Watermark Issue 23.25: The Worst Year Ever by Watermark Publishing Group

watermark Your LGBTQ Life.

ISSUE 23.25 • DECEMBER 15 - 28, 2016 • WATERMARKONLINE.COM

THE WORST YEAR EVER A toast and a stumble through 2016, the year we will never forget.

No matter how much we wish we could.

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departments 6 // mail 7 // editor’s desk 8 // orlando news 10 // tampa bay news 13 // state news 15 // nation & world news 35 // arts & entertainment 41 // community calendar 43 // tampa bay out+about 45 // orlando out+about 47 // announcements/ wedding bells 48 // tampa bay marketplace 50 // orlando marketplace 54 // uprisings

PAGE

[Natasha richards] had such a strong presence, and I think it’s because she had such a strong spirit. When she was around she was very much the Grande Dame. She held court everywhere she went. —tAmPA bAy PerFOrmer AND miss AsAP 2016 stePHANie stuArt

on tHe cover

PAGE magical eFFects:

PAGE THIS WAS US:

Terror! Tragedy! Trump! Was 2016 the worst year ever for the LGBTQ community? Photo by Jake Stevens

scan Qr code For

watermarkonline.com

Michael Carbonaro kicks off a new season of TruTV’s The Carbonaro Effect early 2017.

watermark i ssue 23 .25 //december 15 - december 28, 2016

not For sale

never Fading star

giFts For bookworms ringing oF tHe bells

PAGE Pulse owner Barbara Poma decides not to accept the city of Orlando’s bid to purchase the nightclub property.

PAGE Tampa Bay icon and trans performer Natasha Richards passes away unexpectedly at the age of 44.

PAGE

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

From fiction to bios to politics, Terri Schlichenmeyer suggests some holiday gift ideas for the readers in your life.

PAGE

Lake Mary’s Brian and Mike Cahill recall how they went from washing machine to wedding bells.

give us A fOllOW On tWitter And instAgrAm At @WAtermArkOnline And be sure tO like us On fAcebOOk. watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

top web comments “I remember how President Reagan felt that AIDS was killing all the right people, so the less done, the better. I got back at President Reagan. I lived!” —Greg H.

WatermarkOnline.com On the Editor’s Desk from issue 23.24:

“Trump is not pursuing an actively anti-gay agenda. I would love to come down to Florida to discuss this and other issues with you. Let me know the date and time, and I will be there.” —Patrick Driscoll

On the World AIDS Day feature reminding of what was and what can never be again:

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“My late partner and I tested positive shortly after the ELISA test was available in 1985. I have no idea who had it first, when, where, from whom, and we decided we wouldn’t waste energy trying to figure it out. A few months later my partner was in the hospital with PCP and an AIDS diagnosis. I didn’t have time to think about myself as I was thrust into the part of a caregiver. I remember how President Reagan felt that AIDS was killing all the right people, so the less done, the better. I got back at President Reagan. I lived! I lived long enough for science to make a difference. My partner wasn’t so lucky. He died on September 30, 1988, which was a “long term survivor” in the 1980s. Those early drugs were so very toxic, and the side effects could be devastating. I’ve had two heart bypass surgeries. What concerns and saddens me these days is the way HIV infection has been minimized by the pharmaceutical companies

with their slick ads, and the media. It sends the message that HIV infection is no longer a “big deal,” just pop a pill and life goes on. Well, those pills come with a price, and you never hear about all the other pills you have to take to counteract the side effects. HIV is still a “big deal” that will forever change one’s life. Please, don’t take chances.”

—Greg H.

Watermark’s Facebook On Kate McKinnon gettting her own movie:

“I love her. I first saw her on The Big Gay Sketch Show on Logo.” —Lucas Barszcz

On Tampa Bay drag star Natasha Richards dying at 44:

“Thank you for remembering her and acknowledging her death. She is a legend and was one of the most captivating performers.” —Jacob McCall Aifd

“Truly a great loss. Very talented and funny as hell, she will be missed. Rest in Peace.” —Elizabeth Nicole

On Barbara Poma not selling Pulse to the city of Orlando:

“I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to make that choice. I think she just needs to make one and go with it. The 49 need a place for all of us to go and remember, pay respects.”

—Francisco Mari-Lassalle

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

“Thank you Pulse for keeping it real, for not letting it get hushed. This happened, this is not going to be normalized. This tragedy matters.” —PjRowan Winkler

“This community supports you and your family Barbara!” —Alan Pepin

On VP-elect Mike Pence getting a rainbow flag surprise in his new DC neighborhood:

“God bless these people!” —Hen Ry Mays

On the round up of World AIDS Day events in Central Florida and Tampa Bay:

“How to Survive a Plague should be mandatory viewing to truly understand our elders and their accomplishments.” —Thom Bland

On Florida Gov. Rick Scott serving as a model and warning for President Trump:

“Still ashamed that MFer won Florida. (Looks like that statement applies to both sides of the photo for me.)” —Emily Loucks

On a disgruntled patron being upset about the rainbows at Orlando Science Center:

“Ugh. People are the worst. I was just there and I thought it was a beautiful and creative installation.”

—Katherine Ramirez Massey

editor’s

billy manes editOr

BIlly@WatermarkOnline.com

desk

t’s A HAZy sHADe OF WiNter As

we approach the last red “X,” the last box of chance on the calendar, the last few weeks of what we’ve loving deemed “The Worst Year Ever.”

Though, as those who enjoy entertaining ideas and whirligigs alike on back porches of good fortune and good drinks, 2016 has been far from the panacea we would have all hoped for. This has been an obstacle course wrapped around a flaming memorial, a loop of freedom and credence tied up around a window-bound stone of terror. We’ve got to get out of this place. On December 12, the six-month anniversary of the Pulse massacre, I stood there at Pulse, there, inside the decorated gates, there at the foot of 49 devotional candles for those 49 lost almost six months ago to the moment, and I said nothing. I listened, I was made wet by tears of friends, I was held,

watermark staFF

I tried to carry as much love as this cavern that is my ribcage could bear, and to do so in a public situation without distracting from the weight of the horror. Pulse owner Barbara Poma put her hand in mine and said some things that I can’t remember (they were obviously of an inspirational nature); I listened as the Orlando Gay Chorus tried to bring hymns to all of the hims and hers who were lost or wounded on that dreadful Saturday summer night; I hugged Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs (someone with whom I have sparred for years); and I watched the sadness and exhaustion on Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s face as she was forced, once again, in front of cameras and

audiences. We’ve made history. It’s just not the history we wanted. No, not at all. So I thought for a while, meandering between candle flames and cooler nighttime breezes, about what this area – what all of Florida and all of its residents – mean to me. The hashtags still hang on bracelets and flags throughout the area – “#OneOrlando,” “#OrlandoStrong” – among them. The simple kindnesses of families with rainbows displayed wherever possible still keeping these voices alive, all of it was almost to much to witness. But I did. And we must. And I don’t forget. And I hope you won’t either. Former Miss America Ericka Dunlap sidled up next to me after her short a cappella visit to Whitney Houston’s now-coopted “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” and whispered in my ear, “We really need to find our way up and out of this. We can’t be held down.” She’s right. But when exactly is the time that we come back up, that we breathe, that we hold this to be our new normal, our new horizon, and we walk horizontally again, without our shoulders bent toward the sewers? Maybe the New Year is key. Maybe the warmth of family in Florida over the holidays can help to reset bedraggled imaginations. There hasn’t been one night since June 12 – or, for personal reasons, April 8, 2012 – that I haven’t dreamed of violence. I know I’m not alone in this. None of us here are. However, that’s not my job. My job is to help tell the stories of people who are making a difference, to work with the Watermark team to create our new normal. Every time I sit down to write this Editor’s Desk column, I feel like I’m preaching some soft-rock version of survival, and that’s not how it should be. We have plenty to celebrate in our efforts to change hearts and minds; there are just still some lingering clouds, broken

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hearts wounded legs and bullets in chests to deal with. And as much as I’d be happy to join a chorus of holiday cheer – seriously, though, is “Silent Night” a cheerful song? – I’m still at that bizarre crossroads of spectacle, fear and sadness. I think a lot of us are. So what we’re going to do this week is put some of that to bed, at least for a little while. We’re doing the old Band-Aid rip and screaming “The Worst Year Ever” at anyone who is unfortunate enough to

We’re doing the old band-Aid rip and screaming “The Worst Year ever” at anyone who is unfortunate enough to approach us. sure, we’ll laugh after. but that’s the point.

approach us. Sure, we’ll laugh after. But that’s the point. We’re facing down a lot of obstacles this year – some related to the Pulse incident, some related to our friends and allies – and we really haven’t any more time to stand frozen like the character in Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” We have to be active by March in order to make our state government know that we are not beaten down, we are not drowning in our tears. We need to make noise. And while some of it may be joyful in light of our yuletide gaiety, do not underestimate your LGBTQ community or its allies. Happy holidays from all of us at Watermark. This is our new beginning.

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contributors AArON DrAke

is a freelance travel correspondent for Out Traveler among other publications. Page 19

micHAeL WANZie is

an Orlando-based playwright, actor and ordained minister. He is most recognized for his direction of productions at the Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House. Page 17

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 47

aaron alper, scottie campbell, susan clary, krista ditucci, kirk Hartlage, JosepH kissel, Jason leclerc, mary meeks, stepHen miller, david moran, gregg sHipiro, greg stemm, dr. steve yacovelli, , micHael wanzie

pHotograpHy brian becnel, nick cardello, angie Folks, bruce Hardin, Julie milFord, travis moore, cHris stepHenson, lee vandergriFt, tinkerFluFF

distribution lvnliF2 distributing, lisa Jordan, Jill bates, ken carraway CONTENTS of WATERMARK are protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited article submissions will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Although WATERMARK is supported by many fine advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles, advertising, or listing in WATERMARK is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons or members of such organizations. WATERMARK is published every second Thursday. Subscription rate is $55 (1st class) and $26 (standard mail). The official views of WATERMARK are expressed only in editorials. Opinions offered in signed columns, letters and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the newspaper’s owner or management. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. WATERMARK is not responsible for damages due to typographical errors, except for the cost of replacing ads created by WATERMARK that have such errors.

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central florida news

Wes Hodge takes over Orange County Democratic Executive Committee Billy Manes

ollowing successes for the Democratic Party in Orange County that were overshadowed by failures across the rest of the state that allowed for the presumptive election of television and real-estate icon Donald Trump to the presidency, new party leadership fell in line among the locals. “One of the big things for me is that we build relationships with people,” Wes Hodge, who identifies as gay, says after his victory over Democratic operative Lonnie Thompson. “I feel like we neglected or took advantage of some of the relationships in the community, and I want to make sure that we have an open dialogue.” Hodge has some momentum behind him. Orange County Democrats knocked doors just enough to go blue for Hillary Clinton, gain two congressional seats, a state senate seat for Linda Stewart and a new Democratic County Commissioner in Emily Bonilla, among others. But that momentum has its challenges. “Six months ago, we weren’t talking about access to mental health services and gun control. That tragedy completely changed the conversation politically about what’s important to our citizens,” he says. In related news, Donald Trump employee and devotee Randy Ross lost his bid to oust longtime Orange County Republican Executive Committee chair Lew Oliver.

A fond farewell to Orange County comptroller Martha Haynie Billy Manes

Orange County government has seen a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights in County Comptroller Martha Haynie, even as a registered Republican. Haynie, who will step down after this year to be replaced by former Orlando City Commissioner Phil Diamond, is reflective upon her exit after 28 years of monitoring a county economy that’s grown from just under $1 billion annually to just under $4 billion presently. “It frustrates me more than ever that people want easy answers to complicated problems,” she says. “When I ran for office in 1988 I truly had very little idea what I was getting into, and had anyone suggested then that I would stay for seven terms my reaction would have been ‘there is no way I am staying in any job that long!’ I would have been wrong.” Haynie, who will be roasted by the Tiger Bay Club on Dec. 13, wrote us a longer missive which you can read at watermarkonline.com.

