Watermark Issue 25.07: #NeverAgain, But Why Now?

watermark Your LGBTQ Life.

issue 25.07 • april 5 - april 18, 2018

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Momentum for gun control is growing following the Parkland shooting, so why was the public and political response comparatively lackluster following the mass shooting at Pulse?

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

dePartments 7 // bureau Chief’s desK 8 // Central florida neWs 10 // tamPa bay neWs 12 // state neWs 15// nation & World neWs 21 // talKing Points 43 // Community Calendar 45 // tamPa bay out + about 47 // Central florida out + about 48 // tamPa bay marKetPlaCe 49 // Wedding bells/ announCements 50 // Central florida marKetPlaCe 54 // last Page

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[Pulse survivors] were marginalized in three different areas: ethnically, income level and sexual orientation. so you take three different marginalized groups, and the legislators gave no respect or deference, because none of those are their —chRistiNe LeiNONeN voting constituency.

on the Cover

PAGE

31

PAGE Never AgAiN,

23

bUt WHY NOW?:

Florida’s LGBTQ community confronts the differences between the public and political responses to the mass shootings at Parkland and Pulse.

Photo by Ian Suarez

sCan Qr Code for

WatermarKonline.Com

festival fliCKs:

The Enzian Theater hosts LGBTQ movies like viral sensation “In A Heartbeat” at the 27th annual Florida Film Festival.

WatermarK i ssue 25.07 //aPril 5 - aPri l 18 , 2018

for the 49

ePiC eats

sWeet divinity

odd CouPle

PAGE Community leaders react to the acquittal of the Pulse gunman’s wife.

PAGE Dining Out for Life returns to Tampa Bay for the 13th time to benefit Empath Partners in Care.

PAGE

PAGE

read it online!

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

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19

Divine Grace weighs in on controversy behind the “Roseanne” revival.

The Dali Museum examines the unlikely friendship of Dali and Duchamp in its latest exhibit.

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central floriDa

Bureau chief’s

Jeremy Williams cfl Bureau chief

Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com

i

desK

N MANy wAys i’M Just A big kiD.

Unless a collar shirt is forced upon me, you will almost always find me wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a t-shirt with some cartoon character or pop culture phrase on it.

If you ever have the chance to come by Watermark and sit in my office, you will be greeted by a shelf behind my desk that is littered with a Hillary Clinton action figure, a faux-Oscar, a Baby Groot doll, an Iron Man mask, Wonder Woman and Catwoman Funko Pop! toys and an array of knick knacks and trinkets— most of which were obtained from my monthly Loot Crate subscription or my occasional Happy Meal.

I err on the side of caution calling me a man with “Peter Pan Syndrome.” I feel that condition lends itself to men who can’t manage time or money, keep a dirty house and have their priorities skewed.

Despite being a grown man who reads comics, watches cartoons and collects toys, I pride myself on keeping a mostly clean home, have built a less-than-stellar credit score back up to respectable numbers and know what matters most in this world.

Maybe it is my childlike wonder that makes me optimistic in this world and helps me to admire the youth today as they fight back against gun violence. Or maybe it’s just because I’m not an asshole. As of late a lot of so-called adults who I am suppose to be more like have taken to television and social media to attack teenagers who are tired of getting

shot at when attending algebra and biology classes.

Fox News host, and real-life Grand High Witch, Laura Ingraham took to Twitter March 28 writing “David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it.”

Hogg’s response? He posted a list of Ingraham’s top advertisers and asked his more than 700,000 followers to “Pick a number 1-12 contact the company next to that #.”

Advertisers began dropping like flies, which forced Ingraham to tweet an apology and then announce her show would be taking a week off. Bets are being taken whether she will even return, or if she does for how long?

After Ingraham stuck her foot in her tweet hole, the Crypt Keeper’s idiot redneck cousin, Ted Nugent, jumped into the fight. In an interview on a conservative radio program, NRA super fan Nugent called the students of Parkland High “mushy-brained children” and said “they have no soul.”

The kids went back to social media and jumped on Nugent, calling him out for is ignorant views on guns.

This led Nugent to take to Facebook to whine and cry about “the left media” and their “fake news.”

The conservative D-list wasn’t done yet though. Frank Stallone (that’s not a typo, Frank Stallone is a real person. He’s the brother of the more successful Stallone, Sylvester) dragged himself out from the broom closest I’m guessing he has been living in to tweet about Hogg.

Old Frankie tweeted that Hogg “is getting a little big for his britches” and that someone needed to “sucker punch” him.

The pattern doesn’t change, an idiot adult says something dumb and the kids stand up to the bully leaving the bully to whine and cry. Frank did just that and a day later tweeted an apology saying he was “irresponsible” and “deeply ashamed.”

My pop culture mind always ties things back to movies and TV, so I can’t help but think of the 1991 film “Hook” as I watch these gutless conservative pirates spew hate-filled comments at the proverbial Lost Boys (and Girls) of Parkland.

For those who have not seen “Hook,” it is a sequel to “Peter Pan” in where a now all-grown up Peter has forgotten what it is like to be a kid. He goes back to Neverland to rescue his own kids after they are kidnapped by Captain Hook, and discovers that as you grow up you don’t have to become a stuffy adult who is a dick to children. Who knew?

I can’t help but think, as these adults throw out petty insults at children, it might be time to book

As you grow up you don’t have to become a stuff y adult who is a dick to children.

Who knew?

that trip back to Neverland. Get back to those good ole days when you were bright-eyed and optimistic about the future. However you choose to reignite the love in your hearts do it quickly because the rest of us have work to do and are getting tired of you “adults” acting like little babies.

Speaking of Parkland, in this issue we look at the response to gun violence between Parkland and Pulse. We also check out LGBTQ films playing at the Florida Film Festival and take a look at the Marcel Duchamp exhibit at the Dali Museum.

In news, we look at Orlando’s response to the Pulse gunman’s wife being acquitted and chat with Dining Out for Life’s ambassador Pam Grier as the event heads to Tampa Bay.

WatermarK staff Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer Tom@WatermarkOnline.com Owner & Publisher: Rick Claggett ext. 110 • rick@Watermarkonline.com Business Manager: Kathleen Harper ext. 101 • Kathleen@Watermarkonline.com CFL Bureau Chief: Jeremy Williams ext. 106 • Jeremy@Watermarkonline.com

Tampa Bay Bureau Chief: Ryan Williams-Jent ext. 302 • ryan@Watermarkonline.com

Senior Orlando Account Manager: sam Callahan ext. 103 • sam@Watermarkonline.com

Multimedia Assistant: Melody Maia Monet ext. 100 • Maia@Watermarkonline.com

Orlando Account Manager: Dillan Ramirez ext. 105 • Dillan@Watermarkonline.com

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

Contributors JAsON LecLeRc

is a near lifelong resident of the I-4 corridor, currently in South Tampa. He publishes poetry online at PoetEconomist. blogspot.com. His first book, Momentitiousness, was published in 2014. His book, Black Kettle, was published in 2016. Page 17

DiviNe gRAce

is an Orlandobased trouble maker with a forked tongue and all the charm you can imagine. Page 19

hOLLy v.

KAPHerr

is a food, travel and lifestyle writer and editor born and bred in Orlando, Florida. Her work has appeared in local, regional and national publications. Page 49

sabrina ambra, sCottie CamPbell, miguel fuller, divine graCe, KirK hartlage, samuel Johnson, Jason leClerC, stePhen miller, maia monet, david moran, greg stemm, dr. steve yaCovelli, miChael WanZie

PhotograPhy brian beCnel, niCK Cardello, angie folKs, bruCe hardin, Julie milford, travis moore, Chris stePhenson, lee vandergrift, tinKerfluff

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7

central florida news

Come Out With Pride announces new board president Jeremy Williams

O

RLANDO | Come Out With Pride (COWP) announced the appointment of Jeff Prystajko as the board’s new president March 19 after Brian Riha completed his two-year term in the same position.

Prystajko has been with COWP for several years, most recently serving as director of marketing and communications. He has also held leadership positions with both the Metropolitan Business Association (MBA Orlando) and the Human Rights Campaign in Orlando.

Along with Prystajko as president, the board welcomes three new members: Joyce Almeida as operations director, Blue Star as entertainment director and Nate West as marketing director and secretary.

All three will serve out two-year terms. Current board members Matthew Riha and Cedric Linton will serve as the festival’s co-directors.

“We can’t put on this event without a team,” Prystajko says. “The last couple of years have really been about building up our production team and this year is no different. We are getting all of our team involved a lot earlier and we want everyone to be more engaged. This production team is very diverse and very knowledgeable in a lot of the aspects of what’s going on so we want to make sure we are capturing that.”

While things like Pride theme, grand marshals and entertainment will be available further down the line, Prystajko says one thing he knows that will be center stage at COWP 2019 will be activism.

“We did a local survey of what people come to Pride for, and certainly people come for the parade and they come for the marketplace, but the number one thing that people said they come to Pride for is activism. They are coming because they want to see change and they want to get involved,” he says.

Two years ago COWP started Pride Takes Action, an initiative that takes people to the local organizations that are able to get people involved and engaged.

Something Prystajko says will be even more important this year as we approach the midterm elections.

“The more we can do to bring people in, make sure they have a fun day, but also make sure we go out and make sure they are registered to vote, making sure they are engaged in the current elections, making sure that they’re working with local groups and volunteering, that’s what is really going to create change and that’s the power I see coming from our Pride event,” he says.

While speaking with Watermark, Prystajko announced that Orlando has been selected to host InterPride’s Prides of the Southeast Regional Conference in March 2019. InterPride, which COWP joined three years ago, is an interconnected network of Prides from across the world that, among other things, hosts World Pride.

For more information on COWP, or to find ways you can volunteer, visit ComeOutWithPride.com.

8

Never forget:

Supporters stand outside Pulse with signs reading “We will not let hate win.”

Photo by Maia Monet

For the 49 Community leaders take to social media to remember the victims after Pulse gunman’s wife found not guilty Jeremy Williams

O

RLANDO | Noor Salmon, the wife of the Pulse gunman, was acquitted March 30 of charges that linked her to the nightclub shooting.

Salmon was charged with obstruction of justice and providing material support to a foreign terrorism organization.

Pulse owner Barbara Poma and family members of several victims were present in the courtroom when the verdict was read, according to the Orlando Sentinel. They all left the courthouse after the verdict was read without speaking to the press.

Poma went to social media after the verdict saying that she respects the criminal justice process and that she trusted the jury made its decision free of bias and emotion.

“Those of us directly affected by this tragedy must find peace in our hearts and remember that he was the one who pulled the trigger that night. He was the perpetrator, and he should not have one more minute of power over our lives,” Poma wrote.

“This verdict cannot and will not divide us. The survivors, families and first responders, as well as the community

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

of Orlando and everyone around the world, must now focus on the work ahead of us. We will always carry the pain of what happened at Pulse, and we will never forget those who were taken. We will wrap our arms around all affected today and in the days to come. It will be difficult, but we will focus now on healing, and we will continue to work to help communities emerge from violence and hate. It is as important today as it was 21 months ago.”

A handful of supporters gathered outside of Pulse after the acquittal holding signs reading “We will not let hate win.” The group stood in silence and held the signs up as passing cars honked their support.

Both Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs also commented on the verdict via Facebook.

“Today, a Federal jury reached a verdict in a trial related to the Pulse tragedy,” Dyer wrote. “We can never bring back the 49 innocent victims whose lives were taken on June 12, 2016, or erase the pain that the horrific act brought to so many, but hopefully the conclusion of the trial can help our community continue the healing process. We remain committed to ensuring those who have been directly

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

impacted by this tragedy, receive the support and care that is needed.”

Dyer included in his post the contact information for the Orlando United Assistance Center, adding “Our advocates and mental health providers are standing by ready to help. This is a community and a city that cares deeply for each other and we will continue to exhibit love and kindness in everything that we do and be a symbol of hope to the world.”

Jacobs took a similar stance, calling for the community to support those who are still healing from the June 12 attack.

“I know that today’s verdict comes as a sharp and painful disappointment to so many in our community, but just as we reacted in those early hours and days after the Pulse tragedy – when we resisted the temptation to respond to hate with hate – I know that today our community will respond in that same manner.”

