Watermark Issue 23.12: Pulse by Watermark Publishing Group

issue 23.12 • june 16 - june 29, 2016 Watermarkonline.com

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YOU CANNOT SILENCE US.

YOU CANNOT DESTROY US.

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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We will not be defined by the act of a hateful murderer. We will not. We will be defined by how we respond and how we are responding:

departments

with love, with compassion, 39 with unity among our city.

6 // mail

PAGE

7 // editor’s desk 13 // orlando news 16 // tampa bay news

—orlando mayor Buddy dyer at a press conference June 13

21 // state news 22 // nation & world news 49 // arts & entertainment 57 // community calendar 59 // tampa bay out+about 61 // orlando out+about 63 // announcements wedding bells 64 // tampa bay marketplace 66 // orlando marketplace

on tHe cover

PAGE

PAGE ORLANDO’S

PULSE: The shadow

of the worst mass shooting in the U.S. looms as we look at what happened and the lives lost in our community.

scan qr code For

watermarkonline.com

pride continues:

With the events of Orlando on their minds, Pride celebrations in the Tampa Bay area will be upping security and cautiously moving forward.

watermark i ssue 23 .12 //J une 16 - J une 29, 2016

positive message

Facing a killer

girls nigHt out

a summer read

PAGE Congressional candidate Bob Poe speaks with Watermark founder Tom Dyer about running for office as an HIV-Positive gay man.

PAGE Tampa mother Pam Williams comes face-toface with the man who killed her son as her is sentenced in court.

PAGE

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

Fresh off the stage as Josephine Baker at Asolo Theatre, Deborah Cox joins local singers for an all-female SP2 concert in Str. Pete.

Watermark’s staff picks a few LGBT-themed books for you to check out for a hot summer read.

hoW to help and hoW to get help. visit Watermarkonline.com for a list of community resources and to find out hoW you can help.

# o n e pu l s e

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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DISCOVER YOUR Excite your senses with the piquant ﬂavors, sultry rhythms, spirited surroundings and Spanish charm of Ceviche.

top web comments Traumatized by the hell of hate & terror, may healing come to you and to us all in gentle waves from the ocean of eternal love.” —Brooklynn1

WatermarkOnline.com On the mass shooting at Pulse Orlando:

“I’m truly sorry and appalled this happened. Be strong my friends.” —Jonathan Eric

C EV I C H E. C O M 6

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watermark Your LGBT life.

“Condolences and solidarity from an American Muslim. After 9/11 there were many LGBT allies that stood with us as innocent immigrants were being rounded up. Now that not so innocent killers are arising, I hope my community will show its compassion and human decency. Unfortunately the potential for disconnect is high. But I should mention that first out of the gate with statements of condemnation and horror have been Council on American Islamic Relations CAIR (in its many state branches); Arab American Anti Discrimination (ADC); Muslim Student Associations national office; and Islamic Leadership councils of various regions including Metro NY. And there will be many more statements coming. Even recognizing different perspectives on “sexual morality matters” it should be possible to build bridges on common ground. That will be the best answer to those cold hearted bastards who say “Oh they are going to hell anyway.” Traumatized by

the hell of hate & terror, may healing come to you and to us all in gentle waves from the ocean of eternal love.”

—Brooklynn1

Watermark’s Facebook:

On Watermark’s statement about the mass shooting at Pulse Orlando:

“I’ve watched Billy Manes’ talk on NBC several times. It’s the most humane, perfect and honest response I’ve heard. So lucky to have him as our own.” —Tanya Manthe

“Beautiful response to this horror with priorities perfect. Much love.” —Gizelle River

“One Blood. One Love. Orlando Proud!” —Ruth Schulz

On the mass shooting at Pulse Orlando:

“I watched Mr. Manes on NBC this morning. He was so graceful and really expresses how challenging life can be for so many people in the queer community on an ordinary day. Thank you Mr. Manes for your brutal honesty and strength. It helped me get through today.” —Christine Marie

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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“All of Orlando and especially the LGBT community and the shooting victims are in my thoughts and prayers. We are with you.” —Donna Sparber

“I feel robbed of one of my favorite gay clubs in Orlando. This one person can rob people of their lives, their safety, and their friends. it’s unfathomable.” —Veronica Drake

“Father said his son became upset after seeing two gay men kissing in Miami and that may have set him off. A hate crime of the highest order. Horrible.” —Susan Clary

“Thoughts and prayers are nice, but they come off as a timid compulsory performance of piety when substituted for real processing of an event in which terror was inflicted against your community. Don’t be ashamed to be outraged. Use that outrage to organize for change. Remember that Pride month commemorates an incident when queer and trans folk fought back when Stonewall was under attack.” —Michael James

editor’s

Billy Manes EDITOR

BIlly@WatermarkOnline.com

Desk

t was the rudest of awakenings.

At 5 a.m. on June 12, as my husband Tony Mauss was preparing to exit for his job, tie and hairnet in place, that I got a tap on the shoulder while halfawake in bed. “Don’t look at your phone,” he said. All internal histrionics aside, this is the kind of warning that one typically reads in reverse, as in, “Do look at your phone, dear.” So I did.

And I wept for people, acquaintances, lovers of life who were being held hostage in a bathroom or a backroom or curled up in balls on the floor of Pulse pretending to be dead. And I was set into motion, a continuous motion that we at Watermark are still rolling through to the bitter end of this production cycle today. There are many things to be said about the incident early Sunday morning, and many of those things are misleading: Did the shooter get “triggered” by

watermark staff

seeing two men kissing on Miami Beach? Was he a queer social networker who frequented Pulse? Was it a hate crime against the gay and Latino communities, as the incident occurred on Latin Night? I’m not personally sure if we’ll ever divine the motives here, and as the onion skin peels, we may find out things we don’t want to hear: that our community can be divided in the strangest ways, that homophobia is a real thing, that this is a backlash to us getting our

freedoms during last year’s gay marriage ruling. There have been many narratives elucidated in the numerous international media interviews Watermark has been part of, and I’ve been quick to cut them off. We don’t know yet. We’re still recovering. This is a living nightmare. There are many personal things that I want to say about this tragedy, as most of the facts (as known) will be covered in our main feature. I want to say, peripherally, that we have a culture of terror that lives right beneath our collective conscience, that assault rifles are dangerous in anybody’s hands, that we can no longer ignore how explosive our gun lobby is, that we cannot ignore the fact that, even if this guy (who I won’t name here) was gay or a “regular of Pulse,” this was one of the largest massacres – hate crimes – in U.S. history, barring war and 9/11. There is a press camp outside of Pulse right now. I spent the better part of yesterday in the sweltering heat being pulled from microphone to microphone. That was when the feeling of crisis set in for me. Imagine how it feels for those who were in the building on that late Saturday night enduring the slaughter and breaking out walls. This is not anything that this community should have to endure. This is not human. One year ago this week, I started as editor of Watermark. It happened to be the week that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality nationwide. We knew there would be a backlash; we’ve felt it in smaller slaps over the year: “religious freedom” bills, workplace equality, trans deaths. We know that this battle is not over. And, by the events of June 12, we know that it is nowhere close to being won. Hate reigns supreme. But so does love. For the thousands of people who gathered

Sales Director: Danny Garcia Ext. 107 • Danny@WatermarkOnline.com

Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer • Tom@WatermarkOnline.com Owner & Publisher: Rick Claggett • Ext. 110 • Rick@WatermarkOnline.com Office Manager: Kathleen Harper • Ext. 100 • Kathleen@WatermarkOnline.com Editor-in-Chief: Billy Manes • Ext. 101 • Billy@WatermarkOnline.com Online Media Director: Jamie Hyman • Ext. 106 • Jamie@WatermarkOnline.com Tampa Bay Staff Writer: Jeremy Williams • Ext. 102 • Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com Art Director: Jake Stevens • Ext. 109 • Jake@WatermarkOnline.com Creative Assistant: Deanndra Meno • Ext. 106 • AdProduction@WatermarkOnline.com Proofreading: Ed Blaisdell

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outside of the Dr. Phillips Center for the candlelight vigil on June 13, I say thank you. For those most closely affected by this tragedy, I drape you in my concern and love. This unfathomable incident will never be repeated in Orlando, not as long as I can jump in front of whomever is perpetrating it and sacrifice myself for others. I, frankly, am so sickened by what I have heard that it’s hard to get out of bed, even with my husband

I’m not personally sure if we’ll ever divine the motives here, and as the onion skin peels, we may find out things we don’t want to hear: that our community can be divided in the strangest ways, that homophobia is a real thing, that this is a backlash to us getting our freedoms during last year’s gay marriage ruling. telling me it’s going to be OK. We’ll move through this. Watermark is in war-room mode right now, chins up, and anything you don’t see in this issue, you’ll find at watermarkonline.com as we find it. Also, expect continued coverage in forthcoming issues. This memorial edition is for the victims of a senseless crime and those who believe in justice. As the cover says, “You cannot silence us. You cannot destroy us. We are not going anywhere.” Hope and peace to the entirety of our LGBT community. We’re crying right there with you. We love you.

Orlando Office 414 N. Ferncreek Ave. Orlando, FL 32803 TEL: 407-481-2243 FAX: 407-481-2246

Tampa Bay Office TEL: 813-655-9890 FAX: 813-849-2986

contributors Sabrina Ambra

is a cohost of Real Radio 104.1’s “News Junkie” program and will kick your ass if she needs to. Page 25

Scottie Campbell

is a longtime community activist and a friend to the LGBT community. His work has resulted in a thriving community in the Lake Ivanhoe region and his wit has melted at least a few Orlando candles. He’s a great guy. He’s backing Bernie. Page 27

Samantha Rosenthal

attended University of Central Florida and is a former Watermark editorial assistant. She is currently a freelance writer and regularly covers Wedding Bells. Page 63

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

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

interns Anna Johnson, Nicole Dudenhoefer, Alex Storer,

distribution LVNLIF2 Distributing, Lisa Jordan, Jill Bates, Ken Carraway CONTENTS of WATERMARK are protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited article submissions will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Although WATERMARK is supported by many fine advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles, advertising, or listing in WATERMARK is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons or members of such organizations. WATERMARK is published every second Thursday. Subscription rate is $55 (1st class) and $26 (standard mail). The official views of WATERMARK are expressed only in editorials. Opinions offered in signed columns, letters and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper’s owner or management. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. WATERMARK is not responsible for damages due to typographical errors, except for the cost of replacing ads created by WATERMARK that have such errors.

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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central florida news

LGBTs from around the world brave the heat for Gay Days 2016 Jamie Hyman

H Breaking Glass:

Congressional candidate Bob Poe: “I feel a responsibility to share my experience. Photo courtesy the Bob Poe for Congress Campaign

Positive Message Bob Poe wants to put a face on HIV in Congress. Tom Dyer

e all have labels. They define how others see us, and also how we see ourselves. For Bob Poe, they include husband, father, gay man, politico, entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist, success. He’s now prepared to share one more: HIV-positive. The addition is consequential. Poe is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 10th District. If successful, he would be the first openly HIV-positive person elected to Congress. He’s just the second HIV-positive person to run, and the first with a real chance of winning. Poe thinks that’s a problem. Fifty thousand Americans contract HIV each year. The infection rate in Florida is higher than

it’s been since 2008, with gay men and African-Americans still hit hardest. “There hasn’t been a real trailblazer in this area at a political level,” Poe notes. “I feel a responsibility—an obligation now—to share my experience.” That wasn’t the clear case back in January, when Poe first announced his candidacy in the 10th District. A voice told him to wait. He needed to get elected to be an agent of change. But a conscience-shattering encounter during a routine campaign stop suddenly made the political overwhelmingly personal.

A Political Life

After a successful career in radio, and an unsuccessful run for state senate, Poe was recruited to chair a Florida Democratic Party # o n e pu l s e

in disarray after the 2000 election. He later became a wealthy man when he sold his share in a groundbreaking “reverse 911” business. In 2012, President Barack Obama asked Poe to serve as a regional finance chair for his re-election campaign. Throughout, Poe battled with his attraction to men. Happily married, and with daughter, Virginia, born in 1988, Poe had affairs that were often fueled by alcohol and drugs and always followed by remorse. He quit drinking in 1994. The remaining struggles didn’t end until Poe met his future husband, Ken Brown, in 2008. But when he got sick with flu-like symptoms back in 1998, he knew it was possible he’d been exposed to HIV. He made an appointment to be tested, and like so many gay men in the ‘80s and ‘90s, nervously waited for the lifechanging results.

A Dark Time

“It’s one of those things you never forget,” Poe says of learning he was HIV-positive. “It hits you and you forget to breathe, then your mind goes blank, then you project the worst—particularly back in those days. And I had to go home and tell my wife—she’s the

ighlights from Gay Days weekend 2016 included hot weather, packed pools and a gay couple making it pop by popping the question during Kesha’s set at the One Magical Weekend main event party June 4. According to Chris Manley, president and co-owner of GayDays.com, this year’s event was “bigger than ever,” and they sold out their official host hotel, the Doubletree by Hilton at SeaWorld, earlier than ever before. “What is nice is that already quite a few have rebooked for next year,” he reports. The week kicked off with a party at Artegon Marketplace May 31, where more than 100 guests were entertained by the Orlando Gay Chorus, high flying acrobats and painted superheroes.The Gay Days Expo began June 2, and parties that night included Traffic Jam by Girls in Wonderland at Southern Nights and PI@PH, where Parliament House resurrected the spirit of a favorite and dearly departed club — Pleasure Island — that used to rule Downtown Disney. On June 4, Alexis Mateo, a RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, took home the crown at the Miss GayDayS Pageant, which featured a fashion show by Estevez Swimwear. Later that night, Cheyenne Saloon downtown opened its carved wooden doors for Climax, Girls in Wonderland’s annual Friday night party, and scantily-clad men (plus more than a few women) converged upon Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon for RipTide by One Magical Weekend. There, while the crowd danced to Kesha’s new single, “True Colors,” the music cut out and the singer herself made a surprise appearance onstage, inviting everyone to her concert at Hollywood Studios the following night. There were three main Saturday night events. Girls of Wonderland gathered at House of Blues while Sandra Bernhard and Deborah Cox performed at Parliament House. Taking her unique brand of storytelling and politics to an unexpected apex of Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas,” Bernhard informed and entertained the P-House crowd. June 4 also brought the aforementioned main event at Hollywood Studios, where Beth Sacks opened with her hit “Vous le Vous,” followed by a DJ set by Nina Flowers from RuPaul’s Drag Race. After midnight, Kesha took the stage and performed four of her biggest hits, including “TikTok” and “Timber,” as the crowd danced below. After the third song, Kesha announced that she had held a contest and pulled the winners onto the stage. One of them, Joey, dropped to one knee and proposed to his boyfriend Navid to the delight of the crowd. Visit WatermarkOnline.com for video of the proposal. Finally, Hamburger Mary’s hosted the happiest brunch on earth with their annual Disney-themed Sunday morning Broadway Brunch. Before a packed restaurant, the performance included light saber duels, kissing boys and a big finale “under the sea” that was grand enough to satisfy King Triton himself. “One thing I think that has helped us grow is that our attendees are very good at telling us what they like and what they don’t like and what they would like to see happen,” Manley says, adding that they’re very open to feedback, especially what attendees may feel is missing from the event.

