Watermark Issue 24.25: Remarkable People

watermark taMPa BaY EDItIon

Your LGBTQ Life.

ISSuE 24.25 • DEc. 14-27, 2017

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taMPa BaY EDItIon

Strong Out City Council Chair

DARDEN RICE’s

re-election and remission

daytOna BeaCh • ORlandO • taMpa • St. peteRSBuRg • CleaRWateR • SaRaSOta

This issue features two covers!

In this issue we feature two remarkable People from both Orlando and Tampa bay.

watermark CentRal flORida editiOn

Your LGBTQ Life.

ISSuE 24 24.25 • DEc. 14-27, 2017

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CentRal flORida editiOn

Perfect OGC artistic director JAMES RODE expanded the chorus in 2017 and made the art world take notice

daytOna BeaCh • ORlandO • taMpa • St. peteRSBuRg • CleaRWateR • SaRaSOta

What is TRUVADA for PrEP?

Who should not take TRUVADA for PrEP?

TRUVADA for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a prescription medicine that is used together with safer sex practices to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 through sex.

This use is only for HIV-negative adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1. To help determine your risk of getting HIV-1, talk openly with your healthcare provider about your sexual health.

Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to prevent getting HIV. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP if you: ® Already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status. If you are HIV-1 positive, you need to take other medicines with TRUVADA to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time. ® Also take certain medicines to treat hepatitis B infection.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about TRUVADA for PrEP? Before taking TRUVADA for PrEP: ® You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA for PrEP. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1. Do not take TRUVADA to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-negative. ® Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. If you have flu-like symptoms, you could have recently become infected with HIV-1. Tell your healthcare provider if you had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting or at any time while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin.

While taking TRUVADA for PrEP: ® You must continue to use safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1. ® You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP: ® Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months. ® If you think you were exposed to HIV-1, tell your healthcare provider right away. ® To further help reduce your risk of getting HIV-1: ® Know your HIV status and the HIV status of your partners. ® Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV to infect you. ® Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior, such as having fewer sex partners. ® Do not miss any doses of TRUVADA. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection. ® If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. TRUVADA by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time.

TRUVADA can cause serious side effects: ® Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. TRUVADA is not approved to treat HBV. If you have HBV and stop taking TRUVADA, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.

What are the other possible side effects of TRUVADA for PrEP? Serious side effects of TRUVADA may also include: ® Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your kidneys before and during treatment with TRUVADA. If you develop kidney problems, your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking TRUVADA. ® Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. ® Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. ® Bone problems, including bone pain, softening, or thinning, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones.

Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP are stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or do not go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRUVADA for PrEP? ® All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis. ® If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRUVADA can harm your unborn baby. If you become pregnant while taking TRUVADA for PrEP, talk to your healthcare provider to decide if you should keep taking TRUVADA. ® If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. If you become HIV-positive, HIV can be passed to the baby in breast milk. ® All the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. TRUVADA may interact with other medicines. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. ® If you take certain other medicines with TRUVADA, your healthcare provider may need to check you more often or change your dose. These medicines include certain medicines to treat hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

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

Please see Important Facts about TRUVADA for PrEP including important warnings on the following page.

TVDC0159_PrEP_B_9-25x10-1_Watermark_Cafe_p1.indd 1-2

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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,

t

r

e

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I’m courageous, not careless.

I know who I am. And I make choices that fit my life.

TRUVADA for PrEP™ is a once-daily prescription medicine that can help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 when taken every day and used together with safer sex practices. ® TRUVADA for PrEP is only for adults who are at high risk of getting HIV through sex. ® You must be HIV-negative before you start taking TRUVADA for PrEP.

Ask your doctor about your risk of getting HIV-1 infection and if TRUVADA for PrEP may be right for you.

Learn more at truvada.com

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

9/13/17 2:54 PM

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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IMPORTANT FACTS

This is only a brief summary of important information about taking TRUVADA for PrEPTM (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. This does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your medicine.

(tru-VAH-dah) MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP Before starting TRUVADA for PrEP: • You must be HIV-1 negative. You must get tested to make sure that you do not already have HIV-1. Do not take TRUVADA for PrEP to reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 unless you are confirmed to be HIV-1 negative.

• Many HIV-1 tests can miss HIV-1 infection in a person who has recently become infected. Symptoms of new HIV-1 infection include flu-like symptoms, tiredness, fever, joint or muscle aches, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, night sweats, and/or enlarged lymph nodes in the neck or groin. Tell your healthcare provider if you have had a flu-like illness within the last month before starting TRUVADA for PrEP. While taking TRUVADA for PrEP: • You must continue to use safer sex practices. Just taking TRUVADA for PrEP may not keep you from getting HIV-1.

• You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you think you were exposed to HIV-1 or have a flu-like illness while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. • If you do become HIV-1 positive, you need more medicine than TRUVADA alone to treat HIV-1. If you have HIV-1 and take only TRUVADA, your HIV-1 may become harder to treat over time.

• See the “How To Further Reduce Your Risk” section for more information.

TRUVADA may cause serious side effects, including: • Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. TRUVADA is not approved to treat HBV. If you have HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking TRUVADA. Do not stop taking TRUVADA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

ABOUT TRUVADA FOR PrEP TRUVADA for PrEP is a prescription medicine used together with safer sex practices to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 through sex. This use is only for HIV-negative adults who are at high risk of getting HIV-1.

• To help determine your risk of getting HIV-1, talk openly with your healthcare provider about your sexual health.

Do NOT take TRUVADA for PrEP if you: • Already have HIV-1 infection or if you do not know your HIV-1 status.

• Take certain medicines to treat hepatitis B infection.

HOW TO TAKE TRUVADA FOR PrEP • Take 1 tablet once a day, every day, not just when you think you have been exposed to HIV-1.

• Do not miss any doses. Missing doses may increase your risk of getting HIV-1 infection.

• Use TRUVADA for PrEP together with condoms and safer sex practices.

• Get tested for HIV-1 at least every 3 months. You must stay HIV-negative to keep taking TRUVADA for PrEP.

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF TRUVADA FOR PrEP TRUVADA can cause serious side effects, including: • Those in the “Most Important Information About TRUVADA for PrEP” section.

• New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure.

• Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.

• Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.

• Bone problems.

Common side effects in people taking TRUVADA for PrEP include stomach-area (abdomen) pain, headache, and decreased weight.

These are not all the possible side effects of TRUVADA. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking TRUVADA for PrEP. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with TRUVADA for PrEP.

BEFORE TAKING TRUVADA FOR PrEP Tell your healthcare provider if you: • Have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis.

• Have any other medical conditions.

• Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

• Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. If you become HIV-positive, HIV can pass to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: • Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

• Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with TRUVADA for PrEP.

HOW TO FURTHER REDUCE YOUR RISK • Know your HIV status and the HIV status of your partners.

• Get tested for other sexually transmitted infections. Other infections make it easier for HIV to infect you.

• Get information and support to help reduce risky sexual behavior, such as having fewer sex partners.

• Do not share needles or personal items that can have blood or body fluids on them.

GET MORE INFORMATION • This is only a brief summary of important information about TRUVADA for PrEP. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more, including how to prevent HIV infection.

• Go to start.truvada.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5 • If you need help paying for your medicine, visit start.truvada.com for program information.

TRUVADA FOR PREP, the TRUVADA FOR PREP Logo, the TRUVADA Blue Pill Design, TRUVADA, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

Version date: April 2017 © 2017 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. TVDC0159 07/17

TVDC0159_PrEP_B_9-25x10-1_Watermark_Cafe_p1.indd 3

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

9/13/17 2:54 PM

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

departments 6 // mail 7 // publisHer’s desk 8 // orlando news 10 // tampa bay news 13 // state news 15 // nation & world news 23 // talking points 43 // community calendar 45 // tampa bay out + about 47 // orlando out + about 48 // tampa bay marketplace 49 // wedding bells/ announcements 50 // orlando marketplace 54 // last page

PAGE

21

Was voting for the most ill-mannered, ill-tempered, emotionally unstable, child-like man to ever ascend to the presidency really a good thing to have done?

— MicHaeL wanzie, in His Latest coLuMn “wonDerfuL worLD of wanzie”

on tHe cover

PAGE

13

PAGE 2017 MOST

25

REMARKABLE PEOPLE: As 2017

comes to a close, we honor the 17 most remarkable people across Central Florida and Tampa Bay. Photos by Jake Stevens

scan Qr code For

watermarkonline.com

be prepared: Florida Health announced

they will make the HIV-preventative medication Truvada available for free through all state health departments by the end of 2018.

watermark i ssue 24 .25 //december 14 - december 27, 2017

political leader

Hate in our state

tHe otHer side

tHe last page

PAGE Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith dedicates the first ever Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award to Pulse first responder let go from duty.

PAGE Anti-LGBTQ group the Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit against the city of Tampa’s conversion therapy ban.

PAGE

PAGE

Read it Online!

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

08

10

Watermark columnist Jason LeClerc says America has a “Sunday problem” and we need to get to work fixing it.

19

It’s time to meet the newest member of the Watermark family, our new multimedia assistant Melody Maia Monet.

54

giVe uS a fOllOW On tWitteR and inStagRaM at @WateRMaRkOnline and like uS On faCeBOOk. watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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top web comments “While jail might seem severe, these two should’ve done the research in to local law before doing what they did.”

—MJ Lewis

WatermarkOnline.com On MSNBC host Joy Reid apologizing for “tone deaf” homophobic blog posts:

“I’m just going to have to put up a sign in my business saying we do not support or serve Trump supporters!”

“OMG, really? Is this where we are at, who cares?”

On MSNBC host Joy Reid apologizing for “tone deaf” homophobic blog posts:

On Watermark’s Wedding Bells for Carla McKnight and LaVonda Walker:

“I give her a pass on this one.

This remark is in bad taste and does not define her.”

—Dean G.

“It was such a pleasure capturing this beautiful day for an amazing couple!”

—Nathalie Gaines of Epiphany-Image.com

Watermark’s Facebook On Justice Kennedy wrestling with wedding cake case at Supreme Court:

“Not sure how this is religious freedom or even a struggle. This baker is not putting every guest thru his religious test, just gay ones. That is discrimination.

Furthermore, living in a country with religious freedom also means we get to be free from your religious persecution.

If you can’t be nice to everyone, stay home to bake your cakes.”

—David Edward

On The White House saying that Trump backs “religious liberty” in Cakeshop case:

“It most certainly is not about the baker’s religious liberty. His religion clearly states that he should have killed them. So, unless Trump is ready to start the executions, he has no business commenting.”

—Kyle Dalton

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

—Corey Dean

—Keith Baber

“Either we hold Republicans and Democrats equally accountable for homophobic comments, or we don’t.

I will NOT give Ms. Reid a pass for this. She has ALOT to make up for. Maybe she should write a check to an organization that supports LGBT issues?”

—Shane Douglas

“We need to choose our battles, people.”

—Brian Wyant

“Liberals are so hypocritical.”

—John Michael

On government officials saying rainbow crosswalks honoring the LGBTQ community are a hazard:

“These crosswalks are supposed to slow drivers, and have them take notice. THEY DO THAT! Distracting?? Really?”

—Scott Morse

“The government is what’s distracting!”

—Mike Jackson

On Speaker Ryan saying he had not “given any thought” to Cakeshop case:

“That would require a brain.”

—Shawn Connelly

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

On former head of Orlando Fringe being named the new executive director of The Center:

“Such an awesome choice!!! Can’t wait to see how the Center morphs!”

—Michael Vacirca

On a U.S. gay couple being arrested in Thailand for exposing their butts at Thai temple:

“When you go into another country, you have to play by their rules. While jail might seem severe, these two should’ve done the research in to local law before doing what they did. Exposing oneself in public is not appropriate behavior, and it’s more than a little ridiculous that it’s all to do with an Instagram account.”