The Dru Project’s Brandon Wolf, a Pulse survivor who has been a staple in the news recently talking about gun control reform, admitted in a Facebook post that he has not been paying attention to the court case.

“I have not been watching the trial. I am not personally invested in the outcome,” he wrote. “But I know this: Noor Salman does not define justice for the 49. We do. In our fight to protect other communities from feeling our pain. In our commitment to creating a better, safer world for our children. In our refusal to accept the corrupt status quo. True justice, in my eyes, will be served when we create a world our angels would be proud of.

A world where we are celebrating life, not running from bullets. I love you all.

Stay strong. We do it for them.”

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

9

tampa bay news

loCal author launChes historiCal Pride flag PiCture booK in st. Petersburg ryan Williams-Jent

s

t. peteRsbuRg | Local and out author Rob Sanders will officially launch “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag,” the first picture book detailing the history of the Pride flag, on April 12 at ArtsXchange St. Pete.

“This is the first official release event and we’re having it in St. Pete for the Bay area,” Sanders says. “This is the 40th anniversary of the Pride flag, so the book coming out is perfect timing for it.” The launch party, co-sponsored by Tombolo Books, the Warehouse Arts District, Random House Books and the SunLit Festival, follows the book’s official release date of April 10.

“In this deeply moving and empowering true story, young readers will trace the life of the Gay Pride Flag from its beginnings in 1978 with social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilbert Baker to its spanning of the globe and its role in today’s world,” Random House’s press release reads.

“Award-winning author Rob Sanders’ stirring text, and acclaimed illustrator Steven Salerno’s evocative images, combine to tell this remarkable and undertold story,” it continues. “It is a story of love, hope, equality, and pride.”

The book’s synopsis further advises that the flag’s colors are “a symbol of hope and pride for the millions of LGBTQ+ individuals living across the world.” It’s a story Sanders says he began writing on the night the Supreme Court declared marriage equality as law in 2015.

“Everything in the world had turned rainbow,” Sanders, an elementary school teacher in Brandon, recalls. “Niagara Falls was rainbow, the White House was a rainbow, and I was watching thinking kids need to know this story.”

“We’re so far removed from the events of that flag that kids need to know and need to begin to feel pride,” he continues. “Whether you’re an ally or a kid that’s one day going to realize you’re LGBT or somewhere in that Q spectrum, I wanted to make sure that the story was out there.”

The launch party will begin with pride activities for “kids and adults who are kids at heart,” Sanders says, noting that he’ll participate in a reading, Q&A and book signing. It will also feature a silent auction benefiting area homeless LGBTQ youth.

“It’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Sanders asserts. “It’s for all ages, and we just want the community to come out and celebrate together.”

For more information about “Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag” or its official launch party, contact Tombolo Books at 727-755-9456 or alsace@tombolobooks.com.

10

epic wORk:

EPIC Executive Director Joy Winheim works with area restaurants to make Dining Out for Life successful each year. PHOTO BY JaKe steVens

epiC Eats Dining Out for Life returns to Tampa Bay for 13th year ryan Williams-Jent

t

AMpA | The annual HIV/ AIDS fundraiser Dining Out for Life (DOFL) will return to Tampa Bay for the 13th time on April 26 to benefit Empath Partners in Care, or EPIC. Founded in 1991, DOFL takes place in over 60 cities throughout the United States and Canada. Over 3,000 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds from the day of dining to licensed AIDS service agencies across North America.

“It’s just an exceptional organization,” national spokesperson and actress Pam Grier says. “I’m very proud to help get the message out. Some restaurants will offer 10 percent, 20 percent, some will give their entire day’s take which is extraordinary. When you dine, you are educating others and saving lives.

“You know some people don’t like to be preached to,” she asserts, “so eat, drink wine, have a couple desserts. I’ll be at a participating restaurant and I’ll smile and say,

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

‘if you order another bottle of wine and some more desserts you will be assisting in fighting HIV/ AIDS, people will be given jobs, given apartments, and educating communities.’ I do the whole thing, I’m singing and dancing… and they end up ordering more. Everybody wins. So far I haven’t been hit by any rolls or buns.”

“It’s a great fundraiser for us,” EPIC Executive Director Joy Winheim says. “It was hosted under ASAP previously, the AIDS Services Association of Pinellas.

ASAP merged with Francis House in Tampa and we became EPIC. Under the EPIC name, this will be our second year… but it’s been 13 for the agency as a whole.”

Nearly 30 Tampa Bay restaurants are scheduled to participate this year, with the potential for more to join. “We raised over $25,000 last year,” Windheim recalls. “If you think about it, some of these restaurants are giving us 20 percent of their food sales, so they’re not sending us checks for $10,000. It really does add up, and the restaurants are the most important part… if we

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

don’t have their support then it’s not successful.”

Aside from raising funds, she says, the event allows EPIC to raise awareness about their organization and community offerings. From their five locations in Tampa Bay, they provide HIV services including case management, counseling and pharmacy services. “It’s fun for us because we get to go out to these restaurants to see the support in person, talk to everybody that’s dining and share our stories about EPIC, our clients and how much we love working here.

“We talk about HIV fundraising a lot,” Windheim says. “If we think about HIV fundraising 20 or 30 years ago, and HIV fundraising now, it looks very different. As the disease has progressed, or the advancements in treating the disease have progressed, it has become less of a death sentence.”

Still, she notes, “things like this are an important way to say we’re still here and we’re still fighting.

People are still affected, and it might be different than it was 30 years ago but we still need to talk about it. We still need to let people know that we’re here for them.”

For a list of this year’s participating restaurants or to learn how to participate as a restaurant or an ambassador for EPIC, visit dineTB.org or myepic.org.

In adults with HIV on ART who have diarrhea not caused by an infection IMPORTANT PATIENT INFORMATION This is only a summary. See complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or by calling 1-844-722-8256. This does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or treatment.

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Mytesi is a prescription medicine used to improve symptoms of noninfectious diarrhea (diarrhea not caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on ART. Do Not Take Mytesi if you have diarrhea caused by an infection. Before you start Mytesi, your doctor and you should make sure your diarrhea is not caused by an infection (such as bacteria, virus, or parasite).

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• Upper respiratory tract infection (sinus, nose, and throat infection) • Bronchitis (swelling in the tubes that carry air to and from your lungs) • Cough • Flatulence (gas) • Increased bilirubin (a waste product when red blood cells break down) For a full list of side effects, please talk to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away.

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

Should I Take Mytesi If I Am: Pregnant or Planning to Become Pregnant?

• Studies in animals show that Mytesi could harm an unborn baby or affect the ability to become pregnant • There are no studies in pregnant women taking Mytesi • This drug should only be used during pregnancy if clearly needed A Nursing Mother?

• It is not known whether Mytesi is passed through human breast milk • If you are nursing, you should tell your doctor before starting Mytesi • Your doctor will help you to decide whether to stop nursing or to stop taking Mytesi Under 18 or Over 65 Years of Age? • Mytesi has not been studied in children under 18 years of age • Mytesi studies did not include many people over the age of 65. So it is not clear if this age group will respond differently. Talk to your doctor to find out if Mytesi is right for you

What is Mytesi?

Mytesi is a prescription medicine that helps relieve symptoms of diarrhea not caused by an infection (noninfectious) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

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Important Safety Information Mytesi is not approved to treat infectious diarrhea (diarrhea caused by bacteria, a virus, or a parasite). Before starting you on Mytesi, your healthcare provider will first be sure that you do not have infectious diarrhea. Otherwise, there is a risk you would not receive the right medicine and your infection could get worse. In clinical studies, the most common side effects that occurred more often than with placebo were upper respiratory tract (sinus, nose, and throat) infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%).

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Please see complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com.

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

11

state news

ParKland shooter flooded With fan mail from older men, teenage girls randa Griffin

P

ARkLAND, fLA. | While in custody awaiting trial for the murder of 17 of his peers, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz has been receiving piles of fan mail, photographs and love letters from teenage girls, women and even some older men.

The Sun Sentinel reported a man from New York with a bushy, grey mustache sent Cruz a card with a cat on the front. The card also contained photos of himself behind the wheel of his white 1992 Nissan convertible.

The teen shooter who had few friends in the outside world is now being showered with attention from people all across the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia, according to The Sun Sentinel.

The romanticization and fascination with killers and notorious “bad boys” is nothing new. Cult leader Charles Manson and serial killers like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer received their fair share of fan mail and attention from sympathizers across the country, some even resulting in romantic relationships.

The fan mail began arriving just days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and the amount of mail sent to Cruz is rapidly piling up.

Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office is representing Cruz, told The Sun Sentinel, “There’s piles of letters. In my 40 years as public defender, I’ve never seen this many letters to a defendant. Everyone now and then gets a few, but nothing like this.”

Most of the letters offer Cruz support and friendship, saying things like, “I know you could use a good friend right now. Hang in there and keep your head up.” Some of the letters are more romantic, and accompanied by suggestive photos.

Finkelstein told The Sun Sentinel, Cruz now has $800 deposited into his growing commissary account, apparently sent by fans.

Facebook groups have also been created to garner support and sympathy for Cruz. Male fans and supporters have posted comments such as, “He is good guy, just lost his control,” and “Sad.. we should always support Nikolas.”

The continuing idolization of Cruz and his actions has raised cause for concern, demonstrated by a recent case in Polk County. According to the New York Post, a 13-year-old boy was arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of felony aggravated stalking, after he admitted to wanting to be “the next school shooter” and “kill lots of kids.” The boy idolized Cruz and the Columbine shooter, collecting pictures of them on his PlayStation.

Cruz is on suicide watch and therefore has not been shown the mail from his admirers, Finkelstein told the Sun Sentinel.

“It’s important that the community understand that as this case continues, the awfulness will continue to spread,” Finkelstein said. “Everything about this case is awful and evil.”

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eQuality florida highlights 2018’s stateWide legislative battles ryan Williams-Jent

t

ALLAhAssee, fLA. | Equality Florida has released a highlight of the battles fought on behalf of the LGBTQ community during Florida’s 2018 legislative session.

“Equality Florida started off with a tremendous presence in the Capitol, as dozens of equality champions converged on Tallahassee to make their voices - and yours - heard loud and clear,” the organization’s release reads. “Our team of veteran citizen lobbyists and first-timers alike put the Capitol on notice that Equality Florida and our LGBTQ community is a force to be reckoned with!”

Their number one mission for the session was opposing the now-defeated House Bill (HB) 871 and Senate Bill (SB) 1290. The bills were sponsored by Rep. Jay Fant and Sen. Dennis Baxley, respectively, and “disguised discrimination as business protection.”

“We know that the legislation was a response to the Supreme Court’s rulings on marriage equality and the recent passage of LGBTQ non-discrimination protections in

Jacksonville,” Equality Florida advises.

“The bills would have given businesses an unfettered license to discriminate by barring local government from taking enforcement action. They could have challenged decades of progress toward LGBTQ equality.”

As for their top priority for support, Equality Florida points to HB 347, the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA), sponsored

by Reps. Ben Diamond and Rene Plasencia, as well as SB 66 sponsored

by Sen. Darryl Rouson. “The FCWA would finally prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ Floridians and ensure that Florida is a safe place to live, work, and play for all people, including those who are LGBTQ.” They also note that the bill is the third-most co-sponsored of the session, with 45 percent of Florida legislators lending their name as co-sponsors. “This is a wakeup call from the emerging leaders making clear that the time has come to hear and pass the FCWA,” Equality Florida says.

Their release advises that had HB 211 by Reps. Joe Geller and Al Jacquet and SB 696 by Sen. Kevin Rader passed, it would have expanded

Florida’s existing law “so that crimes evidencing prejudice based in whole or in part on gender or gender identify are also considered hate crimes.”

While the bill passed out of Florida’s Senate Criminal Justice Committee on its first ever hearing, Equality Florida says “the clock ran out” for securing a second. They note that they will continue their support for the expansion of the state’s hate crimes law, particularly to “ensure transgender and gender non-conforming people [are given] the full protection of law.”