For the love of Pulse:

Owner Barbara Poma stands outside her former nightclub on Dec. 5

Can’t walk away Barbara Poma opts out of selling Pulse property to Orlando Billy Manes

RLANDO | In a bit of unexpected news, Pulse Orlando owner Barbara Poma has decided that she would not accept the city of Orlando’s bid of $2.25 million for the property, even after weeks of Mayor Buddy Dyer calling the transaction an effective done deal. There are a lot of questions about what that means for the space in the future. But Poma released a statement on Dec. 5 that detailed a change in course. She “can’t just walk away,” it reads, because Pulse “means so very much to my family and to our community.” Her intentions, though vague in the statement, seem to be similar to what the city’s were. The full statement, received from her attorneys at Benitez Law Group, is as follows: “I have decided not to sell the Pulse property. Pulse means so very much to my family and to our community, and I can’t just walk away. I feel a personal obligation to ensure that a permanent space at Pulse be created so that all generations to come will remember those affected by, and taken on, June 12th. “I intend to create a space for everyone, a sanctuary of hope, and a welcoming area to remember all those affected by the tragedy. I plan to

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do that directly with the involvement of the communities impacted by this tragedy, the families of the victims and any private or public sector individuals or organizations who wish to assist. We must do this together as a community. “I hope the love and support we have seen through this time from around the world and here at home will continue as we join together to build a place to memorialize our Angels.” Poma was present at a vigil held inside of the gates at the Pulse site on Dec. 12 to honor the six-month mark of the massacre. When asked about the change of plans, city spokeswoman Heather Fagan said in a text, “Not sure there is much of a scoop. Barbara has said she wasn’t emotionally ready to sell.” The mayor subsequently released an official statement. “We respect their decision and are hopeful the Pulse site will continue to be a place of hope and healing that honors the victims,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “We believe it is important for the community to have input into a memorial that honors the victims and pays tribute to the resiliency of Orlando. City staff will continue to research and understand how other communities have approached the memorial process. As we better understand that process, and after

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

engaging with our Commissioners and community partners, we’ll update the community on the next steps.” Watermark spoke with Poma briefly outside of Pulse at 4 p.m. on Dec. 5 where an impromptu press conference was held. Understandably, there wasn’t much to report. “I think the next steps are that we truly have a process,” she says. “We need to start collecting ourselves and reaching out to our community and figuring out where to go.” Asked whether there would be a nightclub, a park, a restaurant, or a museum, Poma indicated that all of those things were premature at this point. She just said, as she had in her earlier statement, she “couldn’t walk away.” Others from the Pulse staff in attendance seemed to indicate that they agreed with this decision. And though some have mentioned that the city government is a bit taken aback by the refusal of the deal, Poma is confident that Orlando is still with her. She just needs some time, some experts and some healing before making the final decision on what to do with what was Pulse Orlando. “The mayor is good,” she says. “Patty Sheehan is good. They understand.” Commissioner Sheehan was unreachable as of press time, but her frustration was evident in her remarks to WKMG-News 6, the local CBS affiliate. “We have paid above-market value on numerous other properties in the city of Orlando; it’s never been a problem before,” Sheehan told News 6. “I’m distressed that this sale did not go through.”

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tampa bay news

asap and Francis House become epic, name new executive director Jeremy Williams

GOODbye GirL:

AmPA | Empath Health announced Dec. 7 that the HIV service’s providers AIDS Service Association of Pinellas (ASAP) and Francis House in Tampa will merge under the new name Empath Partners in Care, or EPIC. EPIC will become the largest provider of HIV services in the Tampa Bay area, including case management, counseling and pharmacy services, among other programs from its five locations in the region. Joy Winheim was named the executive director of the newly formed EPIC, a group under the Empath Health umbrella. Winheim has been the executive director of Francis House since 2007. With all programs combined, Francis House serves anywhere from 800 to 1,000 patients in any given year. Under the new EPIC group, Winheim and her team will be responsible for more than 10,000 patients within Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties. “I was so happy when I was given the news,” Winheim says. “I spent the last 11 years pouring myself into Francis House; and with the merger, moving forward, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.” The move from Francis House director to that of EPIC will be a bit of an adjustment for Winheim. “We have been joking about this in-house a bit, because right now I wear so many different hats,” she says. “I am finance, I am HR, I am marketing and fundraising. I’ve fixed toilets, I mop if I have to or shop for the food pantry. We just wear so many hats because we have always been such a small staff at Francis House.” Large increases in staff and the amount of patients being served may be intimidating to some, but Winheim isn’t worried for a very specific reason. “The staff is in place and they know what they’re doing,” Winheim says. “So my strategy is going to be to let them do their job and serve our clients. I’m not one to go in and disrupt something that is working, so I’ll go in and we will look at the programs, evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and figure out how to be more efficient. When we all got together and if we all have the same vision, then we will succeed, because this can’t be just my vision. It has to be everyone’s on the team.” Along with the staff, Winheim has another weapon in her arsenal: a strong leadership team. “Sheryl [Hoolsema], David [Franks] and Dave [Konnerth] have worked on the ASAP side for a very long time; combined, they have a lot of years together. It just came together seamlessly,” Winheim says. “Vicky [Fortugno-Oliver], who was at Francis House with me, we have worked so closely together getting Francis House to where it was right before the merge. They are all amazing people and I am so much more confident in how I’m going to be able to run the organization because they are in place.”

Natasha Richards became the youngest performer to win the Miss Gay USofA pageant in 1996. Photo courtesy oF FAceBooK

Unforgettable Tampa Bay losses a talented star, Natasha Richards Chelsea Santiago and Jeremy Williams

AmPA bAy | On stage, Natasha Richards demanded attention with her immaculate hair-dos, radiant costumes and flair for theatrics. She had the stage presence that kept all eyes on her. Richards passed away Dec. 2 in her home at the age of 44. She was born in Queens, N.Y., but moved to New Port Richey, Fla., as a child, and later to Clearwater. Fellow performer and Miss ASAP 2016 Stephanie Stuart knew Richards for nearly half of her 44 years. “She was quite talented, legs for miles, but it was that talent that was so impressive. She could take any number and turn it into pure entertainment,” Stuart says. Richards began performing at the Blue Moon in New Port Richey even before she was old enough to enter the club. “Natasha and her drag daughter, Nicolette Ashton, used to sneak in the backdoor to do shows [at the Blue Moon] because they weren’t old enough to get in,” Stuart says. Richards went on to become the youngest crowned Miss Gay USofA at the age of 24. She continued to

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

stun audiences with her amazing performances and one-of-a-kind outfits not only in the Tampa Bay area but around the United States and abroad as a result of the many titles she held. “She had a commanding presence when she entered a room, and she carried that with her until the day she died,” Stuart says. “She had such a strong presence, and I think it’s because she had such a strong spirit. When she was around she was very much the Grande Dame. She held court everywhere she went.” It wasn’t just the big pageants that held the talent of Richards, either. She hosted many drag events in the Tampa Bay Area, including working with Stuart at the Chill Chamber in New Port Richey, as well as working drag queen bingo at Blur, Hamburger Mary’s, and gay bowling night at Dunedin Lanes. Richards was also one of the performers who brought Latin Night to the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were killed this year in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. “She was like the drag queen that set the tone or the pace: She had some of the most exciting performances, one of the best shows, and she was a huge draw,” says Nick

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

Janovsky, a friend of Richards’, who went to many of her shows. Janovsky recalled Richards as being the one to give him his 21st birthday shot; being awkward and nervous at first, he felt Richards made him feel welcomed and at ease. “Natasha Richards became a comfortable presence, and I’m thankful for her warmth and humor,” he says. Richards easily carried her larger than life personality from the spotlight to becoming a commanding presence in the LGBTQ community, making time to mentor many young drag queens throughout their careers. “She taught others to be comfortable; it’s not about throwing on a wig and some makeup,” Janovsky says. “It’s actually about being comfortable enough that you can project yourself on a stage, and she inspired so many others to do so the way that she did so naturally and with easy.” Richards legacy as an active member and leader in the LGBTQ community and as a strong advocate for transgender equality, combating bullying and discrimination will always be remembered. “I was watching the TV series The Voice the other night, and Billy Gilman opened the show with the song ‘My Way’,” recalls Stuart. “He poured his heart and soul into that performance, and I sat there and wept like a baby, because I could see Natasha on that stage doing that number herself. That’s how she did it: her way. She lived her way, ran her career her way, her life was her choice. We could all learn from that.”

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state news

emboldened by trump victory, new Florida legislature aims rigHtward Billy Manes

hough early reports of Florida’s arriving House of Representatives and Senate seem to indicate a kinder, gentler edge to proceedings – including more transparency, less nepotism, fewer spouses on airplanes during official business – at least one Democratic legislator isn’t really convinced. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who was officially elected to represent east Orlando this fall, making him the first Latino LGBTQ house representative to take that office, isn’t convinced. “I think the Florida legislature is preparing to take a hard right turn,” he says. “They have been unapologetic already.” Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, has already filed a bill aimed at repealing in-state tuitions for undocumented students, something

that passed on bipartisan terms in 2014. Steube has also introduced an open-carry bill that would also allow concealed-carry permit holders to take their guns into what were previously considered gun-free zones. “There are bills to allow guns everywhere you imagine,” Smith says. “Their right-wing ideology, which has been bought by the gun lobby, says, ‘The only way we can solve the gun problem is with more guns.’ That’s insane.” And that’s not all that’s in the offing, Smith says. “We have to get ready to push back hard against this right wing agenda,” Smith says. “An agenda that not only discriminates against gays but all minorities, and also does no good work with our taxpayer’s resources.” Smith’s plans focus predictably on higher education, as he campaigned on the issue. He was

assigned to the Post-Secondary Education Committee and its appropriations subcommittee. He hopes to “get a good shot at trying to shape higher education in the Florida educations system,” he says. He also wants revamp Florida’s Bright Futures scholarship program, something he says has faltered under Republican leadership. Likewise, Smith intends to push for more backing of the Competitive Workforce Act in support of LGBTQ employees in Florida. “If the tragedy at Pulse has done anything it has strengthened my resolve on common sense gun laws,” he says, adding that he hopes to see an increase in funds drawn down to help those with post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues in the wake of the June 12 massacre. We did see many Republican elected officials in Central Florida who evolved on workforce equality after Pulse. That’s a good thing,” he says. “Now what the trick is going to be is to apply that to the rest of the Republican leadership outside of the greater Orlando area.”

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u.s. appeals court Favors gaystraigHt club at Florida scHool Wire Report

eesburG | A federal appeals court has ruled that students at a Florida middle school have the right to form a gay-straight alliance club. The decision Tuesday by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida appealed a previous judge’s decision that school officials could deny the club recognition. The court’s reversal opinion found the club should have equal access to use school facilities as other extra-curricular clubs. The case began in 2013 when students at Carver Middle School in Leesburg sued the Lake County School Board. It was the second lawsuit seeking to form the gay-straight alliance club aimed at providing a supportive, anti-bullying environment for gay and lesbian students. The ACLU says the ruling strengthens the rights of middle school students, putting them on the same level as high school students.

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nation+world news

Anti-LGBTQ Pat McCrory finally concedes, Roy Cooper becomes North Carolina’s new governor Wire Report

URHAM, N.C. | North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory conceded the governor’s race Dec. 5, clearing the way for Democrat Roy Cooper to be declared the winner nearly four weeks after Election Day. The win by Cooper, the state’s outgoing attorney general, gives Democrats an important consolation prize after a disappointing election across the country. However, Republicans retain super majorities in both legislative chambers. In a video message from his office posted to YouTube, McCrory said, “Despite continued questions that should be answered regarding the voting process, I personally believe that the majority of our citizens have spoken, and we now should do everything we can to support the 75th governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper.” McCrory, who became the first sitting North Carolina governor to lose a re-election bid, was weighed down by a series of divisive laws he signed, including House Bill 2. That law limited LGBTQ rights and directed transgender people to use restrooms in schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates. It led to companies, sports organizations and entertainers pulling their business from the state, costing hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in spending. With appeals drying up and post-election counts padding Cooper’s narrow lead, McCrory announced he was giving up after Durham County elections workers were within an hour of completing the state-ordered recount of 94,000 votes there after technical troubles on election night related to tabulation machines. County elections board chairman William Brian said the updated tally from the recount, which began Dec. 3 in the heavily Democratic region, confirmed almost exactly the original totals. McCrory, who won the office by a comfortable margin four years ago, was unable to generate the same voter support that lifted Republicans Donald Trump and Richard Burr to victory in the state. Unofficial results at the State

Board of Elections showed Cooper leading McCrory by slightly more than the 10,000 votes needed to avoid an automatic recount. A total of about 4.7 million votes were cast. The state board still must officially certify the results, likely this Friday. In a written statement, Cooper praised McCrory for his public service and said he was proud to have received support from “so many who believe that we can come together to make a North Carolina that works for everyone.” Cooper has stated he wants House Bill 2 repealed because he said it promotes discrimination. He had said the law and other legislation McCrory signed has harmed North Carolina’s brand as good place to do business and for public education. McCrory defended signing House

Bill 2 and unsuccessfully tried to focus his campaign on the state’s recovering economy and finances during his four years in office. Flooding after Hurricane Matthew in October also gave McCrory the opportunity to project the image of a leader as he directed recovery efforts as cameras watched. Cooper, a former state legislator first elected attorney general in 2000, won’t enter office from a position of strength. Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the legislature, making it difficult for him to push his agenda – or stop theirs. McCrory’s defeat marks the first time a sitting North Carolina governor has lost a re-election bid since the state constitution was amended in 1977 to allow governors to seek a second term.