—MJ Lewis

“I lived there for 8 years and what they did is so offensive in the context of Thai culture and there’s just no excuse for not knowing it. The importance of respecting sacred monuments and temples is on every travel website, in all the guidebooks and posted at the locations. It’s gross disregard. These guys think they’re so special that they can ignore this and do whatever they want?

They should spend a night in Thai jail!”

—Julia Chinnock

Publisher’s

Rick Claggett PUblisher

Rick@WatermarkOnline.com

H

Desk

ere we are in the thick of the

holiday season. It’s sometimes hard to tell that the holidays are approaching in mid-Florida.

There is so much to be done this time of year that the days fly by, and it doesn’t help when the weather is in the 70s and 80s. Luckily we are in what Floridians would call a “cold spell” right now, giving us a small taste of North Pole weather.

Christmas has become my favorite time of year. My fondest holiday memories are of when I was a kid. Christmas Eve was a special night for us. It was a night for the whole family to be together. We’d enjoy the lights my dad and uncles put up and snack all night on my mom’s famous date-nut bread. I was in charge of mixing the sherbet and ginger ale, a concoction I apparently couldn’t get enough of when I was young. When it

watermark staff

got late, mom would tuck us into bed and read us Luke’s Christmas story from the Bible until we would fall asleep. Sometimes we were too excited so she’d have to read ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas as well. We’d wake up to a wonderland. I remember nothing but warmth, happiness and love. It was magical.

This is the time of year that I try to focus on the good. I give my brain a rest from the Donald Trumps and Roy Moores of the

Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer • Tom@WatermarkOnline.com Owner & Publisher: Rick Claggett • Ext. 110 • Rick@WatermarkOnline.com Business Manager: Kathleen Harper • Ext. 101 • Kathleen@WatermarkOnline.com CFL Bureau Chief: Jeremy Williams • Ext. 106 • Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com Tampa Bay Bureau Chief: Ryan Williams-Jent • Ext. 302 • Ryan@WatermarkOnline.com Multimedia Assistant: Melody Maia Monet • Ext. 100 • Maia@WatermarkOnline.com Art Director: Jake Stevens • Ext. 109 • Jake@WatermarkOnline.com Creative Assistant: Jason Donnelly • Ext. 102 • AdProduction@WatermarkOnline.com Proofreading: Ed Blaisdell

world, as much as anyone can.

I skip past the angry posts and ridiculous name calling on social media to focus on what really matters: family, friends and posts about Pugs. I don’t have a long list of what I want to make my holiday dreams come true, rather I ask what others need to be happy and try to provide that for them. The older I get the less entertained I am by making a list of gifts focused on me, but rather a list of what I can provide for those close to me.

Watermark makes a different kind of list this time of year, our remarkable people list. In 2012 we started a tradition of naming one person the most remarkable person of the year in Central Florida and one remarkable person in Tampa Bay. For our 2013 issue we kept the same formula. However, we found this process too difficult and unfair to the community. How could we pinpoint just one person from each major coverage area as remarkable when there is so much good work done by our community members? Our community is extremely rich, diverse and giving. How do we compare the work of a politician over the work of a non-profit volunteer, or the work of an entertainer over the work of a business owner? For 2014, we decided not to single any one person out, but to make a list of people who had done remarkable things that year. We named 14 people, seven from each of our major coverage areas. We add one additional person to the count every year and will do so until 2020, when we will name 10 remarkable people from Central Florida and 10 from Tampa Bay. We struggled at first with the concept of what remarkable meant. Could you be remarkably bad? If yes, was that worth recognition in our remarkable

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

people issue? Ultimately, we decided not to reward negativity.

The LGBTQ community deserves good leadership and those good leaders deserve to be recognized for their hard work.

The list really writes itself.

When you start to compile the great accomplishments of those in our community, it fills up fast.

The editorial team finalizes the list, with recommendations from the readership. This year, rather than have our staff write profiles of the finalists, we asked friends and colleagues of those being recognized to write why they see them as remarkable. The results couldn’t have worked out better.

There are some very moving

When you start to compile the great accomplishments of those in our community, it fills up fast.

stories about what keeps Central Florida and Tampa Bay thriving.

In this issue of Watermark you will find viewpoints from our conservative columnist, Jason Leclerc, and Orlando theater guru, Michael Wanzie. Orlando news brings you coverage of Florida State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith being recognized with the Victory Institute’s inaugural Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award. In Tampa Bay news, Liberty Counsel sues Tampa over conversion therapy ban and Bambu the Eco Salon shows how a business can go green.

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

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

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

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

contributors Jason Leclerc

is a near lifelong resident of the I-4 corridor, currently in South Tampa. He publishes poetry online at PoetEconomist. blogspot.com. His first book, Momentitiousness, was published in 2014. His book, Black Kettle, was published in 2016. Page 19

Michael Wanzie is

an Orlando-based playwright, actor and ordained minister. He is most recognized for his direction of productions in the Orlando area. Page 21

Holly V. Kapherr

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

Sabrina Ambra, Scottie Campbell, Krista DiTucci, Miguel Fuller, Divine Grace Kirk Hartlage, Samuel Johnson, Jason Leclerc, Stephen Miller, Maia Monet, David Moran, Greg Stemm, Dr. Steve yacovelli, Michael wanzie, Ryan Williams-Jent

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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7

central florida news

Former Head oF orlando Fringe named new eXecutive director to tHe center Jeremy Williams

eQuaLity partners:

O

rLanDo | Former executive director to the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, George Wallace, was named the new executive director to the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida by the board of directors Dec. 1, according to a press release from The Center.

“When I saw the executive director position become available at The Center, I immediately jumped at the chance,” Wallace said in the press release. “This is a wonderful opportunity, not only to return to my home and the city I love, but to work for such an established and crucial agency.”

The Center’s executive director position has been vacant since former director Terry DeCarlo stepped down to become The Center’s communication director on July 3.

“This decision was not an easy one,” DeCarlo said at the time of his stepping down via a press release.

“However, with all that has happened during my tenure as executive director, I need, for my health and for my relationship, to step back from the day-to-day grind.

Now that construction on the new building is coming to a close, and we have passed the one-year mark of the Pulse tragedy, this is the perfect time for me to make this transition. I am so proud of the community, the board and the staff for all they have done to help me along on this journey, and I look forward to this new opportunity.”

Wallace led Orlando Fringe starting in 2007 but left earlier this year to become the associate director of Indy Fringe in Indianapolis.

Wallace has a degree in behavioral science and a master’s degree in public administration. Wallace was a social worker for many years, working with children and adults with developmental disabilities, as well as served on The Center’s board in the past.

“I am passionate about the mission of The Center and look forward to working alongside its board, staff, volunteers and other community leaders,” Wallace said.

Jeff Buak, The Center’s board president, said the entire board of directors is excited to be working with Wallace again.

“We believe he is just the right person, at just the right time, to lead The Center to meet its mission, but also to help expand The Center’s services and programs to the LGBTQ community,” Buak said.

The Center completed a nearly three-year renovation this past summer, celebrating with an official ribbon cutting and open house Aug. 31. The event was attended by local and state officials, members of the community and media including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, City Commissioner Patty Sheehan and Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy.

Wallace will start as The Center’s executive director on Dec. 18. A welcome reception with a meet and greet is planned for Jan. 11 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at The Center.

8

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (R) shows off his Breakthrough Award from the Victory Institute with the honor’s namesake, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

PHOTO COURTESY REP. CARLOS GUILLERMO SMITH

Political Leader Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith named breakthrough LGBTQ politician, dedicates award to Pulse first responder being let go from duty Jeremy WIlliams

O

rLanDo | Florida State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) was recognized with the Victory Institute’s inaugural Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award during the 2017 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6.

The award was designed to recognize an “up-and-coming LGBTQ elected official who is driving equality forward.”

The award is named after the Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin who, in 2012, became the first openly LGBTQ member of the United States Senate.

Smith received the award from the Victory Institute’s now former CEO Aisha Moodie-Mills at a ceremony in DC. “I want to dedicate the Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award,

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

not only to the 49 angels we lost at Pulse, but also to the families and the hundreds of survivors who were left behind. To the first responders who are still struggling with the very real issue of PTSD. I especially want to dedicate the award to my friend Omar Delgado,” Smith said from the stage while accepting his award.

Delgado, one of the first police officers to respond to the deadly Pulse shooting in 2016, has been in the national spotlight since it was announced earlier this month that the Eatonville Town Council unanimously agreed to terminate Delgado at the end of the year.

“My message to Omar is that the united Orlando community has your back,” Smith said in his speech.

The Pulse shooting has shined a light on many topics of discussion in the community that were not always seen as LGBTQ issues before the tragedy, including gun control, immigration and PTSD.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

“There’s just so many different issues that I have been excited to be a part of along with this community, and that’s why I dedicated the award when I received it to the Pulse community and particularly to Omar Delgado,” Smith says.

One issue that Smith is taking up in Tallahassee is that of first responders and their eligibility for Worker’s Compensation benefits.

Under current Florida law a first responder must have a physical injury into order to qualify for worker’s comp. Mental injuries, including PTSD, are not covered unless it is accompanied by a physical injury, Smith says.

Smith is working with Democratic Florida Senator Victor Torres and Republican Florida Rep. Mike Miller in a bipartisan effort to change those benefits for first responders in the state.

Smith also met with the namesake of his Breakthrough Award in D.C. the following day.

“This was the second time I’ve met her, we met for the first time at this exact conference last year when I pinned a Pulse ribbon on her,” Smith recalls. “I gave her a gift from myself and Ben Johansen from the Orlando Ribbon Project during our meeting, which was the Orlando Ribbon Project Christmas tree ornament. I gave her that as a token of appreciation for her work advocating for the LGBTQ community and she was very appreciative, she loved it.”

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

9

tampa bay news

Gay-owned and operated Bambú the Eco Salon goes green(er) Ryan Williams-Jent LAW OF THE LAND: Mayor Bob

S

aint Petersburg | Gay-owned and operated Bambú the Eco Salon, which in its first four years sent only six bags of trash to its local landfill, is pairing with the Green Circle Salons program to go even greener.

Now in its fifth year, Bambú has generated over 300 bags of recycling through the efforts of out co-founding owners Chris Kiss and Joshua DeBlock, dedicated to leading their industry in reducing its carbon footprint.

The next logical step, the duo decided, was to partner with Green Circle Salons, self-described as the “beauty industry’s pathway to sustainability.”

Bambú will join a network of salons dedicated to repurposing, recycling and capturing 95 percent of salon and spa waste.

Kiss has long dreamed of bringing the program to St. Petersburg. Currently, Bambú “is hindered on the recycling of our color waste,” he says, and due to local constraints, they’re unable to recycle their aerosol cans.

The Green Circle program, for which the salon will pay a fee to participate, currently diverts salon waste from landfills and waterways by recycling color tubes, aerosol cans, foils, color by-product, papers, plastics and electronics. Even hair clippings are repurposed.

With the program, client hair will be manufactured into “hair booms” for the purpose of oil spill cleanup.

“Human hair has the same absorbent properties as an animal’s fur or feathers,” the program advises, “and proves extraordinarily effective at removing oil from water.” In the event of an oil spill, booms are donated to any party upon request.

To help cover program costs, Bambú will introduce a $1 eco charge—but clients will also be rewarded. “Even though we’re charging a dollar,” the co-owner advises, “clients will be able to bring in electronics and bottles for incentives and discounts. Those items won’t go into a landfill… when they bring them into the salon, they’ll be recycled.”

It’s Kiss’ feeling that the salon industry has had, overall, a negative impact on the environment—which led to Bambú’s founding. Their partnership with Green Circle will help them “show other area salons that this system can work for anyone.”

“That’s one of the greatest rewards,” Kiss says.

“We don’t have to be an industry that’s hurting the environment.”

To learn more about Bambú the Eco Salon, you can visit bambutheecosalon.com or call 727-485-8802.

For more on the Green Circle Salon program, visit greencirclesalons.ca.

10

Buckhorn, pictured during last year’s Tampa Pride, signed the city’s ban on conversion therapy on minors into law on April 10, 2017.

