Watermark Issue 27.24: Drag in the House

Your LGBTQ Life.

Nov. 25 - Dec. 9, 2020 Issue 27.24

Drag in the House

Tampa Bay marks inclusive holiday season Dr. Phillips Center announces Frontyard Festival D A Y T O N A B E A C H • O R L A N D O • T A M P A • S T . P E T E R S B U R G • clear w ater • S A R A S O T A

150 Central Ave.

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A program of ExhibitisUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photograph by: Blake Little, Brian Cornell, Hayward, California, 1989

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departments 7 // Publisher’s Desk

page

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8 // Central Florida News 10// Tampa Bay News

There are not a lot of places where people perform drag that have a theatre setting like that, with the stage, the lights, the sound … it made you feel not only like an entertainer but it made you feel like a professional.

–Ms. Darcel Stevens, former Parliament House Entertainment Director

12// State News 13// Nation & World News 19// Talking Points 37// Tampa Bay Out + About 39// Central Fl Out + About 40// Tampa Bay Marketplace 42// Central Fl Marketplace 46// Wedding Bells On the cover

page Virtual Panels:

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page DRAG IN THE

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HOUSE: Queens reflect on the legacy of Orlando’s Parliament House. Photo

by Dylan Todd.

scan qr code for

WatermarkOnline.com

The AIDS Memorial Quilt marks World AIDS Day 2020 with first online exhibition.

Watermark Issue 27.24 // Nov. 25 - Dec. 9, 2020

Update Policy

Moving Forward

Federal Impact

Yard Show

page Activists speak on Flagler County School District’s gender identity exclusion.

page Jennifer Webb reflects on her historic term in the Florida House.

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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Federal Court rules against Florida’s conversion therapy bans.

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Central Florida’s Dr. Phillips Center launches Frontyard Festival.

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

Publisher’s

Rick Claggett PUblisher

Rick@WatermarkOnline.com

T

Desk

ime seems irrelevant this

year. Was the WAVE Awards celebration last week or last March? It’s hard to tell in 2020.

Having said that, It was a month or so ago that I first got word that the Parliament House was in danger of closing. “It must be that time of year,” I said to myself. It was nothing new and the Parliament House always came out on top. Unfortunately, they did not this time.

It’s an old trope to suggest the LGBTQ community likes to eat its own. An argument can certainly be made that this is the case when it comes to the Parliament House.

Naysayers bombard social media almost relishing in the demise of the popular watering hole, calling it a dump and throwing shade at the owners and management team. I can agree that at times the business seems to struggle and there were obvious signs of that throughout the property. While there is no denying there were issues, to the haters out there

I say the Parliament House was an important, positive life-changing spot for many people.

I have so many good memories of being there, many more forgotten memories — let’s not forget I was a black out drunk — and some memories I’d like to forget. My first memory took place in the early-mid-90s and that time my friends and I became part of the Miss P show. I had a friend in from out of town and he wanted to do something crazy, so Parliament was the obvious choice. We wandered into the drag show with

watermark staff Owner & Publisher: Rick Claggett • Ext. 110 Rick@WatermarkOnline.com Business Manager: Kathleen Sadler • Ext. 101 Kathleen@WatermarkOnline.com

Editor-in-Chief: Jeremy Williams • Ext. 106 Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com Tampa Bay Bureau Chief: Ryan Williams-Jent • Ext. 302 Ryan@WatermarkOnline.com Art Director: Dylan Todd • Ext. 107 Dylan@WatermarkOnline.com

no idea who Miss P was or what we were about to see. At some point Miss P looked at our table and asked why we weren’t drinking.

“Are you too young?” she asked.

“No,” I replied. “We are too poor.

College students.” She then offered to buy us a round of drinks if I grabbed her crotch, and standing center stage hiked her dress all the way up. As if to call her bluff, I reached out my hand, palm up.

“Oh honey, if I’m buying your table drinks then you’re coming backstage and digging under these panty hose.” Everyone laughed and we didn’t get a round of drinks.

Let’s jump forward a decade to 2005. At this point I’m working at Watermark and on the board of the Metropolitan Business Association.

Central Florida Pride had failed to take place during the month of June and the MBA stepped up to work with Joe Sanders at UCF to create a National Coming Out Day pride event called Come Out With Pride. The organization held a pep rally of sorts at the Parliament House’s Footlight Theatre. Patty Sheehan made an impassioned plea for donations, to which Susan Unger rose to her feet and shouted, “I pledge $10,000.” Everyone was shocked, especially Don Granatstein. She had just saved pride. I will always remember this moment as who Don and Susan were. They always opened their doors to local organizations.

They cared about our success as a community.

There are so many people that are in my life because of the Parliament House. This is where I met Miss Sammy for the first time, as referenced in my last Publisher’s Desk. It’s where I met Michael Wanzie, Doug Ba’aser, Darcel Stevens and a gaggle of twinks who called themselves the Blue Boys. It’s where I saw Carol Lee and Miss Sammy perform a Lucy and Ethel sketch that was arguably the funniest sketch comedy I have ever seen. It’s where

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I saw David Lee’s Hedwig for the first time, and where my friend Jason Donnelly met his future husband Chad Lewis. It’s where I fell in love with Blue Star who had the generous soul to put me in her VarieTEASE show “Shee-Haw.” I know I bore the hell out of her telling her how much that meant to me, but why not one more time.

Thank you, Blue.

My last memory of Parliament House took place this last week when I went with Dylan Todd to take photos for this issue. We stood outside the fence, looking in at what had once been the great place of my youth. We were joined by a stranger who was there to take his final look at a place that had meant so much to him. I’m sure

…the Parliament House was an important, positive lifechanging spot for many people.

something will come along and be everything the Parliament House was to this community, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you Parliament House for being so important to so many people. Thank you, Don and Susan and the staff for all the memories.

In this issue of Watermark we share the stories of some of Parliament’s drag entertainers.

In Orlando news we focus on the changes of the Flagler County school board and in Tampa Bay we talk to Jennifer Webb to reflect on her service and look into what’s next.

We strive to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.

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contributors Bryana Saldana

is a 25-year-old Afro-Latina poet born and raised in Orlando. She seeks to relate to issues surrounding the black, woman and queer experience. Page 15

Beneva Fruitville

has been honored for her theatrical roles and volunteerism. She has performed onstage from New York to Fiji and can be seen on screen via Amazon Prime and Sarasota’s Suncoast View. Page 17

Lora Korpar is

a journalism student at the University of Central Florida and a former Watermark intern. She plans to graduate in Spring 2020. Page 46 Sabrina Ambra, Nathan Bruemmer, Scottie Campbell, Miguel Fuller, Divine Grace, Holly Kapherr Alejos, Jason Leclerc, Melody Maia Monet, Jerick Mediavilla, Greg Stemm, Dr. Steve yacovelli, Michael wanzie

photography Brian Becnel, Nick Cardello, Bruce Hardin, Jamarqus Mosley, Chris Stephenson, Lee Vandergrift

distribution LVNLIF2 Distributing, Ken Carraway, Vanessa Maresca-Cruz CONTENTS of WATERMARK are protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher.

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

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central florida news

‘The Golden Gals’ bring holiday cheer to Haös Jeremy Williams

O

RLANDO | Picture it — Haös on Church, 2020. The girls get back together!

TVLand LIVE!, the team behind the smash hit shows “The Golden Gals” and “Rozanne,” are reuniting for an updated and streamlined edition of their holiday classic, “The Golden Gals — A Christmas Musical!”

“This talented group of gender-bending performers brings back last year’s sold-out hit, in a brand-new venue,” a press release states.

The show stars Ginger Minj, Divine Grace, Gidget Galore and MrMs Adrian as the fabulous foursome Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia, respectively, along with special guest star Doug Ba’aser.

“The Golden Gals — A Christmas Musical!,” which Minj will also direct, will be the first show presented at Blue Star’s new downtown venue, Haös on Church.

COVID safety measures will be in place, including social distancing and masks required to be worn, so tickets are limited.

“The Golden Gals — A Christmas Musical!” runs select nights Nov. 28-Dec. 20. Tickets are $25 in advance for general admission, VIP tickets are $35.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit TVLandLIVE.com.

Wanzie announces new holiday-themed musical Jeremy Williams

O

RLANDO | Central Florida playwright Michael Wanzie has announced his latest theatrical show, “Wanzie’s Christmas Eve 1970’s Radio Hour,” presented by Florida Theatrical Association playing at The Abbey in Orlando Dec. 20.

“The charter members of The Orange Blossom Little Theater Musical Troupe and Amateur Dramatic Society Players are gathering on the great stage of an area bingo hall to present a holiday-themed cabaret fundraiser being broadcast live over a local AM radio station,” the event’s website states.

Directed by Kenny Howard, with musical direction and on-stage live accompaniment by Ned Wilkinson, the show stars Ashley Wilcox, Gabi Hockensmith, Morgan Howland-Cook, John Gracey, Taggart Connor and Brett McMahon singing holiday favorites. The show will also feature live readings of some classic commercials from 1970’s Orlando.

“Wanzie’s Christmas Eve 1970’s Radio Hour” at The Abbey Orlando plays Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets start at $15 and are available on Eventbrite.com.

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Equal time: Jennifer Bertrand speaks to the Flagler County School Board. screenshot from flaglerschools.com

Update Policy Students, activists speak on school district’s gender identity exclusion Jeremy Williams

F

LAGLER COUNTY, Fla. | LGBTQ students, parents and activists spoke at the Flagler County School Board meeting Nov. 17 to once again call for the board to update School Board Policy Manual’s section 217, the district’s nondiscrimination policy, by adding gender identity to it.

The current policy manual already protects individuals from discrimination based on “race (including anti-Semitism), color, religion, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, political or religious beliefs, national or ethnic origin or genetic information.”

The Bertrand family has attempted to have gender identity added to the school board’s manual since 2019 when Elliott Bertrand came out as transgender and experienced discrimination from one of his teachers.

“Why? It is two words,” Bertrand said during the Nov. 17 school board meeting. “Two words that will help a lot more students than you can ever know. Why? Why not do it?”

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Bertrand was one of several speakers at the school board meeting calling for policy section 217 to be updated. Another speaker, Bertrand’s mother, Jennifer Bertrand asked the board to lead by example.

“Over the course of this past year I have seen example after example of children in this very school district begging the adults on this board to protect them,” Jennifer Bertrand said. “Our children deserve to feel safe every single day at school.

I will never give up on asking this board to add gender identity to policy 217. I will do this month after month until I prove to my children that if persist long enough you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.”

The school board meeting was held during Transgender Awareness Week, which ran Nov. 13-19, and was established to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues members of the community face.

While the school board has yet to add gender identity to the official manual, Randy Bertrand, Elliott Bertrand’s father, informed the school board that members of the district have been working

with representatives from Equality Florida to create a document of guidelines and procedures around LGBTQ students in Flagler County.

“It’s a one-page document created by this district, I was made aware of it last week, outlining methods, practices, procedures and support to be provided to LGBTQ students with a specific focus on how teachers, administrators, staff and employees will respect and support transgender and gender non-conforming students,” he said to the board. “Now we have a document inside the district that’s in conflict with policy 217.”