Wire Report

at the restaurant, he walked in the front door and pointed a gun toward an employee, who fled and contacted police. Welch fired the rifle inside the restaurant, and rounds possibly hit the walls, door and a computer, all of which were damaged, police spokeswoman Karimah Bilal said. Authorities set up a perimeter and arrested Welch safely, Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said. Welch was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Police recovered an AR-15 rifle, a Colt .38 handgun, a shotgun and a folding knife. A telephone number listed for Welch in North Carolina was disconnected. The restaurant attracted national attention after fake news stories stated that Clinton and her campaign chief ran a child sex ring out of the restaurant’s nonexistent basement. “We should all condemn the efforts of certain people to spread malicious and utterly false accusations about Comet Ping Pong, a venerated D.C. institution,” restaurant owner James Alefantis said in a statement. “Let me state unequivocally: These stories are completely and entirely false, and there is no basis in fact to any of them.”

Gunman opens fire at gay-owned pizzeria in DC after fake political news story WASHINGTON | A fake news story prompted a man to fire a rifle at a popular gay-owned pizza place in Washington, D.C. as he attempted to “self-investigate” a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring from there, police said. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., was arrested Dec. 4 at Comet Ping Pong on Connecticut Avenue in an affluent neighborhood of the nation’s capital, police said in a statement. No one was injured. Bartender Lee Elmore told news outlets that people in the restaurant started to panic as the man walked to the back of the restaurant. “One of the hosts runs up and says, “Did you see that guy? He had a big gun,’” Elmore said. “His demeanor was bizarre, in that if you come in to a place to eat, you ask for a host or grab a seat at the bar,” Elmore said. “Didn’t make any eye contact, didn’t talk with anybody.” Police say Welch told them he had come to the restaurant to “self-investigate” the fictitious conspiracy theory that spread online during Clinton’s unsuccessful run for the White House. Upon arriving

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in other news Walmart settles same-sex benefits discrimination lawsuit for $7.5 million Lawyers for a former Walmart employee who sued the retail chain for denying her same-sex spouse health benefits have asked a federal court judge to approve a $7.5 million class-action settlement. Jacqueline Cote sued Walmart in 2015, saying the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company repeatedly denied medical insurance for her wife before 2014, when it began offering benefits for same-sex spouses. After Cote’s wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, the couple incurred $150,000 in medical costs. The proposed settlement agreement would pay claims made by Walmart associates for their same-sex spouses in the U.S. and Puerto Rico for which they were unable to obtain health insurance coverage from Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2013. Walmart and Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders said in a statement that they are pleased they could reach an agreement.

ACLU asks Obama to commute sentence for Chelsea Manning The American Civil Liberties Union and gay-rights groups are lobbying President Barack Obama to commute the prison sentence of a transgender soldier who leaked classified government and military documents. The ACLU said the letter Dec. 5 co-signed by more than a dozen civil rights groups considers Chelsea Manning’s 35-year sentence unprecedented. Attorneys on behalf of Manning, imprisoned at Kansas’ Fort Leavenworth, made a similar pitch last month for commutation. Manning was arrested in 2010 and convicted in 2013 in military court of charges related to her leaking of more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks. At that time she was known as Bradley Manning. She later filed a transgender prisoner rights lawsuit and has tried to commit suicide at least twice, citing her behind-bars treatment.

Malta bans conversion therapy, a first for Europe Malta has become the first European country to ban conversion therapy, imposing fines of up to 10,000 euros ($10,750) and a jail term of up to one year for offenders. The Maltese Parliament approved a law Dec. 7 that effectively outlaws any attempts to “cure” gay people of their sexual orientations. The law stipulates that “no sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression constitutes a disorder, disease or shortcoming of any sort.” It also lowers to 16 the age at which minors can request a gender change without their parents’ approval. Transgender Europe says the small Mediterranean country is the first in Europe to outlaw conversion therapy. Malta has been at the forefront of progressive social reforms in Europe since the Labour government was elected in 2013.

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THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WANZIE Good grief

reat Aunt Lillian

was a mysterious and intriguing woman who always arrived for her annual Christmas Day visit riding in the back seat of a large, dark-colored 4-door sedan, the likes of which one would see in a black-andwhite Chicago gangland film.

We had no idea where our illusive Aunt Lillian resided, nor did we ever meet the distinguished-looking man who drove her and waited in the car while she came inside for her very brief visit to distribute gifts to all the far-flung relatives who were gathered in our home. Despite her advanced years, she was always smartly dressed in an Aunt Clara of Bewitched sort of way—always decked out in fox furs, carrying an exotic Alligator hand bag and quite often sporting a smart hat affixed to her well-quaffed hair on a roguish tilt with a single pheasant feather extending from it. As a child I was fascinated by her very being. She wore bright lipstick with too much rouge and too much lavender perfume, which competed with the aroma of moth balls emanating from her stole. I thought she was interesting and glamorous and didn’t fully understand why the adults tittered and mumbled asides to one another in reaction to what few words she had to impart. As it turned out, Aunt Lillian was regarded as “not

being all there,” a fact which I began to become aware of as I grew old enough to understand my Mom’s end of the once-a-year-only telephone call that mother received from her Aunt Lillian two or three weeks in advance of her annual holiday visit. I would answer the phone and the somewhat regal voice on the other end of the line would say, “This is your Aunt Lillian calling, may I please speak to my niece, Myrna?” My mother’s name was actually Irma, a fact that could not ever be rectified in Lillian’s mind no matter how many times the mistake had been pointed out over the years, so eventually we all just went along with “Myrna.” The once annual phone call from Lillian was not without its purpose. The dear woman would keep “Myrna” on the phone half the evening going over the list of the dozens of great nieces and nephews for whom she would be Christmas shopping, requiring a reminder of the age of each recipient and then insisting my mother wager a guess as to each child’s dress or suit size, their shoe size, shirt size, glove size, and hat size. (Yes, it was the early 1960s and we boys wore hats with our suits). But I will never forget that the annual call from Aunt Lillian would always conclude with my mother fighting back tears until she could get Lillian off the line. The old gal asked about the various children alphabetically, so the name “Susan” always came up near the end of the call. My sister Susan, who was born on Christmas Eve, died of Leukemia at the age of five, just a week or so before Christmas. Susan passed on two years prior to my birth so I did not know her. But my dear Mother delivered Susan into the world at Christmastime and buried her in that same

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season. Irma now had five other kids to make happy at Christmas and she never intended we should see the pain she most surely felt at this time of year. This scenario played out annually. I’m not entirely sure why I decided to share this story, but I think it may have to do with something that

of never disrespecting the woman who annually caused her to feel pain in relation to the loss of her child was an example I will never forget. My mom, out of respect for her aunt, would not allow herself to cry until she hung up that phone. Looking back, I wonder if maybe one of the reasons

has been on my mind as of late: loss. Loss of life, what with so many related to the Pulse tragedy who will spend their first Christmas absent a loved one who died too young. Obviously my great aunt Lillian suffered from dementia or some such thing of which we knew not when I was growing up, but my mother’s example

my mom was so patient with Aunt Lillian during those arduous and futile age-and-size-gathering phone calls might possibly have been because she knew that according to routine, the words, “Susan is no longer with us,” would have to cross her lips. People grieve in different ways and none of them are right or wrong.

People grieve in different ways and none of them are right or wrong.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

If you are grieving over the loss of a loved one this holiday season or you are close to someone who has been touched by the recent tragedy, may I be so bold as to suggest you place no expectations on yourself and, most importantly, do not write the script in your head in advance of how you imagine things should play out this holiday season. Just be. And just be there for one another. My holiday wish for my Orlando community is twofold: 1. Although many among us may be overwhelmed with a sense of loss, please, please take a moment to be mindful of what and whom you do have in your life – and openly express gratitude. 2. Be kind to one another. My great good healing wishes go out to you all this Holiday Season.

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around tHe world Bye, Bye Wintertime Blues

iNter is ONLy A

passing thought when it’s sunny all year long, but it’s definitely one of the best times of the year to travel.

Key West is easily one of the most romantic places in Florida, but come December it’s also the sexiest. Island House hosts Bare It All Weekend, Dec. 1-4, with visitors letting it all hang out with anything-goes debauchery. There will be plenty of time to lounge poolside with a cocktail in hand or partake in pool games before it’s time for Naked Happy Hour, guided naked standup paddleboarding, snorkeling, kayaking, a sunset sail or even a little naked shopping! There’s dancing to be done at parties on the water (and after-parties that go into the wee hours of the morning). Take a trolley tour of downtown Key West and watch the city’s annual Holiday Parade pass by—all while naked, of course. And don’t miss the main event, Mr. Naked Key West 2016. Weekend passes $65. islandhousekeywest.com

in the crystal clear waters of the Gulf off the coast of Honeymoon Island. Rates start at $185 a night; weekly and monthly rates available. meranova.com

Adventure time

An easy day trip for those of us in Central Florida, Devil’s Den Spring is located in Williston, a half hour

southeast of Gainesville. In colder temperatures, steam rises from this underground spring hidden in a cave, giving you a clear clue as to where the spring gets its namesake. Known for being a literal hotspot for scuba diving and snorkeling, crystal clear waters and year-round warm water temperatures provide the optimal conditions to

dive and examine up close ancient rock formations and fossil beds dating back to the Pleistocene Age. Lodging options here are cabins, a doublewide, RV park and campgrounds where you can pitch a tent (maybe more than one). But be sure to book early, holiday time fills up quickly. devilsden.com

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With the holidays coming up, many of us are itching to break out of the doldrums (or, more honestly, avoid more time with our Uncle Joe). Lucky for Floridians, there are a myriad of spots within only a few hours’ drive from Central Florida. Here are four fun spots for a wintertime getaway around the Sunshine State, each catering to just what you might be in need of this holiday season.

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The classic Chesterfield Palm Beach has put together a “Home for the Holidays” package for anyone wanting a luxurious home away from home experience this December. With a handful of other properties in London, Geneva, Ireland and South Africa, the Red Carnation brand is

One of Florida’s gayest cities, Dunedin has a gay history that dates back to the ‘80s. This charming little Gulfside town is full of mom-and-pop shops lining Main Street, fabulous gay entertainment at the local queer hangouts and home to the Meranova Guest Inn. A cozy bed-and-breakfast made up of an eclectic selection of uniquely decorated suites ranging from art deco to classic coastal decor,

There will be plenty of time to lounge poolside with a cocktail in hand or partake in pool games before it’s time for Naked Happy Hour. known as the definition of luxury and for a staff that provides exceptionally personalized service. It’s perfect for guests who are after exceptional fine dining, heavenly spa amenities and elegant decor. The package includes accommodations for two nights in a classic queen superior suite, traditional English breakfast each morning, valet service, your own personal mixology lesson (for two) with two drinks per person and a complimentary glass of champagne on arrival to help you celebrate the holidays the “right” way (through a bubbly-induced haze,

each has its own private entrance, porch or balcony and kitchenette suited ideal for extended stays. Enjoy gourmet breakfast by the Inn’s classically trained chef in-suite or al fresco by the heated pool, take a stroll downtown or spend the afternoon splashing

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

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With this election, North carolina is on its way to repairing its reputation. Let’s ﬁnish the job and repeal HB2. —N.c. GOverNOr-eLect rOy cOOPer ON tHe stAte’s ANti-LGbtQ LAW PAsseD uNDer tHe WAtcH OF exitiNG GOv. PAt mccrOry

kAte mckinnOn is getting her OWn mOvie, And she’s A tOtAl Witch AbOut it

Ate mckiNNON, tHe cOmeDic GeNius behind some of the best SNL characters in the shows 40 plus years, has been showing off her talents on the big screen over the past year with films like the new Ghostbusters and this season’s Of�ice Christmas Party. Now she is finally making the break from ensemble comedies to star as the lead in her own film. The Emmy-award winning actress is cast to play the title role in The Lunch Witch, a film based on the Young Adult novel of the same name written by Deb Lucke, according to Deadline.com. In the film McKinnon is Grunhilda, a witch who inherits her ancestors’ recipes and cauldron, but since no one believes in magic anymore, she must take a job as a school lunch lady. No release date has been set for The Lunch Witch.

