Watermark Issue 23.17: We Are All Mercedes Successful

watermark Your LGBT Life.

issue 23.17 • auGust 25 - sePteMBer 7, 2016 WaterMarkonLine.coM

WE ARE ALL

MERCEDES SUCCESSFUL Haines City’s Mercedes Successful is one of 19 reported transgender murders in the U.S. this year.

When will it stop?

daytOna beach • OrLandO • tampa • st. petersburg • cLearwater • sarasOta

grayson j u st i c e | e q ua l i t y | p e ac e

In the mIdst of our grIef, we must find patience, as the tectonic plates of society move ever-so-slowly toward equality. and look forward to victories to come, if we work together: complete equality in the raising of children. anti-bullying and anti-discrimination laws.

Full health coverage for all lGBtq health needs. equality in social, government and employment benefits. and finally, freedom from fear that you will be hurt or punished because of whom you love. it won’t be easy, but together we can get it done.

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Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

Ormond Beach 386.898.0303

Winter Park 321.203.2900

h

departments 6 // mail 7 // editor’s desk 13 // orlando news 16 // tampa bay news 21 // state news 23 // nation & world news 43 // arts & entertainment 49 // community calendar 51 // tampa bay out+about 53 // orlando out+about 55 // announcements/ wedding bells 56 // tampa bay marketplace 58 // orlando marketplace

PAGE

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In the last year, a transgender person was murdered somewhere in the world every three days. Violence for the transgender community is no stranger.

—gina dunCan, eQualiTY florida’s Transgender inClusion direCTor

on tHe cover

PAGE

43

PAGE WE

34

ARE MERCEDES:

A local performer is one of 19 transgender murders reported in the U.S. so far this year.

How many more before enough is enough?

Photo by Jake Stevens

scan Qr code For

watermarkonline.com

oH god, you devil:

Orlando Fringe favorite Michael Delamont is bringing his hit show God is a Scottish Drag Queen to The Plaza LIVE Sept. 10.

watermark i ssue 23 .17 // august 25 - sept ember 7, 2016

end oF violence

merging Homes

wanzie’s world

Facebook Friends

PAGE Nearly two months after the Pulse shooting, Pride Fund to End Gun Violence launches in Orlando.

PAGE Empath Health acquires Francis House and merges it with ASAP to create Tampa Bay’s largest HIV services provider.

PAGE

PAGE

read it Online!

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

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16

Michael Wanzie pleas to the gay Republicans to think about what they’re doing by standing with the GOP.

25

Fresh off a win as Businessman of the Year, Watermark publisher and owner Rick Claggett has a few words to live by.

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give us a fOLLOw On twitter and instagram at @watermarkOnLine and be sure tO Like us On facebOOk. watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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top web comments “Wait, wait, wait ... Wait. Do these idiots realize Hillary wants to bring in 550% more Syrian Muslims to the states?”

—Keep_Calm_And_Deadpool

WatermarkOnline.com On gay rights advocates protesting Rubio and Trump speaking at an anti-LGBT conference:

wave

watermark’s

THANK YOU WATERMARK READERS FOR VOTING ME YOUR A W A R D 2016 WINNER FAVORITE LOCAL REALTOR SINCE 2007!

“Wait, wait, wait ... Wait. Do these idiots realize Hillary wants to bring in 550% more Syrian Muslims to the states? Radical Muslims who kill homosexuals like cattle?! The same Muslims Trump is trying to prevent from coming in by beefing up the vetting process?

Hahaha, gotta love those low information voters.”

—Keep_Calm_And_Deadpool

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE 2017 FORD ESCAPE

On Maia’s new trans column:

“I particularly like the last paragraph. Just a little bit is all we need... to start.”

—Lauren Brooks

On Trump announcing he will be attending an anti-LGBT conference:

“Word that Trump’s Orlando chairman Randy Ross will not be attending the event so to avoid uncomfortable discussions for a gay man to hear. Seems like he will be too busy doing other things.

Interesting though, seeing Trump is the main man and the Orlando campaign chair won’t be in the same room.”

—Mark

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Watermark’s Facebook page:

On Watermark publisher being named Businessman of the Year by the Metropolitan Business Association:

“Congratulations Rick!

So proud of you and everyone at Watermark.

Changing the world!”

—Julie Milford Textor

On a federal judge ruling in favor of transgender employment discrimination:

“And that federal judge should be FIRED!” —Kathleen Cullen Fishback

On news outlets fighting for release of the Pulse 911 calls:

“Families of victims and survivors should be asked.

These people are trying to heal.”

—Grace White

On 2 Hasidic men getting just probation for beating a gay black man:

“Jewish and they hate? Have they forgotten what hate did in World War 2?”

—Hen Ry Mays

“It’s the same [judge] who let the killer of Akai Gurley go free.”

—Arielle Montgomery

On Lady Gaga starring in A Star is Born remake:

“I think she’s perfect for the role!”

—Grace White

On Caitlyn Jenner’s show I Am Cait being cancelled:

“Maybe E! can put a transgender person on a show that actually represents the transgender community and not someone just looking for fame and to make a buck.”

—Jim Thronberry

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

“To quote the Lady Chablis, ‘Two tears in a bucket’ ... (you can finish the rest).”

—Rob McCullough

On Rubio telling pastors to love LGBTs:

“No, he spoke at the hate rally about raising traditional marriage up.

Translation: still fighting marriage equality.”

—Christopher Ackley

“I want to know which of our local ‘faith leaders’ attended so that I will know not to ever set foot in their churches.”

—Mary Ellen Mayo

“The man doesn’t have a sincere bone in his body!

Total opportunist!”

—Debbie Jones

On local authorities across Central Florida and Tampa Bay reaching out to the LGBT community:

“Kudos to the great Lt. Jim Young and, through his influence and their openness, the wonderful men and women of the OPD. A great article about great people we may not be so lucky to find in other cities not so far from our own.”

—Kevin M Sullivan

On Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore possibly losing his job again:

“This clown in a robe does not deserve to sit in judgment of anyone.”

—Francis Ferguson

On Caitlyn Jenner saying she will not outwardly supporting Trump:

“Jenner should help all of us by going away, far far away.... never to be heard from ever again.”

—Dean Gilvin

editor’s

Billy Manes EDITOR

BIlly@WatermarkOnline.com

W

Desk

e are all Mercedes Successful.

We are all vulnerable. We are all showstopping superstars while part-timing as human beings in need of love.

There has been an overflow of emotion toward the LGBT community since the Pulse shooting on June 12 – concerts, banners, memorials, donations – but there’s still a fairly large closet within which many of our community are forced to reside, often full of life, sometimes not alive at all. By now, we know that all too well.

This isn’t meant as a dramatic plea in any manner, and I don’t think that any of those who knew Mercedes would want that. What we do know, however, is that in just eight months, 19 transgender individuals have been killed.

Murdered. Assassinated. We know that there is a backlash coming from our side of table against this

watermark staff

sick behavior, but there’s an even stronger one pushing its way into the room to tell us that Jesus wouldn’t want us to use the facilities we are comfortable using, the facilities that match our identity. There are reasons being invented for people to just give up.

Since I started at Watermark just over a year ago, I have wrestled with doing justice to trans issues, just as anybody who has not lived in that world would likely do. But the deeper I get into these stories, the more rooms I share with these heroes, the better I become as a human being. Yes, we’re all flawed in our own magical ways, but when you really have to work for your authenticity to be recognized, when

you have to go to bed crying about it, you have earned your identity.

That’s why we are all Mercedes Successful.

Mercedes was murdered in May. I hope you’ll take a moment to notice the faces of those who joined us to make this stark and brilliant journalistic package happen. These are all trans people from across our readership area; these are all people who cared enough to show their faces in public as a means to stop this scourge of hatred. These are brave people.

Something I’ve learned during the process of creating this issue – I didn’t write the story, just the headline – is that it isn’t always that easy to put yourself out there like that. Some people didn’t show up, and I completely understand. If you are trying to live an authentic trans life, it doesn’t often mean you want to be stared at. Sometimes you just want the normalcy that authenticity brings: the quiet nights, the friends, the structure. You don’t want to be a circus clown or a target. You want to be alive.

So I applaud these men and women for participating in what I think is a terribly underreported phenomenon. Your time is of huge value to the story that we’re telling, the story of Mercedes, the story of you. Thank you for coming out on this limb with us. We hope it makes a difference in the minds of some people. We also think you are all beautiful.

Elsewhere in your latest Watermark, you’ll find other stories of inclusion and concern. In the wake of the Pulse tragedy, QLatinx popped up to remind us that we’re not all the same. Most of those killed at Pulse were indeed Latinx, meaning they were of Hispanic heritage and welcome to define their gender in whatever way they feel appropriate (Romantic languages are such a drag when it comes to gender).

You can find out what God would be like if he were indeed a Scottish drag queen, you can delve

Proofreading: Ed Blaisdell

Owner & Publisher: Rick Claggett • Ext. 110 • Rick@WatermarkOnline.com

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Yes, we’re all flawed in our own magical ways, but when you really have to work for your authenticity to be recognized, when you have to go to bed crying about it, you have earned your identity.

the interest of fairness (I don’t have any Republican picks … ANY) – we’ll save our endorsements for the November reign. Please do get out and vote, though. We just don’t want to be bossy about who you should vote for, at least not yet. There’s a bit in here about a new fund dedicated to the intersectionality of gays and gun culture, a new lexicon we’re still trying to traverse. There are, in fact, thousands of words for you to stumble over throughout (and maybe some errors).

All of us at Watermark are incredibly proud of this issue and proud of the resilience of our community. After all, we are all Mercedes Successful.

Orlando Office

Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer • Tom@WatermarkOnline.com

Office Manager: Kathleen Harper • Ext. 100 • Kathleen@WatermarkOnline.com

into the ruminations of our owner and publisher Rick Claggett in the afterglow of his GREAT AWARD. You can applaud as the community service organizations in the Tampa Bay area combine and grow.

You can read Michael Wanzie’s take on what’s going on inside those Log Cabins.

Speaking of politics, you can flip to the back for Uprisings, my column about political things. Yes, I’m voting Democrat – and I know which candidates I’m voting for – but, in

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

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

contributors David Thomas Moran

is a longtime freelance writer for Watermark, and is also a graduate of UCF where he studied Emerging Media. Page 8

Michael Wanzie is

an Orlando-based playwright, actor and ordained minister. He is most recognized for his direction of productions at the Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House. Page 25

Samantha Rosenthal

attended University of Central Florida and is a former Watermark editorial assistant. She is currently a freelance writer and regularly covers Wedding Bells. Page 56

Aaron Alper, Scottie Campbell, Susan Clary, Krista DiTucci, Kirk Hartlage, Joseph Kissel, Jason Leclerc, Mary Meeks, Stephen Miller, David Moran, Gregg Shipiro, Greg Stemm, Dr. Steve yacovelli, , Michael wanzie

photography Brian Becnel, Nick Cardello, Angie Folks, Bruce Hardin, Julie Milford, Travis Moore, Chris Stephenson, Lee Vandergrift, Tinkerfluff

distribution LVNLIF2 Distributing, Lisa Jordan, Jill Bates, Ken Carraway CONTENTS of WATERMARK are protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher.

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

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

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

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

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

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

central florida news

sTop The haTe: Pride Fund’s Jason Lindsay.

PHOTO By BARBARA SHERIDAN

don’T forgeT us: QLatinx

emerges from Pulse tragedy.

Intersecting voice Local community organization seeks to uplift LGBTQ+ Latinx voices David Thomas Moran

A

newly formed group is working to advocate for the intersection of local, LGBTQ+ and Latinx voices across Central Florida.

QLatinx, first and foremost, wants to provide a space for its members to heal. The group seeks to empower LGBTQ+ Latinx people and their allies who have been so deeply impacted by the Pulse hate crime to mobilize and support one another as they continue to cope with the aftermath of the shooting. The group has already made national headlines recently being featured in The New Yorker.

“We are a community organization.

Very grassroots. Built by queer and trans Latinx folks after the Pulse massacre that said we need to be together,” says QLatinx co-founder/ organizer and Huff Post contributor Christopher Cuevas.

Some haven’t felt comfortable or welcome in other spaces because either the organization or services have mostly focused on the LGBTQ+ part of their identity or the Latinx part of their identity. Not both. “[Members have said] I can’t go to these other places for a variety

of reasons. Because of a language barrier. Because I just don’t feel like I’m represented there. I don’t have the ability to access the services so I don’t want to go there. Or I’m not ready to seek out those services,” says Cuevas.

The erasure of this intersection by both the local, LGBTQ+ and Latino/a communities has been an on-going struggle for many folks. Especially younger, gay and trans Latinx locals who feel like their voices and lived experiences have been and continue to be swept to the side.