Last April, the Flagler County School Board voted 4-1 to keep the district’s nondiscrimination policy as is without the addition of gender identity. The board has changed since then with Flagler County voting to keep Colleen Conklin on the board, the single vote calling for the policy to be updated, and voted out Maria Barbosa, who was vocal about not updating the policy, replacing her with retired teacher Cheryl Massaro. Andy Dance termed out and was replaced by the voters with Jill Woolbright. The board’s returning members are Janet McDonald and Trevor Tucker.

Watermark has reached out to the board members and asked if and when they intend to vote on updating the policy manual’s nondiscrimination policy. We had not heard from any of them as of press time.

November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

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9

tampa bay news

holiday Events mark LGBTQ-inclusive season Ryan Williams-Jent

T

AMPA BAY | Socially-distanced gatherings led by or for the LGBTQ community will mark the holiday season this December.

Fundraisers will begin Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at Punky’s Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg with the first part of entertainer Kori Stevens’ annual Toys for Toys benefit. She and hostess Georgia Moore will collect gifts and funds for less-fortunate children during Bingo, with a $10 suggested donation to play.

Stevens will host a second Bingo Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at St. Petersburg’s Buffalo City Bar & Grill. Participants are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys and to participate in a 50/50 raffle at each, all benefiting the Toys for Tots Foundation.

The entertainer has long organized drives benefiting its Tampa chapter, which last year distributed more than 55,000 toys to 17,489 local children. A turnabout fundraiser will close out her efforts Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. at Bradley’s on 7th in Ybor, featuring bartenders from the establishment and fellow LGBTQ hotspots Honey Pot and Southern Nights Tampa.

A toy drive for the special needs community will also be held Dec. 13 at Hamburger Mary’s Clearwater from 3-6 p.m., with a $10 door donation. Presented by the newly-formed Simply the Best pageant, the gathering will feature auctions, raffles and a wide array of entertainment. Organizers hope to raise $5,000 for The Movement School, which offers physical, occupational and speech therapy among other services.

A number of entertainment options are also coming to Tampa Bay, including the high profile “Drive ‘N Drag Saves Christmas.” Voss Events will hold four performances of the production at Westfield Brandon Dec. 4-5 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. each night.

The drive-in experience is hosted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Bianca “Scrooge” Del Rio. It co-stars fellow series veterans Aquaria, Asia O’Hara, Kameron Michaels, Naomi Smalls, Plastique Tiara and Violet Chachki.

“In this magical new immersive experience, Scrooge hates Christmas and intends to destroy it,” its description reads. “It is up to the queens of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ to school the old miserly curmudgeon and convince her it’s time to be merry, Mary!”

Prices begin at $69 and VIP experiences are available.

“We’re excited to spread cheers and queers throughout Florida and Texas this season,” Producer Brian Voss says.

“Our wildly popular drive-in productions haven proven the drag show must go on even through a pandemic,” he continues. “‘Drive ‘N Drag Saves Christmas’ has been adapted to be even more interactive than previous productions, lighting up parking lots with a new kind of Christmas magic.”

For more information about each benefit, visit Facebook.com/Kori.Stevens and Facebook.com/STBCP2020. To purchase tickets or to learn more about “Drive ‘N Drag,” visit VossEvents.com.

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FOR THE PEOPLE: Jennifer

Webb served HD-69 for two years and is the first openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Florida Legislature.

PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

Forward for Florida Jennifer Webb reflects on historic term Ryan Williams-Jent

S

T. PETERSBURG | Jennifer Webb lost her re-election bid Nov. 3, but the former state representative isn’t finished fighting for the constituents of House District 69 (HD-69) or for Floridians at large.

Webb made history in 2018 by becoming the first openly LGBTQ woman elected to serve in the Florida Legislature. She served for two years in HD-69, which includes 12 cities throughout the greater St. Petersburg area.

She served until her loss this year to Republican challenger Linda Chaney. According to official results from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections published Nov. 17, Webb received 47.54% of the vote to Chaney’s 52.46% – or 46,572 votes to Chaney’s 51,400.

The county as a whole favored President-elect Joe Biden over incumbent Donald Trump, 49.44% to 49.22%. The presidential race prompted both parties to spend massively on marketing throughout the state, financially impacting races down the ballot like Webb’s.

She says she was outspent five to one but that she’s proud of the campaign she ran and term she served. “I feel like I left it all on

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

the table,” Webb reflects. “From the beginning, I strove to restore people’s faith in government and in our representative Republic, and to do that I talked to people throughout the district to find out what unites us all.”

That led to a number of priorities throughout Webb’s two sessions, during which she served as the Democratic Deputy Whip and on a number of key committees. “60% of the policy that I wrote became law,” she says. “Not all of it passed in my name but that’s no small thing.”

Among her proudest moments in the Democratic minority, Webb cites working to increase the number of teachers who would receive salary increases in Florida and halting progress on a Republican-led bill that would have criminalized treatment for transgender youth.

“Our caucus and the community came together to really give a face to how damaging that was,” she recalls.

“We were able to show how harmful it would be.”

Webb also co-sponsored the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA), which since 2009 has sought to extend statewide civil rights protections to LGBTQ Floridians. Despite widespread support, the Republican-controlled

legislature has failed to advance the measure.

“Passing it was one of my ideals, it was my wish legislation,” Webb says. “I knew that it probably wouldn’t get done while I carried it, so the metric that I set was, ‘Can I get more co-sponsors than ever before?’ and we did that.”

The FCWA failed to receive a hearing after its latest introduction, despite bipartisan sponsorship from the majority of each legislative chamber. Webb says it “speaks to how our legislature fails to actually do the people’s business. 60% of Florida is covered by some form of LGBTQ+ protection, so our cities and counties are far more progressive than our legislators will allow our state to be.”

She still believes Florida Legislature can make a difference, however, particularly as it continues making strides in LGBTQ representation. In addition to the re-election of Orlando Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, St. Petersburg Rep. Michele Rayner became the first Black, openly LGBTQ woman elected and Sen. Shevrin Jones made history by becoming the first openly LGBTQ member of the Florida Senate.

“That gives me hope,” she says.

“As a community we don’t have to start from scratch.”

As for what’s next, Webb says her purpose hasn’t changed. “It has always been to serve our community and to make life a little bit easier for folks,” she says. “I don’t have a failure of imagination when it comes to how to serve the people of Florida.”

November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

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November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

11

state news

Trans entertainer murdered in Miami Yariel Valdes Gonzalez of The Washington Blade, Courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association

A

transgender woman who was a well-known activist and performer in Miami was murdered on Nov. 17.

A spokesperson for the Miami Police Department told the Washington Blade that 28-year-old Ygor Arrudasouza had placed a 911 call at around 4:25 a.m. on Nov. 17, stating that he had stabbed his girlfriend, 39-year-old Yunieski Carey Herrera also known Yuni Carey, in their downtown Miami high-rise apartment near the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.

Responding officers found Carey covered in blood suffering from stab wounds and unresponsive. The police report noted that Arrudasouza had uttered a spontaneous confession admitting to the crime and that methamphetamine had influenced the events. She was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Miami police the two had been involved in an argument that became physical.

Arrudasouza on Nov. 18 during his first court appearance confessed he was under the influence of methamphetamines when he used a fork and a knife to stab Carey in a fit of rage.

Arrudasouza, a local dancer of Brazilian origin, has been charged with second-degree murder. Arrudasouza in an emotional confession claimed he “deserves the punishment that comes to him.”

Arrudasouza, according to the arrest report, told a detective that Carey said during an argument that “she had a better man.” This confession triggered Arrudasouza, who has a recent history of violence, to attack Carey.

Court records indicate Arrudasouza in January was charged with three counts of battery.

That case remains open and is scheduled to go to trial on March 8. Arrudasouza was out on bail when he allegedly killed Carey. He is currently being held without bail at a Miami jail.

Carey performed at Azúcar, a gay nightclub near Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. Alexis Fernández, a drag queen known as Marytrini who is the establishment’s artistic producer, told the Blade that Arrudasouza was kicked out three times because of violence.

Carey was born in Santa Clara, the capital of Cuba’s Villa Clara province that is in the center of the country, and spent her childhood there. She lived with her grandmother in Miami, while the rest of her family remains in Cuba.

Carey previously won the Miss Trans Cuba beauty pageant. She was later crowned Miss Trans Global 2019 in Barcelona. Carey was preparing to return to the stage for the first time in eight months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Court rules ‘conversion therapy’ ban in Palm Beach County, Boca Raton unconstitutional Chris Johnson of The Washington Blade, Courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association

A

federal appeals court has issued a major blow against bans on conversion therapy for youth by ruling they violate the First Amendment, setting up a split within the judiciary that could lead the U.S. Supreme Court to adjudicate the issue on a nationwide basis.

In a 2-1 decision written by U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant, a three-judge panel on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta determined municipal bans on conversion therapy for youth in the city of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County in Florida contravene the freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

“We understand and appreciate that the therapy is highly controversial,” Grant writes. “But the First Amendment has no carveout for controversial speech. We hold that the challenged ordinances violate the First Amendment because they are content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny.”

Joining Grant in the opinion was U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, both of whom are Donald Trump-appointed judges.

Grant takes pain to show bans on conversion therapy should be subject to strict scrutiny because they are content-based restrictions.

“The First Amendment does not protect the right to speak about banned speech; it protects speech itself, no matter how disagreeable that speech might be to the government,” Grant writes. “And what good would it do for a therapist whose client sought [Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE)] therapy to tell the client that she thought the therapy could be helpful, but could not offer it? It only matters that some words about sexuality

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

and gender are allowed, and others are not.”

The practice of therapy aimed at changing an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity has been considered ineffectual at best and harmful at worst.

Major medical and psychological institutions, including the American Psychological Association, the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, widely reject conversion therapy.

As a result of the decision, the three-judge panel reverses the preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Robin Lee Rosenberg in December upholding the bans on conversion therapy Boca Raton and Palm Beach counties. Further, the appeals court remands the case back to Rosenberg for review to deliver a new ruling consistent with guidance on the First Amendment.

Dissenting to the opinion was U.S. Circuit Judge Beverly Martin, a President Barack Obama appointee who concluded the majority’s opinion on freedom of speech is off the mark.

“The majority is correct to say this case implicates sensitive considerations about when and how government bodies may regulate speech,” Martin writes.

“Instances in which a speech restriction is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest are deservedly rare,” the judge continues. “But they do exist.

I believe the localities’ narrow regulation of a harmful medical practice affecting vulnerable minors falls within the narrow band of permissibility.”

Because of the 11th Circuit decision, any state or municipality within the jurisdiction — which constitutes Alabama, Georgia and Florida — would be unable to enact bans on conversion therapy.

Moreover, existing bans on conversion therapy in Florida — which exist in around two dozen municipalities, including Miami, Tampa and Wilton Manors — are unconstitutional.

Kevin Jennings, CEO of the LGBTQ legal group Lambda Legal, condemned the decision in a statement as “a marked departure from precedent and an incredibly dangerous decision for our youth.”

“So-called ‘conversion therapy’ is nothing less than child abuse,” Jennings said. “It poses documented and proven critical health risks, including depression, shame, decreased self-esteem, social withdrawal, substance abuse, self-harm and suicide.

Youth are often subjected to these practices at the insistence of parents who don’t know or don’t believe that the efforts are harmful and doomed to fail: when these efforts predictably fail to produce the expected result, many LGBTQ children are kicked out of their homes.”

