Watermark Issue 28.20: Come Together by Watermark Publishing Group

Your LGBTQ Life.

Sept. 30 - Oct. 13, 2021 Issue 28.20

Orlando’s Bros in Convo added to Lil Nas X’s donation list MCC Tampa marks 50 years of LGBTQ-inclusive ministry

COME TOGETHER The National Trans Visibility March

comes to Orlando during Come Out With Pride

DAYTONA BEACH • ORLANDO • TAMPA • ST. PETERSBURG • CLEARWATER • SARASOTA

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TheHistoryCenter.Org

Exhibit and exciting programming October 2, 2021– January 23, 2022 This exhibition, organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, features a fun and interactive look at legendary beasts and the ways people around the world envision and depict them.

TheHistoryCenter.org Programming presented by

65 E. Central Blvd. • Orlando, Florida 32801 • 407-836-8500

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DEPARTMENTS 7 // EDITOR’S DESK 8 // CENTRAL FLORIDA NEWS 12 // TAMPA BAY NEWS 16 // STATE NEWS 19 // NATION & WORLD NEWS 25 // TALKING POINTS 41 // EVENT PLANNER 43 // TAMPA BAY OUT + ABOUT 45 // CENTRAL FL OUT + ABOUT 47 // WEDDING BELLS 50 // TAMPA BAY MARKETPLACE 51 // CENTRAL FL MARKETPLACE 54 // LAST PAGE

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Year one, Orlando was just so organized and giving and willing. The unity they had. So when we started to talk about where to hold the next march Orlando just kept coming to the top of the list because of their dedication. – MARISSA MILLER, FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE NATIONAL TRANS VISIBILITY MARCH

ON THE COVER

PAGE BLASTING OFF:

PAGE COME TOGETHER:

The National Trans Visibility March comes to Orlando during Come Out With

Pride. PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

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“Dr. Ride’s American Beach House” leads Jobsite Theater’s 24th season.

WATERMARK ISSUE 28.20 // SEPT. 30 - OCT. 13

CAMPAIGN SUSPENDED CELEBRATING THE PAST BACK TO THE 90’S

STAGE TO SCREEN

PAGE Leigh Shannon ends 2021 run for District 3 commissioner seat.

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

PAGE MCC Tampa marks the 50-year anniversary of its inclusive ministry.

PAGE

“The Gay 90’s Musical” premieres as a part of Come Out With Pride.

“Dear Evan Hansen” filmmakers refine a hit Broadway musical.

SEPT. 30 - O C T. 13, 2021 // ISSUE 28 . 20 WAT E R M A R KONLINE .COM

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EDITOR’S

Jeremy Williams EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com

DESK

HE PANDEMIC HAS DONE A number on my social life.

Not that I had a booming social life to brag about before COVID, but the work-related events and the occasional trip to a bar or club after months of nagging from my roommate disappeared with the 2020 lockdowns and I’ve been finding it difficult to even get back into taking baby steps. As the months went by and we slipped further into quarantining, I did what I think most people did and turned to my smartphone to be my window into the new world. Along with social media apps that I already had — Facebook and Instagram — I also downloaded Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat. I even turned back to Grindr, Scruff and Growlr which I had gotten rid of before I had even heard of COVID-19 because they were taking up too much of my time and were

far too toxic for me to handle, but that is for another column. While these apps offered me a way to stay connected and informed during a time when doing so in person was not an option, I found myself becoming too connected, learned too many “facts” from memes and informed by everybody’s opinion on everything all of the time. My phone was on a continuous buzz with notifications that photos were shared, messages were sent, tweets were tweeted and posts were posted. Even with the notifications turned off, I found myself picking my phone up every few minutes to scroll through each app to see what was happening. I had developed social media FOMO. I had turned to social media apps because I thought trying to stay connected and seeing people

develop themselves through learning to cook, getting healthy or vlogging about how they were handling the pandemic would help to motivate me to want to better myself. But instead it turned me into a lump, wasting my life on the couch scrolling for hours. A few weeks ago I decided to make a change and instead of watching others make the best of this situation, I deleted all the social media apps from my phone and replaced them with apps that would help to improve myself. It started by deleting Grindr, Scruff and Growlr. Twitter also went out with the dating apps. That group of apps proved to be the most damaging to my mental health. I will always be amazed by how shallow and vile people can be when they are hidden behind a keyboard. I replaced them with a collection of apps that help to count steps, calories and track how much water I’m drinking. With the time freed up with those apps gone, I’ve started to take walks each evening to push my life into a healthier direction. Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram were the next group to get the boot and I replaced them with a journaling app as well as apps to help with meditation and brain teasers to keep my brain stimulated. TikTok has proven the most difficult to get rid of. Since downloading it during the first COVID spike, it has been a fun escape from the doom and gloom of the outside world. But I did remove the app from my phone’s home screen in the hopes that it will help me to cut down on TikTok time. Outta sight, outta mind. Since switching up my phone apps I’m finding I have a lot more time in the real world. Lots more time that I’m looking forward to spending with everyone in the community for Pride, which we look at in this issue.

WATERMARK STAFF Owner & Publisher: Rick Todd • Ext. 110 Rick@WatermarkOnline.com Editor-in-Chief: Jeremy Williams • Ext. 106 Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com

Managing Editor: Ryan Williams-Jent • Ext. 302 Ryan@WatermarkOnline.com

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Creative Designer: Dylan Todd • Ext. 107 Dylan@WatermarkOnline.com

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Come Out With Pride is days away and back to in-person events. We look at the events leading up to Oct. 9 including COWP’s first-ever live theater production sanctioned as an official Pride event, the return of Watermark’s Movies Out Loud, Zebra Coalition’s Drag Race 5K and more. We also talk with Marissa Miller, one of the founders of the National Trans Visibility March, as she and her team prepare to bring the march to Orlando as a part of the Pride parade and festival. In A&E, we check in with Jobsite Theater’s “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House,” a play about the American astronaut Dr. Sally Ride who in 1983 became the nation’s first female in space. We

I decided to make a change … I deleted all the social media apps from my phone and replaced them with apps that would help to improve myself.

also feature Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press’ chat with actor Ben Platt and director Stephen Chbosky about their new film based on the Tony Award-winning musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.” In news, we look at the Orlando City Commissioner District 3 race as Martin Fugate, owner of Ritzy Rags Wigs & More and better known as drag entertainer Leigh Shannon, announces he is ending his campaign. We also check in on the latest on state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s lawsuit against the Florida Health Department for COVID-19 information.

ORLANDO OFFICE Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer

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CONTRIBUTORS GREG STEMM

lives in Gulfport, Fla., and has worked as a freelance writer for several local publications. He is a founding member of St. Pete Pride and active politically in Tampa Bay. Page 21

TATIANA QUIROGA

is the Director of Family Equity and Diversity for Family Equality. She is a proud mother, wife and LGBTQ advocate in Central Florida. Page 23

LORA KORPAR was

a journalism student who graduated from the University of Central Florida and is a former Watermark intern. Page 39

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. Unsolicited article submissions will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Although WATERMARK is supported by many fine advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles, advertising, or listing in WATERMARK is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons or members of such organizations. WATERMARK is published every second Thursday. Subscription rate is $55 (1st class) and $26 (standard mail). The official views of WATERMARK are expressed only in editorials. Opinions offered in signed columns, letters and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper’s owner or management. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. WATERMARK is not responsible for damages due to typographical errors, except for the cost of replacing ads created by WATERMARK that have such errors.

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EDITOR’S

Ryan Williams-Jent MANAGING EDITOR Ryan@WatermarkOnline.com

DESK

HEN MY HUSBAND AND I

visited my hometown for Labor Day, it was a trip up to Ohio but down memory lane. We drove so I could clean out my parents’ garage, a task I’ve put off since moving to Florida 14 years ago. It’s held two decades-worth of my belongings since well before then, unshippable boxes and bins full of comic books, action �igures and forget-me-nots that I’d mostly forgotten about. I was certain 98% of it was garbage but knew �inding the 2% worth driving to Florida would be an undertaking. There was so much more junk than I expected. What my family had in love we often lacked in funds, and growing up my parents usually went without to make sure I could go with, so I think it led me to hold onto whatever material objects I could for as long as possible. For too much of it, that meant around 36 years.

As an adult it’s easier for me to let go of things, though my husband might argue not enough of them, so I committed to downsizing whenever I had the opportunity. Our long overdue visit was a labor of love and Lysol. If we weren’t making new memories – whether it was introducing my husband to family who couldn’t travel to Florida for our wedding or enjoying a drag show with my sister for the �irst time – I was in the garage with my old ones. It was a lot of cringing at love letters and admiring how indestructible Happy Meal toys are. Apologies to Mother Earth.

Among the other “treasures” I found were copies of The Torch, my much more biodegradable high school newspaper. I helped found it as a freshman and ran it as a senior, my �irst foray into journalism that launched a lifetime love for the craft. They weren’t the only newspapers I discovered. Over the years I’ve saved issues detailing historical moments, from the death of Princess Diana to the election of President Obama. On Sept. 5, I found my long-buried copy of The Cincinnati Post from Sept. 12, 2001. Above the fold and atop an image of a crumbling World Trade Center was the word “TERROR,” with “Evidence points to bin Laden” not far below it. One section promised to detail George W. Bush’s response while another noted airports were closed. A few pages were �illed with images from the scene and “America prays” closed out the issue. It was a chilling read. A week later, back in Florida, the nation mourned the 20-year mark of 9/11. The internet was �looded with memes dedicated to 9/12/01 as folks re�lected on how the country changed in the tragedy’s aftermath. “I would never ever want another 9/11, but I miss the America of 9/12,” one of the viral posts begins. “Stores ran out of �lags to sell because they were being �lown everywhere,” it continues. “People were Americans before they were upper or lower class, Jewish or Christian, Republican or Democrat. We hugged people without caring if they ate at Chick-Fil-A or wore Nikes. On 9/12, what mattered more was what united us, than what divided us.” 9/11 was a tragedy no human should ever downplay or deny and I think the sentiment comes from

WATERMARK STAFF Owner & Publisher: Rick Todd • Ext. 110 Rick@WatermarkOnline.com Editor-in-Chief: Jeremy Williams • Ext. 106 Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com

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Sales Director: Danny Garcia • Ext. 108 Danny@WatermarkOnline.com

Creative Designer: Dylan Todd • Ext. 107 Dylan@WatermarkOnline.com

Senior Orlando Account Manager: Sam Callahan • Ext. 103 Sam@WatermarkOnline.com

Creative Designer: Ezri Ruiz • Ext. 301 Ezri@WatermarkOnline.com

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a positive place. But that isn’t an America that I remember. I was an awkward sophomore on the verge of coming out at the time, inherently an “other” in at least that regard. I remember understandable shock, sadness, anger and fear, but also my introduction to new types of hate. I remember my history teacher spewing anti-Muslim propaganda in class, and getting in trouble for speaking out against it. Those of us who are “others” have to stick together. I may not have experienced the idealized 9/12 so many Americans on social media recall, but I can

Our long overdue visit was a labor of love and Lysol.

respect the longing for it. I just hope anyone who lived it feels compelled to do the work required to make sure it exists today, for everyone. The National Transgender Visibility March is one organization working to build a more inclusive future. The organization will hold its third outing during Come Out with Pride on Oct. 9, which we detail in this issue. In news, we examine the 50th anniversary of MCC Tampa and detail Tampa Pride’s inaugural Pride on the River. Equality Florida and more also endorse Ken Welch as the next mayor of St. Petersburg while in Central Florida, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith’s lawsuit against Florida takes on new life. In Arts and Entertainment, Orlando celebrates the Gay 90s. We also blast off with Jobsite Theater in Tampa for the regional premiere of “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House.” Watermark strives to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. Please stay safe and enjoy this latest issue.