QLatinx’s mission is to uplift the voices of everyday LGBTQ+ Latinx people and create a centralized, gathering place of support for queer and trans people of color in Central Florida - many who lost such a space after the Pulse shooting.

intersectiOnaLity 101

The intersectionality of the Pulse massacre is difficult to deny. The majority of those targeted by this horrendous act of violence were LGBTQ+ people of color. Mostly Latinx.

It was Noche Latina. Latin Night. That night, and for many Saturday nights prior, Pulse had thrived as a sanctuary for a queer Latinidad.

The devastating violence that unfolded on June 12 targeted a safer space two-fold. Not just a safer space for LGBTQ+ OR Latinx. LGBTQ+ AND Latinx. LGBTQ+ AND people of color.

“Historically, the Latinx community has always existed in silos and pockets all over Greater Orlando and Central Florida. You have people in Apopka and people in Kissimmee and in Ocoee and Sanford and people in the immediate vicinity of downtown Orlando,” Cuevas says. “So we want to create a hub...a central space where people [from across Central Florida] can come together. Because there’s never been a space that uplifts and centers queer and trans people of color.” With the loss of Pulse, this need is so much more urgent.

A weekly meet up on Thursday nights at the Proyecto Somos Orlando offices is already a go. The group also has plans to organize community workshops on gender justice and intersectionality in the future.

QLatinx is additionally advocating for increased cultural competency in services and outreach being provided in the aftermath of Pulse.

Housing, transportation, legal services, health care, counseling and immigration documentation are just some of the areas that LGBTQ+, Latinx folks affected by the Pulse shooting need culturally competent support on. The issues vary because the Latinx community is extremely diverse, but some victims, survivors and loved ones have especially faced barriers

cOntinued On pg. 14 | uu |

watermark Your LGBT life.

pride Fund to end gun violence launcHes in orlando Billy Manes

o

RLANDO | On a hot August night, specifically Aug. 17, a mass of nearly 200 people convened upon the downtown watering hole the Hammered Lamb to let their voices be heard. The message: Gun violence needs to end, and the means of getting to that end was political pushback. The Pride Fund to End Gun Violence was officially launched in Central Florida. Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan pulled no punches when she referenced the National Rifle Association.

“The NRA, which I’ll refer to them as the National Right to Murder Association, has up to five million members that spent over $40 million dollars on U.S. elections in 2008,” she said. “It would be like the auto industry fighting airbags or speed limits. It’s the same thing.”

It was a spirited event designed to move the post-Pulse Orlando movement forward. Sheehan, who said she had a firearm that she used to protect herself in a home invasion, was unequivocal about her support of common-sense gun reform. She referenced the “spineless cowards” in Congress who say this “is not the time to talk about guns.”

“I will be silent no more,” she said. “We must no longer be silent. …We want sensible gun legislation now” Jason Lindsay, who founded the group, took the rhetoric to a higher level.

“Marco Rubio, the Pride Fund has a message for you,” he said. “You’re fired.”

The group, which hopes to turn its political action committee into a solid force in favor of congressional candidates who are trying to make gun reform possible, was clear in its message about the intersectionality between the gay community and gun culture.

“I know we can come together and take on this gun lobby,” Lindsay said. “In the last week, the NRA has spent $3.6 million. We must respond in kind. Money talks in elections, and we’re here to provide.”

Pulse owner Barbara Poma, mother to one of the victims Christine Leinonen and massacre survivor Brandon Wolf were all in attendance.

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central florida news Enter QLatinx. | uu | QLatinx from pg.13 getting help because of their undocumented status One member who identifies as queer and undocumented –wishing to remain anonymous –says they and many others aren’t sure what services are safe for them. “Unless there is an anti-discrimination policy that includes immigration status, you won’t believe those services are for you.”

“There’s a difference between listening to stories of queer and trans Latinx folks…who are politicians and doctors and lawyers. Those are very important and inspirational stories to hear,” Cuevas says.“But equally so, there are stories of folks who live in the everyday that may not have those kinds of jobs, that work at amusements parks or may work in restaurants, and that’s their life, and no one listens to their narratives or experiences, because they are not in ‘quote unquote’ positions of power.”

Within 48 hours of the Pulse massacre, members of what is now QLatinx started to gather. At the time, there was no name, just a need to be there for one another. Several were survivors who were there that night at Pulse. Some had lost friends that night. The group evolved organically as friends sought comfort with one another - with people like them that they could trust who truly empathized with how deeply the Pulse massacre rocked their core.

This was an attack on not only their LGBTQ+ identity and lived experiences, but also on their Latinx livelihood, their queer Latindad.

Many members of QLatinx fall in the gap of having aged out of services provided by Zebra Coalition and don’t relate to organizations like The Center and the MBA for various reasons.

Noche Latina at Pulse was their meeting space. The dance floor their “board room.” A safer space to gather and celebrate and dance in solidarity.

A place where LGBTQ+ Latinx locals navigated not only the challenges of a world that is cisgenderist and

heterosexist and classist, but also racist and hostile to people who don’t have light skin or speak English as their first language.

In the 21st century of an increasingly commodified LGBTQ+ culture, where many organizations follow the organizational structure of a corporation, QLatinx embodies a more democratic, consensus-building approach. The group makes decisions together.

QLatinx and its members are not only focused on support services and healing but also collaboration.

Lifting up and centering their voices as transparently and as inclusively as possible.

Moving Forward

Moving forward, the group has plans to organize workshops that educate the local community on the intersections of gender, racial and economic justice.

“We also want to educate and empower local, queer and trans people of color about their history.

In the past year, there was a film. that was released about Stonewall that completely erased the work of the

leading trans women of color who started the Stonewall Riots and what became the [contemporary] LGBTQ+ rights movement,” said Cuevas.

“We don’t want that to happen.

Those who tell their history, those who write it, those who capture it:They are the ones who make the history. So we want to do that.

We want to tell the stories that empower people in our community.

We want to make sure that the right narratives, the right stories are being captured so that future queer and trans people of color can look back and say ‘this is a community that exists, and I feel very proud that I am queer, Latinx or trans and a black woman’. Uplifting [these narratives] matters so much.”

Cuevas said the group may be interested to march in the Come Out With Pride parade in October depending on the costs involved to participate.

QLatinx also plans to collaborate with local artist, 9/11 survivor and UCF professor Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz on an installation memorializing the Pulse hate crime.

The art piece will be on display at

the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago starting next month as a part of the museum’s annual Día de los Muertos exhibit.

The weekly QLatinx meet ups take place on Thursdays from 6:30-9 PM at the Proyecto Somos Orlando offices (6900 Orange Blossom Trail, 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32809).

About the Name

The name “QLatinx” intentionally occupies the intersection of LGBTQ+ and Latinx identity. “Q” stands for queer - a reclaimed slur that many activists use as an umbrella term to describe the spectrum of gender identities, orientations and lived experiences within the LGBTQ+ community. Latinx is a more gender-inclusive or gender-expansive term of describing people who identify with the Latino/a community but feel the Spanish language’s traditionally gendered “Latino” or “Latina” is not inclusive of those who don’t identify with the cis-heteronormative gender binary.

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Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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tampa bay news

tampa bay Hiv/aids service organizations asap, Francis House to merge Jeremy Williams

S

T peTersburg | Empath Health announced that AIDS Service Association of Pinellas (ASAP) and Hillsborough County’s Francis House will merge in order to expand the HIV/AIDS services available to the Tampa Bay region.

The two non-profits signed an initial memorandum of understanding and will operate under a newly-named member of Empath Health.

“We really felt that we wanted to as much as possible retain the brands for each group, so the campus in Tampa will continue to be called Francis House and the campus in St. Pete will be called ASAP,” Rafael Sciullo, president and CEO of Empath Health, says. “But we wanted to form a combined identity to begin this a new, and it is something both groups will come up with together.”

Empath Health is presently interviewing for the executive director of the combined entity but have not made a final decision regarding the position yet.

Francis House began serving those affected by HIV/AIDS in Tampa’s Seminole Heights area in 1990. ASAP began their HIV/AIDS work in Pinellas County in 1987 and moved under the umbrella of EmpathHealth in 1997.

“First and foremost, what I think started to make the thought of a merger click is that both our missions are aligned. We are both not for profit organizations that have been in the community for a very long time,” Sciullo says.

The merger of ASAP and Francis House will make Empath Health the largest HIV/AIDS service provider in the Tampa Bay area.

“When you combine the number of lives impacted by both Francis House and ASAP, it’s approximately 10,000 lives,” Sciullo says. “Our scope is going to be pretty large.”

Discussions to merge ASAP and Francis House began with ASAP’s previous executive director William Harper and the current executive director of Francis House, Joy Winheim.

“We were approached some time ago by William who said that funding was getting more competitive and wouldn’t it be stronger for us and the community if we merged together in the future,” Winheim says.

“We thought about it and said you know, this might not be a bad idea. We brought it to our board, and both boards got together and talked about the ways we could make this work.”

Empath Health has nine different agencies under them, including ASAP, and all those agencies will become available to Francis House patients, and while

cOntinued On pg. 18 | uu |

16

faiThful friends:

Mathieu Stanoch (L) and Rochelle Julian pose together during a Shriners’ event in Tampa.

PHOTO COURTESy OF STANOCH

shrine to tolerance An altercation in Ybor City turns from discrimination to compassion Jeremy Williams

T

ampa | The Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order Noble Mystic Shrine, better known as the Shriners, invaded the streets of Tampa for their annual Imperial Session conference Aug. 15-18, during which time an incident of discrimination turned into a declaration of LGBT support.

Mathieu Stanoch, the visual director at Honey Pot and president of Ybor’s Historic Holiday Spirit, was shopping at the local 7-11 on 7th Ave. in Ybor Aug. 15 when a man in a Shriners shirt came into the store.

“I went in because I live across the street and was thinking I’ll pick up some ice cream for me and some food for the dog instead of going all the way to the grocery store,” Stanoch says.” I go up to the checkout line and I have my credit card in hand when this guy bumps me in line and decides to talk to the cashier about a missing wallet.”

Stanoch leaned in to ask the man to get in line and, as Stanoch says, the Shriner was not happy.

“I said, ‘Excuse me sir, I have no

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problem with you conducting your business, but I want to conduct mine first since I was in line first.’

So he turned around and called me a faggot,” Stanoch says. ”I’ve grown up where something like that has never happened to me before, so I was in shock.”

The man turned back to the cashier speaking about the missing wallet and then stormed out of the store.

“I finished my transaction and I go outside and he is standing there,” Stanoch says. “So the only thing I could think to do, I mean he is a Shriner so he has a shirt on which identifies him and his order, was start taking pictures to get his information, and of course this provoked him, and it caused him to continue with the insensitive name calling.”

Stanoch, knowing that the Shriners were in town for the conference, felt like he shouldreach out to the City of Tampa Events Department and let them know.

“Just like when I throw a special event, I want to know if anyone had anything to complain about,” Stanoch says. ”I had heard in the past some instances the last time they were here

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

but they were not documented. So I thought I am not going to let this be another undocumented case. Because GaYbor and Tampa Pride have done so much to build our town into a LGBTQIA community that I can’t let this instance go by without being reported.”

Stanoch received a call while working at Honey Pot Aug. 17 from a representative of the Shriners.

“He was apologetic but he was very protective of his Shriners and didn’t seem very proactive in getting the issue fixed,” Stonach recalls.

Luckily, Ernie Webb was there with Stanoch when he got the call.

Webb, one of the owning members of Honey Pot, is also the president of the GaYbor board.

“He saw my frustration while I was on the phone and the fact that I didn’t quite know how to tell this guy how wronged I felt and he understands that part of the role of being president is to protect us in these types of situations and he took the phone and he pushed for a resolution much better than I could have done.”

Within minutes of Webb hanging up the phone, Stanoch received a call from the Shriners legal department.

“The gentleman on the phone had been pulled out of the convention to call me and he was so apologetic, and so sincere. He asked me to email him the photos I took so he could find out who this member was. The way he handled the situation made me feel better because I could tell by how disturbed he was by this that this was not the norm for their group.”

Stanoch was contacted by Rochelle J. Julian, Imperial Potentate of the cOntinued On pg. 18 | uu |

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tampa bay news | uu | HIV/AIDS Services Merger from pg.16

| uu | Shrine to Tolerance

Francis House will remain their own separate entity, they too will be under that umbrella of Empath.

“It insures longevity,” Winheim says. “Francis House has always been a smaller nonprofit, we have only 15 employees, although it’s bigger than when we started which was just three of us. Although we have grown, it is getting more competitive and if we want to be here five years from now then we need to explore every option to make sure that happens.”