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Apple turned (red) fOr WOrld Aids dAy

PPLe mArkeD WOrLD AiDs DAy by giving more than 400 of its stores a makeover in red. Apple stores on five continents turned their logos red or featured red window decals Dec. 1 in an effort to raise visibility for World AIDS Day. It also launched new products and efforts to support (RED), a multi-brand effort aimed at raising money to fight the spread of the disease in Africa. The tech giant added four new (RED)-themed products to its lineup, including iPhone cases and Beats headphones. Some popular games in Apple’s App Store offered (RED)-themed in-app purchases. Apple also says it will donate up to $1 million to (RED) from money raised through Apple Pay. Apple marked its 10th year of partnering with (RED).

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Openly gAy sprint spOkesmAn picks Out christmAs tree With husbAnd in neW Ad

AN yOu HeAr tHis NOW? The spokesman who used to ask, “Can you hear me now?” for Verizon Wireless and now shills Sprint cellphone service, appears in a new holiday commercial for the fourth-largest wireless carrier alongside his husband. Paul Marcarelli and his husband, Ryan, are all bundled up for winter and shopping for a Christmas tree this holiday season. “Why is this one twice as much?” the couple asks the tree salesman as they stand in front of two Christmas trees, one of $50 and one of $100. “Oh, this one has 1 percent more needles,” the salesman says, playing with the branches of the more expensive tree. Which one will they pick? (hint: they go with the cheaper tree.)

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iGi GOrGeOus’ yOutube cHANNeL has more than two million subscribers where her fans can watch her videos on beauty and fashion tips, as well as videos raising issues on LGBTQ awareness. In addition, Gorgeous is a model, actress and was a Canadian champion diver. Gorgeous is also transgender, and the documentary that chronicles her life, This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, was selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous is produced by YouTube Red, the paid membership portion of the video sharing juggernaut website, and will be available exclusively to subscribers in early 2017.

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

in-depth: 2016 in revieW

THE WORST YEAR EVER A toast and a stumble through 2016, the year we will never forget. Billy Manes and Jeremy Williams

e cOuLD GO ON AND ON

about our gripes with the letter “P” this year, generally circulating around two terms: “Pulse” and “Politics.” So, indeed, that’s what we’ll do. Though we may have seen some wonderful developments in the year that God forgot, for the most part, many of us are grabbing at straws, trying to make sense of how it is that we descended so deeply, that we became the eye of the target of absolute terror.

Some may say that 2016 was the backlash for all of the gifts we were given by 2015, most notably marriage equality in both state and nation. Others might opine that there is something else going on here with the media, with conspiracies, with a new Cold War. We can’t be certain, but we certainly have each other’s backs, as has been proven by the many acts of kindness that rose up to meet the beast of an election year gone awry and a local community cut to its core. We are not a weak people;

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we have seen trouble before. But this year owns a special place in our hearts, one we hope that heals over without forgetting those who suffered and those who commandeered offenses that none of us could have been prepared for. Generally, year-in-review pieces carry little weight, sometimes brushing up against negatively directed trends – hate crimes among them; financial woes duly in tow – but 2016 owns its own place on our wall of memory. Here are just some of the unforgettable moments as

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

documented in Watermark and elsewhere that have come to define our year of living frightfully. We’re not trying to bring you down, but only to raise you up. The fight is just beginning, and we are right on the front lines, waving our rainbows ahead of any other unnecessary storms. We will get through. We did, right? Well, some of us. Don’t take this as a downer, but rather a memorial to a year that might have ended us. It did not. We go strong. We go high.

cOntinued On pg. 27 | uu |

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

March 23. HB2 is a controversial bill blocking cities from allowing transgender individuals to use public bathrooms for the gender they identify, as well as restricting cities from passing nondiscrimination laws more broadly. The ripple effects of this law will cause NC to lose hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue as performers, conventions and other state governments start pulling their events from the state. In the fall, the passing of HB2 will be named as one of the top reasons that McCrory became the first NC governor ever not to win a re-election.

| uu | year in review frOm pg.25

January

he sale of Watermark Media from founder Tom Dyer to current owner Rick Claggett takes effect Jan. 1. A new logo and company name, Watermark Publishing Group, are introduced in Watermark’s first 2016 issue. Star of stage, screen, nightmares and dreams, hero to nearly everyone – black, white, gay, straight, ecstatic, miserable, smart – David Bowie dies on Jan 10, just days after releasing his last album Blackstar. Bowie, whose androgyny and experimental musical and cinematic genius came to define a generation, sets the standard for the horrors that 2016 would come to offer. Blackstar is widely lauded as one of his best albums to date, and the whole macabre affair was completely unexpected by the public. He would have wanted it that way. He never let us down. Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan is sworn in by Rev. Cynthia Alice Anderson of Christ Church Unity at the Oath of Office Ceremony Jan. 11 at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Sheehan will be serving her fifth term as District 4 Commissioner. At the ceremony, in addition to Sheehan, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is sworn into his fourth full term. Sarasota magnet school Pine View adopts a trans-inclusive bathroom policy Jan. 14, which begins an eight-month battle with the Sarasota County School Board. After members of the community and the school board go back and forth on developing a trans bathroom policy, the school board ultimately decides to do nothing on the issue, refusing to vote on the issue at all. We’re number one... oh, wait! At the end of January, the CDC releases a new study that finds Florida leads all states in new HIV infections. Not a ranking we want to be number one in. The largest LGBT organization in the U.S., the Human Rights Campaign, endorses Hillary Clinton for president of the United States Jan. 19. Watermark will follow suit one month later endorsing Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic nominee to be

April

H president of the United States Feb. 25. Clinton will also be Watermark and HRC’s choice in the general election.

February

here is the love? Just days before Valentine’s Day, the Palm Bay City Council rejects adding LGBT-protections to the city’s existing Human Rights Ordinance. In a 4-1 vote Feb. 4, the council almost unanimously said, “We want the right to discriminate if we so choose.” Two Spirits Health Services in downtown Orlando start offering PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) in their clinic Feb. 15. They join UCF and Planned Parenthood as Central Florida organizations offering PrEP to the sexually active to encourage safe and fun sexy time. Lick it and stick it. The United Nations launches the first ever LGBT-themed stamp series at Sarasota’s National Stamp Exhibition Feb. 5. The series of six stamps are designed by world renowned artist Sergio Baradat and depict the diversity found in the community. Metro Wellness announce that they are in the market to be wealthy landowners and are purchasing the building at their St. Petersburg clinic and

community center location Feb. 23. Metro will use the remainder of 2016 to raise funds for the massive renovation they have planned in 2017. Seriously though, where is the love?!?! Jacksonville City Council member Tommy Hazouri, who proposed an LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance, withdraws his own measure. Within the coming weeks, Jacksonville residents will find anti-LGBT flyers from the KKK in their neighborhoods. A suburban police chief’s daughter began serving jail time Feb. 8 for a group attack on a gay couple that prompted Philadelphia to add sexual orientation to its hate crime laws. Judge Roxanne Covington questioned how then-hospital worker Kathryn Knott could walk away from the victims as one lay badly injured in the September 2014. She also ordered the 25-year-old brat, whose online posts have insulted gays, non-English speakers, Middle Easterners and hospital patients alike, to attend anger management classes.

March

atermark makes a splash with its annual WAVEs (Watermark Awards for Variety

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

and Excellence), having the biggest WAVE parties ever March 10 at Southern Nights Tampa and March 11 at The Abbey in Orlando. Pride is here to stay! After many incarnations of Tampa Pride over the years, the GaYbor District establishes the annual parade and festival as a spring staple in the Bayside city March 26 as they increase the crowds by nearly 20,000 people. As God is our witness, we’ll never be Prideless again. The Florida Senate approves the unnecessary Pastor Protection Act on March 3 with a vote of 23-15. The “I’m just a bill, a completely unneeded bill” was sent to the desk of Gov. Rick Scott who, SPOILER ALERT, signs it into law March 10. A U.S. District judge puts the final nail in the coffin as he rules Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional March 31. The decision is based on 2015’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage the law of the land. In May, Pam Bondi’s office will announce they are paying $213,000 of taxpayer money to the ACLU for legal fees accrued during Bondi’s fight against same-sex marriage. Pat McCrory starts the beginning of the end for his career as North Carolina’s 74th governor as he signs HB2 into law

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ope & Help makes changes as they introduce a new logo and name change at the AIDS Walk at Lake Eola April 18. The annual event was attended by more than 1,000 walkers, led as always by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The walk raises $92,000 for the HIV/AIDS organization. A sign of our times, Prince is the next pop icon to fall into that strange heaven of genius over-realized on April 21. Reports from all around the world declared that Prince died of a drug overdose, or at least painkiller abuse, but his legend lives on without a diamond or pearl missing from his pantsuit. Party over, it’s out of time. The Marion County School Board votes 4-1 to pass an anti-transgender bathroom policy April 26. The school board meeting was so heavily attended they had to provide an overflow room where people could watch via TV. After years of yelling that gay men just wanted to molest your children, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert is sentenced to 15 months in prison for child molestation. Hastert, who was wheeled into the courthouse in a wheelchair, was called a “serial child molester” saying “Nothing is more disturbing than having ‘serial child molester’ and ‘Speaker of the House’ in the same sentence.” Once released, Hastert will have to register as a sex offender. The world continues to become a more disturbingly scary place as unidentified assailants fatally stabbed two

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

| uu | year in review frOm pg.27

men in Bangladesh’s capital: Xulhaz Mannan, who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and his friend Tanay Majumderan, editor of Bangladesh’s first gay rights magazine, Roopbaan.

May

ilver Belles! Orlando Fringe leaves the fringe to take center stage as they kick off their 25th season May 18. It turns out to be one of the craziest, and best, seasons yet as shows range from retired theme park animatronics living together under one roof to a Hamilton-style parody of the Simpleton that is Trump. There were also five lesbians eating quiche in there, too. In a trend we hoped would not continue in 2016, transgender

performer Mercedes Successful’s body is found May 15 in a parking lot in Haines City. She has been murdered, the 12th known trans murder of 2016 at the time. Presently, that number is up to 24. After 20 years working for AIDS Service Association of Pinellas, executive director William Harper retires May 19. This is a part of a huge year for ASAP, one that sees the opening of Home 3050 two months earlier and the merging of ASAP with Francis House later in the year to form the new organization EPIC. Florida’s first ever transgender delegate, Monica DePaul, is elected in Jacksonville May 7. This is all the more impressive as Jacksonville is known as one of the most conservative large cities in Florida. DePaul was one of 30 state delegates to come from the LGBTQ community. President Obama tells schools across the nation May 13 to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that aligns with their

gender identity. 11 states will announce May 26 that they are suing the federal government because of this mandate. Alabama politics hit a low point, even for Alabama standards, as Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended May 6 for refusing to enforce the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling. It’s familiar territory for the Republican Moore, a Christian conservative who was previously removed from the same position in 2003 over a Ten Commandments monument and easily won re-election later. Moore is completely removed from the bench in September.