Danny Garcia, Anna Johnson, Billy Manes, Alex Storer and Jeremy Williams contributed to this story.

Continued on pg. 14 | uu |

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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central florida news | uu | Bob Poe from pg.13 first person I told.” It was a pivotal juncture for treatment of HIV. The antiretroviral medication AZT had brought the relentless virus under some semblance of control. Improved versions produced even better results. Poe immediately began taking one pill twice a day and five pills three times a day. Within months his viral load was undetectable and his T-cell count was within normal ranges. It’s been that way ever since. “HIV is a completely and easily controllable disease,” says Dr. Edwin DeJesus, medical director at Orlando Immunology Center. He spoke with Poe’s permission. “Bob takes one pill a day that prevents the HIV virus from replicating in his system. And because there’s no detectable virus, transmission to others is unlikely.” But back in 1998, his two-pill regimen made him nauseous

and gave him headaches and diarrhea. To a conflicted and guilt-ridden Poe, the side effects felt like deserved punishment. “When I was chair of the state Democratic Party back in 2000, I would go so far as to tear the labels off of my medicine bottles, shred those labels, and then drive to an entirely different location to deposit the empty bottles in a dumpster,” Poe remembers. “I lived that way for many, many years. When I finally opened up about my substance abuse and my attraction to men, it was liberating. [HIV] is the last thing I’ve been carrying around.”

a big decision

Attorney John Morgan, a fellow Democratic power broker and close friend since their days in the character department at Disney, is one of a very few who have known Poe’s HIV status from the beginning. “I was floored and scared when he told me,” Morgan says. “He came to me for support and ended up comforting me, telling

me that his doctors had assured him he would have a long, healthy life.” Morgan cautioned Poe that there would be pluses and minuses to disclosing his HIV status while campaigning. Poe was still undecided when he made a campaign stop in the Parramore district of downtown Orlando. A woman approached him and shared that she was HIV-positive, didn’t have health insurance, and didn’t know where to go or what to do. Poe offered resources and encouragement, but when she walked away he cringed at his cowardice. By the time he drove home, he knew what he had to do. “I just wanted to hug her and tell her that she wasn’t alone, that I’m HIV and that I’m happy and healthy and she will be too. But I couldn’t,” Poe recalls, shaking his head. “I couldn’t in that moment. Afterwards it became clear to me. I have an obligation to do this if I’m going to be a public servant.”

infections up

district 10

There’s work to be done, especially in Florida, where the number of new HIV cases rose 23 percent between 2014 and 2015. More than three-quarters of new cases are among gay men. The infection rate of 35.8 per 100,000 is the highest it’s been since 2008. “The focus is really prevention of positives,” says Dr. Marie-Jose Francois, executive director of the Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention located in Orlando’s Rock Lake neighborhood. “It takes a constant presence to remind people that HIV/AIDS is still a huge public health issue.” Poe believes that the shame with which he is all too familiar is preventing people from getting tested, and thus treated. “We’ve got to rip the mask off this thing and begin talking about it in a sensible way,” he says. “This is a chronic condition that is more easily treated than diabetes. Our goal should be to eliminate AIDS as an epidemic by the year 2025.”

Poe supports an increase in the minimum hourly wage to $15. He’ll push for job training to address an “economic climate change” fueled by technology. And he’ll work to change a criminal justice system that he believes persecutes communities of color. His message should resonate in District 10, which was recently redrawn to favor Democrats. But Poe has formidable opponents in the primary, including State Senator Geraldine Thompson and former Orlando Police Chief Val Demings. Morgan likes his friend’s chances. “Bob just needs to win a plurality of Democrats to make it to the general election,” Morgan says. “It’s impossible for a Republican to win this district.” With his very personal announcement, Poe has turned this into an historic election. “If I get to Washington, I can help,” he says. “I can show millions of people that they can live their hopes and dreams, like I have. That’s exciting.”

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REGIONS CELEBRATES LGBT PRIDE MONTH.

PRIDE has taken great strides. We’re here to help you take your next step. At Regions, we’re all about advising and supporting you in things that really matter. Let us help you achieve what you want today and be prepared for the future. Insights by Regions has relevant tips, tools and articles to assist you with an ever-changing financial landscape. Ready to take your next step? We’re here to help. Drop by a branch or visit regions.com/LGBT to learn more.

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tampa bay news

no deatH penalty sentence For HorriFic murder Alex Storer

ampa mother Pamela Williams can’t pay respects at her son’s grave because he doesn’t have one. “I have the city dump, my son ground up like hamburger meat in the dirt, so I hope you’re satisfied, because I hope you rot in hell,” she said at her son’s killer’s sentencing. Williams’ son, Jason Galehouse, doesn’t have a grave because Scott Schweickert and Steven Lorenzo cut up Galehouse’s body with an electric saw and threw out the pieces in various trashcans throughout Tampa. In 2003, Galehouse and another man, Michael Wachholtz, disappeared from a gay nightclub in Tampa. Both victims were 26 years old at the time. Although Wachholtz’ body was later found wrapped in a sheet in the back of his SUV, Galehouse’s remains were never recovered. Schweickert confessed to these and other gruesome details in a Tampa court on June 8. As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, never found: Schweickert – who was Jason Galehouse was already serving a 40-year 26 years old when he prison sentence for federal disappeared in 2003. He was drug and conspiracy declared dead in 2010. His charges – will now body was never found. complete a life sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. The deal allows Schweickert to avoid the death penalty in exchange for information that may allow prosecutors to indict Lorenzo. According to Schweickert’s plea agreement, he flew into Tampa from Illinois in 2003 and met with Lorenzo after the two became friends online over a mutual interest in bondage and torture fantasies. Schweickert confessed in court that he and Lorenzo had conspired to find single gay men, lure them back to Lorenzo’s house, and use them as “permanent slaves.” Although Lorenzo is already serving 200 years in prison for drugging, raping and torturing nine gay men – including Galehouse and Wachholtz – he has yet to face murder charges for their deaths. Schweickert’s plea deal might finally allow prosecutors to indict Lorenzo on murder charges 13 years in the making. According to reporting by Fox 13 News, Williams was disappointed that Schweickert avoided the death penalty. “I’m not happy with the justice system,” she said.

# o n e pu l s e

PROUD state: Both

St. Pete Pride and Polk Pride will move forward with heightened security.

Our Pride Does Go On With the events of Orlando on their minds, Tampa Bay will cautiously move forward with all Pride celebrations Jeremy Williams

ecurity is the number one concern as the city of St. Petersburg prepares for the state’s largest Pride celebration June 25 and 26. “We just want to assure everyone we are using everything at our disposal to make sure everyone has a safe event,” says Yolanda Fernandez, spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Police Department. “Immediately after the incident in Orlando, we started security meetings to assess the security plan, a strategic plan in place that we use for the city’s large events. We reassessed that plan and looked where we could strengthen it.” The St. Petersburg Police Department cannot release all the details for obvious reasons, but Fernandez says that parade and festival attendees will notice an

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increase in police presence. “The main thing that I can say is that we have reached out to other local law enforcement agencies, state law enforcement agencies, as well as federal agencies to work with them to be able to use their resources along with ours for the event,” Fernandez says. “I think the real key strength in keeping everyone safe is going to come in what people can’t see. That’s where they can be assured that because we are using these other resources – additional technologies, additional intelligence, additional reports – all kinds of things that these other agencies will work with us in providing that they will be safe.” With security as the main concern, St. Pete Pride is cautiously moving forward with all planned events, but as of this moment none are planned to be cancelled. “No single act of hate can detour us from coming together as a

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

community,” Eric Skains, executive director of St Pete Pride, said in a statement on the St. Pete Pride web page. “Pride and unity is more important now than ever before.” St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman echoed the sentiment from St. Pete Pride. In a statement from the mayor’s office, Kriseman said, “The safety and security of our citizens is always job one. I have full faith and confidence that Chief Holloway and the men and women of the St. Petersburg Police Department will do everything they can to keep Pride attendees, and all our citizens, safe.” The city of St. Petersburg flies the LGBT flag over City Hall every year during St. Pete Pride. That tradition, instituted by Kriseman, will go on as planned. “St. Petersburg is ready to celebrate Pride, and it is as important as ever in light of the tragic events at Pulse in Orlando,” Kriseman says. Polk County Pride will also continue with their Pride celebration in Lakeland June 18. In a message posted to the organization’s Facebook event page, they said, “All Polk Pride events are continuing as planned. We have partnered with Lakeland PD to have a presence at each and every event. While we already had LPD support for the park, we have requested and secured double the officers. Safety and peace of mind is our highest priority. We look forward to seeing you at the events this week.”

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state news

litigation looms For soutH Florida gay magazine Richard Gary, South Florida Gay News

ultimedia Platforms Worldwide (MMPW), which bills itself as the “world’s largest LGBTQ media publishing company,” was dealt a major blow Friday afternoon in Broward Circuit Court, when the Hot Spots Media Group filed a 15page, seven-count complaint against them for misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference, conversion of confidential business information and breach of contract and fiduciary duties. The lawsuit also names Bobby Blair, CEO of MMPW, personally, along with Scott Spar, one of Blair’s employees and the principle in the non-compete action. The focus of the action involves Spar’s alleged misdeeds in going to work for Blair while he was still under a

non-compete from HotSpots, and then converting for his own use proprietary account information to promote sales for Blair and his company. The lawsuit represents a major blow for MMPW, whose principals have been embroiled in management struggles for the past few months. Just last week, Peter Jackson, who had been first acting as the publisher of Agenda, and then the president of MMPW’s ‘print division,’ abruptly resigned, renouncing both his role as a member of the company’s board of directors and its news operation. “I have no further comment,” he told SFGN. A week ago, however, Jackson in an internal memo to staffers had given them an ultimatum to “clear out their desks” if they could not accept not being paid. “I need to know who is with us and who is not as the company struggles to meet its current

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its newspaper, Agenda. Both have continued distribution. MMPW and its principals have been embroiled in controversy for months now, from coast to coast. Last month, MMPW was the target of EEOC age discrimination complaints, when its West Coast publication Frontiers Magazine,

terminated one of its most tenured employees, Karen Ocamb, a distinguished lesbian writer, claiming the magazine had to target ‘millennials’ and a younger demographic. Blair vigorously defended MMPW’s determinations, asserting there was no ageism or sexism, just a necessary reorganization of all practices that were implemented routinely as part of their acquisition. Meanwhile, representing Peter Clark, and his company, HotSpots Media Group, is the law firm of George Castrataro. He is asking for emergency injunctive relief, demanding that Blair and Spar turn back over to them a vast amount of proprietary information that was inappropriately acquired and used, including customer lists, contracts, booking sheets, and price quotes. “We also believe and can prove that Blair hired Spar to work for him and MMPW while he knew that Spar was inhibited by a legally enforceable non-compete contract,” Castrataro told SFGN. When reached by phone Blair had no comment.

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nation+world news

Armed man arrested in California wasn’t allowed to have guns Wire Report

n Indiana man arrested in California over the weekend with three assault rifles had been ordered by a judge in April to give up all his guns, but authorities in his home state said Monday they had not made any surprise checks to confirm he was following the probation requirement. James Wesley Howell was arrested early Sunday in Santa Monica, Calif., with the weapons and explosives in a car he apparently drove from Indiana. He told police he was headed to a gay pride event in West Hollywood that attracts hundreds of thousands of people. It’s unclear whether Howell intended any violence at the L.A. Pride event, but the timing of the arrest — hours after the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. — put police and event organizers on heightened alert. An Indiana probation officer met with Howell, 20, of Charlestown, Ind., three weeks ago, rated him a low-level offender, and had yet to schedule the in-home visit, said James Hayden, chief probation officer in Clark County. Howell didn’t have permission to leave Indiana after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor intimidation charge. Authorities there are seeking to have him returned as a probation violator. The FBI is continuing to investigate.

Ukraine holds its first major Gay Pride march in Kiev Wire Report

round a thousand people turned up June 13 for Ukraine’s first major gay pride march which was held amid tight security measures in the capital Kiev. Several thousand police forces were guarding the procession in central Kiev and the rally was peaceful despite far-right groups making threats last week to attack it. People were marching with rainbow flags and carried placards saying “Love has no gender.” “The road to equality in Ukraine is difficult as well as dangerous,” said Bohdan Hloba, one of the rally’s organizers. “We have been threatened with a ‘bloodbath’ but every step of this march gives us hope.” Authorities sanctioned gay rights marches when the new pro-Western government came into power after the 2014 revolution, but earlier gatherings have been small and have come under attack from far-right groups. The Kiev city police cordoned off nine streets and closed one subway station Sunday to ensure tight security and prevent clashes. A few anti-gay activists did get in, however, although they were not violent.

