Watermark Issue 30.05: The WAVEs

asked

your favorite hangouts, safe

local hidden gems and even your favorite treats … After thousands of votes were tallied up, we now present to you in the following pages all the winners.

– WATERMARK STAFF

DESK PUBLISHER’S

TODAY

IS A MILESTONE DAY FOR

me. Today I celebrate 21 years as an employee of Watermark.

It’s a big number, and yes it makes me feel old. I have no doubt that day one Rick would look at 21-years-later Rick and think, “wow, you’re old.” A child born on the day I started working here is preparing to get wasted at a bar tonight, legally. I think my husband was 11 when I got my first Watermark paycheck.

It’s not all woe is me. One way to look at is that I am now the longest-running employee in the company’s history. That’s pretty cool, right? It is truly an honor to be part of this organization and I am grateful for the many, many, many years I have been able to work here.

You can track the history of my adult life through Watermark’s online photo galleries. It started with the bleached-hair phase

WATERMARK STAFF

Owner & Publisher: Rick Todd • Ext. 110 Rick@WatermarkOnline.com

Editor-in-Chief: Jeremy Williams • Ext. 106 Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com

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

with a handful of facial piercings. Somewhere along the way I picked up a goatee. That look lasted way longer than it needed to. Clearly I didn’t have any friends at the time willing to tell me to just stop. In retrospect, I feel like the gay Guy Fieri ready to welcome you as the Mayor of Queertown.

You can also see my many attempts to add a “Watermark wife” to the company’s repertoire. A Watermark wife was any of our partners willing to work events with us. With my job, it was a necessity. Maybe that’s why they never stuck around.

I had a boyfriend break up with me once, literally right after working a weekend of events for St Pete Pride. I finally had to just

marry an employee. I’d say that was a win-win.

I’ve had the opportunity to build a family here over the past 21 years, both literally with my husband, and figuratively with the rest of the staff. We have our moments, like any other family, where we are at each other’s throats, but we are bonded together in this amazing cause that we are all so passionate about and grateful to be part of. I really can’t imagine my life without this Watermark team and I am so proud of the work they do. Watermark was recently awarded LGBTBE of the Year by the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber of Commerce at their Annual State of the Chamber Luncheon. It was a complete surprise and I was overwhelmed with pride when I was called on stage to accept it. The staff here works so hard to make this job seem so simple and it brings me so much joy to see them recognized for that.

I’ve been through some tough times at Watermark, both personally and professionally. I won’t get too in the weeds with the negative, but I’m looking at you beer and Stratosphere! However, the good exponentially outweighs the bad.

My favorite thing I have done here is one of the most recent. At the end of 2022, we wrapped up a project called “Greetings from Queertown: Orlando.” It’s a documentary about the LGBTQ history of Central Florida. It’s been years in the making and a very long journey that started out with me, Jeremy Williams and Sandi Hulon sitting at Miller’s Ale House dreaming about the possibility. After years of setbacks and triumphs, we teamed up with Adrenaline Films who introduced me to the talented storyteller and director Jess Keller. With Jess, producers Martin Olarte and the stunning

Tiona Langley carried me over the finish line. I am so excited to be able to announce that our documentary has been accepted to the Florida Film Festival and the story of this community will be seen on the big screen. It is a dream come true.

Continuing what I hope is a string of entertainment, Watermark Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Williams and I have started a podcast. Since starting this endeavor I have said “podcast” more than I care to, it’s kind of like CrossFit I think. It’s called “Wine, Wine Not: A Queer Podcast” and we highlight what’s going on in our favorite types of media; movies, television and

SABRINA AMBRA

is a cohost of Real Radio 104.1’s “News Junkie” program and will kick your ass if she needs to. Page 19

GREGG SHAPIRO

is a Chicago-based freelance journalist and entertainment reporter whose work appears frequently in Watermark. Page 47

TIFFANY RAZZANO

is the founder and president of Wordier Than Thou, a literary arts nonprofit that creates fun, engaging events for writers and readers. Page 55

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

Creative Designer: Kyler Mills • Ext. 104 Kyler@WatermarkOnline.com

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

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

Tampa Bay Account Manager: Sylvie Trevena • Ext. 105 Sylvie@WatermarkOnline.com

Founder and Guiding Light: Tom Dyer

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

regional LGBTQ newspapers. It’s a fun hour where Jeremy drinks wine and tries to form sentences while I, the alcoholic, sit back and judge. You can check us out on The Culture Radio app live on Mondays at 6 p.m., or you can listen to it anywhere where you listen to podcasts.

While I celebrate my 21 years here, let’s take time to celebrate the winners of the Watermark Awards for Variety and Excellence. You voted for them, and here they are. We had more categories this year than we have ever had before and there were record breaking numbers in voting. It’s bigly!

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

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In retrospect I feel like the gay Guy Fieri ready to welcome you as the Mayor of Queertown.

THE CENTER ORLANDO ANNOUNCES DIVERSITY AWARD HONOREES

Jeremy Williams

ORLANDO | The LGBT+ Center Orlando announced the recipients of its 11th annual Diversity Awards in a press release Feb. 17.

“This year marks the 11th anniversary of The Center giving awards to our community and we’re always excited to honor local champions, trailblazers and impact makers, especially in a time that feels like our rights are being challenged every day,” said Dr. George Wallace, The Center Orlando’s CEO.

Receiving The Center Orlando’s Champion of Equality award will be Nancy Alvarez, an award-winning journalist in Central Florida for more than 20 years. Alvarez, who stepped away from the news business last year to work in the nonprofit arena, returned to journalism at the start of this year as a news anchor for WESH 2.

The Center Orlando will give out two Trailblazer awards: One to Rebecca Desir, founder and executive director of Black Health Commission, a nonprofit that creates opportunities to learn about health inequities and designs spaces to have open and honest conversations about issues that directly impact the Black community. The other will be given to Jen Cousins, co-founder of Florida Freedom to Read Project, a group that combats book banning in the state.

Other awards being presented include the LGBT+ Ally award, which will be presented to Orlando Counseling and Therapy Group’s Adam Miller; the Emerging Leader award, which will be awarded to Neil Rios Laverde, the philanthropic relationship manager for Central Florida Foundation; and the LGBT+ Center Lifetime Achievement award, which will go to past executive director of The Center Orlando and former owner and president of GayDayS, Chris Alexander-Manley.