June

ay Days is a huge success as thousands head to Orlando to celebrate throughout the theme parks and resorts, including watching a happy gay couple get engaged on stage with

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Kesha at One Magical Weekend’s Hollywood Studios bash June 4. The weekend is declared “bigger than ever” by GayDays.com saying “The host hotel, the DoubleTree by Hilton at Sea World, sold out earlier than ever before. Bob Poe sits down with Watermark founder Tom Dyer June 9 to announce that he is HIV-positive, and, if elected, would be the first openly HIV-positive person in the U.S. Congress. Poe will go on to lose his bid for Congress to Val Demings in the primaries Aug. 31. The evening of June 11 was supposed to be yet another conflagration of fantasy and heavy beats, an arms-in-the-air Latin Night at popular downtown nightclub Pulse. But just as the club was closing around 2 a.m., everything went south. A lone gunman opened fire indiscriminately at everyone in the club, starting at the front door and working his way back through the bathrooms. The killer, who we choose not to name, was eventually killed by police, but not before taking the lives of 49 unsuspecting revelers and ruining the lives of the 53 injured. Orlando stepped into action immediately upon hearing the news on Sunday morning, communicating through social media and the national media the breadth of despair that the incident carried into our collective being. Vigils were held, a makeshift memorial was a mourning ground for a community in shock, Orlando changed forever. Communities around the world joined Orlando as it tried to pick up the pieces of a hate crime that came out of nowhere. Orlando is a different city now, one that has been broken, but one that refuses to back down. Several funds have been set up to help those in need, and, for the most part, Orlando shone its brightest possible rainbow against the darkest moment this city has ever faced. GLBT Center executive director Terry DeCarlo announces in early June that he will be stepping down as of June 24. After the Pulse shooting, DeCarlo states that he will stay on until the end of the month which is later revised to him saying indefinitely. With the images of Pulse still fresh on our minds, St. Pete Pride carries on with one of the most sobering and uplifting Pride events the city has seen, June 24-26. The parade was filled with

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mourners carrying the faces of those who were lost. It also gave the community a chance to clear its heads and celebrate Pride. St. Pete Pride will also go on in 2016 to put a bid in for World Pride 2022, marking what will be the 20th anniversary of St. Pete Pride. Scott Schweickert is sentenced to life in prison June 8 for the murders of Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, both of whom disappeared from a Tampa gay nightclub in 2003. Schweickert avoided the death penalty as part of a plea deal to provide information to convict his partner in the crime Steven Lorenzo. The sentencing reached a fever pitch when Galehouse’s mother yelled at Schweickert, finishing her time to speak with, “I hope you rot in hell.” In response to the Pulse tragedy, the Tampa Bay Rays announce that $5 from each ticket, more than $300,000 from its June 17 Pride Night, would be donated to Pulse-related charities. In an unsolicited move, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton writes an op-ed for Watermark in our June 30 issue declaring her support for the LGBTQ community. “Yes, this is a time for reflection,” she writes. “But more importantly, this is a time for action. We need real plans to prevent future attacks and ensure the safety of the LGBT community and all Americans.” Blindsided, many of Orlando’s pivotal LGBTQ and governmental leaders take to the global networks to explain the pain that this community has felt. Immediate attempts to define the Pulse attack as something antiseptic, something trailing from the vines of terrorism, are quickly pushed aside. This was a hate crime against our community. If you need any more evidence, you can count the victims by toe tags. This was the worst day in Orlando history, indeed the worst massacre on the American mainland by firearms ever. The weight of this will stay with us for years, perhaps forever. On July 28, Orange County Republicans and those among representative Republican delegations will pledge to support LGBT equality via a strong move by Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, formerly an enemy to the LGBT Community. Later in the year, she will tell us that the calls to her peers weren’t as difficult as they might seem. “These are cOntinued On pg. 31 | uu |

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| uu | year in review frOm pg.29

what I like to think are the new generation of Republicans,” said Jacobs. Assassinated LGBT hero Harvey Milk gets a military Ship, the USNS Harvey Milk, named after him nearly four decades after his death. He wanted to recruit you. But he wanted to recruit you to peaceful means of being. His murder, coupled with that of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in the offices of City Hall remains a pivotal moment in LGBTQ history. And following the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military support sent a message that this country was not in support of hatred or embarrassment any longer. In an unexpected announcement, Tampa Bay trans-hero Ashley Brundage announces that she will step down from leadership of the Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, while the board simultaneously announces its rebranding: The Tampa Bay Diversity of Chamber of Commerce will be led by former vice president of the group Eric Mathis, who will take over the leadership role in 2017 as Brundage intends to complete the year with the group. “We felt that a really long transition time – I know a little bit about that – would be great,” Brundage joked to Watermark. “I see Eric as a really phenomenal speaker, very professional, but he also understands the community, all members of the community, including allies.” Because it only takes a seed to start a fetid sprout, this year saw the bizarre behavioral anomaly of states suing the federal government over public schools allowing trans people into bathrooms that relate to their sexual identity. Naturally, it all started with North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory – the sad toad who ended up having to concede after the November election threw him overboard on this very issue – but, disturbingly, more than a dozen states filed similar injunctions against President Barack Obama’s civil rights ruling on the action, ten more in July. Related: There are doors on stalls. Pick your battles wisely. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter cleanly ripped the rug

out from beneath the bigots still hanging on to notions that transgender people serving in the military are not worthy of equal treatment. The new policy came late in June – June 30, actually – and effectively negated all previously stated complaints about gender playing a roll in service.

July

overnmental dreamboat and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is the first prime minister to march in a Pride parade, stating publicly, post-Pulse, “We have to speak up anytime there is intolerance or discrimination.” He then added, “It shouldn’t be a big thing that a prime minister’s walking a Pride parade, and from now on it won’t.” Following the horrors of the Pulse incident, GLBT Center leader Terry DeCarlo, who had announced his professional dismount in May, changes his mind and decides to stay on board through the obvious labor and transitions that the relief effort would require indefinitely. “I am elated to be staying with The Center,” DeCarlo said. “No one could have predicted the tragedy that happened in Orlando on June 12, and it was incredible to see The Center and other organizations come together as one to work towards a common goal, helping the victims and families of this senseless tragedy.” On July 11, numerous supporters of the LGBT community crowded the foyer of the offices of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to let him know that they would not go quietly, not in the name of 49 lost. The “Sit in for the 49” resulted in 10 arrests – trespassing, effectively – but also turned the corner on the methods of protest being utilized to nationally continue the drumbeat against intolerance in the wake of a massacre. “Senator Rubio respects the views of others on these difficult issues, and he welcomes the continued input he is receiving from people across the political spectrum,’’ his office said in a statement. Though it would seem to be a no-brainer – just as most issues volleyed around municipal daises – attempts to move forward with a plan to declare June as LGBT Pride and History

Month (as a means, especially, of honoring the victims of Pulse), fail in Hillsborough County. County Commissioner Kevin Beckner led the fight, but was ultimately shutdown by whatever cynicism there is that seems to plague the Hillsborough area. “We need to continue as a community to work to elect progressive individuals into office locally that can continue to watch the mantel and keep guard so we don’t step backwards,” Beckner said. Democratic State Rep. David Richardson put on his best gay face to confront Florida Gov. Rick Scott in late July and was met with a surprising bit of comfort, at least according to reports. Naturally, Scott reneged publicly. “Following the tragic terror attack at Pulse Nightclub, we appreciate Rep. Richardson’s involvement with our office and the Orlando community. We are thankful for the countless individuals and organizations who came together to help the Orlando community heal,” Scott said through a spokesperson. “He didn’t say anything about the gay community, the LGBT community,” Richardson said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “I texted her, and I

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

said, ‘Would you tell him that he has to say the word gay?’” Richardson said. “He has to say the word ‘gay’ because the gay community is taking note that he’s not acknowledging the community.” He didn’t.

August

iting previous mistakes in mishandling of finances directed at national tragedies, Orlando establishes the OneOrlando Fund as a means of responsibly distributing donations meant to aid those most affected by the June 12 Pulse shooting. The families of the 49 killed in the massacre will receive $350,000 each, officials said in an August news release, while 37 of the survivors who were hospitalized will receive from $65,000 to $300,000 each, depending on the number of nights spent in the hospital. For the 31 people who received outpatient care, they will be paid $35,000 each. The remaining 182 claimants will be paid $25,000 each. Cindy Barnes, who has headed Sarasota Pride for nine years now, makes the announcement that she’s not going anywhere, despite her attempts to step down from her leadership position

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and let the festival evolve into something else. The reason? One of those killed at Pulse was Eddie Sotomayor of Sarasota, and she couldn’t see herself walking away in these dark days. “The board of directors had already made the decision that Sarasota Pride in its current form would be suspended this year, and we would focus on producing four smaller events throughout the year,” Barnes told Watermark. “Actually I was on vacation out of state when I heard what had happened in Orlando. I felt right away that there was no way we could not have a full Pride celebration in light of what had happened. I got on the phone right away with board members and, with a full court push, we were able to obtain vendors and entertainers at the last minute and to move ahead with producing the event. But if Pulse had never happened, things would be a lot different with Sarasota Pride than they are now.” In early August, Pope Francis, he of the most caring social sense seen by a pope for centuries, made a huge misstep in going after the trans community. “We are living a moment of annihilation of man as image of God,” he said. “Today,

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FIND YOUR FLORIDA Close to everything and yet a world away!

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

County (natch) – to the spoiled went the victory. For now, we sit and wait as accusations of interference from Russian leader Vladimir Putin trickle in and talks of recounts and dismay fill the social media spectrum. Meanwhile, some of our biggest supporters – Linda Stewart and Carlos Guillermo Smith – made their respective ways (back) into the mahogany melodrama of state politics. After eight years of serving the needs of both Hillsborough County and the LGBTQ community in general, County Commissioner Kevin Beckner politely stepped down from his post. “Like so many at the time, I was not satisfied with the direction our government was going, especially our local government,” Beckner told Watermark. “I started thinking of getting in after 2005 when the county commission put a ban on gay pride. That was a tipping point for me. I felt like our local government was not focusing on the issues that were most relevant to the issues of our community.”

| uu | year in review frOm pg.31

in schools they are teaching this to children — to children! — that everyone can choose their gender.” Later, the pope seemingly turned on his feet and offered that trans individuals should “be accompanied as Jesus accompanied them.” Transitions are difficult. The Orlando Police Department LGBTQ liaison Jim Young outlines the efforts of the community to try to make the department – notoriously assumed to be against minorities – more gay friendly. “We just want the community to know that we are here for them,” Young told Watermark. “As [Mayor Buddy Dyer] said, we aren’t going to let the tragedy define us. We are progressing from that and are coming together as a community.”

September

fter a spate of confusion regarding the operations of Orlando’s LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, known as the Metropolitan Business Association, the tidying up has begun in full throttle. In September, the MBA was honored in Palm Springs for its efforts with the Referral and Exchange Networking and Development Program (RED). “MBA Orlando has developed an innovative approach to networking and lead generating groups,” National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Sam McClure said in a statement. “They have engaged their community and NGLCC is impressed with their program’s success. We are proud to honor the hard work that went into the RED program.” The group received a $2,500 grant with the award, and MBA board president Lu Mueller-Kaul said at the time. “Getting this award definitely does mean something, and getting the grant, too,” she says. “Especially in the weeks after Pulse, when people stopped working their day jobs. Then we still had to run the chamber. … Wells Fargo doesn’t put its name on anything it hasn’t researched.” With September creeping past the disasters of the summer, the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival upped its ante with 65 films for 2016; the festival has been around for

December

27 years. “From the beginning [of TIGLFF] on opening night, we’ll start the healing by doing a short film on Pulse and looking back on the year and what the community has been through,” Scott Skyberg, TIGLFF’s executive director, told Watermark. “You’re going to see the struggle with the trans community in some of the films, and the struggles that LGBT youth have in dealing with and coming to terms with gender and sexuality – how they can communicate with others.”