PHOTO BY JAMARCUS MOSLEY

Hate in our state Anti-LGBTQ group files suit against Tampa’s conversion therapy ban Ryan Williams-Jent

T

ampa | An anti-LGBTQ group known as Liberty Counsel has filed a suit against the city of Tampa for banning the practice of conversion therapy on minors, citing a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The ban was first proposed

by Councilman Guido Maniscalco in early 2017, and Tampa’s City Council voted unanimously on April 6 to ban the practice of attempting to psychologically change an individual’s sexual orientation.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry advises that “clinicians should be aware that there is no evidence that sexual orientation can be altered through therapy.” They further assert that “such efforts may encourage family rejection and undermine self-esteem, connectedness and caring, important protective favors against suicidal ideation and attempts.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lesbian, gay and bisexual youth already face a greater risk for

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

depression, suicide and substance abuse. During its last study, 29 percent had attempted suicide at least once compared to just six percent of their heterosexual peers.

The Tampa law, signed by Mayor Bob Buckhorn on April 10, applies only to licensed therapists. It carries a fine of $1000 for each separate violation for first offenses, and $5000 for subsequent violations.

“The intent of this ordinance is to protect the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or questioning youth, from exposure to the serious harms and risks caused by conversion therapy or reparative therapy by licensed providers,” Ordinance 2017-47 reads. “These provisions are exercises of police power of the city for the public safety, health, and welfare.”

Nearly eight months to the day since the ordinance’s passage, on Dec. 4, Liberty Counsel filed their suit. The organization represents counselors Robert L. Vazzo, David H. Pickup and their minor clients and their parents.

Their suit alleges that the

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

ordinance prohibits clients “from receiving counseling to reduce or eliminate their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity,” while imposing “significant monetary fines” for licensed individuals performing the demonstrably ineffective practice.

“The city of Tampa has no authority to prohibit a form of counseling simply because it does not like the religious beliefs of a particular client,” Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver says. “Tampa’s prohibition is blatantly unconstitutional and causes harm to countless minors, and Liberty Counsel will not stand by as authoritarian members of council blatantly ignore the First Amendment.”

Tampa City Council members are unable to comment on pending litigation, but the city’s attorney Sal Territo advises that Tampa is aware of the suit.

“We just received the law suit and have not yet had a chance to fully review its contents,” Territo told Watermark. “As soon as we reply to the law suit that document will become a public record, and it will spell out the City position on the matter.”

Nine states and the District of Columbia have banned conversion therapy on minors, though Florida is not among them. Fifteen counties, municipalities and communities in the Sunshine State have passed similar bans, however, including Tampa.

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

What Is Mytesi?

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

Possible Side Effects of Mytesi Include:

Tired of planning your life around diarrhea?

Enough is Enough Get relief. Pure and simple. Ask your doctor about Mytesi.

Mytesi (crofelemer): • Is the only medicine FDA-approved to relieve diarrhea in people with HIV • Treats diarrhea differently by normalizing the flow of water in the GI tract • Has the same or fewer side effects as placebo in clinical studies • Comes from a tree sustainably harvested in the Amazon Rainforest

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

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

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

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

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

What is Mytesi?

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

What Should I Know About Taking Mytesi With Other Medicines?

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

What If I Have More Questions About Mytesi?

For Copay Savings Card and Patient Assistance, see Mytesi.com

If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medicine, herbal supplements, or vitamins, tell your doctor before starting Mytesi.

For more information, please see the full Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or speak to your doctor or pharmacist.

To report side effects or make a product complaint or for additional information, call 1-844-722-8256.

Rx Only Manufactured by Patheon, Inc. for Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA 94105 Copyright © Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree harvested in South America.

Please see complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com.

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state news

Florida Health to offer PrEP for free at all county health departments by end of 2018 Staff Report

T

allahassee, Fla. | As part of their strategic efforts to eliminate the spread of HIV in the state, the Florida Department of Health announced Dec. 1 that they are currently working to make Truvada, the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis medication commonly known as PrEP, available at no cost at all of the 67 county health departments by the end of 2018.

PrEP is a once-daily pill that can reduce the risk of acquiring HIV in HIV-negative individuals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, taking PrEP daily reduces the risk of getting HIV by more than 90 percent.

Offering PrEP is a part of the health department’s four-point plan in reducing the HIV rates in Florida, some of the highest in the nation, and “getting to zero” infections.

“The strides that we’ve made as a country and as a state in the fight to curtail the spread of HIV would not have been possible without vast networks of community partnerships,” said State Surgeon General and Secretary Dr. Celeste Philip in a press release on World AIDS Day. “In Florida alone, we work with more than 1,400 registered test sites, 200 businesses and faith-based partners, as well as 75 additional service providers who help with testing, linkage to care and outreach. Today, I ask all of our partners to come together to honor those who

have died and to support people living with HIV/AIDS to enjoy long, healthy lives.”

Along with the use of PrEP as prevention strategies to reduce the risk of contracting HIV, Florida Health’s four-point plan also includes:

(a) Routine screenings for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and implementation of CDC testing guidelines; (b) Increased testing among high-risk populations and providing immediate access to treatment as well as re-engaging HIV positive persons into the care system, with the ultimate goal of getting HIV positive persons to an undetectable viral load; and (c) Increased community

outreach and awareness about HIV, high-risk behaviors, the importance of knowing one’s status and if positive, quickly accessing and staying in treatment.

More than a million people in the U.S. are currently living with HIV. The CDC recommends all individuals between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested at least once.

The recommended number of times to be tested increases in those with active sexual habits.

Florida Health also warns that the use of PrEP should be done in conjunction with other prevention methods like condoms to reduce the risk of infection.

“With early diagnosis, individuals can begin appropriate treatment and

care resulting in better health outcomes. Studies have shown that providing antiretroviral therapy as early as possible after diagnosis improves a patient’s health, reduces transmission and can eventually lead to undetectable viral loads of HIV. This model has been successfully implemented in Florida and there are currently 35 Test and Treat sites operating statewide,” Florida Health stated in the press release.

PrEP will be made available through the county health department’s STD and Family Planning Clinics and patients can be provided with up to a 90-day supply of medications. Some county health departments may offer PrEP through a specialty clinic. Each county health department also offers HIV testing services.

Visit FloridaHealth.gov to locate the county health department in your area.

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nation+world news

kentucky gay man denied marriage license Hopes to unseat county clerk kim davis Wire Report

M

oreHeaD, ky. | David Ermold returned to the Rowan County courthouse Dec. 6, nearly two years after clerk Kim Davis refused to give him a marriage license because he was gay. Only this time, he did not want a license. He wants Davis’ job.

Ermold filed to run for county clerk Dec. 6, hoping to challenge the woman who two years ago told him “God’s authority” prohibited her from complying with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. Ermold and others sued her, and Davis would spend five days in jail for disobeying a federal judge’s order. She emerged to a rapturous rally on the jailhouse lawn, arm-in-arm with a Republican presidential candidate as a newly

crowned martyr for conservatives.

Last month, Davis announced she would run for re-election and face voters for the first time since refusing to issue marriage licenses.

Three other people have also filed to run against her, including Elwood Caudill, who lost to Davis by just 23 votes in the 2014 Democratic primary.

But Caudill, like many people in Morehead, doesn’t want to talk about Davis and gay marriage.

Ermold does.

“I think we need to deal with the circumstances and the consequences of what happened,” Ermold said. “I don’t think the other candidates are looking at a larger message. I have an obligation here, really, to do this and to set things right.”

After Ermold filed his paperwork to Davis herself, she told him, “may the best candidate win.”

Davis has been in the clerk’s office for nearly three decades, most of that time working for her mother until she retired. Davis was elected in 2014 as a Democrat. But after same-sex marriage became legal, the state’s then-Democratic governor refused to issue an executive order to remove the names of clerks from marriage licenses. Davis said she felt betrayed by her party and switched her registration to Republican.

Ermold grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and came to Kentucky 19 years ago to be with his boyfriend, now husband, David Moore. He has two master’s degrees, one in English and the other in communication, and teaches English at the University of Pikeville. He says he is more than qualified to run the office, which keeps track of the county’s records including real estate transactions and business licenses.

in otHer news teXas’ first Hispanic, openLy gay sHeriff enters goVernor’s race dallas county Sheriff lupe Valdez, texas’ first Hispanic female sheriff, announced she is running for governor in 2018, making her the biggest democrat in the race to challenge republican Gov. Greg abbott. Valdez says she is stepping down as sheriff after 12 years to launch her campaign. texas hasn’t elected a democratic governor since 1990. Valdez is a one-time migrant worker and army veteran with more than 40 years in law enforcement. She was texas’ first openly gay sheriff and has publicly clashed with abbott over her handling of federal immigration detainees in the nation’s seventh-largest jail system.

austraLia House approVes saMe-seX Marriage biLL the australian House of representatives on dec. 7 approved a bill that would extend marriage rights for same-sex couples. the vote took place less than a week after the bill passed in the australian Senate. lawmakers approved the bill less than a month after the australian Bureau of Statistics announced the majority of voters who took part in a non-binding plebiscite on whether gays and lesbians should be able to legally marry in the country said “yes.” prime Minister Malcolm turnbull urged lawmakers to approve the marriage bill by christmas.

Same-sex couples can apply to get married as of dec. 9.

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viewpoint

Jason Leclerc

The other side

of life

I

Our Sunday Problem t’s no accident that this

new generation of American national populists looks to a time when America was better. During few instances in the history of mankind has a confluence of institutions come together with such force as in postWWII America.

GIs returned, buoyed by the pride of defeating evil in the world. They made babies and industries; they sterilized myths about the ideals they fought for. The middle class expanded along with waistlines and wallets.

They built malls and suburbs and mega-churches and gas-guzzling automobiles. Americans raced across the continent to sightsee, they spread across the globe to protect democracy and they zoomed into space. They built a binary world: America and everybody else.

Within America’s own borders, there was little room for dissent as the broad ideological middle—at least among that empowered swath of Christian, white, straight men who spoke for it—represented the nuanced differences between America’s political parties. Powerful institutions grew along bipartisan lines to strengthen that middle—America’s core—even as the economic, cultural, and military power of that core pushed outward, imperially, around the world. Americans were concerned with promoting internal homogeneity—the melting pot myth—against the foreign ideological forces that would undermine it.

Two great institutions, one rooted in faith and the other decidedly secular, coalesced to reify America’s internal homogeneity. Church attendance reached its zenith and professional American football expanded.

Sunday mornings in the 1950s were spent in celebration

of God; Sunday afternoons became celebrations of the most amazing specimens of the human form that America’s god had created.

American churches produced Martin Luther King, American football created Jim Brown. Even as we melted into a pot of hyper-idealized homogeneity, the mettles of those intent on identity shined through our cold-warrior alloy. This Sunday combination was also the flashpoint for our national zeal toward equality for women and people of color (and fledglingly, “homosexuals”). Even as Sundays marched toward their zenith in the American consciousness, even as we celebrated our celebration of man, nation, and God, we were faced with humanity, assaults on patriotism, and the academic, “death of god.”

We moved together, with Sundays in mind, toward a new understanding of our national identity. We moved toward this present.

What we have produced today in America reaches across political divisions to something far more fundamental: we have a Sunday problem. It started a few decades back, when we decided that we needed to shop en masse on Sundays.

So we had to build malls and shopping centers and supermarkets. We had to work to chase rising costs of living that the American dream yielded. Mothers were sent to work to make ends meet, children moved away to college or war, restfulness became anathema to Americanism. Six day workweeks in an industrial society grew to seven day workweeks for the burgeoning service sector. Even if time for church attendance suffered— America’s god could be with them always, even at work, they argued—Americans still had three months of secular Sunday football and its heroes to bind them.

From success, naturally, came the leisure time for reflection. Americans looked around to see that

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

they comprised a salad bowl (better yet, “Stars and Stripes”) and not a melting pot, after all.