The merger comes less than a year after ASAP opened Home 3050, a one-stop shop for HIV/AIDS related services and care in St. Petersburg. This homecare model is expected to be mirrored by Francis House in Tampa.

“We have had a wonderful reception to [Home 3050] from our clients in Pinellas County and we look forward to replicating that in Hillsborough County,” Sciullo says.

“What services we offer in Pinellas will be offered in Hillsborough.”

The merger between the organizations have began the process of due diligence and should be complete by this fall.

“The important thing we want the patients and clients to know is with the services they use and where they go for them will remain the same, they won’t feel a change,” Winheim says.

from pg.16

Shriners, who apologized and asked Stanoch to be his personal guest that day at the Shriners’ parade.

“He invited me to be at the Potentate tent with him and watch the parade and introduced me to all the chairs and VPs of the Shriners and they shook my hand and there was nothing but sincerity shown,” Stanoch says.” At this point I truly got it, I really believed that they understood the severity of what happened and I was happy, but then what happened next was just monumental in my opinion.”

Julian asked Stanoch to join him the next morning at the Tampa Convention Center, where the Shriners were wrapping up their conference.

When he showed up Stanoch was escorted into the conference in front of all of the Shriners.

“Julian then had everyone rise and said, ‘Please show Mr. Stanoch the upmost respect and honor,’ and I walk up on stage as they greeted me and they read a statement issued from the international organization.”

Hablo español

The statement was read in full and officially issued on behalf of the entire delegation of Shriners International.

It began with the Order’s mission, “to provide our members with leadership and direction in the areas of voter education, youth development, economic education, health and mental research and other charitable programs.”

The statement continued, “In conjunction with our mission we recognize that our efforts must also involve support of the LGBTQIA community in the fight to ensure that all Americans benefit from the civil rights that each and every one of us deserves. We recognize that the struggle and the fight for equality affects all Americans.

“The Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of North and South America and its Jurisdictions, Inc. will continue to fight alongside the LGBTQIA community as members, friends, family and allies with the hope that one day each of us will be seen as equals under the law and treated at all times with dignity and respect.”

Julian then announced that this is to be officially documented on the Shriners’ history, issuing in the

first time a position on the LGBTQIA community has been taken by the organization.

“They applauded and the Potentate hugged me and I teared up,” Stanoch says. ”So I went to walk off stage and he called me back and said, ‘I promised you one more thing.’ And I walked back to him and he looked out at the delegates and said ‘is there anyone in this room who thinks they should give Mr. Stanoch a personal apology?’ The president then turned to me and said ‘I told you I would find who did this to you.’”

The man who had discriminated against Stanoch stood up from the crowd and gave an apology in front of the delegates.

“From there the Potentate turned to me and said you can accept or deny his apology, and I accepted it,” Stanoch says.

Stanoch used this situation to extend an olive branch to show that we don’t just have to live together in Tampa Bay, but we can be together.

“After all of that I emailed them and said I was happy to have them as new friends and offered the local Shriners a spot in Ybor’s Holiday Parade,” Stanoch says.

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state news

democrats take advantage oF district 10 resHaping Wire Report

o

rlando | A former police chief, the former state Democratic Party chairman, an incumbent state senator and a political newcomer are vying to represent an Orlando-area congressional district reshaped so drastically the Republican incumbent decided to run in a new, neighboring district.

Florida’s 10th Congressional District now favors Democrats after redistricting. So Republican Rep. Daniel Webster, a Christian conservative, chose to run for an open seat in the neighboring 11th District, a more conservative, rural area west of Orlando and north of Tampa.

The newly-drawn 10th District covers western parts of the Orlando metro area. Less than half the district’s registered voters are Democratic, more than a quarter are Republican and more than a quarter have no party affiliation.

For the most part, the Democratic candidates have very few ideological differences. But the Democratic field is among the most diverse in recent memory, including two African-American women, a gay man and a woman whose family emigrated from Brazil. The winner of the Aug. 30 primary will face Republican Thuy Lowe, a Vietnamese-American who is running unopposed in the primary.

Val Demings, Orlando’s first woman police chief, is the favorite of Washington Democratic power brokers. Demings narrowly lost to Webster in 2012 when the district leaned Republican.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has held fundraisers for Demings, and Demings shared a stage with Pelosi and female lawmakers as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last month. She referred to the Pulse nightclub massacre in her speech.

She talked about “the tragedy that gun violence inflicts on America’’ and lamented Congress’ failure to take

action after the fatal shooting of 49 patrons at the club.

Some of Demings’ Democratic opponents resent the help she’s getting from national party officials.

The national party “has already decided to put their thumb on the scale for their favorite candidate,’’ Fatima Rita Fahmy said at a recent candidates’ forum. Fahmy is an attorney and first-time political candidate.

As the former chairman of the state Democratic Party, Bob Poe has deep party ties in Florida and has the most money of all the candidates in the crowded field. If elected, he would be the first openly HIV-positive member of Congress. As of the end of June, Poe had raised just under $2 million, mostly from loans he made to his campaign. By comparison, Deming had raised nearly $1 million, state Sen. Geraldine Thompson had raised nearly $200,000 and attorney Fatima Rita Fahmy had raised nearly $20,000.

“I don’t go to Washington in debt to any special interest,’’ Poe said at a recent candidates’ forum. “The voters of District 10 are going to be my special interest.’’

Thompson has a decade-long record as a respected state lawmaker.

“I’m a workhorse, not a show horse,’’ she said at the candidates’ forum.

transgender inmate sues Florida to get Hormone treatments Wire Report

T

allahassee, fla. | A transgender prisoner sued the Florida Department of Corrections on Monday to demand hormone treatments that she said were promised when she pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder.

The suit filed in federal court in Tallahassee says Reiyn Keohane, 22, is receiving cruel and unusual punishment because she needs the hormone treatments to avoid depression. Since being incarcerated in men’s prisons, she has tried to hang herself and attempted to castrate herself.

“This treatment is absolutely necessary to my ability to mentally function,’’ Keohane wrote in one grievance to prison officials.

“Without it I consider self-harm and suicide every single day. It is the only thing that matters in my life in this moment.’’

Keohane was arrested in September 2013, one month after beginning hormone treatments.

Her decision to plead guilty to stabbing her roommate was motivated by a promise that hormone treatments would continue while she was in prison, according to the lawsuit filed on her behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Keohane was sentenced to 15 years for the attack in Fort Myers.

Keohane has felt she was born with the wrong gender since she was 12 and began seeing therapists when she was 13.

By age 14, she began living as a female. She legally changed her name when she was 17

and began hormone therapy when she was 19.

The lawsuit also complains that female underwear was taken from her when she was transferred to a new prison and officials refused to return them. The suit seeks to force the department to let her wear female clothing and to grow her hair so she can style it as a woman would. Her prison mug shot shows her with a crew cut.

“I am a transgender female and am not comfortable wearing male underwear. It is a discrimination on the basis of sex or gender to force a person to act in a certain way because of their sex,’’ Keohane wrote in another complaint to prison officials.

The Department of Corrections said it hadn’t yet received the lawsuit.

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transgender inmate wHo Filed lawsuit Found dead in cell Wire report

f

lorida CiTY | A transgender Florida inmate who sought to change her name to a traditionally female one was found dead in a cell earlier this month.

The Miami Herald reports that Justin Lee Naber, who went by Stacy Lorraine Naber, was found dead Aug. 6 at the Dade Correctional Institution in Florida City.

Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady confirmed the death but declined to provide details.

Naber’s aunt, 60-year-old Lee Kahn, said Naber hanged herself.

The American Civil Liberties Union in March adopted a federal complaint Naber had filed in which she sought to change her name. The lawsuit argued the name change would be psychologically therapeutic. The lawsuit was dismissed after Naber’s death.

Naber was serving a life sentence for fatally stabbing a man in 2013.

Judge dismisses case over transgender embalmers Firing Wire report

D

eTroiT | A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of a transgender embalmer who was fired by a Detroit-area funeral home after disclosing that she was transitioning from male to female and would dress as a woman.

U.S. District Judge Sean Cox ruled that R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home didn’t discriminate against Aimee Stephens. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the Garden City funeral home on behalf of Stephens, who was fired in 2013 after telling her employer she was transitioning.

The EEOC in 2014 sued the funeral home and a Florida eye clinic, saying it was the first time it had filed lawsuits to protect transgender people in the workplace.

The commission last year reached a $150,000 settlement with Lakeland Eye Clinic of Lakeland, Florida. Brandi Branson was fired there in 2011 as director of hearing services after saying she was undergoing a gender transition to female.

The EEOC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Cox’s decision. Upon filing the lawsuit, a commission attorney said federal law bars businesses from firing workers because they don’t behave according to stereotypes of how men and women should act.

Cox ruled the funeral home met its burden of showing that enforcement of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars employment discrimination, “would impose a substantial burden on its ability to conduct business in accordance with its sincerely-held religious beliefs.’’

He concluded the business is entitled to a religious exemption.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

nation+world news

texas Judge temporarily blocks Obama’s transgender rules Wire Report

A

USTIN, Texas | A federal judge in Texas is blocking for now the Obama administration’s directive to U.S. public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity.

Hundreds of school districts woke up Aug. 22 to news of the order by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor on the first day of class in Texas and elsewhere.

The decision dated Aug. 21 comes after Texas and 12 other states challenged the Obama directive as unconstitutional during a hearing in Fort Worth last week. It applies to schools nationwide, as many

districts reopen this week after the summer vacation.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, immediately cheered the decision.

“This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threating to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform,” Paxton said. “That cannot be allowed to continue, which is why we took action to protect states and school districts.”

The federal government told U.S. public schools in May that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. That announcement came days after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over a state law that requires people to use

public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate, which U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had likened to policies of racial segregation. Republicans have argued such laws are commonsense privacy safeguards.

Schools were not explicitly told to comply or lose federal funds. But the Obama administration also didn’t rule out that possibility in court documents filed in July, saying recipients of federal education dollars “are clearly on notice” that antidiscrimination polices must be followed. Texas alone gets roughly $10 billion in federal education funds.

The lawsuit was filed in May by Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah and Georgia, and the Republican governors of Maine, Mississippi and Kentucky.

Bumble, Grindr, Jack’d and Tinder to connect with people at the games. A reporter for the site said in the story that he got three dates in his first hour of trying and also detailed what some men wrote on their profiles on Grindr, a popular gay dating app.

Social media users quickly voiced concern that the details in the original version of the story could not only out gay athletes, but also potentially threaten their safety.

Those concerns, Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon wrote in issuing the first apology, were legitimate.

“This was never our reporter’s intention, of course,” Avlon wrote.

“But there was a concern that even mentioning the home nation of some gay athletes could compromise their safety. We apologize for potentially jeopardizing that safety in any way. As a result, we have removed all descriptions of the men and women’s profiles that we

previously described.”

The Society of Professional Journalists was quick to criticize the story as well.

“The athletes adversely affected by the story also deserve an apology,” wrote Andrew Seaman, who chairs SPJ’s ethics committee. “Such a story has no place in a modern media organization.”

Avlon said some “editorial changes” were made to the original article in response to readers’ concerns. The backlash continued, and the site then went a step further.

“The article was not intended to do harm or degrade members of the LGBT community, but intent doesn’t matter, impact does,” the site’s statement on the story’s withdrawal said. “Our hope is that removing an article that is in conflict with both our values and what we aspire to as journalists will demonstrate how seriously we take our error. We screwed up. We will do better.”

for 22-year-old Hande Kader, whose body was found last weekend. Media reports say the body was burned beyond recognition. Opposition MPs also attended the demonstration.

Banu Aslan, 58, told The Associated Press, “We want justice. They should never do this again. They should never murder again.”

Last month, Turkish gay rights organization Kaos GL reported that the decapitated body of a gay Syrian refugee, Muhammed Wisam Sankari, had been found in Istanbul.

Homosexuality is legal in Turkey but rights groups say hate crimes against the LGBT community are common.

The Daily Beast withdraws story outing gay athletes at Rio games Wire Report RIO DE JANEIRO | The Daily Beast has withdrawn a story that prompted ire of many readers, complaining that it could have outed gay athletes at the Rio games.

The story’s removal from the site Aug. 11 came hours after the editor-in-chief for the publication apologized for the article, which was first revised before being taken down completely.

“Today we did not uphold a deep set of The Daily Beast’s values,” read a statement on the site. “These values—which include standing up to bullies and bigots, and specifically being a proudly, steadfastly supportive voice for LGBT people all over the world—are core to our commitment to journalism and to our commitment to serving our readers.”

The story talked about how athletes use dating apps such as

Hundreds protest rape and murder of transgender activist in Istanbul Wire Report ISTANBUL | Demonstrators gathered in central Istanbul to protest the rape and killing of a transgender woman and LGBT activist.