ORLANDO OFFICE Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer

1300 N. Semoran Blvd. Ste 250 Orlando, FL 32807 TEL: 407-481-2243

National Ad Representative: Rivendell Media Inc. • 212-242-6863

TAMPA BAY OFFICE 401 33rd Street N. St. Petersburg, FL 33713 TEL: 813-655-9890

SEPT. 30 - O C T. 13, 2021 // ISSUE 28 . 20 WAT E R M A R KONLINE .COM

CONTRIBUTORS GREG STEMM

lives in Gulfport, Fla., and has worked as a freelance writer for several local publications. He is a founding member of St. Pete Pride and active politically in Tampa Bay. Page 21

TATIANA QUIROGA

is the Director of Family Equity and Diversity for Family Equality. She is a proud mother, wife and LGBTQ advocate in Central Florida. Page 23

LORA KORPAR was

a journalism student who graduated from the University of Central Florida and is a former Watermark intern. Page 39

PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN BECNEL, NICK CARDELLO, BRUCE HARDIN, JAMARQUS MOSLEY, CHRIS STEPHENSON, LEE VANDERGRIFT

DISTRIBUTION LVNLIF2 DISTRIBUTING, KEN CARRAWAY, VANESSA MARESCA-CRUZ

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central florida news

LIL NAS X RELEASES ‘THAT’S WHAT I WANT’ MUSIC VIDEO, ENCOURAGES FANS TO DONATE TO BROS IN CONVO Jeremy Williams

RLANDO | Lil Nas X released his highly anticipated debut album, “Montero,” Sept. 17 along with a new music video for the song “That’s What I Want.” As the video starts, Lil Nas X falls from the sky and crashes a high school football game where, in full uniform, he is then carried off the field with an injury. As he ices his knee on the sidelines, he makes eye contact with one of his fellow players on the field, played by dancer and Lil Nas X’s rumored boyfriend Yai Ariza. The scene then cuts to the both of them kissing and stripping in the locker room before hitting the showers together. The video cuts from the two of them making love in the shower to a “Brokeback Mountain”-inspired story before cutting again to Lil Nas X walking down the aisle in a white wedding dress and being presented with a guitar by “Pose” actor Billy Porter. Lil Nas X has been making headlines promoting the album including making an announcement earlier this month for his Montero Baby Registry, a fundraising initiative linking each one of the songs from his album to a charity. “That’s What I Want” was linked to The Bros in Convo Initiative, a Black queer-led community organization founded by Daniel Downer promoting and providing health equity to Black gay, bisexual, queer and same-gender loving men in Central Florida. The video’s release on YouTube Sept. 17 also includes a link to donate to Bros in Convo. Other charities that are a part of the Montero Baby Registry are Transinclusive Group, Ch-Pier, The Bail Project, Compassionate Atlanta, Relationship Unleashed, Central Alabama Alliance Resource & Advocacy Center, OLTT, Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, Arianna Center, Thrive SS, What’s in the Mirror, Cade Foundation, The Counter Narrative, The Normal Anomaly and Happy Hippie. Most of the charities selected — including Bros in Convo — are a part of the COMPASS Initiative, a program launched by the pharmaceutical company Gilead which works to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern United States. For every dollar donated from the registry to one of the participating charities, Gilead’s COMPASS Initiative will match up to $25,000. As of the album’s release, according to TMZ, “That’s What I Want” has raised more than $33,000 in donations for Bros in Convo thanks to Lil Nas X and his baby registry.

If you would like to donate, you can do so by going to BrosInConvo.org/ Donate, and you can watch the video for “That’s What I Want” by going to Lil Nas X’s YouTube channel.

ENDORSING STUART: After ending his campaign, Martin Fugate (L) announced he is endorsing current commissioner Robert Stuart (R). FUGATE PHOTO FROM HIS FACEBOOK PAGE; STUART

Campaign Suspended

PHOTO FROM ORLANDO.GOV

Martin ‘Leigh Shannon’ Fugate ends run for commissioner seat Jeremy Williams

RLANDO | Martin Fugate, owner of Ritzy Rags Wigs & More and better known as drag entertainer Leigh Shannon, announced that he is ending his campaign for Orlando City Commissioner – District 3. In a statement posted to his Facebook page, Fugate said he was ending his campaign “[d]ue to unforeseen circumstances.” “I have been honored and humbled by the support shown to me these past few months, and will continue to be engaged and serve as a ‘voice of the people’ for our community going forward,” Fugate said in the statement. Fugate, who has lived in District 3’s College Park neighborhood with his husband for 15 years, moved his business to the area in April after more than 30 years in the Mills50 District. Speaking with Watermark by phone Sept. 16, Fugate says his

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decision to withdraw from the race came from a major health scare he had about six weeks ago. “I’m doing very well and I’m feeling fine,” Fugate says. “It’s nothing long lasting and it’s not going to kill me but it was scary in the beginning. It drained me for about five weeks and I lost major time from the campaign, major fundraising time, and plus it took a lot of my stamina.” Along with losing time on the campaign trail, Fugate also had to take a couple of weeks away from working at his shop and from performing. “Everything is coming back good but it was a health scare and I felt like the voters deserve a 100% healthy, go-get-em candidate,” he says. “I talked to some friends who are doctors and nurses, and they feel like I should just lay back and rest for a little bit.” Fugate took the opportunity to announce that he would be supporting the current District

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3 commissioner, Robert Stuart, in his bid for re-election. Stuart has represented the district since 2006. “I had a long talk with Stuart yesterday and I’m going to endorse him. That will probably shock a lot of people,” Fugate says. Fugate’s biggest issue during his campaign has been fighting against the controversial Rosemont development, a $1 billion plan to add more than 5,600 new apartments and 350,000 square feet of retail and commercial space to the district. “It’s just too massive,” Fugate said in July. “They’re putting in an eight-story building which will bring thousands of apartments. The roads won’t be able to handle all that extra traffic, where is all that sewage going to go? They aren’t listening to the residents, many of them don’t want this massive building in their neighborhood.” Last month the city commissioners voted 5-2 to move forward with the development plan with Stewart and Tony Ortiz voting against it. “I’m deeply saddened that a commissioner of his own district, who has worked hard and went through all the meetings I went through with him, wasn’t listened to. You know, 98% of the people in this district didn’t want all those apartments, they wanted home ownership,” Fugate says. “I have CONTINUED ON PG. 10 | uu |

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NEWS MEDIA COMPANIES JOIN REP. SMITH’S LAWSUIT

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to give Stuart credit for standing up for the district and that’s a good reason for me to endorse him.” In his statement, Fugate called out each of the commissioners — Jim Gray, Patty Sheehan, Regina Hill and Bakari Burns — as well as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer for supporting the Rosemont deal. “I urge them to begin to consider listening to public input and considering changes to future development plans prior to approving them. They are getting too powerful and not listening to the ‘voices of the people,’” he said. Stuart’s current challengers for his district seat include criminologist Nicolette Springer and progressive candidate Samuel Chambers. Fugate says he looked into both candidates before deciding to support Stuart. “The people of District 3 deserve representation on the issues they care about, many of which I have been running on,” Fugate said. “My supporters and I would like to know where the remaining candidates stand on common-sense growth, property taxes, tools for the police force, property incentives, public input, proper docking of bikes and scooters, pedestrian & cyclist safety and empowering women and minorities.” Fugate says that while he is ending his campaign, it doesn’t mean he is going anywhere and that he will continue to remain civically engaged and continue to advocate for positive change in his district.

Jeremy Williams

RLANDO | Eight news media companies and a Florida nonprofit have joined the lawsuit state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) and Florida Center for Government Accountability filed against the Florida Department of Health and the state surgeon general, Dr. Scott Rivkees. The Associated Press, The New York Times, Gannett, Scripps Media, the publishing companies of the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, The Washington Post and the nonprofit First Amendment Foundation filed a motion to intervene Sept. 15 supporting Smith and the Florida Center in their efforts to get the health department to release public records for daily local COVID-19 pediatric hospitalizations, case counts and more. “Despite the continued challenges the COVID-19 pandemic

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presents to Florida residents, the Department ceased publishing the daily data on or about June 3, 2021,” the motion reads. “Instead, it now publishes a weekly COVID-19 ‘Situation Report,’ which excludes several of the key data points originally included in the former daily reports. Critically missing from this weekly data is, for example, county-by-county COVID-19 fatality numbers.” The motion goes on to state, as with Smith and the Florida Center, members of the news media have made several requests to the health department for the same type of data that was available to the public just a few months ago regarding Florida’s COVID-19 cases. Smith’s lawsuit was assigned to Leon County Circuit Court Judge John C. Cooper Sept. 8, the same judge who ruled against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ barring of mask mandates in Florida schools saying DeSantis and his administration acted “without legal authority.” In a pre-trial hearing for the lawsuit

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Go to digital version of this story at WatermarkOnline.com for links to read the full original lawsuit filed Aug. 30 and the motion filed Sept. 15.

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Sept. 20, Cooper ruled that the eight media companies and the nonprofit, First Amendment Foundation, were allowed to join the lawsuit. Cooper also denied the state’s request to postpone the trail for 40 days, setting the two-day trial for Sept. 29-30. Smith took to social media after the ruling, writing “Thank you Judge Cooper for OVERRULING the #DeSantis administration’s objections and allowing multiple news media organizations to join our [lawsuit] for COVID-19 data transparency. To be fair, if every Florida newspaper was suing ME, I’d object too!”

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tampa bay news

TAMPA PRIDE HOLDS INAUGURAL PRIDE ON THE RIVER Ryan Williams-Jent

AMPA | Tampa Pride held its inaugural Pride on the River Sept. 18 along the Tampa Riverwalk, an end-of-summer celebration kicking off its 2022 Pride season. The gathering followed the seventh annual Tampa Pride, billed as the nation’s first in-person Pride celebration of 2021. Organizers say the event welcomed more than 70,000 people to Ybor May 22. Planning for Pride on the River began soon afterwards, an extension of Tampa Pride’s mission to organize year-round festivities “championing our shared experiences, honoring our differences and strengthening our community.” The inaugural outing featured a drag brunch, partner events, a diversity boat parade, riverside festival and culminated in fireworks along the waterfront. Two brunches were held at Anchor and Brine, located in the Tampa Marriott Water Street and hosted by entertainer Brianna Summers. “I am so excited to be a part of the inaugural Tampa Pride on the River celebration!” she shared. Werk the Riverwalk, Pride on the River’s partner activation from the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, featured a mixture of live entertainment from singers and drag performers. The diversity boat parade followed, commencing at Garrison Channel and ending at the Armature Works pier. West says Tampa Pride first conceptualized the water processional years ago and that the organization was eager to make it a reality. “We are really the first Pride in the country to have two Pride events in the same city on totally opposite ends, one in the spring one in the fall,” he says. “We’re bringing the area together both on land and on the sea … taking advantage of what we have right here in our beautiful home.” Pridegoers already enjoying the celebration’s festival at Armature Works welcomed the parade. The evening featured remarks from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and eclectic entertainment from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Brita Filter and headliner Alyssa Edwards. Castor reflected on the celebration Sept. 20. “Such a fun, colorful weekend at Pride on the River!” the mayor shared via social media. “Our diversity is what makes the City of Tampa so strong as a community – and that’s definitely something we should celebrate. Always. Thank you to everyone who came out, either by land or by boat!” “Words cannot express how amazing it was to see the vision come together, and for our community to soak it all up!” Tampa Pride added. “The list of people, groups, talent, brands and companies that made [Pride on the River] possible is endless.” View photos from this year’s inaugural event at WatermarkOnline.com and learn more at TampaPride.org and PrideOnTheRiver.org.

50 YEARS STRONG: Rev.

Jakob Hero-Shaw (L) and Rev. Craig Cranston at MCC Tampa. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

Golden Years MCC Tampa marks five decades Ryan Williams-Jent

AMPA | The Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa is celebrating 50 years of inclusive service. Founded in 1968, MCC was the first Christian denomination with a primary, positive outreach to members of the LGBTQ community. By 1971, MCC Tampa became the seventh church to incorporate into the fellowship. Billed as the first LGBTQ organization to affiliate in Hillsborough County, MCC Tampa currently serves around 100 congregants with in-person and virtual services each Sunday. “The slogan for our church is ‘Christ centered, genuinely inclusive,” Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw says. “We’re centered on Christ and we are inclusive of everyone. Hero-Shaw has worked to set that tone as senior pastor since 2015, but it’s something he first experienced 19 years ago as a congregant. “When I first came to MCC, I was really in need of what this place had to offer but was scared to come inside,” he remembers. “I sat in my car, waited until everyone

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got inside, and then I waited a little longer before I snuck in. As a gay trans man, I had so much trouble finding a place where I felt comfortable. This church really loved and supported me for me.” That’s because every MCC is LGBTQ affirming. Hero-Shaw says that’s something no other denomination can assert. “There are churches that accept LGBTQ people but don’t have the support of every church in that denomination,” he explains. “With some you can come in the door while in others you can’t. In some you can come in but can’t have communion. In others you can’t be ordained.” Rev. Craig Cranston experienced that personally. He joined MCC Tampa as assistant pastor in 2020, a process that began decades prior in the Episcopal Church. “I was originally called into ministry at 16 years old, but the church was very clear that they don’t ordain gay people,” he says. “I left orthodoxy but continued in a spiritual space.” He resumed his path to ordination at 48, leading him to MCC. “I love the rich tradition of the Episcopal Church, and

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I might find one that is open and affirming,” Cranston explains, “but the question becomes, ‘how do you know where you can go to be welcomed?’ It is a spotty experience: are you really being welcomed or are you just being accommodated?” “My worth and God’s love is more than ‘I’ll accommodate you today,’” he stresses. “God doesn’t accommodate us; God loves us and embraces us. I want to go to a church where every single church in the denomination says that I matter. That’s MCC.” The church originally planned a 50-year celebration honoring that fact in August. That changed due to COVID-19. Instead, programming will give congregants opportunities to reflect on each decade MCC Tampa has served the community through the end of the year. Messaging will then transition into how the church will do so in years to come. “We’re celebrating our past and building our future,” Hero-Shaw says. He adds that while the church is currently planning a 50-year gala in early 2022, all are welcome to celebrate its inclusivity until then. “We’re not perfect, we’re human beings running a church,” he says, “but we’re here for anyone who just needs a place that is loving and accepting.” MCC Tampa is located at 408 E. Cayuga St. in Tampa. Learn more by calling 813-239-1951 or by visiting MCCTampa.com.