Universities, Hollywood, and government made their own secularized, seven-day-aweek heroes. Rightly, people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities glommed onto anti-war-pro-love injections into Sundays. America was

to come together, regardless of creed or color or politics or (dare I say) sexuality.

And then Colin Kaepernick fulfilled the promise of what NFL was destined to become, a safe place where all people could be their part of the Stars and Stripes at the same time that they dive into the last molten pot of Americanness.

Kaepernick could be Jim

institutions, set out to destroy the last greatest-generation’s American legacy. We have a Sunday problem: the last spiritual-secular piece of glue that we had—16 weeks a year that were strong enough to bind us for the other 36—is under assault.

We have a Sunday problem and we better fix it before it’s an every-day problem.

strong and strengthened by the rising up of new voices and ideas.

Church attendance steadily declined, displaced by secular and technological gods, but America still had NFL as a bastion—if not repository—of enduring American values.

America had a common lexicon, a little something for everybody: patriotism, rules, entertainment, spirit, and sport. Americans were proud

Brown and MLK and Harvey Milk and Ella Baker and also Joe Montana and JFK and Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan: an All-American Everyman who could kneel—a Sunday tradition long before football—before America when merely standing wasn’t enough to honor all Americans.

And a rabble, roused by a pot-stirring populist who had never respected Sunday’s

We have a Sunday problem and it isn’t Colin Kaepernick, it’s that we don’t have enough Colin Kaepernicks.

We have a Sunday problem, and it’s that America has turned its back on football; toward a nasty strain of selfish, narcissistic, ideologically and spiritually bankrupt populism and toward a time that was never this great.

We have a Sunday problem and we better fix it before it’s an every-day problem.

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viewpoint

Michael Wanzie

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WANZIE

S

A Questionable Year ince this is to be my

final column of 2017, I’ve decided to look back over the year in the form of questions. I’ll begin back at the top of year: January 20, 2017—a day that will live in infamy.

So this guy, with his hand on the Bible, freely admitted that he routinely kissed women uninvited and pressed toward them in inappropriate ways. He boasted that when one is a star, as is he, he can get away with doing anything he wants to woman. He proclaimed that he grabs women by the pussy. In response to his admission of serial sexual assaults on women, Billy Bush stupidly laughed. How is it Billy Bush lost his job but that guy becomes president of the United States of America?

Was putting an oil mogul in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency really the best way to ensure we protect our environment?

Was putting a woman who has never attended a public school, never sat on a local school board and who favors waivers for private schools in charge of our system of public education really the best way to ensure the children of the average wage earner receive a quality education?

Was putting an avid hunter, who has publicly stated he does not believe the Department of the Interior needs to exist, in charge of the Department of the Interior really the best way to ensure our treasured national parks are properly funded and protected?

Was putting a man who has openly stated he does not believe the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should exist in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection

Bureau really the best way to safeguard Americans from once again losing their life savings, their pensions and even their homes?

Was introducing a tax reform bill that gifts tax breaks to the richest among us, gifts tax breaks to corporations, raises the taxes of the average American wage earner and adds to the federal deficit in the process the best way to lift up the middle class as promised?

Was throwing rolls of paper towels at people whose homes were destroyed and disparaging innocent victims for not doing enough to help themselves really the best way to show compassion for hurricane survivors?

Was calling a war widow a liar on the very day she was to claim the remains of her dead husband really the best way for the commander in chief to honor the family of a fallen soldier?

Was encouraging people to vote into the U.S. Senate a judge who has twice been removed from the bench for refusing to follow the law of the land, and who further has been credibly accused of child molestation, really a good way to set a moral tone for the body politic?

Was routinely and publicly ridiculing the FBI—and doing everything in one’s power to cause the general public to doubt the integrity and safeguard-driven mission of our intelligence community— really the best way for our Moron in Chief to help the nation feel secure?

Was picking fights with and publicly ridiculing the prime minister of Great Britain really the best way to maintain and strengthen our diplomatic relations with our greatest ally?

Was lying on a daily basis about matters big and small really the best way to gain or maintain respect for the office of the presidency?

Was maliciously, relentlessly, and falsely claiming that respected and credible long-standing news agencies were purposely

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manufacturing and dispensing “Fake News” really the best way to safeguard our cherished, integral free press and the 4th Amendment of the Constitution?

Was publicly name-calling, bullying, and egging-on an unstable dictator really the best way to squash growing animosity and threats toward our country from an irrational

Was voting for the most ill-mannered, ill-tempered, emotionally unstable, childlike man to ever ascend to the presidency really a good thing to have done?

Voting for a man who knows not how the government operates and seemingly cares not to learn; a man who knows nothing of history and has no interest in

and reactionary leader of an enemy country with nuclear capabilities?

Was erroneously suggesting that the host of an MNSBC current events show should be investigated for murder really the best way to demonstrate to America and the world that our Pussy Grabber in Chief has his eye on the ball and is focused on what is truly important?

reading about it or learning from it; a man who seemingly has no learning curve whatsoever when it comes to governing; a man who trusts the leader of Russia more than he trusts his own American intelligence agencies; a man who surrounded himself with know-nothing anti-globalism pro-conspiracy theory racists as his top advisors; a man who lacks even the most

Isn’t it time to call your representatives and insist they impeach?

basic understanding of the Constitution of the United States of America and the all-important separation of powers; and an administration which is obscenely connected to and concerned with Russian interests?

Isn’t it time to call your representatives and insist they impeach?

Or, we can sit back complacently and say nothing as our country is literally destroyed and hope against hope that this man-child maniac doesn’t tweet us into World War III. Merry Christmas! Oh yeah, thank you Trump for bringing that back. What a tremendous stride toward making America great again. FUCK YOU. Not My President!—And a Happy New Year!

Michael Wanzie is a playwright and theatrical producer residing in Orlando.

You may subscribe to his weekly WANZeGRAM performing arts & cultural e-newsletter by logging onto WANZIE.com

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talking points

GAY MEN,

I was in a school and the bathroom outside the kindergarten said, ‘Gender Neutral—anybody,’ and it was a drawing of many different shapes. I took a picture of it and I wrote, ‘Progress.’ I thought that was awesome. I love that kids are having this conversation.

ON AVer AGe, nOW Make

—pink, Discussing in an interView How sHe anD Her HusbanD, casey Hart, are running a “LabeL-Less” HouseHoLD

SingeR Melanie MaRtinez denieS Raping fORMeR fRiend, SayS She ‘‘neVeR Said nO’

MORE MONEY tHan

i

nDie pop singer MeLanie Martinez is denying sexual assault and rape allegations from her former friend and fellow musician, Timothy Heller. Heller details the sexual assault in a lengthy Twitter post which has gone viral. Heller claims that one night Martinez repeatedly asked her to have sex. Heller says she kept refusing and without her consent, Martinez performed oral sex on her and penetrated her with a sex toy. “I never said yes. I said no, repeatedly,” Heller writes. Martinez denied the allegations in a social media post writing, “I am horrified and saddened by the statements and story told tonight

by Timothy Heller.” The singer added, “She never said no to what we chose to do together.

And although we parted ways, I am sending her love and light always.” Many people took issue with Martinez saying that Heller “never said no” during the incident, posting comments of their own on Twitter.

STRAIGHT MEN WITH SIMILAR JOBS, SKILLS AND BACKGROUNDS.

IN THE PAST 20 YEARS,

GAY MEN HaD BEEn

eArNING

5-10%

LESS than StRaight Men

IN SIMILAR CAREERS AND EDUCATION LEVELS. —HarVarD business reView

diReCtOR BRyan SingeR fiRed fROM Queen BiOpiC

D

irector bryan singer Has been fireD from directing the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. 20th Century Fox made the decision after Singer repeatedly failed to show up to set and production on the film had to shut down after the Thanksgiving break. A cinematographer had to fill in for Singer due to his frequent absences. The director also had confrontations with stars Rami Malek, who plays Freddie Mercury, and Tom Hollander, who plays Queen manager Jim Beach. Singer released a statement saying that his absence was due to caring for his sick mother. He also says his “dispute” with Malek was not related to his departure.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

EXORCIST ShOWRunneR SlaMS fanS Offended By gay kiSS

T

HE EXORCIST eXecutiVe proDucer JereMy sLater HaD soMe HarsH REMARKS for fans offended by a gay kiss scene in a recent episode. Slater says he’s “glad” if people were offended by the kiss between Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels) and Peter Morrow (Christopher Cousins). “I saw a couple of homophobes on Twitter and my response is, ‘Good, fuck you. I’m glad you didn’t like it, I’m glad it ruined the show for you.

You shouldn’t have good things in your life,’” Slater says. Slater said the series has been hinting at Marcus’ sexuality since the first season. The Exorcist airs Friday nights on Fox.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

Rihanna WOn’t uSe tRanS MOdelS aS “a MaRketing tOOl” fOR fenty Beauty

R

iHanna won’t be using transgenDer MoDeLs for her Fenty Beauty makeup collection for the sake of filling a diversity quota. A fan suggested to Rihanna via Twitter that she “should invite a trans girl to the group” for her next campaign. The singer replied that she doesn’t like the idea of using transgender models as a “marketing tool.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with many gifted trans women throughout the years, but I don’t go around doing trans castings,” Rihanna wrote back. “Just like I don’t do straight non trans women castings! I respect all women, and whether they’re trans or not is none of my business.”

23

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Remarkable 2017

People

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Perfect OGC artistic director JAMES RODE expanded the chorus in 2017 and made the art world take notice

i

Jeremy Williams

t’s DifficuLt to take an

organization that’s celebrating 25 years and change the way the community sees it, but Orlando Gay Chorus artistic director James Rode doesn’t make decisions based on what’s the easiest thing to do.

OGC celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2015, the same year Rode became the organization’s new artistic director.

“When I first saw the chorus at that year’s Christmas show,” Rode says, “I was so impressed with the power on that stage. I looked out into the audience and they were loving it, but they didn’t have a director. So when I took over my thought was that this chorus

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

deserves a spot at the art table.”

Rode met with members from both the arts world and the LGBTQ community in Central Florida.

“That’s what the artistic director should be doing. I should be going out and opening more doors for the chorus,” he says.

“The chorus’ mission has always been the same, ‘Changing hearts

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

COntinued On pg. 31 | uu |

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

Kellie Parkin

MBA Orlando’s Executive director

By lu muller-kaul

K

mBa ORlandO pRESIdEnt

eLLie parkin is a frienD,

supporter and the best employee I could have hoped for. In title and job description, she is responsible for running MBA’s operations, but she adds volunteer time for the One Orlando Alliance and other projects.

Kellie has also been working with founding MBA members, most importantly Debbie Simmons and Michael Thomas, to connect MBA’s past of now 25 years to a successful future, always ensuring equality through economics for our business members and the whole LGBTQ community of Central Florida.

Winning “Chamber of the Year” this year and receiving a grant for our RED Group program last year at the NGLCC (National LGBT Chamber of Commerce) conferences were entirely due to her hard work.

When we first got to know each other in the spring of 2016, Kellie’s résumé and first introductory emails looked promising, and I loved that she had already been executive director for the Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce. Very valuable were also her connections from nonprofit work in Orlando, and the ease with which she navigates local politics. I find it remarkable how she stands by her beliefs while supporting others to do the same, even or especially if they contradict hers.

What stands out the most is Kellie’s enthusiasm for the LGBTQ community. As a bisexual woman with a lesbian daughter, Kellie is a fierce advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion. She works a lot more than the hours approved for her position and I feel honored to know her. I’m grateful that I was asked to write this profile because I see how Kellie has already changed the MBA into a much better organized, sustainably growing organization.

Watermark’s recognition and appreciation for her as a remarkable person in our community are very well deserved.