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Thousands attend vigils around U.S. for Orlando victims Wire Report

housands have turned out at vigils, rallies and marches around the country for the victims of the deadly attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando. The events come during LGBT Pride Month. Thousands crowded the streets June 13 around the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan where large-scale gay rights activism got its start in 1969. Under banners heralding the upcoming Pride Week event, people held hands and hugged. Some waved rainbow flags and others carried signs showing support for Orlando as they listened to a slew of elected officials, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Spectators watched from fire escapes and windows of nearby apartment buildings as chants of “love beats hate” rang from the crowd. Thomas Dougherty, 23, of Manhattan, said he came to the rally to feel united and connected. “Seeing everyone here makes me feel at home, makes me feel safe,” he said. Lady Gaga addressed a crowd of thousands June 13 at Los Angeles City Hall, and the singer began a joint reading of the victims’ names. She called the attack horrible and painful and an attack on humanity itself. The rainbow colors of the gay Pride flag flew on the side of the California Capitol and on the floor of the Senate - a first for the Senate, according to President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat. In San Francisco, home to one of the nation’s largest gay communities, police said more officers would be patrolling popular LGBT venues and local mosques in the weeks ahead. Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro District on the city board of supervisors, said he intends to host a meeting this week to involve owners of gay nightclubs, bars and restaurants in planning discussions with police. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders marched with hundreds of people from downtown Burlington, Vt., to City Hall Park. Sanders spoke briefly, encouraging the crowd to help “create the kind of nation based on love that we all know we can

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become.” The Pride Center of Vermont organized the event. About 1,000 people attended a candlelight vigil outside a gay nightclub in Providence, R.I., followed by a march to the statehouse steps. The head of the state police and members of the Providence Police Department met June 13 with Pride festival organizers and the owners of several gay bars. “They are nervous, like any other community that was targeted for violence,” State Police Superintendent Col. Steven O’Donnell said. More than two dozen human rights organizations have announced plans for a vigil and community gathering Tuesday night at Atlanta’s Center for Civil and Human Rights. The groups include gay rights organizations, the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta and the Anti-Defamation League. Members and supporters of Maui’s LGBT community gathered to honor the victims. The Maui News reports that nearly 200 people attended the vigil on the shore in front of the Maui Sunseeker LGBT Resort. Friends and strangers linked arms and tossed flower petals into the ocean. Jaysen Giroux, a 14-yearold transgender youth, shared a poem written for the victims. In Honolulu, Rainbow Family 808 was to host a gathering at Honolulu Hale, where the city government and mayor’s office are housed, to watch as rainbow lights illuminate the building. A vigil was held in Sandpoint, Idaho, a small lakefront town in the north of the state, among other events this week. Chelsea Gaona Lincoln, an LGBT-rights activist who helped organize the vigils, urged the public to help protect the rights of Idaho’s gay community. Organizers of the ongoing Boise Pridefest, Idaho’s largest LGBT pride event, met with police Monday to talk security details and shift the route of the event’s upcoming parade away from the heart of downtown. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards described the Orlando shooting victims as “our brothers and sisters” during a vigil with state legislative leaders at the state capitol in Baton Rouge. In New Orleans, dozens gathered Monday at a church near the French

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

Quarter to pray for the families and victims. “In a time like this, community is real important to me,” said Stephanie Oshrin, 26, of New Orleans. “I’m part of a community where there are not a lot of safe places and there’s a real sadness that comes when one of those places you think are safe is violated.” Several Maine communities were holding vigils including Portland, Bangor, Auburn, Bar Harbor, Damariscotta, Hallowell, Farmington, Ellsworth and Machias. More are scheduled for later in the week. Matt Moonen, executive director of EqualityMaine, said the events Monday evening “will enable us to come together to mourn those lost in Orlando.” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urged people at a vigil in the city to stand together against hatred. “There are times like this when words seem insufficient because of the measure of hate it would take to have to do what they did to innocent people,” she said. “And then, I think the only way to combat that hate is not a ministry of words, but of presence. Just being here is speaking volumes about who we are as Baltimoreans. We stand together,” she said. As the sun set over Baltimore, the crowd swelled well beyond the confines of a grassy lot where the vigil was held. Philadelphia’s LGBT community held an early evening vigil outside City Hall in what organizers describe as an outpouring of “grief, love and solidarity for the victims in Orlando.” An evening march also is planned in the Pennslvania capital, Harrisburg. Dozens of mourners converged on Metropolitan Community Church of Corpus Christi, where members of the South Texas coastal city’s LGBT community comprise a majority of the congregation. Deacon Andy Wilcox said bringing members of the community together was important for comfort and healing - “When you share a burden, it gets light.” A Muslim-American women’s group held a candlelight vigil Monday night in Dupont Circle, the hub of a neighborhood near downtown Washington, D.C. Organizers say the goal is to stand together against anti-gay, anti-transgender and antiMuslim bias.

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it certainly didn’t shield me from the real life shit I was about to experience that morning… Please begin Track 1 of the audio book, or just YouTube “Uplifting Music Full Mix Vol. 4” and imagine the following is being narrated by a small child that is approximately 5 years old. Back door, check. Front door, check. Now it was my time to shine and this little light of mine was in the form of a garage door transponder. She knew the drill; if I wasn’t acting like the spawn of Satan that hour, my mother allowed me to operate the clicker. In one fell swoop I slam my tiny sausage fingers onto the giant button that I can only assume is there to wake up the black magic wizard that opens and closes the door. The garage begins to rumble: a sound that means it is time to sit back in my big girl car throne for I am the newly, self-appointed, all-powerful Queen of all things carport related. I watch with pride as the door slowly lowers down, acknowledging that this was my short life’s greatest accomplishment since the last time I pressed the button. The time had come for me to enjoy the fruits of my labor. End of Track 1/ pause the video. I was about to take the first bite out of my freshly picked labor-fruit when my cat, appropriately named Kitty, attempted to escape the garage and failed. Let me clarify, just in case: my cat was dead (and by “just in case”, I mean I want you to have a slight visual of an image that will be forever burned into my memory). Not Bambi’s-mom-dead, where it’s implied so it’s not necessary to show it, no. (I’ve never actually seen Bambi.) My cat was super dead and I had the front row seat. It took all of .5 seconds for me to begin screaming bloody murder, which was fitting considering that I had just manslaughtered

my cat. It was way beyond the point of pulling the ol’ “Kitty just went on a long trip to China” line, so my father tried to calm me down by telling me Kitty was in heaven now. “No, she’s not! She’s staring at me on the floor right now,” I shrieked in between the sobs and through the snot

20 years since the incident and it just hit me that I have no closure. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to say some final words to my fallen BFFL: Dear Kitty, I don’t know what you were thinking trying to escape from the garage at the last minute. I don’t want to point out the obvious,

you think about it, had this happened 10 years later you probably wouldn’t have died given the advancements in technology. Anyways, I hope you’re doing well wherever you are. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a more creative name. Love, Sabrina

running down my face. This would be the moment that I found out you actually don’t float through the ceiling when you die. I’m not even sure what the life lesson I’m trying to get across is anymore. I think I just needed to talk about it, you know? It has been over

but that was a bad move. Either way, I want you to know that I appreciated our time together. I wish I could reference particular times, but it was over 20 years ago and the only thing I can remember about you at this time is the whole garage incident. You know if

I think we all learned a valuable lesson here. I said it last time and I’ll say it again: Dance like nobody’s watching (but acknowledge that people are watching, so try your best not to die in front of them because they’ll write about it 21 years later).

In one fell swoop I slam my tiny sausage fingers onto the giant button that I can only assume is there to wake up the black magic wizard that opens and closes the door.

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activist Parties Weren’t Meant to Last

love the ritual of voting.

I can’t bring myself to vote absentee, I can’t get into early voting; I have to go to the poll on the day. I love checking in with a poll worker who makes sure I am who I say I am, then standing in a flimsy pop-up “booth” and filling in the ovals next to my choices. I’m meticulous in my filling-in, making sure every bit of the oval is black and making sure I’m filling in the right oval (I have a bit of irrational anxiety about filling-in the wrong one).

These days I’m haunted by the ghost of a poll worker when I walk over to insert my ballot in the voting machine. When I voted for Janet Reno to be governor of Florida in 2002, I asked the quinquagenarian attending the machine which side should face up. “It doesn’t matter,” was her reply, no doubt telling the truth about the machine, but cloaking my heart in conspiracy theories. It’s possible I now say a little prayer at this point – let’s face it, the damn thing looks like a shredder. And, good grief, I love that “I Voted” sticker. It’s actually a bit odd how I like to wear that sticker for the rest of the day, treating it with the same delicacy I would afford a prom boutonnière. I find the “Bernie or Bust” movement intriguing. The core of the movement is a commitment to abstain from voting for Clinton, but the alternatives voiced are many: write-in Sanders, vote for a third party candidate, or stay away from the polls completely. The point is to act with integrity, so I’ve not encountered any in the movement saying – or at least admitting – that they would vote for Trump instead. Early on I told Clinton supporting friends not to expect Bernie Sanders supporters to simply fall in line if he doesn’t get the nomination. For months now, polls have shown # o n e pu l s e

Clinton to be the secondmost hated candidate in this election cycle, falling behind aforementioned tyrant with a bad combover, but I needed no poll to tell me that was the case within Berner circles. Said friends greet this information with disbelief. After all, American politics has become black hats versus white hats: You are always on the white hat side; they are always on the black. Conventional thinking is: When your person is voted off the nomination island, you are to follow behind your party’s chosen white hat person. In 2016, I think – and I hope – we’re seeing a shift from that archaic, indeed dysfunctional, approach to politics. Down with segregated haberdashery! On Facebook, a friend used the word “dangerous” when commenting on a Ralph Nader article I posted in which he posited that Sanders should run on a third party ticket. Dangerous? Philippe Petit stringing a wire between the Twin Towers and crossing it, now that was dangerous. But my friend used the word dangerous because we have been taught to fear the rise of a third party. What Bernie Sanders’ political revolution and, despite his methods, Donald Trump’s campaign have shown us is the two-party monster needs to be gutted and each party needs to be retooled or die. With Sanders we are witnessing authenticity, and many of us are startled by the contrast, realizing we do not have to settle for a corrupt system. I’ve had conversations with Clinton supporters who shrug their support for her, buying the party line that she is the best bet to beat the Republicans, the one who “can get things done,” though little evidence exists of that. It is what it is, they’ll parrot. “If Bernie doesn’t get the nomination and you write him in, why that’ll be a vote for Trump,” they say. This is the same insufferable heaping spoonful of fearmongering we’ve heard all our lives. Better to vote for someone with questionable moral character – under FBI investigation no less – than to “lose it all,” whatever that means.

Amazingly, more Americans are willing to walk away from God than they are the familiarity of our two-party system. Thousands of years of religion we can discuss, process, and make a decision on, but with politics we are enslaved to an immovable object. Though “it is what it is” has become a trite phrase conveying helplessness, the concept has spiritual roots, most often associated with

Buddhism. The intention of the concept is to accept things we cannot change. Our behavior and our actions are both things we have control over. Death is what it is, political parties are what we make them. While the essence of the Bernie or Bust movement is intriguing, I don’t condone it literally. This is not just because of the beloved ritual I describe above. The bust, abstaining completely, is

counterproductive and simply gives the purveyors of the two-party system what they are after. The fewer of us to manipulate, the easier it is for them to keep the status quo. Voter suppression is a reality and it exists for unscrupulous reasons. Vote for a traditionallyselected nominee, vote for a third party, or write-in your choice, but vote with a pure heart.

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talking points

I’m here to tell Dan Patrick:

the number of americans

WHO HAVE HAD SEX WITH

SOMEONE OF

THE SAME SEX

DOUBLED from 1990 to 2014 for both MEN

You – specifically you – are endangering my child’s life. Because you have now told everyone in the state of Texas that it’s okay to harass my child, that it’s okay for the school district to stop supporting them. —ann elder, the mother of a transgender Boy named BenJamin, speaking to Journalists outside the state capitol June 7 in response to the lt. governor’s multi-pronged Bathroom campaign.

christian singer

trey pearson comes out

hristian rock star trey pearson has come out as gay in a magazine interview. Pearson is the lead singer of Everyday Sunday. In a letter published online by Ohio-based (614) Magazine, Pearson writes that he has come to be able to admit to himself and his family that he’s gay, even though he “never wanted to be.” Commenting on the letter to the magazine, Pearson calls his announcement “freeing,” but adds that he has lost some of the closest people in his life. He says some “church people” act like the worst people he has ever experienced. He says he’s starting over in many ways, “but it’s also starting out lonely.” Pearson also praises his wife for her support. The couple has two children together.

nbc neWs launches neW lgbtQ Website nbc out

(4.5% TO 8.2%) N and WOMEN (3.6% TO 8.7%). the number of people Who reported having sex With both men and Women shot up from 3.1% to 7.7% in the same time frame. —Archives of Sexual Behavior

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Bc is coming out! Just in time for Pride month, NBC launched a new website dedicated to stories about the LGBTQ community called NBC OUT. The new “digital destination” will feature news stories, videos and other “unique content about and of interest to the LGBTQ community.” NBC OUT editor Brooke Sopelsa says the content on NBC OUT spans the spectrum of the LGBTQ community, highlighting stories already on the site about intersexed millennials, black gay men in history and a Thai immigrant who started a transgender modeling agency. “I truly believe it will take a village – or better yet, a community – for NBC OUT to reach its full potential,” Sopelsa said.

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‘the sims’ removes gender restrictions for its video game characters

he creators of “the sims” are opening up gender customiZation options for the first time in the long-running history of the popular life-simulation video game. “The Sims” publisher Electronic Arts and developer Maxis said a free update available for “The Sims 4” removes gender boundaries and allows players to create virtual townsfolk with any type of physique, walk, style or voice they choose. The studio said in a statement it wanted to “make sure players can create characters they can identify with or relate to through powerful tools that give them influence over a Sims’ gender, age, ethnicity, body type and more.”

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police officer sings “i Will survive” after breaking up fight

police officer in scotland took up an offer to sing karaoke after he arrived to stop a bar fight outside the Waterloo Bar in Glasgow. The officer, known only as Sergeant John, arrived and after interviewing witnesses was encouraged by the karaoke host to come onstage and sing. The cop relented and ended up singing two verses of Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 song “I Will Survive,” to the delight of the crowd. Bar patrons took videos of the performance that are now going viral. “He tried to stop after one verse,” a woman at the bar said, “but the crowd was loving it so he carried on. He was really good and had all the moves.”

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Stanley Almodovar III, 23 Stanley was a pharmacy technician originally from Massachusetts living in Clermont. A friend of his said “He made me feel like it was perfectly fine being who I was.”

Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25

Amanda Alvear, 25

Amanda was a nursing student who worked as a pharmacy tech. Amanda was very into fitness, as she would often upload pictures at the gym to her Instagram account.

Luis Daniel Conde, 39

Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33

Antonio, a fraternity brother of Kappa Alpha Psi and a criminal justice major, graduated from FAMU in 2008. He was a captain in the US army and from Cocoa Beach.

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29

Darryl, from Kentucky, was a member of Jacksonville Jaycees, a community-service organization that helps individuals with business development and management. A friend says Darryl graduated with a Masters degree recently.

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28

Oscar, who was proud of his Dominican heritage, celebrated his birthday about 3 weeks ago with his boyfriend Simon. A friend said that the two were an amazing, full of life, hard working couple.

Rodolfo studied Human Resources at InterAmerican in his hometown of San German, Puerto Rico. He worked as a biologics assistant at OneBlood and lived in Kissimmee.

Cory James Connell, 21

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25

Deonka Deidra “Dee”/ “Dee Dee” Drayton, 32

Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31

Leroy “Roy” Valentin Fernandez, 25

Juan lived in Davenport and was from Huichapan, Mexico. Friends describe him as a great boss and friendly who will be greatly missed.

Luis was with his partner of 16 years, Juan Velazquez, celebrating a friend’s birthday at Pulse. The couple owned Alta Peluqueria D’Magazine salon in Kissimmee.

Cory lived in Ocoee and worked as a stocker at Publix. He studied sports journalism at Valencia and loved football. Cory is described as an amazing person, who always tried to do the right thing.

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22

Mercedez was from Queens and lived in Davenport. She Worked at Target since 2008 and was a student at Valencia since 2009. She also had a great love for music.