HB 717 by Reps. Evan Jenne and David Silvers, as well as SB 696 by Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, would have banned the practice of conversion therapy in Florida. “We continue to make great progress in passing local conversion therapy bans,” they note, “and will continue to work toward a statewide solution.”

The organization also highlighted HB 6027 by Rep. David Richardson and SB 130 by Sen. Gary Farmer, which “would repeal outdated statutory language that prohibits recognizing any same-sex marriages and that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.” While the bill was introduced early in the session, the legislature refused to hear it.

For more information about Equality Florida’s top legislative priorities, visit www.eqfl.org.

stoneWall national monument CaPtures south florida imagination damon scott of the south florida Gay News

W

iLtON MANORs, fLA. | National Parks Conservation Association officials were in Wilton Manors March 20 for a National Park Service forum at The Pride Center.

The NPS, which oversees America’s national monuments, has partnered with the nonprofit NPCA to get community feedback on the best way it can tell the story of Stonewall and the larger movement.

The main part of that story, of course, is the Stonewall Riots which took place June 28, 1969. The riots came as a reaction to a police raid that took place at the Stonewall Inn bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York City’s Manhattan. The event is considered one that accelerated the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in America. Much

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

happened leading up to Stonewall, and much happened after it.

The significance of Stonewall was not lost on former President Barack Obama. On June 24, 2016, just months before his administration would end; Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument to “honor the broad LGBT equality movement.”

The monument is a first of its kind—one that designates an area, as opposed to a statue or façade, that was important in telling an overall story.

This story—the struggle for LGBT people to attain equality.

The monument encompasses the Stonewall Inn and nearly a five-block area where the uprising took place. It includes the adjacent Christopher Park and surrounding streets.

The public comment process has included consultation with historians, community members and stakeholders who represent the LGBT community “to ensure that the full Stonewall story is told accurately.“

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

South Florida joined Tacoma, Seattle and San Francisco on the list of sites where NPCA hosted public forums.

“We chose South Florida as one of the locations because of the partnerships that we have and wanted to build upon, especially with the Stonewall National Museum & Archives,” said John Adornato III, NPCA’s deputy vice president for regional operations, based in Hollywood, Fla. Adornato joined Cortney Worrall, senior regional director of NPCA’s northeast regional office, and an NPS ranger at the event.

“We were so pleased with the turnout. The stories that everyone shared, from the younger millennial generation to the retirees who served in the military as closeted enlistees, all diving deep into a discussion about the symbolism and meaning of the Stonewall riots and our continually evolving LGBT history,” Adornato said.

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

nation+world news

Joint chiefs not briefed before Trump went public with trans military ban Chris Johnson of The Washington Blade courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association

T

he joint military service chiefs were not briefed on the recommendations by Defense Secretary James Mattis against the transgender military ban or the Trump memo seeking to implement them before the White House went public with them, according to two sources familiar with the process.

One source said the top uniformed officials at the Pentagon had to download the documents online just like the rest of the public late on March 23 to obtain them for the first time.

Maj. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokesperson, wouldn’t deny the joint chiefs weren’t briefed on the

recommendation before it went public, but said their representatives were on the panel of experts that advised Mattis on transgender service before he made his recommendation.

“Recommendations and conversations between the secretary and the president are private, however, each service was represented on the panel of experts,” Gleason said.

Gleason said the group of experts on which Mattis relied before making his recommendation on February 22 to the White House was “a panel of service and joint staff senior leaders.”

A defense official said the service chiefs may not have had the documents in hand before they went public, but that wasn’t unusual because it was a part of a process in which Mattis was tasked with producing a recommendation and there was no actual policy

before the White House issued its memo March 23.

There’s a history of Trump not consulting the joint chiefs on his plan to ban transgender people “in any capacity” from the armed forces, which he announced via Twitter in July. A Buzzfeed report last month on an email exchange immediately after Trump tweeted out his announcement revealed Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford called the move “unexpected” and intended to tell Congress he was “not consulted.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday on why the administration elected not to brief the service chiefs before making the transgender policy public.

Even after the White House made the transgender policy public last week, the Pentagon has insisted it will continue to assess and retain transgender troops in accordance with multiple court orders against Trump’s earlier policy that found banning transgender service members is unconstitutional.

they approve, with 19 percent saying they strongly approve and 20 percent saying they somewhat approve. But 49 percent said they disapprove, with 9 percent saying they somewhat disapprove and 40 percent saying they strongly disapprove. Twelve percent weren’t sure.

Respondents were specifically asked about their views on transgender people in the U.S. military and Trump’s attempt to ban them from the armed forces. A plurality of 49 percent said they support openly transgender service, with 31 percent saying they favor it strongly and 18 percent saying they favor it somewhat. Meanwhile, 11 percent said they oppose it somewhat, 23 percent said they strongly oppose it and 17 percent didn’t know.

On whether transgender service has increased military readiness, 10 percent said it has made readiness better, 45 percent said it hasn’t made much difference, 26 percent said it made it worse and 20 percent said they don’t know.

Asked whether they support Trump’s ban, a total of 34 percent said they support it and 48 percent said they were against it. Twenty-four percent said they strongly approve, 10 percent said they somewhat approve, 13 percent said they somewhat disapprove, 35 percent said they

strongly disapprove and 18 percent said they weren’t sure.

The poll also asked respondents if gay rights are the most important issue to them given a choice of that topic among a total of 15. Only two percent said it’s the most important, placing it in ranked importance ahead of only the war in Afghanistan, which zero percent say is the most important issue, and foreign policy, which one percent say is the most important issue, The economy and Social Security were tied at 16 percent as the most important issue.

The poll also asked whether respondents personally know someone who’s gay or transgender and results were markedly different between the two.

Seventy-one percent said they personally know someone who’s gay, but 21 percent said they didn’t and 8 percent weren’t sure. In contrast, 23 percent said they know someone who’s transgender, but 68 percent said they don’t and nine percent weren’t sure.

The results found Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to know someone who is transgender. However, veterans and those 65 and older are least likely to know a transgender person. Only 11 percent of veterans said they know a transgender people and 13 percent of those 65 and older said they do.

Poll of U.S. adults gives Trump poor numbers on LGBT rights Chris Johnson of The Washington Blade

courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association

A

recent Economist-YouGov poll on President Trump and a range of other issues gives him poor numbers on his handling of LGBT rights just days after the administration reaffirmed its ban on transgender military service.

A total of 29 percent of U.S. adults said they approve of the way Trump is handling gay rights, with 12 percent saying they strongly approve and 17 percent saying they somewhat approve.

Meanwhile, a total of 44 percent said they disapprove of his handling of this issue, with 9 percent saying they somewhat disapprove and 35 percent saying they strongly disapprove.

Twenty-seven percent had no opinion.

The poll was conducted between March 25 and March 27 among 1,500 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent. The poll also asked respondents about a variety of issues, including views of foreign countries, trade and social media websites.

On whether respondents approved of Trump’s performance as president generally, a total of 39 percent said

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

in other news ny Man gets maximum prison term for murder of trans woman A 47-year-old Ithaca man has received the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for killing a woman whose body was found at a construction site near Cornell University. Michael Davis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February. He admitted he killed 28-year-old Josie Berrios in June. Investigators said Berrios and Davis had a personal relationship but didn’t provide details. Prosecutors initially considered charging Davis with a hate crime for killing Berrios, who was a transgender woman, but said there was no evidence to support that charge.

Iowa library to separate LGBTQ books after complaints A northwest Iowa library is shifting how it categorizes books after some residents pressed for segregating materials containing LGBTQ themes. The Orange City Public Library’s board decided to experiment with grouping books by subject and subcategory rather than alphabetical order by author’s name. The library’s board president said the changes may start with a trial run on a few subjects over the summer and expand to the rest of the library if patrons like the new system. The move comes a month after some community members circulated a petition calling on the library to label and separate materials involving LGBTQ issues. The petition also asked the library to seek public input before acquiring new materials on LGBTQ topics.

Washington State becomes 11th to ban conversion therapy Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a ban on conversion therapy March 28, making the Evergreen State the 11th in the nation to prohibit the widely discredited practice for youth. Inslee signed the measure, SB 5722, at a ceremony in Olympia, Wash., making it illegal for licensed mental health therapists in engage in conversion therapy for individuals under the age of 18. A total of 11 states and D.C. have banned the therapy for youth either by law or regulations. The 11 states are Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island and now Washington.

Vocal marriage opponent loses Costa Rica presidential election A vocal opponent of marriage rights for same-sex couples lost the second round of Costa Rica’s presidential election.

Official results indicate Fabricio Alvarado lost to Carlos Alvarado by a 39-61 percent margin. Fabricio Alvarado—a Pentecostal minister, singer and former journalist who is a member of the National Restoration Party—and Carlos Alvarado of the leftist Citizen’s Action Party won the election’s first round on Feb. 4. Fabricio Alvarado and Carlos Alvarado, who are not related, faced off on April 1 because neither of them received at least 40 percent of the vote in the election’s first round. The election took place less than three months after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark ruling that recognized same-sex marriage and transgender rights.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

viewpoint

Jason Leclerc

The other side

of life I, You, We: Living with AIDS

A

s American art

museums go, New York’s Whitney (the old one, on the Upper East Side, before they moved it to the High Line) is the top of my list. In April 2013, I visited for a book launch event in Chelsea and then trekked northward to pass five hours wandering exhibits of contemporary art.

While there, I consumed an exquisite curation called I, You, We: Art & AIDS. I uncontrollably and openly sobbed as I walked through a room with photos by David Wojnarowicz and paintings by Hugh Steers.

I stared into the hollow, sepia-tinged eyes of gay men gasping their last breaths under the oppression of a disease that disproportionately affected vibrant souls of gay men in the years when I was in elementary school.

The tears I shed were for myself: a selfish, privileged homosexual whose way of life was mortgaged by these men who suffered through one of the greatest American tragedies of the twentieth century. In an exhibit that challenged my sense of pronoun referents, I finally accepted that these chilling pieces embodied I and We. That I cried in public was no surprise. I’d always been considered a sensitive child; I grew into a sensitive adult. Until I graduated from college in the late 1990s, gay was something that was wholly not I. It was the realm of You. Others, “You, gay men” languished of AIDS while I dwelt in my adolescent closet. The imminent death of these men, whose painful stares into the abyss of an uncertain afterlife, was pushed as far away from I as possible.

My closeted—repressed— youth was punctuated by unsatisfied longings hidden by a Wilde-like wit and a boisterous disposition.

I watched from the safety of the sidelines, judgmentally.

With a child’s innocence and a Baptist’s fear, I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it meant when man’s man Rock Hudson died, flamboyant Liberace wasted away, or when Adonis-like Greg Louganis split his head on the diving board.

AIDS was something that You had.

I was more lucky than anything. My delayed coming-out coincided with the first year that effective treatments (besides abstinence) led to a decline in AIDS diagnoses. In 1996, I graduated college, moved to Orlando, kissed a boy and messed around for the first time. I loved sex and made up for 22 years without it. I was reckless. I mistook my luck in the face of recklessness as something I had earned.

It was a selfish arrogance rooted in the fact that I still saw AIDS as something for the other, for the You. Luckier still is the newest generation that doesn’t know about life without an Internet or life behind an AIDS-sentried closet door.

We all have our coming out stories, our emergence from closets. For me that was closely connected to my understanding—my misunderstanding—of AIDS. Over the intervening two decades, I have come face to face with people I care very much about—people I love—living secretly with HIV. I can’t do anything but love them. That, in 2018, we can live with HIV and leave it unspoken, is a privilege financed by souls in the 1980s. For those who have proclaimed their affliction with the virus, if not the stigma, I thank them for giving it a human, living, resilient, brave face.

What this means, of course, is that I, too, am living with HIV. As real as it is to the bodies of these people

I love, it is real to me. I do not carry the virus in my body, but I carry it in my soul, in my cultural memory, in my gay genes.

AIDS is part of a We that I cannot escape, that I wouldn’t if I could. Though I’ve known its tangential reality to my relationship

out. I know that I am the heir to Rock Hudson, a peer of Liberace, and a brother of Greg Louganis. I know that I am nothing more than lucky.