Hundreds attended the rally Aug. 21, holding signs and chanting slogans

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in other news 2 New York men get probation in beating of gay black man Two Hasidic men who admitted to participating in the beating of a black man in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was sentenced Aug. 16 to three years of probation and 150 hours of community service. A judge also ordered 22-year-old Pinchas Braver and 42-year-old Abraham Winkler to pay $1,400 in restitution to Taj Patterson, who was assaulted in December 2013 by several men who yelled anti-gay slurs. The New York Post reports the men were members of an Orthodox Jewish watchdog group.

Five men were originally charged in the beating, but charges against two of them were later dropped. A fifth defendant is headed to trial. Braver and Winkler had faced up to 25 years in prison on gang assault charges before pleading guilty to unlawful imprisonment in May.

Transgender-inclusive benefits OK’d for Phoenix city employees The Phoenix Healthcare Task Force has approved transgender-inclusive benefits for city employees.

Mayor Greg Stanton says Phoenix will be the first city in Arizona taking such strong steps to support a diverse workforce. In a statement Aug. 18, Stanton says he applauds the members on the Healthcare Taskforce for “their forward-thinking leadership. “ He says providing transgender-inclusive health services is vital to the well-being of city employees and makes Phoenix a more sought-after employer. Stanton also says it “is simply the right thing to do.”

NBA chooses LGBT-friendly New Orleans for 2017 All-Star Game The NBA has decided to hold the 2017 All-Star Game in New Orleans. New Orleans replaces Charlotte, which was set to host the game until the NBA decided last month that it wouldn’t hold its marquee, mid-season event in North Carolina because of a state law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people. Unlike several other Southern states, Louisiana has not been swept up in legislative efforts to pass laws similar to that in North Carolina – a fact Gov. John Bel Edwards has touted while lobbying the NBA to bring its All-Star weekend to New Orleans for a third time.

Hundreds of LGBT and supporters rally in Nepal capital About a thousand members of sexual minorities and their supporters have paraded in Nepal’s capital to demand equality and implementation of their rights under the country’s new constitution. Participants in the parade Aug. 19 in downtown Kathmandu said they still don’t have equal rights despite a constitutional ban on discrimination on the basis of sexuality. The charter was adopted last year but has not been fully implemented by the government because of opposition from several minority groups. The parade has been held annually for the past few years on Gaijatra, a Hindu festival to remember the dead, when people are traditionally allowed to cross dress.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

23

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

viewpoint

michael Wanzie

tHe wonderFul world oF wanzie A plea to gay Republicans

T

his is noT mY TYpiCal

rant about how I am mystified by the very concept of Log Cabin Republicans. Instead this my sincere and earnest plea to LGBT persons who are registered Republicans to please come to your senses, and just for this one election, for your own sake, step away from the people – Republicans seeking office – who, if elected, will in fact drag us backward, reversing every stride we as a community have made toward equality over the past decade.

Your party has spoken. Your heterosexual Bible-thumping homophobic colleagues have voted for and adopted a platform that clearly and emphatically states YOU do not matter. A platform that clearly and emphatically states they intend to target YOU; to pro-actively work and vote to reverse YOUR marriages and declare YOUR unions once again illegal. To keep YOU from adopting. They have stated clearly and emphatically they intend to support the right of businesses to deny YOU goods and services simply because of who YOU are. In light of these very real, very dangerous, archaic planks

in your party’s platform how can you possibly vote for Republicans in the upcoming election?

I am stunned by the number of Log Cabin Republicans remaining loyal to a party that actually, honestly, and openly seeks to harm YOU. To take away YOUR rights. To declare YOU less than they. To inform business owners and land lords and employers they have carte blanche to discriminate against YOU under the guise of so-called religious freedom. If in light of these very real threats to YOUR very existence you will still consider casting a vote for a Republican senator, representative, or presidential candidate this November then I would have to argue there is something seriously wrong with YOU and YOU should hot foot it over the LGBT Center for some mental health counseling to get to the root of why - like a battered spouse who gets caught up in a cycle of abuse - you would return home to a party that actually seeks to do YOU harm.

If you don’t care enough about YOURSELF to step away from this regressive anti-gay platform and vote for Democrats in November then do it for the children.

Because, let’s not forget that your lovely party wishes to encourage and make easily and legally available the dangerous, mentally and emotionally damaging practice of reparative therapy. They seek to give a middle finger to modern medicine and sound science and instead champion ill-advised attempts to change gay children into straight children.

THIS IS INSANITY! This practice so often results in suicide. How can you possibly bring yourself to vote for this dangerous, soul-crushing mind-fucking therapy? THIS ABUSE! Regardless of how fiscally conservative you might be. Regardless of how many typically Republican

watermark Your LGBT life.

approaches to governing with which you may be in line. Regardless of how much you may dislike Hillary. YOU as a gay person cannot logically cast a single vote for any Republican candidate in THIS particular election, because in doing so, you are saying YOU don’t matter and that the

and not based solely on party affiliation. But not this time. For all seats in Washington I will vote straight Democratic and I beg all persons concerned with LGBT issues to do the same in order to send a clear message to the RNC that their regressive hateful platform will not

be made once again legally less than others and that is precisely what voting Republican in this election would be endorsing.

And to all my Log Cabin Republican friends who have long insisted they are changing the Republican Party from within – that you are helping ween the Party

health and wellbeing of our gay youth also matter not to YOU. I am not usually a fan of simply pulling down the party lever and voting strictly according to party lines. I have always been an advocate of voting for people based on their individual merits, voting history, and accomplishments

be tolerated.

The advances that have been made on behalf of our community over the past eight years are advances I honestly did not think I would see in my lifetime. We have struggled too long and have come too far to now risk being yanked back to a less tolerant and accepting time by a bunch of bigots and religious zealots only to

along to be more accepting and supportive of LGBT persons – I would like to say to you, in the words of my dear friend Leslie Jordan who first spoke them to Dr. Eve during her attempted “de-homosexual-ization” of his character Brother Boy in Sordid Lives: “Well, iT ainT a WorKin’!”

If you don’t care enough about YOurseLF to step away from this regressive anti-gay platform and vote for Democrats in November then do it for the children.

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Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

NETWORK with LGBT Business Le aders & Allies at our MBA Mixe rs

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Rick Claggett, Publisher

w o r d s

to live by Passion

I

would be remiss if I

didn’t start this column out by thanking the Metropolitan Business Association for bestowing upon me the honor of Business Man of the Year. I have a great passion for what we do at Watermark and a great deal of love for the staff and the community we serve. It is an incredible feeling to be recognized for doing something you love to do.

I am a huge fan of events akin to the MBA’s Pride Gala and Watermark’s WAVE Awards, because they draw attention to those in the community that have a great deal of passion. Having passion for your community and channeling that passion into volunteer work or the advancement of others is what I like to call using your powers for good.

Conversely, there is also the phenomenon known as using your powers for evil. This is misdirected passion that most commonly takes the form of Facebook posts.

Admittedly, I’ve had a difficult time “friending” people in the past. I moved around a lot as a kid and that carried over into my early adult life.

Someone who was very close to me one day would be someone I would never see again the next day. I

never lamented the loss, it was just the way life was.

It became easy for me to shrug off any situation and move to the next.

As a result I developed somewhat of a reputation as a robot, especially among those I dated (sure, there were a few).

When I started working at Watermark I began to take root in the LGBT community in Orlando and Tampa Bay. I fed off the passion Tom Dyer had for his newspaper and all of the people in its coverage area. Making friends became easier and using passion to do good felt good.

Then Facebook came along.

Talk about making it easy to make friends.

Now all I have to do is click a button. It was a beautiful thing. You could connect with people from the past, laughing and sharing inspirational quotes of the day and your favorite cat video.

I don’t put too much stock in Facebook anymore, though. Perhaps unfairly, I equate Facebook to an evil that is destroying society, like I unfairly blamed beer and Taco Bell for my past weight issues. While Facebook can create a community, it can create a false sense of community and privacy. I accept every friend request because I use Facebook mostly to promote Watermark and pugs. I assume people mostly ask to be my friend because they have something to promote.

That might make up about 400 people of my friends list. I’ve noticed casting a net this wide can have its problems, especially in an election year.

Want to know what I am talking about? Go to your status and type just one of the next two words: Hillary, Trump.

Now read the comments.

I posted one article about Hillary Clinton, and some of the comments that followed would make

watermark Your LGBT life.

George Carlin blush. I get that some of you aren’t a fan, but is calling her a murdering “c-word” really productive debate?

Lately the friends list seems to fluctuate in number. Thank you, political year! Every day I see posts about who was unfriended, who should

dinner because your politically mouthy in-law will be there? No. At best it means the person who unfriended you doesn’t want to see your posts anymore. It’s that simple It seems daunting, the barrage of daily Facebook angst. It’s a necessary tool at times and it does have

that which we have no knowledge of.

Until we can unfriend Facebook, can we all agree on one thing? At the risk of sounding like Jerry Springer and Rodney King, let’s use our passions for good. Channel your passion into actions. Vote! Don’t tear each other apart. Your

be unfriended and who is about to unfriend someone as a final slap in the face.

What does it really mean to be unfriended on Facebook anyway? And why are people so bent out of shape when it happens?

Does it mean you can’t talk to that person if you run into them on the street? Does it mean you can’t go to Thanksgiving

value, if we let it.

My favorite post came from my little league baseball coach not too long ago. He longed for the good old days when we were polite to those we were acquaintances with. We got together for a purpose and treated each other like humans. We didn’t offer angry opinions about everything, including

words matter, so choose compassion and virtue. It’s not politically correct to be kind, it’s just the right thing to do. There are families in your community that are hurting and need your help. Help them. You won’t regret it.

Perhaps unfairly, I equate Facebook to an evil that is destroying society, like I unfairly blamed beer and Taco Bell for my past weight issues.

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Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

27

Los Forms Formularios de Claim Now Available

1 Reclamación están Disponibles Go to OneOrlando.org.

1 2 3 4

2 Download and complete the forms.

Ingrese en OneOrlando.org. your claim form and have it notarized.

3 Print completed forms and supporting 4 Mail ythellene Descargue los formularios. documentation to:

Imprima su formulario de reclamación y que un National Compassion Fund: OneOrlando Fund notario lo valide. c/o National Center for Victims of Crime 2000 M Street NW, Suite 480

Imprima su formulario reclamación y que un Washington, DCde 20036 notario lo valide: NationalClaims Compassion Fund: OneOrlando Fund must be postmarked

by September 12, 2016 to qualify. c/o National Center for to Victims Crime Payment distribution approved,ofeligible claimants will begin September 2016 on480 a rolling basis.

2000 MonStreet NW,27,Suite Washington, DC 20036 For more information, please visit OneOrlando.org.

Culturally-experienced representatives are available to assist

Las reclamaciones tener sello postal tardar del 12 de claimants withdeben completing their claim forms a atmás 855-4-VICTIM septiembre de 2016 para calificar. or by email OneOrlando@ncvc.org.

La distribución del pago a los solicitantes aprobados y elegibles empezará el 27 de septiembre de 2016.

28

watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

Los Formularios de Los Formularios de Reclamación están Disponibles

Reclamación están Disponibles 1 2 3 4

1 Ingrese en OneOrlando.org.

2 Descargue y llene los formularios.

Ingrese en OneOrlando.org. su formulario de reclamación y que un 3 Imprima notario lo valide.

Descargue y llene los formularios.

4 Imprima su formulario de reclamación y que un notario lo valide: Imprima su formulario de reclamación y que un notario loNational valide. Compassion Fund: OneOrlando Fund c/o National Center for Victims of Crime 2000 M Street NW, 480 Imprima su formulario deSuite reclamación y que un Washington, DC 20036

notario lo valide:

reclamaciones deben tener sello postal a más tardar del 12 de NationalLasCompassion Fund: OneOrlando Fund septiembre de 2016 para calificar. c/o National Center for Victims of Crime La distribución del pago a los solicitantes aprobados y elegibles 2000 Mempezará StreetelNW, Suite 480 27 de septiembre de 2016.

Washington, DC 20036 Para información adicional sírvase visitar OneOrlando.org.

Representantes con experiencia cultural están disponibles para asistir

Las reclamaciones tener sello postal a más tardar delo 12 de a los solicitantesdeben a llenar sus formularios llamando al 855-4-VICTIM enviando mensaje electrónico septiembre deun2016 para calificar.a OneOrlando@ncvc.org.

La distribución del pago a los solicitantes aprobados y elegibles empezará el 27 de septiembre de 2016. watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

talking points

15

the article was not intended to do harm or degrade members of the Lgbt community, but intent doesn’t matter, impact does...