Peter “Ommy,” as friends knew him, worked at UPS and went to Colonial High School. His aunt said: “He was a happy person. If Peter is not at the party, no one wants to go.”

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30

After recently completing a business office specialist program at Southern Technical Institute, Jason was enrolled in classes at Valencia. He had interests in technology, fitness and photography.

Eddie was an accountant who lived in downtown Orlando and enjoyed working out. During the attack he texted his mother “Mommy I love you.”

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Antonio Davon Brown, 29

Tevin played basketball in high school and studied business administration at Strayer University South in his home state of North Carolina. He had interests in both marketing and management.

Dee was working as a bartender at Pulse at the time. She leaves behind a 3-year-old boy she was helping to raise. Dee was from South Carolina.

Simon, from Venezuela, was a fan of Cardenales de Lara and worked at McDonalds. He had just returned from a vacation in Canada and New York with his boyfriend Oscar.

Paul Terrell Henry, 41

Frank Hernandez, 27

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30

Juan was at the club with his boyfriend, Christopher “Drew” Leinonen. He was recently enrolled at UCF and deeply in love. His sister describes him as “so much love and light.”

Paul is described as a private man from Chicago who made his children a priority and loved to dance. He is survived by two children.

Attended high school in Weslaco, Texas, but moved to Orlando to make a life for himself. “Frankie we love you, we will always love you and we will never forget you,” says his sister Julissa.

Miguel worked at FajitaMex Mexican Catering in Apopka and was a father of three. He was a big soccer fan and loved the Selección Nacional de México team.

Anthony Luis Laureano disla, 25

Christopher Andrew “Drew” Leinonen, 32

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49

Anthony was from San Juan and studied at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. He loved to perform and was known in the local drag community as Alanis Laurell.

Detroit native and UCF alumnus. Drew contributed to Flame On!, a gay geek podcast. He was at the club with his boyfriend Juan Guerrero.

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Alejandro was a friendly Cuban native. Sarai Torres told the Orlando Sentinel that he was a outgoing person who always had a smile on and was working to learn English.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

Brenda, from Brooklyn, was a fighter in many ways. She was a mother of 11, cancer survivor and LGBT advocate. She loved salsa dancing and is remembered as a passionate and hilarious woman.

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Angel, originally from Puerto Rico, graduated Magnum Cum Laude from Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Recinto Metropolitano. He went on to become an Ophtalmic Technician at Florida Retina Institute.

Roy worked as an apartmentleasing agent at Auvers Village Apartments. He was known as an energetic person who loved dancing, fashion and singing. He also enjoyed styling hair.

Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40

Javier was from Guayama, Puerto Rico and studied tourism at ASAG. He worked as a supervisor at Gucci. A friend said Javier’s energy and love for life was infectious.

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25

Gilberto worked as a sales associate at Speedway. He was from Manati, Puerto Rico and studied Health care management at Ana G. Méndez University System at the Metro Orlando Campus.

kimberly “kJ” morris, 37

akyra murray, 18

KJ, born in Connecticut, recently moved to Orlando and was excited to start her job as a bouncer at Pulse. She was a fan of both boxing and MMA.

Akyra was visiting Orlando to celebrate graduating high school in Philadelphia last week. She was a superstar student and athlete, third in her class and had a signed letter of intent to Mercyhurst college.

enrique l. rios Jr., 25

Jean c. nives rodriguez, 27

Enrique studied Social Work at St. Francis College in his home borough of Brooklyn and worked as a coordinator at True Care Home Health Care Agency. He was visiting Orlando on vacation at the time.

Jean was the general manager of a local store and had just bought his first house. His best friend remembers him as “a big caring, loving guy.”

luis omar ocasio-capo, 20 Luis was a dancer. A former Target coworker of Luis’ said “He lit up any area he worked in, especially Starbucks.” A former teacher remembers him as “a ray of sunshine every day.”

xavier emmanuel “eman” serrano rosado, 35 Xavier leaves behind a young son and worked at Disney Live!. He often expressed his creativity through dance. “You were a great man and even greater father,” says Clarence Bryant via Facebook.

geraldo “drake” a. ortiz-Jimenez, 25

eric ivan ortiz-rivera, 36 Eric grew up in and went to college in Puerto Rico and moved to Florida for a chance at a better life. His relatives described him as artistic, fun-loving and always willing to help.

Joel was born in Mexico and lived in Tampa. Friends describe him as a loyal, happy person who enjoyed dancing.

cHristopHer JosepH sanFeliz,24

yilmary rodriguez solivan, 24

edward sotomayor Jr., 34

Drake was from the Dominican Republic and studied law at Universidad del Esten in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He loved working out and performing through acting and dance.

Christopher, a Cuban native, worked at JPMorgan Chase and Youfit Health Clubs. He studied at Hillsborough Community College and lived in Tampa. “He was the light of my family,” said his brother Junior.

Yilmary worked at a Wendy’s in Puerto Rico before moving to Florida. Yilmary, her husband and their two children lived in Kissimmee. She loved her children and would do anything for them, said family members.

martin benitez torres, 33

JonatHan antonio camuy vega, 24

Joel rayon paniagua, 32

Edward was from Sarasota. He was the National Brand coordinator for gay travel site AlandChuck.travel. His friends say he was known as “top-hat Eddie” because of the top hat he always wore to events.

Jean carlos mendez perez, 35

Jean, a Puerto Rican native, lived in Kissimmee. He worked as a salesperson at Perfumania, where he met his partner Luis Wilson, and had an excellent rapport with customers.

sHane evan tomlinson, 33 Shane studied at East Carolina University. Since 2012, he acted as the manager and lead singer of Frequency, a local high energy band that covered music from the ‘70s to current hits.

Heartbeats stilled,

but Pulse keeps beating Community rises up after mass shooting at Orlando gay nightclub kills 49

Martin was visiting family on break from his studies at Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez in San Juan. His Instagram bio reads: “If God takes away my gift to see, it’s because he has already shown me everything beautiful in the world.”

Jonathan worked as a producer for La Voz Kids. “Always a smile, always so energetic, always just happy and lending a helping hand before being asked to do so,” says a coworker.

Juan owned Alta Peluqueria D’Magazine salon and spa in Kissimmee with his partner Luis Conde of 16 years. The couple were celebrating a friend’s birthday at Pulse.

Franky Jimmy deJesus velazquez, 50

luis daniel “lestat” wilson-leon, 37

Jimmy worked as a visual merchandiser at Forever 21. He was from San Juan and studied at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico Metro Campus.

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Juan p. rivera velazquez, 37

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Luis, from Puerto Rico, was with his long-time partner Jean Perez at the time of his death. A friend said, “His strength and character was always an inspiration to all of us.”

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luis s. vielma, 22

Luis was a production assistant at Universal Studio for the Harry Potter attractions in the park. He was studying to be a Physical Therapist Assistant at State College of Florida.

Jerald “Jerry” wrigHt, 31

Jerry attened Northeastern University about 10 years ago and worked at Walt Disney World as a seasonal employee. “Jerry had the biggest heart and most generous spirit,” says Laura Murtha.

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| uu | Pulse from pg.33 opened fire and killed one person, wounding six. The Pulse massacre is the most violent terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001. It is both undeniably historic and unfathomably horrendous.

Early Sunday morning: Inside Pulse

“Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running,” is the chilling message posted to Pulse’s Facebook page at 2:09 a.m. that deadly morning. It was last call at the club’s Latin night, and the three-room nightclub was packed with more than 300 people. Police reports and witness statements, given both to reporters and posted on social media, piece together a picture of what happened. The shooter entered the club at about 2:00 a.m., armed with a number of firearms, including a handgun and an AR-15-style rifle, a semiautomatic weapon capable of firing 45 rounds per minute. He opened fire. Most of the bar patrons report that they initially thought the gunshots were part of the music, or perhaps some audio equipment malfunctioning. Then they saw the blood. People scrambled for safety. Some dropped to the floor, some ran, some hid in dressing rooms or bathrooms. Some shielded their friends or family from the bullets. As people on the back patio got wind of the danger, they took off, trying to help the wounded as they ran. A video shared online after the event, filmed from a nearby 7-11, doesn’t show any of the carnage, but the audio is clear and haunting: a string of gunshots rapid, loud and relentless. An Orlando police officer working extra duty at Pulse engaged in a gun battle with the shooter, and the suspect went deeper into the club. He ended up barricaded in a bathroom with hostages and negotiated with police for a couple of hours. In the meantime, responders outside bundled the injured into the back of pick-up trucks and transported them to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment. At 5 a.m., there was an explosion. According to Orlando Police Chief John Mina, the

Red eyes and lost looks became all too common. Photo by J.D. Casto

The blood stained tennis shoes of an ORMC doctor.

SWAT member’s helmet took a bullet from the killer.

Photo by dr. Joshua Corsa

Photo Courtesy Orlando Police Department

Orlando’s LGBT sanctuaries stand together after the tragedy.

Police vehicles occupy Orange Ave in the aftermath at Pulse.

Photo by Danny Garcia

Photo Courtesy Orlando Police Department

decision was made to breach the walls of the club, and officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter. That is when the killer died. Officers led about 30 hostages to safety. “Our First Responders and SWAT Team faced a hail of gunfire as they rescued the hostages, and we are blessed beyond words that none of them were gravely # o n e pu l s e

injured or killed,” wrote Mina in an email sent to his officers after the massacre, telling them how proud he is of the work they’d done. It was hard work. The police released an image of the helmet worn by a SWAT officer that was damaged by a bullet during the raid. Mina tweeted, “Kevlar helmet saved his life.” SWAT Commander Capt. Mark

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Canty describes what his officers saw when they entered Pulse. “It’s pretty horrific, you know. You talk about bodies laying around, they’re kind of just stacked up. You see that among the death, it’s pretty horrific,” Canty says. “Truckloads,” and “ambulance loads” of patients arrived at the hospital; these were the words of ORMC doctors speaking at a press

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conference June 14. According to Dr. Kathryn Bondani, the first patient they saw was relatively stable and they were hoping the other victims would arrive in a similar condition. They weren’t that lucky. Five patients in much worse condition arrived quickly after, followed by dozens more. Doctors and nurses flooded in to help. One of them, Dr. Joshua Corsa, posted a photo of his bloody sneakers to Facebook. “On these shoes, soaked between its fibers, is the blood of 54 innocent human beings. I don’t know which were straight, which were gay, which were black, or which were Hispanic. What I do know is that they came to us in wave upon wave of suffering, screaming, and death. And somehow, in that chaos, doctors, nurses, technicians, police, paramedics, and others, performed superhuman feats of compassion and care,” Corsa’s post reads. He says he’ll continue to wear the shoes until the last patient leaves his hospital because, “I never want to forget that night.” The shooter hit the community where it hurts most: their safe space. Pulse’s owner, Barbara Poma, co-founded the nightclub (along with Ron Legler, who declined to comment for this story) in memory of her brother John, who died of AIDS in 1991. Poma took down Pulse’s website and replaced it with a statement: “Like everyone in the country, I am devastated about the horrific events that have taken place today. Pulse, and the men and women who work there, have been my family for nearly 15 years. From the beginning, Pulse has served as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBTQ community. I want to express my profound sadness and condolences to all who have lost loved ones. Please know that my grief and heart are with you.” Cathy “Binks” Binkewicz, a Pulse bartender, reiterated that because Pulse was “calming” and “comfortable,” she never saw the violence coming. “The energy was very good in there. Very positive, always very good vibes in there. Just a loving place to be,” Binks says. Blue Star, who now owns and performs in The Venue,

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Continued on pg. 37 | uu |

Edward Sotomayor Jr.

Mercedez Marisol Flores

Stanley Almodovar III

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo

We see hate. | We say love. We see death. | We say life. We see chaos. | We say community.

Juan Ramon Guerrero Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz Luis S. Vielma Kimberly Morris

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez Oscar A Aracena-Montero Enrique L. Rios, Jr. Miguel Angel Honorato Javier Jorge-Reyes

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice Darryl Roman Burt II Deonka Deidra Drayton Alejandro Barrios Martinez Anthony Luis Laureanodisla Jean Carlos Mendez Perez Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez Amanda Alvear

Sam Flax and the arts community mourns the loss of innocent life. We stand proud and honor the deceased and their families in this time of profound sadness. We thank our community for coming together to make Orlando proud and our Nation great. We will never forget you.

We say love!

Martin Benitez Torres Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon

Joel Rayon Paniagua Jason Benjamin Josaphat Cory James Connel Juan P. Rivera Velazquez Luis Daniel Conde Shane Evan Tomlinson Juan Chevez-Martinez Jerald Arthur Wright Leroy Valentin Fernandez Tevin Eugene Crosby

Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega

Christopher Andrew Leinonen

Jean C. Nives Rodriguez

Angel L. Candelario-Padro

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala

Frank Hernandez

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool

Paul Terrell Henry

Yilmary Rodriguez Sulivan

Antonio Davon Brown

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| uu | Pulse from pg.35 was an entertainer, then entertainment director at Pulse for about six years. “Pulse has been a staple since the day it was born and conceived, and it grew with the times and the changes of the community,” Star says. “Always supportive and... a pillar of the community.” Even though they weren’t there during the shooting, the employees’ familiarity with Pulse made their mental picture of the attacks disturbingly vivid. “If you’ve worked there, you know the layout, you know the fabric of the venue, the nooks and crannies of the thing,” Star says. “Then you start to play these horrific things out in your head, because that was your common territory for so long. You think about the people and then you think about your coworkers and you think about your patrons and all of the circles. The devastation factor for this event is definitely the worst thing that you could possibly imagine, ever. I wouldn’t say that it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, because it’s just the worst thing ever. Period. It’s just the worst thing.”