Barry Miller Orlando attorne y and founder of The 49 Fund

By david lee

i

W R I t E R / d I R E C tO R O F O - T OW N : V O I C E S F R O M O R L A N D O

n tHe wake of tHe puLse nigHtcLub

shooting, local attorney, entrepreneur and CEO of The Closing Agent, Barry Miller wondered “What about the kids?” He was concerned about the future of the children of the victims of the attack.

We sat outside of his apartment at Lake Eola in the summer of 2016 and he said to me, “So many of the victims of the Pulse incident were parents of small children. Some of the survivors are barely out of high school. Who is going to take care of them? Their future? Their education?”

Thus began the idea that became my friend Mr. Miller’s very own brainchild, The 49 Fund, an endowed scholarship administered by The Central Florida Foundation (CFF). This scholarship is offered to LGBTQ students in Central Florida with special consideration to be provided to survivors of the Pulse tragedy or to immediate family members of those whose lives were lost in the tragedy.

This past June, at an event at City Hall, Miller, Mayor Buddy Dyer and City Commissioner Patty Sheehan presented nine students with the first round of scholarships in the amount of $4,900 each. Each recipient of the scholarships had to apply with a written essay demonstrating their commitment to the LGBTQ community, transcripts, letters of recommendation, demonstration of financial need and the acceptance letter from the college they would be attending.

At the Orlando International Fringe Festival this last May, it was an easy decision for the company of actors from my interview based play “O-TOWN Voices from Orlando” to have our profits donated in-kind to The 49 Fund which helped get one of the last scholarships for the year in place. Clark Levi, a young local Orlando Theatre artist and one of my former students was one of the people interviewed for “O-Town.” He also happened to be one of the first recipients of the scholarship. He recently messaged me, “To me, the scholarship gave me a feeling of inclusion in the community. People in Central Florida support me and put legitimacy behind my education, artistic endeavors and LGBT activism.”

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Orange Count y Regional History Center’s Chief Curator

By teresa Jacobs

i

O R a n G E C O u n t y m ayO R

t’s an Honor anD priViLege to celebrate Pamela Schwartz as a 2017 “Remarkable Person.”

In the early hours after the Pulse Nightclub massacre, when we were reeling with anguish and disbelief from the brutal attack on our LGBTQ, Latinx and Hispanic communities and the unimaginable loss of 49 innocent souls, one person was already thinking about how we could help memorialize the staggering loss and remember the innocent victims. That was Pam Schwartz, who by the next day, had already outlined a plan for the collection and preservation of the tribute items that she knew would come.

Knowing that the Pulse tragedy would always be a prominent part of history, Pam helped envision the One Orlando Collection Initiative, which ultimately involved the collection, preservation and partial display of more than 7,000 artifacts and memorial items. Pam was tireless—and meticulous—in leading a remarkable team of History Center staff in collecting and caring for those items. Despite grueling heat and great emotional toll, Pam showed poise, understanding and energy in organizing the mammoth project. One year later, on June 12, 2017, the Orange County Regional History Center mounted a special One Orlando Collection Initiative exhibit. It’s a day we will never forget, as grieving Pulse families, friends and survivors spent hours lingering over tributes of love, in a setting thoroughly infused with Pam’s compassionate approach and impeccable curatorial skills.

Pam’s expertise as a museum professional is well-known. But her commitment to Central Florida, Barbara Poma and our LGBTQ, Latinx and Hispanic communities exceeds any professional goal or duty—it’s a reflection of who she is, and the love she feels. On behalf of our Orange County family, I’m deeply proud to see Pamela Schwartz recognized for her incredible achievements and her awesome acts of love.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

27

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921-7026-008 Rev. 3

Jennifer Foster Owner of Foster Productions, Inc.

i

definition of remarkable is “worthy of attention” because it’s the one thing Jennifer Foster doesn’t seek. She simply puts her head down and focuses on the important work to be done and she does so with compassion and true leadership.

Allow me to back up: I’ve been friends with Jennifer for more than a decade. Jennifer owns Foster Productions; however, she has volunteered with Florida little dog rescue, Big Brother/Big Sisters, HRC, Libby’s Legacy Breast Cancer Foundation and more over the years. We hung out in friendship while our nonprofit work would occasionally meet (our two rescue dogs were brought to us by Jennifer and her wife to ‘foster’ and Jennifer would rally with a team to fundraise for Libby’s Legacy once a year as well). Other than that, it

was porch talks and football , birthday gatherings and the occasional dinner.

Then June 12, 2016, happened. Our community was senselessly attacked and we all immediately went to work in any way possible. I was working with Pulse of Orlando to raise funds for Pulse employees, victim families and survivors triaging needs on June 14 when the call came in from Jennifer. “All LGBTQ Leaders and organizations need to come together and pool our resources and minds to start the healing so spread the word and add

Zebra Coalition Communit y Engagement Coordinator

By heather Wilke,

By Robin maynard

R

Z E B R a C Oa l I t I O n E X E C u t I v E d I R E C tO R

F O u n d E R O F l I B B y ’ S l E G aC y

t’s interesting tHat tHe Very

Robin Daily

anyone you can think of to the list. We will have an emergency meeting this week.”

From that day forward I watched Jennifer put her heart and soul into serving others. I always knew her heart, however I was able to have a front row seat and watch her heart in action, to bear witness first-hand to her sacrifice and commitment to the continued healing and empowerment of the undeserved and wounded in our community. Jennifer went from a need to a vision in just days after the pulse tragedy, to co-founding what is now the One Orlando Alliance - a powerful coalition of 30 LGBTQ organizations that didn’t just provide help over the past 18 months but will provide resources, empowerment and unity for years to come.

Jennifer is an amazing woman, a visionary, a true leader and though she’ll hate to admit it, she is at the very least, remarkable.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

obin DaiLy Has been

involved in work with Zebra Coalition since the organization opened a youth drop-in center in 2012. She was a dedicated volunteer for many years until April 2017 when she accepted a position as the Community Engagement Coordinator.

In this role, Robin is responsible for connecting with the community to raise awareness for the mission of Zebra Coalition, to inspire and support LGBTQ youth. Robin excels in this role through her passion for improving the lives of young people.

Since bringing her on board at Zebra Coalition, Robin has grown our coalition partnerships and played a critical role in establishing a Gay/Straight Alliance network in Orange and Seminole County public schools. This network provides support for students and a connection to the services offered at Zebra Coalition.

Robin is a dedicated visionary who serves as a leader in the LGBTQ community and a role model for many of the youth at Zebra Coalition. Congratulations on this well-deserved nomination as one of Central Florida’s Most Remarkable People. You are a remarkable person and the team at Zebra Coalition is very proud of you!

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

29

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

| uu | James Rode from pg.25

Rebecca Storozuk Orange Count y’s first transgender deput y

By Grace Peek

I

O r l a n d o Po l ice De pa rt m e n t ’ s L G B T Q Li a iso n

have only had the pleasure of

meeting Becca on one occasion (Gay Pride Parade). With me working for Orlando Police Department and her working for Orange County Sheriff’s Office our paths have not crossed too much as of yet but I expect that to change in the near future.

Her “coming out” as transgender in the law enforcement environment of Central Florida—that is huge!

While larger more metropolitan law enforcement agencies have had out transgender officers, it is quite new for Orlando/Orange County.

I have not been surprised at the reception she has received as this community as a whole has been wonderful to the LGBTQ community.

Becca has hopefully paved the way and has made it easier for anyone transgender to feel comfortable

enough to serve in a law enforcement capacity in the Central Florida area. I hope as more and more agencies receive transgender training this will be something we won’t have to talk about, but law enforcement will be a profession where anyone will feel comfortable serving. I believe Becca’s personality and dedication to her profession will serve as a stepping stone to those who are called to a life of service as a law enforcement officer.

I’m looking forward to working with her, as I am sure she will be part of any future LGBT Liaison program at Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Marco Antonio Quiroga Program Director at Our Fund Foundation

By Carlos Carbonell,

I

CEO and Founder Echo Interaction Group

t’s times like

today that call for leadership like Marco Quiroga.

Although kind and soft-spoken, he unapologetically and confidently speaks loudly for those who have less of a voice in our community. He collaborates with leadership who came before him

in the struggle of both the Latinx and LGBTQ communities, while still challenging and educating the status quo on what is still left to do and for whom.

Through past homelessness, immigration status limbo, as well as the typical and not-so-typical struggles of a young queer Latino in America, he perseveres, leads, motivates and is a remarkable agent of change for not just Orlando but for this country.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

and minds,’ but having a seat at the table was my big mission.”

Expanding OGC’s reach and profile was a goal for Rode to accomplish in 2016, but then June 12 of that year came and all of Orlando’s goals changed.

“After Pulse, we were pushed into the spotlight, but we didn’t really think about it like that,” Rode says. “We would get the call to appear somewhere and we thought to ourselves ‘we have to go.’”

The OGC performed at more than 100 events in the first year after the Pulse shooting, including at the one-year mark in June at the Lake Eola memorial.

While 2017 was a different year for the OGC, Rode helped to make sure it was a year of firsts for the chorus as well.

For the first time ever, the OGC produced a show at the Orlando Fringe Festival.

“I mildly knew what I was getting into,” Rode says, laughing. “It’s another one of those instances where I wanted to show what we can do. So I said we can do this, we can produce theater.”

Rode began working on this show idea he had a few years ago, a musical parody of the film Pitch Perfect.

“I started to work on the music and I hired a director, Donald Rupe, who wrote the script,” Rode says.

The show was called Bitch, Perfect! It met with glowing reviews, was one of the Orange Venue’s “Patron’s Picks” and played an extra run at the Parliament House.

Rode followed up being a theater producer with becoming a summer camp organizer with grants the OGC received from organizations including Disney and United Arts.

“I work with summer conferences in Washington, D.C., so I know what it takes to run a summer camp, but I have never had to start one from the ground up,” Rode says. “It was a little nerve racking because you put all this time and effort into this with the constant thought, ‘Will kids come to something put on by a gay chorus?’”

OGC launched Voices United!, a youth summer camp, with more than 20 kids in the first

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

That’s what the artistic director should be doing. I should be going out and opening more doors for the chorus. The chorus’ mission has always been the same, ‘Changing hearts and minds,’ but having a seat at the table was my big mission.

—James Rode

week of June. The week-long camp included voice lessons, all-state clinics, fun and games, and it culminated in a big show at the end.

“We invited members of the church we held the summer camp at. Members of the chorus came and their families came,” Rode says. “It was a really cool time and everyone involved had a good time. The kids had a great experience and all the parents were impressed. We are going to do it again next year and want to get even more kids involved.”

In a year of big events and recognition for OGC, they were also named a grand marshal at this year’s Come Out With Pride parade. Rode is so happy to see the chorus being honored by so many but there is one approval that stands above all the others.

“We still have a lot of founding members in the chorus and every time we do something I like to check with them and see if they are happy with what we’re doing. I am so pleased that with all the new ventures we had this year they have said they are so proud of this chorus and where it has gone,” Rode says.

31

32

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

Remarkable 2017

People

TAMPA BAY

Strong Out City Council Chair DARDEN RICE’s re-election and remission Ryan Williams-Jent

“w

Hen i first ran in 2005,

I was openly, unapologetically attacked for being gay,” Darden Rice, the first out candidate for public office in Pinellas County recalls. “But today… more and more, the public sees our issues as everyday issues that any American faces.”

That’s in part because of candidates and public officials like Rice. In November of this year, after a successful term in which she served as St. Petersburg’s City Council Chair, she garnered 72.64 percent of the vote to win her bid for re-election. That’s an impressive 41,914 votes to her opponent’s 15,786.

“I’m recognized for my leadership on transportation, on environmental issues, and I haven’t let myself be marginalized as a one-issue gay candidate,” Darden says. “And I think it’s important for gay, elected officials not to let themselves get marginalized.”

Rice, who earned the endorsement of prominent Florida

COntinued On pg. 41 | uu |

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

Terri Lipsey-Scott

Chair of the Executive Board for the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African-American Museum

By Samuel Johnson

S

ta m pa B ay F R E E l a n C E R E p O Rt E R a n d W AT E R M A R K C O n t R I B u tO R

oMetiMes finDing tHe baLance

between administration, civic engagement and social curator can seem like alchemy.