NEARLY

IN

GAY, LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL SsaidT Uthey’d D E Nbeen TS RAPED at sOme pOint in their Lives, COMPARED TO

1 20 IN

HETEROSEXUAL STUDENTS. —CDC survey of U.S. students

we screwed up. we will do better.

—The dailY beasT, in a sTaTemenT afTer WiThdraWing a sTorY on Their WebsiTe abouT ouTing gaY aThleTes aT The olYmpiC games in rio.

Lady gaga tO channeL barbra streisand in A StAr iS Born remake

l

adY gaga and bradleY Cooper are sTarring in a remake of A Star is Born, Warner Bros. announced Aug. 16. The film will mark the singer-actress’ first leading role in a movie and the directorial debut of the American Sniper actor-producer. Gaga will compose and perform new songs for the musical drama. The original A Star Is Born was released in 1937 and featured Janet Gaynor as a budding actress entangled in a relationship with an established Hollywood star played by Fredric March. A Star is Born was remade as a musical drama in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason and again in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

caitLyn jenner tweets dOcu-series i Am CAit canceLLed by e! netwOrk

C

aiTlYn Jenner Confirmed via TWiTTer Aug. 16 that her show, I Am Cait, will not return for a third season. The show, which focused on Jenner’s life after coming out as transgender, debuted in July 2015 to high ratings but has sharply declined in its second season. “After 2 amazing seasons of @IAmCait, it’s time for the next adventure. Thank you E! & thank you to the best girlfriends I could ask for,” Jenner tweeted.The E! network released a statement confirming the shows cancellation, saying the show was “a groundbreaking docu-series that sparked an important and unprecedented global conversation about transgender people, their struggles and triumphs.”

watermark Your LGBT life.

amy schumer, seth rOgen take On gender identity in new bud Light ad

b

ud lighT released iTs neWesT ad in the ongoing commercial series, “The Bud Light Party,” starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen, and in the ad they take on labels. “We are going to bring America together,” the two comedians say in the commercial. “A party for everyone: men, women, people of all genders.” The Bud Light Party campaign began with Schumer and Rogen earlier this year during the Super Bowl. “The Bud Light Party has rallied around bringing people together,” Alex Lambrecht, vice president of Bud Light, said in a press release. “In our newest spot, Seth and Amy remind Americans that labels belong on beer, not people—a message Bud Light proudly supports.”

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

chris keLLy becOmes first OpenLy gay head writer fOr SAturDAY niGHt LiVe

n

bC Confirms ThaT ComedY WriTers Chris KellY and sarah sChneider have been promoted to head writers of Saturday Night Live‘s 42nd season. Kelly and Schneider both joined the writing staff of SNL in 2011 and have been responsible for some of the shows most recent viral hits including “The Beygency,” the Emmy-nominated “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” and “Bar Talk” featuring Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton and the real life presidential nominee as bartender Val. Kelly is the first openly gay head writer for SNL and Schneider is the first female head writer since 2008 when Tina Fey left the show to focus on her sitcom 30 Rock.

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Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

VIP PARTY & MISS SPACE COAST PRIDE PAGEAENT

watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

33

in-de mercedes Kelly Gartland

Lucas Wehle

Gina Duncan Cameron Parker

Anthony Citino

19

rAe’LYNN tHOmAs

18

erYKAH tIJerINA

17

sKYe mOCKAbee

16

Dee WHIgHAm

15

DeeNIQuIA DODDs

Jeremy Williams and Anna Johnson

WE ARE ALL

MERCEDES SUCCESSFUL

Mercedes Successful is one of 19 reported transgender murders in the U.S. this year.

When will it stop?

34

watermark Your LGBT life.

M

erCedes suCCessful Was

found shot to death in the back parking lot of a Big Lots and Tractor Supply Co. in Haines City May 15. She was 32 years old. Successful identified as a transgender woman.

Successful was a performer and a native of Kingston, Jamaica. She moved to Haines City by way of New York. She represented Jamaica in the 2014 Gay Caribbean USA pageant, shown on the pageant’s Facebook page wearing a Jamaican flag dress and high-heeled black boots.

“She was quite something to behold,” Darcel Stevens, a well-known drag performer in Central Florida, says about Successful.

Stevens knew Successful through

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

working drag events together.

Her work ethic showed through the initiative she took to sew her own clothes and craft her own accessories, he says.

Stevens also remembers Successful showing utmost respect to her fellow performers.

“She was always one to walk in and immediately say hello and ask how you were doing,” Stevens says.

“She never seemed to be caught up in any sort of ruckus or discourse.”

pth: succesfuL

Tiara Powell Jean-David Parlier Melody Maia Monet

14

gODDess DIAmOND

Cassie Smith

Tristan Byrnes

13

He recounts Successful’s drag routine as being very particular to her. The music she played was Caribbean-inspired, and she would often do very physically demanding stunts such as headstands.

“She was unique,” Stevens says.

“She was a plus-size girl but she had no qualms about who she was. She stood out immediately.”

Successful had been undergoing hormone replacement therapy for just over a month at the time of her death. Stevens says Successful and a close friend were actively transitioning together and coming to terms with what it meant to be transgender.

The Haines City Police Department was on the scene the day Successful’s body was found. They investigated the crime, they said it was a homicide. A statement was released by the HCPD which refused to identify Successful as transgender, calling her by her birth

AmOs beeDe

12

merCeDes suCCessFuL

name and using male pronouns. The local media followed suit, saying in their reports that Successful could not have been transgender because she wasn’t dressed as a woman when the police found her body.

The report stated Succesful was dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and sneakers.

ignOrnace begOt viOLence

S

uccessful is one of 19 trans murders, mostly trans women of color, that have been reported in the U.S. in 2016 so far. When Watermark first reported Successful’s death in May, she was one of 12.

“In the last year, a transgender person was murdered somewhere in the world every three days,” says Gina Duncan, Equality Florida’s Transgender Inclusion Director. “Violence for the transgender community is no stranger.”

watermark Your LGBT life.

11

reeCeY WALKer

2015 was the deadliest year for transgender people in the U.S. with 23 reported murders. Now, 2016’s death rate is up to 19 and it isn’t even September yet. Why the dramatic increase over the last few years?

“It’s been a collision of the community stepping out of the shadows and becoming more visible compounded by the community experiencing a great deal of discrimination and bigotry,” says Duncan.

Much like the LGB community experienced a rise of exposure in pop culture in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, the trans community is experiencing a saturation in society with celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox and Jazz Jennings stepping into the spotlight. But with exposure comes the pushback.

“Seeing [that] the transgender community in society is being elevated above the understanding of the transgender journey,” Duncan says.

10

KeYONNA bLAKeNeY

Education is key – not just knowing the proper terms and pronouns to use, but also knowing what life can be like and what risks are out there when a person decides to come out as transgender.

“The community has been experiencing this cycle of violence.

It usually is very patterned in that a transgender person falls off the grid,” Duncan says. “It starts with someone who is discriminated against at work, or their quality of life is impacted. They lose their job, they become homeless, they get desperate, they resort to sex work or something that puts them in the path of violence or into a hurtful situation.

So as a transgender person, it’s always on your mind. The more the violence is out there, the more you think about the situations you’re in, even something as simple as using the restroom, it’s a

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

cOntinued On pg. 37 | uu |

35

NOW THROUGH NOVEMBER 13, 2016

255 Beach Drive NE

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727.896.2667

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

Danielle Coates Cameron Parker

9

sHANte IsAAC

Darlene Furness

Sean St. Pierre

8

| uu | mercedes Succesful frOm pg.35

suppressive thought process that never leaves you.”

As a transgender person comes face-to-face with a violent situation, it can be compounded by the fear that they could experience more discrimination by reporting it.

Micaela Geyer, a trans woman and blogger who writes for the website The Transgender Truth, thought after a domestic dispute that going to the police would be the best course of action.

“I declared myself transgender on a 911 call,” recalls Geyer. “The officers that actually arrived on the scene consistently misgendered me, even after I told them and I was presenting myself as female. This instance occurred roughly three months ago.”

Geyer experienced further discrimination when she was at the Orlando Police Department for the same issue and an officer refused to let her into the woman’s restroom.

“I was told by the officer on

QuArtNeY DAVIA DAWsOm-YOCHum

7

duty that I was to use the men’s room because my gender is male, and I informed her that my sex is male but my gender is female, but I was denied access into the female restroom,” Geyer says.

Geyer has filed grievances with the OPD for both altercations.

“There are two topics that we spend a lot of time on in group and they are bathroom issues, because that makes people nervous; and then anytime there is a death or murder we have issues of fear and concern come back up,” Byrnes says.

Attendance at the trans groups has gone up over the last two years , and while there is an array of topics they speak about, one that comes up, especially within the male to female groups, is safety.

“Not to undermine trans male’s internal fears, because they are just as real and valid as anyone’s.

However, the misogyny in our culture is intense, and that’s why it is so much harder for trans women,” Wehle says. “It’s tough enough to be a cisgender woman in this world, let alone a trans woman. But you put transphobia and racism on top of misogyny and it’s real. You can actually feel it sometimes in group, the fear.”

The community is mobilizing and is identifying what needs to be done to end this increase in trans murders, beginning with the gaps in

suppOrt structure

T

he issues that members of the transgender community face can feel like too much to deal with at times, which is why support groups are a highly sought after way of getting help and understanding.

Metro Wellness and Community Centers in St. Petersburg and Tampa offer several different types of support groups: Male to female, female to male, trans parents and trans significant others are just a few that are offered.

Tristan Byrnes is a licensed mental health counselor and Lucas Aiden Wehle is the Youth and Transgender Program Coordinator for Metro. Both of them oversee the trans support groups through Metro in the Tampa Bay area.

KeDArIe/KANDICee JOHNsON

watermark Your LGBT life.

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DemArKIs stANsberrY

the cycle of violence, says Duncan.

“National organizations, local organizations and as a community, we are not doing enough,” she says.

“It is obviously not stemming the tide. We believe education and awareness is a good first step; the more people are educated the more they understand the falsehoods of the rhetoric against the transgender community that is coming from hate groups like the Liberty Counsel.”

One step Equality Florida has taken is forming TransAction Florida, a statewide transgender inclusion initiative with three broad objectives: To educate Florida’s major employers on effective transgender inclusion protocol, to advocate for the trans community in a broader and more structured way, and to be an integral part of all public policy that involves transgender rights. Duncan and Byrnes are both members of TransAction.

One of the biggest issues to deal with when trying to bring justice for these victims is making sure the police investigations can

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

Micaela Geyer

5

mAYA YOuNg

move smoothly and expediently.

This is difficult to do when investigators and local media misgender the victim.

In July 2015, the body of India Clarke was found at a community center in Tampa. She had suffered blunt-force trauma to her upper body, according to the police report.

Local media and the investigators on the case continued to address India by her birth name and by male pronouns. Clarke’s friends all knew her as female. Such negligence holds up an investigation and can cause leads to run cold.

Because of the handling of Clarke’s case, Metro Wellness offered transgender sensitivity training to local police stations across the Tampa Bay area. “[After Clarke’s murder]Metro went into the St. Pete Police Department twice with trans specific training,” Wehle says. “We haven’t gone into Tampa yet but hopefully soon. St. Pete completely changed their policies when it came

cOntinued On pg. 39 | uu |

37

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these interactions and collisions with societal institutions, it’s going to occur, and we just have to work through them, and if we can work through them together all the better,” Duncan says.

in memOriam

J

4

VerONICA bANKs CANO

| uu | mercedes Succesful frOm pg.37

to how their officers handle a trans person, what they can do and what they cannot do.”

The training continued down the I-4 corridor and across the state with the help of Equality Florida’s TransAction.

“We had 120 people show up to our training at OPD; from TSA, first responders, fire department officials, etc.,” Duncan says. “Now we have not only done law enforcement training in Tampa Bay and Central Florida, but we have done media training. We have gone up and done training in Jacksonville around Human Rights Ordinances, so the more the media knows, the more they can call out when they see that someone is getting it wrong. We’ve seen a lot of improvements since then but the battle continues.”

Since Metro and TransAction began training and education in Florida, the Department of Justice has also developed a training guide specific to transgender issues with law enforcement.

3

KAYDeN CLArKe

“This is huge but the issue is the DOJ and TransAction can’t force police departments to use it,” Byrnes says. “TransAction has begun reaching out to local police departments letting them know that there is this training out there and we can help get it set up, but we cannot go in there specifically unless they reach out to us. We can poke them a bit and say that this is available for them to use. Some of them have told us no, we got this and we can just say ok, and just keep having those conversations.”

there is nO “i” in “Lgbt”

V

iolence against the transgender community is on the rise, most notably because of attacks from the religious and conservative right, but a small and vocal outcry is coming from within the equality movement that looks to separate trans issues from other LGB concerns which, without the support, will directly affect the safety of trans people.