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tampa bay news

EQUALITY FLORIDA ACTION PAC, REGIONAL LEADERS ENDORSE KEN WELCH FOR ST. PETERSBURG’S NEXT MAYOR Ryan Williams-Jent

T. PETERSBURG | Equality Florida Action PAC endorsed Ken Welch for St. Petersburg mayor Sept. 17, citing the candidate’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. As the political arm of Florida’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, the PAC is dedicated to electing pro-equality candidates throughout every level of the state’s government. The organization noted that Welch is a longtime champion for LGBTQ civil rights. The Democrat served as a Pinellas County commissioner for five terms, during which he led high-profile, LGBTQ-focused initiatives. He supported amending the county’s Human Rights Ordinance to include sexual orientation in 2008 and five years later, reintroduced the

measure to add protections for gender identity. “Ken Welch has been a progressive champion on the issues that matter most to the people of St. Petersburg,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said. “Electing a strong, seasoned and tested leader like Ken Welch to one of Florida’s most pro-equality cities is crucial to the LGBTQ community.” “Incredible. Thank you Equality Florida for your support and friendship,” Welch responded. “Our community is built on our diversity and our LGBTQ brothers and sisters play such an important role in molding our culture, cultivating businesses and paving a path of inclusive progress for our community. “As mayor, I will work with everyone to ensure our internal and external policies and procedures build upon the great work of the Kriseman administration in making

equity and inclusion a core principle of St. Petersburg’s governance,” he added. The endorsement followed that of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, the city’s first openly LGBTQ leader. She has worked closely with current St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who endorsed Welch ahead of the primary, since 2019. “Tampa Bay is at an inflection point,” she shared Sept. 15. “Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that St. Pete elect a partner in progress, a proven inclusive leader and a person whose deep roots uniquely position him to take St. Pete into the next great chapter of their city. “The success of Tampa Bay is dependent on both the City of St. Pete and the City of Tampa working together and building relationships to ensure that everyone gets to share in the successes of our great region,” Castor continued. “I look

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forward to working with Ken on regional collaboration to ensure smart growth, a clean and sustainable water supply and infrastructure investments that benefit Tampa Bay residents for generations.” “Mayor Jane Castor is a lifelong dedicated public servant – she has worked for decades to make our neighborhoods safer and to make Tampa Bay an inclusive and welcoming community for everyone,” Welch shared afterwards. On Sept. 16, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer echoed Castor. “As Mayor of Orlando since 2003, I’ve witnessed unparalleled growth across the I-4 corridor and that’s because of the incredible working relationship the region’s mayors maintain,” he shared. “By focusing on collaboration above competition we’ve ensured our cities grow strategically and complimentary to one another,” Dyer continued. “Issues like

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clean water, smart and balanced growth, affordable housing, and ending gun violence cannot be achieved without working across the aisle and with our partners across the state. Ken will do just that and keep St. Pete moving in the right direction and maintaining the momentum that my friend and colleague Mayor Kriseman has started.” U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor and Charlie Crist, as well as State Sen. Janet Cruz and openly LGBTQ Rep. Michele Rayner are also supporting Welch. Other high-profile LGBTQ organizations joining them include the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus and the Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County, its local chapter.

St. Petersburg’s general election will be held Nov. 2 with no early voting. The deadline to request a mail ballot is Oct. 23. For more information about Ken Welch’s campaign, visit KenWelch.com. Learn more about Equality Florida Action PAC at EQFLPAC.org.

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state news

MIAMI STREET RENAMED HARVEY MILK WAY Jose Cassola, South Florida Gay News

IAMI | For Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson, it took eight months of perseverance to get his vision and proposal adopted by the commission to name streets on each of the four sides of Pride Park after human rights activists. On Sept. 17, the official street-naming dedication ceremony for Harvey Milk Way took place in front of Miami Beach City Hall. “I had the great privilege of hosting the official street-naming dedication ceremony for Harvey Milk Way, which is the first street in the state of Florida named after the LGBTQ human rights activist,” Richardson said. “I want to thank my colleagues who supported my initiative. It took almost eight months, but together we got it done!” Gregory Branch, who is running for a seat on the commission in Group 1, said “recognizing Harvey Milk as a trailblazing pioneer who gave hope and inspiration to many was long overdue.” Throughout 10 days of events for Miami Beach Pride, Branch says he was “honored to participate in a smorgasbord of feel-good events,” including the Milk dedication. “As a candidate [and before], I like to think I carry the baton in the fight for inclusivity in government and leadership,” he said. Added Paul Thomas of the Miami Beach Pride Board of Directors: “It was a history-making day in Miami Beach as we named 18th Street near Pride Park ‘Harvey Milk Way’ in honor of the famous Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in San Francisco after being the first out politician in California.” Another street around Pride Park had already been named for Muhammed Ali. The street naming was championed by Richardson. “As the Chairman of the LGBTQ Advisory Committee for the City Of Miami Beach, I was honored to be in attendance and to meet Mr. Milks’ nephew, Stuart,” Thomas said, adding that a navy ship will also be named in Milk’s honor in October after he was dishonorably discharged for being gay. Joe Saunders, senior political director at Equality Florida, thanked Richardson on Facebook for his commitment to the cause and for inviting him to represent Equality Florida at the unveiling of Harvey Milk Way. “Miami Beach, my chosen home, became the FIRST city in Florida to name a street after LGBTQ trailblazer Harvey Milk. What a great way to start Miami Beach Pride Weekend,” Saunders said. “Thank you to Mayor Dan Gelber, Commissioner Micky Ross Steinberg, Commissioner Michael Góngora and Commissioner Mark Samuelian for your support and presence [at the unveiling]. It was disappointing to remember that not all members of our commission supported this project. We’ve still got work to do.”

LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS HONOR MELANIA TRUMP Chris Johnson of The Washington Blade, Courtesy of The National LGBT Media Association

ALM BEACH, FLA. | Former first lady Melania Trump is set to be a special guest at the annual “Spirit of Lincoln” dinner hosted by Log Cabin Republicans, the organization announced Sept. 14. The event — which will take place Nov. 6 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, marking a change of tradition in holding the dinner in D.C. — will likely mark an attempt for Trump to develop her image as an LGBTQ ally and tamp down the reputation the Trump administration was hostile to LGBTQ people. Charles Moran, managing director for Log Cabin Republicans, hailed Trump in a statement for her work as first lady and breaking barriers for the Republican Party. “Melania Trump’s work as First Lady, from helping children reach their full potential to championing

a more inclusive Republican Party, has been historic,” Moran said. “Her vocal support of Log Cabin Republicans has been a signal to Republicans everywhere that it is possible to simultaneously be conservative and support equality under the law for all Americans.” According to the Log Cabin Republicans, Trump at the dinner will be awarded with the 2021 Spirit of Lincoln Award. Other high-profile Republicans in the past who have appeared at the annual event are Carly Fiorina, Newt Gingrich, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Mary Cheney. Moran, in response to an email inquiry from the Washington Blade, said Trump will not only be an award recipient, but is set to deliver remarks at the event. It won’t be the first time Trump has collaborated with Log Cabin. During the 2020 election, she appeared in a video for Outspoken, the media arm for Log Cabin Republicans, saying “nothing could be further from the truth” her husband, former President Donald Trump, is against LGBTQ people. Among the anti-LGBTQ policies under the former president were a

transgender military ban, religious freedom carve-out seen to enable anti-LGBTQ discrimination and the U.S. Justice Department arguing against LGBTQ inclusion under civil rights law when the issue was before the U.S. Supreme Court. Nonetheless, he connected with a certain faction of LGBTQ people and his administration included high-profile LGBTQ appointees, such as Richard Grenell as the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet role. Melania Trump said in 2020 she wanted to light up the White House in rainbow colors similar to the display during the Obama years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for same-sex marriage nationwide. However, the vision never came to pass at a time when White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had a role in quashing symbolic support for LGBTQ people in Pride Month. The Log Cabin announcement comes at a time when Melania Trump is facing new scrutiny over her response to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and whether she erroneously believes, like her husband, he was the winner of the 2020 election.

In another video while one student is stomping what appears to be a small Pride flag on the ground, in the background another can be heard screaming, “There’s only two genders, faggot.” Outraged parents are demanding action by school officials. Parents and others also sent the videos to CBS affiliate WJAX-TV in Jacksonville which originally reported on the incident. One parent who did not wish to be identified told WJAX action news JAX that she is the mother of one of the GSA students targeted. She confirmed the incident took place Sept. 17, and added that a Pride flag was ripped out of her daughter’s hand. “She’s approached by one of the boys, who started yelling at her saying, ‘You’re gay. You have no rights,’ and kind of spitting at her. She walked past it and got on her bus,” the mother said.

According to WJAX the mother labeled the incident “sad” and wants the St. John’s County School District to take immediate action. “I think if you show that level of hate or attacked at people just for people being who they are, there’s no tolerance for that,” she said. She also told the station she had forwarded the videos to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed that it had sent to its youth resource division. A spokesperson for the St. John’s County School District told WJAX that “School officials are actively addressing the incident and students involved will receive consequences that align with our student code of conduct.” That policy listed on the SJCSD web site clearly notes that students are to respect the right of others to express their views, however does not allow forms of bullying and harassment.

STUDENTS HURL ANTI-LGBTQ SLURS AT GSA Brody Levesque of The LA Blade, Courtesy of The National LGBT Media Association

T. JOHNS COUNTY, FLA. | A group of students at Bartram Trail High School in suburban Jacksonville hurled anti-LGBTQ slurs at the GSA (Gay-Straight/ Genders & Sexualities Alliance) club Sept. 17. The abuse was caught on multiple mobile phones and posted to SnapChat, Tik Tok and Instagram by other students and quickly spread. In one video, a male is seen holding up a handmade Confederate battle flag on a small stick while dropping the word ‘fag’ and other slurs including statements disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement.

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nation+world news

BIDEN RECOGNIZES 10 YEARS SINCE END OF DADT Chris Johnson of The Washington Blade, Courtesy of The National LGBT Media Association

ASHINGTON | President Joe Biden recognized in a statement Sept. 20 the 10th anniversary of the end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a law that once discharged service members from the military for being openly gay or bisexual. “Ten years ago today, a great injustice was remedied and a

tremendous weight was finally lifted off the shoulders of tens of thousands of dedicated American service members,” Biden said. “The repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ which formally barred gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members from openly serving, helped move our nation closer to its foundational promise of equality, dignity, and opportunity for all.” Biden recognized high-profile, openly gay appointees in his administrations who are also veterans, naming Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Biden also named Shawn

Skelly, assistant secretary of defense for readiness, who would have been discharged from the military under President Donald Trump’s transgender military ban. “On this day and every day, I am thankful for all of the LGBTQ+ service members and veterans who strengthen our military and our nation,” Biden said. Technically speaking, the anniversary of President Barack Obama signing to repeal the legislation was in December. Sept. 20 is the anniversary of defense officials certifying the military is ready, which put an end to the policy.

Sept. 13 for the bombing of Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. It will now be up to the Bureau of Prisons’ Transgender Executive Council — a group of psychology and correctional officials — to determine where to house Hari in a system of 122 federal prisons. Under the Obama administration, the bureau’s policies for transgender inmates — known as the Transgender Offender Manual — called for that council to “recommend housing by gender identity when appropriate.” That language was changed in the Trump administration to require the committee to “use biological sex as the initial determination.” The Trump-era manual, which remains in effect, says the agency would assign an inmate to a facility based on identified gender only “in

rare cases.” About 1,200 inmates — of the nearly 156,000 federal prisoners in the United States — identify as transgender, a Justice Department official said. The prison transgender council, established in 2016, consists of about 10 people, including two psychologists, a psychiatrist and prison designation experts, a Justice Department official told the AP. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity. The council must consider an inmate’s health and safety, any potential history of disciplinary action and the security level of the federal prison where the inmate could be assigned. Other factors include staffing in prisons, and the programs or classes the inmate might need.

McKee, 29, was observing anti-police rioting in the city, also known as Derry, when she was hit by gunfire in April 2019. The New IRA, a small paramilitary group that opposes Northern Ireland’s peace process, said its members shot McKee by accident while firing at police. Prosecutors said the two defendants are alleged to have been with the gunman who fired

the fatal shot. A judge released the two men on bail until their next hearing on Oct. 7. McKee was an increasingly influential journalist who had written about growing up gay in Northern Ireland and the struggles of the generation of “cease-fire babies” raised after the 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended three decades of sectarian violence.

JUSTICE DEPT REVIEWS POLICY ON TRANS INMATES Wire Report

ASHINGTON | The Justice Department is reviewing its policies on housing transgender inmates in the federal prison system after protections for transgender prisoners were rolled back in the Trump administration, The Associated Press has learned. The federal Bureau of Prisons’ policies for transgender inmates were thrust into the spotlight mid-September after a leader of an Illinois anti-government militia group — who identifies as transgender — was sentenced to 53 years in prison for masterminding the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque. Emily Claire Hari — who was charged, tried and convicted as Michael Hari — was sentenced

2 CHARGED IN MURDER OF N. IRISH JOURNALIST Wire Report

ONDON | Two men appeared in court in connection with the murder of Lyra McKee, a Northern Irish journalist shot dead as she covered rioting in Londonderry in 2019. Gearoid Cavanagh, 33, and Jordan Devine, 21, were charged with murder Sept. 17.

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IN OTHER NEWS COLORADO’S OPENLY GAY GOVERNOR MARRIES Colorado’s Jared Polis, who became the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected governor in 2018, has married his longtime partner and first gentleman Marlon Reis, a writer and animal welfare advocate. Polis, 46, and Reis, 40, were married in a traditional Jewish ceremony attended by family and friends in Boulder Sept. 15, the governor’s office said. Rabbi Tirzah Firestone officiated. They have been together for 18 years and have two children, a 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl. The family lives in Boulder. Polis, a Democrat, and Reis were engaged in December.