Late Sunday morning: Inside Orlando

Once the news hit the dismayed community Sunday morning, two courses of action launched simultaneously. One, the people of Orlando rallied to help. Two, the people of Orlando refreshed a list of victims, over and over, praying not to see the name of a loved one. The city of Orlando created a web page listing victims’ names and ages, updated as next of kin was notified. First it was four. Then it was six. And on and on until all 49 names appeared. While that macabre list grew, a city mobilized. “Because of the scale of the crime, I asked the governor to declare a state of emergency. We are also issuing a state of emergency for the city of Orlando so that we can bring additional resources to bear to deal with the aftermath,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told reporters during a Sunday press conference. “Our focus is going to be on identifying the victims and notifying the families.” One of the first calls was

The devastation factor for this event is definitely the worst thing that you could possibly imagine, ever. I wouldn’t say that it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, because it’s just the worst thing ever. Period. It’s just the worst thing. —Blue Star

for blood donations. People lined up for miles and hours, until the blood centers ran out of supplies and asked them to make donations. Other helpers focused on supporting the victims’ friends and families. Dr. David Baker-Hargrove is the president of Two Spirit Health Services, who in partnership with Hope and Help, The GLBT Center, Zebra Coalition, Rollins College, Equality Florida, MBA Orlando, HRC and various other organizations are providing an emergency hotline and crisis counseling. Baker-Hargrove has experience as a disaster mental health responder and helped people after 9/11 and Hurricane Rita. “I knew exactly what I needed to do. We started to organize. The response from the counselors has been amazing,” Baker-Hargrove says, adding that they’ve signed on more than 450 volunteer counselors. He says the response was quiet at first, but things are picking up. “I had a feeling the [June 13] # o n e pu l s e

vigil would crack the egg and boy, oh boy, was I right,” he says, adding that a key partner in the effort is Lindsay Kincaide, with Hope and Help, who has been handling the complicated scheduling. They set up a counseling center at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando on Robinson Street, which Baker-Hargrove says is being used less as a counseling center and more as a place for volunteers to meet, because the demand has been for counselors to be sent “into the field.” For example, they’re arranging a support center onsite at Parliament House. He says they’ve probably spoken to hundreds of people in need of support so far but that number will grow. “We haven’t even begun yet to see the reaction to what happened on Saturday night,” Baker-Hargrove says. “The number of people hurting and broken in our community far

Continued on pg. 39 | uu |

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Mothers’ Talk Parental desperation over a terrible incident

Billy Manes

here are still many

unknowns about Saturday night’s incident at Pulse in Orlando. The narratives are disparate, there may have been an international angle, a homophobic angle, a marriage angle. We can’t know, and the more we scratch at that wound, the worse we are for it.

But there are stories of what has happened since, and the most heart-wrenching involve the victims’ mothers. The Guardian reports the story of Mina Justice exchanging text messages with her son Eddie as he was trapped in the nightclub. “I’m gonna die,” was one of Eddie’s texts to his mother encouraging her to call the police. “Call them mommy, now,” he messaged at 2:39 a.m. on June 12. Within a few hours, Eddie Mina was dead. Mother Brenda Lee Marquez McCool was dancing with her son Isaiah Henderson when the tragedy happened, the New York Daily News reports. Brenda saw him point the gun. She said, ‘Get down,’ to Isaiah and she got in front of him,” a friend told the paper. McCool was shot twice and was declared dead on Monday. Isaiah was pulled to safety. Christine Leinonen, who became one of the more visible mothers in the media mayhem via her tearful testimony, wasn’t certain of the fate of her son Christopher. She drove to Orlando to try to find him, find out whether he and his boyfriend had survived the massacre. I received a call that no mother should ever receive, ever,”Christine Leinonen wrote in a Facebook post, as reported by the New York Daily News.”I am at a complete loss. They have positively identified my son, Christopher. “ ... My heart is extremely heavy (and) I ask that you all continue to pray for me as well as other family members who have lost loved ones due to this senseless hate crime. I will never understand why or how this happened but I’m trusting God to see us through. I love you Christopher so much,” she told Michigan’s mlive.com. “I’ve been waiting by the emergency room waiting, seeing if anyone gets called in,” she told ABC news in an interview Sunday. “They said there are a lot of dead bodies in the club ... The hospital said there are some bodies at the hospital, that they came in and died.” This tragedy affected more than the victims, more than policy. This tragedy has broken families to pieces. Our thoughts are with the families, and the mothers.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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| uu | Pulse from pg.37 exceeds that, and we’re going to see that more and more in the coming weeks and months. People are broken.” There’s another layer to these support efforts, because people volunteering, donating blood and providing other services need supplies, water and snacks and office supplies and paper towels and rubber gloves and all of the other things we take for granted when a disaster isn’t unfolding. Donations of those items have been pouring in, and The GLBT Center and The Venue have taken point on collecting and distributing the donations. Both locations also have grief counselors on hand... and some furry friends. Star says The Venue hosted comfort dogs, and when she saw them, she smiled for the first time in two days.

Monday evening: Candlelight vigil

Less than 48 hours after the sound of bullets filled Pulse, the city gathered on the lawn between the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and City Hall for a #OneOrlando candlelight vigil. According to United Against Poverty Orlando, about 7,500 people attended the June 13 vigil. Many carried signs with the names of those who lost their lives; some clutched photos of victims, others carried banners with messages of love and hope. Several areas along the lawn were dedicated to memorials filled with flowers, cards and small stuffed animals. A section on the lawn had six large streamers, each a different color of the rainbow, laid next to each other in the shape of a remembrance ribbon. The mood was not only that of love for our city but of a need to help the community. Several groups walked throughout the crowd passing out bottles of water, snacks and fruit. The vigil started shortly after 7 p.m. with former Orlando state representative Joe Saunders, holding back tears, talking about coming to Orlando in 2001 to attend the University of Central Florida and remembering when Pulse opened their doors in 2004. Saunders then introduced the Orlando Gay Chorus who performed Cyndi Lauper’s’ “True Colors.”

Mayor Dyer and Orange County mayor Teresa Jacobs, along with many local and state officials, also addressed the crowd. “Hate visited our city,” Dyer said. “For reasons we don’t fully understand, our city and our very way of life was attacked. Someone purposely sought out men and women of our – of our – LGBT community. He took the lives of 49 of our neighbors and loved ones and injured dozens more.” Dyer thanked the Central Florida LGBT groups and organizations and the local police department for their efforts to help the grieving city. “He murdered sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. And ended the dreams of many young people who were just starting their adult lives in the city of Orlando,” he said. “Tonight, we remain a city in pain. We are mourning. We are angry.” A series of speakers from all walks of life took the stage, introduced by Saunders, all offering support and love to the crowd. Members of several churches and faith-based radio programs spoke about conquering the hate and violence with love and acceptance, offering support to the LGBT community. Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, condemned the actions of the shooter, saying the suspect’s views do not represent the views of the Islam faith. “We don’t want any more Sandy Hooks. We don’t want any more massacres like Charleston. We are tired of massacres like San Bernardino,” Musri said. “We want peace.” When Poma, Ledger and the crew of Pulse stepped onto the stage, they were greeted with thunderous applause and cheers. Neema Bahrami, the promoter for Pulse’s Latin Night, was there during the shooting. He told the crowd that Pulse will reopen. Equality Florida’s Carlos Guillermo Smith spoke in both English and Spanish, addressing the crowd as a “Latino, cisgender, gay man.” Because the killer attacked on Pulse’s Latin Night, most of the victims in the attack were of Hispanic descent, and many representatives from various Central Florida Hispanic organizations spoke to the packed lawn. # o n e pu l s e

Smith passionately told the gathered mourners to stand up against all the phobias in this nation. President of the Human Rights Campaign Chad Griffin spoke about the need to end violence and enact smart gun control. As the sun set, First Unitarian Church of Orlando’s Reverend Kathy Schmitz, and other Orlando faith leaders, asked the gathered mourners to light their candles. The bells in the tower of the nearby First United Methodist Church of Orlando tolled 49 times, once for every life lost. “Be at peace, my friends. There is a long journey ahead and we will make it together,” Schmitz said after the bells had silenced. Saunders addressed the crowd with final thoughts, ending the program simply asking for people to “take care of each other.”

The coming weeks and months: a marathon

Most of us, already exhausted, must now look ahead to a road that is long and grim. “I know that very quickly, the media is going to pack up their cameras and go home,” says Baker-Hargrove. Most of Orlando will go back to work, so to speak, and the attention will go away. The brokenness that is in our community will still be here, and will be forgotten very quickly. We understand that that’s the reality, and [the counseling team] are going to be here.” Binks is confident that Pulse will rebuild, and when it does, she’ll go back to work. “I think everything needs to settle for awhile,” she says. “I’m sure we’ll hear something in the near future but we definitely hope to continue to support our community. Establishments such as Pulse are there to make people come together and be a loving environment.” Star is trying to juggle her role managing services and donations through The Venue with her role as a member of the Pulse family. “I’ve got friends who don’t have jobs, they have people in their lives that they have lost. It’s not like they just don’t have work, they also climbed over dead bodies to get out of the club. They also lost their friends. They have horrific stories about hiding in the dressing room for two hours or crawling through AC vents. They have stories of gunshots

Continued on pg. 41 | uu |

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Bleeding hearts Blood donations in need after tragedy, but FDA ban on gay men blood donations remain in effect

Anna Johnson

he shooting at Pulse

Orlando in the early morning hours June 12 left 50 people dead and more than 50 more injured. Many of the victims were rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center, some requiring extensive surgical procedures.

Shortly after 10 a.m., the Florida-based, multi-city blood bank OneBlood posted a Facebook message. “Please share! There is an urgent need for O-Negative, O-Positive and AB Plasma blood donors following a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. Dozens of people have been injured and taken to area hospitals. The need for blood continues. All eligible O-Negative, O-Positive and AB donors are urged to please donate today,” the post read. There were 14 blood buses throughout the Orlando area taking donations in addition to the 10 local donation centers. News outlets began to report on the need for blood and the post was shared over social media. Reports spread through several outlets, falsely reporting that the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood had been lifted. Memes and posts started to pop up with the message, “No one will be turned away, all blood accepted (including gay men). They are screening all blood.” It is unclear how the rumor started, but OneBlood promptly corrected it with a statement on the organization’s Facebook and Twitter in the early afternoon. “All FDA guidelines remain in effect for blood donation. There are false reports circulating that FDA rules were being lifted. Not true,” they stated. The ban on gay men giving blood was put in place in 1983 when the HIV epidemic was just beginning and there was no way to accurately test blood for the virus. The ban was intended to prevent any man who had been sexually active with another man at any point in his life from ever donating blood. The ban was eased in 2015 when new legislation passed that allowed gay men to donate if they had been completely abstinent for one year or more. Many LGBT advocates maintain that even the adjusted ban is discriminatory. Despite the communication mishap – which many took to social media to rant about – the turnout was immense. Lines of people were seen outside almost every donation location, with wait times to give as high as three hours at some sites. Many braved the heat and waited their turn to have blood taken. By early afternoon, many donation centers had reached their capacity and had to start turning donors away. The centers urged those people to come back later in the week and make appointments to donate. OneBlood continues to ask for a steady supply of donations and are booked at many of their centers for the next several weeks. If you want to donate blood, go to OneBlood.org to schedule an appointment to guarantee a spot.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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#OneOrlando Candlelight Vigil

Photo by jake stevens

Photo by Ian Suarez

| uu | Pulse from pg.39 and people running. And our business is what they know, so how do you go back and work in a bar? How do the patrons that were there just go back and have a good time? It changes everything,” Star says. She says it’s crucial that the community – both the local LGBT community and Orlando as a whole – understand that this recovery is “a marathon,” a longterm situation. A marathon recovery needs financing. Several GoFundMe accounts

Photo by jake stevens

Photo by j.D. Casto

have been established for the victims, survivors and their families. The Pulse Victim Fund, started by Ida Eskamani on behalf of Equality Florida, has more than 81,000 individual donations totaling $3.7 million. GoFundMe themselves is the largest single donator with $100,000. A second GoFundMe, started by The GLBT Center’s board president Timothy Vargas, has more than 8,000 individual donations and has raised more than $300,000. The city of Orlando has created a OneOrlando Fund to support victims, their families, affected communities and to fight the # o n e pu l s e

underlying causes of the tragic shooting. So far, the Walt Disney Company has donated $1 million, Darden Restaurants donated $500,000, The Orlando Magic and JetBlue have each kicked in $100,000 and Mears has contributed $50,000. That might sound like a lot of money, but it goes far beyond simply covering funeral costs. There are severely injured victims whose recovery will be lengthy and expensive, who are likely unable to work for a long time. All of Pulse’s employees are newly and indefinitely unemployed. And yes, the families of the deceased have to pay for memorials

watermark Your LGBT life.

Photo by j.D. Casto

and cremations and cemetery plots and travel costs and time away from work. “So I want people to remember that with the vehemence that they are showing right now to volunteer and help, that same drive has to continue for months, for a year, for all of this time while everybody tries to find their footing again,” Star says. “So I just encourage people to take it easy and move at a nice steady pace. Because we’re going to need people for a long time. We’re going to need help for a long time.” Yes, Orlando is in mourning. And we’re not done. As of press

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time, 27 victims remain in the hospital. Six were critically ill. Five in “guarded condition.” And around the city, 49 families have funerals to plan. We have grieving and processing and crying to do, and it’s going to take a while. But with the support of the community at large and allies around the world, Orlando will reach the end of this road. We will rebuild. Our pulse will keep beating. Jeremy Williams contributed to this story.

Nicole Dudenhoefer was the lead reporter in gathering images and descriptions of the 49 deceased victims, may they rest in peace.

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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in-depth: st. pete pride

EYES ON US

eric skains and st. pete pride bid to bring Worldpride to tampa bay in 2022

Jeremy Williams

lorida’s largest pride

celebration is back and turning the volume up for the world to hear as it takes over the streets of the Grand Central District June 24-26.

While St. Pete Pride will be pulling off another celebration on the Gulf Coast, they will also have their eyes on 2022. The year will mark the 20th anniversary of St. Pete Pride and is the year they are bidding on WorldPride. “We’ll be finalizing our bid as # o n e pu l s e

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

soon as this Pride is over with,” St. Pete Pride Executive Director Eric Skains says. “We’ll be finalizing what the bid will look like and sending it over. So it will be in by 2017 for the host [city] of 2022 WorldPride.” continued on pg. 47 | uu |

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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MIGUEL FULLER host of the hot 101.5 morning radio shoW The MiGUeL shoW

iguel fuller has known,

even as a young child, who he really was inside, and he wasn’t going to let anyone tell him any different. Locking himself away in his room, Fuller knew he was destined to be on the radio.

“When I was in elementary school, I used to lock myself in the bedroom and I would record little cassette tapes of The Miguel Show,” Fuller says. “It was sort of Jerry Springer-esque. Like I would be the announcer, the host, the guest, the audience. I would just film these episodic things on tape back when I was younger, and so I always had a fascination with the audio medium.” That fascination led him to pursue a life on the radio, which brought him to the Tampa Bay area a little more than a year ago to become the host of his own morning radio show, The Miguel Show. Every weekday morning, Fuller and co-host Holly O’Connor talk about everything from pop culture to guilty pleasures to their personal lives, being as open and authentic with the audience as they are with each other. The Will & Grace persona they have on the radio comes from a nearly 10-year friendship that has had them seeing each other through marriages, pregnancies and boyfriends. “I have friends who have been in radio for a lot longer than I have, and they talk about how they use to have to change the pronouns of their partners when they were on the air, and when people would see them out in public they would have to walk away. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with that,” Fuller says. The ability to be out and proud – not only with people at work, but with his audience, too – has given Fuller a large voice in Tampa Bay that has gotten him recognized by the community, and St. Pete Pride. “To me [being named a grand marshal] feels like a pat on the back for being true to myself and for always being sort of a voice for the gay community without trying to be a spokesperson. I always say this whenever I talk on the radio: I never want to be the spokesperson, because I can’t speak for everyone, I don’t have that authority to, if anyone does. But all I can do is speak from my heart and my experience,” Fuller says. # o n e pu l s e

ANASTASIA “ANNIE” HIOTIS

coo of carton fields laW firm

hen you have a large

organization like Equality Florida, with all its people and parts moving so efficiently together, it can sometimes be difficult to pick out one piece of the machine to recognize their accomplishments. The fact that the community was able to single out Anastasia Hiotis, known as “Annie” to her friends, speaks to the hard work and dedication she has in the fight for LGBT equality.