Adding the right amounts of each will yield gold; one false step in the process and you’re left with a lump of coal. Terri Lipsey-Scott has discovered that magical equilibrium. Her title—chair of the executive board for the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African-American Museum—belies just what she embodies for the St. Petersburg community.

The museum is located in the neighborhood The Deuces; arguably the most famous of the city’s historic black neighborhoods. The building in which the museum is situated was the flashpoint for the civil rights movement in St. Petersburg in the late 1960s.

Yet, when the St. Petersburg Housing Authority wanted to sell the property, Terri Lipsey-Scott

sounded the alarm bell.

Grassroots organizations and community leaders drummed up vocal opposition to the measure, eventually allowing this historic landmark to remain.

“Preserve, present and interpret African-American history”, is the museum’s motto.

This is true for both the museum and its progressive leaning chair.

In 2017, the museum marked

the re-inauguration of Black Gay Pride after a six-year hiatus.

The anchor of Gay Black Pride was the exhibit “As Black as They Were Gay: The Harlem Renaissance,” which consisted of a series of wall displays commemorating the LGBT icons of the Harlem Renaissance. The museum also honored several outstanding LGBTQ members of the St. Petersburg community during the festivities.

Terri Lipsey-Scott is mom, grandma, and civic leader; not only for the African-American community, but for everyone who calls St Petersburg home or a vacation destination.

Her determination and dedication are only equaled by her effervescent, wonderful demeanor. I’m glad to call her a friend and thankful for all that she does. St. Petersburg is lucky to have a person like Terri Lipsey-Scott.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Nicolas Cardello Tampa Bay photographer and bay-area Santa Claus

By Steve Blanchard

i

m E d I a R E l at I O n S C O O R d I n atO R at m O F F I t t C a n C E R C E n t E R

n 2017, nick carDeLLo anD His

husband, Kurt, became the international faces of same-sex relationships when they recreated a photo of themselves kissing at the March on Washington. That photo, which positioned the couple in the exact same pose as 24 years earlier, went viral and got worldwide media coverage. But for the LGBTQ community of Tampa Bay, Nick was already synonymous with our community.

Several years ago, Nick became a photographer for Watermark.

Soon he was appearing at LGBTQ events on both sides of the bay with his trusty camera in hand. He shot numerous covers for the newsmagazine and soon became the official photographer for other LGBTQ organizations. The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival noticed Nick’s skills as did ASAP (which merged into EPIC). Nick also continues to shoot for Tampa’s Creative Loafing.

While Nick is recognized for his photography, it’s his spirit and his advocacy that really resonates with the community. Not only is he covering events with his photographer’s eye, he’s documenting history and ensuring that the LGBTQ story is preserved for the generations that follow ours. His and Kurt’s participation in this year’s March on Washington show that equality is still just as important to him as it was two decades ago.

His latest venture is one geared toward a much larger audience—one that knows no age, genders or sexualities. Just in time for the holidays of 2017, Nick is an official Santa Claus. He attended and graduated from the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in October. The Michigan-based non-profit catches the true spirit of Santa and makes sure the Jolly Elf is well represented.

It’s difficult to think of a more remarkable person, or addition to the Kris Kringle lineage, than Nick Cardello.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

Ed Gonzalez Owner Enigma St. Pete

By Jeremy Fetters

A

B a Rt E n d E R F O R E n I G m a S t. p E t E

t tHe age of 14,

Ed Gonzalez asked for a work permit to start working at a Country Club in South Florida. Many years later Ed has run, owned and operated two of Tampa Bay’s most iconic establishments: Georgie’s Alibi and Enigma St. Pete.

Through role models like his father and mother and his strong work ethic and attention to detail, he has made sanctuaries for all of us to feel comfortable and call home. I’ve had the privilege of working for this amazing man for upwards of 13 years and everything I’ve learned about the hospitality industry I owe to Ed. When you work for him you become family to him. Any employee past or present will tell you that if you ever need anything he is always there to help.

This year Enigma suffered a devastating tragedy with the loss of our beloved Ryan Stroehlein. Ed wanted to help Ryan’s family navigate through this and flew Ryan’s family down from upstate New York for a memorial to share all of our love for him. With his huge selfless heart Ed has worked with countless nonprofits like METRO Wellness, EPIC, Pet Pal, Easter Seals and many more holding fundraisers, shows and benefits, often times matching the money raised and donating it from his own pocket.

I am honored to have been chosen to write about Ed for this year’s “Most Remarkable People “and I am proud to work for such a humble, giving and REMARKABLE man.

James Keane

Beth David and Esteban Bravo Creators of animated short, ‘In A Heartbeat.’

Metro Wellness & Communit y Centers’ Director of LGBTQ Programs and Development

By lorraine langlois CEO mEtRO WEllnESS & COmmunIty CEntERS

J

aMes keane Has becoMe a

remarkable local leader in the Tampa Bay area. He advocates for justice, inclusivity and equality whenever he sees a need.

James joined the Metro team in June 2014 as the Fundraising and Events manager. With a strong event planning background and passion for community he succeeded in making it a great first year. James’ major contributions to our organization and the LGBT community were exemplified in 2016 as his responsibilities increased. He became director of LGBT Programming and Development and he began to work to strengthen existing relationships and to develop new relationships with businesses and other non-profit organizations.

Keane was responsible for leading the extraordinary efforts of Metro’s Annual Gala this year, as the agency celebrated 25 years of serving the LGBT and HIV community. He added sponsors, increased attendance to 500 and raised essential funds for community programming while throwing an event to remember!

Keane has led a dynamic and talented team that has worked to expand LGBTQ Programing across all agency locations. James demonstrates a passion for developing and strengthening community partnerships. In addition, James has a strong desire to see St. Petersburg continue to move forward, exemplified by his involvement in local politics including as current board member (and past president) of the Historic Uptown Neighborhood Association.

We are indeed proud and pleased that James is part of our Metro Family!

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

By Scott Skyberg

i

EXECutIvE dIRECtOR OF thE tampa Bay IntERnatIOnal Gay and lESBIan FIlm FEStIval

N A HEARTBEAT is an

amazing animated short that brings to light the parallels of relationships between any beings regardless of gender.

This film, created by Beth David and Esteban Bravo, was produced by Ringling College of Art and Design and has been watched more than 32 million times on YouTube.

In a Heartbeat is about a closeted boy who runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams. It is absent of any dialogue or narration and shows how powerful true emotion can be, especially for those not yet comfortable with who their heart chases after.

The arts, including film and television, are fundamental to the individual and societal shift on any platform. For equality and human rights, the arts allow individuals to face their fears or the unknown in small doses and at a comfortable pace. Throughout history this has started with still art, progressing to the performing arts, and expediting awareness and change with mass production and appeal of film. It is imperative that we continue to support such strong works of film and their respective organizations focused on providing this platform growth on human rights and equality.

It is truly an honor to have The Ringling College of Art & Design and these two talented artists, Beth David and Estaban Bravo within our regional community.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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THE

taland San DIARIES “nonstop comedSyce”ne ~ DC Theatre

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

By David Sedaris

Adapted by Joe Mantello

Nathan Bruemmer

ALSO Youth’s Executive Director and organizer for St. Pete Pride’s Trans March

By Gina duncan

i

E Q ua l I t y F l O R I da ’ S S tat E d I R E C tO R O F t R a n S G E n d E R E Q ua l I t y

aM so pLeaseD anD HonoreD to

recognize my close friend, advocate and leader of LGBTQ social justice, Nathan Bruemmer. Nathan is a member of Equality Florida’s TransAction Advisory Council, our Speakers Council and a Workplace Transgender Cultural Competency trainer. I have had the good fortune of sharing the stage many times with Nathan in speaking out for LGBTQ equal rights across Florida.

Nathan currently serves as the executive director of ALSO Youth Sarasota and is a member of the Pinellas County Office of Human Rights.

He has an extensive legal background having served as a teaching assistant at the Stetson University College of Law, a Federal judicial extern

for the U.S. District Court and serving as a Andrew S. Cray Law Fellow at the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington, D.C., all while pursuing his Juris Doctorate at Stetson where he will graduate with honors in 2018. While a law student at Stetson, he was a Trial Team member, ADR

Board member, American Bar Association representative and vice-representative, Lambda Legal Society president, Stetson Law Democrats president, American Constitution Society president, and a member of the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity.

Nathan is a remarkable advocate for the LGBTQ community. He was instrumental in creating and leading the historic Trans Pride March at St. Pete Pride this year, attracting over 300 transgender marchers and their families and friends.

His passion for justice through advocacy, education and public policy make him a leading voice for equality in the state of Florida. I am proud to call Nathan my friend and no one I would rather stand with in our fight for transgender equality.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

John and Nancy Desmond Members of Tampa Pride and PFLAG Tampa

By Carrie West

w

p R E S I d E n t O F ta m pa p R I d E

Hat a DeLigHt it was to

have met John and Nancy Desmond at a GaYBOR District meeting in 2010.

They have been a super positive force that trumps a lot of gays and lesbians in their commitment to the LGBTQ community.

They are outgoing, funny, empathetic, stellar and confident.

These two speak their minds and are great team players in all they participate in and volunteer to do. Organizations that I have personally had the great honor of working with them includes: GaYBOR Distinct Coalition, Hillsborough County Homeless and Tampa Pride.

Their contributions to the community also include founding PFLAG Tampa, and most recently starting PFLAG Pinellas this last summer.

John was appointed to, and is still on, the very controversial Hillsborough County Diversified Council.

John and Nancy have been with Tampa Pride since the beginning in 2014 as Community & Nonprofit Groups Liaisons. We have traveled the state at seven festivals handing out information about Tampa Bay and Tampa Pride.

Mark and I have had the privilege to travel with both John and Nancy to different events and on vacation last spring to Puerto Rico.

They have big hearts and have taken in many area LGBTQ youth that have been homeless to shelter, feed and mentor in their home.

They are very proud of their gay son and his partner who live in Maryland. On any given Friday, John and Nancy can be spotted quietly holding up signs in Ybor City on 7th Avenue proclaiming their love and support for their gay son across from the religious right protesters with their anti-LGBTQ signs.

We are very honored to have them as a major part of the LGBTQ Tampa Bay community.

We salute John and Nancy Desmond for being named not only one of Watermark’s Most Remarkable, but also for being selected as the 2018 LGBTQ Grand Couple for next year’s Tampa Pride Festival.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

| uu | Darden Rice from pg.33

Sandi Hulon Tampa Bay documentarian/filmmaker

By Topher Morrison

I

Professio n a l s p e a k er a n d Professor of Pr ac t ice at T h e U n i v ersi t y of Ta m pa

n my career I get to meet

thousands of people each year. But in 2017, there was one person who stood out beyond all the others: Sandi Hulon, the founder of St. Pete Productions. She is an award-winning producer who has Clios, Addys, and even a Silver Lion from the Cannes Film Festival to boast of.

But if you ask Sandi, that’s not what she will say are her greatest accomplishments.

For her, she takes greater pride in knowing that she fed a homeless person, or transported a drug addict across the country to be admitted into a drug treatment

facility, or helped support the life of a horse at the RVR Horse Rescue.

Sandi is about making a difference, not winning an award. But something tells me that winning this award as a symbol for the differences she has made will be one that she

holds very close to her heart.

There is no greater demonstration of Sandi’s commitment to making a difference than with her current project: a documentary chronicling the legacy of Eddie Sotomayor, one of the victims from the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. It tells a side of the story unseen through the mass media. It’s a story of love, a story of transformation. It’s a testimony to the positive things that can be born from tragedy when the heart remains open. And it’s a story that can only be told from someone whose heart is wide open—Sandi Hulon.