October

he 20th annual Out & Equal Summit convened upon Disney’s Swan and Dolphin hotels on Oct. 4, bringing a fresh breeze of progress to an otherwise dismal year. The goal: workplace equality. The size: nearly 5,000 people. It was a really big deal. “Our vision is one of workplace equality and inclusion for everyone to be their authentic self, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression” Out & Equal’s Sherri Absher says. “Our mission is to educate and empower Greater Orlando area workplaces, employee resource groups and

individual employees by providing tools and innovative programming and networking opportunities. I think we are going to increase our efforts tenfold after this election,” Oh, Florida and its hurricanes. This year, for the second time in its history, the Come Out With Pride parade and celebration would have to sit on its hands for a month for a rescheduled event. The reason? The questionable path of Hurricane Matthew, which, at one point, appeared to be the apex of devastation, though it turned, as most things in Florida do that involve hyperbole, into something a little less than that. Good on the COWP team for recognizing the dangers, though. The parade went on without a hitch, and in a larger form than ever, on Nov. 12. The biggest crunch there was that it pushed away the political weight of the parade that could have shifted the Nov. 8 election turnout. However, the crowds shouted on through a beautiful day in record numbers. Orlando needed it. In early October, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida announced all-inclusive services for transgender individuals. It was a big step in the intersectionality between LGBTQ and women’s

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

rights, and it was a welcome one at that. “This is a group of people who have been underserved and haven’t had access to this care,” Dr. Robert Slackman of PPSWCF said at the time. Donning itself in Ruby Red, this year’s theme for its 40th anniversary, the All Hallow’s Ball took over Tampa’s Museum of Science for some over-the-top costume flair. Lady Bunny was there, as were numerous shirtless people who likely left their costumes at the gym, if you catch our drift. There was red, though. Definitely, red was there.

November

arring the worst hate crime ever committed with a firearm on American soil – at least as far as anyone knows – the elections on Nov. 8, which, in the presidential field, pitted television star Donald Trump against seasoned politician and relative genius Hillary Clinton against each other in what was certain to be a washout in her favor was the depression headline of the year. Though Clinton won by more than two million popular votes – and, it should be noted, she killed it in Orange County and Hillsborough

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n a surprise move, Pulse owner Barbara Poma decided that she wasn’t going to move forward with the city of Orlando’s offer of $2.25 million for the property where so many still go to hold vigil for those killed in the early hours of June 12. “I intend to create a space for everyone, a sanctuary of hope, and a welcoming area to remember all those affected by the tragedy,” she said in a statement on Dec. 5. Dec. 1 – World AIDS Day, 2016 – marked 35 years of suffering in our community and the world at large. The threat remains real. Moving forward, HIV/AIDS organizations are strategizing methods to reclaim relevancy in a generational theme that seems to have headed into the abyss of hubris. “Last week a group of HIV leaders and agency leaders like myself gathered at our usual bi-yearly meetings and were there to discuss what happens now that we have a very different looking administration. We walked away in unison with uncertainty and with a ‘wait and see’ attitude,” Metro Wellness executive director Lorraine Langlois told Watermark recently. We’ve waited. We’ve seen.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

Arts And entertAinment

IT’S

MAGIC The carbonaro effect’s Michael Carbonaro abracadabras from the small screen to the big stage

Jeremy Williams

F yOu Are LOOkiNG FOr A true

Magic Mike, look no further than Michael Carbonaro. The 34-year-old actor/comedian/ magician has been dropping jaws with his on-thestreet hidden camera magic show, The Carbonaro Effect. The hit show has just been renewed on TruTV for a third season, plus two original specials, all to air in 2017.

Carbonaro is also on the next leg of his nationwide tour that brings him to The Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg Dec. 29. Before he conjures himself up in Tampa Bay for a little hocus pocus, Carbonaro chatted with Watermark via the psychic friends network for a little bippity boppity boo. Oh, ho, ho, it’s magic.

a make-up man. I loved monsters and make-up and Halloween, and I would buy all the things for my special effects from a magic shop. That’s sort of what opened my eyes and I started watching people do magic. I loved performing so I picked up magic in the beginning as a way to do special effects live.

yOu first develOp yOur lOve fOr mAgic?

At 13, I really wanted to be a make-up artist. Then as I progressed through my teen years, I said, “You

waTerMarK: When did

michAel cArbOnArO: I began my love of magic with wanting to be a special effects artist as a kid,

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

At WhAt pOint did yOu decide yOu WAnted tO mAke A cAreer Out Of it?

cOntinued On pg. 37 | uu |

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

incredible and wonderful and the show is all consuming. Just getting to tour and get back on the stage – I used to perform stage magic all the time before the show and it’s great to get back to that – so it’s just a matter of time. As long as I’m alive I will be doing some type of entertainment; I just consider myself an entertainer so whether it’s acting or magic or hosting or directing, I’ll be around.

| uu | Michael Carbonaro from pg.35

know I really think I like performing magic. I think I might just be a performing magician. ”So I went to college - I went to NYU really [carrying] that ambition that I’m just going to become the next great magician. I took as many theater classes as I possibly could, which is what I always recommend. I get a lot of parents and families who watch my show and they ask me, “What would you recommend for an up and coming magician?” I always tell them to take as many workshops and classes outside of magic that are just based around theater and performance. So in school, I just found my love for acting and doing stand-up comedy, and that’s where the two worlds of acting and magic melded together. You are mostly known for your magic, but you do act and you have performed stand-up comedy. Does the passion for magic, acting and comedy all come from the same place?

Absolutely! I think it’s all magic. Directing is magic, acting is magic. It’s no wonder you find all of those passions grouped together in a magic shop. Everything from make-up and monsters to magic tricks and pranks and gags and secrets – all of those things that are kind of mysterious and magical live in that world. You are Italian and from New York, and as someone who is half Italian from New York I know that Italian families from New York are very close and loving, but also nosey and in your business. What was it like for you coming out in that environment?

My mom kind of knew. She guessed early on, and it was just kind of a slow reveal versus an actual coming out. I did come out to my dad and that one surprised him. He didn’t suspect. You always hear these stories like, “Oh, we always knew,” but he didn’t. I get that a lot though; when people find out I’m gay they are usually surprised. So which was a bigger shock for the aunts and the uncles and the grandparents: When you came out as gay or when you told them you wanted to do magic professionally?

[Laughs] Definitely gay. They had seen my magic tricks, so that wasn’t

Is this the first tour you have done since beginning the show?

Pick a card: Michael Carbonaro kicks off the third season of The Carbonaro Effect on TruTV early 2017 and brings the magic live to The Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg Dec. 29. Photo courtesy Tru TV

You are going to get lots of magic and loads of laughs and surprises, plus I cover myself in shaving cream. Bring the whole family. —Michael Carbonaro

a shock. I told them that I was getting my own show, and they were like, “Yeah, we know, we know. We’ve seen your tricks everywhere.” So yeah, definitely being gay was the surprise. The Academy of Magical Arts named you Magician of the Year in 2014. What was that call like for you?

Unbelievable. That was just four years after I made the move to Los Angeles from New York, and I had made the move to L.A. to focus on my acting career, not my magic. I thought I would be putting magic on the back burner by leaving New York and the theater scene there. I was making the move thinking it would be all Hollywood glitz and glamour. When I got to L.A., I immediately ended up getting connected with the Magic Castle and the Larson family and the Academy of Magical Arts. I started performing there and making so many magic friends, and I realized I was

advancing my magic much faster than I had been in the last few years in New York. So it was an incredibly gigantic, shocking honor to get that call. It was an amazing thing. Was that what led to the show, because 2014 is also the year that you began The Carbonaro Effect?

Actually, the show came about when I started performing on late night television. I did a bizarre act right when I moved to L.A.. It was one of my first big breaks. I got on Jimmy Kimmel and performed this really crazy act I do with shaving cream. If you haven’t heard of it or seen it, it’s the trick I am finishing the live act with there in Tampa Bay. I cover myself in shaving cream and sculpt myself into different characters and creatures, like a live magical transformation act. It’s really cool, and I did that on Jimmy Kimmel and that opened the doors for me in late night television. I got connected with The Tonight Show with Jay

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Leno, and they set up a hidden camera magic segment on the show for me, and that is what launched my work into hidden cameras and magic, which is a wonderful blend of acting and magic where I got to do all the things I love to do: acting, comedy and magic. And back then, that was the most difficult question to answer: which one of these things do I want to focus on and do for a living, acting or magician? And I was like “Can I do both?” With this show I get to do both.

Speaking of acting, you were hilarious in Another Gay Movie, and you guest starred in everything from The Newsroom to iCArly. Will your fans get to see you in any upcoming projects? I know with the show and tour that that has been the focus.

Yeah, you’re right. The timeframe of the show still has me trying to regulate how to take a moment to breathe in this wild whirlwind. It’s

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

This is the second leg of the first tour since the show. I started last year and I’ve performed in 35 different venues across the nation and I love it. I get to meet the fans and my people get to see me perform magic live. Obviously, on the show I’m pretending not to be a magician, and I’m lying and saying I’m not doing any magic tricks. I open the show saying, “Well, you all know I’m a magician, so now you can trust me 100 percent and I won’t have to lie this evening.” And of course everyone laughs, because they know all I’m going to do all night is lie to them [laughs]. It’s a great way for fans of the show to get to meet the goofball, comedian host Michael Carbonaro the magician. It’s almost like it’s the first time they are meeting me as a magician. Which is more difficult: live magic where they know it’s magic or on the TV show, where part of the act is that they don’t know it’s a magic show?

The TV show, especially with our society and [how] everyone is very busy all the time. It’s very tough to get that right window of opportunity to have somebody engage with a stranger. That’s the whole premise of the show right there: Having someone engage with a stranger for long enough and focused enough to witness something happening. It can be a bit of a wrestling match to get their attention without coming off too strong and tipping them off that something is going on here. What can expect to see at the show at The Mahaffey?

You will get a lot of audience participation, so people are going to come right up from the crowd to help with the magic. You are going to get lots of magic and loads of laughs and surprises, plus I cover myself in shaving cream. Bring the whole family.

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books

Words with friends

Some literary gift ideas for those who prefer time alone end of his leash, and his brother’s dogs, who begin to show him that dogs are smarter than they seem.

MEMOIR / BIOGRAPHY

Fans of the latest Harper Lee novel will love receiving My Father and Atticus Finch by Joseph Madison Beck. Pulling a page from Lee, it’s the tale of a white trial lawyer in Alabama who defended a black man charged with rape. Happened in 1938. Your giftee will love reading it in 2017. For the mother-daughter duo on your list, The Bridge Ladies by Betsy Lerner may be perfect. It’s the story of two generations of women, mom and daughter, who don’t quite understand one another. One flees, then comes home, helping out and gaining love and understanding through an unlikely tribe of women. Or, here’s one for fathers of sons: Love That Boy by Ron Fournier is a book about a dad and the love he has for his boy, who has Asperger’s.

POLITICS

(above)

Reading rainbow: Book suggestions for your holiday fancy.

Terri Schlichenmeyer

he gift list was easy this year.

For once, you knew what to get everybody. Every. Single. Giftee. Easy-peasy… except, oops, that one person who vexes you each year. What to get? Well, books are always good gifts, and they’re super-easy to wrap, too. How about one of these great selections for that one person?

FICTION

For the independent traveler on your list, Paris for One & Other Stories by Jojo Moyes might be a great bon voyage gift. It’s a collection

of short stories about change, opportunity, independence, and life in general. Pair it with The Jungle Around Us: Stories by Anne Raeff. It’s a collection of tales with the jungle, its mystery, darkness, and richness, as both metaphor and connecting force here. Dog lovers will howl over Jonathan Unleashed by Meg Rosoff. It’s the story of a man who’s at the

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Undoubtedly, there’s a political animal on your gift list who didn’t get enough politics this year. Fear not! Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton by Joe Conason will let you check off another name. This book takes a look at Clinton’s work in his post-presidential years. If your giftee is still wondering what happened this political year, you can’t go wrong when you wrap up The Year of Voting Dangerously by Maureen Dowd. It’s a book filled with essays by the woman who’s covered elections for the past nine presidents. Nope, can’t go wrong here.

MUSIC / MOVIES / TV

There’s someone on your gift list who loves music of all kinds, and They Call Me Supermensch by Shep Gordon will be a welcome gift. Gordon was a manager for a number of big name music acts, as well as an innovator in the entertainment industry. Who can resist a book like that? Nobody,

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

For the midnight-movie fan who can’t get enough of toast or Janet, The Rocky Horror Picture Show FAQ by Dave Thompson is exactly what you want to give. This book is absolutely jammed with facts, stories, fun-to-know details, everything you ever wanted to know about Frank-NFurter and more. Want to see the biggest smile ever? For the fan of the newest Pulitzer Prize Winner for Literature, wrap up Bob Dylan: The Lyrics 1961-2012. This book is HUGE – at nearly 700 pages and weighing, well, let’s just say the reindeer will complain. It’s also on the spendy side, but if you’ve got a Dylan fan on your list, this will get you hugs through at least Independence Day. For the ultimate gift, you can pair it with Madonnaland and Other Detours Into Fame and Fandom by Alina Simone. It’s a look at The Material Girl, music, and being a rock star.