As the chief operating officer of Carlton Fields, a national law firm based in Tampa, Hiotis has championed for equal rights mainly by being open with whom she is at work. “When I came out at work, I realized that I had been hardwired not to talk about being gay my entire professional career, because I never wanted it to interfere with my professional development,” Hiotis says. “In the mid-2000’s I just said, ‘There’s something more that I need to be doing, and I think I can help people if I come out at work,’ which I did — and at Carlton Fields, I never thought I’d be able to do it. But it was such a liberating experience, and everybody at the firm was just totally fine with it.” Shortly after coming out at work, Hiotis began to work with Equality Florida. Equality Florida helped expose Hiotis to a different group of people than she had ever met before. Ed Lally, Equality Florida’s Tampa Bay development officer served as a great mentor for her. “He’s like Mr. Professional Fundraiser, so I sort of cut my teeth with him in the process, and it’s just been a lot of fun getting people to recognize what the mission of Equality Florida has been and getting them involved in the process,” Hiotis says. Even with all the work Hiotis has done in the community, being selected as one of St. Pete Pride’s grand marshals still came as a surprise. “It’s so humbling to be recognized,” she says. “There are so many people that do so much, and for them to recognize me means a lot to me personally.”

watermark Your LGBT life.

LUCAS WEHLE trans and youth program coordinator for metro Wellness and community centers

t 23 years of age,

Lucas Wehle is the youngest persons selected to be a grand marshal for St. Pete Pride, and as a transgender male, this year may be the most important year for him to be recognized.

As of the end of May, 13 transgender women have been murdered in the U.S., and the national spotlight has been on the issue of what public restrooms transgender people should be allowed to use. “People need to get educated,” Wehle says. “We need many stories and many experiences to be shared to educate other people and to enlighten them. That’s the first step.” Wehle knows a little bit about transgender education. Since graduating from the University of South Florida in 2015, Wehle has been the Trans and Youth Coordinator for Metro Wellness and Community Centers. “So they created the position here for me to work with trans programs because that was my expertise and my biggest passion,” Wehle says. “They also expanded youth programs since my education was in that field and I had experience in that. A lot of what I do is mentor trans youth and run programs that primarily have trans youth in them.” Wehle grew up in conservative Plant City, and first came out as a lesbian in high school before realizing that he was actually transgender. “I was super involved in church, and when I came out I just got that all pulled out from underneath me. I wasn’t allowed to go to that church anymore; I was literally told that I couldn’t come around, and I did everything in that church, you know, and all those people were my family. And my immediate family did not accept me either,” Wehle says. Wehle came out as trans five years ago when he was a sophomore at USF and got involved in P.R.I.D.E. Alliance and the Trans+ Student Union. His activism in LGBT rights, specifically trans youth, allowed him to become one of the most valuable assets at Metro and led him to be selected as a grand marshal at this year’s parade. “I’m anxious; I’m nervous. I don’t really like eyes on me. I don’t like too much attention,” Wehle says. “But I’m not going to undermine that by any means. I’m very excited. I’ve decided this is my day, you know? I’m super young; I’m not going to have an experience like this ever again in my life.”

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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| uu | st. Pete Pride from pg.43

So while no formal bids have been submitted, three cities have sent letters of interest to host; St. Petersburg, Copenhagen and Las Vegas. If chosen, St. Petersburg would become only the seventh city to host WorldPride, and only the second in the United States. The first WorldPride in the U.S. will be in New York City in 2019 held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. While no one from InterPride, the organization behind WorldPride, will be in attendance this year in any formal capacity, that doesn’t mean they won’t be paying attention. “We all travel and see each other’s Prides, so a lot of them know what St. Pete Pride looks like and will have,” Skains says. “But if and when we get it, [St. Pete’s WorldPride] won’t look like anything we currently do.” The details are scarce at this point, and nothing will be finalized until the official bid is completed, but Skains has an idea of what St. Pete Pride would like it to be. “So we know these events will all take place during this WorldPride span of about 14days in June 2022,” he says. Skains hopes to make WorldPride a collection of events rather than just one set event. “We’ve been talking with TIGLFF and Scott [Skyberg] about having a film festival during WorldPride,” Skains says. “We also want to reach out to the Suncoast Softball League about doing a softball tournament during Pride that year as well.” St. Pete Pride has spoken with several museums in the area about featuring LGBT exhibits and reached out to organizations in the Bay Area about hosting several events. “When people come here for WorldPride, we want them to see more than just the Pride events; we want them to see the whole city,” Skains says. “There are a lot of attractions and organizations that do events throughout the year that people visiting for Pride may not usually get to see, and this is an opportunity to showcase some of that for them.” Along with showcasing the Tampa Bay area, St. Pete Pride will be organizing the bid

We’ve been talking with TIGLFF and Scott [Skyberg] about having a film festival during WorldPride.

ST. PETE PRIDE 2016 SCHEDULE MFA STONEWALL RECEPTION Wednesday, june 22, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. museum of fine arts The Stonewall Reception began as a few friends coming together to enjoy the arts during the week of St. Pete Pride, but now it has become the best way to launch you into a Pride state of mind. So get dressed up and come be fancy at the Museum of Fine Arts. Enjoy open premium bar and light hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are $30.

PRIDE IN FASHION

—eric skains

thursday, june 23, 6:30- 8:30 p.m. tyrone sQuare mall

based on the specifications set by WorldPride. “In order to do WorldPride, we have to meet certain criteria. USF St. Pete is doing a series of seminars that we hope will continue. A part of it is having some type of conference aspect to the event, so we’ll be looking at doing that. And we would love to partner USF St. Pete, should the success of what they’re doing now with their seminars work out for them as much as we hope it does,” Skains says. “Then there are a lot of aspects to the event that we already do. There has to be a gala, there has to be a parade, there has to be a finale event and there has to be a kickoff event. A lot of these things we already do. We just want to expand upon those and make them much bigger and grander than what they already are.” St. Petersburg hosting WorldPride would likely draw larger crowds for what is already the largest Pride celebration in Florida. “We saw when they did it in Jerusalem in 2006, I believe, a spike of about a quarter of a million people and then in Toronto, in 2014, you see a spike of about a half a million people,” Skains says. “So we’re kind of playing with those numbers over two weeks – that’s not all at one time. We’re obviously not going to fit all those people at one time; that’s over a two-week period of combined attendance. So we’re looking at an increase, we would like to see 200,000250,000 people on the minimum side, and that’s just people coming into town. That’s on top # o n e pu l s e

people who live here and will be visiting events.” Those kinds of numbers most likely wouldn’t continue on through the years after the WorldPride events, but Skains hopes what will continue is the legacy of what they put together. “When we bring everything together, if we bring the film festival and we bring in some kind of sporting event, we hope to continue that on after WorldPride. We don’t want to just do it as a one-time thing and then we are done. We want the people who attend every year to benefit from it,” Skains says. Being a part of an elite group of cities who host WorldPride would not only boost the visibility of St. Pete Pride but also the view of the city as a whole. “I think it’s going to be something that gets the city, and the area, recognized,” Skains says. “We literally travel the world promoting Pride; we are out there and we are bringing people in, telling them come here to St. Petersburg and see us, and it’s more than just sending magazines to people. “We have a presence in no less than six international Prides, and one of the biggest questions we get when we travel to these Prides, or even some of the Prides across the U.S., people ask us ‘Does St. Petersburg, Russia, really have a Pride?’ So that is one of the biggest things we try and address is how we differentiate ourselves on the map and I think that this will really help people see this area the way we who live here see it.”

watermark Your LGBT life.

Join Macy’s at the Tyrone Square Mall as they show you the hottest fashions for the summer and fill you in on what everyone will be wearing this Pride season. Come out and enjoy the live music, fashion show and refreshments.

ROOFTOP PARTY, PRESENTED BY HOTEL ZAMORA thursday, june 23, 8:00- 10:00 p.m. hotel zamora’s castile rooftop bar After getting your fashionista groove on at the Tyrone Square Mall, get to the Castile Bar on Hotel Zamora’s rooftop on St. Pete Beach for the Pride Kickoff Party. You’ll feel like Joan Collins on the set of Dynasty as you peer off into the beautiful gulf; waves crashing, the stars shining and the sea breeze blowing through your hair. This is a free event, so come enjoy the live entertainment and Cabana Boy cocktails you divas you.

shoes on and grab your beau or gal (or both) and see local legends DJ L-Mo, Karmic Tattoo and Jennifer Real entertain before Deborah Cox takes the stage for a sizzling hot concert. General admission is free, but since this is a charity concert, make a donation if you can. A Pit Pass for $20 will put you up front at the stage.

ST. PETE PRIDE 5K saturday, june 25, 7:30- 11:00 a.m. city of gulfport Have you ever been to a Pride event and thought, “This is amazing, but what I could really use is an early morning run?” If so, we say, REALLY? But then we say, “Good for you!” For those who fall into that category, St. Pete Pride will have the annual Pride 5K in Gulfport. The race will be followed by a Finish Line Party featuring live entertainment and top-performer awards. Entrance fee is $25.

PRIDE PARADE saturday, june 25, 5:00- 11:00 p.m. grand central district This is the big daddy of the week, the St. Pete Pride Parade. The block party will kickoff at 5:00 p.m. with the parade starting at sunset. This nighttime parade will feature more than 150 organizations with over 4,500 marchers all dolled up in lights and floats, tossing beads to the spectators in the Historic Kenwood neighborhood and Grand Central District. The parade route will stay the same as in years past starting in the lot next the Metro and travelling down Central Ave from 30th Street to 22nd Street. For premium viewing, check into getting a Glamstand seat in front of Bandit Coffee Company starting at $40.

PRIDE FESTIVAL

SP2 CONCERT FEATURING DEBORAH COX

sunday, june 26, 11:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. grand central district

friday, june 24, 7:00- 11:00 p.m. 26th street and central avenue What’s better than a nighttime street concert in the world’s greatest city? A concert that will also help the community. Proceeds will benefit the St. Pete Pride Community Grants Program, meaning every cent raised will go to Tampa Bay area non-profit groups that are helping build up the community. So get those dancing

After last year’s epic run, the festival length is expanding another block and will now feature over 350 exhibitors on both sides of Central Avenue, reaching from 27th Street down to 22nd Street. And believe us y’all, this festival has everything: food, drinks, clothes, souvenirs, organizations and churches passing out information, adult stuff, legal advice – the list goes on and on. Come out and mingle with the community and celebrate your Pride.

MORE INFO: St. Pete Pride has many other events going on to celebrate Pride throughout the month of June, including sports events, pool parties, after parties and more. You can ﬁnd a full list of the events at StPetePride.com/2016EventListing.

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arts and entertainment

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

St. Pete Pride gives us a full female line-up for your listening pleasure at the SP2 Concert, headlined by the queen of the dance remix, Deborah Cox

Jeremy Williams

emented as an integral piece in the

total St. Pete Pride package, the SP2 Concert kicks down the door to Pride weekend every year and raises the excitement decibels that carry the energy through the parade and festival. The all-female line-up, which will take the stage June 24 at 26th and Central, is headlined by legendary dance diva Deborah Cox. She will be joined that night by St. Peteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own soulful, powerhouse voice Jennifer Real and the rocking goddesses of Karmic Tattoo. Cox took a few moments from her busy schedule to speak with Watermark about her upcoming music and theater projects, as well as why she has so much pride for the community.

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

you have been very busy in the tampa bay and central florida area lately. besides spending a month in sarasota on stage in JosePhine, Which i Want to ask you more about in a minute, you just played the parliament house for gay days and you are playing st. pete pride at the end of the month, both events you have played before. What is it about the area that keeps

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

| uu | Deborah Cox from pg.49

bringing you back?

The people. I mean firstly the interest that the people at the Asolo Theatre had in the Josephine property was just amazing. They were really forward in thinking as far as what needed to be the next phase of the show, so it was really nice that they came on board and allowed our production to take over the city. We had a sold out run there and I got chance to connect with a lot of really amazing people. Gay Days has become kind of a staple for me if it works out with our schedules. It is always a fun party to perform at and there is so much love there. I go back a ways with the LGBT community, so I just love to perform at Pride and give the fans a chance to see the show and hear the songs and come party with me.

You do play a lot of Pride and LGBT events. Why is it so important to you to perform at Prides?

It’s important to back up what I believe and feel passionately about, and that’s that I have always been a person that believes in equality and inclusion. This community has been a huge part of my fan base and supportive of whatever endeavors I’ve decided to do. So I try to find the opportunity where it can work and party with the fans. It’s a very special group of people to me. I have a lot of fan bases – the R&B fans, the ones who the jazz stuff I do – but the LGBT community is very, very close to my heart. I understand that struggle, so it holds a special place in my heart when I get the chance to perform at a Pride event. The line-up that St. Pete Pride has this year is an all-female line-up, they have some amazing local female performers and then you are headlining. Is it more empowering or energetic knowing that the girls will be rocking it out that night?

It’s always great when you get to share the comradery.

Years ago I did Lilith Fair with Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, The Dixie Chicks, Missy Elliott; it was quite a moment. I love moments where we can celebrate being women in the craft. There can be a lot of hardships that come with the territory, you’re too bitchy if you stand up for yourself but if you don’t stand up for yourself then you get walked all over, so it’s wonderful to get into that space with a community of women who represent the same things I do so that is going to be fun.

A lot of people don’t realize this, but you are Canadian and you got to go home to Toronto and perform at World Pride when it was there in 2014. St. Pete Pride is putting in a bid for World Pride to bring it here in 2022 for its 20th anniversary. Any insight on what we can expect as someone who has been to one?

Oh man, it is just one of those moments where the whole world is on one chord, the essence of the festival is just a really moving experience. It’s like being at the Olympics, Mardi Gras and Pride all at the same time. You just feel the energy of the people and how much as a community they have progressed, so that energy goes into the performances, it goes into the parties, it permeates into the streets during the parade. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Then being able to do it in my hometown. Canada is already a pretty progressive country you know. We have kind of led the charge as far as equal rights and marriage equality, so it was just that much more celebratory because we were able to invite members of other countries to come celebrate with us and see the progress that can be made. You mentioned earlier that you just wrapped up a run at the Asolo Theatre as Josephine Baker in Josephine. Why was it important to you to play this role?