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Democrats like newly re-elected St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman and Congressman Charlie Crist, has had a busy term. She served as the chair for both St. Petersburg’s Energy, Natural Resources & Sustainability Committee and of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Board.

She did so while also serving as the vice-chair of the Housing Services Committee, and while working with the Budget, Finance & Taxation Committee, the PSTA Executive and Personnel Committee, the PSTA Planning Committee, the Tampa Bay Regional Transpiration Authority and Forward Pinellas.

All that, it should be noted, while spearheading a successful campaign for re-election after publicly announcing her cancer diagnosis. “Being told that you have cancer is something that nobody wants to hear,” Rice says. “There’s never a great time to get diagnosed with cancer, but it was really not a great time.”

“But I’m very fortunate,” she continues, “and I am in complete remission. I’m going to stay focused on my treatment to make sure it stays that way. I’m unbelievably grateful. People have been so supportive and so wonderful and I think that’s been really helpful for me, having a positive mindset. I’m eating more healthily, exercising more and just being more mindful of things I need to do just to stay on a healthy track.”

As focused as she is on her own health, so too is she focused on St. Petersburg’s. With the federal government moving away from its commitment to a cleaner environment, she believes that it’s up to cities and metropolitan areas to serve as “the center of innovation [for] addressing environmental issues.”

“We simply cannot wait for state or federal action,” she says.

“There’s no cavalry coming into save us, so it leaves cities like St. Pete to be proactive and to put plans in place for how we can operate more sustainably.

And that sustainability lays the groundwork for our resiliency.

Cities have really been the great laboratories of change and

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

We simply cannot wait for state or federal action...

Cities have really been the great laboratories of change and innovation because of state and federal inaction.

—Darden Rice

innovation because of state and federal inaction.”

“The environment, the quality of our water, the quality of the air we breathe,” Rice says, “the extent to which we are prepared for the impacts of a changing climate… it’s not just the subject of a local Sierra Club meeting. It is central to big-time economic concerns; in terms of how prepared our cities are for a changing environment. We’ve got to be ready.”

Rice’s dream, she says, is “to really drive sustainability and resiliency-planning into the DNA of the city, so that years down the road, no matter who’s in the mayor’s office—no matter who is in City Council—that this will be the new way of doing business.”

With a remarkable term and a fresh victory behind her, Rice is free to focus on exactly that. “I was thrilled with my race, that we won by such an overwhelming number,” she says. “It felt like a vindication of the direction that we’re heading in. We still have some work cut out for us for the next four years, and I’m very excited about that.”

41

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

community calendar

eVent planneR

arts+entertainment

CentRal flORida

CentRal flORida

Gay Dodgeball - Orlando Pick up Game

The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Dec. 1-30, Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House, Orlando. 407-425-7571; ParliamentHouse.com Book of Mormon, Dec. 12-17, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org Phantasmagoria’s A Christmas Carol, Dec. 15-17, Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Orlando. 407-447-1700; PhantasmagoriaOrlando.com Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dec. 16, Amway Center, Orlando. 844-854-1450; AmwayCenter.com Girl The Party’s Ugly Sweater Party, Dec. 16, Southern Nights, Orlando.

407-412-5039; Facebook.com/ SouthernNightsOrlando Wanzie’s Not-Quite-Right Christmas Florida TV Special in Living Color, Dec. 16-17, Starlite Room at Savoy, Orlando. 407-270-4685; SavoyOrlando.com Katy Perry, Dec. 17, Amway Center, Orlando. 844-854-1450; AmwayCenter.com Festival of Lights, Dec. 17, CDA Orlando, Orlando.

407-736-8701; CDAOrlando.org Orange County Dems Holiday Party, Dec. 18, Frontline Outreach, Orlando. 407-293-3000; OrangeFLDemocrats.com WDW’s Candlelight Processional featuring Neil Patrick Harris, Dec. 18-21, American Gardens, EPCOT Center. 407-939-5277; DisneyWorld.Disney.go.com The TEN Tenors, Dec. 19, King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne. 321-242-2219; KingCenter.com

MonDay, Dec. 18, 7:00 - 8:00 p.M. Downtown recreation coMpLeX, orLanDo

EYE WitneSS Pop diva Katy Perry brings “Witness: The Tour” to the Amalie Arena in Tampa Dec. 15 and the Amway Center in Orlando Dec. 17. PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR FROM KATYPERRY.COM

Christmas Wonderland 2017, Dec. 20, Peabody Auditorium, Daytona Beach. 386-671-3461; PeabodyAuditorium.org.

The Nutcracker, Dec. 21-24, Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando. 407-426-1733; OrlandoBallet.org

Basic Needs of Life - Toys & Food Drive, Dec. 16, Il Forno Italian Restaurant, Lakeland.

863-607-6030; Il-Forno-ItalianRestaurant.com Holiday Ham it Up Bingo with The Sisters, Dec. 16, Quench Lounge, Largo. 727-754-5900; QuenchLounge.com

Michael Carbonaro Live!, Dec. 28, Hard Rock Live, Orlando.

407-351-5483; HardRock.com/ Live/Locations/Orlando

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dec. 17, Amaile Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com

taMPa BaY

Michael Carbonaro Live!, Dec. 17, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. 727-898-2100; TheMahaffey.com

Katy Perry, Dec. 15, Amalie Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com

Cirque Musica presents Believe, Dec. 22, Amaile Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com Zack Biss Live, Dec. 23, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com Festivus for the Rest of Us, Dec. 23, Brew Bus Brewing, Tampa. 813-990-7310 Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker, Dec. 26, The Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. 727-893-7832; TheMahaffey.com

SaRaSOta

Flannel and Frost, Dec. 15, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813-559-8625; SouthernNightsTPA.com

Outside the Binary, Dec. 19, Metro Wellness & Community Center, St. Petersburg. 727-321-3854; MetroTampaBay.org

Cinematic Celebrations featuring Elf, Dec. 15, The Ringling, Sarasota.

941-359-5700; Ringling.org

93.3FLZ Jingle Ball, Dec. 16, Amailie Arena, Tampa. 813-301-6500; AmalieArena.com

SAFE Youth Night, Dec. 21, Metro Wellness & Community Center, Tampa. 727-321-3854; MetroTampaBay.org

BBQ, Bourbon & Blues, Dec. 16, Punky’s Bar and Grill, St. Petersburg. 727-201-4712; PunkysBar.com

The TEN Tenors, Dec. 21, Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. 727-898-2100; TheMahaffey.com

9th Annual Gingerbread Festival, Dec. 15-17, Westfield Sarasota Square, Sarasota. 941-921-5358; SrqGingerbreadFestival.com A Christmas Carol, Dec. 15-21, Venice Theater, Venice. 941-488-1115; VeniceStage.com

America’s Finest Dodgeball League invites you to their first welcome all pickup game at the Downtown Recreation Complex on N. Parramore Ave. This game is $5 to join and is for people that want to make friends and play a fun game. Players that want to join the league should register at GayDodgeball.com/ Orlando. Season starts Jan. 29, 2018.

Naughty or Nice Holiday bingo tuesDay, Dec. 19, 6:00 - 9:00 p.M. gLbt coMMunity center of centraL fLoriDa, orLanDo After two years, Drag Queen Bingo is back at The Center. Join host Eureka the MISSplaced Elf for this very special holiday edition of Drag Queen Bingo. Beer, wine and snacks will be available for purchase. Come out for a fun night and a chance to win actual money. For more information visit TheCenterOrlando.org.

taMPa BaY

Trans support Network’s Holiday Dinner Party saturDay, Dec. 16, 6:00 - 11:00 p.M. Metro weLLness & coMMunity center, st. petersburg Get dressed up or dressed festive for the Trans Support Network’s Holiday Party. The evening will have a cocktail hour, a full holiday dinner and dessert.

The event will also feature 50/50 raffle, music by DJ York and lots of dancing. Tickets are $15. Visit MetroTampaBay.org for more information.

From closet to runway saturDay, Dec. 16, 9:00 p.M. - MiDnigHt fLaMingo resort, st. petersburg Join Out of the Closet thrift stores as they take the fashion from the closet to the runway at the Flamingo Resort in St. Pete. Hosted by Iman Travieaso, entertainment will be provided by Alexis DeLa Mer, Lady Liemont, Ashlee T. Bangkx and Rockell Blu. The event benefits AIDS Healthcare Foundation. For more information visit FlamingoFla.com.

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

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

43

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

overheard

taMPa BaY Out+aBOut

the final COuntdOWn

f

LaMingo resort weLcoMeD forMer Miss fLaMingo and RuPaul’s Drag Race finalist Trinity ‘The Tuck’ Taylor to Tampa Bay Drag Race on Dec. 8, where four local queens advanced to the finale, to be held on Dec. 15.

Contestant Samaya Sinsation was eliminated just ahead of the finale this week, leaving local queens Eden Deck, Miah Van-Cartier, Lady Liemont and Beyja King to to vie for the crown as the Top Four.

Along with the crown, the winner will receive $2,500 in cash and the title of “Tampa Bay’s Next Drag Superstar.”

All 10 contestants from the seven-week competition will also perform, with the previous “episode” airing at the resort beginning at 8 p.m. At 9 p.m., the local ladies will officially start their engines. May the best woman win.

For more information about the Tampa Bay Drag Race crowning, visit flamingofla.com or call 727-321-5000.

So tEXt ME, MaYBE?

A

fter a tense priMary anD a naiL-biter of an eLection nigHt, the campaign for St. Petersburg mayor came to a close with incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman winning his re-election.

The LGBTQ ally won 51.64 percent of the vote, with former St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker coming in behind him at 48.36 percent. On election night, Kriseman noted that he and Baker had been in a “clash of philosophies and visions for our city,” but advised the two could work together to put St. Petersburg first.

By contrast, Baker didn’t mention Kriseman in his concession speech—and in the weeks after, reports surfaced that he had opted not to concede the race to Kriseman via telephone call, as is customary. (Even Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump, a call she called “mercifully brief.”)

Word has it that Baker still hasn’t rung.

The former mayor did text, however—and the message was provided to the Tampa Bay Times by Kriseman. “Congratulations on four more years,” Baker wrote. “I care a great amount for the people of our city so I hope for you to succeed in making the lives better for those who live here—especially those in the most need.”

For his part, Kriseman noted that had he lost, he would’ve called Baker—and “probably would have included him” in his concession speech. He isn’t upset, though.

“At this point, I’ve kind of moved on.”

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Ho, Ho, Ho: David Rule (R) takes a seat on Santa-helper Brian Longstreth after the Santa parade at Punky’s on Dec. 2. PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD, COURTESY DYLAN TODD PHOTOGRAPHY

2

MotHer’s Monsters: Nik Lalle (L) and Corey Malyszka enjoy Enigma after Lady Gaga’s concert in Tampa on Dec. 1.

PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

3

coMe rain, coMe sHine: Miss Epic 2017 Stephanie Stuart represents at the 14th annual Tampa Bay AIDS Walk at Vinoy Park on Dec. 9. PHOTO

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COURTESY STEPHANIE STUART

4

now open: Christian Klimas welcomes guests to Metro Wellness & Community Centers’ new information and testing location at Flamingo Resort on Dec. 3. PHOTO

BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

5

‘tis tHe season: Crystal Reigns, Mya Valentine and Jacob Ahrens-Rich (L-R) give back for Kori Stevens’ annual Toys for Tots benefit at Bradley’s on 7th on Dec. 10. PHOTO

COURTESY JACOB AHRENS-RICH

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Don we now: Guests dazzle in their favorite holiday colors for the annual Red and Green Party at the Sunken Gardens on Dec. 2. PHOTO

6

COURTESY DAVID ZEMBRYZYCKI

7

tHe tuck strikes back: Mikey Bessette (L) and Trinity ‘The Tuck’ Taylor enjoy the Drag Race finalist’s Meet and Greet at Flamingo Resort on Dec. 8. PHOTO COURTESY FLAMINGO RESORT

8

anD bears, oH My: Host and promoter Tim J. strikes a pose at Southern Nights Tampa for the NeighBEARhood Takeover on Dec. 1. PHOTO BY DANNY GARCIA

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

overheard

ORlandO Out+aBOut

pulSe MuRal findS a hOMe

T

He puLse MuraL naMeD “inspiration orLanDo uniteD” has found a temporary home. The mural incorporates the works of several local artists and features images of many of the Pulse shooting victims, family members, survivors, first responders and prominent members of the community.