Jennings also pointed out the ruling came from Trump-appointed judges, accusing the Trump administration of having packed the judiciary at a time when progressives are calling for the expansion of the court under the Biden administration, which has been criticized by the other side as an attempt at court packing.

“We fear that today’s decision may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the harm that may come from a federal judiciary that has been packed for the last four years with dangerous ideologues,” Jennings said. “The damage done by this misguided opinion is incalculable and puts young people in danger.”

Robert Otto and Julie Hamilton, who have engaged in conversion therapy with minors in Florida despite warnings against the practice, had challenged the municipal ordinances in the litigation and were represented by the anti-LGBTQ Liberty Counsel.

Its chair Mat Staver hailed the decision as a win for free speech.

“This case is the beginning of the end of similar unconstitutional counseling bans around the country,” Staver said.

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nation+world news

Trump administration urges court to uphold Idaho anti-trans sports law Chris Johnson of The Washington Blade, Courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association

T

he Trump administration filed a legal brief Nov. 19 before a federal appeals court arguing in favor of an Idaho law barring transgender students from participating in school sports because states aren’t required “to accommodate the team preferences of transgender athletes.”

The 40-page brief, filed before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and signed by Matthew Donnelly, an attorney with the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, maintains the trial court erroneously overturned the state law, called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Donnelly argues, allows separate athletic teams based on gender assigned at birth and the sexes are dissimilarly situated in athletics.

“Even if the Fairness Act drew a classification on the basis of transgender status, the act would still comply with the Equal Protection Clause,” Donnelly writes. “Assuming arguendo that such a classification triggers intermediate scrutiny, the Fairness Act is substantially related to the important interest of ensuring that biological females in Idaho have equal opportunities to participate in sports. Separating sports by biological sex ensures that biological females are not forced to compete against biological males, who have inherent athletic advantages.”

Donnelly also disputes the law discriminates on the basis of

transgender students, arguing the measure never mentions transgender athletes and allow transgender males to participate in girls’ sports.

The Trump administration filed the brief in the litigation against HB 500, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Lindsay Hecox, who is preparing to try out for the track and cross country teams at Boise State University.

In August, U.S. District Judge David Nye, a Trump appointee, ruled against the HB 500 on the basis that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, not just for transgender students but also for “every girl and woman athlete in Idaho.”

The law, HB 500, was quietly signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little in March at the height of the coronavirus epidemic.

It’s considered unlikely that the high court would overturn such a recent precedent that has quickly become deeply enmeshed in U.S. society, but the fact that the Nevada amendment passed with more than 60% of the vote is heartening, said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

“The incredibly high margin really shows how much our country has changed on the issue,” Minter said.

Nevada has long been a swing state with an electorate ranging from cowboys to casino workers, though it’s been trending more Democratic in recent years. Still, the same-sex marriage vote crossed party lines, garnering a larger percentage of the vote than Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and passing in some counties carried by President Donald Trump.

About 30 states still have same-sex marriage bans on the books, though they have been blocked by the courts. Virginia lawmakers repealed their ban this year, but similar efforts have failed in Indiana and Florida.

In Nevada, the change won’t require clergy members to perform same-sex marriages if they don’t

want to. Still, some opposition remains. Kevin White, executive director of the state’s Baptist Convention, told the Baptist Press that he appreciates the exemption, but “it just saddens my heart greatly as we move so far away from God.” Nevada has one of the nation’s highest proportions of LGBTQ people, just behind Washington, D.C., and Oregon, according to a 2016 report by the Williams Institute.

The share of marriage licenses given to same-sex couples in the Las Vegas area has been on the rise since 2014, when the ban was first struck down in federal court. That year, they made up 4.6% of the total. This year, even with a sharp decline overall in marriage licenses because of the coronavirus pandemic, same-sex couples made up more than 6% of people who tied the knot in Clark County.

People have streamed into Nevada from all over the world to get hitched since at least the 1930s, pushing the marriage rate to the highest in the country and creating a $2 billion-ayear industry, Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya said. About $100 million of that economic activity is tied to same-sex weddings.

Nevada 1st to protect same-sex marriage Wire Report

C

ARSON CITY, Nev. | Las Vegas has been known for decades as the place for exuberant nuptials blessed by the swirl of Elvis’ white capes. But for years, legal marriages were barred for same-sex couples.

Now, the state that’s home to the “wedding capital of the world” is also the first in the country to officially protect same-sex marriage in its Constitution.

“It’s literally righting a wrong,” said Karen Vibe, a businesswoman who moved to Reno shortly before voters passed a ban on same-sex marriage in 2002.

Watching people vote this election to repeal the defunct ban gave her a deeper sense of security in her home and family.

It also helped ease the anxiety she and others in the LGBTQ community are feeling about the new conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court after two justices took the unusual step of criticizing the high court’s 2015 decision guaranteeing same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide.

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in other news NY gay rep wins reelection U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is returning to Congress for his fifth term after winning reelection in a battleground district in New York’s 18th Congressional District. The Democrat defeated Republican challenger Chele Farley, who was making her second bid to go to Washington. She also ran for the U.S. Senate in 2018, losing to Kirsten Gillibrand. The race was too tight to decide on Election Day, but The Associated Press declared Maloney the winner Nov. 19 after an analysis of absentee ballots determined Farley couldn’t overcome Maloney’s lead Maloney was New York’s first openly gay member of Congress when he was first elected in 2012.

firefighter suspended for using anti-gay slur A member of the Lewes Fire Department in Delaware used an anti-gay slur Nov. 15 to describe a local drag queen. William Buckaloo, an assistant fire chief who was once the department’s chief, called Magnolia Applebottom a “faggot” in a Facebook post he wrote while she performed at the Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Applebottom shared Buckaloo’s post on her Instagram the following day. Lewes Fire Department Chief Steve Evans said in an interview Nov. 16 that he immediately removed Buckaloo from his position.

Later that day, the Lewes Fire Department posted to its Facebook page that Buckaloo had been suspended while the department conducted an investigation.

‘X’ gender NY driver’s licenses coming with system update New York intends to offer driver’s licenses with a nonbinary gender identity marker of “X,” but it could take more than a year before DMV computers will be able to automatically handle the option. Officials made the disclosure in papers filed in a federal lawsuit brought against them by Sander Saba, a nonbinary transgender NYC resident. The state recently moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing officials late last year had begun planning to “permit New Yorkers to receive a driver’s license that bears an ‘X’ gender identification marker through an automated application process.” The DMV first needs to modify its system so it can create internal license records without a binary gender selection. The agency expects that to happen in late 2021.

EU unveils 1st plan to address LGBTQ discrimination The European Union unveiled Nov. 12 its first strategy for improving the rights of LGBTQ people, amid deep concern about widespread discrimination, notably in Poland. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, wants to extend the list of crimes in Europe to cover homophobic hate speech, propose new laws to guarantee that same-sex parenthood will be recognized and to ensure that LGBTQ concerns are better reflected in the bloc’s policies. The commission said some progress is being made toward LGBTQ equality, but that about 43% of LGBTQ people still feel discriminated against.

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viewpoint

Bryana Saldana

Diary of a Poet Safe Spaces

I

n Orlando, there are

a handful of places that enlist a kind of freedom and safety which includes Southern Nights, Pulse and Parliament House — much fewer than a handful, actually.

Unfortunately, one of those safe places, as you know, was ripped from our hands a few years ago and now another is being removed as well.

This has left us with fewer safe places to celebrate birthdays, marriages, divorces and anything that you could imagine. These places give us room to exist and our worth be valued among one another. Living in your truth is the greatest power you could ever discover and these places give you the chance to.

After the Pulse tragedy the community was left heartbroken and left me terrified to leave the house.

Our safe place of few was ripped from our hearts and celebrations that happened that day will forever be replaced with tragedy. I say these things to put in perspective when a regular club experiences tragedy there is another one available to celebrate. But when ours is taken we don’t get many options, and due to the lack of options we do our best to hold on to what we are given.

We as a community are healing, will be for many years, but this does not stop our safe places from being taken. Parliament House was refuge to enjoy life, love, laughter and music until you couldn’t feel your feet anymore. We must go through another heartbreak and be okay with the lack of space society allows us to be free. Unfair is a word too small to express years of not being accepted by society. The walls of these safe spaces in Orlando will bare joy no matter how much tragedy is brought to our feet.

Safe places have been a central point in the freedom of expression within the LGBTQ+ community since the 1960s. These places kept us

away from the violence and discrimination of the time period and unfortunately the same goes for present day.

Those who cultivate these spaces, who I revere as saints, believe the freedom of being who you are is important to existence.

When you’re a part of a marginalized group it’s vital to have a place to feel safe and honored. Our rights as a community get placed under a microscope by those who are not us.

My experience in these spaces happened at 22 years old and I never felt so welcomed. It helped for the location to be New York City and the club/ bar was packed by 12 a.m. We sang and danced until 4 a.m., basking in a room full of joy. I met people hailing from all over the United States and the world just looking for a piece of freedom.

I would occasionally walk outside and take a breath, allowing by body to be filled with euphoria and hope for better days. Despite the dashes of fear sprinkled on my evening, before that night I never felt so welcomed in a room full of strangers. That feeling is what these spaces give you, a home where you can be who you are with no restrictions.

Removing our beacons of togetherness greatly affects the lives of LGBTQ+ people because it feels like a step back from all we have fought for. More importantly, it’s erasing the 40+ year history Parliament House made in Orlando, and for our community. This home away from home will only be understood

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

by those who experienced what that place emitted.

We are at a point in history that is slowly making more space, but not fast enough.

During COVID, places of freedom have taken to Zoom and other services

is their own. The power is in our hands and our allies for the space to stop being narrowed.

Our road is being paved and will be arduous but will not be established in vain. We are creators and greatness personified.

Getting our power back will happen over time, but the hurt will always remain. I could only hope the future holds more spaces and more celebrations.

As always, the secret to remaining whole in the unbridled image the world tries to paint of our community is love, we are all love.

B

elow is a poem that speaks to the aforementioned closet we seek to walk out of. Enjoy this small contribution I’m making to this incredible community.

Those who cultivate [LGBTQ+ safe] spaces, who I revere as saints, believe the freedom of being who you are is important to existence. to bring inclusivity to homes and rooms that may not foster it. Seeing your identity reflected in our people gives you an unexplainable amount of nirvana. This has not ended even though the walls encasing one’s pride

I took needles, sowed societal norms, on my body My blood rejected.

It would no longer accept that, my gayness be living in a closet.

While cis white men, make they’re closeted deposits.

The community is only a commodity when straights deem.

There are allies though that let us know, there is no longer a need to sow.

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viewpoint

Picking Berry

I

I Chose Me came out as a gay

male in high school during my sophomore year. It was 1990 and I had my first boyfriend, who was in school with me and a year older.

We were in a production of “Oklahoma!” together, during which I began to make it clear that I was interested in him. I knew he had told some people that he was gay so I would not be barking up the wrong tree. He was funny, gregarious and charming. I set my sights on making him mine.

It was innocent enough. I put a note in one of his textbooks. Then through a chain of female friends, we began passing notes. Not nearly as simple as “Do you like me – circle yes or no,” but also nothing as earth-shattering as “I am gay, you are gay, should we be gay together?”