There are so many parallels between the two of us. My focus has always represented equality and essentially # o n e pu l s e

that has always been at the forefront of her life as well; being an activist, being a trendsetter, being someone who has broken down that glass ceiling and to do it in that time. During the 1920s and 30s, a black woman to deal with what she had been dealt; it’s something that I think needs to be told. She is one of our American heroes and icons, and she deserves to be celebrated. We hear so many stories, but this is one that needed to be exposed so that’s why I signed on to be a part of this team to get this story to Broadway. It’s just a long process with so many moving parts. You are working with the theater owners and the producers and investors, as well as they creative team all trying to come together to find the right time and place to showcase it. So yeah, it’s a long process but it’s worth it and this project is really worth fighting for.

Is there an estimated release date on the new album?

There isn’t, no. While I’m doing The Bodyguard I am going to be trying to finish up some new music by then as well [Cox will be hitting the road this Fall as the lead in the stage adaptation of the 1992 hit Whitney Houston film The Bodyguard]. So the music is a little bit in flux. There will definitely be some singles though.

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With this being a very strange political year for the U.S., as a Canadian do you sometimes look at it and think what the hell is wrong with some of these people?

[Laughs] It’s just a different mentality politically. We need to get away from the shock value and get back to the substance of what is best of the country, and now being a mother and having kids it’s even more important to stay on top of what those issues are as well. It’s not easy raising a son and two daughters and I want to make sure I give them perspective and give them hope and pass on what they need to be good citizens and good human beings. That’s all a parent wants.

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

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watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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books

Turn the page

Some excellent summer reading choices for your hearts and minds

Next Happiest Place on Earth By Greg Triggs

(above)

Rollercoasters: Greg Triggs makes the fantasy real.

ou know the drill. It’s incredibly

humid and everything is sticking to your hair. Your sweat rings are now a sign of empowerment and not a reason for embarrassment. You’ve got this. This is Florida, the place you go to in order to remove your shirt anyway, but for reasons of distraction – even enlightenment, despite the sun – it’s also a chance to let your eyes wander across pages. To that end, we present a not-at-all comprehensive review of lit-bits that we’ve been handling; some with local ties, some not. Now put on your tanning butter and get to riding the consonants into the vowels. Reading is learning, and learning is fun. Have a great summer! # o n e pu l s e

watermark Your LGBT life.

e’re often reminded Orlando is a young city, relatively speaking, and one place that’s evidenced is in our stories. With some exceptions, the City Beautiful is more known as a place where stories come to be memorialized in dark rides and mascots. But Greg Triggs is among the scribes who seek to give Orlando its literary due. His freshman novel, The Next Happiest Place on Earth, is veritable love letter to our city and the unique lives we live in the shadow of The Mouse. Triggs will be familiar to longtime readers of Watermark as he was a regular freelancer in the ‘90s, reviewing theatre productions and interviewing such luminaries as Bea Arthur and Lily Tomlin before settling into a regular column called “What Would Greg Do,” a showcase for his acerbic wit in which he commented on anything he saw fit. In fact it was his very last WWGD column that provided Triggs with the inspiration for this book; making a move to New York City to be with his partner, noted artist Matt Nolen, and to build a new career. Triggs said au revoir to Orlando in that last installment, noting how wonderful it had been to live and work in a city that has fireworks every single night. From that spark to the book you can now purchase on Amazon, Next Happiest Place took the author seven and a half years to complete. He laughs when asked about his writing rituals. As owner of “the world’s smallest production company” Strategic Entertainment, boasting clients such as the Tribeca Film Festival and the World Science

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

Festival and co-producing the longform improv show Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, Triggs wrote his book when he could carve out the time, but that turned out to be a plus. “Boy, did I avoid dealing with the true emotion for a while,” Triggs told Watermark, reflecting on the writing process. “I don’t want to sound corny, but real life provided some insights. I think there’s a

“The book now takes on a life of its own that has very little to do with me.” —Greg Triggs

little bit of faith that’s going on there; if you don’t know the answer, the answer will come to you. I’ve always been deadline driven; there was a reward for doing things differently this time.” Next Happiest Place finds recently divorced Frances Fiore moving from New York City to Orlando with her cat and undefined baggage that is carefully unpacked through the course of the tale. Our heroine has been hired as an art director for Planet Binger, a theme park centered around a world

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Feast on culinary masterpieces by St. Pete’s most celebrated chefs. Each evening includes tastings, signature drinks and a musical performance.

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KELLY DEBOR, Managing Partner & Pastry Chef at Slate Door Brew. Musical performance TBD. 6-8:30 p.m.

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MATTHEW RAINEY, Executive Chef at Rococo Steak. Musical performance by Joe Braccio. 6-8:30 p.m.

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# o n e pu l s e

watermark Your LGBT life.

813.229.STAR (7827) • STRAZCENTER.ORG Group Sales (10+ get a discount): 813.222.1016 or 1047 Events, days, dates, times, performers and prices are subject to change without notice. Handling fees will apply.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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| uu | summer Reading from pg.53

famous bunny cartoon character. The workplace Frances encounters will be familiar to those who have been employed by Disney, as Triggs drew on his 12-year career as a cast member to create this fictional land, complete with its own history, to both lampoon and honor life in the theme park industry. Seen through Frances’ fish-out-ofwater eyes, our vacation culture, where a nametag is considered downright vital, is giggleinducing and endearing. “The irony that you can find real life in a land of make believe delights me,” Triggs writes in the book’s acknowledgements. Like Triggs who came down from the north to the Sunshine State many years ago to do improv on Pleasure Island, Frances learns that there is more to Orlando than Binger Bunny. “Nothing is real in Orlando, right? It’s all make-believe,” she says to her love interest, who points out real life is happening right before her. Frances’ Planet Binger life is juxtaposed with real things like marriage, children, death and love. You can’t help thinking Next Happiest Place will help dispel some misperceptions about living in our quirky burg. Triggs chose to self-publish the book because the alternative route presented too many variables that decreased the odds of success — finding an agent, making certain that agent is the right fit, that agent finding a publisher, etc. Though there are different self-publishing models to consider, he chose a more “partnered publisher” that helps with copyright, getting a copy to the Library of Congress and barcoding for a percentage of the sales. He is understandably thrilled to find the book has been purchased in New Zealand, England, Africa and Qatar. “The book now takes on a life of its own that has very little to do with me,” muses Triggs as he considers how the dynamic of being a book author is different from his other endeavors. “I don’t think it’s about me, because now’s the time the audience will let me know what it is. My intentions will be part of that, but it’s not going to everything about it.” — Scottie Campbell

The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love and Loss

Ask a Queer Chick: A Guide to Sex, Love and Life for Girls Who Dig Girls

by anderson cooper and gloria vanderbilt

by lindsay king-miller

t is sometimes difficult to be open and honest with a family member. The difficulty is compounded when you are one of the most famous journalists in the world and your mother is a celebrity socialite with a dynasty name, but so is the life of Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt. The usually very private mother-son duo penned the tell-all memoir, The Rainbow Comes and Goes, in a manner as unconventional as their relationship. The book, told entirely in email correspondence between Cooper and Vanderbilt over the course of one year, explores the ups and downs of growing up as a celebrity child in the 20th century. The pair holds nothing back discussing the suicide of Cooper’s older brother (witnessed by his mother), Vanderbilt’s dive into alcoholism and sexual promiscuity (she ran the gauntlet of A-list celebrities), as well as Cooper’s coming out to his mother and her own lesbian relationship when she was younger. The Rainbow Comes and Goes will not make you envy or pity the “poor little rich girl”; more likely it will leave you with a sense that, no matter our lot in life, at the end of the day we are all just humans capable of great suffering and even greater strength. —Jeremy Williams

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watermark Your LGBT life.

his whimsical guide released earlier this year pulls from the acerbic wisdom of author Lindsay KingMiller’s column on lady-website-to-die-for thehairpin.com and lays out some basic rules of engagement and disengagement in the queer community. Chapters like “Porn versus Reality” (“Trust me on this: Real lesbians have sex literally every way you can imagine and some you probably haven’t thought of yet.”); “The Reverse U-Haul: The World’s Worst Lesbian Sex Position” (“Yes, you do have to move out. Yes, really. Yes, even if you couldn’t possibly afford a place this nice on your own. Yes, even if it will upset your goldfish. Yes, even if your favorite Doc Martens are technically her Doc Martens and you’re not sure you can live without them. You cannot continue living with your ex.”) – they all make for a sometimes hilarious, sometimes just plain true read of how we live LGBT life now, especially as ladies who love ladies. The book steps further into the future with a sort of call to arms on the “marriage isn’t everything” front, declaring that “marriage equality is only a minor component of what must be achieved before queer and trans activists can call it a day.” All in all, it’s a fun take on what we take in everyday, right down to lesbian hair and wedding attire, but it’s also a reasonably serious document of what it is we’re becoming. A queer chick knows.

When Your Child Is Gay by Wesley c. davidson and jonathan l. tobkes

ere at Watermark, we sit in a comfortable little LGBTfriendly bubble. If my child came out, I would know where to find resources that make the process as safe and loving as possible, and I would how to find support for myself and our family, to keep ourselves both mentally healthy and emotionally equipped to face any roadblocks that lie ahead. It’s easy to forget that many, many people live outside of this bubble, and should their child come out, they might feel helpless and lost. When Your Child Is Gay is a practical manual for parents, with chapters titled “Fear to Fearless,” “Loss to Gain” and “Acceptance to Celebration,” designed to help parents navigate what can be a frightening and confusing process. With an emphasis on communication and unconditional love, authors Wesley C. Davidson and Jonathan L. Tobkes, MD employ case studies and action plans in response to common challenges and issues parents face when their child comes out. “Every child dreams of the perfect coming out,” the book states. When Your Child is Gay increases parents’ chances of providing just that.

—Jamie Hyman

—Billy Manes

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

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# o n e pu l s e

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

community calendar

event planner

arts+entertainment

orlando

A Very Special LGBT Pride Celebration in Mount Dora,

Beebs, June 17, House of Blues, Orlando. 407-934-2583; HouseofBlues.com

Featuring Internationally Acclaimed Gay Filmmaker Daniel Karslake

Grease Sing-along, June 17, The Abbey, Orlando. 866-468-7630; AbbeyOrlando.com

friday June 24, 6:00-9:00 p.m. mount dora community Building at 520 n. Baker street

Young Frankenstein, June 17 – July 3, Moonlight Players Theatre, Clermont. 352-319-1116 vox Audio live! , June 18, Parliament House, Orlando. 407425 7571; ParliamentHouse.com los Duenos Del Party, June 18, House of Blues, Orlando. 407934-2583; HouseofBlues.com Spring Awakening, June 19-26, Dr.Phillips Performing Arts Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org Maks & val live on Tour: Our Way, June 22, Dr.Phillips Performing Arts Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org Buckcherry, June 23, The Plaza Live, Orlando. 877-435-9849; PlazaLiveOrlando.com los van van, June 24 – 25, Hard Rock Live, Orlando. 407-351-5483 Jim norton: Mouthful of Shame Tour, June 24, The Plaza Live, Orlando. 877-435-9849; PlazaLiveOrlando.com Gay Bash with Julie Goldman and Brad loekle, June 25, Parliament House, Orlando. 407- 425 7571; ParliamentHouse.com OWl Car Wash, June 25, GLBT Center, Orlando. 407-228-8272; TheCenterOrlando.org

tampa bay A Tale of Two Cities, June 15-26, American Stage Theater, St. Petersburg. 727-823-7529; AmericanStage.org Pride in faith, June 16, St. David’s Episcopal Church, Lakeland. 863-686-4143; PolkPrideFL.com

DANCING

BROTHERS Dancing with the Stars hip-swaying brothers Maks and Val Chmerkovskiy shake their bon-bon’s at the Van Wezel in Sarasota June 16, Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater June 17 and Dr. Phillips in Orlando June 22.

A wine reception, movie screening and meet-and-greet with Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Emmy Award-nominated filmmaker Daniel Karslake will be the highlight of LGBT Pride month in Lake County. Mount Dora Pride and The Triangle Connection are teaming up with What to Do in Mount Dora to present this very special evening at the Mount Dora Community Building Theatre.There is no admission charge, but a $10 donation will include a glass of wine and two raffle tickets. Book in advance at: EzTicket or call (407)603-9215.

tampa bay

Southern Nights TAMPA’s ONE YEAR Anniversary friday, June 17 and saturday, June 18 southern nights, tampa

latin nights, June 16, Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa. 813-229-7827; StrazCenter.org Pride night at Tropicana field, June 17, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. 727-825-3137; TampaBay.Rays.MLB.com Icons: The lesbian and Gay History of the World, June 17, Lake Mirror Theater, Lakeland. 863-603-7529; LakelandCommunityTheatre.com

Tampa Bay Taste of Asia fest, June 18, Seminole HeightsUnited Methodist Church, Tampa. 813-236-5931; SemHeights.com St. Pete Crab & Music festival, Vinoy Waterfront Park, St. Petersburg. 727-373-6051; PinellasPark.com The light in the Piazza, June 18 – July 10, freefall Theatre, St. Petersburg. 727-498-5205; FreeFallTheatre.com

Maks & val live on Tour: Our Way, June 17, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.net

Barn Dance, June 18, Metro Wellness & Community Centers, St. Petersburg. 727-321-3854; MetroTampaBay.org

Mad Hatters Drag Show, June 17, Mad Hatters Ethnobotanical Tea Bar, St. Petersburg. 727-800-5030; MadHattersTeaBar.com

The fray, June 18, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. 727-825-3137; TampaBay.Rays.MLB.com

Pride in the Park, June 18, Munn Park, Lakeland. 863-686-4143; PolkPrideFL.com

Pride After Dark, June 18, Club Main Street, Lakeland. 863-940-9756; PolkPrideFL.com Pride Talks, June 19, Fresco’s, Lakeland. 863-686-4143; PolkPrideFL.com

Pride in the EDGE, June 20- 26, The EDGE District, St. Petersburg. 727-329-8869; EdgeDistrict.org Balance Tampa Bay’s June Social, June 22, Rococo’s, St. Petersburg. 727-822-0999; RococoSteak.com

SARASOTA Menopause: The Musical, June 7-19, Manatee Performing Arts Center, Bradenton. 941-748-5875; ManateePerformingArtsCenter.com Maks & val live on Tour: Our Way, June 16, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota. 941-953-3368; VanWezel.org fST Improv presents: We’re Doomed!, June 17-18, Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota. 941-366-9000; FloridaStudioTheatre.org Purple Mug Walk, June 21, World of Beer, Sarasota. 800-272-3900; ALZ.org/FLGulfCoast

My how the time flies when you’re dancing into the late hours of the night. Southern Nights is celebrating one year in the legendary Ybor City, and they want everyone to come out and join them. By Friday the party will be in full swing and that’s when Southern will bust out their Pig Party. Pig Party will be a night of raunchy fun featuring a leather exhibition and GoBear leather porn stars. Saturday the party concludes, hosted by Vicky Vox, with a huge show featuring Roxy Andrews, Jade Embers and Mr. Southern Nights himself Jeffrey Abess. Prizes and giveaways will happen throughout the night. Friday is 21 and up, Saturday is 18 and up. More information can be found at Southern Nights TAMPA’s Facebook page.