After 43 years on Earth and 22 years evolving into my truth, I am proud to proclaim that I am We. Three hundred sixty thousand men

though grief-stricken, for the lifeless eyes—the stolen souls—of my gay forefathers.

I am thankful that language and history can link how I see myself and how I see the world around me.

I am thankful for the love of art—for sensitivity—that tear-streamed vision made

to a diverse community, I’ve known it directly and blossomed along the path that’s tangibly affected my evolving ideological DNA. I share a heritage with those men I encountered in I, You, We. I know that the connection I have with those hollow, last-gasped, painful gazes implicates me in a community whose membership within which I have no choice for opting

died of AIDS between 1980 and 1996. I am lucky that I was not one of them. I didn’t know any of them personally.

These martyrs, victims of an oppressive pre-equality culture that dehumanized them, made it possible for me to live, to be proud today.

Each day I wake up in the throes of love, not just for my spouse, but for the men who made it possible for me to be I. I am thankful,

real, that made I, You, We into a reality about who I am and where I fit into a world of love. It has transformed my understanding of who I am— with You—into a persistent and proud We. I am thankful that, in 2018, I am able to live with—and proudly, because of—AIDS.

I know that the connection I have with those hollow, last-gasped, painful gazes implicates me in a community whose membership within which I have no choice for opting out.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

viewpoint

Divine Grace

Sweet

Divinity Not Banned, But Certainly Barred

W

hen the “Will &

Grace” ensemble and their producers got the bright idea to resurrect their show and squeeze some new laughs out of today’s increasingly bizarre source material, many folks over in the offices at ABC TV (and one unstable has-been smoking weed on her nut farm) sat up to take notice.

Roseanne, a titan of television and one of the medium’s most powerful influencers, has seen her light dim since her meteoric rise in the ’90s. Stars in Hollywood are actually no different than stars in the heavens: Both are enormous balls of gas that eventually burn out. Also, much like their celestial counterparts, the bigger they are the more fiercely they burn. Eventually, they burn off all of that gas, slowly fading, dimming and becoming more obscure.

Then they buy a macadamia nut farm in Hawaii, get drunk and lose their minds.

Something America has given up a great deal of is creative originality, and nowhere is that more evident than in our popular culture. Everything brought to the plate nowadays is YET ANOTHER Batman, a Broadway musical constructed around a greatest hits album that your parents used to own back in the 1900s, or what is known as a reboot.

Reboots piss me off. There’s usually a good reason why we stopped watching in the first place.

“Roseanne” abandoned what it was that made the characters so lovable and relatable. The dynamic between

Roseanne and Dan Conner was replaced by a more independent multi-million dollar lottery-winning dynamic between Roseanne and her sister Jackie. At first it seemed like a fresh move to take the ladies out of that filthy set, but it was a quick ride up and over the shark tank and directly into turd city. Roseanne then pulled another switcheroo, and the series finale (can we still even call it that?) found her a widow writing a book. Everything that didn’t work the last season was just a bad dream—If only. It was a somber episode, but so back-peddling in its delivery that I fully expected Patrick Duffy to crawl out from under that hideous dingy Afghan throw on her couch wearing only a towel.

If you have managed to remember all of the new rules she set up in the “Roseanne” universe...forget them. That last episode never happened either. Why? Because Trump is president and Roseanne Barr can make America feel as weird as when she praises the Devil as our own mothers have since discovering FOX News, but she can’t do it alone. Lured to the dark side with commercials for supplemental insurance, affordable diabetes testing supplies and catheters that don’t scrape, our Mothers (both real and fictional apparently) have decided that the world they were architects to has flipped on its axis and that the GOP somehow now represents blue collar USA. I will remind everybody that it’s been 35 years since Barr laid eyes on a blue collar.

I am not surprised by this show. In fact, I venture to say— after this last election—nothing will ever truly surprise me again. ABC can use this show and Meghan McCain’s attempt to conjure th ghost of Elisabeth Hasselbeck, but I am no longer surprised by Roseanne.

What does surprise me is how stupid they think we are, and I mean the royal “they.” Just as this current administration continues to break laws and tell lies so blatantly and obviously sans shame with each press briefing, so it is at “Roseanne.”

We are supposed to be grateful

that there is a gender-fluid child in the Conner family. And, “My goodness, isn’t Roseanne so understanding?” But all one has to look at is her history of transphobia and screenshots from her now scrubbed twitter account to know that Mrs. Conner’s grandchild isn’t welcome to use any toilet in her

This show serves only to normalize Trump’s America, and we really shouldn’t. I know the last thing you need to hear is what’s “normal” from a grown man who spends his career wearing a corset and impersonating a Jewish septuagenarian mermaid in a wheelchair.

of “give this Trump supporter a chance! She has a gender-fluid character on her show!” in spite of Khloe Kardashians appearances.

STOP NORMALIZING THIS CRAP! The show has been picked up for another season. Tune in to see how Roseanne

rickety house. Did you notice her black granddaughter? If you did, well then she served her purpose. She didn’t need any lines or point of view anyway. Why? Because both of these children are nothing more than placating bullshit acknowledgements that “Some of Roseanne’s best friends are ______. “

Those calling her a “hero” were once calling for her execution thanks to the mangling of an anthem. The hypocrisy is astounding.

Where was all of this liberal understanding and “chance to talk about what separates” when you were behind the steering wheel of the bus running over Caitlyn Jenner’s wonky ass? There were no cries

Conner copes with having her blowhard leader rendered politically impotent during the 2018 midterm elections before his inevitable impeachment.

Ten bucks says this all gets written out as another bad dream, while the sad reality is trapped in history for the ages like a mosquito in amber.

Amen, The Divine Grace

I know the last thing you need to hear is what’s “normal” from a grown man who spends his career wearing a corset and impersonating a Jewish septuagenarian mermaid in a wheelchair.

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TRANSGENDER

PEOPLE

talking points It was more so just a story that happened when I was 17 with somebody and I can find men and women attractive, but like when it comes down to it i think it was a little misconstrued.

—AARON cARteR wALkiNg bAck thAt he iDeNtifies As bisexuAL iN AN iNteRview ON the pODcAst hOLLywOODLife.

John oliver spoofs pence Bunny Book With gay version, tops Best seller list

J

OhN OLiveR hAs tROLLeD his wAy tO the tOp. The HBO host’s spoof of a new picture book by the wife and daughter of Vice President Mike Pence was No. 1 on Amazon.com and out of stock as of midday March 19. “Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of a Vice President” is a tribute to the Pence family’s beloved rabbit, written by the vice president’s daughter and illustrated by his wife. Oliver’s book is called “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.” The story is the same, almost: This Marlon Bundo has fallen for a male bunny. “There are a few small differences between the two books,” Oliver said on his show, noting Pence’s opposition to same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ rights. Published by Chronicle Books, the parody was written by “Last Week” contributor Jill Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller. Proceeds are being donated to The Trevor Project and AIDS United. The Pence book ranked No. 11 on Amazon.

have Been

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at the current rate, 2018 Will match 2017’s 28 homiciDes, the country’s DeaDliest year for trans people.

—huMAN Rights cAMpAigN

aBc host karl schmiD reveals he’s hiv positive

A

bc cORRespONDeNt kARL schMiD hAs cOMe Out as HIV positive after keeping his status secret for a decade. The Australian-born, Los Angeles-based journalist known for covering red carpet events for ABC7 opened up in a lengthy Facebook post. “For 10 years I’ve struggled with ‘Do I or don’t I?’” Schmid, who is openly gay, writes. He goes on saying he was advised that coming out with his status would ruin his career.

“Your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions count,” Schmid concluded the post. “And don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. I’m Karl Schmid, and I’m an HIV-positive man!”

Schmid’s post has gone viral with nearly 1,000 shares and more than 5,000 likes.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

christina aguilera spills to ‘Drag race’ cast What song Was aBout a gay eX

c

hRistiNA AguiLeRA gOt cANDiD AbOut the iNspiRAtiON behind her song “Infatuation” from her 2002 album “Stripped” on the first episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked.”

During the show, contestant Vanessa Vanjie Mateo asks Aguilera who she was referencing in the song which describes a Puerto Rican lover. “Who was Puerto Rican? ‘Cause you know I might be related to him,” Mateo asks.

“It was heartbreaking because I found out he played for your team, not mine,” Aguilera responds. “He’s going to see this and he’s gonna be mad,” Mateo says. Aguilera replies, “I hope so, girl.”

In 2002, Aguilera revealed to MTV News that the song was inspired by her ex-boyfriend, dancer Jorge Santos.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

craigslist removes personal aDs after passage of seX trafficking Bill

c

RAigsList’s peRsONALs sectiON which iNcLuDes sectiONs fOR MeN seekiNg MeN, Casual Encounters and Missed Connections is now a thing of the past. The classified ads website announced March 23 that it would be shutting down the section in response to the Senate approving the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act. The bill enforces fines, penalties and prison time up to 10 years for individuals who own, operate or manage a website used “to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person.” Reddit has also removed its subreddits Escorts, Male Escorts, Hookers and SugarDaddy, in the wake of the bill.

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

Photo by ian suarez

While activists are buoyed by building momentum for gun control following the Parkland shooting, Florida’s LGBTQ community is forced to confront the reasons why the public and political response was comparatively lackluster following the mass shooting at Pulse

i

Jamie hyman

N the weeks siNce A shOOteR

killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., survivors have been featured in a town hall on national television, visited the Florida Legislature and led a march of more than a million protesters nationwide, demanding sensible gun control. watermark Your LGBTQ life.

In the weeks following the shooting at Pulse nightclub in 2016, the levels of advocacy and response were far more muted, which is forcing members of the LGBTQ community to wonder why, after a mass shooting that at the time was the deadliest in U.S. history, government officials, the media and the

continueD on pg. 25 | uu |

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

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| uu | But why now? from pg.23

nation failed to rally behind the Pulse survivors with the volume and intensity that are leading millions to take action today.

“I applaud the students for using the enormous platform they have to call out how racism and homophobia impact the response to gun violence,” says Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida.”They see clearly the enormous difference in how Tallahassee responded to Parkland compared to Pulse. Legislators who had to be shamed into permitting a moment of silence for the 49 killed in Orlando quickly allocated funds for a memorial and passed legislation [following Parkland], flawed and incomplete though it is.”

Smith is referring to Senate Bill 7026, which Governor Rick Scott signed into law March 9. While it offers some minor gun control provisions, such as raising the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21 and banning bump fire stocks, the law also provides funding to arm some teachers and school employees.

Although the bill is problematic, it is the first gun control measure signed into law in Florida in more than two decades, which raises the questions: Why now? Why not after Pulse?

Damning Demographics

O

ne theory is that a group of high school students are simply more relatable to most Americans than a group of mostly LGBTQ, Latinx victims.

“Schools and kids, young people are just more palatable to the broader community, and maybe folks didn’t care as much about the LGBTQQ+ community or people of color impacted by the Pulse shooting,” says David Thomas Moran, co-founder and organizer of the Orlando chapter of Gays Against Guns (GAG). He and nine other activists were arrested one month after the Pulse shooting during a sit-in at Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s Orlando office. Although he was willing to be handcuffed to be heard, Moran has never received an audience with Rubio. The closest he came was during a press conference where Rubio was discussing how Orlando businesses were affected by the Pulse shooting—Moran called out that Rubio has blood on his hands and failed to support Orlando’s LGBTQ and Latinx

Governor Scott, in the first budget year after Pulse, actually signed a budget into law that cut funding for mental healthcare and specifically cut funding for mental healthcare in Central Florida, which was a huge slap in the face for the Pulse community that desperately needed those services.

—Equality florida executive director nadine smith communities devastated by Pulse while accepting funding from the National Rifle Association (NRA). In contrast, Rubio voluntarily engaged with Parkland survivors on a CNN town hall discussing gun control and even agreed to support raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm, a significant concession for the Senator, who has received at least $3 million in NRA donations.

“It baffles me that our U.S. senators would hold a town hall with the Parkland community but didn’t do the same thing [following what was at the time] the worst mass shooting in U.S. history that

was also a hate crime. Why didn’t they sit down and hold a forum with the Orlando community?