LGBTQ INTEREST

In Saving Delaney by Andrea and Keston Ott-Dahl, your giftee will read the story of one little girl, her life before birth, her lesbian moms and her wealthy parents, and what happened when she entered the world with Down’s syndrome. Wrap it up with tissues and Journey to Same-Sex Parenthood by Eric Rosswood, a book filled with tips and tales of gay and lesbian folks who finally became parents. For the mom or dad who’s just learned that their child is gender-questioning, The Gender Creative Child by Diane Ehrensaft, PhD might be a loving gift. It’s a book that will guide them through many early questions and thoughts they may have now, and later. Wrap it up with When Your Child is Gay by Wesley C. Davidson and Jonathal L. Tobkes, M.D., for the answers to even more questions. What does it mean to be a man or a woman? In The Fate of Gender by Frank Browning, your giftee will learn what science says about gender, brains, chromosomes, social pressures, and how other countries see gender and the spectrum. Wrap it up with Queer Identities and Politics in Germany: A History 1880-1945 by Clayton J. Whisnant, a fascinating history book that looks at German LGBT organizations, people, publications, and the culture, especially during World War II. Seasons readings!

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community calendar

event plAnner

arts+entertainment

OrlAndO

Light the christmas tree for the 49+1

It was a Very Good yule: A holiday cabaret,, Dec. 15-18 & 22-23, Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando. 407-297-8788; madcowtheatre.com Neema’s oldschool happy hour,, Dec. 16, the Venue, Orlando. 407-412-6895; TheVenueOrlando.com Varietease: WinterBLue, Dec. 16-17, the Venue, Orlando. 407-412-6895; TheVenueOlando.com Latin Fiesta Nights, Dec. 17, I-Drive 360, Orlando. 407-601-7907; I-Drive360.com trans-siberian orchestra, Dec. 17, Amway Center, Orlando. 407-440-7000; AmwayCenter.com Any Way you slice It with chang, Dec. 17, Vinyl Arts Bar, Orlando. VinylArtsBar.com Wanzie’s Barely respectable christmas curiosity, Dec. 18, The Abbey, Orlando. 407-704-6261; AbbeyOrlando.com John Lennon tribute & christmas Fundraiser, Dec.18, Will’s Pub, Orlando. Will’s Pub, Orlando. 407-748-8256; WillsPub.org 1940s holi-DAys, Dec. 20 & 27, Bok Tower Gardens, Orlando. 863-676-1408; BokTowerGardens.org Invasion! christmas carol, Dec. 21-23, SAK Comedy Lab, Orlando. 407-648-0001; SAK.com Grinchmas, Dec. 22, Southern Nights, Orlando. 407-412-5039; SouthernNightsORL.com hank’s holiday Party, Dec. 22, Hanks, Orlando. 407-291-2399; HanksBarOrlando.com

christmAs belles Contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race perform live on stage in “A Drag Queen Christmas” at the Straz Center in Tampa hosted by Bob the Drag Queen Dec. 27 and at Plaza Live in Orlando hosted by thorgy thor Dec. 28. Photos courtesy oF LoGotV

the roots, Dec. 29, House of Blues, Orlando. 407-934-2583; HouseOfBlues.com/Orlando

tAmpA bAy A holly Jolly christmas Party, Dec. 16, Honey Pot, Tampa. 813-247-4663; Facebook.com/ Honey-Pot christmas in the Wild, Dec. 16-23, 26-30, Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa. 813-935-8552; LowryParkZoo.org Grand central holiday Market, Dec. 17, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com transgender & Allies holiday Dinner Party, Dec. 17, METRO, St. Petersburg. 727-321-3854; MetroTampaBay.org

A Drag Queen christmas, Dec. 28, The Plaza Live, Orlando. 407-228-1220; PlazaLiveOrlando.com

Neibearhood takeover: A Very Beary christmas, Dec. 17, the Body Shop, Tampa. 813-971-3578; TheBodyShopTampa.com

Dancing with the stars Live, Dec. 28, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

Merry Minions! christmas Party!, Dec. 17, Honey Pot, Tampa. 813-247-4663; Facebook.com/Honey-Pot

Winter showcase and holiday shindig!, Dec. 17, The Keep, Tampa. 863-698-1713; TheKeepYogaCircus.com Fifth Annual Bad santa holiday Fund raiser, Dec. 18, Reservoir Bar, Tampa. 813-248-1442; Facebook.com/ReservoirBar trans-siberian orchestra, Dec. 18, Amalie Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com holiday Boat Parade of Lights, Dec. 19, Riverwalk, Tampa. 813-221-1539; TampaRiverwalk.net Bingo4charity benefiting Pet Pal Animal shelter, Dec. 21, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com Friday Night Live: Lisa Noe, Dec. 23, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com Green Day, Dec. 26, Dolins Garden Center, St. Petersburg. 727-525-3434; DolinsGardenCenter.com snow Days at the Aquarium, Dec. 26- 31, The Florida Aquarium, Tampa. 813-273-4000; FLAquarium.org

A Drag Queen christmas, Dec. 27, Straz Center, Tampa. 813-229-7827; StrazCenter.org Bingo for shoes, Dec. 27, Hamburger Mary’s Pub House, Tampa. 813-248-5777; HamburgerMarys.com/Tampa Michael carbonaro Live!, Dec. 29, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. 727-892-5767; TheMahaffey.com

sArAsOtA Beauty and the Beast, Dec. 16-18, Manatee Performing Arts Center, Bradenton. 941-749-1111; ManateePerforming ArtsCenter.com Wine Down & Paint christmas 2016, Dec. 18, Rosa Fiorelli Vineyard, Bradenton. 941-322-0976; FiorelliWinery.com Punk rock Bingo w/Mike Fender, Dec. 19, Kelly’s Live, Sarasota. 941-955-0195; Facebook.com/ KellyLiveSarasota rodgers and hammerstein’s Cinderella, Dec.27-28, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota. 941-953-3368; VanWezel.org

sAturDAy, Dec. 17, 6:00 P.m. PuLse, OrLANDO Join the community on Dec. 17 as they light the Christmas trees at Pulse. The trees will be lit in honor of the 49 victims of the Pulse shooting, plus Chris Brodman. Brodman was at Pulse the night of the shooting and was able to get out. He passed away three months later due to a rare medical condition. This is a free event and is open to the public. For more information visit the event’s Facebook event page.

PFLAG support meeting WeDNesDAy, Dec. 21, 7:00 P.m. First uNiteD metHODist cHurcH, OrLANDO PFLAG is the nation’s largest ally and LGBTQ support organization. The Orlando chapter of PFLAG is holding a meeting Dec. 21, and every third Wednesday of the month. The meeting will consist of community announcements, speakers and a support group. For more information visit PFLAGOrlando.org.

tAmpA bAy

mad Hatters Transgender Awareness Drag show FriDAy, Dec. 23, 11:00 P.m. mAD HAtters etHNObOtANicAL teA bAr, st. PetersburG Mad Hatters Ethnobotanical Tea Bar is bringing together some of the area’s drag performers to raise awareness for transgender issues and raise funds for Carter Bewernitz, a member of the local trans community. Blayze Gomez will be in the house selling his Trans Men calendars, as well as performances from Jaime Sky, Sierra Sinister and Allbeef Patty. Carter Bewernitz will also perform for the first time ever. This event has no cover and is 18 and up. Visit MadHattersTeaBar.com for more information on this and upcoming events.

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

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

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overheard

tAmpA bAy Out+AbOut

tAmpA bAy lightning hOnOrs lOcAl trAns student As cOmmunity herO

He tAmPA bAy LiGHtNiNG HONOreD transgender student Mary Jane Taylor as the 11th Lightning Community Hero of the 2016-17 season at the Amalie Arena during a game against the Washington Capitals Dec. 3. Taylor serves as the founder and president of the Trans Support Group at Jefferson High School and was recently invited to speak to Hillsborough County School’s principals and assistant principals on safety and awareness for the transgender population. “Within the last two years, there has been a dramatic increase in transgender deaths across the United States. Along with the increase in deaths, transgender people are ranked in the top-five for most likely to be unemployed, homeless, and at risk for sexually transmitted disease. Only three percent of transgender students across America attend a university or accredited school. Taylor strives to be the change she wants to see,” the Tampa Bay Lightning released in a statement. Taylor, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, will donate $25,000 to Community Tampa Bay and receive a scholarship grant of $25,000 to assist in her educational pursuits. Taylor is the 240th Lightning Community Hero since the program was introduced in the 2011-12 Lightning season. Since its inception, the program has granted $12.15 million to more than 300 non-profits in the greater Tampa Bay area.

tAmpA bAy Aids WAlk WAs epic

rieNDs, FAmiLies, cO-WOrkers and many members of the Tampa Bay community turned out as more than a thousand people walked in the annual Tampa Bay AIDS Walk at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg Dec. 10. The crowd was greeted with complimentary coffee for the chilly St. Pete morning (well, chilly for us Floridians) before helping walk the newly formed Empath Partners in Care, or EPIC (the merging of AIDS Service Association of Pinellas and Francis House in Tampa) to more than $100,000. Newly named EPIC executive director Joy Winheim spoke to the crowd before Hot 101.5’s Miguel Fuller sent the walkers on their stroll around Vinoy Park. (Fuller let the over achieving runners for the 5K portion of the event go a few moments head of the walkers). The crowd was also joined by a slew of celebrities such as Miss ASAP herself Stephanie Stuart, Fizbo the Clown and jolly old Saint Nick in shorts along with a K9 reindeer companion. Awards were given out to the top walkers and teams who raised the most amount of money. After completing the walk (or run if you were one of the show offs) the party carried over to Punky’s for a celebratory brunch. Congrats to all of the walkers, runners and volunteers for making this a very successful event.

2 3

PAN-DemONium: Andrew citino and sasha citino get a selfie in before heading into freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg to catch Peter Pan Dec. 11. Photo

courtesy oF ANDreW cItINo

FOr tHe cHiLDreN: Kori stevens (L) and Jim Nixon at the Toys for Tots Benefits Concert at Enigma in St. Petersburg Dec. 4. Photo By ANDreW cItINo

HOLiDAy PArty: charline Boettcher (L) and Jaime tibbleget cozy at St. Pete Pride’s Red & Green Party at Sunkin Gardens in St. Petersburg Dec. 3. Photo By

suZANNe sIDLer

Let me be yOur HerO: Mary Jane Taylor (center) presented with Lightning Community Hero award by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa Dec. 3. Photo courtesy oF the

tAMPA BAy LIGhtNING

FueGO FriDAy: (L-R) Andrew cruz, Neema Bahrami and Chhoy sutimek at the Pulse Latin Night Tribute At Southern Nights in Tampa Dec. 9. Photo courtesy oF chhoy sutIMeK

We Were ruNNiN’: Balance tampa Bay gather in Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg for the 13th annual Tampa Bay AIDS Walk Dec. 10. Photo By

JereMy WILLIAMs

HAve A seAt: Miss ASAP 2016 stephanie stuart greets guests at the Tampa Bay AIDS Walk after party at Punky’s in St. Petersburg Dec. 10. Photo courtesy oF DANIeL LANcAster

DeAr sANtA: (L-R) Paul McNair, Jason Fields and rob scott wishing happy holidays after Una Voce’s “We Three Queens” at the USF Concert Hall in Tampa Dec. 11. Photo courtesy oF

JAsoN FIeLDs

7 watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

overheard

OrlAndO Out+AbOut

six mOnths After pulse

ix mONtHs AFter PuLse and as a community we continue to come together. Recently, the Angel Wings, designed to block a religious hate group protesting a funeral for some of the Pulse victims, were donated to the Center. The wings will be displayed at the Center when the new location opens early next year. According to Terry Decarlo, they will also be used for future events. The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild put out a call for quilts. The result was 1500 quilts made with love. These quilts were donated to several Pulse employees, including Pulse owner Barbara Poma, city officials, first responders, victims and families of victims. Owner of Pulse nightclub, Barbara Poma recently announced she will not be selling the property to the city; she will reopen Pulse in another location with the same name. On Monday, December 12t the Orlando History Center hosted a gathering to honor the victims, and later that evening, Pulse opened its gates to allow families and friends to pay their respects.

emmy, emmy, jOrge!