We mostly discussed weekend plans, referenced rehearsals or made inside jokes. Then we began to include random hearts drawn above the “i’s.” Finally, I – with much fretting and sweating – decided to write “Love, Berry” at the end of an exchange.

Would that be too much? We had only been talking for a few days, but I had to let him know how I felt or I was going to just burst. But what if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he was just being nice? Or worse, what if he just wanted to be friends?

I could not live with that. I would have flung myself on a large bed with satin covers like any true cartoon princess in that moment, if I had an audience and the bed. Alas, my fears were

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

While prior to the pandemic I would frequent bars, a lot of the time it was because I was working in them as an entertainer.

Other times, when I was just out socializing, my anxiety would lead to a lack of self-esteem and fear of rejection that would

beat myself up for, and I am ready to have someone else in my life.

So, what to do?

I refuse to be someone’s fantasy and I refuse to be someone’s fetish, but there are certain things about me one must accept in order to be with me.

try to lead me, who will not follow behind me, but who will walk beside me in this life.

Maybe though, that love I’m looking for is the love I get from being in front of an audience, from “Oklahoma!” to now.

Maybe I have already had

become so overwhelming I would self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Who wants to date an aging, drugged out, lost soul?

I took a hard look at what my life was, what I wanted it to be and I made changes and sought help.

I chose me. I am now living my truth as a transgender woman of a certain age.

I have been clean for some time, with an occasional set-back that I refuse to

Due to the pandemic, meeting people in public places is potentially life threatening. There is also the frighteningly constant threat of violence towards transgender women.

I do not have the answers and it is difficult.

It is a problem the transgender community faces in unprecedented ways and not just during a pandemic. I am looking for someone who will not

the love of my life. I’m not certain but I hope not – and I think that is the operative word: hope.

I took a hard look at what my life was, what I wanted it to be and I made changes and sought help.

Berry Ayers, aka Beneva Fruitville, has performed for audiences onstage from New York to Fiji. On screen, she can be seen on Amazon Prime and ABC7’s Suncoast View. She has been honored for her theatrical roles and volunteer work.

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10981861

Beneva Fruitville

unrequited, but my feelings were not! In the next note I received, he ended it with “Love,” and his name.

All was well in the world and just like in my cartoon fantasy, the woodland creatures were once again dancing around my princess feet. We began our relationship surrounded by a small circle of female friends that would hang out with us during rehearsals.

We would all be sitting together chatting, the girls in their long gingham rehearsal skirts, spreading them wide to hide the sight of he and I holding hands beneath their excess material. It was magical to me.

I had gotten the guy and I did not have much agita in getting him either.

We sailed through the rehearsals and run of the show with teenage tenderness. It was a sweet relationship, one where we were kind to each other, supported each other, listened to one another and truly became friends.

I experienced pretty much all of my “firsts” with him, but like all “firsts,” the relationship ended. I am happy that it happened and am grateful for the sweet memories.

In my dating career, I have had two sets of two-and-a-half year runs of pseudo-monogamy within a seven-year span.

The relationships could not be more different simply because the two guys could not have been more different.

I have been mostly single since 2008, for many reasons. For one thing, I find that I get very uncomfortable with online dating. I am much more comfortable and much more myself in person.

I am so much less focused on trying to be what the picture on the other side of the screen wants me to be when I am talking to someone face to face.

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November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

talking points I don’t think there is a better time to come out.

Frankly, I don’t know what’s holding some of these athletes back … Maybe they just want to keep that side of them private. I’m not sure, but there’s not a better time.

16.7% of

U.S. hate crimes

in 2019

were motivated by sexual orientation and

2.7% were motivated by

—Collin Martin, openly gay San Diego Loyals midfielder, discussing LGBTQ acceptance in major league sports with The Advocate

‘Star Trek’ launches trans-focused GLAAD Collection

V

iacomCBS will donate 100% of proceeds from a new transgender-focused collection of licensed “Star Trek” merchandise to GLAAD. The “Star Trek: Discovery” GLAAD collection was released Nov. 5 after the series introduced the first nonbinary and transgender characters in the popular sci-fi franchise’s more than 50-year history. The characters premiered on the third season of “Discovery” on CBS All Access, introducing viewers to Adira, a nonbinary character played by nonbinary performer Blu del Barrio and Gray, a transgender character played by Ian Alexander. “In continuing the ‘Star Trek’ universe’s ongoing commitment to [creator] Gene Roddenberry’s original vision of celebrating diversity and inclusion, the StarTrek.com shop has launched the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ GLAAD Collection,” the retailer announced. Their three items will benefit GLAAD to support its “culture changing work to accelerate acceptance for LGBTQ people.”

The collection includes a “Star Trek: Discovery” Delta T-shirt, Delta black mug and Delta sherpa blanket and is available now.

gender identity.

The highest levels in

more than

10 years

with the highest number of hate-motivated

killings ever recorded.

—2019 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Crime Statistics

Baltimore Museum honors John Waters

T

he Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announced Nov. 11 that openly gay director John Waters would be honored after he donated 375 works from his personal art collection to the museum. The BMA will rename its restrooms and the rotunda in the European art galleries after the LGBTQ icon.

Waters’ donated art collection contains works by 125 artists, including Diane Arbus, Richard Artschwager, Andy Warhol and Christopher Wool. The donation also includes some of Waters’ original works. “John’s generosity, friendship and commitment to his hometown are boundless. We are deeply grateful to him for entrusting us with his collection and for giving us the opportunity to engage our many audiences with it,” the BMA shared.

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Netflix renews ‘Umbrella Academy’

N

etflix announced via social media Nov. 10 that its popular, LGBTQ-inclusive superhero series, “The Umbrella Academy” will be returning to the streaming service for a third season.

“They’re not done yet! The Umbrella Academy Season 3 is officially happening!” the post stated. Based on the Dark Horse Comic of the same name, the series stars Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher and Justin H. Min as a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite after the mysterious death of their father. While production on the 10-episode third season will begin shooting in Toronto next year, Netflix has not revealed its release date. Seasons one and two are streaming now.

Hulu unwraps ‘Happiest Season’

O

riginally scheduled for a theatrical release, “Happiest Season” began streaming on Hulu Nov. 25. Directed by actress Clea DuVall (“Veep”), the film is a LGBTQ-focused romantic comedy starring Kristen Stewart (“Twilight”), Mackenzie Davis (“The Martian”), Victor Garber (“Titanic”) and Mary Steenburgen (“Step Brothers”). It follows Abby, who wants to propose to her girlfriend, Harper, and decides to do it during the annual Christmas dinner hosted by Harper’s parents. The only problem is Harper’s parents don’t know that their daughter is a lesbian. Alison Brie, Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza and Ana Gasteyer also star in the film, streaming now. Its release joins other 2020 LGBTQ holiday films presented by Hallmark, Lifetime and more.

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Drag in the House

T

Jeremy Williams

he Facebook post from the

world famous Parliament House on Oct. 28 was a shock to Central Florida’s LGBTQ community.

“For over 45 years, The Parliament House has called Orange Blossom Trail our home,” the post began. “We put up a good fight over the last 11 months to secure financing and renovate our existing property.

Unfortunately, that fight ended today with no deal.”

Those words were followed with the announcement that the LGBTQ club that had been a staple in Orlando’s community

for nearly half a century would have its Last Dance Nov. 1.

While rumors of the Parliament House closing seem to have been around for nearly as long as the resort has been an LGBTQ safe space, the recent coronavirus pandemic appears to have been the final hill that was insurmountable.

Everything seemed to move fast once the announcement was made. The Last Dance was

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four days later, less than a week after that there was a chain-link fence around the property and its new owners had applied to the city to have the building torn down.

Parliament House carries with it a large part of Central Florida’s LGBTQ history, hosting some of Orlando’s largest celebrations every year from parties during Gay Days and Come Out With Pride to huge Halloween and New Year’s Eve blowouts.

Continued on pg. 23 | uu |

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| uu | Drag in the House from pg.21

The stage played host to hundreds of national headlining performers; however, the thing that made the Parliament House what it was were those faces who greeted us every night.

“It has never been about the building,” Parliament House wrote in its goodbye post. “It’s about the people,” and some of the people that kept us coming back night after night, year after year were the amazing drag queens who ruled the stages of the iconic resort. Legends like Miss P, Miss Sammy and Carmella Marcella Garcia.

We spoke with four of Parliament House’s iconic queens who were there in its final year about what it was like to perform in that historic space and what is next for them.

Ms. Darcel Stevens

As the Parliament House’s entertainment director for the last 20 years, Ms. Darcel Stevens has seen history embed itself in the walls of the world famous nightclub.

“Parliament House wasn’t just a building, it was a refuge, a church, it was a safe haven. It was so many things to so many people,” Stevens says. “That’s what was so precious about the Parliament House. When the shuttle blew up, when 9/11 happened, when Pulse happened; we didn’t run home, we ran to the Parliament House. That was our place, that was our sanctuary to draw strength from each other. And now we don’t have a place like that.

For a place to be that you need walls that have been through the test of time. And those walls were fortified with history that could give you that comfort.”

Stevens, who first performed at the Parliament House in 1992, remembers what a pivotal moment it was for a drag queen to get the chance to showcase their talents there, especially in those days.

“There was something really profound about performing at the world-famous Parliament House and on that stage,” he says. “It was long before ‘[RuPaul’s] Drag Race’ and you knew you really made it in the drag world if you performed at the Parliament House.”

Stevens, who became entertainment director in 2000 after the legendary Miss P retired and shortly after Don Granatstein and Susan Unger purchased the

Legendary hostess: Ms. Darcel Stevens hosts the annual fundraiser Babes in Bonnets in the Footlight Theatre in 2019. Photo by Jake Stevens Parliament House, says that one of the reasons queens felt like they had made it there is because of how they felt performing in the Footlight Theatre.

“There are not a lot of places where people perform drag that have a theatre setting like that, with the stage, the lights, the sound,” he says. “There are not a lot of institutions that cater to that, so it was always a privilege to get into that theatre and it made you feel not only like an entertainer but it made you feel like a professional.”

entertainers will tell you that you should be a little nervous when you perform anywhere, especially on a stage like that. You harness that nervousness to make your performance shine a little brighter.”

Stevens says he has seen a lot of legendary entertainers on the Footlight Theatre stage over the years, icons of drag like Rusty Faucet, Lorri DelMar and Geraldine Jones.

“These are some living legends who are still here, and I’m a very sentimental person and someone

Weekend fun: Addison Taylor hosted Flesh Fridays each week bringing in adult entertainers. Photo Courtesy Parliament House’s Facebook

Then watch them go into the world knowing that they now have the tools and the skills to make it anywhere.”

After the Parliament House closed its doors, Stevens took to the road launching his “Bitch Gotta Work Tour.”

“I’m enjoying the tour right now, going around on the weekends, meeting folks,” he says. “I’m finding myself being an ambassador for the Parliament House, I always thank people for being a part of the Parliament House family.”

Parliament House wasn’t just a building, it was a refuge, a church, it was a safe haven. It was so many things to so many — Ms. Darcel Stevens people.

Stevens kept that feeling alive by continuing to enforce a set of ground rules instilled in him by Miss P. “There were certain etiquettes within the theatre,” Stevens says.