VA TO OFFER BENEFITS TO VETS DISCHARGED UNDER DADT The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Sept. 20 that LGBTQ veterans who were given ‘other-than-honorable discharges’ under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy before its repeal in 2011, will now be eligible for VA benefits, including health care, disability compensation, home loans and burial benefits. Timing of the new policies was made to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the repeal of DADT. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell forced about 14,000 service members out of the military during the 17 years that the policy was in place. The policy was enacted under former President Bill Clinton’s administration in 1993, and it was repealed by former President Barack Obama on Sept. 20, 2011.

HONG KONG GAY GAMES POSTPONED Officials with Gay Games Hong Kong 2022, the committee organizing the quadrennial international LGBTQ sports event scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in November 2022, announced on Sept. 15 that the Gay Games will be postponed for one year due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, when the U.S.-based Federation of Gay Games selected Hong Kong to host the Games it predicted at least 12,000 athletes would participate in 36 sports at the Hong Kong Games.

THAILAND URGED NOT TO DEPORT TRANS WOMAN Malaysian police are seeking to extradite Nur Sajat, who left the country after she was charged in an Islamic court in January for bringing contempt to Islam by dressing in feminine clothing at a religious event in 2018. Sajat, who fled to Thailand and runs a cosmetics business, faces up to three years in jail for the offense. Malaysian police said in a statement Sept. 20 that Sajat was detained by Thai authorities on Sept. 8 for having an invalid passport. The Human Rights Watch said the U.N. Refugee Agency has granted Sajat refugee status and that she shouldn’t be sent back under any circumstances.

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Greg Stemm

POSITIVE LIVING I’m Coming Out – Again!

S MY DEAR GOLDEN

Girl Sophia might say, “Picture it. It’s December 1960 and I had just arrived in a decidedly homophobic world.”

It would be nearly three decades before I became aware of who I really was and what a disaster coming out to my parents on my 25th birthday would be. I lived in Central Ohio and it was only seven degrees below zero when they brought me home from the hospital, just in case you wondered why I’m a Floridian. Let’s remember what it was like during that time. I couldn’t be openly gay and a teacher or professor. I couldn’t serve in any leadership roles with any religious institution, not even the Quakers that now embrace me. No way was I welcome in the military or in another government job. No legal profession would have me, and the established mental health community thought I was deranged, so I couldn’t even be a nurse. I am only touching on the extreme prejudice of the time against those who were openly gay or even suspected of being such. More than half of Americans thought homosexuality was a perversion that needed to be “cured.” When I was born I literally could go to jail for just being who I am. As time went on, television and films might have a gay character here and there, but they were

almost always involved in tragedy. Quite often they were killed before an ending that could show that same-sex couples loved one other and could lead spectacular lives together. We made progress slowly, often painfully so, even surrounded by nonsense like the Defense of Marriage Act – which federally defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman – and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which barred openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans from serving openly in the military. TV shows started having real gay characters. Ellen came out, “Seinfeld,” “Murphy Brown,” “The Golden Girls” and “Designing Women” had gay characters and eventually, “Queer as Folk” took it to an entirely different level. They showed what gay sex was really all about. I was born nine years before Stonewall, which I never even learned about until I was out of college. Even today our community’s history isn’t taught in the majority of the nation’s schools, something which – like having the St Pete Pride parade televised – is still on my “gay activist bucket list” here in Florida. Growing up when I did wasn’t easy. In the middle of all that change AIDS came along. Your friends were dropping dead all around you and the stigma was horrible. I joined that community in 1992 and honestly I’m still not sure why I’m alive and part of this new community of “long term survivors,” characterized as those who have lived more than 25 years with the disease. Apparently God isn’t done with me yet. For far too long we had a patchwork of states recognizing same-sex marriage. At one point I took an oath that

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I wouldn’t cut my hair until we had marriage equality in Florida. What a blessed day when my Quaker family had a big celebration and cut my shoulder length hair behind the meeting house. We donated that blond ponytail to Locks of Love. Change has come.

Obama to show his public support, so let’s give credit where it’s due. Thanks, Joe! For years I couldn’t imagine how easy it would become to just tell someone “I’m gay.” Now, if they react at all, and most don’t, they say something like “good for you.”

of directors of the LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport Public Library, as a member of a town that is almost 30% gay and a regular contributor of Watermark, let me make it very clear ahead of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. I’m Queer. There. I did what I couldn’t do in 1960 and I encourage all of you to do the same. Thank you to everyone who made it possible!

Apparently God isn’t done with me yet. According to a Gallup poll released in June, 70% of Americans now support same-sex marriage, the highest since they began tracking it in 1996 when it was 27%. Isn’t that amazing? I was 44 when the unthinkable happened in 2015 and we started getting married. Our current president was vice president at the time and pressured then-President

I know I live in the “gay bubble’ of Gulfport and St. Petersburg, but I’m glad we can be a shining example of what diverse communities can be. I remain profoundly grateful to live here. Our community makes it happen and I have to thank you all so, so much. 1960s Greg would be speechless. As the founding chair of St. Pete’s first Pride parade, as a member of the board

READ IT ONLINE!

Greg Stemm is a longtime resident of Pinellas County and a founder of St Pete Pride. He currently sits on the board of the award-winning LGBTQ Resource Center of the Gulfport Public Library and is an outspoken activist on many issues, including HIV/AIDS education.

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viewpoint

Tatiana Quiroga

PARENTAL GUIDANCE COVID came in like an ex-girlfriend

H COVID, LIKE MANY

things in life I thought I had you figured out. I thought I knew you. I thought I understood you but you have proven me wrong. Like an ex-girlfriend who wants to process our relationship from a decade ago and still be friends, you are lurking and holding on.

I was on the dancefloor of life, reemerging from quarantine and actually enjoying myself. I had found joy in my new normal. Then, from across the club, I saw you walk in. The music stopped. I quickly looked away, trying to ignore you and hoping you didn’t see me. But, my gut says, you did. Now, I’m distracted by knowing you are here, in my space and on my turf. I want to pretend you never happened but you won’t let me. I sweep the room, looking for you and hoping you aren’t heading in my direction. BAM! It’s too late. You are heading straight for me with that fake smile, pretending we are friends. Your small talk is irritating and aggravating, asking questions about my life, my wife and my kids. And, slowly, ever so slowly, you have made us all your business. Some don’t believe how manipulative and destructive you can be. Yet, others have seen and felt your wrath. I hold my breath wishing you will just leave and let me be. But, you don’t. The first to fall was my five year old. My wife and I had decided in March of 2020 to hunker down and strictly quarantine because of him. He suffers from severe asthma. Hearing about the respiratory nightmares and complications, I was terrified he would catch COVID. Since we believe in science and regularly monitor the numbers, we lowered our guard and enrolled him into an in-person summer pre-K program. We just wanted to prepare him for his fundamental

year of kindergarten in the fall. A decision that still torments me. On the last day of class, what seemed to be a typical day, our morning routine was disrupted by a fever and a mild cough. My wife rushed him to our pediatrician. An hour later, I was facing my worst-case scenario. As you can imagine, keeping two siblings apart while quarantining is impossible. Once COVID had infiltrated our home, we figured it was a matter of time. It felt like we were living with the devil herself, never knowing who she would possess next. The second was my wife. She was out for the count leaving me to care for our kiddos. The third was my oldest kiddo. He was the sickest out of all of us. By that time, our five year old was back to his rambunctious self and eagerly ready to return to school, but he couldn’t. Like in a horror movie, I watched everyone around me steadily become infected. I did everything I could to care for them and protect myself while still being a mother, wife and professional. I had recently accepted a new position with Come Out With Pride as the executive director. With Pride being around the corner, I had no time to slow down or get sick. Pride must march on! Finally, after three weeks of sleeping with the enemy, she got me. COVID hit me like a truck. At the peak of the controversial conversation about police in Pride, I powered through with a smile, only sharing my secret with a few close friends. I was determined to show COVID she had no power over me. Yet, she penetrated me, physically and mentally. I believed her cruel lies and the rumors. COVID was my fault and a sign of failure. Everyone in my family had contracted COVID. Her revenge mission as a scorned lover was

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complete. But was it successful and did she accomplish what she set out to do? Like most relationships, even the bad ones, I learned a few things. I recognize she will always and forever be part of my life’s journey, impacting my family and myself in ways

gift of grace as I do for others. And, I learned to combat the rumors, lies and stigma behind being positive for COVID, I must share my story. As a society, we are too quick to blame the victim. It was not my fault I contracted COVID. We wear masks.

or contaminated, there’s no shame and it’s not your fault. As most ex-girlfriends, your happiness is their unhappiness. So, I’ve moved on. My household has recuperated. We’re all feeling better. My children have returned to school,

that haven’t been revealed yet. And, I grew from our time together. I learned that I need to ask for help more often and accepting help is a stronger action than struggling alone. I learned that I need to practice more self-care and be kinder to myself, giving myself the same

We are vaccinated. We quarantined. We tried our best. Yet, she still got us. And, we survived, understanding a lot don’t. We are tremendously grateful for our health and our lack of complications. By openly talking about my experience, I want others to know you aren’t tainted

wearing masks and Pride is still happening! Yes, COVID, you can’t steal my Pride. If anything, she motivated me to work harder with my amazing team of board members and volunteers to produce an extraordinary celebration of love and LIFE.

I was determined to show COVID she had no power over me. Yet, she penetrated me, physically and mentally. I believed her cruel lies and the rumors. COVID was my fault and a sign of failure.

READ IT ONLINE! Head to WatermarkOnline.com and click on the Digital Publications link to a read a digital version of the printed newspaper!

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talking points [True feminism includes] women that look like you, women who don’t look like you, women whose experiences are diﬀerent than you. That means Black women, that means trans women, that means all women. – ACTOR ZENDAYA IN BRITISH VOGUE’S OCT. 2021 COVER FEATURE

RUPAUL MAKES EMMYS HISTORY

UPAUL MADE HISTORY AT THE 73RD ANNUAL PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS Sept. 19, breaking the record for the most wins by a Black entertainer. The legendary “RuPaul’s Drag Race” host won three Emmys this year, bringing the total to 11, six of which have been for outstanding host. After winning for outstanding competition series, RuPaul was joined onstage by series judge Michelle Visage, season 13 winner Symone and finalist Gottmik, the show’s first competitor who is a trans man. “Thanks to all our lovely children on our show from around the world,” RuPaul said. “They are so gracious to tell their stories of courage and how to navigate this difficult life, even more difficult today. This is for you.” Addressing the show’s younger viewers, RuPaul added that “you have a tribe that is waiting for you. We are waiting for you, baby! Come on to mama Ru!”

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RAMMY AND ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER/ SONGWRITER MELISSA ETHERIDGE has released her latest album, “One Way Out,” consisting of nine songs. Each track was written by Etheridge in the late 80s and early 90s and the musician believes now the time is right for their release. “I’m so excited to bring these songs to my fans,” Etheridge said. “Years later I still am moved and can’t wait to share these tracks live.” Etheridge shared that she stumbled upon the songs and demos years ago while gathering materials for a retrospective box set. She is currently on the road in support of the album and will be touring through the fall in support of its release.

‘QUEER EYE’ GETS LEGO MAKEOVER

HE CAST OF NETFLIX’S “QUEER EYE” HAS GOTTEN A LEGO MAKEOVER. The popular toy company announced on social media Sept. 14 that its next pop culture LEGO set will be the “Queer Eye” Fab 5 Loft, which includes miniature versions of series hosts Antoni, Tan, Jonathan, Bobby and Karamo. “There’s a kitchen island for Antoni, a clothing rack for Tan, Jonathan’s swivel salon chair and Karamo’s couch and scrap book,” LEGO notes. “And this space is Bobby-approved as he helped design this very special LEGO interior.” The set also includes the Fab 5’s dog, Bruley, and two LEGO minifigure versions of Kathi Dooley, before and after her makeover. It costs $99.99.

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‘MATRIX REVOLUTIONS’ RELEASES TRAILER

HE FIRST TRAILER TO THE FOURTH FILM IN “THE MATRIX” SERIES WAS RELEASED SEPT. 9. “Matrix Revolutions” reunites original stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss with Lana Wachowski, one of the openly trans directors of the original trilogy. Wachowski co-wrote and directed the first three with her sister Lilly, who is not returning. Speaking with Netflix, Lana confirmed they were a trans allegory. “I’m glad that it has gotten out … the world wasn’t quite ready yet,” she said. Lilly told the Wrap she didn’t want to return because “I didn’t want to have gone through my transition … back to something that I had done before and sort of walk over old paths that I had walked in.”

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COME TOGETHER PHOTO BY MAIA MONET, FIRST NATIONAL TRANS VISIBILITY MARCH, WASHINGTON, D.C., 2019

The National Trans Visibility March

comes to Orlando during Come Out With Pride

Jeremy Williams

HE FIRST NATIONAL TRANS

Visibility March took place in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 28, 2019. A crowd of more than 5,000 transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming activists and allies marched from Freedom Plaza down Pennsylvania Ave. asking the leaders of this country “Do you see us?” “That first year, that was what it was really about,” says Marissa Miller. “Even before we ask you to do anything, do you see us?” Miller was one of the founding members of the NTVM and on the original planning committee for the first march.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

“We were in a really interesting time,” Miller says. “Trans people were thriving but they were also being murdered. So we were trying to figure out a way to celebrate our accomplishments and bring awareness to the violence.”