“We are hearing, because of all of these discriminatory bills and laws,

2

JAsmINe sIerrA

like HB2 in North Carolina, being proposed that often times boil down to the bathroom issue, that the LGB part of the community wants to jettison the T,” Duncan says. “They say that our issues are different entirely, our issue is gender identity and their issue is sexual orientation.

I hear some arguments that the fight for transgender equality is holding back non-discrimination laws for the rest of the community, and what we all need to do is stand with each other and support each other through a time of change.”

Wehle says if the transgender fight for equality is going to succeed then we all need to stand as one.

“We need numbers,” he says.

“It’s disheartening when the LGB doesn’t know anything about the T in its own community. They won’t use the proper pronouns or won’t educate themselves on gender issues, and I have heard some very negative things said about the trans community from the LGB community.

“I’m not a gay man, but I was there supporting and voting for same-sex marriage,” Wehle says.

watermark Your LGBT life.

1

mONICA LOerA

“After that, where were my LGB and straight allied brothers and sisters when I needed my rights fought for? Where were they for HB583, Florida’s trans bathroom bill, when I needed the right to use the bathroom. It felt like no one was backing us up. So you need those numbers to fight, and it feels a bit one-sided sometimes.”

The LGB community is definitely needed in the fight, but it becomes a bit of a struggle, Byrnes adds.

“We need to be able to voice our own fight, we need to be able to be the front line, or else people won’t think we are strong enough to defend ourselves. We don’t need people to speak for us, but we could absolutely use you to stand behind us as allies, to support us and to be there for us. But sometimes what happens is that in wanting to be an ally they say well here let me just fight this battle for you and that can’t happen,” Byrnes says.

Just as the LGB community made the push for acceptance, the transgender community is trying to make that next step as well.

“With increased visibility, all of

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ust as with any group in society that experiences disproportionately amounts of violence, the transgender community has a day that they honor those in the family they have lost to violence. The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) has occurred annually on Nov. 20 since 1999. It was started by transgender activist and columnist Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester, a transgender black woman murdered in Allston, Massachusetts. Events and memorials are held across the country.

Typically at the TDoR memorial the names of those who lost their lives to violence in the transgender community are read out loud. This year in cities throughout the U.S. people will hear the name Mercedes Successful read.

“It’s a very sad and scary fact that it seems to be getting progressively worse, and unfortunately that’s only what’s reported. It’s even worse than we know,” Wehle says. “I try to think that hopefully we won’t need TDoR one day but it seems like we are getting further away from that.

I think this is one of those cases where things are going to get worse before they get better.”

While the numbers in transgender murders are increasing, so is the mobilization of trans advocates, at least in the Tampa Bay area, according to Byrnes.

“They are talking to me, talking to Lucas, talking to Metro, starting their own groups saying what we can do to help educate, because through education comes healing and understanding and that’s one thing that needs to happen to decrease these numbers,” he says.

“That’s why TDoR is so important, and I hope one day it can become just a day to celebrate, because we won’t have anything to report.”

But there this humanity remains: this kindness, this respect.

The last post on Mercedes Successful’s Facebook page was a photo she uploaded of a young woman that she helped to get ready for a high school prom. “It was a pleasure to work with you and to make your dream become reality,” the caption reads. It was posted on May 15, the day of her death.

39

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arts and entertainment

M

Jeremy Williams

iKe delamonT is a

critically acclaimed and award winning comedian from the Great White North, and he has sold out show after show at Orlando Fringe and at Fringe festivals across the world. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, that’s because Delamont’s fame doesn’t come from his own name, it comes from his character, which throughout the festival circuit, and a few religious organizations, is larger than life.

Delamont is God, but not just any God, he is God the Scottish Drag Queen.

Heavenly

Profits Canadian comedian Mike Delamont is bringing judgment, and laughs, to Orlando with his successful stage series God is a Scottish Drag Queen watermark Your LGBT life.

Delamont’s show, God is a Scottish Drag Queen, Queen of which he performed Part IV at this year’s Orlando Fringe, has made him the talk of any festival at which he performs.

Now, on the heels of filming a television special, Delamont is bringing Parts I and II of his successful God is a Scottish Drag Queen series to the Plaza LIVE. Delamont spoke with Watermark ahead of the show to let us know what we can expect from God and when we might get a peek at the Devil. canadians are knOwn as pOLite and friendLy. dOes that cOnfLict at aLL with pLaying a character whO is an aLLpOwerfuL deity whOse entire jOb is tO judge?

I think the politeness does [laughs], but I think the character is really kind hearted, which is why when we first wrote the character, I did her with a British accent and it came off as really mean, kind of like a headmaster from an old boarding school. None of

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

the jokes really worked. The next night we switched it over to Scottish and it added a bit litheness, which I really liked, like an old storytelling vibe, and that really let the audience in on that [fact that] it was all a joke.

That the character is in on the joke and it is very easy, so the character became very sweet but not very nice. hOw did yOu cOme up with the character?

I had been doing a cabaret in my hometown for a few years.

It was a lot like Saturday Night Live. Each month we would put on a show and there was always some sort of vague through line. In 2006, one of the shows we did was a battle of the bands with Jesus against Satan for supremacy. I was literally a secondary character; I was Jesus’ dad. It was a smaller bit, somewhere on YouTube the video still exists of the second night ever of me doing the character, the first night of me doing the Scottish accent, I wish that didn’t exist but it’s there [laughs]. So we had this skit and I played the dad and we liked the idea that God was a man in a dress, but there was nothing effeminate about it. cOntinued On pg. 45 | uu |

43

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

No, I think comedy is very impulsive and by the seat of your pants, so you just jump in and hope for the best. When we premiered this character in 2006 not one part of me thought it would be this popular. I mean, I liked it and that was important to me, because I think I have OK comedy taste.[laughs] But wow, people are so attached to it and the nice thing is I talk about it less now; I don’t go into is God a man or a woman or a man in a dress – people create their own reality for it which I love.

It’s a fan base that I never would have predicted.

| uu | Scottish Drag from pg.43

It’s just like this is what i wore today, and now it’s become a big part of the show, the discussion of femininity. How all the most powerful people in the world wore dresses; like Scots wore kilts and Greeks wore togas and Roman soldiers wore leather pleated skirts into battle; so there’s this brand new thing that a dress is feminine, so I really liked that.

In your shows God is a Scottish Drag Queen, you interact with the audience and crew members a lot.

How much of the show is scripted and how much do you rely on improvisation?

A lot of it is scripted, usually.

This year at Orlando Fringe [doing God is a Scottish Drag Queen Part IV] there were a lot of tech issues for some reason. [laughs] Every night it seemed like the screen wasn’t working or the projector wasn’t working – it was always something. Of the eight shows, I think we had two without an issue, but I write the shows as they are in that theater at that moment, so you don’t come to the show and the show “takes place in Heaven” – you are in that theater on that day with God. I like the ability to be in the moment, and I know the shows so well that I’m happy to jump off and go into a rant.

The longer I do the shows, the more scripted they get. Orlando gets a pretty raw show. Fringe was the premiere of GIASDQ IV, so it has changed a lot since then, but I keep it pretty scripted, but I would say on average 20 percent is a wailing flying shit show. [laughs]

Do you usually use Orlando Fringe as a testing ground for new material?

Yeah, Orlando Fringe is one of the best audiences around.

There are very few that are that caring. I rarely go to a festival where people are so vested in my success. So you feel very comfortable to try out new things. I premiered my last three shows in Orlando and I’ll do it again. It’s a great place to start, and it’s why I’m so excited to bring Parts I and II back to the Plaza Live, because they have traveled the world and it is a really tight show now

Now you have a new show that is going to deal with the opposite to your current character God. What can you tell us about Devil?

ARE YOU READY FOR A MIRACLE: Mike Delamont gets

down and holy as the omnipotent creator of all in his show God is a Scottish Drag Queen, Parts I and II. Photo by Derek Ford Photography

and it’s a lot of fun. It is much more polished than it was when people saw it years ago at Fringe. It’s cool to have a town where I can take the risks and make the mistakes and people are supporting me and then be able to bring the finished product back as well, so this will be a nice full circle.

So for the people who saw parts i and ii at Fringe, how different will this show be for them?

I think they are quite different.

Bits have been cut and bits have been added. So from when I first did them in Orlando a chunk of it will be very different, because when I put I and II together, I didn’t do it like Part I is Act One and Part II is Act Two, the two shows are blended so I’ve added to it to make sure it works, so it’s like a brand new show. I premiered this version in Winnipeg in October and people loved it.

The past two shows at Fringe have consistently sold out, and in pretty large theaters.

Yeah, it’s crazy. I never thought that I would be able to be doing this for a living. When I first started this, I was playing 50-seat theaters, and now I am literally standing outside of a 1,400-seat opera house. I’m doing a show right now that we are filming for television. It’s absurd that this is what I get to do with my life, and there is no moment that I ever forget that I’m so lucky to be able to do this. And the fact that people come back over and over, and bring their friends, you kind of wait for the other shoe to drop.

You think to yourself, “Well this can’t go on forever! People will clue in one day and realize I’m a fraud.” [laughs] Comedians often do characters and develop bits, and a rare few take on a life of their own; Pee-Wee Herman and Elvira are examples that come to mind. Did you know, as you were developing God is a Scottish Drag Queen, that it would be one of those characters that would explode like that?

watermark Your LGBT life.

It’s interesting. When I write the God shows what I do is I rent out a tiny, 50-seat theater and I do four shows in two days. No projections or sound cues, just me and the outfit, and I have a bunch of jokes and I just go out and test them out. I see what worked, what didn’t work, what sticks, and a lot of what happens in those shows is improvised, and if it works then I write it out for the full show. So right now I’m working on what the Devil is going to be. There are a few choices, but I’m going to do some shows and see what sticks and then who knows. I am nervous but excited to see what comes out of it. I plan to test the show out at Orlando Fringe and Winnipeg Fringe. Orlando has me all set, but Winnipeg wanted to set me up with a 400 seat theater and I’m like wait, I’m testing this out, what if it’s shit?

So, I’m going to be doing smaller Fringe shows this coming year to test it out. I have some ideas and especially this one part that I think is going to be great but I don’t want to give it all away just yet. But I’m excited and I will start work shopping it in January.

more information

What: God is a Scottish Drag Queen When: Saturday, 8:00 p.m., September 10 Where: The Plaza LIVE Tickets: $37.50, MikeDelamont.com/tour-dates

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

5 Questions for the Almighty in a dress

B

Jeremy Williams

efore taking the stage at the Plaza LIVE Sept. 10, we asked the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to come together and cop-a-squat with us in all her Scottish, drag glory. She took off the gloves and kicked back in some sensible shoes for five hard-hitting questions.

God, in your book there are some inflammatory things said about gay people. In reading them and seeing you in your show, I feel you may have been misrepresented. Would you care to clarify Leviticus?

I said a lot of things back in the day. I was petty and young and I’ll be honest with you, I drank a fair bit. So let’s put it in my “oops” category alongside women not being able to speak in church and people not being able to wear mixed fabrics. You know how embarrassed you feel about those pictures of you in acid-washed jeans and with a mullet from 30 years ago? Imagine how I feel about things from 2,000 years ago.

Speaking of Leviticus, your honor, why are you so angry about shellfish?

Because it’s revolting! They live in their own toilets.

I know that an omnipotent being such as yourself is supposed to remain unbiased in the dealings of mere mortals, but do you care to place any bets on the U.S. Presidential race?

For a land that keeps complaining that they want Jesus to come back, they certainly kicked the quiet, simple, Jewish man who wanted to help the sick and the poor right to the curb, didn’t they?

I don’t think it’s a good idea to pick the biggest piece of corn in the turd.

With the Zika virus messing up the Summer Olympics in Rio and screwing with everyone’s vacations in Florida, we’ve got to ask you about mosquitoes. What were you thinking, your majesty?

Zika is the least of the worries for Rio. They are making athletes swim in toxic waste! When mutants and the X-Men take over the world, we will know where it began. And mosquitoes? Florida is a swamp. The mosquitoes were there long before the people. I blame air-conditioning and the House of Mouse.

And finally, your Excellency, to quote Saint Joan Osborne, what IF God was one of us?

Then he would just be a fat Canadian in a dress. Who would pay to see that?!

45

Plea se join us for the 27th Annual

Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Launch Party at the ta mpa club | 101 Ea st Kennedy BLVD

September 17, 2016 | 6:30PM

Enjoy tapas, a meat carving station, one complimentary drink, followed by a cash bar.