I don’t get that,” Moran says.

He adds that although effective gun control still hasn’t happened, maybe now, because “kids and families” are turning up the pressure, instead of “undesirable people,” perhaps something will finally change.

“I honestly think that elected officials in Tallahassee don’t care about the LGBTQQ+ community, don’t care about people of color, and Pulse was an act of violence that affected those two groups

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

substantially, so why would they do anything?” Moran asks.

Christine Leinonen, whose son, Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, was killed during the Pulse massacre, states that the response following Parkland was “totally different” and she is confident that it’s because the Pulse victims were mostly lower-income, Latino and gay.

Additionally, Leinonen points out that many of the Pulse survivors faced a language barrier and spoke little to no English, which makes talking to the mainstream media more challenging.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

“[Pulse survivors] were marginalized in three different areas: ethnically, income level and sexual orientation. So you take three different marginalized groups, and the legislators gave no respect or deference, because none of those are their voting constituency,” she says. “There was a much different response and I believe it was because of the demographics.”

Student Work

L

einonen’s observation about the different income demographics of the groups of survivors highlights another key difference between Parkland and Pulse: the Parkland victims are students, while the Pulse victims were primarily working adults.

“Activism costs money,” Leinonen says. “Of the 284 people at Pulse [the night of the shooting], the ones that survived, they still had to work. They still had to earn a living.”

Unlike the Pulse survivors, she says, the student activists from Parkland are “not making car payments and mortgage payments and raising kids,” as most are presumably still being supported by their parents. And that means the Parkland activists have more time and better means to speak to the media, travel to events and ensure their voices are heard.

It’s not just who the victims are; it’s the sheer volume. There were 284 people in Pulse during the massacre. 102 were shot, and of those, 49 were killed. That leaves 235 survivors, many of whom were injured, to carry the torch for gun control. More than 3,000 students attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, resulting in many more survivors and their families, all potential gun control advocates.

Riding the Resistance

T

here are additional, external factors to consider when contrasting the political and media response following Parkland against the more subdued response following Pulse.

One is simple logistics: the Parkland shooting happened during February, when Florida’s legislature was in session. Pulse happened during June, when the legislative session had recessed. On Feb. 20, less than a week after the Parkland shooting, student activists appeared in the Florida House of Representatives in support of a semi-automatic gun ban. Of course, the lawmakers infamously voted

Continued on pg. 27 | uu |

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

rainbow row: Colored streamers were laid out to form a giant rainbow ribbon at the Dr. Phillips Center’s candlelight vigil June 13, 2016. Photo by JD Casto

A community mourns: Thousands gather for a candelight vigil outside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts the day after a gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 others at Pulse Orlando. Photo by ian suarez | uu | But why now? from pg.25

against discussing the bill, but it did appear, and the presence (and disappointment) of the students did raise the volume of their movement.

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who sponsored the bill, points a finger directly at Republican lawmakers when asked about the lack of any legislative action at all following Pulse.

“I think Republican lawmakers who control Tallahassee, they need to explain why,” Smith says. “They’ve never given a full explanation and I think that’s because they feel guilty about that the fact that 49 LGBTQ people of color were murdered and they pulled out the page from the same thoughts and prayers playbook, they diverted attention somewhere else, they delayed and then they did nothing.”

Smith says it’s Republicans’ “standard response” to every mass

shooting, but notes both Pulse and Parkland happened in Florida. “The fact that there’s such disparate responses from state leaders in Florida to Parkland versus to Pulse actually demands a more serious explanation from leaders in charge, and there’s any number of things that I can point to that are dramatic differences that have major impacts and that are subtle, but underscore how they just turn their backs on the Pulse community,” he says.

In fact, Smith says Florida lawmakers arguably made things

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

worse after Pulse, because the Legislature promised increased support for mental health services, another common tactic for Republican lawmakers following a mass shooting. Instead, Florida went from 49th to 50th in the nation when it came to mental healthcare funding.

“Governor Scott, in the first budget year after Pulse, actually signed a budget into law that cut funding for mental healthcare and specifically cut funding for mental healthcare in Central Florida, which was a huge slap in the face for the Pulse community that desperately needed those services,” Smith says.

Through a broader lens, it is worth considering the national political climate during both shootings, as well. The presidential election of Donald Trump has sparked a nationwide resistance, which means the nation has a bigger appetite for activism and protests.

“Having someone in our executive branch who is so contrary to any common sense our country is trying to move forward, that helps too,” Leinonen says. “You have all this anger in the air. People have been motivated. When my son was killed, it wasn’t in the air yet.”

A Building Wave

F

inally, the response to the Parkland shooting might be more significant simply

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

because, sadly, it is the latest in a long line of mass shootings.

“I do believe that one mass shooting does build on the other ones and there is a tipping point,” Leinonen says.

Jason Lindsay, executive director and CEO of Pride Fund to End Gun Violence, says he doesn’t think the difference in responses after Pulse and Parkland was because of the demographics of the victims.

“I think momentum has continued to build because the problem has continued to get worse,” he says. Lindsay argues that the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 mobilized parents, Pulse mobilized the LGBTQ community, the Las Vegas shooting in October of 2017 affected a more conservative group of victims and the Southerland Springs, Texas, church shooting in November 2017 hit home for the religious community.

“And then Parkland happened, so what we’ve really seen is over these last five years is a building momentum where more and more sections of our population have been impacted heavily by gun violence, and it’s been very personal,” Lindsay says. “Each time, it’s mobilized a different portion of the electorate. With three of the 10 worst mass shootings in our country’s history in the last six months, people are fed up and people are demanding action.”

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

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THE ENZIAN THEATER BRINGS A PLETHORA OF LGBTQ MOVIES TO THE 27TH ANNUAL FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL

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Florida’s only full-time, nonprofit alternative cinema. Along with first-run independent features, Enzian offers a variety of special events including the nationally recognized Florida Film Festival which has been a staple in the area for more than a quarter century.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

“The Tiedtke family started the Enzian Theater in 1985 championing the belief that ‘Film Is Art,’” says Valerie Cisneros, Enzian Theater’s marketing manager. “In the early ‘90s they decided to start a film festival, the Florida Film Festival, and it has been hosted at the Enzian since its inception 27 years ago.”

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Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

| uu | Florida Film Festival from pg.31

With more than 5,000 active film festivals around the world every year, the Florida Film Festival holds the distinct honor of being one of only a handful that are Academy Award-qualifying in all three Oscar shorts categories: Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Documentary Short Subject.

“What that means is that any short film that is in competition that falls into any of the three categories and wins a grand jury prize is automatically eligible to be nominated for an Oscar the following year,” Cisneros says. “Some of the big film festivals that everyone has heard of don’t even have the Oscar accreditation in all categories like we do. That is just a testament to how strong our programming is and how thorough we are looking at all of our submissions.”

Being a prestigious film festival that could lead a filmmaker to the coveted Oscar means that the Florida Film Festival receives a lot of submissions each year, and 2018 was no exception. The five three-person committees received 1,994 films between August and December 2017 and, after watching every single one of them, selected 183 films to be a part of this year’s festival.

“It’s a pretty rigorous process,” Cisnero says. “They start watching the films, starting in September, every single day until the end of the year.

Come January they sit down as a team and they argue for hours over which films were the best of the best. Once the committees have selected the number of films for each category, then our programming team goes after those films and sends the filmmakers an acceptance package.”

Of the 183 cinematic selections, 18 of them are LGBTQ films, which we have gathered for you. Some may make you laugh, or make you cry. Some (like the documentary short on selling used underwear over the internet) may even make you think WTF? But they all will make see why the Florida Film Festival carries the weight that it does.

“A Kid like Jake”

live action feature film april 12, 4:15 p.m. anD april 14, 6:45 p.m.

A Brooklyn couple, played by Claire Danes and Jim Parsons, are at odds on how to address their son Jake’s nonconforming gender identity after his preschool director (Octavia Spencer) points out that Jake’s love of dresses, fairy tales and princesses may not just be a phase. “A Kid Like Jake” is a dramedy directed by trans filmmaker Silas Howard and is written for the screen

by Daniel Pearle, based on his play of the same name.

“Blood For Blood” live action Documentary short

“Do i Have Boobs Now?”

live action Documentary short

april 15, 12:00 p.m.

april 13, 5:30 p.m. anD april 15, 12:15 p.m.

“Blood For Blood” is an eight-minute documentary short that played last year at the Enzian Theater’s FilmSlam and Brouhaha Film & Theater Showcase. The film looks at Orlando’s response after the Pulse shooting as Stigma Tattoo Bar raises money for the victims’ families with community-inspired tattoos “shedding blood for the victims whose blood was shed.”

This international short submission from Canada was in part inspired by the social media movement #FreeTheNipple.

An official 2017 selection for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, “Do I Have Boobs Yet?” is a documentary short that follows a transgender activist as she challenges social media censorship by posting photos of her transitioning body.

“Fran This summer”

live action short film april 8, 2:30 p.m. anD april 12, 4:30 p.m.

A day at the beach tests the relationship of teen lovebirds Francis and Angie, played by Zenobia Teague and Emily Bessa, as Fran begins her transition from male to female in this live action short film.

“in A Heartbeat” animateD short film

april 15, 12:00 p.m.

“Getting Naked: A Burlesque story” live action Documentary feature april 8, 9:15 p.m. anD april 11, 9:30 p.m.

Those in the Central Florida area who are fans of The Venue’s “Ladies and Lady Boys of the Peek-A-Boo Lounge” know how sultry and seductive the world of burlesque can be. “Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story” peels back that curtain and explores the subculture of New York City’s free-range, neo-burlesque scene.

The film follows four female performers—from their homes to the stage—as they discover a newly liberated identity and free their inner freak.

“In A Heartbeat” was a viral sensation when it was released on YouTube in July 2017. The award-winning animated short has racked up more than 35 million views and, based on the more than 300,000 comments, made thousands tear up at this adorable ginger boy is too shy to confess his love to another boy in his school. What will he do when his heart takes matters into its own hands? The animated short was created by openly gay filmmakers Esteban Bravo and Beth David (both named to Watermark’s 2017 Most Remarkable People list) when they were students at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota and played at the Enzian Theater’s Brouhaha Film & Theater Showcase last year.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

“Life After”

live action short film

“iris”

live action short film april 13, 5:30 p.m. anD april 15, 12:15 p.m.

“Iris” is an international live action short film about an eye patch, a bike seat and purple eye shadow. Gabrielle Demers’ sensual coming-of-age story looks at a young girl coming to terms with her sexuality.

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april 7, 4:00 p.m. anD april 10, 7:15 p.m.

“Life After” looks at how a single mother and Indian immigrant living in Queens handles the death of her only child who passes away unexpectedly. Choosing to learn about her daughter’s life in Manhattan, the mother is forced to examine a part of her child that she had tried to ignore: her sexual orientation.

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Join the Premier Chamber in the Bay Area where our diverse membership puts the Diversity in Tampa Bay.

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

“locating silver lake”

“scotty And The secret History Of Hollywood”

live action feature film

april 7, 6:15 p.m. anD april 13, 3:45 p.m.

After getting dumped by his girlfriend at graduation, writer-wannabe Daniel (played by Josh Peck of “Drake & Josh” fame) moves to Los Angeles to follow his dreams. Once there he encounters a collection of queer characters including charismatic Seth (Finn Wittrock of “American Horror Story”) and falls for Seth’s friend Talya (Aubrey Peeples of TV’s “Nashville”).

“Locating Silver Lake” recalls those 20-something, angst-filled films of the ‘90s like “Reality Bites,” “Empire Records” and “Clerks” that leave you wondering how you ever navigated those post-college pitfalls. Also of note, Peeple’s (who is from Central Florida) will be in attendance.

“TransMilitary”

live action Documentary feature april 7, 3:30 p.m. anD april 10, 6:30 p.m.

The recent tweets of President Donald Trump have made this feature length documentary about transgender soldiers in the U.S. military not only timely, but important. First-time filmmakers Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson bring us into the lives and families of four transgender members of the military, two of whom are married to each other and all of whom have served with distinction.

“The Feels”

live action Documentary feature april 10, 9:30 p.m. anD april 15, 9:00 p.m.