On the business side, Turner Construction will be given the Corporate Partner award, Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria will receive the Small Business Partner award and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation will be awarded the Non-Profit Partner award.

The award recipients will be recognized during The Center Orlando’s Diversity Awards luncheon in the Oscar Wilde Ballroom at the Sheraton North in Maitland on July 28 starting at 12:30 p.m. The event will be a plated lunch with a cash bar available.

During the event, The Center Orlando will also present this year’s recipients of the Singhaus Scholarship for the Performing Arts and The Center’s own scholarship. The scholarships will be awarded to three Central Florida students from Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

Tickets to the 11th annual Diversity Awards luncheon are $75 each and are available to purchase from The Center Orlando’s Eventbrite page.

OUT Sports

LGBTQ soccer comes to Orlando Jeremy Williams

ORLANDO | OUT Sports League is adding the world’s most popular sport to its next season.

OUT Sports will launch its soccer league April 4 with an eight-week inaugural season. Games will take place every Tuesday from April 4-May 23 at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. at Barnett Park Softball Fields.

The first season is limited to six co-ed teams of 15 players each and will be a mix-up season in which all players will be registered as “free agents.” They will be assigned to the teams ensuring each team contains players of varying skill levels.

“Soccer came about because players from the other sports kept asking me when I am going to start a soccer league,” says John Teixeira, commissioner and founder of OUT Sports League. “Soccer is a popular professional sport in Orlando and there was a big appetite for it with our league.”

Soccer is one of five sports being offered through OUT Sports League this spring with the others being kickball, played every Saturday; dodgeball, played every Monday;

cornhole, played every Wednesday; and beach volleyball, played every Friday during the season.

The league got its start when Teixeira, who originally is from Florida, moved back from New York City.

“I had gotten involved with a lot of gay sports leagues there, one in particular called Big Apple Rec Sports, which was fantastic — kickball, dodgeball, that sort of stuff,” he says. “I just loved it. It was great for me to meet people and be social and everything.”

So when Teixeira’s job brought him back to Central Florida in 2018, he wanted to continue using sports as a way to meet new people. After partnering with an outside organization to get started, Teixeira took over in 2021 and officially launched OUT Sports League.

The league was started with the mission to “help LGBTQ Floridians meet and socialize through in-person recreational sports leagues that are affordable, fun and inclusive.” Its first sport, and still its most popular, was kickball.

“When I started the league, I started with kickball because, being selfish, I wanted to play kickball,” Teixeira says, laughing.

“That first season we started, like we are starting now with soccer, with 90 players on six teams.”

OUT Sports’ kickball league is now up to 400 players. In total among all its sports, the league has had 1,400 players since September 2021. The league holds three eight-week seasons a year for most of the sports: a winter league that runs January-March, a spring league from April-May and a fall league from October-December.

“We’ll do some stuff in the summer but you know how it is here; it’s raining a lot so it’s hard to do outdoor sports,” Teixeira says. “We’ll do dodgeball in the summer because it’s indoors, but otherwise it’s almost impossible to do the others.”

Each of the sport’s spring season, which is sponsored by Pineapple Health, will start the first week of April except dodgeball: kickball starts on April 1 at Dr. James R. Smith Neighborhood Center Softball Fields, soccer on April 4 at Barnett Park Softball Fields, cornhole on April 5 at Island Time and beach volleyball on April 7 at the Festival Park Sand Volleyball Courts. Dodgeball will begin on May 1 at the Englewood Neighborhood Center. After each game, the teams will continue the socializing with meet ups at District Dive.

For more information on OUT Sports League, visit OUTSportsLeague.com.

PLAY BALL: John Teixeira playing kickball for OUT Sports League.

PHOTO COURTESY JOHN TEIXEIRA

TAMPA MURDERER SENTENCED TO DEATH

Ryan Williams-Jent

TAMPA | Steven Lorenzo was sentenced to death in a Hillsborough County court Feb. 24 for the 2003 murders of 26-year-olds Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz.

Lorenzo, 64, was convicted of drugging and raping nine men in 2005. He sought to change his plea to guilty for the two murders and be sentenced to death while serving a 200-year federal prison sentence last year.

Scott Schweickert, Lorenzo’s co-defendant, had previously confessed to helping lure the two men to Lorenzo’s Seminole Heights home in 2003 from a now-defunct gay bar. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for confessing to their murders, avoiding the death penalty for testifying against Lorenzo.

“Although Wachholtz’s body was later found wrapped in a sheet in the back of his SUV, Galehouse’s remains were never recovered,” Watermark reported at the time. Schweickert confessed that the men dismembered his body, disposing of his remains throughout the city.

Lorenzo utilized delay tactics to avoid his trial until requesting the death penalty. Once he sought to change his plea, prosecutors allowed it to proceed so long as he did so “knowingly and intelligently.”

Judge Christopher Sabella advised a legal process would still take place. His penalty phase bench trial played out last month, culminating in Lorenzo’s sentence.

The convicted murderer represented himself in the case, which also saw Pam Williams, Galehouse’s mother, testify against him. She shared that “I want that man to get the death penalty and nothing less, period.” She watched the sentencing via Zoom.

Prior to the decision, Lorenzo asked Sabella if he could address the court. He was given the opportunity to do so, advising he was seeking the death penalty so that “I can fetch myself a new body and come back again in a fresh body.”

“We’re eternal beings,” he continued. “The sooner I’m euthanized, the sooner I can come back. I’ve got better things to do with my time than to hang out and spend the next 15-20 years on death row or in any prison system.”

“I don’t know if what you say is perhaps some form of reverse psychology, nor do I care,” Sabella responded. “I will not consider what you want in issuing my sentence.”

The judge subsequently handed down the ruling, sentencing Lorenzo to death. He noted that the families of Galehouse and Wachholtz waited 20 years for justice.

“Today that long wait ends,” he said. “In the words of Ms. Pam Williams, from one Italian to another, ‘vi condanno a morte.’ That translates to I sentence you, Mr. Lorenzo, to death. That is the punishment that you deserve for these horrific crimes.”

The judge’s reasoning was detailed in a 40-page order and Lorenzo was transferred to the Department of Corrections to await his execution. According to the Department of Corrections, he joins 300 others on death row.

In Business

Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber celebrates 40 years at luncheon Ryan Williams-Jent

TAMPA | The Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber held its 40th annual State of the Chamber luncheon Feb. 22 at Bryan Glazer Family JCC, marking four decades of service to the business community. The chamber has advanced workplace equality and other business interests across seven counties since 1993. It does so as an affiliate of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, which verifies that businesses are majority-LGBT owned through LGBT Business Enterprise certification.

