don’t look like them.

The feds are threatening to pull Title IX money from the offended states, because, well, discrimination and bigotry.

Last week, Gov. Scott called the punishment “blackmail.” Related: Gov. Scott is a terrible human being.

partisan shakeup

A

cOuPLE OF yEArs AGO, some enterprising folks living in the shadow of Orange County’s conservative textgate whitewash decided that enough was enough. The county, via its deluded princess Mayor Teresa Jacobs, knocked down an initiative to make county offices partisan, meaning that voters would know what flavor of policy they were voting for.

A measure to make offices partisan was killed by voters in 2014, mostly because it was as confusing as any ballot piece could be, piling every bit of distraction into a mass of verbiage signifying nothing to the untrained eye. To be clear, Teresa Jacobs does not like Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph, as he was involved in getting her admonished for asking lobbyists how to do her job (via text) in an actual public meeting. Her grudge knows no bounds.

But last week, a judge knocked the issue into reality. The ballot initiative was, as argued, illegal under the Florida Constitution.

“This is a victory for the voters,” Randolph told the Orlando Sentinel.

“And the independence of these [county] offices is too important for a naked power grab.”

watermark Your LGBT life.

Billy Manes

hErE wAs A hEAdLINE ThAT sTucK OuT as I cruised through my nervous political scroll on Facebook yesterday – I’m only nervous because I’ve received death threats before – and it spoke to me in myriadrainbow-unicorn ways: “Hillary supporters might be hiding in plain view,” some oddly necessary essay about how people are afraid to like Hillary Clinton for President, and here’s why they shouldn’t be.

As somebody who had his own closet, somebody who has spent his adult life trying to seal the doors on said closet, somebody who spent most of his evening in the closet, because it has a window unit and my central A/C is broken, it was eye opening. I’m afraid of Americans. I’m afraid of the world. I’m afraid I can’t help it. And I’m afraid that this schism in the Democratic Party – which, lest we forget, is the party that supports LGBT rights implicitly – is being eroded beyond repair just in time to let Spitting Image doll Donald Trump take the presidency.

When I shared a post about how the Clinton Dynasty drama has been overplayed and misused to the point of an Illuminati brunch of conspiracy (I’m looking at you, “oligarchy” and “rigged”), I received this missive: “Billy, your bias is showing. … As a journalist, don’t you have an obligation to report fact without opinion?” First off, it wasn’t my story I was sharing, it was an opinion I agreed with.

Second off, this desperation sprayed upon the personal pages of professionals is questionable if not plainly terrible. I get that my “name” is out there; I get that there is a spanner in the idealism works of the Sanders campaign and all of its devotees; I get that I’m not liked by everybody, even if a “Like” constitutes internet friendship. What I don’t get is the animosity and splashes of vitirol.

On June 7, we’ll know which respected and intelligent candidate can put up the best fight against a certain hard-haired slalom. Of course we all have our binary opinions about who that should be. But opinions aren’t math, and desperation is not reason.

Let’s quit beating each other down, making enemies out of email servers, assigning ourselves to mathematical impossibilities and fomenting false revolutions. Politics is a game, and you knew that coming into the fray.

Also, frankly, leave me alone if you think that I’ve somehow come to a Disney Princess decision to adore our next Thatcher. I haven’t.

I’ve made a reasoned choice, one which is apparently not supported by half of my “friends.” It is, however, supported by valiant luminaries in my family who have worked with Clinton in the State Department, selflessly.

It’s time to stop picking fights and pick a winner. I’m with her. So what.

June 2 - June 15 , 2016 // Issue 2 3.11

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