“There are rules of the theatre that keep that hall hallow and I made sure those rules continued. Because in our lifestyle it is so easy to make things very lax.”

After 27 years of performing in the Footlight Theatre, Stevens says he still had an element of nervousness stepping out on the stage, up until his last performance on it.

“Every time it was that way and that is because of the legacy of that stage, for all the entertainers that graced it before me,” he says. “That is what gave me that little extra jitter and nervous energy. But all

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who loves history, so whenever I step onto the stage or when I see them, I realize I stand on the shoulders of all of these great entertainers who may not be in their prime anymore but they are still relevant in my eyes.”

Of all the amazing things the Parliament House has helped Stevens to experience — meeting Matthew Shepard’s parents, chatting with Jordan Sparks about her relationship with Whitney Houston, becoming Twitter buddies with Jennifer Hudson — the moments that mean the most to him are the ones spent guiding and molding future talents.

“That is really gratifying to me,” he says. “To take a girl who is raw, doesn’t know anything about the theatre or the business, and help turn her into an entertainer.

Addison Taylor Addison Taylor first visited the Parliament House at the age of 15 and started dressing in drag a few months later when he would go out.

“My first performance was a Wednesday night ‘Anything Goes’ talent show with Miss Sammy and Carol Lee in 2000,” he says.

Taylor says he doesn’t remember much from his first performance other than he was “awful.”

“I wore a pair of girl’s jeans, a chunky boot and a blue gypsy top from the Magic Mall with huge hoop earrings and a ponytail,” he says.

Taylor moved on from the jeans and chucky boots and went on to become Miss Comedy Queen 2006 and Miss Large & Lovely 2009, performing hundreds of times on the Footlight Theatre stage

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and hosting several nights at the Parliament House over the years.

“There are too many [favorite memories from Parliament House] to mention,” Taylor says. “This sounds corny but they have all been my favorite. I’ve seen thousands of performances from queens, hundreds of stage shows and private events, and been involved in shows on the stage, disco and on the pool stage over the last 20 years. To be able to pick out a couple of favorites would be impossible.

I’ve enjoyed the bad performances from baby queens just as much as the incredible ones from seasoned entertainers.”

Taylor echoes Stevens about “making it in drag” once you’d performed at the Parliament House, and says that he is proudest of the fact that he will be remembered by people the same way that he remembers the girls that came before him.

“I always, always, ALWAYS had to be front and center when Sierrah Foxx and Maya Andrews were performing,” Taylor says. “My drag mother introduced me to Maya after a show one Sunday and I was so star struck that I don’t even think that I could speak.”

With the Parliament House now closed, Taylor is moving on to Southern Nights and District Dive where he will bartend and host Bad Ass Bingo. You can keep up with Taylor by going to TheAddisonTaylor.com.

Continued on pg. 25 | uu |

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11/10/20 8:09 PM

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Award winners: Loc Robertson, as April Fresh, accepts his WAVE Award at Ember in 2019. Photo by Dylan Todd | uu | Drag in the House from pg.23

April Fresh Loc Robertson goes by the name of April Fresh when he is all dragged up. As a patron, Robertson started attending Parliament House in the mid-’90s and in 1997 he was hired on as a bartender.

“The Parliament House is responsible for starting April Fresh,” Robertson says. “When I started working at Parliament House we had an employee turnabout. I did a comedy number for it and that’s when people started to really enjoy what I do. That made me realize that comedy is my forte.”

Robertson won his first pageant, Miss Comic Strip, in 1999 and started dressing in drag during his Tuesday night happy hour behind the bar. “I needed to improve my makeup skills,” he says, “so getting into drag every week kind of forced me to figure it out.”

Parliament House gave Robertson the opportunity to start his own pageant in 2005, Miss Comedy Queen.

“We were trying to do a local thing that was going to be a serious pageant, but based on humor and creativity,” he says. “We were like ‘we don’t know how this is going to work but let’s give it a shot’ and it blew up.”

15 years later, Miss Comedy Queen is now a three-day national pageant with people coming from across the country to watch and participate in it.

“The fact that something we just started there as a test has

become this national thing has been really awesome and it wouldn’t be possible without the Parliament House,” Robertson says.

Parliament House has had an array of ‘80s talent perform on its stage, something Robertson — as an ‘80s enthusiast — is going to miss seeing.

“I’m a concert goer and I love live music,” he says, “and the fact that we have had a lot of ‘80s artists there coming to do concerts is something I’ll never forget. Cyndi

Final show: MrMs Adrien (front) and cast perform “Rocky Horror Drag Show,” the final show on the Footlight Theatre stage before the resort closed its doors. Photo by Jeremy Williams your tickets now to April Fresh’s Comedy Brunch at Southern Nights with food provided by The Hammered Lamb.”

April Fresh’s next Comedy Brunch is Dec. 13.

MrMs Adrien

MrMs Adrien started in drag doing talent shows at Pulse.

That’s how he met Taylor who would eventually bring Adrien to Parliament House for a new

like a boy queen, he says. “The Parliament House was so influential to me back then, just having a place to go and not worry about impressing and not worry about winning. Just be an artist.”

Adrien built himself up as an artist not only by performing at Parliament House, but also by watching queens on the stage in the iconic theatre.

“One of my favorite memories from Parliament is my very first Footlight Player show I ever saw.

This town is lousy with talent and on the flip side this town is lousy with queer people who need safe spaces to go and let their hair down. Not just that we need it, we deserve it.

— MrMs Adrien

Lauper is my favorite of all time and so the fact that she played there several years ago for Gay Days was really awesome.”

Robertson’s love of the ‘80s carried over to his Manic Mondays night at Parliament House , but one thing he has been most proud of is his April Fresh’s Comedy Brunch at the Footlight Theatre.

“They approached me about doing it and I was hopeful, much like with this comedy queen pageant, I was hopeful that it would do well and it did. It was hugely successful and many of them were sold out,” Robertson says.

Even though Parliament House is now closed, that doesn’t mean April Fresh is done bringing you brunch.

“I’m carrying that tradition onto Southern Nights for the time being,” Robertson says. “Get

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Monday night gig.

“I hate competitions, so I was excited to just have an open stage where I don’t have to worry about impressing anybody and I can just go have fun,” Adrien says.

“I remember going and the second I walked into the Parliament House you felt like you’re walking into history. You start thinking about the people who must have walked through these halls and the performers who must have hit this stage, and that was before I knew anything. I had no concept of how legendary the place was.”

Taylor gave Adrien his first paid job at Parliament House in 2013.

“I was on cast with her for a night called Drink 101. I wasn’t wearing pads, I wasn’t wearing wigs, I wasn’t wearing tits; I was

I was probably 19 years old and Sharon Needles was there ... Nina Flowers was in the show and then obviously Darcel, Sassy Devine, Shanttel DeMarco, Barbie Royale; just the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen in your life and that was the first time I saw Darcel host,” Adrien recalls. “I just remember watching and thinking this is like the Broadway of Drag.

This is just the best of the best.”

Adrien moved to New York but the opportunity to bring one of his shows to the Footlight Theatre stage was too much to turn down.

“They asked me to come do my ‘Devil Wears Prada’ production.

Just being trusted with that stage that I respected so much was overwhelming,” he says. “That was the beginning of being able to write the ‘Rocky Horror Drag Show,’ to

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being a part of ‘The Golden Gals’ and all the TVLand Live! shows which have been so monumental in my life.”

Adrien’s “Rocky Horror Drag Show” was the final ticketed show to run in the Footlight Theatre.

“I felt a tremendous responsibility and I’m proud that that show was the final one,” he says. “That’s certainly the biggest show I’ve ever done as far as production but with the set, the costumes and the fact that Ginger [Minj] and Gidget [Galore] agreed to do the show, another two entertainers that I respect tremendously. It sucks that it had to close but if we had to go out, that’s a kick ass way to go out.”

Granatstein has said that he plans to reopen Parliament House in a new location and while some commented online that the name should end with the razing of the resort, Adrien says he welcomes a new location for the iconic name.

“When the dust settles, this is going to be a beautiful thing for the Parliament House, for the city of Orlando and for the gay community of Orlando,” he says. “It’s insane the size of our community and the few safe spaces that we have. This town is lousy with talent and on the flip side this town is lousy with queer people who need safe spaces to go and let their hair down. Not just that we need it, we deserve it.”

In the meantime, you can catch Adrien every Saturday at Stonewall Bar with Savage Saturdays and get your tickets to see him, along with Minj, Galore, Divine Grace and Doug Ba’aser in “The Golden Gals: A Christmas Musical” at the newly-opened Haos on Church.

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arts and Entertainment

Virtual

Panels AIDS Memorial Quilt co-founder Mike Smith on loss, legacy and marking World AIDS Day in 2020

Photo courtesy national aids memorial

T

Ryan Williams-Jent

he AIDS Memorial Quilt is

widely considered the largest community arts project in history, constructed by hundreds of thousands of people and weighing 54 tons. But its real weight lies in what each of its more than 50,000, 3-by-6 foot panels represents: lives lost.

Dedicated to more than 100,000 individuals, the Quilt was first conceived in 1985 as a response to the era’s growing AIDS crisis by San Francisco-based LGBTQ activist Cleve Jones. By the year’s end, U.S officials would find an 89% increase in new AIDS cases, with

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

a mortality rate of 51% among diagnosed adults.

“Quilts traditionally were made from cast-offs, taking scraps of fabric that are of different colors and different textures and sewing them into something that is warm and comforting,” Jones has shared. “I thought it would

be good therapy for people who were deep in grief … behind all of those horrendous statistics were actual human beings.”

Jones constructed the Quilt’s first panel to memorialize a friend in 1987, joining with a small group of likeminded individuals to formally organize the NAMES Project Foundation to serve as its caretaker. The group intended to display the Quilt during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in D.C. on Oct. 11, a notion which co-founder Mike Smith says galvanized support nationwide.

The Quilt was larger than a football field by the time of the march and included donated panels from across the country.

Continued on pg. 29 | uu |

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Street of people holding fabric, boxes and sewing machines to get us going. It just really touched a nerve quickly. In no time at all people had embraced it and we were hearing about similar things happening in Boys Town in Chicago, in Greenwich Village, in West Hollywood. It sort of caught people’s imagination and spontaneously, people started making panels and sending them to us.

| uu | Virtual Panels from pg.27

Six teams of volunteers unfolded 1,920 of them for more than half a million viewers.

A 20-city national tour followed in 1988. Panels from each host city were added along the way, tripling its size to 6,000, and the Quilt returned to D.C. in October for a display in front of the White House with more than 8,000.

Panels were subsequently exhibited in eight countries with support from the World Health Organization to mark the inaugural World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, 1988. Within a few years, the Quilt included panels from every state and more than 25 countries.

By the last time it was showcased in its entirety for 1.2 million visitors in 1996, it covered the entire National Mall.

In the decades since, the NAMES Project and the National AIDS Memorial (NAM) – which became the Quilt’s permanent caretaker last year – have worked with partners to arrange more than 1,000 in-person displays each World AIDS Day. Their plans this year changed drastically in response to the coronavirus, another global pandemic, leading organizers to launch a 50-state virtual exhibition Nov. 16.