President and CEO Justice Gennari began by thanking the over 350 business professionals, LGBTQ advocates and elected officials in attendance for their support. He then reflected on the chamber’s impact in 2022, noting that they welcomed 75 new members and 21 new LGBTBEs while hosting over 120 programs and events last year.

“It is a complete honor to stand here in front of you today,” Gennari said. “I’m very proud of this incredible organization.”

Speakers included outgoing Chair Chad Daughtrey and incoming Chair Trace Kingham, who presented him with a plaque of appreciation while previewing the chamber’s work in the year to come. Gennari subsequently announced recipients of their 2022-2023 Impact Awards. The organization previously accepted nominations to honor “nonprofits and community leaders who exemplify the highest standard of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and invest their time and resources into our community.” Grow Financial was awarded Corporation of the Year, CAN Community Health was awarded Nonprofit of the Year and ABC Events received Small Business of the Year.

Watermark Publishing Group also received LGBTBE of the Year. “I am shocked and honored to accept this award on Watermark’s behalf,” Owner and Publisher Rick Todd says. “My sincerest gratitude to the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber for recognizing the hard work and dedication of the Watermark staff, who I am so very proud of. It is truly an honor.”

LOCAL

LEADERS:

(L-R) Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber President Justice Gennari and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch

Feb. 24. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

Gennari then presented his 2022 President’s Award to The Regent, an honor delayed in recent years due to the pandemic. As such, he awarded the Tampa Bay Lightning the 2021 President’s Award, Regions Bank the 2020 honor and BKN Creative received the award for 2019.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor spoke next, reflecting on the chamber’s impact. They also presented proclamations honoring its 40-year milestone.

“This is a great occasion,” Castor said, “celebrating the LGBT Chamber and all that Justice has done for the organization.” The mayor, who is seeking a second term in Tampa’s March 7 election, then reflected on the city’s commitment to equality.

Welch spoke next, thanking the chamber for its work. He also stressed that diversity and inclusion “is good for business.”

“It’s a no- brainer,” Welch said. “DEI should be something that we are proud of, that we talk about and that we celebrate.”

Gennari concluded the program by previewing some of the chamber’s upcoming initiatives. He also expressed his gratitude for sponsors, chamber members and leaders, noting that “your invaluable support does not go unrecognized.”

Learn more about the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber and LGBTBEs at TampaBayLGBTChamber.org. View a full photo gallery at WatermarkOnline.com.

Jo i n y ou r l oc al L G BT C h a mber , a s w e ar e the p r em i er a d v oc a te s

Care and Support for an EPIC Generation

www.tampabaylgbtchamber.org

f o r the T a mp a B ay A r e a’ s L G B T bus i ness commun i t y . MyEPIC.org

LGBTQ seniors are more likely to be isolated in and out of their LGBTQ communities and to these seniors through a variety of fun social activities, check-in phone calls and access to community resources through the Friendly Caller program and care for their sexual health and well-being.

Learn more about becoming a part of this EPIC Generation by calling (727) 328-3260.

‘DON’T SAY GAY OR TRANS’ CHALLENGE DISMISSED

Wire Report

Afederal judge has again dismissed a lawsuit challenging a Florida law critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” that restricts discussion about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee ruled Feb. 15 that a revised lawsuit filed by students, parents and teachers failed to show they had legal standing to challenge

the law. The lawsuit had argued the new Florida law is unconstitutional.

According to the ruling, the plaintiffs needed to show they suffered harm that could be traced to the new law and could be remedied by a favorable decision from the court. The judge said most of the plaintiffs’ claims of harm come from the existence of the new law, rather than its enforcement.

Winsor dismissed an earlier version of the case in September on similar grounds, and a similar

lawsuit filed in Orlando was also dismissed in October.

A report released in August by the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy groups, and the Center for Countering Digital Hate said that hateful references to gays, lesbians and other LGBTQ people surged online after Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature passed the bill last spring. The law was championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

EXAMINING HOW CLINICS TREAT TRANSGENDER YOUTH BEFORE FLORIDA BAN

Wire Report

While Florida’s pending ban on gender-affirming care for minors has yet to take effect, treatment has already become harder to find across the state.

Some providers have stopped accepting new patients under the age of 18 for hormone therapy, while others are continuing to do so.

“There’s a lot of fear, especially in the health care field,” said Lana Dunn, a transgender woman and office manager of Orlando’s Spektrum Health.

Last November, the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine approved rules that will bar doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to treat new patients younger than 18 for gender dysphoria. The state Department of Health had urged the medical boards to enact the restrictions.

The rules are at odds with existing treatment standards that have been endorsed by major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society. The restrictions on nonsurgical care won’t apply to children already being prescribed medications to treat gender dysphoria, the distress felt by someone who doesn’t identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. They will be grandfathered in.

When the ban will begin remains unclear. A Florida Department

RUBIO SEEKS TO REVIVE TRUMP’S TRANS MILITARY BAN Ryan

Williams-Jent

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has introduced legislation to ban transgender Americans from serving openly in the military, seeking to strengthen Donald Trump’s policy reversed by President Joe Biden in 2021.

The president ended the policy via executive order after taking office, fulfilling a campaign promise. Rubio, who won his Florida re-election last November, has a long history of supporting anti-LGBTQ measures in Congress.

of Health spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Southern Legal Counsel, a Gainesville nonprofit law firm, plans to sue the state over the ban, according to Simone Chriss, director of its Transgender Rights Initiative.

Late last year, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg stopped taking new patients who are minors for hormone therapy, according to a spokesperson. The hospital is still providing the treatment to youth who were already receiving it.

All Children’s does not perform gender-affirming surgeries. It offers behavioral health services and social transitioning support to existing and new patients, the spokesperson said. In Orlando, Pineapple Healthcare has taken a similar approach.

Even though Florida’s ban has yet to begin, the clinic feared it would come under fire if it continued to allow minors to start puberty blockers or hormones, said Ethan Suarez, the chief executive officer. The clinic is still treating up to 10 children who were already receiving such care.

Last year, Metro Inclusive Health in Tampa Bay updated its website to say it provides hormone therapy to those 18 and up, according to a version of the page saved by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Before that, the website listed no age restrictions for gender-affirming care.

A spokesperson refused to confirm whether the nonprofit had

stopped taking new patients younger than 18 for hormone therapy.