Join us for an evening with community, see the upcomming trailers and programming for the Film Festival, and participate in the Silent Auction. You can also purchase or pick-up your Crown Circle, and/or Simply Fabulous Passes. Free Parking in Bank of America Garage.

Schedule of Events:

6:30 – 8:30pm Enjoy the Night at The Tampa Club 8:30 – 9:00pm Launch Party Program / Awards

Tickets: $50 online | $65 at the door | www.tiglff.com

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Event Sponsor/Host: The Tampa Club Executive Producer’s $2,500 Thomas Isbon Chad Farmer & Matt Bachman Producers- $1,000 Level Mark Puskarich & John Tonnison Jeff Hartley & Chuck Cave Larry Biddle & David Warner - Planning Works Ed Lally & Phil Dinkins Star - $500 Level Connie Lancaster & Annie Hiotis Karen Goforth & Karen Garcia

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community calendar

event pLanner

arts+entertainment

OrLandO

OrLandO

Del shores’ SINgularly Sordid

The Big Meal, August 5–28, Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando. 407-297-8788; MadCowTheatre.com

WednesdaY, aug. 31 and ThursdaY, sepT. 1, 7:30 p.m. parliamenT house, orlando

Cheers to Equality, Aug. 25, Savoy, Orlando. 407-898-6766; SavoyOrlando.com Leslie Jordan LIVE!, Aug. 25, Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com ‘80s Night, August 26, The Abbey, Orlando. 407- 7046261; AbbeyOrlando.com Art After Dark, Aug. 26, CityArts Factory, Orlando. 407-648-7060; CityArtsFactory.com Hot Summer Nights Pool Party, Aug. 27, Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com The Orchestra starring former members of E.L.O, August 28, The Plaza Live, Orlando. 877-435-9849; PlazaLiveOrlando.com Indie Art, Craft & Vintage Bazaar, Aug. 27, Big Bang Bazaar, Orlando.

407-906-3244; BigBangBazaar.net Goo Goo Dolls w/ Collective Soul and Tribe Society, Aug. 30, Hard Rock Live, Orlando.

407-351-5483; HardRock.com/ Live/Locations/Orlando MyTHIC: The Art of Morgan Wilson, Sept. 3, The Hourglass Brewery, Longwood. 407-262-0056; TheHourglassBrewery.com Cabaret Series: Tommy Wooten, Sept. 4, Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com

WalK his WaY

The ingenious mind behind Sordid Lives and Southern Baptist Sissies is back with a slew of new tales. Del Shores’ one man show SINgularly Sordid is full of stories about how you get back into the dating scene after a divorce, dealing with Grindr and Tindr and what life is like as a “minor gay celebrity.” He’ll also be sharing secrets on the lives of Dolly Parton, George Lopez, Leslie Jordan and more. Tickets are $45. Visit ParliamentHouse.com for more information.

space Coast pride’s Drag Queen bingo WednesdaY, aug. 31, 7:00 p.m. eau gallie CiviC CenTer, melbourne It’s bingo with two sides of sass! Double your pleasure with twice the space, twice the drag queens and twice the bartenders. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door and includes a full bingo game and supplies.

Full cash bar available and admittance is 21 and up. Come out and support your Space Coast Pride.

Purchase tickets at DragQueenBingo.eventzilla.net.

tampa bay

Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler will be rocking out Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater for his Out on a Limb tour Aug. 2

Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, Sept. 9- 23, Central Christian Church, Orlando.

407-937-1800; CFCArts.com

Wednesday Wine Tasting, Aug. 31, Ybor City Wine Bar, Tampa. 813-999-4966; YborCityWineBar.com

Back to School Retro Party, Sept. 4, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813 -599-8625; SouthernNightsTPA.com

tampa bay

Diversity Chamber’s Networking Mixer, Sept. 1, Quench Lounge, Largo. 727-755-8390; DiversityTampaBay.com

GayBOR Monthly Meeting, Sept. 8, Cigar City CIder & Mead, Tampa. 813-247-6233; GaYBOR.com

Pride Skate, Aug. 25, United Skates, Tampa. 813-876-5826; UnitedSkates.com/Tampa Florida Leather & Fetish Pride Weekend, Aug. 26- 28, Sawmill, Dade City.

352-583-0664; FLSawmill.com Drake, Aug. 27, Amalie Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com

Labor Day Island Pirate Party, Sept. 5, The Copper Rocket Pub, Maitland. 407-636-3171; CopperRocketPub.com

Frat House, Aug. 27, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813 -599-8625; SouthernNightsTPA.com

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sept.

8- 9, Northland Church, Longwood.

407-937-1800; CFCArts.com

Steven Tyler, Aug. 29, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.net

LaBEAR Day Kick-off, Sept. 2, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813 -599-8625; SouthernNightsTPA.com Labor Day Weekend Party, Sept. 2- 4, Quench Lounge, Largo. 727-754-5900; QuenchLounge.com Labor Day Laser Party, Sept. 4, Honey Pot, Tampa. 813-247-4663; Facebook.com/Honey-Pot Dog Day at the Rays, Sept. 4, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. 727-825-3137; TampaBay.Rays.MLB.com

sarasOta

balance tampa bay/Diversity Chamber’s mentorship mixer TuesdaY, aug. 30, 6:30 p.m., nielson, oldsmar Join Balance Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay Diversity Chamber of Commerce for the Mentorship Mixer. BTB and the Chamber bring students together with mentors in the careers these young adults are pursuing. The mentor program allows each student to earn points towards winning a scholarship award at the Diversity Diamonds.

The mixer is sponsored by Nielson and fully catered.

For more information visit DiversityTampaBay.com.

42nd Street, August 11- 28, Manatee Performing Arts Center, Bradentown 941-749-1111; ManateePerforming ArtsCenter.com Suncoast Equality Connection, Aug. 25, Aloft Hotel Downtown, Sarasota.

941-870-0900; EqFl.org Back to the 80s Dance Party, Aug. 28, The Gator Club, Orlando. 941-366-5969; TheGatorClub.com

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

sarasOta

One pulse t-Dance sundaY, sepT. 4, 8:30 p.m. feTe CaTering and ballroom, sarasoTa Polo Grill and Bar – along with local celebs Zara Barrie, Eduardo Anaya and Joshua Beadle – will be hosting an ultra-fierce party called ONE PULSE, on Labor Day weekend at the Polo Grill/Fete Ballroom space in Lakewood Ranch.

The event will benefit the victims of the devastating Pulse Orlando Nightclub massacre, through Equality Florida. $15 cover charge, $65 VIP. For more information or to RSVP go to PoloGrillAndBar.com/Calendar/One-Pulse.

event planner and community calendar is brougHt to you by curtis protective services • 1-800-551-8368 • curtissecurity.com watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

49

VOTE

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50

watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

overheard

T

the raging debate

he raCe for house disTriCT 70 has been kind of a swim in the mud, especially between candidates CJ Czaia and Dan Fiorini, much of which has been reported on in this magazine, over the LGBT vote and the importance of endorsements. The other candidate Wengay Newton has been happy to sit sidelined while the other two tear into each other.

The attacks came full steam at an LGBT debate between the candidates held at the Manatee County Democratic Party Aug. 17. Fiorini confronted Czaia face-to-face on two subjects that he has raged about to several media outlets, including this one, the endorsement of Czaia by the Stonewall Democrats and Momma Tee. “Look at the company Czaia keeps!” and “Momma Tee is a known homophobe!” Fiorini yelled at the debate. Fiorini went on to tell Czaia that hiring Momma Tee was the same as hiring former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. “You can be sure the black community would be screaming.” Fiorini points to this move on Czaia’s part as to why the Stonewall Democrats should withdraw their endorsement. Czaia called Fiorini’s attacks “low” and “despicable.” The tempers flared all night between Czaia and Fiorini, and as for Newton? He mostly stayed out of it. “I don’t know what’s going on, this doesn’t make any sense,” Newton said.

C

tampa bay Out+abOut

fOr One night OnLy

omedian amY sChumer is heading To Tampa in October, but ahead of her appearance in the bayside city, Schumer has released her new book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. Within the first few pages of she talks major smack about two cities; one of them is Fayetteville, North Carolina (and yes, we have our own issues with the state of North Carolina but we’re sure it’s not a terrible place, maybe) and the other is Tampa, wait… what! That’s right, Schumer calls Tampa and Fayetteville “horrendous” cities. “I’m not scared about writing that and making those people mad, because I know for a fact that no one who lives there has ever read a book,” Schumer writes. “JKJKJKJKJK, but kind of not K.” The comments in the book are tied to a story of a one night stand she had with a man she met on the flight from Fayetteville to Tampa. “When you go between cities like those two, you get the pleasure of flying on the tiniest short bus in the sky, which for some reason is still called a plane,” she writes. Tampa has not taken this lying down. Tampa’s Inkwood Books responded posting on the sign outside their store, “Dear Ms. Schumer, give us another chance? Love, the 3 people who read.” Even Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn got in on the conversation. “Amy, get to know us. You’re gonna love us,” he said. “This is a great city with great people. And if you thought you had a great one night stand, just think of a whole city full of people like that.” Schumer has not responded as of yet, but if she does we say, careful Amy, you mess with the Bob, you may get the Buckhorn.

1

2 3

1

dolphin’s Tale: Hillsborough County LGBTA Democratic Caucus president Dave Cutler checks out the ambiance of Punky’s Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg Aug. 22. Photo courtesy of Dave Cutler.

2

abC’s of abs: Jeffrey Kelly performs at Southern Nights for the ABC (Anything But Clothes) party in Tampa Aug. 13. Photo courtesy of Southern Nights Tampa

3

4

5

WriTe of passage: Doris Ross Reddick (L) and Kevin Beckner at the Jimmie B Keel Regional Library in Tampa Aug. 15. Photo courtesy of Nick Janovsky

4

v for sCoialiTe: (L-R) David Wright, Kristin See and Nick Lecrone get social at Eddie V’s for Balance Tampa Bay’s August social in Tampa Aug. 17. Photo by Jeremy Williams

5

We are pride: The bartenders were all dressed up in their We Are Orlando t-shirts for the Sizzlin’ Summer Dance at the Bobby Jones Golf Club in Sarasota Aug. 20. Photo courtesy of Cindy Barnes

6

and Then There Was fun: The 10 local artists who contributed to the Flamingo Resort’s Art Expo in the Blu Room in St. Petersburg Aug. 17.

Photo by Jake Stevens

6

7

arT of The deals: Jeff Kline (L) and Michael Smith check out the artwork at Flamingo’s Art Expo in St. Petersburg Aug. 17. Photo by Jake Stevens

8

happY birThdaY: Hot 101.5’s Miguel Fuller celebrated his birthday Aug. 22 by showing off one of his gifts, a framed picture of him and Holly greeting fans at the Flo Rida concert in Tampa. Photo courtesy of Ryan McGibbent

8 7

watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

51

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1

watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

8/3/16 12:04 PM

overheard

OrLandO Out+abOut

spLitting hares Over a memOriaL

T

he greaT debaTe over The pinK bunnies at Lake Como and Langford Park has been settled. The pink bunnies were installed in 2013 to honor Chase Smith, Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s former aide.

Often for the Easter holiday, Chase would dress up in a bunny suit to entertain the children. So these statues were certainly a fitting tribute.

You may have remembered we reported a (not-so-liked) resident of the Lake Como neighborhood filed a complaint over the statues and neighbors didn’t understand what the issue was, considering all the neighborhood children loved their pink lakeside art. Around the same time of the great hare debate, the bunny at Lake Como was also vandalized but later repaired. Well, finally the proper zoning was approved for the two bunnies and now they can stay.

2

pride gaLa recap

T

he mba’s pride gala Was a huge suCCess, held at the Sheraton Orlando North in Maitland. The night was hosted by Jorge Estevez and Miss Sammy and it seemed like an evening straight out of the Golden Globes. The gala included entertainment by Todd Kimbro and Blue Star and even the Orlando Gay Chorus.

We naturally want to toot our own horns here, since our own publisher/owner Rick Claggett. Not only was he nominated for best businessman of the year but he also won despite the stiff competition.

Congratulations, Rick!

4

impuLse isLand

i

mpulse group orlando is hosTing a fundraiser for the Pulse of Orlando fund. The fourth annual Rainbow Over Disappearing Island will be on September 10 with busses departing early in the morning to Ponce Inlet. The island itself disappears and reappears as the water recedes, during the time the island is accessible. Impulse promises a day of fun with drinks and games before heading back to Orlando.

Lights Out at mk and a new hOuse at uO

i

T Was reCenTlY announCed that the Magic Kingdom will be losing the overextended Main Street Electrical Parade. Not much has changed for the parade since it originally premiered in 1977.