“Men Don’t Whisper”

live action short film april 8, 4:45 p.m. anD april 12, 9:00 p.m.

After being emasculated, a gay couple (played by Jordan Firstman and Charles Rogers of TV’s “Search Party”) decide to do the most masculine thing they can think of —bed a pair of female co-workers at a corporate sales conference—in this raunchy and hilarious live action short.

“Used: A Documentary” live action Documentary short

Put on an extra kettle because the tea is about to be spilled everywhere.

Based on the 2012 tell-all book “Full Service,” this documentary looks at Hollywood’s legendary “gentleman hustler” Scotty Bowers. Bowers, now 94 years old, satisfied the sexual desires of some of the world’s biggest stars, both male and female. Matt Tyrnauer’s film takes you back to the Golden Age of Hollywood as he employed a stable of young men who catered to the fantasies of such legends as Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Cole Porter, Rock Hudson and more.

live action feature film

“The Cakemaker” live action feature film april 9, 4:00 p.m. anD april 15, 7:30 p.m.

A German pastry chef named Thomas engages in an affair with Oren, a married Israeli man, in this sensual drama from Israel and Germany. Thomas travels to Jerusalem in search of answers after Oren dies suddenly. He finds himself involved in the lives and business of Oren’s widow and son. What is “The Cakemaker” baking up?

“We The Animals” april 14, 2:00 p.m. anD april 15, 2:30 p.m.

“Used” is a documentary short about people who sell their shorts on the internet. “Lot of us, before we saw that film, had never even known about this online market of selling used underwear: the different types that there are, the different types of people involved and different sexualities that it attracts. It’s pretty interesting and something this filmmaker thought was worth exploring and making a film about,” Cisneros says.

Calling to mind recent films like “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “The Florida Project,” documentary filmmaker Jeremiah Zager takes a walk into the narrative world as he looks at the cycle of poverty and abuse through the eyes of a child. Based on Justin Torres’s semi-autobiographical 2011 novel that centers on Jonah and his two brothers, whose lives teeter on the edge of disaster one summer in rural upstate New York.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Brides-to-be Andi and Lu, played

by Constance Wu (“Fresh Off The Boat”) and Angela Trimbur (“The Good Place”), are off for a weekend in wine country with their friends to celebrate their upcoming nuptials.

But the weekend turns rocky after a longtime secret is revealed.

Writer/director Jenée LaMarque, co-writer Lauren Parks, comedians Josh Fadem and Ever Mainard, and Berlin-based singer/songwriter Kárin Tatoyan round out the all-female cast of this award-winning comedy about female sexuality.

“Wren Boys”

live action feature film

april 7, 9:30 p.m. anD april 12, 9:30 p.m.

april 9, 8:45 p.m. anD april 13, 1:30 p.m.

“White Rabbit”

live action feature film april 7, 1:15 p.m. anD april 11 at 7:15 p.m.

“White Rabbit” stars Vivian Bang as Sophia, a Korean-American street performer in Los Angeles who struggles to be heard and find her identity until she meets Victoria, a free-spirited activist and photographer from Africa, played

by Nana Ghana. “White Rabbit” is written by Bang and Daryl Wein, who also directs the film.

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live action short film april 14, 2:30 p.m. anD april 15, 6:00 p.m.

An international live action short film from the United Kingdom, Harry Lighton’s “Wren Boys” is a touching drama about a Catholic priest who escorts his nephew to prison on the day after Christmas.

The 2018 Florida Film Festival runs April 6-15 at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Fla. All schedules are subject to change. Full film schedules and tickets are available at FloridaFilmFestival.com or by downloading the Florida Film Festival free app available on iTunes and in the Google Play store.

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celebrate the power and beauty of diversity

MORE INFO ONLINE AT

www.stpetepride.com 36

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

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art

Odd Couple

Dali and Duchamp’s unlikely friendship on display at The Dali

(above left) Salvador Dalí and Edward James, Lobster Telephone, 1938, telephone, steel, plaster, rubber, resin and paper. Edward James Foundation, West Dean / © 2018 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Artists Rights Society. (above right) Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917/1964 Photography: © Schiavinotto Giuseppe © Association Marcel Duchamp / ADAGP, Paris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2018 Photos courtesy The Dali Museum

T

Samuel Johnson

wo powerhouses of surrealism

converge in a dual exhibition at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. Marcel Duchamp, widely recognized as the father of conceptual art, and Salvador Dali, one of the most enigmatic and influential surrealist painters, are showcased together.

While these artists are often considered to be on opposite ends of the surrealism spectrum, the exhibit upholds that they are actually cut from the same cloth esthetically. In fact, Duchamp and Dali were devoted friends, sharing their delight for games, especially chess, as well as their iconoclastic principles of making and viewing art.

They both pushed the envelope on the entrenched conventions of what normal means. In the case of Marcel Duchamp, he attempted to tease out ideas about identity and self-representation through androgyny.

Duchamp’s alter ego, the female Rrose Sélavy, was his modus operandi.

Dali/Duchamp is a collaboration between The Dali Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Both organizations agreed to host the exhibit at their respective museums. London got the first shot last year; now the second leg of this exclusive show, the only opportunity to see it in the U.S., has come to St. Petersburg.

The entrance of the exhibit is marked by subdued lighting and a series of jute sacks hanging from the rafters. This is an intentional homage to the anti-esthetics of displaying art that was conceived by

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Dali and Duchamp. William Jeffett, chief curator of exhibits at the Dali Museum and co-curator of this exhibit, explains that “it was like a very oppressive space, like going inside a coalmine or some other kind of grotto. It was the opposite of sort of bright and shiny modern architecture... a predecessor of installation art.”

Once inside the space, the first room of the exhibit is, in contrast, well lit. This room highlights some early work by both Dali and Duchamp. It’s almost like a compare and contrast exercise in the differing, though traditional, styles of both artists. In a smaller room there are some photographs and print work.

Next is a narrow and shallow room where various chess pieces, designed by Dali in honor of Duchamp, are housed.

Both Dali and Duchamp enjoyed games, but Duchamp was more fanatical. He was a competing chess master in America and in France.

Opening up past the chess room is a space where the work of both artists can be seen while they were at the pinnacle

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

of their careers. “You get a very different approach than when they were young.

We don’t find cubism and we don’t find the slightly more traditional element,” Jeffett says. Contained in this space are two notably important works: Dali’s “Christ of St. John of the Cross” and Duchamp’s “Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (La mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même),” colloquially known as “The Large Glass.”

“Christ of St. John of the Cross” is arguably one of Dali’s most celebrated paintings. It has never previously been displayed in The Dali Museum, much less this part of the world. Equally impressive, says the museum’s director Hank Hine, is Duchamp’s “The Large Glass.” Just getting the piece from London was logistically complex. “‘The Large Glass’ had to stay upright on a military transport plane to get here. It was so expensive, but so import to bring, so that artists could see this original source of inspiration,” Hine adds.

Continued on pg. 39 | uu |

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

(left) Salvador Dalí, Venus de Milo with Drawers (and PomPoms), conceived in 1936; cast in 1964, bronze painted white with ermine pompoms.

Worldwide rights ©Salvador Dalí Fundació GalaSalvador Dalí (Artists Rights Society), 2018 / In the USA © Salvador Dalí Museum, Inc. St. Petersburg, FL 2018. (right) Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q., 1958, Moustache and goatee added to reproduction of Mona Lisa printed in the Enciclopedia Universal Private collection, Barcelona ©Association Marcel Duchamp / ADAGP, Paris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2018 Photos courtesy The Dali Museum

| uu | Dali/Duchamp from pg.37

Eroticism is the theme of the back and final room, with a large vitrine occupying the middle space.

Within the glass case are various ready-made objects, which were re-appropriated by the artists.

These are replicas of the original objects, nonetheless, well-known exemplars of Dada, Surrealism, and Conceptualism. There are pieces like the “Lobster Telephone,” the “Venus de Milo with Drawers,” and the inverted urinal called “The Fountain.”

Dawn Ades, professor of art history at the University of Essex and the Royal Academy and co-curator of this exhibit, was skeptical as to whether a focus on eroticism could be accomplished amid the current sexual climate. But she says “to the eroticism there is a strong element of

voyeurism, of a kind of looking rather than actually doing anything. And they were, after all artists.”

It’s in this last room that the gender bending and reexamination of self-identity by Duchamp is evident.

Ades attributes a fluidity of gender to Duchamp’s “The Fountain.”

“It’s a very good example of it because there is something that you would think is the epitome of the male, masculinity,” he says. Ades also opines that “what [Duchamp’s] done is put it on its back so that it actually takes on the outline of a Madonna... allowing one object to somehow be facing both ways. [It] is actually very much part of his esthetic.”

Where does Duchamp’s motivation for this esthetic come from? Hine thinks it’s baked into the pie. “That’s part of the doctrine of surrealism,” he says. “Human nature is a complete spectrum. They said that... the only way to get out of what this civilized world created,

the kind of mayhem and chaos of the early 20th century, is by finding our basic qualities... and being true to who we are.”

Duchamp had his own way of being true to who he was: he donned women’s clothing as the female artist Rrose Sélavy. He decided he wanted an alter-ego, almost adopting a Jewish pseudonym. He eventually settled on Rrose Sélavy, which itself is a pun on the French pronunciation of “eros, c’est la vie,” meaning “sex, that’s life.” One out of the two known famous photographic portraiture of Duchamp as Sélavy is in the photograph gallery near the entrance of the exhibit. An equally famous photographer associated with surrealism, Man Ray, took the snapshots.

What are we to make of Sélavy?

Art professor Ades maintains that Duchamp was constantly “challenging fixed notions of identity.” A photograph of Sélavy was

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

published in the New York issue of “Dada” magazine, even as a label on a bottle of perfume. “He was prepared, as it were, to pursue this changed identity, this changed gender, as far as you like,” Ades continues.

During the 1938 Surrealistic exposition in Paris, Sélavy was dressed up as a mannequin wearing Duchamp’s jacket, thereby he, as she, disguised herself as a male.

Interestingly, Ades says, Duchamp and Man Ray would have fun with this alter-ego. “Man Ray also used to dress up as a woman and photographed himself as a woman. It was quite startling at the time.”

Duchamp was a gender iconoclast, utilizing his art and his platform to expose the threadbare notions, as he saw them, of societal self-identification norms. According to co-curators Ades and Jeffett, a prevailing negative attitude in the ‘20s and ‘30s was that surrealism was run by a sort of homosexual

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

cabal. Ades points out that this was anathema to what Duchamp believed, noting “he was not prepared to accept this as a criticism. He thought that both women and homosexuals had contributed a great deal to modern art in the 20th century.”

The impact of Marcel Duchamp as an artist is undeniable. But it just may be Rrose Sélavy, as the artiste, who has had an unsung influence on LGBTQ artists like David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francis Bacon, Paul Cadmus, or Gilbert & George. Jeffett definitely sees a link with Gilbert & George, noting “they are very visible as sort of Dandyish figures… very carefully constructed and costumed.”

“Dali/Duchamp” can be seen at the Dali Museum in downtown Saint Petersburg from now until May 27, 2018. This exhibition contains challenging images, including adult content. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit thedali.org.

39

E M P LOY M E N T O P P O RT U N I T Y:

TAMPA BAY ADVERTISING SALES For more than 24 years Watermark has been the premiere source of LGBTQ news across Central Florida and Tampa Bay and we are expanding our team.

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

Books

The Bookworm Sez

“Would You Rather? A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out” by Katie Heaney c.2018, Ballantine Books • $16.00 / $22.00 Canada • 256 pages

Y

Terri Schlichenmeyer

ou’re late! Oops, you overslept, got

caught in traffic, the elevator was slow. Phone lines were down, email was down. You forgot, and you’re late, sorry. Or, as in the new book “Would You Rather?” by Katie Heaney, your understanding was just a bit delayed.

Where do you go when you’re looking for love?

For Katie Heaney, it was, well, pretty much anywhere. She’d always wanted a boyfriend and she’d had lots of crushes in her life but she was never meaningfully kissed. At age 21, she went to Madrid for a semester with the hopes of meeting someone, but there were only seven men in the group of a hundred students.