The Tampa Bay Times in August reported that Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami had stopped accepting new patients to its gender program, and several pediatric clinics had either followed suit or had ceased prescribing puberty blockers or hormones, according to Michael Haller, chief of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Florida.

Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida is still taking new patients and sees about 60 to 70 minors a year for hormone therapy, a spokesperson said. Until the pending ban is “finalized,” Planned Parenthood will keep providing gender-affirming treatment to youth “to the fullest extent allowed by the state,” they advised.

Once the restrictions are in place, the nonprofit will “continue to provide care to everyone we can.”

The Youth Gender Program at the University of Florida is also accepting new patients, a spokesperson confirmed. The clinic does not offer surgeries to minors.

Spektrum Health plans to keep treating youth with puberty blockers and hormones “until we’re not legally” able to do so, said Dunn.

Telemedicine providers QueerDoc and QueerMed, which prescribe puberty blockers and hormones, are also accepting new pediatric patients from Florida.

“Under President Joe Biden, people who identify as transgender or have gender dysphoria can serve openly in the U.S. military,” his office said in a press release Feb. 16. “Senator Rubio’s legislation would prohibit any individual with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria from serving in the military, with limited exceptions.

“The legislation builds on Trump era restrictions that were repealed by the Biden Administration,” it continued, “but adds more stringent requirements and revamps the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) to ensure all service members’ gender markers match their biological sex.”

The legislation, introduced in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate, is called the Ensuring Military Readiness Act. Rubio’s office said it is designed to regulate transgender service.

“The military has strict standards for who can and cannot qualify to serve,” the senator said in a statement. “For example, under President Biden, you can’t serve with a peanut allergy. Biden has turned our military into a woke social experiment.”

While food allergies do affect the ability to join the U.S. military, it is a policy that pre-dates the Biden administration.

“It is a stupid way to go about protecting our nation,” Rubio continued in the release. “We need to spend more time thinking about how to counter threats like China, Russia, and North Korea and less time thinking about pronouns.”

According to Rubio, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana will introduce companion legislation in the Republican-controlled U.S. House. “Our bill ensures that DoD puts lethality and readiness before far-left ideology,” he said in a statement.

Rubio’s office also noted that the legislation has support from other Republicans and the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council. The organization has been deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Biden has vowed to veto anti-LGBTQ legislation should it reach his desk. Upon reversing the trans military ban in 2021, the president said that “”America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception.”

TRANS YOUTH CARE BAN HEADS TO TN GOV’S DESK

House lawmakers voted 77-16 Feb. 23, with three Democrats joining their Republican colleagues, to pass a bill that would ban transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care. The legislation heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has voiced support for the bill. Civil rights groups have vowed an immediate lawsuit if and when the bill becomes law. If enacted, doctors would be prohibited from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 18, including prescribing puberty blockers and hormones. An exception would exist allowing doctors to perform these medical services if the patient’s care began prior to July 1, 2023 — which is when the ban is proposed to go into effect. The care must then end by March 31, 2024.

INDIANA HOUSE BILL COULD OUT TRANS STUDENTS

Indiana House Republicans advanced a bill Feb. 23 that would require public school teachers to tell parents about students’ social transitions and pronoun changes — a bill that some worry would erode student-teacher trust and force children to come out to their parents prematurely. Republican bill author Rep. Michelle Davis said in voting for the bill, lawmakers could indicate their “support for parents making decisions for their children.” The 65-29 vote came one day after a state Senate public health committee approved a ban on all gender-affirming transition treatments for those under 18. The bill, now moving to the Senate, would additionally prohibit schools from disciplining teachers or staff who use “a name, pronoun, title, or other word to identify a student that is consistent with the student’s legal name.”

ACTIVISTS URGE JAMAICA TO NIX ANTI-SODOMY LAWS AMID VIOLENCE

Activists demanded Feb. 21 that Jamaica repeal a colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex, noting that the government still has not heeded a regional rights panel’s recommendation two years ago to do so. The call comes as a growing number of islands in the conservative Caribbean region strike down similar but rarely invoked laws that often seek life sentences and hard labor. Jamaica has resisted such a repeal and is considered the Caribbean nation most hostile toward gay people. Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian group that helps members of the LGBTQ community escape violence, released a report along with Human Dignity Trust, a U.K. nonprofit legal organization, that found the LGBTQ community in Jamaica faces “horrific violence, discrimination and persecution and lack(s) the most basic protections under the law.” Since 2019, Rainbow Railroad has seen an increase in calls for help from gay people in Jamaica, with 411 violent incidents reported last year, compared with 377 the previous year.

COLORADO CLUB SHOOTER’S CASE HEADS TO TRIAL Wire Report

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. |

A shooter seemed to be driven by bias against the LGBTQ community in plotting an attack at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five and wounding 17 others, a judge acknowledged Feb. 23 in finding that prosecutors showed enough evidence for trial on murder and hate crime charges.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys had argued Feb. 22 over whether Anderson Lee Adlrich’s actions were a hate crime. Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they and them pronouns, had visited Club Q at least six times in the years before the attack, witnesses testified. The venue has long been a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city.

District Attorney Michael Allen told the judge that the evidence showed that Aldrich had a “distaste for LGBTQ,” pointing to an online message of a rifle scope over a gay pride parade picture and use of gay slurs against others and while online gaming. Aldrich was forced to go to the club by their mother, he said,

while arguing the attack was inspired by a “neo-Nazi white supremacist” shooting training video posted on a website Aldrich ran.

“We presented evidence regarding the defendant’s aversion to the LGBTQ community, evidence related to the defendant’s mother forcing him to go to a club against his will and sort of forced that culture on him,” said Allen, who consistently used male pronouns for Aldrich.

Allen said at a news conference that using the male pronoun was “unintentional.” But asked later whether he believed Aldrich was nonbinary, Allen said: “My belief has nothing to do with that so I am going to refrain. Again you can jump to your own conclusions as far as that goes.”

Aldrich’s lawyers pushed back against the notion that the crime was hate-motivated by arguing that Aldrich was drugged up on cocaine and had taken multiple tablets of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the stimulant Adderall the night of the shooting.

The defense also brought up Aldrich’s mental health for the first time, showing photographs of pill bottles for drugs that Aldrich had been prescribed to treat mental

illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Defense attorney Joseph Archambault told the judge that what happened was “senseless, it was awful and it was tragic” but noted that Aldrich expressed remorse.