“World AIDS Day is taking on new meaning this year, as COVID-19 has brought an enormous loss of life and grief to millions of people,” NAM Director John Cunningham shared Oct. 9.

“During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, the Quilt was a source of immense comfort, inspiration and used as a tool for social activism to open the eyes of the nation … we hope the power and beauty of the Quilt can serve that same purpose for those who are experiencing loss and grief due to COVID-19.”

The first-of-its-kind exhibition is free to the public and runs through March 31, 2021.

Organizers advise that while “nothing can replace the beauty of seeing the Quilt in-person, our hope is that this first-ever, 50-state AIDS Memorial Quilt virtual exhibition helps use the power and beauty of the Quilt to help our nation heal and remember during these difficult times.”

The exhibition is curated by state, featuring digital images from thousands of hand-sewn panels.

Each tells the story of a loved one lost to AIDS and allows visitors to

What were the next steps?

1

About a month before the March, we put out a flyer to grief counselors across the country, just explaining what we were doing.

We didn’t think much of it but then about a month before that first display, we had 800 pieces of overnight mail. Mostly from mothers who were isolated in their small towns and unable to tell even their church group what their son had died of.

They were reaching out to a bunch of gay men in San Francisco.

I mean, how desperate they had to be. It really for us was the spark that helped us to see that this wasn’t just a gay men’s sewing circle and that we really had something powerful here.

2

How did it feel to connect with grieving communities outside of your own?

3

4

in memoriam: Panels hosted by Florida organizations, on view from 1, Compass LGBTQ Community Center; 2, Dept. of Health Miami Dade; 3, Unity Coalition and 4, World AIDS Museum and Education Center. Photos courtesy national aids memorial see “how people came together through one devastating pandemic to create a living memorial as a way to express their love, grief, pain and hope.”

Ahead of World AIDS Day 2020, Watermark spoke with Smith about the Quilt’s latest endeavor. He opened up about loss, legacy and launching a new way to showcase his lifetime commitment to commemorating those lost to AIDS.

WATERMARK: How do you explain the Quilt’s importance to viewers?

Mike Smith: I try to take people back to how bad the world was in the late 1980s. The Quilt really was a response from people all across the country who were grieving during the initial loss of so many lives to AIDS. It became a way for those folks to express their grief, to tell the story of their loved ones and to come together. The Quilt is individual panels made by folks – but it’s the sewing together

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

of it that sort of binds not just the fabric, but the people.

In those early days of HIV and AIDS, when the government wasn’t paying attention, it was a way to break through all that white noise and to be heard. It’s ended up being very colorful and beautiful, but its roots are really as a protest banner. It was about dragging our dead to the March on Washington.

Panels are the size of a grave; that’s how much room those men would have taken up if they’d been able to be there that day. So there’s a bit of anger there in the beginning phase of it and I think we were almost immediately embraced by the rest of the country. Many of the panels came from mothers and families and small towns. I think it sparked a movement that brought AIDS into the mainstream in America.

How did you become involved with the project?

I met Cleve early in the summer of ‘87. A friend introduced us because he thought that I had

the organizing skills to help him sort of get this going. But I think the real thing that brought us all together was the March on Washington was going to be that October.

I’ve learned from the Quilt over all these years that humans react to deadlines – and I think that it took a while for the idea to germinate, but with the March coming up it sort of gave a purpose to this. It galvanized people that this was something we could do to make a difference.

So we opened up a little workshop in San Francisco, me and Cleve, and [fellow co-founder] Gert McMullan came to our first volunteer meeting and several other people did. We put a sign in the window and just said, ‘We need bed sheets, we need spray paint, we need thread and scissors and sewing machines.

Please help us.”

Literally, that was a Friday night – and on Saturday morning, there was a line down Market

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It really made all the difference in the world. I think for many of us these were really desperate times.

You could walk down Castro Street and you could see people you’ve known for years, looking like hell, and you’d nod and smile and say “hello.” And they’d go past and you’d think “I’m never going to see that person again.”

And the country wasn’t reacting; this was very early in the epidemic. Nobody really seemed to care and I think a lot of us were convinced that we were going to die in our little gay neighborhood.

We were just going to die. Nobody was going to know or care. It meant the world to us when those mothers started sending their panels.

What was it like to see the Quilt at the National Mall?

Well, during the March in Washington, we had to fight the Reagan Administration for months just to get permits. They really didn’t want a bunch of dead gay men laid out near the White House, for obvious reasons in the Reagan administration.

Continued on pg. 31 | uu |

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That’s the magic of the web. We can get literally millions of visitors to something that we never could have done in real life, provided there’s enough momentum for it.

This display could be seen by more people than any of the real ones.

Remarkably, it makes it accessible on a whole new level.

| uu | Virtual Panels from pg.29

But for those first displays, that one and the two after that were very close to the White House, there’s just something magical about unfolding the Quilt at dawn. We would be out there all night the night before getting it prepared, and then the unfolding ceremony would start at dawn.

There was just something so powerful about the space. You know, this is America’s front yard.

This is this is where you go to address your country and have your grievances redressed, and it felt momentous to be there.

How does it feel to present this during COVID-19?

How did the crowd react?

During the March on Washington, you expect a rowdy crowd. And it was a rowdy crowd with lots of signs and everything else – but you came up on the edge of the Quilt and this silence fell over the place. It was just sort of sacred ground. There was this reverence and silence that was just amazing to watch, especially given the rambunctiousness of the people coming through.

What was it like seeing the Quilt continue to grow?

The last big display of the Quilt in Washington was in 1996 and by that time, it was 40,000 panels. We started at the steps of the Capitol and it went all the way down the Mall and up to the entrance of the Washington Monument and all the way along the sides into the trees by the museums.

The scale of that spoke volumes, it was such an overwhelming size and scope.

If you were out in the middle of that you really felt like you were literally in the middle of AIDS and couldn’t escape it.

It was a beautiful thing to see but it was really kind of off-putting experience.

Are there any particular Quilt interactions that resonate with you?

I was kind of the “business brains” and so in those early years I tried not have a lot of interaction because emotionally it would shut me down and I had work to do. (Laughs.) The stories that most resonate with me are watching a mother turn her panel into us to be sewn to the Quilt. There’s this sort of dance that I’ve seen hundreds of times, where someone will come into the workshop clutching an envelope

lasting legacy: (L-R) AIDS Memorial Quilt co-founders Cleve Jones and Mike Smith mark World AIDS Day 2019 with National AIDS Memorial Executive Director John B. Cunningham in San Francisco. Photo by Pax Ahimsa Gethen via wikimedia

with some fabric in it to their chest, wary and guarded. You can see them sort of gradually loosen up and eventually the package gets set on the table and when they really feel that they trust you, they slide it across the table.

It’s just always so powerful to see and to know what they’re going through.

has traveled the world. Literally.

I mean that section went to Cuba; that section went to South Africa. It’s remarkable. For World AIDS Day, every year for 30 years now we’ve done hundreds and hundreds of displays in all sorts of places.

How was the decision made to mark it virtually this year?

panels can see them?” and it sort of morphed over the course of a few days into asking people if they wanted to host their own virtual display.

What was the response?

It resonated with a lot of people. We had an almost immediate response by 10 or 15

I’m still sometimes amazed at that the scope of what this became, starting out with a few people sitting around on the floor in an empty showroom space.

— AIDS Memorial Quilt Co-Founder Mike Smith Those are the things that always caught me the most.

How does it feel knowing the Quilt has traveled the world?

I’m still sometimes amazed at that the scope of what this became, starting out with a few people sitting around on the floor in an empty showroom space in a retail store that we just rented.

We were thinking, “well, we’ll do this until the March on Washington, and then we’ve all got to go back to our lives and get jobs.” We didn’t understand how it would resonate and how the ownership of it would transition from us to all of these people who feel that the Quilt is really theirs, because they have a loved one on it.

I think about how a panel that I made for my dear friend, Jeff

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

There was a time in August where we thought, “Do we want to be creating opportunities for people to gather for World AIDS Day, and are we guilty of encouraging the spread of COVID-19 if something went wrong at one of these displays?”

We thought, “do we do we want to be part of the problem?”

And we didn’t.

We decided we were not going to do any displays and that kind of rocked the room. I’ve been around forever, but even some of the other staff have been there 15, 18 years and the thought of declining a Quilt display, first of all, was just horrifying.

But the thought that all of the Quilt would still be on the shelf for World AIDS Day, it was impossible to think of. So we started thinking, “Is there still a way that that people who want to see particular

organizations who said they would gladly convert their real display into a virtual display.

Then we started having people say, “we’ve never had the Quilt in our in our agency for World AIDS Day, but this virtual display is easy and we’d love to do it.” You can browse through the Quilt and zoom right in on your state or your city and see panels that someone there has decided to do a virtual display with – and it’s fascinating to me that it’s working.

How are the panels chosen?

In each case we’re working with an agency, an organization or someone who wants to be the official host of that display. We’re working with them to choose the blocks of Quilt that they want and there are several organizations in Florida that are participating.

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For a lot of us who live through the first pandemic, we’re a little angry that we’ve had to have two in our lifetimes – and I’ve talked to even older folks who as children remember in the 50s, the fear of Polio. There are a lot of similarities, but there are a lot of differences, too – I think I can’t draw this with too broadly of a stroke.

It kind of feels like it did inside the gay community then: “Am I next?” It focuses your mind and gets you thinking about living your life for today, which has been my motto my whole life because of my early experiences in my 20s.

We also have a government that seems to have dropped the ball, which is also very similar to the old days … There are a lot of same emotions there. I think we’ve found a responsible way to keep getting the Quilt out and telling our story in this time. Otherwise I don’t think we would have moved quite this quickly into the digital world; COVID has probably moved our organization along by a decade. This is a really good way to tell the stories and to keep those memories alive, and to be impactful in a different way.

Will virtual displays continue in the future?

It’s been exciting for us to see this taking off and it has helped us figure out new ways to continue to be relevant in the modern world. This may trigger us into continuing to do these kind of virtual displays at other times of the year.

We’re also thinking that if there’s a lot of interest in this, when we are able to display the Quilt again it may spark interest in doing a real display.

The virtual and the real displays can co-exist.

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. View the 50-State AIDS Memorial Quilt virtual exhibition now through March 31 at AIDSMemorial.org/ Virtual-Exhibition.

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Theater

Yard Show

Dr. Phillips Center brings live entertainment back to Orlando with Frontyard Festival

(above)

Yard box: Hundreds of boxes socially distanced in Dr. Phillips Center’s Frontyard Festival.

Photo by Jeremy Williams

W

Jeremy Williams

ith the coronavirus pandemic

shutting down stages, theatres and concerts venues across the country, organizations have tried to find a way to get the live entertainment industry back to work.

“We were the first industry to actually shut down,” said Dr. Phillips Center President and CEO Katherine Ramsberger at a media event Nov. 19. “There are 3,000 independent theaters across the country; many of them have already closed permanently.”

Central Florida, with its large entertainment industry, has in particular felt the negative impact of COVID-19. According to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, almost 10,000 events have to be cancelled across Central Florida and nearly 4,300 jobs have been lost, translating into roughly $4 million in lost wages.

“A healthy local arts and live entertainment industry is vital to our community,” Demings said at the Dr. Phillips Center media event. “The pandemic has had a devastating effect on our nonprofit arts organizations.”