In Spain, though, after binge-streaming The L Word and falling for Shane, she began to think that maybe she might be a lesbian. Musing, she messaged her best friend, who let Heaney talk it out and decide that there was a big maybe involved.

Even so, she never saw herself with a girlfriend.

She grew up in the cold of Minnesota, had planned on spending the rest of her life close to home, and moved into an apartment near Minneapolis with her straight best friend, but that was too cozy-comfy. Heaney on-and-off flirted with the possibility of being gay and she met a woman who was, no question, lesbian, which made her decide to shake herself out of her complacency. She visited New York, and then moved there.

Being in The Big Apple was a big deal, but Heaney remained frustratingly dateless.

By age 24, everyone she knew had dated and she began blogging about it, she wrote a book, and she noticed that that affected the way men acted toward her. Four years later, her “attraction to men was just… gone” and

picturing herself with a woman came “pretty easily,” which was all it seemed to take; shortly thereafter, Heaney met Lydia online, and her almost-30-year dating desert became an oasis. She not only imagined herself with a woman, she was with a woman and nothing felt more right.

And now, says Heaney, “I am living with the best roommate I have ever had.”

Sometimes funny, sometimes self-depreciatingly cringe-worthy, “Would You Rather?” is a refreshing change over the I’ve-known-since-I-was-achild LGBTQ memoirs.

Readers may also notice that it’s a bit overboard.

Author Katie Heaney writes of her journey with a charming awkwardness that endears her to any reader who’s ever felt as though the different drummer they’re marching to is actually playing the bongos: same beat, different crowd. This book will resonate with all who feel left behind in a world where peers are hooked up solid, and frustration mixes with indecisiveness mixes with self-questioning.

Once readers have gotten to the happy not-quite-ending, though, Heaney continues to examine her situation which, while it doesn’t completely ruin the books’ earlier allure, bruises the story somewhat.

Still, this book is worthy, if nothing but for its unique coming-out POV. For that, “Would You Rather?” fits perfectly for memoir-lovers, Heaney fans, and those who bloom late.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

41

Got Mustard?

We’ve got more weiner than we can handle.

www.DareToRescue.com

THE BARBER FUND HELPING THOSE LIVING WITH CANCER

www.thebarberfund.org WE HONOR THEIR COURAGE. WE HONOR THEIR STRENGTH. WE HONOR THEIR FIGHT!

ONE LOVE!

42

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

In Memory of John “Tweeka” Barber 1972 - 2011

community calendar

event planner

arts+entertainment

orlanDo

orlanDo

Florida Collegiate pride Coalition 2018 Annual Conference

Jesse McCartney, April 5, CFE Arena, Orlando. 407-823-3070; CFEArena.com the Center’s Monthly art show reception, April 5, The Center, Orlando. 407-228-8272; TheCenterOrlando.com Dexter’s after Dark, April 6, Dexter’s Restaurant, Orlando. 407-648-2777; DextersOrlando.com Florida Collegiate Pride Coalition 2018 annual Conference, April 6-8, University of Central Florida, Orlando. 407-8230401; FCPC2018.com 2018 Florida Film Festival, April 6-15, Enzian Theater, Maitland.

407-629-1088; Enzian.org spooky empire, April 6-8, Wyndham Orlando Resort, Orlando. 954-258-7852; SpookyEmpire.com orlando Museum of art Family Day, April 7, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando.

407-896-4231; OMART.com Private school: Class is in session, April 7, Henao Contemporary Center, Orlando.

407-645-2577; HopeAndHelp.org

iceman

cometh Olympic medalist adam rippon joins some of the world best ice skaters for “Stars On Ice” April 7 at the Amway Center in Orlando. Photo Courtesy starsoniCe.CoM

butterfly talks, April 14, The Center, Orlando. 407-228-8272; TheCenterOrlando.org the Color run 5k, April 14, Osceola Heritage Park, Kissimmee.

855-662-6567; TheColorRun.com

stars on ice 2018 tour, April 7, Amway Center, Orlando.

407-440-7000; AmwayCenter.com

Florida Wedding expo, April 15, Rosen Plaza Hotel, Orlando. 407-571-9990; FloridaWeddingExpo.com

strawberry Fest, April 7, Volusia County Fairgrounds, Deland.

386-860-0092; DelandFestival.com

orlando ballet uncorked, April 17, The Abbey, Orlando.

407-426-1733; OrlandoBallet.org

spring Fiesta in the Park, April 7-8, Lake Eola Park, Orlando. 321-281-2185; FiestainthePark.com

bon Jovi, April 18, Amway Center, Orlando. 407-440-7000; AmwayCenter.com

eagles with Jimmy buffet, April 14, Camping World Stadium, Orlando. 407-496-6815; CampingWorldStadium.com butterfly talks - a support Group for lesbian & bisexual Women, April 14, The Center, Orlando.

407-228-8272; StayingSain.com Mayim bialik, April 14, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando. 407-839-0119; DrPhillipsCenter.org

edible and Medicinal herb Walk, April 8, Sweetwater Organic Community Farm, Tampa. 813-887-4066; SweetWater-Organic.org tampa bay Choice affair luncheon, April 10, The Bryan Glazer Family JCC, Tampa.

813-773-3553; PPAction.org lorde, April 11, Amalie Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com engage series, April 12, Henry Plant Museum, Tampa. 813-276-9448; EmergeTampaBay.org Fun and Fancy: Women’s health event, April 12, Hilton Garden Inn Tampa, Lutz. 813-929-5000; FloridaHospital.com/ Wesley-Chapel

tampa Bay aerial sling intensive, April 6, Buttercup Pole Dance, Tampa. 813-443-5144; ButtercupPoleDance.com

exposed: a nude art experience, April 13, Creative Loafing Space, Tampa. 813-441-9814; TampaBayFineArt.com

Grand Central Market, April 7, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com tlC, April 8, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa. 813-884-4386; BuschGardens.com/Tampa

suzanne Westenhoefer, April 13, The Palladium, St. Petersburg.

813-879-4220; TIGLFF.com

tarpon springs arts & Crafts Festival, April 14, Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs.

352-344-0657; SpongeDocks.net brews & bites Food truck rally, April 14, The Sail, Tampa.

813-274-7778; TheSailTampa.com tampa Walkathon, April 14, Al Lopez Park, Tampa. 941-729-5665; GuideDogsWalkathon.org DreaMFest 2018, April 14, Argosy University, Tampa.

813-501-2272; Argosy. edu/Locations/Tampa sustainability Fair, April 14, The Bar Method, Tampa.

813-304-2644; BarMethod.com

sarasota the Wizard of oz, April 8, Sarasota Opera, Sarasota.

941-328-1300; SarasotaOpera.org international Women’s Film Festival, April 15-16, Through Women’s Eyes, Sarasota. 847-989-6700; ThroughWomensEyes.com

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

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

fRiDAy-suNDAy, ApRiL 6-8, 9:00 A.M.- 5:00 p.M. uNiveRsity Of ceNtRAL fLORiDA, ORLANDO Join Florida Collegiate Pride for the 15th annual FCPC Conference, hosted by UCF, April 6-8. This year’s theme is “Be the Change” and workshops and breakout sessions throughout the event will focus on diversity, activism and more within the LGBTQ community.

The event will feature keynote speaker Joe Saunders, senior political director of Equity Florida.

Meet the Alliance Mixer weDNesDAy, ApRiL 11, 6:00-9:00 p.M. the veNue, ORLANDO The One Orlando Alliance invites the LGBTQ+ community to come familiarize themselves with the resources and volunteer opportunities they offer. The event offers free food, a cash bar and a great chance to mingle with a group that unifies and empowers LGBTQ+ organizations in Central Florida. For more information visit OneOrlandoAlliance.org.

tampa Bay

Exposed: A Nude Art Experience fRiDAy, ApRiL 13, 6:00-9:00 p.M. cReAtive LOAfiNg spAce, tAMpA The Tampa Bay Society of Photographic Artists presents “Exposed: A Nude Art Experience” in Ybor City. The show will feature various art from local artists that portrays the blatant, abstract and sensual landscape of the human body. The exhibit will feature body painting, the Nude Photo Tent and a peep show. The event is one night only and a minimum $10 donation is requested.

For more information visit TampaBayFineArt.com.

sarasota

ALSO Gala 2018: Black & White party sAtuRDAy, ApRiL 7, 5:30-10:00 p.M. LiDO beAch ResORt, sARAsOtA It’s that time of year again to celebrate the LGBTQ youth of Sarasota. ALSO Youth’s 2018 Gala is themed “Black & White Party,” so get creative with the outfits and head out to the Lido Beach Resort. David Scarbie Mitchell is back to host for an evening of music, food, cocktails, raffles, auctions and more. Tickets start at $150 each and are available at ALSOYouth.org.

43

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

overheard

tampa Bay out+aBout

calling all marchers

r

egistRAtiON fOR 2018’s st. pete pRiDe tRANspRiDe MARch is NOw OpeN. The march’s hope is “to inspire all trans and gender non-conforming people to realize a world where we are safe, loved, and empowered,” St. Pete Pride’s registration announcement reads.

“We invite the entire community to come out and celebrate our Trans family by being a part of St. Pete Pride.”

The march will begin on June 23 at 6:00 p.m., with marchers gathering at Vinoy Park in downtown St. Pete an hour before. The organization advises participants should plan accordingly for the one-mile walk along Bayshore Drive.

Participation is free, and the first 500 registrants will receive a St. Pete Pride TransPride March t-shirt and flag at no cost on the day of the march. For more information, visit stpetepride.com.

tell them you love them

t

he gAy MeN’s chORus Of tAMpA bAy tOOk the AMALie AReNA by storm on March 31 when they joined Demi Lovato on stage for the final performance of her 20-city nationwide tour.

“No joke—this was us last night on stage,” the group shared on social media afterwards, posting video of their performance with the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum popstar. “It was such an honor for [the] Gay Men’s Chorus of Tampa Bay to back up singer and LGBT ally Demi Lovato in concert!”

The group helped perform Lovato’s hit “Tell Me You Love Me” in the show’s grand finale, noting afterwards that they “were all so excited after the performance [that] words weren’t enough.”

If you missed the show, you can tell the group you’re sorry (not sorry) and purchase tickets for their spring concert “You Will Be Found,” available now at una-voce.org.

rock the vote

v

OtiNg fOR st. pete pRiDe’s 2018 gRAND MARshALs has officially begun.

“Being named a Grand Marshal of the St. Pete Pride Parade is among the highest honors bestowed by the Tampa Bay LGBTQ community,” St. Pete Pride notes. “Individuals and organizations nominated for Grand Marshal have made significant achievements for LGBTQ rights and have made considerable contributions to the LGBTQ community at large.”

The selection process has been a community effort since 2013, St. Pete Pride says, noting all of the nominations were made by community members within Tampa Bay. Voters are asked to choose up to three of six nominees for Community Grand Marshal, and one of two organizations for Organization Grand Marshal.

Ballots close on April 22. For the list of 2018’s nominees and to cast your vote, visit stpetepride.com.