“It doesn’t excuse it. It’s not a defense. It doesn’t change anything. But it is categorically different than the people who target a group and are unapologetic about it later,” Archambault said.

Judge Michael McHenry didn’t specifically address the hate crime debate, saying only that there was sufficient evidence for the case to move toward trial.

He also ordered Aldrich to continue to be held without bond. McHenry agreed to delay the arraignment until May, anticipating that the defense will try to hire experts to see if Aldrich would qualify to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. However, he warned Aldrich’s attorneys that being under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol cannot be considered the cause of insanity.

No trial date has been set.

RIGHTS GROUP: MIDEAST GOVERNMENTS TARGET LGBTQ PEOPLE ONLINE

Wire Report

BEIRUT | Security agencies and government officials in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been using social media platforms and mobile dating apps to crack down on LGBTQ people, a rights group said Feb. 21.

The findings of a new report by Human Rights Watch exposed digital methods of clamping down on the LGBTQ community in the region. For years the community has relied on online platforms for safety and privacy to sidestep oppression and discrimination due to social stigma and laws that criminalize their expression.

The report, “‘All This Terror Because of a Photo’: Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and

North Africa,” documents dozens of cases of security agencies in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Tunisia extorting, harassing, publicly outing, and detaining LGBTQ people based on their activities on Facebook and Instagram, as well as queer dating app Grindr. The publication also questions major tech companies for not investing sufficiently in Arabic language content moderation and protection.

“This type of social media frenzy really had implications on people’s lives,” Rasha Younes, senior researcher with the LGBT Rights Program at HRW, said at the press conference.

In some cases, private individuals and gangs were involved in the extortion. In Lebanon, some people who were extorted online told HRW that they were threatened with being outed to their families and the

authorities if they did not pay them a certain amount of money.

Younes added that many of the victims lost their jobs, faced violence and deleted their online accounts, while some opted to leave the country. Many of the victims say they suffered depression, anxiety and distress, while some reportedly attempted suicide.

While Human Rights Watch called on governments to respect LGBTQ rights and end the criminalization of their expression, they also called on major tech companies, notably Meta, Twitter and Grindr, to invest in stronger Arabic-language content moderation and respond more proactively to these incidents, as many of the victims who reported harassment and threats say they received no answers from the companies.

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LADYFINGERS

The Unbearable Weight of the TikTok Algorithm

exist, never will. So, the fact that you exist at all is against stupefying odds. Any moment you spend squandering those moments you are alive, does disrespect to those who will never even be born.”

I heard these words on a TikTok video one morning. One that came up right after an update on the horrific chemical train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and right before a 15-second clip of this Spanish-speaking parrot that I follow and absolutely adore.

I scroll and scroll, and scratch my tit, and scroll some more. I put my phone down for a moment to clean-up my dog Carl’s pee, which is conveniently located mere meters away from the pee-pee pad. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for him to just pee on the fucking pad, nor do I understand how it is physically possible for this yorkie to store so much urine in his five-pound body.

I keep having these small moments where I think about the humans that will never exist and how disrespectful I have been as I get back on my couch, laggard and in the same sweatpants I’ve worn the past four nights. Only a few more minutes until my D-Amphetamines kick in and then I’ll be productive with my morning. At least that’s what I tell myself. If there is one thing I know for sure, it’s that the likeness of anything productive being done in the afternoon is, well, not likely at

all. There I go again with the disrespect via squandering; it’s even more disrespectful because it’s premeditated.

On the other hand, should I wander into self-flagellation when I work my ass off and do so quite often? I teeter between “Jack-of-All-Trades” and “Spreader-of-All-Things.” I manage my time while managing to lose track of time, and then wonder where all the time has gone. If I smoke enough, I’ll ponder “what is time, really?” and when I’m sad enough, I’ll look back at all the time that I’ve wasted. I actually waste the most time during the process of all the aforementioned. It’s a sick and twisted game that I am the MVP of.

I cannot decide if my TikTok algorithm has opened my eyes to all the things I have not known about myself — and this world around me — or if the algorithm has just pulled me out of the bliss of ignoring it all for so long. I am now, more than ever, aware of all the trauma I have left unaddressed (or “on the to-do list,” as I like to put it). The awareness could be credited to my life experiences as I age or credited to TikTok. Good God, maybe even both (and many honorable mentions that go unmentioned). I can say confidently that the items filed under “unaddressed” probably wouldn’t be there without growing up in the age of “dirty laundry” — the whole don’t air the private and unpleasantries to the public lifestyle. An expression passed down from generation to generation, followed by generation to generation, and now causes intergenerational mind-fuckery to mind-fuckeries.

“M OST HUMANS that could ever

Sabrina Ambra is a co-host of Real Radio 104.1’s “News Junkie” program and stand-up comedian.

Sabrina Ambra

LUKAS

Visibili-T

surrounded by people that didn’t make me feel like I had to tone down the person I was to feel safe in my community,” Kreusch says.

Shayne Watson

VISIBILI-T IS

DEDICATED

TO transgender members of our community in Central Florida and Tampa Bay, some you know and many you don’t. It is designed to amplify their voices and detail their experiences in life.

This issue, we check in with Lukas Kreusch, an Orlando-native and transgender man, who says coming out and discovering himself has been an ongoing process.

Kreusch, 22, describes himself as a person with a million hobbies. From baking to EMT and fire training, Kreusch says he finds out more about himself every week.

“Going to events, and even just reading different books, watching different shows, trying new recipes, with everything I do, I feel like I’ve learned more and more about myself,” he says.

Kreusch never really understood what it meant to be trans until he got into high school. It wasn’t until then he met other

individuals who were trans, and it made him realize this could also be a possibility for him. Kreusch would later come out on March 31, 2017, as a junior in high school.

“I didn’t understand what I was feeling my whole life. Once I figured it out, I was like, ‘Oh okay, this is a thing people need to know about because I’m tired of keeping it in,’” Kreusch says.

Kreusch was never exposed to any LGBTQ-friendly events as a kid. Even as an adult, he didn’t attend any LGBTQ events until he went to Orlando Pride in 2022. There, he says, he felt a sense of community.

“I just felt really safe. I was able to dress how I wanted and was

According to a 2022 LawnStarter study, Orlando is ranked second in the U.S. for LGBTQ community support and Pride-readiness. Kreusch says growing up in an extremely diverse city such as Orlando, he’s found plenty of opportunities for LGBTQ people and is now starting to experience them for himself.