No word as to what will replace it, but Disney fanatics are hoping for the LED parade from Disneyland called Paint the Night, which has been rumored as a potential (temporary) replacement.

On the other side of the Universal, the last haunted attraction for Halloween Horror Nights was recently announced. And the house will be based on the popular American Horror Story anthology series, focusing on Season 1: Hell House, Season 2: Asylum and the most recent Lady Gaga infused season 5: Hotel.

1

4

PHOTO By DEANNDRA MENO

PHOTO COURTESy OF FOREVER PULSE ORLANDO

sTand againsT haTe: Gina Duncan, with protesters, speaking outside the Orange County Convention Center where an anti-LGBT conference was occuring in Orlando Aug. 11.

2

sKaTer Kids: (L-R) Garret McLaughlin, Nicklaus Sparrow, Gianni Bido Ryan, Brandenburg and Shaun Sweeney roll into Semoran Skateway for Pride Skate Aug. 10 in Orlando. PHOTO COURTESy OF DANNy GARCIA

3

brunCh & brush: (L-R) Phil Rawlins, Patty Sheehan, “City Kitty,” Kay Rawlins and Maxine Earhart at Maxine’s on Shine for Brunch Bro’s in Orlando Aug. 20. PHOTO COURTESy OF

MAXINE EARHART

5

moTher & son: Sally Hogshead (L), with son Asher, on stage at the 2016 Pride Gala Awards in Maitland Aug. 19. PHOTO

By J.D. CASTO

1

3

5

6

phoTo finish: J.D. Casto (L) and Nicole O’Neil at Lake Eola as they took pictures of people who got Pulse-inspired tattoos in Orlando Aug. 7.

6

mC hosT: WFTV’s Jorge Estevez arriving at the Sheraton Orlando North to emcee the MBA Pride gala Awards in Maitland Aug. 19. PHOTO COURTESy OF

7

JORGE ESTEVEZ

7

Coming To The CouCh: Orange County mayor Teresa Jacobs (Center) with members of the LGBT Alliance of Central Florida at the O.C. Administration Office in Orlando Aug. 22. PHOTO

COURTESy OF MICHAEL DEEyING

8

i Choose You: Pokémon party at P House bartender Vinny dresses as Pikachu to catch ‘em all for Pokémon Extravaganza at the Parliament House in Orlando Aug. 13.

PHOTO By DANNy GARCIA

8 watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

53

THE BARBER FUND HELPING THOSE LIVING WITH CANCER

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

announcements

wedding beLLs

Alan harris, 44, and erik olsson, 37

congratulations

from Orlando, Florida

years togetHer:

10 years

engagement date:

September 1, 2014

wedding date:

October 23, 2015

wedding venue:

The Acre Orlando

wedding planner:

Carolina Torres

wedding caterer:

Bjoely Event Services

wedding tHeme/colors:

The theme was country and the colors were orange and blue.

First song:

“This is Who We Are” by Blake McIver

interesting Fact:

They were together for three years, apart for five with little contact and then reunited in 2013.

“T

he Wedding iTself, The

day itself, went so fast, but I was so happy to have all the people that I love there,” Alan says. “I guess one of the moments that I really enjoyed was when we turned around once the ceremony was complete, I looked out to the audience and the amount of smiles that were facing back at me just really warmed my heart. I’ll remember that particular sight as long as I live.”

Alan Harris, who is an emergency manager, and Erik Olsson, a health programs manager, have a long history, dating back to 2006 when they first met through a mutual friend.

Alan was invited to a party by a friend, and it turned out it wasn’t as much a party as it was a political event. Alan was not really into politics, but he saw Erik there and they started chatting.

They listened to the speech but afterwards became more acquainted and decided to go

out on a date.

“Obviously, I thought he was attractive, but the conversation just flowed and I’m not normally one for small talk at parties,” Erik says. “Actually, after the fact, maybe a month or two later, another mutual friend who was at the party said that from a distance you could actually see sparks flying.”

They dated for about a year before they moved in together, and then they were together for another two years. Erik was

wrapping up school, and he wasn’t in the stage of his life, he says, where he wanted to settle down.

For the five-year period they were a part, Erik lived in several different cities across the U.S. and Alan stayed in Orlando and built up his career. They had very little contact over those five years, yet they reconnected when Erik moved back to Orlando and they saw each other at an event.

At that point, Erik says he didn’t expect them to get right back together, but he missed his friendship, so they started hanging out again, and it grew eventually from there.

Alan says the first year of them being back together was rocky.

About two months into them dating, he went to the doctor and found out he was going to need open-heart surgery. He says Erik stuck by him through the surgery and afterward when he had to go through months of therapy.

“It was amazing how he came back into my life right at that particular moment and time when I really needed that person, that partner, to help me in that way – it was really a gift,” Alan says.

Alan says he bought the ring a while before he proposed and had it with him awaiting the perfect time and moment to ask Erik, but it never came. It wasn’t until when they were on a vacation in Atlanta when he decided there’s never going to be a perfect time, so he decided to ask him on that trip – and despite never finding that perfect moment, Erik describes the proposal as “perfect” to him.

Their wedding was something they both planned together, but they wanted it to be something that fit both of them and wasn’t too over the top. Erik says the most nerve-racking thing was making sure they didn’t forget to do something, because going through with the actual wedding was the easy part.

Powerhouse attorney Mary Meeks and her filmmaker wife Vicki Nantz celebrated their sixth “legal” anniversary on Aug. 19, though the pair has been together for 18 years. Congratulations!

local birtHdays

Orlando’s Eddie Mora, Central Florida singer and actress Jill Wilson,Watermark writer and film critic Stephen Miller (Aug. 26); coordinator at the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse Benjamin Cox, former St. Pete Pride board member Carl Lovgren (Aug. 27); Orlando artist Keith Theriot, St. Petersburg and Gypsy Productions’ Darryl Epperly, St. Pete songstress Lorna Bracewell, Clearwater bear Chris Miller, handsome Tampa Verizon guy Jim Green (Aug. 28); Orlando Miller’s Ale House kitchen coach Nicole Phillips, IT guru Jeff Kern, leather stud Randy Sullivan, Seminole painting expert Karen Santos, Studio@620 founder and friend to the arts Bob Devin Jones, Orlando artist and photographer Lee Vandergrift (Aug. 29); Lakeland bear Bob Lloyd, former MBA Director Jeffrey Buak, (Sept. 2); Sarasota entertainer and comic Beneva Fruitville, community ally Jennifer Kunsch (Sept. 3); Orlando server and arts lover Richard Hicks, Watermark cover mom Joan Rodriguez (Sept. 4); Sarasota’s Asolo Rep social media coordinator David Valdez, St. Petersburg-based TIGLFF husband Erik Carroll, Tampa pharmacist Brian Wehling, St. Pete software genius David Palio, Gulfport party host Ed Dunn (Sept. 5); Rollins College honcho A. Eddie Mehnert, Tampa Bay everywoman and KJ Monica LeFavre, Sarasota Starbucks junkie, teacher Steve Eller (Sept. 6); owner of Split Endz salon Steven Dorsagno, St. Pete convenience store specialist Scott Petersen, Tampa leather man Todd Crutchfield (Sept. 7); Orlando drag icon Darcel Stevens, Tampa’s Colombia transplant Ricardo Mendez, HSN bigwig Darryl Blaker, Tampa bear Mike Scott, Disney entertainment tech Charles Cantrell, Sarasota hottie Angel Perez, Tampa athlete, Watermark coverboy Marty Walsh (Sept. 8)

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.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

55

tampa

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Contact Billy Manes: Editor@WatermarkOnline.com

watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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watermark Your LGBT life.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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Augus t 25 - Sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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uprisings

primary cOLOrs

On the one hand, [the debates are] a serious chance for Americans to tune in and if they haven’t made up their minds, to try and make up their minds. so I want to take it seriously. but you’ve got to be prepared for wacky stuff that comes at you. I am drawing on my experience from elementary school.

—hillarY ClinTon on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE aug. 22

the brOwn nOte

A

s Confusing as The redisTriCTing fraCas has been over the past few years – OK, kind of boring unless you run for office – there has been one political figure so intriguing, so terribly choreographed, that we haven’t been able to take our eyes off of her. Corrine Brown is a many splendored thing, after all, and we like to rubberneck at messes.

You’ll recall that Brown took some heat for having a serpentine congressional district running from Jacksonville to Orlando. In short, it’s getting ugly, and Brown is on a fundraising rampage to make it look like it isn’t. (It is.)

“I’ve never liked asking for campaign contributions, but to keep my campaign moving forward, I’m respectfully asking you to make a donation,” she wrote on her website on Aug. 22.

Brown has less than $25,000 on hand, according to floridapolitics. com. She’s also running against a middle-of-the-road opponent called Al Lawson, who is being funded by everyone. Oh, Brown is also facing down 24 charges of fraud for an alleged charity.

She’s not a keeper.

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Order in the cOurt

S

omeTimes good Things Come from incredibly terrible circumstances. In the wake of the June 12 Pulse massacre, Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Debarga is upping the ante on courthouse security statewide. The Palm Beach Post reports that Pulse shooter Omar Mateen was previously employed by G4S, which dealt with security globally.

“We want to move ahead quickly on this issue – and stay ahead,” Debarga told the Post. “There can be no question of its urgency. It is underscored by the shock, fear and grief we all have witnessed and experienced this long summer.”

The workgroup is expected to spend two years figuring out how to better protect citizens in the state’s courthouses.

texas hOspitaLity

n

obodY reallY enJoYs going to the bathroom, but when you aren’t allowed to use the facilities that match your gender, things get even more terrible. Twelve states have now joined in a lawsuit in direct reaction to President Barack Obama’s order to allow transgender students to use their appropriate restrooms in public schools. With some people with necks that are a bit too red calling it a “federal overreach” (gross), U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor reached around and said that the Obama ruling violated all the laws in tarnation.

“This president is attempting to rewrite the laws enacted by the elected representatives of the people, and is threatening to take away federal funding from schools to force them to conform. That cannot be allowed to continue,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a statement according to the Miami Herald.

That’s, appropriately, a pile of shit.

watermark Your LGBT life.

i

Billy Manes

’ve been WresTling WiTh This for WeeKs, and these emotional bruises are something to contend with. Here at Watermark, we’ve discussed doing a primary voters’ guide downticket, upticket and with a ticket to get away.

As it turns out, however, we – meaning me – cannot support any party that goes against the rights of the LGBT community, meaning we – or me – would look a bit foolish dancing along the left side of the plate and ignoring the potatoes on the right. If it sounds like a cop-out, in some ways it is. I’ve been engaged in the political community for too long not to know the names of children or the friends or family who have been there for me. It presents a conundrum within a locket within a cookie. I don’t want to influence your vote. I want to you to research it and find out for yourself.

But there are friends I certainly support, even apart from the fray of the recent mudslinging (you know who you are). I study these things. I pay attention. I care. So don’t get me wrong: I’m in it to win it for the people who will make life better.

There have been some accusations flying from several camps that I have found disturbing this cycle.

And while it’s easy for me to say, “Hey, I’m for Hillz, because I have been forever!” the repercussions of riding down the list of local – even federal – offices being fought for by people with whom I am close friends makes for a sticky wicket. And you don’t really care who I’m voting for, I would imagine. I just hope – as you do – that we all vote. (For Hillary in November, OK?) So, we’ll aim high here. I believe in Congressman Alan Grayson’s bombast as it speaks to my own progressivism. I also could see myself in the Patrick Murphy camp once Aug. 30 blows by. I’ll be voting blue, regardless, because this is my right. In fact, once November rolls around, I’ll vote blue all the way down the ballot. We cannot risk losing our rights; we cannot risk a Trump presidency; we cannot sit idly by and watch our country blow up like the automotive industry did, high on its horse but low on its integrity.

What really bothers me right now – should you care to know – is the actual shaming of people based on health conditions that don’t even exist on record.

What else bothers me are accusations of impropriety that I personally know to be false. If you so much as respond in defense, then you’ve played your last card. So, effectively, you’re stuck in silence, and that’s, as far as I know, the opposite of politicking.

So many issues need to be addressed in this political season, so much history needs to be made.

Our environment is key, as are our human rights, our chronic clinging to guns, our health care, our schools, our families. So you do me a favor (if I can be so bold as to ask) and study up on your own choices for Aug. 30. I promise that I’ll be back around – Watermark in tow – with concrete endorsements (Hillary!), but for right now, here in the seediest part of the political process, it’s best I don’t speak of my picks.

I’m sorry and you’re welcome.

Augus t 25 - sep t emb er 7, 2016 // Issue 2 3.17

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