In an effort to try and get performers and entertainers back to work, the Dr. Phillips Center has announced a six-month long, one-of-a-kind outdoor entertainment experience called the Frontyard Festival. Named so because — as Ramsberger describes it — everyone’s rediscovery during the pandemic of how important our front

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

yards are in getting to know our neighbors again.

“The Frontyard Festival actually is not a save for the arts center and it’s not a save for our partners down the street —The Social and The Beachum and others,” Ramsberger said. “What this is? It’s a motivational lift and it’s kind of a tribute to — what I’ve learned having a chance to work with both Mayor [Jerry] Demings and Mayor [Buddy] Dyer and their teams is that this partnership between the arts center and the city [and] the county — when we put our minds to something, even though sometimes it looks pretty impossible to get it done, we’re going to get it done if it’s the right thing.”

Dr. Phillips Center’s Frontyard Festival will support more than 2,000 artists over the life of the festival, bringing a series of events — both free and ticketed — seven days a week. Just as the name implies, the events will take place in the 3-acre Seneff Arts Plaza in front of the Dr. Phillips Center.

The arts plaza has been filled with hundreds of private, elevated boxes, placed 6 feet apart, allowing guests to enjoy their event at a safe distance from other attendees. Each box will come with chairs and a table and can hold up to five guests. Two 16-by-28-foot LED screens are set up on either side of the Frontyard Festival stage. The entire plaza will be closed in by a wooden fence and will have a newly constructed entry point off Orange Ave. “This is about people coming together and being with people again,” Ramsberger said. “With festivals sometimes you go because of the live entertainment, sometimes you go because the people you’re with and sometimes you go because of the food and just the entire cultural experience.”

Whatever reason someone decides to attend the Frontyard Festival, they can do so knowing that their safety is Dr. Phillips Center’s priority number one, said Ramsberger.

Along with AdventHealth being the Frontyard Festival’s presenting

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sponsor, the nonprofit health care system is also working with the Dr. Phillips Center to make sure everything involving the outdoor festival is in compliance with CDC guidelines and local initiatives.

Along with all boxes being socially distanced, masks will be required at all times unless you’re in the box. Touchless temperature and bag checks will be done as you enter and every box will be thoroughly sanitized using hospital-grade disinfectant before each performance. “[We] have worked very, very closely with the team here to make sure that the festival is a safe place to visit and have fun with your friends and your families,” said Sharon Line Clary, vice president of Strategic Marketing & Communications for AdventHealth, at the festival media event. “We are proud to not only support our community but the many performers and artists who we know can’t wait to get back on stage, and mostly we’re here to help our neighbors feel whole again.”

Guests will also be able to order food and drinks from on-site restaurant partners Toasted, Tap Room at Dubsdread and Nikki’s Place, along with a variety of concepts from local restaurant entrepreneur Harp & Cork: Dharma Fine Vittles, Oak Flame Pizza, Eola General, Sea Legs and Juniper Patisserie. Guests will be able to order either in person at the restaurant structures near the festival entrance or through the new Frontyard Festival app.

“You can actually order a picnic basket [before your event] that will be in your box,” Ramsberger said. “It can be barbecue and a bucket of beer, it can be charcuterie and champagne … The whole idea is your choice in a very safe environment.”

Along with AdventHealth, the City of Orlando and Orange County, other festival sponsors and contributors will include Ravago Americas, Vystar Credit Union, American Momentum, Experience Kissimmee, Fifth Third Bank, OUC, Massey Services, Pepsi, Florida Blue, City Beverages, Hilton Destinations, TD Charitable Foundation, WESH 2 & CW18, iHeartMedia, Clear Channel Outdoor, Orlando Weekly and Watermark Publishing Group.

Programming will start at 7 a.m. each morning with a series of health and wellness classes courtesy of the YMCA of Central Florida.

Continued on pg. 35 | uu |

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November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

| uu | Yard Show from pg.33

“They had 2,000 employees, they now have 800,” Ramsberger said. “People aren’t going back to the gyms like we need to. All the instructors and the coaches and the trainers they’re not working either, so we’re doing it free to the community. In the mornings, you can come here have the quality Y experience on site.”

When registering for a class at FrontyardFestival.org, each participant will select a private box and will be required to bring their own equipment such as yoga mats and water bottles. A start date will be announced soon and an initial weekly schedule will include yoga on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays; boot camp on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; and Zumba on Saturdays.

In the afternoons from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the Central Florida Music Association in partnership with the Dr. Phillips Center will produce “Live and Local,” a free lunchtime series featuring live entertainment from local artists.

“If you all remember when Pulse was on the site, there was live music here for six weeks, twice a day,” Ramsberger said.

“Musicians — all professionals, that’s where they make their living — came out here every single day for free and gave that to the community … it’s time for us to pay them back … these union members, this is their career and they are no longer employed at this point time.”

The Dr. Phillips Center has raised funds specifically to pay for the “Live and Local” musicians. “[Musicians]will be on site for anybody to come down for free to study in a box, to work in a box, to have lunch in the box, to listen to professional artists from Central Florida,” Ramsberger said.

Evening events will include Broadway performances, orchestras, opera, choirs and more. While the Frontyard Festival’s full six month line-up has not been released, Dr. Phillips Center has announced 10 festival events coming in December.

The festival kicks off on Dec. 5 with co-headliners Citizen Cope and G Love & the Juice. With more than 15 records released, G Love’s signature blend of delta blues, hip hop, funk, rock & roll and jazz has been an influence to artists

Leaders on hand: Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings speaks at the Frontyard Festival press conference while Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer listens in. Photo by Jeremy Williams

such as Jack White, Jack Johnson, The Avett Brothers and Slightly Stoopid. Singer-songwriter Cope — who has written songs recorded by Carlos Santana, Dido and more — brings his mix of blues, soul, folk and rock to the Frontyard.

On Dec. 6, Rollins College and Full Sail University present the fourth annual holiday spectacular, Songs of the Season.

With musicians and vocalists from Rollins and state-of-the-art production from Full Sail, this

renowned as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation.

Shires is not only a celebrated country singer, songwriter and fiddler, but she is a member of the all-female country super group, The Highwomen, alongside Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby.

On Dec. 11, in an acoustic “side project” from American rock band Shinedown’s frontman Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers, comes WJRR’s Acoustic Christmas. Smith and Myers

dramatic narration and featuring magnificent and brilliant arrangements of Christmas’ most treasured carols. “Noel” is an inspiring collection of arrangements from award-winning and renowned conductor and arranger, Derric Johnson. Don’t miss out on this unique, collaborative celebration, as only CFCArts can bring.

On Dec. 19, Broadway star and Orlando native, Michael James Scott hits the plaza with his new album, “A Fierce Christmas.” In a

A healthy local arts and live entertainment industry is vital to our community.

— Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings celebration will get you in the holiday spirit and will include festive singalongs to some classic songs.

On Dec. 9, students from Dr. Phillips Center’s AdventHealth School of the Arts will present a uniquely reimagined, socially-distanced version of the Broadway smash hit, “Ragtime.”

Set in the volatile melting pot of early 20th century New York, three distinctly American tales are woven together to explore what it means to live in the U.S. On Dec. 10, the Frontyard brings two Grammy Award-winning performers to the outdoor stage — Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires. Isbell has seen his last three albums hit No. 1 on the U.S. country charts, has won four Grammys and is widely

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

reimagine beloved chapters of the American songbook alongside their own bold contributions, with nothing more than a microphone and an instrument or two.

On Dec. 12, spend the evening with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy for their Wild & Swingin’ Holiday Party. Catch the original core lineup as this Southern California swing revival band performs a raucous, feel-good show full of holiday classics.

On Dec. 15, Central Florida Community Arts (CFCArts) presents “Noel: The Carols of Christmas.” Members of the CFCArts Community Choir and Symphony Orchestra bring a traditional and spirited celebration of The Christmas Story, told through

blow-the-roof-off-the-outdoortheatre musical event, Scott — who is best known as playing the Genie in Broadway’s “Aladdin” — closes out 2020 in his hometown with his signature brand of joy and light. Scott will share holiday favorites from his new album including “The Christmas Song,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “This Christmas” and more, along with Scott staples such as “Smile,” “This Is Me,” “What the World Needs Now” and “Friend Like Me.” Scott will take the stage with a 12-piece band, a 16-person community choir and a few guest stars. You will also hear stories about his adventures on the New York stage, around the world and growing up in Central Florida.

On Dec 22, Victory Productions presents the internationally

November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

acclaimed trio, The Christmas Tenors. Operatic tenors Fernando Varela, Craig Irvin and Devin Eatmon, along with The Villages Philharmonic Orchestra, under the guidance of Maestro Pasquale Valerio, bring holiday cheer to the Frontyard.

On Dec. 23, in association with iHeart Media, world-renowned salsa orchestra El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico brings Mega Latin Christmas, Central Florida’s largest Latin holiday celebration of 2020, to downtown Orlando.

Heading into 2021, Dr. Phillips Center has confirmed the Frontyard Festival will include performances from the Orlando Gay Chorus, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis, Step Afrika, Keb’ Mo’, Tye Tribbett, Bethune Cookman University Concert Chorale and UCF Celebrates the Arts. More artists — locally, nationally and internationally — will be announced over the next several months.

Speaking at the media event, Dyer stated that the Orlando City Council at their next meeting would be voting on $70,000 in grant funding to help local cultural not-for-profits with the financial assistance they’ll need if they need to pay to utilize this space.

“I think it’s important that everybody has that opportunity,” Dyer said.

Along with the Frontyard Festival, the Dr. Phillips Center is pushing Save Our Stages, an initiative from the National Independent Venue Association — which Dr. Phillips is a member — to get Congress to enact legislation to help the live entertainment industry.

“We need your voices and [by going to SaveOurStages. com] your elected officials will know that you’re behind saving these wonderful economic drivers and these places of passion in everybody’s cities,” Ramsberger said.

Ticketing and seating for festival shows will be different than those inside the arts center. Rather than purchasing individual tickets, festival guests will select their own private box. Boxes will have a minimum seat requirement that will vary by show. Pricing will vary based on the artist, box location and minimum number of tickets guests must purchase. For more information go to FrontYardFestival.org. To tell your elected representatives to “Save Our Stages,” go to SaveOurStages.com.

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November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

announcements

tampa bay out+about

CONGRATULATIONS State Rep. Michele Rayner was sworn into office Nov. 17, becoming the first Black, openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Florida Legislature.

The Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (TIGLFF) and St Pete Pride held the inaugural Tampa Bay Transgender Film Festival Nov. 20-22. Organizers are seeking feedback from those who attended at TransFilmFest.Eventive.org, read more about the festival at WatermarkOnline.com.

REOPENING Enigma St. Pete reopened to the public Nov. 14 and is now open daily at 1 p.m., with drag shows held each Friday led

by Daphne Ferraro. “As we ease into uncharted territory, please work with us to keep us all safe,” the establishment shared Nov. 17 while thanking patrons for their support.

EVENTS Kori Stevens will hold multiple Toys for Tots benefits throughout Tampa Bay Dec. 1, 7 and 13. The Simply the Best Community Pageant will also hold a toy drive at Hamburger Mary’s Clearwater Dec. 13. Read more on p. 10.