“I really like the openness. You don’t get that in a lot of areas. It’s hard to get a really loud and proud community,” Kreusch says. “There are lots of clubs to go to, there’s often events to attend.

It’s just nice to be in an area that’s surrounded by different communities.”

While Orlando may be one of the friendlier cities in the nation, Kreusch says trans people still live in fear every day. He adds that cisgender people don’t really understand the feeling of walking outside and being unable to exist as the person they want to be. He says there are eyes on him at all times, and he often wonders if today will be the day he gets assaulted.

“Until you exist in this realm, that your existence is one to be persecuted, it’s really hard to understand what that means,” he says.

Kreusch hasn’t legally changed his name or his gender marker yet and says that going into the fire academy, where there’s a mentality that firefighters are big, strong men, proved to be a struggle for someone in his position.

“I was kind of surrounded by a more conservative group, so I didn’t feel like I could share my identity with a lot of my classmates,” he says.

But this didn’t discourage him as he says he needed to work harder than some of his counterparts.

“I am smaller. I am weaker, no matter how much I go to the gym. That’s just the way it is,” Kreusch says. “I had to work a lot harder than some of the other cadets to prove that I can do this too.”

Kreusch has come a long way from the person he was six years ago and says if he could give his younger self advice, he would tell him everything will be okay and not to put himself in a box.

“It’s okay to feel the way you feel. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself,” he says.

Kreusch still plans on becoming a firefighter after he finishes school and gets all the necessary certifications. In the meantime, he works to be in a place where he is happy.

“I want to put myself in a community where I feel safe, loved, accepted and become more me every day,” Kreusch says.

Interested in being featured in Visibili-T? Email Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Williams in Central Florida or Managing Editor Ryan Williams-Jent in Tampa Bay.

22, He/Him/His

KREUSCH

talking points

—CNN ANCHOR DON LEMON, TWEETING HIS APOLOGY FEB. 16 AFTER SAYING “NIKKI HALEY ISN’T IN HER PRIME” ON “CNN THIS MORNING”

TWO LEADING YOUNG ADULT AUTHORS HAVE A SEVEN-FIGURE DEAL TO COLLABORATE ON A PAIR OF NOVELS CENTERED ON BLACK, QUEER CHARACTERS. FSG Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, announced Feb. 15 that George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson (no relation) will write two romantic comedies, starting in 2025 with “There’s Always Next Year.” The story is set around New Year’s Day and tells of two cousins looking to get their lives, romantic and otherwise, back in order. George M. Johnson is the author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” a bestselling “memoir-manifesto” from 2020 that has also appeared on the American Library Association’s annual list of books most frequently challenged by community members or banned. Leah Johnson’s “You Should See Me In a Crown” also was released in 2020 and the following year was Reese Witherspoon’s first choice for her Young Adult Book Club. Time magazine has listed it as among the 100 best young adult books of all time.

BRITTNEY GRINER RE-SIGNS WITH PHOENIX MERCURY

BRITTNEY GRINER IS HEADED BACK TO THE PHOENIX MERCURY.

Griner, who was a free agent, re-signed with the Mercury on a one-year contract according to a person familiar with the deal. The 32-year-old Griner had said she would return to Phoenix in a social media post in December, after she returned home from her 10-month ordeal in Russia that included time in a Russian jail. The 6-foot-9 center last played for the Mercury in 2021 and helped the team reach the WNBA Finals. She averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds that season. Griner, who was drafted No. 1 in 2013 by the Mercury, was listed Feb. 18 on Phoenix’s roster on the WNBA website.

JOJO SIWA TO STAR IN HORROR FILM ‘ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD’

JOJO

SIWA IS GETTING INTO THE SCREAM QUEEN GAME.

The 19-year-old performer has signed on to star opposite Jade Pettyjohn in the horror flick “All My Friends Are Dead.” The film follows a group of friends who rent an Airbnb for a music festival but are killed off one by one corresponding to each of the seven deadly sins. The film will be directed by Marcus Dunstan, who has written several films in the “Saw” franchise and recently wrote and directed the horror comedy “Unhuman,” from a script written by Josh Sims and Jessica Sarah Flaum. The movie is set to starting filming in Canada this spring. No release date has been set.

CZECH SOCCER PLAYER JAKUB JANKTO COMES OUT AS GAY

CZECH REPUBLIC

MIDFIELDER JAKUB

JANKTO POSTED A VIDEO

ON SOCIAL MEDIA Feb. 13 saying he is gay, making him one of the most high-profile male soccer players to come out. Jankto posted a video on Twitter saying: “I’m homosexual. And I no longer want to hide myself.” The 27-year-old Jankto is playing for Sparta Prague this season on loan from Spanish club Getafe. He has previously played for Italian clubs Sampdoria and Udinese and has made 45 appearances for the Czech national team, scoring four goals and setting up 13 more. “Like everyone else, I want to live my life with freedom, without fear, without violence, without prejudice, but with love,” Jankto says in the video.

HAS PROFITED FROM OVER 200 ADS IN 2022 THAT CONTAIN THE PHRASE “GROOMER” INCLUDING 63 NEW ADS SINCE OCTOBER THAT HAVE NEARLY 1 MILLION IMPRESSIONS.

—MediaMatters.org

The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant … A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.

GEORGE M. JOHNSON, LEAH JOHNSON WORKING ON NEW NOVELS

The WAVES

Central Florida, Tampa Bay pick their LGBTQ favorites in the Watermark Awards for Variety and Excellence

Jeremy Williams and Ryan Williams-Jent

RAIN DROPS

ON

ROSES AND WHISKERS ON kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these were a few of Julie Andrews’ favorite things.

The Center and Pom Pom’s and Out of the Closet. Metro and Cocktail and Mayor Jane Castor. These were a few of Central Florida and Tampa Bay’s favorite things this year in the Watermark Awards for Variety and Excellence, or simply called the WAVES.

For those new to the WAVES, each year we ask our loyal readers to let us know who their favorites are in Central Florida and Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ communities.

After a nomination round, we then presented your top five responses and then asked you to give us the top three in each of the 60 categories.

The categories cover a lot of different areas of our community; activism, business, entertainment, politics and more. We asked for your favorite hangouts, safe spaces, local hidden gems and even your favorite treat, and you did not disappoint.