The art work was originally displayed outside of Pulse nightclub and has now been installed on the east side of Burton’s Bar in Thornton Park (next to the laundromat parking lot), which is a stone’s throw away from the Come Out with Pride parade route.

The mural will be displayed outside of Burton’s for about three months and then will move to other places throughout Central Florida, including locations in Parramore and Kissimmee.

The same team who created the mural has partnered with former Watermark editor-in-chief Billy Manes’ husband Anthony Mauss for a tribute mural to Billy, who is also featured in the Pulse mural. The team is currently raising funds via GoFundMe to complete the project, with a goal set at $35,000.

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f* CanCeR!

f

or oVer tHirty years LocaL Drag LegenD carMeLLa MarceLLa garcia, known as George Timothy Reed off stage, has been a resident of Orlando and entertained thousands. Several years ago ‘Mella, as he is commonly called, moved away to care for his ailing mother but returned back to Orlando several times for performances in the city he has referred to as his “drag roots.” Most recently he performed at Stonewall Bar for Halloween.

On November 29, ‘Mella posted to Facebook that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer, which had already attached to his bones.

According to his post, surgery won’t help so he will be treated with medication and radiation.

Despite this all, he’s in great spirits and has a resilient attitude. A GoFundMe was established with a goal of $25,000 to assist with medical expenses.

Calling all aRtiStS Of lOVe

T

He orLanDo science center Has put out a caLL to local artists requesting wall art that would repurpose the 13,000 rainbow hearts that once hung over OSC’s bridge.

According to OSC’s submission requests, the project should continue the spirit of the old installation by representing the love and comrade that exists in our community.

If you’re an artist who is interested, please visit OSC.org and complete the entry form no later than Jan. 5, 2018.

4

1

XMas sHow: Blue and Rob Ward (center) with their Lady Boys after a performance of “A Very Lady Boy Christmas” at The Venue in Orlando Dec. 4. PHOTO BY

DILLAN RAMIREZ

2

25 years reMeMbereD: Dana Ng (L) and Gina Duncan celebrate with the MBA at the 25th Anniversary Celebration held at Celebration Gardens in Winter Park Nov. 30. PHOTO BY DANNY GARCIA

3

DeMs in tHe House: (L-R) Watermark founder Tom Dyer, South Bend, Indiana’s first openly gay mayor Pete Buttigieg and event co-host Ted Maines at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy at the Star Tower in Orlando Dec. 4.

PHOTO COURTESY TOM DYER

4

business party: MBA Orlando shows off their 2018 board at their December Mixer & Board Elections event at the Tupperware World Headquarters in Kissimmee Dec. 6. PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

5

tugging tHe Heart strings: Paul Wright (center) is wowed by the talent of the all-gay quartet Well-Strung at their holiday concert at The Abbey in Orlando Dec. 10. PHOTO

COURTESY PAUL WRIGHT

6

frienD in Me: (L-R) Buzz Lightyear, Watermark’s Central Florida Bureau Chief Jeremy Williams, Watermark publisher Rick Claggett and Woody wish for a happy holiday season for all at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Walt Disney World “Once Upon a Wintertime” holiday gathering Dec. 11. PHOTO

7

COURTESY RICK CLAGGETT

7

Let it go: The Minx channels her inner Elsa for a Disney’s Frozen number during Broadway Brunch at Hamburger Mary’s in Orlando Dec. 3. PHOTO BY DANNY GARCIA

8

poLiticaL support: Commissioner Patty Sheehan (L) and Eric Rollings support David Richardson for Congress at a fundraising event at DoveCote in Orlando Dec. 3.

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MCCARTHY

8 watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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announcements

Wedding BellS

brian Craft and matt Yauslin Sarasota, Florida

congratulations

Punky’s Bar and Grill in St. Pete celebrates its 2nd anniversary Dec. 15.

engagement date:

September 27, 2016

local birtHdays

wedding date:

January 11, 2018

venue:

powel crosley estate, Sarasota, Florida

Flowers:

Bella luna’s Flowers

colors:

Silver, blue, gold PHOTO BY HEATHER LAUREN PHOTOGRAPHY

wedding song and artist:

“(everything I do) I do It For You” by Bryan adams

dJ or band name:

dJ Imminent of Goodley entertainment Group

caterer & cake:

Fete catering

wedding planner:

Sarah Fulton

tHeme:

“Jazz age” inspired, embracing the heritage of the venue

pHotograpHer/ videograpHer:

Barbara Banks, Jessica Barfield, cliff roles, Brad Bryan and the Fancy Booth

oFFiciant: Sara Barrie

w

Hen brian Met Matt on a

movie set, they knew their proposal and wedding would be nothing short of a grand production.

Milwaukee native Brian Craft moved from New York City to Sarasota to be a contract artist with Florida Studio Theatre. “Dating in New York is a nightmare,” says Brian. “If I hadn’t moved to Sarasota, I would have never met someone like Matt, I’m sure of it.”

The couple met in 2013 at a film set. The movie, called “When the Party Ends,” was sponsored by Planned Parenthood. “It really was a ‘love at first sight’ situation. We both instantly knew we wanted to be together,” says Brian. They set up their first date that day, and have not been apart for a day since then.

Brian describes Matt and an inspiration in his life. “He has taught me the true meaning of partnership. He encourages me in my goals and helps me find my happy,” he says. “I’ve never met a more caring or compassionate person.” Their strong bond with each other led to many conversations about marriage soon after they established their lives together. “Matt was the first one to bring up the idea of marriage,

but we’ve both always been into the idea,” says Brian. “Honestly, I am so over-busy that I never was really in a hurry, but Matt was so excited about it that he just went ahead and planned an over-the-top production proposal. He worked on it for four months and all of our friends were in on it. I can’t believe no one spilled the beans.”

During tech rehearsals for the musical Gypsy, Matt surprised Brian by planning a flash mob proposal with all their friends from the theatre community and elsewhere. “It was insane. I thought several times I was in a dream.

I couldn’t believe it was real,” says Brian. Billboard recording artist Rachel Lorin, a friend of the couple, sang as the couple danced, and then Matt popped the question.

“Our hope is that the wedding will be just as, if not more, impactful than the proposal. It was a high bar to set,” says Brian.

The couple has been engaged for a year and two months, and are looking forward to their event on January 11, 2018, at the grandiose, Mediterranean-style, beachside

Powel Crosley Estate, built in 1929.

Wedding planning hasn’t been too tough a task for Brian and Matt, though there was some negotiating to be done. Brian has some experience in event planning, so he knew the venue was the place to start. “Everything falls into place after that,” he says. The theme of the wedding embraces the vintage vibe of the estate.

Brian says that planning the wedding has been “a lot of work, but good work.” The DJ was an ultra-important detail for Brian and Matt, so they went with seasoned DJ Jay Gordon. A friend of the couple will officiate the wedding. “She’s not only a writer so she’s very well-spoken, but she’s also a lesbian. She understands the struggle of not fitting in and not feeling like there’s a place for you in the world,” says Brian. “But she also understands how wonderful it is when you find that person who is absolutely perfect.”

“We are so grateful for the opportunity to be married and to make our commitment known both legally and publicly,” he says.

“There were so many generations who went before us who didn’t have this opportunity, and we don’t take it for granted.”

Orlando Weekly publisher Graham Jarrett, drag performer Hunter Holloway, Manatee Segway Tours CEO Fred Burgin, Bradenton MAC makeup artist Joey Killmeyer, Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Development Manager Greg Mason (Dec. 14); former Tampa MCC Pastor Rev. Phyllis Hunt, St. Petersburg outdoor lover Dan Barrett, Clearwater softball stud Gregory Toth, Orange County library’s Ben Garcia, Two Spirits community relations & events coordinator Brittani Acuff (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 actress Becky Fisher (Dec. 17); Mr. Wonderful (and Mr. Bob Poe’s husband) Kenneth Brown, Spectrum/Bay News 9 Reporter Trevor Ellerbroek-Pettiford (Dec. 18); Gay Days 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, Tampa Bay photographer Dylan Todd, florist to the stars Jacob McCall, Orlando realtor Jeff Ritchie, The District at Mills 50 manager Jamey Harper (Dec. 20); Tampa Bay entertainer Kathryn Nevets, Orlando’s Hamburger Mary’s co-founder Tom Schneider (Dec. 21); Paintmix Central Florida’s Robert Ramos Carney, St. Pete Realtor Gabe Alves-Tomko, pilot Abel Marowitz (Dec. 22); fundraiser extraordinaire Jeffrey Lucas (Dec. 23); Brandon salesman and bear fan Walter Tart, LGBTQ celebrity writer Chris Azzopardi, Gulfport photographer and owner of Creative Design Weavers Amy Oatley, Tampa writer Caitlin Jones, Orlando entrepreneur Eve Hunt (Dec. 24); UCFGLBT.com webmaster Hank Lewis, Sounds of Freedom trombonist Jeremiah Catherwood (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).

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.

—Holly V. Kapherr

it’s tHat easy!

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

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

53

the laSt page

PHOTO BY JAKE STEVENS

age: 46

Hometown:

Valley Stream, nY

The Girl Who Came in from the Cold

identiFies as:

Hobbies:

transgender woman, lesbian

out year:

2010

Hire date:

11/29/2017

proFessional role model:

Sara Bareilles as a singer/songwriter and Jenny Boylan

54

autobiograpHy title:

melody maia Monet M U lt I M e d I a a S S I S ta n t

I love singing, running, photography and making videos for my Youtube channel

M

aia Monet began Her

career with Watermark as a freelancer. She has been the woman behind the viewpoint column Trans of Thought for the past two years. When Watermark posted the Multimedia Assistant position, Maia jumped at the chance. “I wanted to be part of an organization dedicated to telling our stories within our community and outside of it,” she says.

Watermark also jumped at the chance to have her join the team.

Maia is a graduate of Princeton University with vast knowledge of social media skills and internet celebrities, skills no doubt that will help her manage Watermark’s Watermark online profile via our website and social media accounts. In addition to her digital duties, Maia will be assisting in administrative tasks. Maia is excited to start this new adventure in her life and exclaims, “I get to be professionally lesbian and transgender!”

In 2011, Maia started her own YouTube channel.

The videos were mainly about her early transition, but it wasn’t maintained and her interest in continuing fell off. In 2015, other YouTubers encouraged Maia to start producing videos again. A year and half later, Transgender Woman Next Door has over 5,000 followers and produces a video a week. “It’s an outlet

watermark Your LGBTQ life.

Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

for advocacy,” Maia says. “There are a lot of ultra-fem and fashion transgender channels out there.

I wanted to show other trans people that you are not alone, and show others what an average transgender woman next door looks like. I think of myself maybe as the MILF next door.”

Maia gets her professional inspiration from Jenny Boylan.

“I read her book She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders before my transition,” Maia remembers.

“There’s a quote that really spoke to me, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘I will never regret my transition, but I will always regret not being her husband.’ I was married and didn’t know what direction my life was going. I wrote Jenny an email the night I read that and she responded the next morning, wishing me well in my transition.

Maia is also a musician and singer. “I like to play songs from the Beatles to Beiber,” she says with a smile on her face. You can hear her strumming her guitar to current pop songs from the ‘80s to today at Barley and Vine. She throws in a few classic rock tunes as well.

Maia’s advice to her younger self is some advice we could all use, “Don’t be afraid to show the world who you really are. All of you.”

Watermark is the collective product of a team of incredibly hardworking individuals.

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

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Decemb er 14 - Decemb er 27, 2017 // Issue 24 . 25

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