What started off as a conversation among a handful of activists fast became a mission to plan one of the largest gatherings of the transgender community to march for their rights. First was deciding where to hold the march. “That first year was about being visible, and the place where the rules are made and broken, where policy is changed and implemented, is in Washington, D.C.,” Miller says. “Everything takes place there. So to be able to march in the nation’s capital, I think we had no other choice but to be in D.C.” As the team began to organize, and eventually got funding through a GILEAD sponsorship,

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Miller says the main focus was just making sure the march had the biggest impact possible. “I don’t think we actually knew how big this was going to be or that it would turn into an annual event,” she says. “We just knew we needed to move bodies across the country and get them to Washington, D.C.” Event organizers had a scholarship list of 1,500 people who they were going to assist in getting to the nation’s capital. “I think the most exciting thing to watch was the team coordinate flights and make sure the trans people that had never traveled before were educated about TSA and Greyhound. Just making sure that all the arrangements were made,” Miller recalls. “The one thing we realized is that a lot of trans people have never travelled before. They’ve never had the opportunity to come together. There were trans people who had never been around other trans people before. This was their first opportunity to be able to be with their siblings, so I think at that time we were just thinking about reunion. A time when we could all come together.” The National Transgender Visibility March on Washington began with a two-and-a-half hour rally with impassioned speakers that included “Pose” and “American Horror Story” actor Angelica Ross and Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. She read an official proclamation issued by the mayor declaring Sept. 28, 2019 as Trans Visibility Day in D.C. The first march was a huge success, but it also showed organizers where they needed to improve for the next march. “After the first year, we realized we needed to do a better job at keeping people safe. No matter how much we had done beforehand, there were still trans people who didn’t understand why the bathrooms were so far, there were still trans people that did not have a great experience with TSA because their driver’s license did not match their person. We just learned a lot about safety the first year,” Miller says. After the success of the first march, the committee began planning for the next march. Then

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: (L-R) Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, Mulan Williams, Ashley Figueroa and Marissa Miller at HÄOS on Church March 31 for the announcement that the NTVM would be coming to Orlando. PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS as the world welcomed 2020, it seemed they would have to change up how they would plan the next event. “I think we realized in January 2020 that potential programming needed to be different. I don’t think we necessarily understood in January that COVID was what it was,” Miller says. “At the time, we thought ‘OK, people are getting sick but we should be able to push through.’ Then people started to die and events started to shut down. But we also recognized

TD Bank, and set up in spots that were of significance to them. “The Supreme Court, the Capitol, The White House; places that we needed to make sure we were visible. Each of those locations we had speakers, whether they were there in person or virtually, it just all came together. Our sponsors came together and said ‘what do we need to do to make this happen,’” Miller says. “They covered a trolley to look like the trans flag and we rode around D.C. while we

them and that’s exactly what we want to do.” On March 31, the International Transgender Day of Visibility, Miller spoke at an event at HÄOS on Church and announced that the NTVM would be in Orlando in 2021 and that they would march on Oct. 9, the same day as Come Out With Pride. “This year’s theme, ‘No Lives Left Behind,’ will focus on regional safety plans to address the number of tumultuous murders that are continually taking place

that it was an election year and that it was important for people to show up for the vote. This was a very crucial election for trans and nonbinary people especially.” It started to become clear that the next event would have to be done virtually. “If the first year was about visibility, the second year was about saying ‘we are here and we need to show up and vote,’” Miller says. “We talked about voting and we were able to encourage trans and nonbinary people who normally wouldn’t have been a part of the voting process to be a part of the process.” The NTVM went back to D.C. and partnered with Capital Pride, the Human Rights Campaign and

connected to people who were holding watch parties across the country. People in different places so we could be connected on a national level.” When it came time to decide on what the march’s third year would look like, organizers began asking whether they should take the march to a different city. “Year one, Orlando was just so organized and giving and willing,” Miller recalls. “The unity they had. So when we started to talk about where to hold the next march Orlando just kept coming to the top of the list because of their dedication. When you get people who pour into you then you go back and you pour into

with trans-identified people. We are taking the National Trans Visibility March back to the streets and on this day, where we celebrate National Trans Visibility Day, we are so pleased to announce that we have selected Orlando, Florida as the host city,” Miller wrote in a statement ahead of the announcement. Along with partnering with COWP, the NTVM is also collaborating with One Orlando Alliance, who serves as this year’s local host organization. “We went to the One Orlando Alliance because that organization represents the entire LGBTQIA community in Orlando,” says Mark Kornmann, the NTVM’s director of operations

After the first year, we realized we needed to do a better — MARISSA MILLER job at keeping people safe.

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and fundraising. “It was a good way to go to one source and get people mobilized. When we started having the conversation, we initially were going to hold the march in September because we didn’t want to interfere with Pride but as we met with Jeff [Prystajko, COWP’s board president], he said ‘why don’t we do it as a part of Pride?’ As we talked more it just seemed to make sense. “It really is just a great way for us on the national level to partner with these two amazing organizations in a way so that the march doesn’t lose its identity nor does Come Out With Pride, and it is a way to support each other.” While the NTVM will be an in-person event, due to the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Florida, it has been altered to be more of a hybrid event, incorporating virtual aspects into the overall march. “Now anyone that comes they are more than welcome to march with us we just won’t be going about it the same way as in D.C.,” Miller says. “We want to keep people safe and don’t want to encourage people to travel. But we know that some people will be traveling.” During the week leading up to the march, organizers will hold virtual opening ceremonies in five different cities: Orlando on Oct. 4, Chicago on Oct. 5, New York City and Sacramento on Oct. 6 and Atlanta on Oct. 7. On Oct. 9, the day of the march, the event will kick off at 1 p.m. with a rally at the Unified By Pride Stage at the corner of Robinson Ave. and Eola Dr. in Lake Eola Park. “We have speakers lined up including Tori Cooper from the Human Rights Campaign, Dominique Morgan from the Black and Pink organization,” Kornmann says. “Marissa will also be there and be speaking. It’s a good lineup of folks.” Then at 2 p.m., the march will begin, starting at the Unified By Pride Stage and moving in the opposite direction of the COWP parade route. This will place marchers at the parade staging area allowing them easier access to their spot if they are participating in the parade. For more information on the National Trans Visibility March and its surrounding events, visit NationalTransMarch.com.

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EVENTS

Show Your Pride Come Out With Pride is back with a week full of in-person events

Jeremy Williams

FTER LAST YEAR’S SOCIALLY

distanced car processional and virtual Pride celebration, Come Out With Pride returns with a week packed full of in-person events for its 2021 outing.

But even with a series of in-person events, COWP will have several safety measures in place to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Along with offering COVID-19 vaccinations on site during the Pride festival Oct. 9, COWP will be asking everyone to wear masks even if vaccinated, practice social distancing, wash and sanitize hands often and stay home if you are not feeling well. The first official COWP event, “The Gay 90’s Musical,” kicks off at the start of October and plays for six shows — Oct. 1, 2, 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 3 and 10 at 2 p.m. in The Starlite Lounge at Savoy. “The Gay 90’s Musical” is the first-ever live theater show sanctioned as an official Pride event. Tickets are $25 each and a portion of the proceeds will go back to COWP. (You can read more about how the show organizers were able to bring the musical to Orlando on page 33.) Zebra Coalition starts the week of COWP off with the return of its annual Drag Race 5K fun run/ walk on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 8 a.m.

Now in its fourth year, Zebra’s Drag Race 5K will be held as an in-person and virtual run so anyone, no matter where you are, can participate. Lace up your sneakers or dust off your heels, all footwear is acceptable, and join your fellow runners/walkers at Harbor Park in Baldwin Park. Registration is $45 for adults and $25 for youth under age 25. The Orlando Gay Chorus brings “Honoring Trans & Gender-Expansive Singers” to the First United Church of Christ on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. The event will feature Dr. Joshua Palkki, director of choral activities at California State University in Long Beach, who will speak on issues affecting transgender and gender-expansive singers, including the mechanics of a changing voice and how to make singing spaces more welcoming. The evening will also feature a panel of trans and gender-expansive singers discussing their personal experiences and a reception provided by OGC. This is a

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free event with no need to RSVP beforehand. Les Vixens brings their Diznee Burlesque Show, hosted by Southern Nights Orlando, to Pride week on Wednesday, Oct. 6 starting at 8 p.m. Les Vixens take you on an adventure into Diznee After Dark with a full-scale burlesque production. Doors open at 7 p.m. but come early for the cocktail hour starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25. OGC is back on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. with a concert at the Lake Eola Bandshell in downtown Orlando. “We Shall Overcome: Celebrate LGBTQ+ Diversity” will be an evening of spoken word, music and art celebrating and acknowledging LGBTQ trailblazers of color highlighted by testimonials from queer people of color. The event is presented by OGC, QLatinX, Bros in Convo and The Central Florida Sounds of Freedom. This is a free performance with ASL interpretation provided by Valencia College. Friday, Oct. 8, will feature a trio of official COWP events. First, the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando presents its third annual Pride Shabbat at Orlando City Hall at 6:30 p.m. The event is free to attend and will be available both in person and virtual. In person attendance is limited to 50 people, so RSVP as soon as you can.

The evening’s next event will be the return of Watermark’s Movies Out Loud at the CMX Cinemas Plaza Café in downtown Orlando. Join hosts Jeff Jones and Sabrina Ambra as they roast the cult classic “Showgirls” with hilarious commentary as the film plays on the big screen. “Showgirls” stars “Saved By The Bell’s” Elizabeth Berkley as a girl who arrives in Las Vegas with only a suitcase and a dream of becoming a top showgirl. “Showgirls” is heralded as one of the best “bad movies” ever made. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the film starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door with a portion of proceeds benefiting COWP. The night’s final event will be Orlando Leather Pride Night at Savoy starting at 9:30 p.m. This is an official COWP event for all genders and sexualities, sponsored by the Woodshed Orlando, the Orlando Hound Pound and the Orlando Kinksters. The event will include a Florida Leather titleholder panel featuring Puppy Stolas, Florida Puppy 2022; boy bryan, Florida Leather boy 2020; Blade Onyx, Mr. Ramrod 2019/2020; and Girlfriend Florida, Florida Community Bootblack 2020. A leather-themed drag show, hosted by Chantel Reshae, will begin at 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, is the big day as not only does COWP make its great return Lake Eola for its Pride Festival and The Most Colorful Parade but also the National Trans Visibility March marks its return to an on-the-ground march with its first march outside of Washington, D.C. taking to the streets of downtown Orlando. (Read more about the NTVM starting on page 27.) The Pride Festival starts at noon with an array of vendors on Robinson Ave. for the Pride Marketplace and tons of information along the Sponsor Walk. That leads into the Amphitheater Stage, featuring entertainment throughout the day, hosted by Darcel Stevens, including “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alums Kylie Sonique Love and Gottmik, MrMs Adrien’s Gaga Ball, Moonshot Acapella and more. A second stage, the Unified By Pride Stage, will have music provided by DJ Tracy Young and DJ Scott Roberts. Along the Eola Dr. side of the park, look for the return of the Kids Fringe Rainbow

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Ranch and the newly added Dry Dock Sober Area. The Most Colorful Parade starts at 4 p.m. with a new parade route this year starting at Orange Ave. and E Washington St. The parade moves down Orange Ave., turning on E. Central Blvd. heading passed Lake Eola before turning up Summerlin Ave. and ending at Robinson Ave. Don’t miss the fireworks over Lake Eola at 9:15 p.m. before heading to the official COWP After Party. The official Pride After Party, hosted by AMOR, will feature four clubs with four different vibes under one roof. Happening at 41 W. Church St., Club 1 will have Dj Brianna Lee playing House Beats with a 10:30 p.m. showtime, hosted by Darcel Stevens and featuring Jazell Barbie Royal and Armani; Club 2 will have Dj Jonex playing Latin Beats with a 12 a.m. showtime, hosted by Neema and featuring Orusha San Miguel, Amalara Sofia, Clara San Miguel and Michelle Royal; Club 3 will have Dj Flawless playing Hip Hop Beats with a 1 a.m. Hot Spot Show featuring Angelica Sanchez and Khloe Damore; and Club 4 will have Dj Scott Robert playing Top 40 and Dance with an 11 p.m. showtime, hosted by Bearonce Bear and a $100 cash prize for the best leather look. The After Party will have free admission for anyone 21 and over before 10 p.m., then only $10. The event is $15 all night for ages 18-20. Recuperate Sunday, Oct. 10, with the Come Out With Pride Brunch at the Dr. Phillips Center’s Frontyard Festival starting at noon. Brunch includes a delicious buffet, drink specials and live entertainment from DJ T’Don Marquis, DJ Marisa Maddox, Ce Teneal and more. Tickets are $50 per person and include food and non-alcoholic drinks. COWP’s official events wrap up later that day with Pride Night with the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center at 6 p.m. Join the Magic as they take on the San Antonio Spurs in a preseason game. Ticket prices vary and a portion of each ticket sold through the designated link will benefit COWP. For more information, as well as links to purchase tickets and/or RSVP to all the COWP events, go to ComeOutWithPride.org.