After thousands of votes were tallied up, we now present to you in the following pages all the winners, as well as a few number one favorites that we chose to highlight. In the process of selecting your favorites, we also asked a few questions about what you will miss the most from last year, what you were most excited to see return after the pandemic and what events — both public and personal — helped to define what 2022 meant to you. So, let’s get to it. Congratulations to everyone who was nominated, those who made it into the top three and to those who came out on top. And a special thank you to all you readers who voted and helped to show them all the love they deserve.

CONTINUED ON PG. 29 | uu |

CENTRAL FLORIDA 2023 WAVE WINNERS

FAVORITE LOCAL POLITICIAN

First: State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani

Second: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

Third: City Commissioner Patty Sheehan

FAVORITE

LOCAL ACTIVIST

First: Blue Star

Second: Brandon Wolf, Equality Florida

Third: Tatiana Quiroga, Come Out With Pride

GREATEST ALLY TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

First: State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani

Second: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

Third: Keri Griffin, Orlando VA LGBTQ+ veteran care program coordinator

MOST EFFECTIVE LOCAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

First: LGBT+ Center Orlando

Second: Zebra Coalition

Third: The Barber Fund

FAVORITE

LOCAL

WRITER/JOURNALIST

First: Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel

Second: Jeremy Williams, Watermark

Third: Faiyaz Kara, Orlando Weekly

FAVORITE LOCAL WEBSITE

First: ComeOutWithPride. org

Second: WatermarkOnline.com

Third: Bungalower.com

FAVORITE LOCAL FUNDRAISING EVENT

First: Orlando AIDS Walk

Second: Celebrity Bartending at Savoy

Third: Zebra Coalition’s

Valentine’s Day Drag Brunch

FAVORITE ANNUAL

LGBTQ LOCAL EVENT

First: Come Out With Pride

Second: GayDayS

Third: One Magical Weekend

FAVORITE LOCAL

TRANS-AFFIRMING EVENT

First: Central Florida Trans March

Second: The Trans Awareness Ball

Third: Unity Nite at Savoy

FAVORITE LOCAL

FAVORITE NEW LOCAL BUSINESS

First: 1Up Orlando

Second: Fruit Wine Productions

Third: Breyting Community Roaster

FAVORITE LOCAL HEALTH CARE FACILITY

First: Harmony Healthcare Orlando

Second: Orlando Immunology Center

Third: Pineapple Healthcare

FAVORITE LOCAL HAIR

SALON/BARBER SHOP

First: Floyd’s 99 Barbershop

Second: Gary Lambert Salon

Third: Lambs Eat Ivy Salon

FAVORITE LOCAL MAKEUP ARTIST

First: Alex Traum, Universal Orlando

Second: Justin Jimenez, Sephora

Third: Brandy Felton, The Makeup Bar Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL FITNESS CENTER

First: Planet Fitness at Fashion Square

Second: LA Fitness at Colonial Marketplace

Third: Rock Hard Fitness

Trusted Voice

Nancy Alvarez, WESH 2

Central Florida’s 1st Place

Favorite Local TV/Web Personality

NANCY ALVEREZ HAS BEEN in the Central Florida news business for more than two decades, and in that time she has established herself as a trusted voice in local news and as a true ally of the LGBTQ community.

“Our LGBTQ community is made up of many people I greatly admire and respect,” she says. “These are leaders and professionals who are resilient, authentic, kind and hard working. Many of them had to overcome significant challenges or trauma just to simply live their truth. That, to me, is the definition of strength and an example for my children.”

Alverez came to Orlando from South Florida in 2000 and says in that time she has seen Central Florida grow into an area of more diversity and inclusion.

“I love that I can see and feel us changing, becoming bigger and relevant in spaces beyond the tourism industry,” she says. “As a journalist, I’ve covered many difficult things in our region. I have seen the best of us in tough times and I am proud to be raising my children in a community that rises in beautiful ways.”

One of the most difficult stories Alverez has had to cover was the 2016 shooting at Pulse. But in that tragedy, she saw a community come together.

FAVORITE

LOCAL TRANSAFFIRMING ORGANIZATION

First: LGBT+ Center Orlando

Second: Divas in Dialogue

Third: Bliss Cares

FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS LEAGUE/ORGANIZATION

First: Orlando City Soccer

Second: OBBA Gay Bowling League

Third: Central Florida Softball League

LGBTQ YOUTH EVENT

First: Come Out With Pride

Second: LGBT+ Center Orlando’s Drag Queen Story Hour

Third: Zebra

Coalition’s Youth Prom

FAVORITE

FAVORITE LOCAL VETERINARIAN CLINIC

First: Winter Park Veterinary Hospital

Second: 4 Paws Animal Clinic

Third: Loch Haven Veterinary Hospital

“Almost seven years ago, our community gathered at a vigil at Lake Eola and we vowed, together, to live in honor of the 49 people whose own lives were cut short at Pulse,” she says. “It’s a vow I take very seriously and one of the things I live by. I know many in our LGBTQ and Hispanic communities feel the same way. I believe we all have an obligation to remember and honor an event that changed us. In big and small ways, in both our personal and collective growth; we show how it made us stronger, we honor that vow.”

LOCAL

BUSINESS NOT A BAR/CLUB

First: Hamburger

Mary’s Orlando

Second: Pineapple Healthcare

Third: Lacastro

It’s that commitment to and pride in the community that led our readers to vote Alverez as their Favorite Local TV/ Web Personality, and her message to those readers?

“Simply thank you,” she says. “Watermark has been an integral part of our community as its grown, grieved, celebrated and everything in between over the years. It’s an honor to be recognized by the readers.”

–Jeremy Williams

FAVORITE PLACE TO PAMPER YOUR PET

First: Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming Orlando

Second: Ranger’s Pet Outpost and Retreat

Third: Woof! Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL REALTOR

First: Scott Benson, Green House Realty

Second: Jimmy Hendrickson and Shawn Layton, Central Florida Home Boys

Third: Eddie Cooper, Mainframe Real Estate

FAVORITE LOCAL ATTORNEY

First: John Morgan, Morgan & Morgan

Second: Tom Dyer and Ed Blaisdell, Dyer & Blaisdell P.L.