1

2 3

1

tAMpA tuNes: anjila Cavalier serenades the crowd for Project No Labels’ Pride Legacy Awards at City Side Lounge on March 23. PHOTO by ryan WilliaMs-Jent

2

b. gAgA: Entertainer extraordinaire Judy B. Goode channels Lady Gaga on March 22 at Tampa Pride’s VIP Sponsors Party at the Hilton Downtown Tampa. PHOTO by ryan WilliaMs-Jent

3

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NightLife: steven Galan (L) and Richard Recupero keep the party alive at Bradley’s on 7th for Tampa Pride at Night on March 24. PHOTO BY ryan WilliaMs-Jent

4

peNguiNs ‘N PriDe: Tommy (L) and Jack help launch Tampa Pride at the Florida Aquarium’s kickoff party on March 23. PHOTO

by ryan WilliaMs-Jent

5

puRpLe pRiDe: Team Watermark readies for the launch of our float in the Tampa Pride Diversity Parade on March 24. Photo Courtesy Kathleen harPer

6

bRew buDs: Jeremy, Eric, Jesse, Ryan and edii (l-r) share a drink at Enigma on March 30. PHOTO BY

6

ryan WilliaMs-Jent

7

LeMMe see yOuR peAcOck: Artist and designer Rodny Ochoa puts his best feather forward at the Tampa Pride street festival on March 24. PHOTO BY ryan WilliaMs-Jent

8

WHAt tO WeAr: elaine southern Belle departs her wardrobe following Diva Saturdays at Quench Lounge on March 31. PHOTO by ryan WilliaMs-Jent

7 watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

8

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www.NationsLandscaping.com

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

overheard

orlanDo out+aBout

Bonnets Break Bank

b

Abes iN bONNets, the pARLiAMeNt hOuse’s ANNuAL eAsteR fixtuRe, set a fundraising record bringing in $32,171 for the Orlando Youth Alliance March 26. The old record was set the previous year when Babes in Bonnets brought in $28,000 for OYA. The benefit, which was started 20 years ago by drag legend Carmella Marcella Garcia, was hosted by Ms. Darcel Stevens and featured Blue Star and Michael Wanzie as the evening’s auctioneers, and purveyors of some of the evening’s more racier jokes. The bonnets this year varied in size and reward leaving those who donated with everything from gift cards, bar tabs and bottles of wine to private dinner parties, beauty treatments and brunch with the one and only Jorge Estevez. Someone even took home a giant duck suit! Attendees were even afforded a once-in-a-lifetime performance by the legend herself, Carmella Marcella Garcia.

2

a film for “family”

“L

Ove, siMON,” which OpeNeD iN theAteRs MARch 16, is a teen dramedy about a high school kid named Simon coming to terms with being gay after starting an email conversation with another closeted gay teen from his school. The film is based on the novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli. It is also the first major studio release of a film that focuses on a teen gay romance, which is why celebrities across the country have been buying out screenings of the film and giving away tickets to anyone, particularly young LGBTQers, who want to see it. Local celeb Sacha Kljestan, a midfielder for the Orlando City Soccer Club, and his wife bought out a screening at the Regal Winter Park Village for March 29 and packed the theater with kids from the Zebra Coalition.

“The movie spreads the message of tolerance, acceptance and equality. We were inspired by other people who did this, so we just want to pay it forward and help spread the love to the people of Orlando,” Kljestan wrote on his Twitter. Kljestan is now a part of an impressive list of celebrities including Neil Patrick Harris, Matt Bomer and Kristen Bell who are spreading the word of love and acceptance through this amazing film. “Love, Simon” is currently in theaters and well worth a watch.

tayloreD to leaD

f

LORiDA Rep. cARLOs guiLLeRMO sMith wAs AwARDeD the LegisLAtive LeADeRship AwARD at The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation’s AIDSWatch in D.C. March 27.

Smith was selected for his HIV advocacy and, more specifically, for his part in helping to convince Publix Supermarkets to cover the HIV preventative drug known as PrEP for their employees. Publix had come under fire last February after claims from employees that they were being refused coverage for the drug under the company’s prescription benefit plan.

Smith’s intervention had the supermarket chain reverse course less than 24 hours after the two groups met. Congratulations to Rep. Smith and thank you for all your hard work!

4

1

fOR the kiDs: The people behind Babes in Bonnets with kids from the Orlando Youth Alliance at the Parliament House Footlight Theater after the Easter bonnet auctions wrapped March 26.

Photo by JereMy WilliaMs

2

MaXine earhart

4

Photo Courtesy JeFF PrystaJKo

6

Photo by riCK ClaGGett

WAter tO WiNe: Taylor Bulloch (L) and Bryn Currie don their best Son of God outfits for the Hunky Jesus contest at Stonewall Orlando, hosted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, April 1.

MR. pResiDeNts: Newly appointed Come Out With Pride president Jeff Prystajko with the official Barack Obama portrait at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. March 25.

5

hOLiDAy heADgeAR: (L-R) tim leddy, shawn tofte and ryan tofte show off their Easter Bonnets for the 2018 Easter Bonnet Jubilee benefiting the Zebra Coalition at The Hammered Lamb in Orlando March 31.

6

Photo by Danny GarCia

3

5

by the NuMbeRs: Miss sammy draws the balls for the Easter Hangover BIG GAY BINGO at The LGBT+ Center in Orlando April 2. Photo by Danny GarCia

3

1

sOcceR suNDAy: Maxine earhart (L) and Carlos Carbonell take in an Orlando City soccer match at the Orlando City Stadium March 25. Photo Courtesy

7

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tO the stReets: Wendy Wallenberg (L) and sarah Wissig at the March For Our Lives rally at Lake Eola in Orlando March 24. Photo Courtesy WenDy WallenberG

8

LOve, sAchA: Orlando City SC midfielder sacha Kljestan (L) and Zebra Coalition executive director Heather Wilkie during a screening of “Love, Simon” at the Winter Park Village’s Regal Cinemas March 29. PHOTO BY JereMy WilliaMs

8 watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

47

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // Issue 25.07

announcements

WeDDing Bells

William and Ziggy Shockley

Congratulations

from Orlando

St. Peterburg’s Flamingo resort celebrates its 9th Anniversary April 7.

loCal birthdays

Photo by art FaulKner

A

whiRLwiND ROMANce eNDs with an Eiffel Tower proposal on a surprise trip to the City of Light.

“I know it’s very cliché,” says William Shockley, “but we actually met at our local bar. I remember eyeballing this very attractive man standing against the wall.”

William and Ziggy ended up chatting throughout the night. “He made my knees weak!” says William. He watched Ziggy leave and was filled with regret when he realized they hadn’t exchanged numbers. William ran outside and caught Ziggy before he got into his car.

“Not only did we exchange numbers, but we kissed right then and there. It was totally unexpected, but absolutely lovely.”

That night as William drove home, he was elated.

“I had a permanent smile on my face. I was on cloud nine!” he recollects. “After I got home, we texted back and forth for hours.” The next day, Ziggy told William that he lived in Orlando, but came to Sarasota often, where William was living at the time. Ziggy was as good as his word, and went to Sarasota to visit William and take him to his favorite restaurant downtown. “I was falling hard and fast by this point,” says William.

The couple had a long-distance relationship for two months before William decided to pack up and join Ziggy in Orlando. “The day after Christmas, Ziggy asked me to move in with him. I said

yes, of course, and moved in the very next day.” William says that was a turning point in his life, when everything changed for the better.

Ziggy had bought William a new pair of work shoes for his birthday. William is a veterinary technician and is on his feet all day.

But inside the shoes were a pair of airline tickets to Paris for their one-year anniversary and a hotel confirmation. The surprises didn’t stop there: For their anniversary dinner, they’d be dining at Le Jules Verne at the top of the world’s most recognizable landmark.

While in Paris, they gathered a picnic and sat in the park overlooking the tower. “It was just us in the park,” says William. “We sat there drinking wine and snacking on cheese. He looked at me and pulled out a

ring and proposed. Of course I said yes!”

The couple decided to elope, as they were having a hard time deciding what to do for their wedding. “Ziggy had his sister Angie fly in, and we made it official on February 23, 2018,” says William.

The pair says that now they are married, things did change for them. “It’s definitely been great,” says William. “We are currently in the middle of buying our first home together and, who knows, maybe in the future we’ll have some little rugrats running around.” William and Ziggy are planning a big wedding party for May 2019, and look forward to having their friends and family around them to celebrate.

Tampa banker Jeff baker, St. Petersburg nurse Brian Feist, Orlando Front Runner scott Feneck, St. Petersburg entertainer Meagan towers (Michael Jones), Tampa MCC activist Mac McGowan, St. Petersburg heart healer eric Casaccio, Ybor-lovin’ Jacob ahrens-rich, Largo Vice Mayor and City Commissioner Michael smith (April 5); G2H2 founder and president Donny hill, Orlando accountant leah James, Former PFLAG Orlando president Pat Padilla (April 6); graphic designer Jason Donnelly, Sarasota real estate e-marketing director Ken Demmons, Intrepid traveler Jon taylor, Rollins College costume studio manager seth schrager, All Hallows aficionado nick okeson (April 7); St. Petersburg HIV/AIDS activist Joe Dobson, Avidchick Design president Jennifer Carter (April 8);Halcyon co-founder stephanie Callahan (April 9); Orlando lovebird bobby McCall, Fort Lauderdale-based singer sean ensign, St. Petersburg Metro employee Mike hollis (April 10); Tampa MCC’s facility manager Mac Williams, Equality Florida’s Joe saunders, Orlando Log Cabin Republican Patrick howell, Orlando dentist Elena Puig (April 12); Florida Hospital Altamonte social worker stacy Pease, Former OGC director aubrey Connelly; derby girl becca “tbex” Fisher; St. Petersburg ROTC twirler scott heli, Radio show host and Hamburger Mary’s Tampa performer esme russell (April 13); Elizabeth “sister Koochie Koo” of the Orlando Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, former Flamingo Resort cast member andromeda strain, Drag chanteuse Chantelreshae (April 14); Ocala-based horse trainer Randy Eeckhout, Southern Nights Orlando DJ nela aguirre (April 15); St. Petersburg artist John l. Gascot, Tampa talent Delaran Withers (April 16); Tampa insurance specialist Mitchell Ryan, swing dancer Kalyn rushing, St. Petersburg realtor eric Wilson (April 17); Orlando arts patron Jerry baumeister, former Georgie’s Alibi-St. Petersburg server John Fletcher, St. Petersburg Stonewall Democrat Beth Fountain, St. Petersburg superwoman Tammy benjamin, Queen City loving alex Jiminez, Tampa Bay environmentalist Joey stalker (April 18).

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!

—Holly V. Kapherr

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 LGBTQ life.

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

Reach local LGBT communities across the nation.

Start connecting with over a million loyal readers in print and online across the country.

212-242-6863 info@nationallgbtmediaassociation.com www.nationallgbtmediaassociation.com

Atlanta | Boston | Chicago | Dallas/ Ft Worth | Detroit | Los Angeles | Miami/ Ft Lauderdale | New York | Orlando/Tampa Bay | Philadelphia | San Francisco | Washington DC

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53

the last page

Photo by JaKe steVens

age: 50

hometoWn:

I’ve got two: Fort Myers, Florida & Amsterdam, the Netherlands

samuel Vinson Johnson

Professional role model:

FREEL ANCE WRITER

My grandfather

autobiograPhy title:

When DiD you Develop a passion for Writing?

“Music to Code Switch By”

About 10 years ago.

identifies as:

Q & A (Questioning and Ally)

out year:

2018

hire date:

What Was your first story With Watermark?

hobbies:

As sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, the battle for LGBTQ sex ed in schools is more important than ever.

Outdoors, music, film, travel, Bigfoot, food

What kinD of Writing Do you Do for Watermark?

February 2017

My assignments are all over the place. I write features, deadline and, most recently, an Arts & Entertainment piece.

What maDe you Want to Write for Watermark?

Inspiring conversation with Billy Manes.

What is your favorite thing aBout Writing for Watermark?

Working with a team that cares about each piece of work that goes under the name Watermark.

What is your favorite thing aBout the local lgBtQ community?

St Petersburg is a mecca of LGBTQ activity; culturally, socially, economically and politically.

What is your favorite lgBtQ event?

Amsterdam Canal Parade.

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

What WoulD you like to see improveD in the lgBtQ community?

More attention to LGBTQ youth, especially trans-youth.

What Do you like Writing aBout the most?

Intersectionality of issues.

What Do you Want Watermark reaDer’s to knoW aBout you?

I feel equal parts European and American. I prefer paper over plastic. Green is my favorite color. Don’t misconstrue my passion for aggression.

What aDvice WoulD you give your younger self?

Don’t muck about chasing the perfect while neglecting the good that’s staring you in the face. Choose a university study that has a practical component to it; e.g. has a real world job prospect.

Watermark is the collective product of a team of incredibly hardworking individuals. Over the next series of issues, we’re using this space to introduce each member of our staff and contributors to you. When you see us out and about in the community, stop and say, “Hello.” We’d love to meet you.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Apr il 5 - A pr il 18 , 2018 // issue 25.07

55

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