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THEATRE

Back to the 90’s

Unseen Images Theatre brings ‘The Gay 90s’ to Come Out With Pride 2021

(ABOVE)

MAKING MUSIC:

The cast of “The Gay 90’s Musical” gathers around the piano for a rehersal. PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

Jeremy Williams

S COME OUT WITH PRIDE GETS BACK

to in-person events this year, they have partnered with Jamie DeHay’s Unseen Images Theatre to present the first-ever live theater production sanctioned as an official Pride event.

“The Gay 90’s Musical” is a 1994 musical revue originally created by Los Angeles-based playwright David Galligan. Featuring original songs Galligan commissioned from 18 local songwriters, the show looks at what life was like for people in the LGBTQ community during the last decade of the 20th Century. “It’s a musical romp of gay life in the 1990s,” says Robert Crane, the current show’s director. “It’s hilarious but it is heartwarming at the same time.” Crane has been a fan of the music of “The Gay 90’s Musical” for a decade now. “The soundtrack was introduced to me by a friend and I instantly fell in love with it. I thought I have got to do this show,” Crane says. “So I contacted David Galligan 10

years ago and got the go ahead, and I was originally thinking of putting it in the Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House.” Work and life got in the way, and Crane’s dream to put on the show got put on the backburner, where it seemed destined to stay until earlier this year. “Robert and I first met each other working on an Orlando Fringe show in 2017 that I was producing, ‘Vampire Lesbians from Sodom,’ and he was cast in that show,” DeHay recalls. “We got to work together again at Fringe this year, he was a part of a show called ‘Fucking Men’ that I produced and directed.” After their Fringe run, DeHay began to look for his next project and Crane knew he had the perfect show in mind.

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“Jamie was talking about ‘what’s next?’ and I turned around and said, ‘listen to this soundtrack and see what you think,’” Crane says. “When Robert first approached me about the show,” DeHay adds, “he told me it was ‘The Gay 90’s Musical,’ and I was like ‘OK, so it’s a jukebox musical, right? We’re gonna do some Britney Spears, we’re gonna do some *NSYNC’? No, it’s not that at all. It’s 18 great original songs and we decided to pursue it.” The process of getting the show on track turned out to be easier said than done as the show had never officially been archived. “Usually when we are doing a show, we go online, apply for the rights and they send you a license, it’s pretty cut and dry,” DeHay says. “This was not like that at all.” Crane and DeHay began tracking down whoever they could find who had been attached to the show’s original run at Los Angeles’ Celebration Theatre. “We spent two months Facebook stalking cast members and other people who were listed on the CD who were involved in the show. We eventually got in touch with some of the cast and said ‘We’re trying to bring this back to life, do you have any materials?’” Crane says. “Every one of them kept saying ‘David Galligan, David Galligan, David Galligan.’ Well, David is not a big Facebook person.” Eventually their persistence paid off and they were able to track down the show’s original pianist and one of the songwriters. “Keep in mind that in the ‘90s artists didn’t put things on computers, so through this maze of performers and songwriters, we were able to track down the score for ‘The Gay 90’s Musical’ in back of a closet, minus two songs,” Crane says. Crane and DeHay managed to eventually track down Galligan at the end of July and, after a few Zoom calls, they got the go ahead to do the show. They were also able to track down the missing two songs to be able to perform the full show.

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The songs throughout the revue look at many topics that impacted the LGBTQ community in the ‘90s, both comical and tragic, from a straight woman pondering why all the good men are gay and the popularity of the old 976 phone numbers (the “pre-internet instruments of pleasure,” Crane says) to gays serving in the military and the AIDS pandemic. Crane and DeHay brought together six local talents — Brett McMahon, Jessica Hoehn, Mark Hardin, Kayla Fischl, Daniel Martinez and Lily E. Garnett — and Aaron W. Penfield as the musical director to help bring the show to life. “There is a lot of the show that is reflective of the ‘90s but there is still so much of the subject matter and the songs that are still so applicable and pertinent today,” Crane says. “No matter what age you are, you’re either going to be young and learned about what happened before you realized you were a homosexual or you’re going to be someone who survived the ‘90s, which was a tough thing to do, and you’re going to be taken back on a wonderful trip.” The show will also serve as a benefit show, supporting two LGBTQ organizations: Come Out With Pride and the LGBT+ Center Orlando. “I think the subject matter of the show makes picking those two organizations a no brainer,” DeHay says. “We are running concurrent with Come Out With Pride, as an official Come Out With Pride event, and The Center does amazing work and they unfortunately had some of their funding cut this year, so we want to help them out as much as we can.” “The Gay 90’s Musical” will play at The Starlight Room located inside Savoy Orlando on Oct. 1, 2, 7 and 8 starting at 7:30 p.m. and on Oct. 3 and 10 starting at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 each with a portion of the proceeds from each performance going to benefit Come Out With Pride and the LGBT+ Center Orlando. Tickets can be purchased by scanning the QR Code below.

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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BLASTING OFF ‘Dr. Ride’s American Beach House’ leads Jobsite’s 24th season

PHOTO COURTESY PRITCHARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Ryan Williams-Jent

IZA BIRKENMEIER DIDN’T INTEND

to write a play about Dr. Sally Ride, the American astronaut who in 1983 became the nation’s first female in space. While her posthumous outing in 2012 had long captivated the LGBTQ author, she’d originally set her sights on Sir Francis Bacon.

The English philosopher developed the scientific method, which has characterized natural science since the 17th century with its use of observation and experimentation. Birkenmeier wanted to critique it for the stage.

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“I wanted to write a play that spanned hundreds of years and generations, which was incredibly impossible and fun to do,” she says. “In the middle of it was a scene that was clearly the most emotionally exciting, and it was between a few women on a roof in the 1980s.”

Drawn to the characters, Birkenmeier penned a new draft to tell their tale. It became more than an hour long and “the whole play,” she says, but didn’t include Dr. Ride just yet. “I had chosen a date fairly arbitrarily in 1983 for that scene, and when I was working on further drafts, I was looking into what was going on at the time,” Birkenmeier explains. “The date I had picked was the night before Dr. Ride’s launch on the Challenger mission.” Ride made history on June 18, 1983, just five years after joining NASA’s first class to accept women. The astronaut’s gender captivated Americans from the

CONTINUED ON PG. 37 | uu |

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| uu | Blasting Off FROM PG.35

outset of her career, reaching new heights with the space shuttle’s takeoff. “When I realized I had accidentally chosen the date, it made perfect sense to just go in with my whole curiosity and heart in connecting those stories,” Birkenmeier says. “It started without Sally Ride, but the story that it now tells is absolutely dependent upon her.” The work ultimately became “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House,” which leads the 24th season of Jobsite Theater, the resident theater company at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. After previews Sept. 29-30, it plays Oct. 1-10 in the Jaeb Theater. “It’s 1983 – the evening before Dr. Sally Ride’s historic space flight. A group of women friends gather on a sweltering St. Louis rooftop, each caught in their own failure-to-launch,” its synopsis reads. “This enticing juxtaposition thrusts the women into the space of their uncharted desires where they bump against American norms of sex and power in this intimate snapshot of queer anti-heroines.” Birkenmeier developed the play at Ars Nova, where she served as the 2019-20 Tow Playwright-in-Residence. The New York organization “exists to discover, develop and launch singular theater, music and comedy artists in the early stages of their professional careers.” “I started with their writers’ group and had an immediate feeling of artistic belonging there,” Birkenmeier says. “Writing and working on ‘Dr. Ride’s’ was one of the most important processes I’ve ever had – we weren’t developing it until maybe 2017, but I was in a giant collaboration with them on the piece from 2014 through 2019.” The partnership paid off. Following that year’s premiere of “Dr. Ride’s,” The New York Times called it “a revelation.” The production soon caught the eye of thespians across the nation, including at Jobsite. Dedicated to producing relevant theater since its inception, the company has presented new and overlooked works on its stages for more than two decades. “Dr. Ride’s”

STAGE STARS: (L-R) Susan Haldeman as Meg, Leah LoSchiavo as Harriet, Andresia Moseley as Norma and below, Emily Belvo as Matilda lead Jobsite’s 24th season with “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House.” PHOTO COURTESY PRITCHARD PHOTOGRAPHY

is the perfect fit to continue Jobsite’s tradition. “For me, this play has a lot to say about disappointment, repression, and living authentically – all universal experiences,” says Producing Artistic Director David M. Jenkins, one of company’s co-founders. “While we may

Roxane Fay leads Jobsite’s production, which is the first time “Dr. Ride’s” has been produced outside of its original staging. It will mark the celebrated actor and playwright’s directorial debut for the company, for which she also serves as an artistic associate and board member.

Moseley as Norma and Susan Haldeman as Meg, all written as LGBTQ women. It was an ideal fit for Haldeman, who makes her Jobsite debut with the production. “I love doing shows with all women,” the actor says. “There is just an inherent energy and

I rarely see plays that reflect any part of my actual journey. It’s important for gay women to be able to see themselves and their friends mirrored on stage. — “DR. RIDE’S AMERICAN BEACH HOUSE” PERFORMER SUSAN HALDEMAN be more accepting of certain identities than we were in 1983 … we can all relate to a ‘failure to launch’ in some aspect of our lives and feel society’s pressures to live cleanly in a tidy box. “Nothing is ever really tidy,” he continues. “Even while Dr. Sally Ride was hailed a hero as the first American woman in space, her sexuality and much of her personal life were kept well-guarded secrets until she named her partner in her obituary … Liza has done a remarkable job in capturing not only a group of friends but a very particular moment in time.”

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“I’m happy to see strong women viewed from their own perspectives rather than through a male filter,” Fay says. “Though these women all have personal power, they are in varied stages of realizing that power and their side-by-side journey shows us a complete experience – both bold and intimate.” The director also notes that she’s proud to be joined by a company of female actors and designers who regularly work with Jobsite. The cast includes Tampa Bay fan favorites Emily Belvo as Matilda, Leah Loschiavo as Harriet, Andresia

unspoken understanding of one another that women share and is apparent onstage. As a director, Roxanne really understands this and handles it beautifully in the world of the play. “As a gay woman, it’s exciting to get to perform in a show that has a lesbian theme,” Haldeman continues. “I rarely see plays that reflect any part of my actual journey. It’s important for gay women to be able to see themselves and their friends mirrored onstage.” Fay agrees. The director is proud to offer “such a positive experience to our LGBTQ+

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audience” and celebrates that Jobsite “has a history of shows that allow so many of us who are sometimes considered ‘other’ to see ourselves onstage.” Birkenmeier says that pairing LGBTQ life in 1983 with Dr. Ride’s journey as a historic but closeted woman makes for important commentary. It was only 2012 when she was outed in her obituary. “Sally Ride lets us imagine a world that is within most people’s lifetimes,” she says. “One in which a woman could be a star tennis player, a physicist, go to space and later be a critical part of the research team on the destroyed Challenger after it exploded in 1986 … but not be able to come out in one’s own lifetime. “It was more possible for a young woman to go to space in 1983 than it was for an accomplished scientist to be out,” she stresses. “The drama of that feels so obvious, and not just tragic but also fascinating. Maybe we’re more confined by our social laws than we are our physical ones.” While that isn’t something “Dr. Ride’s” overtly examines, it can’t help but be a part. Birkenmeier hopes that audiences, especially those who are LGBTQ, “have a sense of triumph in some way, seeing in the piece both an homage to pain but also the suggestion of freedom.” It’s also a comedy, Birkenmeier promises. “I sound so very serious, but ‘Dr. Ride’s’ is a very funny play,” she laughs. “You can go and have a really good time.” To do so safely, audiences will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test certified by a provider or a vaccination card proving they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Physical and electronic copies are accepted along with photo ID. Masks are also required. “The show only runs for two weeks. This was out of necessity,” Jenkins shares. “The short run coupled with current conditions may make it a challenge for everyone to make it out to this show. I hope you’ll make the effort.” Jobsite Theater’s production of “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House” plays Oct. 1-10 in the Straz Center’s Jaeb Theater, located at 1010 N. Macinnes Pl. in Tampa. For more information and to purchase tickets, call 813-229-7827 or visit JobsiteTheater.org.

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FILM

Stage to Screen

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ filmmakers refine a hit Broadway musical

Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press

(ABOVE)

MOVIE MAGIC:

Stills from the Universal Pictures film “Dear Evan Hansen.” PHOTOS COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES

ILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL GET A

chance to get to know the shy, teenager Evan Hansen this month, but Ben Platt is waving farewell.