Dan Fiorini Reception thursday, June 16, 6:30 p.m. enigma Bar & lounge, st. petersBurg While every four years national attention is always paid to the presidential race, few people get to know who is running to be the voice for their community. Here is a chance to meet one of them. Dan Fiorini wants to be your State Representative for District 70, so come out to Enigma Bar and Lounge to shake his hand and hear his message. Happy hour cocktails, lite bites and a silent auction.

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

event planner and community calendar is brougHt to you by curtis protective services • 1-800-551-8368 • curtissecurity.com # o n e pu l s e

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

PETERSBURG NORTH/ ST.ST. PETERSBURG NORTH/ CLEARWATER CLEARWATER

ST. PETERSBURG NORTH/ CLEARWATER

# o n e pu l s e

watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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fundraisers

tampa bay out+about

In lieu of our usual Overheard column, we are using this space to publicize upcoming fundraisers that beneﬁt those aﬀected by the mass shooting at Pulse Orlando. To learn of more events as they are planned, please visit WatermarkOnline.com.

opera4orlando

ocal memBers of the arts community will Be hosting a benefit concert Sunday, June 19, at 7:30 p.m. at Punky’s Bar & Grill. Our hearts are broken over the horrible act of terror in Orlando. Many of us knew someone there or knew someone who knew someone there. We want to rage. We want to help. We want to stand up and be counted. We want to make a difference. Local members of the arts community will perform opera and other favorites. All proceeds will go to Equality Florida, which is helping to distribute funds to the victims.

stand With orlando, a benefit for victims and survivors

et’s come together as a community to show our love for the victims, survivors, families and friends that were affected by this senseless act of hate and terrorism. The benefit will be at Enigma Sunday, June 19, 2016 at 9 p.m. hosted by Kori Stevens with entertainers from all across the St Pete and Tampa area. All donations with go directly to Equality Florida who have already created a go fund me action that will benefit victims’ families and survivors.

tampa bay rays pride night

he tampa Bay rays will dedicate the annual Pride Night June 17 to the victims of Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando. All open seats for the Tampa Bay Rays-San Francisco Giants 7:10 p.m. game at Tropicana Field will be available for $5 with 100 percent of proceeds benefitting the Pulse Victims Fund. “We Are Orlando” Rays t-shirts will be handed out to everyone who attends. OneBlood donation buses will be at Trop Field starting at 4:00 p.m. for those who want to donate. The team’s daily 50/50 raffle will also benefit the Pulse Victims Unit. Tickets can be purchased online at RaysBaseball.com. Ticket and order fees for Friday’s game will be waived.

2 3

rememBerance: Candles line the steps outside of City Hall in St. Petersburg June 12 after the attack on Pulse Orlando. PHOTO COuRTESy Of RICK KRISEMAn

ONE PULSE: Donations started to pile up for the Pulse victims and families at Punky’s in St. Petersburg June 13. PHOTO COuRTESy Of BRIAn lOnGSTRETH

we are orlando: Members of the St. Petersburg LGBT community light candles outside of City Hall June 12.

PHOTO COuRTESy Of TIM CAIn

understanding words: Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn (L) and Carrie West address the massive crowd gathered in solidarity with Orlando. PHOTO

By STEvE BlAnCHARD

gathering: Thousands gathered in Ybor City June 13 for a vigil to honor those lost at Pulse Orlando. PHOTO By STEvE BlAnCHARD

Joining hands: The Flamingo workers and patrons gathered together and held hands around the pool in prayer for Pulse Orlando. They also raised $1,500 for the victim’s families June 12. PHOTO

COuRTESy Of flAMInGO RESORT

flags of our family: Commissioner Kevin Beckner speaks to the crowd in Ybor City at the Pulse Orlando vigil in Tampa as the American and LGBT Pride flags are raised high behind him. PHOTO COuRTESy Of KEvIn BECKnER

community mourning: St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman speaks at a vigil for the Orlando shooting victims at City Hall June 12.

PHOTO COuRTESy Of RICK KRISEMAn

7 # o n e pu l s e

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

fundraisers

orlando out+about

parliament house fundraiser for pulse employees

arliament house is hosting latin night on June 16 and presenting UNIDOS - United for Pulse Employees. No cover all night. They will be accepting donations that go directly to the employees of Pulse who are temporarily displaced from their job. Show at midnight hosted by Lisa Lane. Many performers scheduled to attend.

uncle lou’s local music night

ne92 presents duo or do not, a two-piece band show at Uncle Lou’s. In the wake of the tragedy at Pulse nightclub, the concert has been turned into a benefit show. It will be held Uncle Lou’s June 17 on Mills Ave. There will be hundreds of #orlandostrong buttons to be passed out up and down Mills Ave. for any amount of donation.

kokino restaurant family member fundraiser

n an effort to give Back to the families of the recent tragedy in Orlando, Kokino Restaurant on Turkey Lake Road invites you to join them for tapas and cocktails this Friday June 17. One hundred percent of profits made will be given to family members of the victims.

cold keg nightclub benefit

he cold keg nightcluB will host a Benefit on Friday June 17. Raffles, 50/50 raffle and shows by local entertainers. Doors open at 4 pm. All proceeds go to Pulse Victims’ families in Orlando.

geek easy victim fundraiser

rlando has come together to support the victims and their families in their time of need and The Geek Easy Lounge community will unite to do the same. June 18 will be a day of love and fun as we come together at our Winter Park location for good will and great times. MAP Foundation will be taking donations, 100% of which will go directly to the victims of the Pulse tragedy. There will be live music, video games, artists, prize raffles, drink specials, and more.

# o n e pu l s e

Briefing media: Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings addresses gathered reporters during an early press conference held after the shooting on June 12. PHOTO By JAKE STEvEnS

host with heart: Joe Saunders, former state representative and currently with the Human Rights Campaign, emcees the June 13 vigil while Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer waits to the side.

PHOTO By JAKE STEvEnS

giving of self: Huge crowds, mostly UCF students, line up at a mobile blood donation unit parked at Waterford Lakes Plaza June 12. PHOTO By SAMAnTHA

lEnA ROSEnTHAl

mother’s love: Rob Domenico, board member at The GLBT Center of Central Florida, embraces his mother, Dee Richter, as names of victims are released. PHOTO By JD CASTO

love letter: On June 13, a mourner writes a message in remembrance of those lost before the candlelight vigil at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

light for the lost: Community members hold candles and grieve at Parliament House during an impromptu vigil held June 12. PHOTO

By DAnny GARCIA

hope and faith: Mourners pack the sanctuary at Joy Metropolitan Community Church during a vigil on June 12. PHOTO By JD CASTO

processing grief: Signs outside of the First Unitarian Church of Orlando advertise the counseling and support services that can be found within. PHOTO

By DEAnnDRA MEnO

PHOTO By JAKE STEvEnS

8 watermark Your LGBT life.

June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

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announcements

Wedding bells

Michael Farmer, 28, and Boyd Lindsley, 34 from Oviedo, Florida

years togetHer: 5 years

engagement date:

May 7, 2015

wedding date:

May 7, 2016

wedding venue:

Historic lakeside Inn in Mount dora, Florida

wedding planners:

the couple

wedding caterer:

lakeside Inn

wedding tHeme/ colors:

they didn’t have a theme, and they didn’t choose a speciﬁc color scheme. Flowers, china, linens and tent draping were all white or shades of white.

special song:

they walked down the aisle to “What the World needs now” by Jackie deShannon and dedicated it to the world and all those who are struggling in one form or another.

interesting Fact:

Both Michael and Boyd’s maternal grandmothers walked them down the aisle.

PHOTO By JEnnA MICHElE PHOTOGRAPHy

“m

ichael has loved me

in a way I’ve never been loved before,” Boyd says about Michael. “I guess I learned how to be loved.” Michael Farmer, Development Director for Equality Florida, and Boyd Lindsley, a faculty member and the Associate Director of UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication, first met at the Equality Florida Gala in 2010. “My first impression of Boyd was that I wanted to go on a date with him, and after our first date, I knew that I wanted to marry him,” Michael recalls. After they started to get to know each other more and become more comfortable with one another, Boyd realized what a personality Michael had, his sense of humor and how much he was the life of the party. Boyd jokes that the pair became like a suction cup. They courted each other for a while. After being together for some time, they moved in together. “I’m just so glad that Michael was so persistent because I was reserved for a variety of reasons,” Boyd says, “but I’m so glad because he has made me the happiest I’ve ever been because of his persistence.”

Boyd says that he is inspired by Michael’s devotion to the things he’s passionate for, especially his activism within the LGBT community. Boyd graduated with his doctorate degree in May 2015, and he was planning on proposing to Michael the day of his graduation. He had bought the ring a week before, and he wasn’t the type of person who liked to celebrate himself—so he decided to take his graduation day to the next step and make it a day to celebrate them as a couple. Michael was in the middle of his toast when Boyd dropped to one knee and proposed to him in front of 60 of their closest family and friends. “I was completely shocked and surprised. I really had no idea that he would do that,” Michael says. “I planned an event that was supposed to be about Boyd, in part because he never really celebrates himself and because he worked so hard so many years on his doctorate.

“It was one of the best days of my life until the day that we got married.” Michael and Boyd planned a wedding weekend of events with a pool day Friday, a happy hour and dinner Friday night, and the ceremony and celebration Saturday night to maximize the quality time spent with their guests. The couple said that they wanted the focus of the wedding to be about celebrating their love and being together with family and friends, not about things like the linens and the wedding color scheme. They had their ceremony at the Historic Lakeside Inn in Lake Mary with the ceremony under the old oak trees on the lakeshore. A wedding celebration immediately followed the ceremony in a tented event on the lawn on the lakeshore. “I love the content of his character. He’s just got the most incredible moral fiber and he’s funny and generous—one of the kindest people I know,” Michael says. “Really the content of his character just constantly blows me away and makes me want to be a better person.”

local birtHdays

Tampa Walgreens diva, photographer and LGBT ally Poly Costas (June 15); Bodywork Massage and Day Spa owner Roger Medrano, Town ‘n Country banker Travis Hilborne, Sarasota filmmaker and writer Anthony Paull (June 16); Metropolitan Business Association history chair Ken Kazmerski, former GaYbor Coalition board member John Gorman, St. Petersburg karaoke singer and artistic photographer J.J. Respondek, former St. Petersburg resident and current New York actor Michael Silas (June 17);Watermark sales team member Danny Garcia (June 19); Thirsty Topher hottie and ally Ron DiDonato; Tampa bay limo chauffer Marty Theriot, Drag legend Ange Sheridan, diehard Steelers fan Jimmy Guzic (June 21); Tampa’s Sweatshop proprietor and fitness guru Christine Myers, St. Petersburg Yoga enthusiast/instructor Andre Sur, Tampa Bay Elder Sister Agatha frisky (June 22); St. Pete drag perfomer Ashlee T. Bankx, Tampa Keller Realty star Bill Knecht, Treasure Island politico Gail Caldwell (June 23); Tampa U.b.U. Salon artist Jeremy Beauchamp, St. Pete WAVE-Award winning drag performer Jeremy fetters, Palriament House bar manager Dana Tetreault, St. Petersburg realtor and Watermark contributing photographer Todd fixler, Largo’s TinkerFluff photographer and Watermark contributor Paul Kinchen, Arkham Assailant Amanda Hippensteel (June 24); Tampa Bay community activist Guadalupe vargas, the lovely and fabulous fish made of eureka and Embellish FX proprietor Ben Johansen, St. Pete twirler and Tampa Bay Leather Boy 2010 Dan Radwanski, Tampa outdoor enthusiast Scott Buttelwerth (June 25); mohawked roller derby team captain Amber luu (June 26); Alaska farming intern Christine Rubino, Tampa Stageworks Theatre Artistic Director Anna Brennan (June 27); Gulfport RV enthusiast Terry Cook, Bradenton’s Temple Beth El Rabbi Harold Caminker (June 28); O-Town DJ and aspiring MD Chris “Cub” Mendez (June 29).

do you Have an announcement? Having a birtHday or anniversary? did you get a new Job or promotion? See your news in Watermark! Send your announcement to Editor@WatermarkOnline.com or go to WatermarkOnline.com/Submit-a-Transition.

it’s tHat easy!

—Samantha Rosenthal

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

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June 16 - June 29, 2016 // Issue 2 3.12

# o n e o r l a n do

Watermark isn’t just Central Florida’s LGBT news source; we are members of the local LGBT community. We live here, we work here, we love here. And now, we grieve here. At approximately 2 a.m. June 12, a man, who police say is named Omar Mateen, entered Pulse nightclub armed with a handgun and an AR-15-type rifle. With those weapons, in cold blood, he murdered forty-nine members of our community, and injured at least fifty more.

The loss is unspeakable. But the community is strong. We will survive, and so we must speak. Right now, we are focused on how to help, and how to get help. As Watermark, we will provide timely, accurate information on resources and support, both how to give them and how to get them. As members of the community, we will hold each other and cry for our friends. We will grieve this loss and we will hurt for the victims and those who loved them. Then, we will tell the stories of strength and resilience that are already arising from this unfathomable tragedy. The survivors. The responders. The community who is working together to hold itself up, to prove that senseless violence will not shatter us. At this moment, we do not know the precise reason why the suspect chose Pulse as the outlet for his violence and hate, but the fact remains: he targeted gay people. Therefore, it is more important than ever that the Orlando LGBT community join together and bolster each other, as a message to those who hate us: You cannot silence us. You cannot destroy us. We aren’t going anywhere. And finally, we will hold those responsible, accountable. We’ve had worried friends and family, checking in: “Are you okay? Are you okay?”

No, we are not okay. We may have personally survived the shooting, but forty-nine members of our close-knit, beloved community are dead. That is not okay. Nothing about this is okay.

But we will be, and here is how we know: Orlando’s LGBT community is organized, and generous, and mighty. We are a family. We will take our broken strands and weave them together, creating an even stronger tapestry of courage and life. Orlando will show the world that our LGBT community cannot be silenced, or ruined, or beaten down. Our enduring story will not be a tragedy. The world will see our community, the care we have for each other, and how we draw strength from that love. Our story will be one of survival, and hope, and PRIDE.