Ftv’s JOrGe esteveZ HAD PLeNty tO ceLebrAte recently when he was rightfully awarded two Emmy awards. Jorge’s coverage after the attack on Pulse and documenting his visit to Cuba when the embargo was lifted brought home the honor. The local newscaster (with the incredible smile and dimples) is also known for emceeing many LGBTQ charitable events and representing the the Latin community. Jorge and WFTV partner in crime Martha Sugalski were also seen at many Pride events this year.

gAys, flAgs And fOOtbAll

riNGiNG A WHOLe NeW meANiNG to pigskin, a local group has formed in the hopes of joining the National Gay Flag Football Group. The Facebook group is known as the Orlando Gay Flag Football League, branching from the typical gay softball and bowling leagues, and this new group certainly brings a nice alternative to members of the LGBTQ community that play various types of sportsball, or whatever you call it.

ALBert hArrIs

Photo By BILLy MANes

stANDiNG tALL: Barbara Poma speaks to the crowd at the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando Dec. 12, the six month mark of the Pulse shooting. Photo By

i’m yOur ANGeL: The angels march down Orange Ave. in front of Pulse in Orlando for “Remembering Our Angels,” an event honoring the victims of the Pulse shooting Dec. 12.

By DANNy GArcIA

MIchAeL WANZIe

HOrrOr FAN: Adam sharp (L) and Friday the 13th’s Jason himself Kane hodder at the Spooky Empire horror festival at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Dec. 4. Photo

tHe cLAuses: (L-R) Gidget Galore, Zach Lane and Michael Wanzie get in the Christmas spirit at Parliament House’s Light Up the Courtyard in Orlando Dec. 4. Photo courtesy oF

BILL JANsseN

By MArGo DIXoN

beLLy FuLL OF LAuGHs: Taffy (Doug Ba’aser) brings on holiday cheer in “A Very Taffy Christmas” at The Abbey in Orlando Dec. 5. Photo By

cOLOrFuL DecOrAtiONs: Jen Friedman with one of her Orlando United Christmas ornaments Dec. 12 which she is making to honor the 49 victims – one of whom was a friend – of the Pulse shooting in Orlando.

yOu LiGHt uP my LiFe: Jack Dixon (L) and Darcel stevens take in all the lights at Parliament House’s Light Up the Courtyard in Orlando Dec. 4. Photo

WArm HuGs: Blue star (L) and Joyce Arbucias embrace at The Venue after a performance of Varietease’s Winter Blue Dec. 10. Photo By NANcI MAMABo

Photo courtesy oF JeN FrIeDMAN

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

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announcements

Wedding bells

brian and mike Cahill from Lake Mary, Florida

congratulations Greg Weber and Rich Kennedy of Orlando celebrate their 30th anniversary Dec. 24.

years togetHer:

condolences

19 years

carol studer from Orlando Gay Chorus lost her partner of 28 years, William “Bill” Fry.

engagement date:

Tampa Bay drag icon Natasha richards passed away on Dec. 2.

november 9, 2016

local birtHdays

wedding date:

november 16, 2016

wedding venue:

Seminole County Courthouse

wedding planner:

Brina Norman

wedding caterer:

Another Broken Egg Café in Heathrow

wedding colors:

Purple and blue

our song:

“How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes

interesting Fact:

Brian was visiting friends in Arkansas when he met Mike, who came over to use his next-door neighbors’ washing machine.

Photo courtesy oF the cAhILLs

“I

t FeLt emPOWeriNG,” briAN

says about being married. “I feel less selfconscious about putting my arm around his waist as we’re walking down the street. Getting it on paper adds a legitimacy I guess, that’s one way to put it, that I’ve never considered before. I can hold my head a little higher that my relationship is just as valid as everyone else’s.” Brian Cahill, who is a software engineer with a defense contractor, and Mike Cahill, a metrics specialist at the blood bank, met in 1997 while Brian was traveling to Little Rock Air Force Base to deliver a simulator he helped develop. Brian had a couple—Tony and Denise— who he was friends with that lived in Little Rock, Ark. Little did he know when he went to visit them, he’d run into their neighbor—Mike. “He came over to use their washing machine, and we were driven to distraction just being in the same room,” Brian recalls. “It was kind of a love at first sight situation for us. Within two months of meeting, Mike had moved to Florida to be with me.” Mike says he was a little more withdrawn back then. He found Brian to be very attractive, but he wasn’t someone who would say

something. Before Brian’s last trip, Tony and Denise spoke with both men separately and told them how both their feelings were mutual. “In the end of October, I packed up everything and moved to Florida,” Mike says. “We did not move in together. I got my own apartment; Brian had his own place. For the first year, we lived separately just to make sure what we had was real and didn’t make any sudden decisions. At the end of the year, we bought and live in the current home that we’ve been in ever since. “In the beginning, when you’re used to living by yourself, and you have to make room for another individual, it’s an adjustment period. You want things a certain way, and the other individual wants things another way. You really have to learn to give and take and talk

and cry and laugh and yell.” A couple years ago, Brian’s mother became ill with ovarian cancer, so the couple put their life on hold for a year and a half to care for her. Eventually, they had to put her in a nursing home. They were there every day for her. She passed away in April, and they got beyond that. Now that they could re-focus on themselves, they started thinking about getting married on their 20th anniversary. “Because of the presidential election, we decided because of the uncertainty of what was going to happen next year, and with the Supreme Court justice [seat] empty, we decided to get married,” Mike says. The Wednesday after the election, they decided to both leave work to get married. “I told my boss I was leaving work – I was going to get my marriage license,” Mike says. “She was supportive and told me to go, and we did.” “It’s nice that we’re legally married,” Mike says. “I can honestly say that I feel different than just living together – it feels more real. There’s a real commitment to what we have.”

Former Tampa MCC Pastor rev. Phyllis hunt, St. Petersburg outdoor lover Dan Barrett, Clearwater softball stud Gregory toth, Orange County library’s Ben Garcia (Dec. 15); Watermark contributor and entertainer Divine Grace, blogger and Tampa Bay lawyer David schauer (Dec. 16); OAK Central Florida’s Ken terrell, gay-friendly NYC (former Orlando) chanteuse Becky Fisher (Dec. 17); Mr. Wonderful (and Mr. Bob Poe’s husband) Kenneth Brown (Dec. 18); GayDays Inc. founder chris Manley, Honey Pot owner stephen Moss, IBEX puppetmaster heather henson (Dec. 19); handsome St. Petersburg caterer steve Gallo, Parliament House drink slinger Tish (Dec. 20); Tampa Bay entertainer Kathryn Nevets, Orlando’s Hamburger Mary’s co-founder tom schneider (Dec. 21); St. Pete Realtor Gabe Alves-tomko (Dec. 22); Brandon salesman and bear fan Walter tart, Watermark contributor chris Azzopardi, Gulfport photographer and owner of Creative Design Weavers Amy oatley, Tampa writer caitlin Jones (Dec. 24); UCFGLBT.com webmaster hank Lewis (Dec. 25); St. Petersburg bartender Jeff Nicolaus, puppeteer and gay rights activist hannah Miller, sexy Parliament House bartender Jeff Munzing, Darden’s Boyd Geary, Southern Nights General Manager Danny Vega(Dec. 26); Clearwater realtor and Suncoast softballer Keith Gill, Sideshow bartender Marissa Gray(Dec. 27);Lee Vandergrift’s husband (and beard!) Tim hinton (Dec. 28).

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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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

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Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

uprisings

bAll Of cOnfusiOn

As I have said many times, the ocean is not republican or Democrat. While we bicker over the science and solutions, it will only continue to rise. If he is willing to look for it, the Presidentelect [Donald Trump] can ﬁnd common ground here and step in as a leader on a major issue, for our state, our nation and our planet. —miAmi beAcH mAyOr PHiLiP LeviNe iN TIME MAGAZINE.

gO West

s iF tHiNGs cOuLD Get ANy WOrse up in the gaudy penthouse of Trump Towers, noted former military guy, the one who liked to shoot heads in the sand (literally), Allen West has apparently joined Trump’s entourage. The former Congressman Allen West – who also works for, wait for it, FOX News – is best known for hating Muslims out loud. West recently posted an internet meme suggesting all Muslims be “exterminated.” He seems really nice. And you know all of that “fake news” racket that’s been rattling around your Facebook feed? You can probably blame West for some of it. In addition to hating anyone brown – though Brown is black – West has used his website to promote falsified studies denying climate change and to try to accuse the Environmental Protection Act, via Barack Obama, of planning to steal $3,000 from each American in advance of his exit, according to the Miami New Times. There’s also talk of West becoming the leader of Trump’s media arm, but we can’t even think about that yet.

revisiOnism retOOled

Ou Guys! excitiNG NeWs! Just like every awkward birthday party full of menacing aunts and conspiratorial grandpas, the Florida Constitution is expecting some questionable food and lots of terrible conversation as it rounds another 20 years in 2017. By law, the state must revisit its most sacred document every two decades, and, because this year we are living in a hell like no other, conservatives are planning to walk tall and carry a very big red pen to this particular party. The Miami Herald reports that, despite the fact that the 37-member Constitutional Revision Committee has traditionally tried to walk a middle line, this year it is more likely to be a tea party for the likes of Attorney General Pam Bondi, House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron – all super friendly to nice people, we hear. Noises are being made that many constitutional mandates could be rolled back, despite the obligatory charade of public hearings. This is going to get ugly.

erAse the gAy, AgAin?

NeW GrOuP cALLeD 50 biLLs 50 stAtes formed last week and it has already raised $10,000. But these aren’t just any old bills the group is talking about. These are your favorite pray-away-the-gay conversion therapy bills, the likes of which have already been banned in five states and a district: California, New Jersey, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C. “In the states and cities where the bans are already in place, we want to revive the conversations so that LGBTQ kids know they are beautiful and loved,” one of the group’s founders Samuel Brinton, a survivor himself, said in a press release. “And in the other 45 states, we are going to work with legislators to introduce bills banning these brutal practices. We know every state won’t pass these bills in 2017 but the unanimity of submitting them will resonate from coast to coast.”

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Billy Manes

He GreAt reckONiNG is well underway, and anyone with a television, radio or broadsheet can hear it. In the wake of the Nov. 8 presidential stakes, there’s been something of a telethon graph running in front of our faces and in the back of our minds, collectively. Sure, some of it has been in the abstract-but-academic realm – i.e., the Electoral College is a racist creation by the U.S. during the political ascent of Thomas Jefferson in the elections of 1800, in which Southern slave owners, utilizing the three-fifths clause of national law applied to slaves, won him the 14 electoral votes he needed to become president. In other words, the Electoral College was created to protect slavery; Jefferson himself was a slave owner. That alone is a terrible notion to wrap a head around, as are superdelegates, as is the absence of actual democracy in one of the world’s most important voting rounds. It also sounds like a lot of sour grapes, given that the races are generally close in popular vote, so either side can ring the bells when it doesn’t get its way. Hillary Clinton, as we all now know, lost the Electoral College vote on Nov. 8 by a fairly impressive margin of 306-232. Nobody – OK, maybe not nobody – saw that coming, considering that one candidate was in fact qualified to be leader of the free world; the other, not so much. Donald Trump’s clean victory in 2016 stands as an embarrassment to most of our wiser sensibilities. But that telethon still carries on, that red marker on that giant thermometer showing at first a 1.5 million lead in popular votes to Clinton in November, then showing, in more recent polls, a 2.5 million lead for the former first lady and secretary of state. That’s a pretty broad swath of folks, one almost too broad to be dismissed. Or so you would think. Your average voter isn’t ready to crawl under a desk and scream Cold War II over the noise of potential espionage and hacking from Russia, now even acknowledged by the CIA. “I don’t believe it. I think it’s a massive excuse,” Trump has publicly said. This is the same Trump who is building a cabinet of straw men (and women), some of whom have incredibly strong Russian ties. So why aren’t we fighting back. “Believe me, if there was anything I could do to make Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States, I would,” Clinton supporter and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell recently told the Associated Press. “But this is a big waste of time.” Tell that to Senate Majority Leader (and Republican) Mitch McConnell. Or even our own doughboy Sen. Marco Rubio. “I want to warn my fellow Republicans who may want to capitalize politically on the leaks,” he said in October. “Today it is Democrats. Tomorrow it could be us.”

Decemb er 15 - Decemb er 28 , 2016 // Issue 2 3. 25

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