The actor and singer is intimately intertwined with Evan, originating the role in 2015 and eventually leading the stage musical “Dear Evan Hansen” to its world debut in Washington, D.C. He soon took Evan off-Broadway, then to Broadway and Grammy triumphs. He is now unveiling the character on film, a final pairing. “I really was very grateful and very privileged to have the opportunity to get back in and say one final goodbye,” says Platt. “I’ve grown to love him and care for him so much because he’s obviously changed kind of everything about my life.” Under Stephen Chbosky’s direction, the movie is not a filmed version of the stage musical but a full cinematic rethinking, with new musical numbers and the development of a minor character

in the musical into a full and complex young woman. “I think the best movie musicals that I love use the film as an opportunity to improve upon and elaborate on certain elements of the musical that are left unfinished or that still have room for improvement,” says Platt. Alongside Platt is a whole new cast — Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Amandla Stenberg, Nik Dodani, Colton Ryan and Danny Pino. Steven Levenson adapted the script from his original stage version. Platt is the only actor to make the leap from stage to screen, angering some in the theater community. “Dear Evan Hansen” centers on the awkward Evan who inadvertently becomes a social media sensation, with disastrous consequences. A lie about being the best friend of a dead classmate

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earns him popularity and a girlfriend, but the falsehood is ultimately corrupting. It captures the strains between children and their parents, as well as exploring suicide, alienation and peer pressure. It’s central paradox — why do people feel so alone in a world that’s so connected? — is a timely message as the nation grapples with COVID-19 isolation. “We’ve all been through this horrible ordeal. It has left scars on our societies and on our psyches. And I think that ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ is part of the solution to help us heal and help us find some hope that we desperately not only need, but quite frankly, deserve,” says Chbosky. The songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul include the iconic anthem “You Will Be Found,” “Waving Through a Window,” “For Forever” and “Words Fail,” but some didn’t make the transfer to film. The stage version, for example, opens with the show’s two moms singing “Anybody Have a Map?” but the new film roars out the gate with “Waving Through a Window” with Evan in his bedroom. Chbosky explains that “Waving Through a Window” was necessary to start the film because it’s told from Evan’s point of view and

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instantly ground the film in his head. “As much as it was hard to slay that darling, it opened up the whole movie,” he says. Fans will still hear “Anybody Have a Map?” if they pay attention: Evan’s high school marching band plays the song in the opening sequence, a sweet little Easter egg. The film “Dear Evan Hansen” is in keeping with the intimate nature of the stage version, which Chbosky calls “a small-m musical” and “more like a drama with songs.” In this version, the songs become thoughts in the characters’ heads and no one lets on that they’re actually singing or that anyone in the scene is singing. The filmmakers have taken the opportunity to expand the role and give a song to Alana, a hyper-organized friend of Evan’s (played by Stenberg) who confesses she shares a lot of his anxieties and that many more people than he realizes do, too. There’s also a revised ending showing more of Evan’s repentance. But one thing that was never up for debate was tapping Platt to play Evan again. Despite some online snark over his age — he turned 28 on Sept. 24, the same day the film was released in theaters — Platt stunned the director with a performance he calls the “stuff of legend.” “See the movie,” says Chbosky. “If by the end of the movie you still feel that way, well, OK. I might shell a couple of bucks for some therapy out of kindness. But the vast, vast, vast, vast, vast majority of people, once they see the movie and they see what he can do, it’s like, ‘Who else can play it?’ Nobody. Literally nobody. He is Evan Hansen.” Filming was made more challenging by COVID-19 protocols, but Platt thinks the isolation and dread that the pandemic triggered was seized on by the cast. “The one silver lining of the absolute horror of the pandemic was that we already were really very much in that emotional headspace,” he says. “As difficult and sort of lonely as that made the experience, I think that it really added to the integrity and the authenticity of the feeling of the film.” Mark Kennedy is an entertainment writer, editor and critic for The Associated Press. You can follow him on Twitter at @KennedyTwits.

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community calendar

EVENT PLANNER ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Movies Out Loud

“The Gay 90s Musical,” Oct. 1-3, 7-8, 10. SAVOY, Orlando. 407-898-6766; SavoyOrlando.com

FRIDAY, OCT. 8, 7:30-10:30 P.M. CMX CINEMAS PLAZA CAFÉ 12, ORLANDO Watermark’s Movies Out Loud returns as an official Come Out With Pride (COWP) event, presented by 26 Health. Comedian Jeff Jones and Real Radio’s Sabrina Ambra host and roast the cult classic film “Showgirls,” celebrated as one of the best “bad movies” ever made as it plays on the big screen. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. A portion of the proceeds with be donated to COWP. Learn more and buy yours at WatermarkOnline.com.

Nurse Blake: “The PTO Comedy Tour,” Oct. 2, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 407-839-0119; DrPhillipsCenter.org 4th Annual Drag Race 5K, Oct. 3, Harbor Park, Orlando. 407-228-1446; ZebraYouth.org Leigh Shannon’s Cabaret Dinner Show, Oct. 4, Hamburger Mary’s, Orlando. 321-319-0600; HamburgerMarys.com/Orlando Honoring Trans & GenderExpansive Singers, Oct. 5, First United Church of Christ, Orlando. 407-277-4945; OrlandoGayChorus.org Diznee After Dark Burlesque Show, Oct. 6, Southern Nights, Orlando. 407-412-5039; Facebook.com/ SouthernNightsOrlando Harry Styles: “Love on Tour,” Oct. 7, Amway Center, Orlando. 407-440-7900; AmwayCenter.com Dining with the Divas Variety Show, Oct. 7, Hamburger Mary’s, Orlando. 321-319-0600; HamburgerMarys.com/Orlando April Fresh’s 80s Birthday Bash, Oct. 7, Stonewall Bar, Orlando. 407-373-0888; StonewallOrlando.com Maluma: “Papi Juancho Tour,” Oct. 8, Amway Center, Orlando. 407-440-7900; AmwayCenter.com LXDYWOOD: Orlando’s Pride Womxn’s Party, Oct. 8, Neon Beach, Orlando. 407-735-9168; Facebook.com/ EdenEntertainmentGroup Come Out with Pride 2021, Oct. 9, Lake Eola Park, Orlando. ComeOutWithPride.org

LOVE STOPS Harry Styles brings his rescheduled concert “Love on Tour” to Orlando’s Amway Center Oct. 7 and Tampa’s Amalie Arena Oct. 10 in support of his sophomore album “Fine Line.” PHOTO VIA STYLES’ FACEBOOK PAGE

Official Pride After Party, Oct. 9, Irish Shannon’s, 407-866-1191; IrishShannons.com

Miss Gulf Coast Comedy Queen 2021, Oct. 3, Quench Lounge, Largo. 727-754-5900; QuenchLounge.com

Harry Styles: “Love on Tour,” Oct. 10, Amalie Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com

Trevor Noah Live, Oct. 9, Amway Center, Orlando. 407-440-7900; AmwayCenter.com

Come OUT St Pete T-Dance, Oct. 3, The Garage on Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 800-435-7352; ComeOUTStPete.org

Leather T-Dance, Oct. 10, The Garage on Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-235-9086; Facebook.com/ OFCLGaragePage

“Last Girl Ghosted” Book Launch, Oct. 5, Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg. 727-755-9456; TomboloBooks.com

The Cheaters, Oct. 10, Hollander Hotel, St. Petersburg. 727-873-7900; HollanderHotel.com

Twisted Bingo, Oct. 14, Hamburger Mary’s, Orlando. 321-319-0600; HamburgerMarys.com/Orlando

TAMPA BAY “The People Downstairs,” Oct. 1-3, American Stage, St. Petersburg. 727-823-7529; AmericanStage.org “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House,” Sept. 30-Oct. 10, Jobsite Theater, Tampa. 813-229-7827; JobsiteTheater.org Bans Off Our Bodies, Oct. 2, Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Facebook.com/ WomensMarchPinellas Judy B. Goode Cabaret Show, Oct. 2, Hollander Hotel, St. Petersburg. 727-873-7900; HollanderHotel.com

Heels for Wheels Fundraiser, Oct. 7, Cocktail, St. Petersburg. 727-592-1914; CocktailStPEte.com Out of Line Night Market, Oct. 9, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com David Rule Opening Reception, Oct. 9, The Studio@620, St. Petersburg. 727-895-6620; Studio620.org

Kelly Neff, Oct. 14, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com

SARASOTA Fabulous Independent Film Festival Drive-In Fest, Oct. 1-2, Cocoanut Ave., Sarasota. HarveyMilkFestival.org

Elliott with 2 T’s, Oct. 9, Hamburger Mary’s, Clearwater. 727-400-6996; HamburgerMarys.com/ Clearwater

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

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Pride Night SUNDAY, OCT. 10, 6 P.M. AMWAY CENTER, ORLANDO Join the Orlando Magic as they take on the San Antonio Spurs in a pre-season matchup that recognizes the end of this year’s Come Out with Pride (COWP). Enjoy Pride Night activations around the Amway Center including a National Anthem performance by the Orlando Gay Chorus Quartet and special in-game recognitions featuring the Zebra Coalition and Divas and Dialogue. Portions of tickets sold through the COWP website will benefit the organization. To buy tickets and learn more, visit ComeOutWithPride.org/2021-Pride-Week.

TAMPA BAY The 32nd Annual TIGLFF FRIDAY, OCT. 1 – SUNDAY, OCT. 10 TAMPA BAY THEATERS, TIGLFF ONLINE The 32nd annual Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian Film Festival returns Oct. 1-10 with a combination of streaming via TIGLFF Online and in-person screenings at the Tampa Theatre and AMC Sundial in St. Petersburg. The opening night film “Language Lessons” will be presented in Tampa and the closing film “Glob Lessons” plays in St. Petersburg. Read all about this year’s festival and view the schedule at WatermarkOnline.com and TIGLFF.com.

Strike Out for AIDS SATURDAYS, OCT. 9 AND 16, 6-9 P.M. DUNEDIN LANES AND PIN CHASERS MIDTOWN, TAMPA BAY Empath Partners in Care (EPIC) welcomes bowlers back for the 14th annual Strike Out for AIDS. This year’s fundraiser will be a sock hop, juke box, malt shop and 50s-themed event that promises to be the “bee’s knees on both sides of Tampa Bay!” On Oct. 9, bowlers will hit the pins at Dunedin Lanes and on Oct. 16, assemble at Tampa’s Pin Chasers Midtown. Read all about it at SuncoastHospiceFoundation.org/SOFA.

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announcements

TAMPA BAY OUT+ABOUT

CONGRATULATIONS Metro Inclusive Health’s new retail location, wifi cafe and health center inclusivitea officially opened Sept. 14. Formerly Metro Retro & Retail and located beside Metro’s LGBTQ Welcome Center, the space provides access to the organization’s more than 100 programs and services. Read more and view a gallery of photos from the grand opening at WatermarkOnline.com. Tampa Pride held the inaugural Pride on the River Sept. 18. Read more on p. 12 and view photos from the festivities at WatermarkOnline.com. Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw celebrated six years as senior pastor of MCC Tampa Sept. 20. Read more about the church which is celebrating 50 years of inclusive ministry on p. 12. Green Bench Brewing Co. celebrated 8 years in the Edge District Aug. 24. The Garage on Central Ave. celebrated 10 years in the Grand Central District Sept. 25. Casa del Merman, formerly GayStPete House, unveiled its new name and branding Sept. 27. Learn more at CasaDelMerman.com. The 32nd annual Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival returns Oct. 1-10 in a new form, offering a combination of streaming options available in Tampa Bay and in-person screenings in both Tampa and St. Petersburg. View trailers and read about this year’s celebration at WatermarkOnline.com and TIGLFF.com. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Tampa Bay will kick off its 20th season Oct. 15-16, returning to the stage for their first in-person concert in 18 months with “A Harvest of Memories.” Read more at WatermarkOnline.com and buy tickets at GMCTB.org.

LOCAL BIRTHDAYS Florida Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services LGBTQ Consumer Advocate Nathan Bruemmer (Oct. 1); TriggerMouth Tee’s Luis Balaguer, Tampa Bay entertainer Darnell Bradley aka Crystal Reigns, Nurses Choice Inc. president Steve Sika (Oct. 2); Spectrum News 9 traffic expert Chuck Henson, Sarasota photographer Samantha Ponzillo (Oct. 4); St. Pete weather goddess Edith Lewis-Allen, St. Pete sprinter Gabe Michael, Tampa Bay nurse Daniel Ravioli (Oct. 5); Tampa realtor Mike Reedy, Gomez Law Firm of St. Petersburg’s Ian Gomez (Oct. 7); Tampa Bay photographer Robert Castelli, Allendale United Methodist Church pastor Rev. Andy Oliver (Oct. 8); Southern Nights Tampa manager Michael Wilson (Oct. 9); Tampa Bay hair stylist Krissy Kiss, St. Pete data specialist Stephen Gillin, Pasco Pride President Nina Borders, Sunken Gardens Forever Foundation vice president John Lopez (Oct. 10); King of Peace MCC pastor Candace Shultis, Grand Central District Executive Director David Foote, Tampa Bay entertainer Lady Janet (Oct. 12); Tampa Pride’s Mark “Tea Cup” West-Bias, WellCare Manager Michael Clouse, Former Tampa Bay bartender Jeff Beadle (Oct. 13).

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DYNAMIC DUO: Equality Florida Public Policy Director Jon Harris Maurer (L) checks in with State Rep. Michele Rayner Sept. 20 for the first day of the 2022 session. PHOTO COURTESY EQUALITY FLORIDA

ALL STAR: “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season 6 winner Kylie Sonique Love takes Southern Nights Tampa by storm Sept. 18. PHOTO COURTESY

SOUTHERN NIGHTS TAMPA

BIG REVEAL: (L-R) Lorraine Langlois, Brian Longstreth, Kori Stevens, Jim Nixon and Mya Valentine spill the tea Sept. 14 for inclusivitea’s grand opening.

PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

TEAM WELCH: (L-R) Selisse Berry, Jon Arterton, James Mack show their support for mayoral candidate Ken Welch at a Sept. 19 fundraiser. PHOTO COURTESY THE WELCH CAMPAIGN

OPEN-ING UP: (L-R): The cast and crew of TampaRep’s “Open” welcome writer Skillman to the production’s Sept. 16 premiere at HCC Ybor.

PHOTO COURTESY TAMPAREP

ON THE RIVER: (L-R) Tampa Pride President Carrie West, Brita Filter and Miguel Fuller strike a pose Sept. 18 at Pride on the River at Armature Works.

PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

FAB DAY: Sarasota Mayor Hagen Brody presents Fabulous Arts Foundation President Shannon Fortner with a proclamation Sept. 25. PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF SARASOTA

BREW BUDS: Lindsey Burkholder (L) and Tammy Benjamin celebrate Green Bench’s 8-year anniversary Aug. 24. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

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announcements

CENTRAL FLORIDA OUT+ABOUT

CONGRATULATIONS City Commissioner Patty Sheehan was recognized as one of Orange Appeal’s Women of the Year at the 11th Annual Orlando Women’s Conference held at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Sept. 14. State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith received a special recognition from Mega Car Show Sept. 25 for his continued public service to the community during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Se7enbites celebrates 8 years in business Oct. 1.

CONDOLENCES Central Florida entertainer Billy Bowser passed away Sept. 18. Central Florida Sounds of Freedom’s Brandt J. Ventimiglia passed away Sept. 18.

RESEARCH STUDY Three of the nation’s largest blood centers — Vitalant, OneBlood, and the American Red Cross — in partnership with the LGBT+ Center Orlando are seeking participants to join a new groundbreaking FDA-funded study in Orlando to consider new approaches for determining blood donation eligibility for men who have sex with men. If you are a gay or bisexual male between 18-39 years old and interested in becoming a blood donor, you may be eligible to participate. To gather the necessary data the blood centers are partnering with LGBTQ Centers in eight cities across the nation. The study looks to enroll 250–300 gay and bi men in Central Florida who meet the study eligibility criteria.

LOCAL BIRTHDAYS HIV/AIDS activist Rob Domenico (Sept. 30); Parliament House’s Niki Ames, Central Florida drag queen Tora Himan (Oct. 2); Local musician Taylor Bulloch, “The Money Coach” Tammy Lally (Oct. 3); The Milk District Executive Director Zac Alfson, Orlando bartender Tracy Thomas (Oct. 5); Lighthouse Realty broker/owner Mike Trexler (Oct. 6); Orlando Youth Alliance CEO Michael Slaymaker, graphic designer Jocelynn White, drag performer April Fresh and Central Florida radio host Loc Robertson, Former Watermark designer Katie DiBenedetto (Oct. 7); Orlando Meltdown coordinator Kyle Garther, D’Squared Productions’ Douglas White (Oct. 8); Mad Cow Theatre’s Mitzi Maxwell, Libby’s Legacy founder Robin Maynard-Harris (Oct. 9); Parliament House’s Robert Arroyo, USAA BOLD Leadership’s Michael Paonessa (Oct. 11); Orlando DJ and magician VJ Nick Comis, Mills50 director Joanne Grant, Orlando Health’s Tim Leddy (Oct. 12); Old Town Kissimmee’s Todd Larkin, Watermark freelancer Jerick Mediavilla (Oct. 13).

HONORED REP: State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (L) and husband Jerick Mediavilla show off Smith’s award from the Mega Car Show at Dezerland Park Orlando Sept. 25. PHOTO

COURTESY REP. SMITH

MAKING MURALS: Kali Newton-Reed (L) and Seth Pisano pose with Kim Murphy’s latest mural, Guy Fieri, on the wall of Se7en Bites in Orlando Sept. 23. PHOTO COURTESY MURPHY

SPREAD LOVE: Barry Miller (L) and Georgie Pelaez grab a photo with a Brooklyn mural Sept. 23. PHOTO COURTESY MILLER

RAINBOW PIER: MojoMan owner Lane Blackwell checks out the rainbow pier in San Juan during his vacation in Puerto Rico Sept. 23. PHOTO COURTESY BLACKWELL

BEAUTIFUL PORTRAITS: (L-R) Andrea Montanez, Efrain Garcia, Nathan Escalera and Stephen Vazquez attend a QLatinx event at the LGBT+ Center Orlando Sept. 18.

PHOTO COURTESY MONTANEZ

WOMAN OF THE YEAR: City Commissioner Patty Sheehan is recognized as one of Orlando’s Women of the Year at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando Sept. 14.

PHOTO COURTESY SHEEHAN

BIRTHDAY BASH: Danielle Hunter (L) and Suebee Laginess attend Darcel Steven’s birthday drag brunch at The Hammered Lamb in Orlando Sept. 25.

PHOTO COURTESY LAGINESS

NEW SPACE: Dr. Rafael Piñero tours the new location of Piñero Preventive’s medical offices in Orlando Sept. 23. PHOTO COURTESY PIÑERO PREVENTIVE MEDICAL CARE

8 watermark Your LGBTQ life.

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INAUGURAL CELEBRATION

Pride of Color

EN DS Y L O CI NG O AL D R IS T A N CIN G S T

U CO

LAKE EOLA PARK ORLANDO, FLORIDA

OCTOBER 23, 2021 12PM-6PM 46

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

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WEDDING BELLS

Daniel Sergi and Chris Brown from Orlando, Florida

ENGAGEMENT DATE:

April 28, 2017

WEDDING DATE:

March 13, 2020

OFFICIANT:

Peg Prikosovich

VENUE:

Celebration Gardens

COLORS:

Turquoise & Navy Blue

WEDDING SONG/ ARTIST:

“Breathe Gentle (Indietro)” by Tiziano Ferro w/ Kelly Rowland

FLORIST:

Atmospheres

CATERER:

John Michael Events

CAKE FLAVORS

Yellow cake with Amaretto filling

BAKERY:

CakeDog - Brian Carboy

PHOTOGRAPHER/ VIDEOGRAPHER:

Sterling Photography & Sugar Pop Films

DJ/ENTERTAINMENT:

Power Entertainment - Steve Weinstein

ANIEL SERGI AND CHRIS BROWN

didn’t know what was in store for them almost 10 years ago when they connected online on Manhunt.

“Neither one of us was really looking for a relationship, but God had a different plan for both of us,” Daniel says. They decided to meet up in person for the first time at SAVOY Orlando, where they immediately hit it off. After dating for about a month, Daniel felt it was the right time to introduce Chris to his daughter. The two have been going strong ever since. When they first met, Chris was the operations manager for a logistics company and Daniel was the vice president and branch manager for a bank. In 2014, both got laid off in the same six-month period. That was when they decided to take a leap of faith and make their

partnership not just a romantic one, but a business one. “After months of soul searching, researching and praying, we started our own business together with Chris’ brother, CDW Electrical Services, Inc.” Daniel says. “We are now in our seventh year and still growing!” Three years later, at a birthday party for Daniel at a friend’s house, Chris proposed. Almost a decade after they first met, they got married at Celebration Gardens in Winter Park. The wedding was held on March 14, 2020, only days before the COVID-19 pandemic caused most of the world to shut down. “It was so wonderful to have almost all of our family and friends there,” Daniel says. “Unfortunately,

with the pandemic starting to really take off, some of my immediate family (my parents, cousins, our ring bearer) were not able to attend due to health issues and they were concerned.” Luckily, the family and friends in attendance were able to FaceTime with everyone who had to stay home, so they were still able to see the wedding virtually. “Who knew that was the beginning of our future meetings?” Daniel says. Daniel’s daughter was his maid of honor. One of the most special moments of the entire day for him was at the reception, when his daughter sang “Daddy’s Girl” by 1GN instead of a traditional toast. “There was not a dry eye anywhere,” Daniel says.

Chris and Daniel are close friends with the owner of SAVOY, so he hosted an afterparty for the couple after their reception. This party was for all of their friends who couldn’t come to the wedding. “We saw friends that we had not seen in years,” Daniel says. “Little did we know that was going to be the last time for quite a while that we would dance and be able to go to a bar.” The couple danced the night away, making the most of being able to be around many of their closest loved ones. Today, Chris and Daniel’s business continues to thrive. Just a few weeks ago, the two purchased their first home together. —Lora Korpar

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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PRESENTED BY:

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SEPT. 30 - O C T. 13, 2021 // ISSUE 28 . 20 WAT E R M A R KONLINE .COM

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SEPT. 30 - O C T. 13, 2021 // ISSUE 28 . 20 WAT E R M A R KONLINE .COM

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THE LAST PAGE HOMETOWN:

Nick Acosta

St. Petersburg

IDENTIFIES AS: Gay

R E A L E S TAT E B R O K E R / I N S T R U C TO R

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

OUT YEAR:

1997

PROFESSION:

Real Estate Broker & Brokerage Owner, Florida Real Estate Instructor

PROFESSIONAL ROLE MODELS:

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos

AUTOBIOGRAPHY TITLE:

“My Fight for Equality”

HOBBIES:

Spending time with my husband and our dogs; updating/remodeling our home; taking in nature

HE LAST PAGE IS DEDICATED TO

individuals who are making a positive impact on the LGBTQ community in Tampa Bay and Central Florida. This issue, we check in with Nick Acosta, Downtown Expert Realty broker and owner. Learn more by visiting Downtown. Expert and keep an eye on this space to learn more about the movers and shakers in your community. WHAT DO YOU DO PROFESSIONALLY?

Recommend People to: Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Williams at: Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com Managing Editor Ryan Williams-Jent at: Ryan@WatermarkOnline.com

I’m a real estate broker and own Downtown Expert Realty, a brokerage based in St. Pete. I currently have 11 agents on the team, myself included. I also own an online real estate school, Downtown Expert School of Real Estate, where I serve as the head instructor. I teach Florida real estate pre-licensure courses for sales associates and broker associates. I’m also proud to be the Tampa Bay chapter president for NAGLREP, the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals. HOW DO YOU CHAMPION FOR THE LOCAL LGBTQ COMMUNITY?

I started my real estate company with a commitment to equality and inclusion. As a business owner, my mission statement is to create

professional spaces where everyone – team-members and clients alike – feels included, welcomed and cared for. At my brokerage, we’re not just checking boxes or merely talking about diversity: inclusion is a part of our value system 24/7. In my work at NAGLREP, I’m dedicated to increasing homeownership opportunities for the LGBTQ community by fighting housing discrimination and advocating for equal rights for all. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO READ IN WATERMARK?

Out + About, to see what’s going on in my community! WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ EVENT?

St Pete Pride! I was born and raised in St. Pete, and after attending Pride events around the world, I can say that St. Pete’s is one of the very best. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR LOCAL LGBTQ COMMUNITY?

I love that St. Pete is a progressive city and is so vocal with its support of LGBTQ residents. I think St. Pete is

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

a place where everyone can feel at home.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IMPROVED IN YOUR LOCAL LGBTQ COMMUNITY?

I’d like to see more community outreach for at-risk LGTBQ+ youth. Too many young people are still living in homes with families who don’t accept them. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE OUR READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?

My father, Dr. Anthony Acosta, was a pillar of the St. Pete community and one of my personal heroes. He was the medical director of the ER at Bayfront Health for 46 years and instilled in me his passion for equity and justice. I strive to honor his legacy by working to make our community more inclusive and diverse.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

To get involved in the real estate industry a lot sooner and to start teaching Florida real estate licensing – that part of my career has been really fulfilling.

WHAT LED YOU TO LAUNCH DOWNTOWN EXPERT REALTY LLC AND ITS REAL ESTATE SCHOOL?

From the beginning of my business, I wanted to do something different. I sought to create a truly inclusive and equitable environment for my

SEPT. 30 - O C T. 13, 2021 // ISSUE 28 . 20 WAT E R M A R KONLINE .COM

associates, as well as our clients, vendors and everyone in the community we connect with through our work. People always talk about their commitment to inclusivity and diversity, but in my earlier years in the real estate industry, I was often frustrated by the lack of follow-through. I created Downtown Expert Realty – and then later launched the real estate school – so that I could really walk the walk in creating genuine diversity and inclusion in my own business. WHAT SETS IT APART?

Our team puts the reward of finding the right home for the client above the size of the commission. We never turn anyone away or make an excuse not to work with someone. Every client gets the same expert service, regardless of the price point of the transaction. Buying a home is a big investment. I love waking up every day and helping my clients make the best choice for them and their families. It’s not about getting the biggest commission; it’s about getting someone in the right home. It’s about making sure it’s a space they love and can afford financially, so they can call it home for the long-term. I love seeing the smile on someone’s face when we are at the closing table, knowing that I helped to make their home ownership dreams come true.

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CHOOSE A TRUSTED FRIEND FRIEND. We know what it means to be here for the communities of St. Petersburg. After all, we’ve been doing it for generations — listening, guiding and providing award-winning, compassionate care that’s always nearby. And as we’ve built our expertise, we’ve also built strong relationships within our communities. That alone makes a big difference. Because when you need care you can trust, you want the kind that’s been there, like a friend, year after year. Learn more at BayfrontStPete.com.

5883-240726 BHSP Watermark back cover 10.25x11.5.indd 1

4/12/21 8:17 AM

Watermark Issue 28.20: Come Together

Articles inside

LAST PAGE

TAMPA BAY OUT + ABOUT

EDITOR’S DESK

CENTRAL FL OUT + ABOUT

STATE NEWS