Voss Events will present “Drive ‘N Drag Saves Christmas” Dec. 4-5 at Westfield Brandon, headlined by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars. Special pre-shows will feature local entertainers Amy DeMilo, Jade Embers, Viktoria D. Sommers and Aquariius, Jade Embers and Daphne Ferraro. Read more on p. 10.

Balance Tampa Bay will hold its 10th annual Party for Presents Dec. 5, a socially-distanced drive-in event at EPIC in St. Petersburg. Read more at Facebook.com/ BalanceTampaBay and WatermarkOnline.com.

Local Birthdays St. Petersburg nurse Ed Briggs (Nov. 26); St. Petersburg actor Ken Basque (Nov. 27); Tampa Bay chef Paege Chafin (Nov. 28); St. Petersburg actor Kris Doubles, Tampa softball bear Bubba De, St. Petersburg celebrity chef Jeffrey Jew, Delta flight attendant Trey Orihuela (Nov. 29); Tampa hairstylist Marc Retzlaff, former Sarasota Pride board member Mary Hoch, TIGLFF staple Mariruth Kennedy (Dec. 1); St. Petersburg socialite Todd Wilber, Metro Inclusive Health’s JC Alcocer, Tampa trendsetter Cameron Williams (Dec. 2); City of Sarasota Human Rights Board member Michael Shelton, former Tampa bowler Dave Bauer, Watermark’s Tampa Bay Bureau Chief Ryan Williams-Jent (Dec. 3); Bambu the Eco Salon coowner Joshua DeBlock (Dec. 4); Opera Tampa assistant conductor Luis Gonzalez, Spathouse’s Scott Durfee, Cider Press Cafe owner Roland Strobel (Dec. 5); Sarasota actor and Venice Theater’s Director of Diversity Kristofer Geddie, Tampa Bay actor Daniel Harris, Quench Lounger Theresa McGivern (Dec. 6); St. Petersburg psychiatrist Tom Young, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa’s Red Herring Ltd. expert Ivan Moros (Dec. 7); uOwn Real Estate founder Sean Frank, St. Pete free spirit Miranda Colette (Dec. 8); Tampa Bay entertainer PheYonce Montrese aka Metro’s Nate Taylor, Tampa Bay realtor Rick Fifer (Dec. 9).

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GAL PALS: (L-R) Esme Russell, Delores T. Van Cartier and Kori Stevens grace the stage at Bradley’s on 7th Nov. 13. PHOTO COURTESY BRADLEY’S ON 7TH

2

GEARED UP: A Metro Inclusive Health rep suits up for a bit of fun to show how the organization takes COVID-19 seriously Nov. 17. PHOTO COURTESY METRO INCLUSIVE HEALTH

3

MAKING HISTORY: State Rep. Michele Rayner (L) and State Sen. Shevrin Jones (C), the state’s first openly LGBTQ senator, celebrate being sworn in with Equality Florida’s Jon Harris Maurer in Tallahassee Nov. 17. PHOTO

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COURTESY EQUALITY FLORIDA

4

TAMPA PROUD: The Tampa Pride board strike lightning with a visit to the Stanley Cup in Tampa Nov. 19.

PHOTO COURTESY TAMPA PRIDE

5

BACK IN BUSINESS: Bartenders Joshua Valdez and Melvin Theriault welcome patrons back to Enigma Nov. 14. PHOTO

COURTESY RICHARD BRIXIE

6

SAY THEIR NAMES: Allendale UMC representatives and other LGBTQ allies gather at St. Petersburg City Hall for Transgender Day of Remembrance Nov. 20. PHOTO

6

COURTESY ALLENDALE UMC

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CINEMATIC FIRST: St Pete Pride President Nathan Bruemmer screens “Out Loud” during the inaugural Tampa Bay Transgender Film Festival held with TIGLFF Nov. 21 at Wild Roots. PHOTO COURTESY NATHAN BRUEMMER

8

ROAD WARRIOR: Chuck Henson introduces the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s fully autonomous shuttle service AVA Nov. 23.

PHOTO COURTESY CHUCK HENSON

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

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www.fusionfest.org/Join-us

entry Deadline: August 1

Event: thanksgiving weekend, 2019

is a project of the Downtown District Government FusionFest is a project of the Downtown Arts District FusionFest with support from OrangeArts County with support from Orange County Government and the Orlando Downtown Development and the Orlando Downtown Development Board, at the Dr. Phillips Center. Board, at the Dr. Phillips Center.

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announcements

central florida out+about

Congratulations Central Florida’s Southern Craft celebrated its third anniversary Nov. 16.

Opening Blue Star’s new restaurant/bar/entertianment venue,

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HÄOS on Church, opened Nov. 18.

The Dr. Phillips Center’s Frontyard Festival opens starting Dec. 5. For more information, go to page 33.

Events Nick Smith presents Situation Sundays is back every Sunday in downtown Orlando with five parties: Sunday Surrender at Ember, Runway Sundays at Chillers, She

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Sundays at Cahoots, Skyline Sunday at Latitudes and Sinful Sundays on Church.

Stonewall Orlando started its Savage Saturdays, featuring MrMs Adrien, launched Nov. 14.

“The Golden Gals - A Christmas Musical” plays at HÄOS on Church Nov. 28, 29, Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 19 and 20. See page 8 for more details.

Local Birthdays

4

Pandora Events CEO Alison Burgos, USA Today reporter and former Watermark intern Christal Hayes (Nov. 26); former HRC president Joe Solmonese (Nov. 28); Orlando Bisexual Alliance founder Sarah Wissig, Orlando actor MJ Lewis (Nov. 29); Orlando Gay Chorus founding member David Schuler (Nov. 30); Orlando-based writer Jim Crescitelli (Dec. 1); Orlando realtor Jeff Earley, derby volunteer wrangler Cynthia “Cynfully Vicious” West (Dec. 2); Watermark freelancer Kirk Hartlage (Dec. 3); “Flame On” podcast host Bryan Pittard, Osceola Arts COO Jeremiah Krivinchuk, Bites and Bubbles entrepreneur Eddie Nickell (Dec. 6); Orlando Theatre goddess Beth Marshall (Dec. 7); Come Out With Pride President Jeff Prystajko, former Watermark intern Christina Nicole Diaz, Orlando Fringe’s Brian Sikorski, Mainframe Real Estate founder and CEO Sean Frank (Dec. 8); Zebra Coalition CEO Heather Wilkie, Orlando entertainer Justin Shakeri, Watermark’s Kathleen Sadler’s super mom Barbara England, Southern Nights Orlando bartender Cameron MacDonald, Southern Nights Orlando’s D’Andre Bims (Dec. 9).

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Sunday Funday: Nick Smith (L) and Blue Star are masked and playing it safe for Situation Sundays at Ember Orlando Nov. 15. Photo by Nick Smith

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Looking up: State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani is back on the House floor in Tallahassee Nov. 19.

Photo by Ida V. Eskamani

3

Modern Family: Dennis and John KihmDonough with their children Brendon, Blake and Kevin celebrate Kevin’s adoption in Viera, Florida. Photo by Paige Kihm

4

Community Champions: State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith grabs a selfie with the Feed The Need Florida crew on their final day distributing meals at The Plaza Live in Orlando Nov. 20. Photo by

Carlos Guillermo Smith

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New Kids on the Block: The crew of the newly opened HÄOS on Church in downtown Orlando show the love Nov. 21. Photo

courtesy HÄOS on Church

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Happy Party: (L-R) Brianna Jaye, Rebecca Kaercher and Kim Marie are feeling happy at Papa Gio’s of Avalon Park Nov. 17.

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Photo by Rebecca Kaercher

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Art trip: Orlando VA’s Keri Griffin checks out the opening day of the Van Gogh Alive exhibit at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg Nov. 21. Photo courtesy Keri Griffin

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Baby workouts: Watermark business manager Kathleen Sadler shows off her six-month baby bump at her Crunch Fitness spin class Nov. 18. Photo courtesy Kathleen Sadler

8 watermark Your LGBTQ life.

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wedding bells

Corey Duersch and Chris Scocco, from Orlando, Florida

Engagement Date:

May 23, 2019

Wedding Date:

Oct. 17, 2020

Officiant:

State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani

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Orlando Museum of Art

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Photo by Art Faulkner

W

hen Corey Duersch and Chris

Scocco were on their first date, Chris thought to himself “He kind of seems too good to be true.”

After connecting through Tinder, the two had their first date at Warsaw Coffee in Fort Lauderdale.

“He was educated, well-versed in a lot of topics, and liked a lot of things that I did, too,” Chris said on the couple’s wedding website. “Fast forward a few months, we started to date exclusively and now here we are.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chris decided he wanted to propose to Corey while on a trip to Hawaii in May 2019.

“I started looking at places on O’ahu and on the big island that might make a good place to propose, but I couldn’t really envision it, so I thought the best plan would be to do it ‘when the moment came to me,’” Chris says. “This, as it turned out, was not the best plan.”

Chris kept the rings with him every day of their trip, looking for a moment to propose, but nothing felt quite right. With only a few days left in the trip, he knew he had to pop the question soon.

“I knew I had to get it in gear or else Hawaii wasn’t going to be the place where we would get engaged and – insert unnecessary gay drama – then we would obviously never get married because it had to happen there,” Chris says.

The moment finally came when they were hiking the Pu’uKalepeamoa Loop Trail, otherwise known as Sunset Hill. After reaching the top, Chris suggested taking some selfies.

After a few pictures, Chris took out the rings and asked Corey “Well, what do you think?” After seeing a look of confusion on Corey’s face, Chris asked “Should we get married?”

“I knew that was the right place for it,” Chris says. “We were above the clouds, in this place that could never be reproduced.”

Corey and Chris held their wedding ceremony and reception at the Orlando Museum of Art in October 2020 with state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani officiating. Though the COVID-19 pandemic threatened their

wedding plans, they moved forward with the ceremony with some added health and safety measures.

Besides reading and hearing their vows, one of the moments that sticks out most to the couple is when Chris’ nephew, who was the ring bearer, brought Chris’ ring up the aisle, took it out of the box, and stood there for a minute before giving it to Anna.

“It was a cute, but unexpected, moment during the ceremony,” Chris says.“Everyone got a laugh.”

Most of the art museum’s galleries were open to the wedding guests, so they could enjoy the art as well as the reception.

“The reception was kind of a blur for both of us,” Corey says. “All of the advice that we received about it going by so quickly, that we would have a people hangover (where you feel badly about not seeing everyone at the reception), and that you won’t be able to eat (I think we had three or four bites of food the entire night and missed out on the cookie table

and flaming doughnut station) were all so true.”

The couple ended their wedding weekend and spent their first day as a married couple with a brunch with their families and other guests the following morning.

“We realized that marriage didn’t define our relationship, but rather made it concrete,” Chris says.

— Lora Kopar

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

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November 25 - Decemb er 9, 2020 // Issue 27. 24 wat e r m a r konline .com

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A FLU FIGHTER FOR Did flu season sneak up on you this year? With so much to manage and so little time, wellness can fall by the wayside. Whenever you’re ready, Orlando Health Physician Associates are here to help. With education, care and treatment for every stage of life in one location, staying healthy this flu season is easier than ever. For one less worry and one more way to stay safe, choose Orlando Health.

(321) 841-3724 OrlandoHealth.com/Flu