Third: Carmen M. Love, Law Office of Carmen M. Love

FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO BUY A CAR

First: Fields BMW Winter Park

Second: CarMax Orlando

Third: Carvana Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL SHOPPING/ ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

First: Disney Springs

Second: Mills 50 District

Third: The Mall at Millenia

FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ CLOTHING STORE

First: Out of the Closet - Orlando

Second: MojoMan Swimwear & Clothing

Third: Lacastro

FAVORITE LOCAL GEEK SPOT

First: Cocktails & Screams

Second: The Geek Easy

Third: Gods and Monsters

FAVORITE LOCAL TRANS-AFFIRMING SPACE

First: LGBT+ Center Orlando

Second: Bliss Cares

Third: Miracle of Love’s Stafford House

FAVORITE LOCAL FAITHBASED ESTABLISHMENT

First: Joy Metropolitan Community Church

Second: First United Methodist Church of Orlando

Third: First Unitarian Church of Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL FLORIST

First: In Bloom Florist

Second: Lee Forrest Design

Third: The Flower Shop Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL MUSEUM

First: Orlando Science Center

Second: Orlando Museum of Art

Third: Orange County Regional History Center

FAVORITE LOCAL SPACE TO BUY ART

First: LGBT+ Center Orlando

Second: Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria

Third: Art Gallery at Mills Park

FAVORITE LOCAL HOTEL/B&B

First: Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando

Second: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at SeaWorld

Third: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando Downtown

FAVORITE LOCAL ARTIST

First: Patty Sheehan

Second: Kelly Stewart

Third: Nick Smith

FAVORITE LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER

First: Loc Robertson

Second: Patrick Buckley and Jonathan Rodriguez, PB&J Studios

Third: Dylan Todd

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT

First: Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria

Second: Hamburger Mary’s Orlando

Third: The Hammered Lamb

FAVORITE LOCAL BRUNCH SPOT

First: Hamburger Mary’s Orlando

Second: The Hammered Lamb

Third: Maxine’s on Shine

FAVORITE LOCAL LATE-NIGHT DINING

First: Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria

Second: Gringos Locos 2 - Milk District

Third: The Hammered Lamb

FAVORITE LOCAL UNIQUE DRINK/EAT/TREAT

First: Thanksgiving sandwich at Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria

Second: Original Chocolate Chip cookie at Gideon’s Bakehouse

Third: Charcuterie Grazing Board at Bites & Bubbles

FAVORITE LOCAL CATERER

First: Little Lamb Catering

Second: John Michael Catering and Weddings

Third: Bless my soul food catering & more

Picture Perfect

Loc Robertson (April Fresh)

Central Florida’s 1st place Favorite Local Photographer; Favorite Local Performer: Drag Queen

LOC ROBERTSON HAS BEEN A part of Orlando’s LGBTQ community for nearly his entire life.

A native to Central Florida, Robertson has done and seen it all when it comes to The City Beautiful.

“I love the diversity that it has to offer,” he says. “It has grown in population quite a bit and I’m very excited to see the direction in which it goes.”

That growth has made Orlando one of the most inclusive and accepting places for LGBTQ people anywhere in the world.

“Central Florida’s LGBTQ community is like no other,” he says. “What I love most is that it has become an extremely inclusive community over the last several years and the number of allies has grown immensely.”

Robertson is no stranger to Watermark’s Awards for Variety and Excellence. He is a multiple winner for multiple categories in multiple years, appearing in such categories as Favorite Local Radio Personality, Favorite Local Bartender, Favorite Local Photographer and Favorite Local Performer: Drag Queen; the latter two he won this year.

Robertson goes by the name of April Fresh when all dragged up. He adopted the persona back in the late ‘90s where he won his first pageant, Miss Comic Strip, in 1999. He is also responsible for the Miss Comedy Queen pageant, something he started in 2005 that has grown into a multi-day nationally recognized event.

As April Fresh, Roberston can be found hosting and performing at all types of events throughout Central Florida including drag shows, comedy brunches, bingos, trivia nights and more.

“Thank you for your votes,” Robertson says. “It is quite an honor, and it is my pleasure to be able to entertain you at so many different LGBTQ friendly spots.” –Jeremy Williams

FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ BAR/CLUB

First: Southern Nights Orlando

Second: Savoy Orlando

Third: District Dive

FAVORITE LOCAL ALLIED BAR/CLUB

First: The Hammered Lamb

Second: Ember Orlando

Third: Cocktails & Screams

FAVORITE

NON-ALCOHOLIC HANGOUT

First: Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria

Second: Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar

Third: The Glass Knife

FAVORITE LOCAL HAPPY HOUR

First: District Dive

Second: Savoy Orlando

Third: The Hammered Lamb

FAVORITE LOCAL KARAOKE, TRIVIA OR BINGO NIGHT

First: Ginger Minj and Gidget Galore’s Family Gayme Night at Hamburger Mary’s Orlando

Second: Lacie Browning’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Viewing Party at Savoy

Third: Addison Taylor’s Bad Ass Bingo at District Dive

FAVORITE LOCAL BARTENDER/SERVER

First: Tia Divine at Southern Nights Orlando

Second: Dominick Mascio at District Dive

Third: Colleen Green at Southern Nights Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: DRAG QUEEN

First: April Fresh

Second: Trixie Deluxxe

Third: Bearonce Bear

FAVORITE LOCAL PERFORMER: DRAG KING

First: Axel Andrews

Second: James Jackson

Third: Eros Gemini

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: STAGE

First: Blue Star

Second: Gregory Metts

Third: Kirk DaVinci

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: MUSICIAN

First: Billy Mick

Second: Craymo

Third: Heather Abood

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: DJ

First: DJ Brianna Lee

Second: Scott Robert

Third: Edil Hernandez

FAVORITE LOCAL

BREAKOUT PERFORMER

First: Gregory Metts

Second: MrMs Adrian

Third: Sheila from accounting

FAVORITE LOCAL TV/ WEB PERSONALITY

First: Nancy Alvarez, WESH 2

Second: Martha Sugalski, WFTV

Third: Ginger Gadsden, WKMGTV

FAVORITE

LOCAL RADIO

SHOW/PODCAST

First: Johnny’s House on XL1067

Second: Chad & Leslye on Magic 107.7

Third: The News Junkie on Real Radio 104.1

FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ INFLUENCER

First: Ivy Les Vixens (@eveleena)

Second: Brendan O’Connor (@bungalower)

Third: Tora Himan (@torahiman)

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMING ARTS VENUE

First: Dr. Phillips Center

Second: The Abbey Orlando

Third: Renaissance Theatre Company

FAVORITE LOCAL THEATRICAL SHOW

First: “The City Beautiful, An Original Live Music Burlesque Cabaret,” Orlando Fringe

Second: “TV Land Live’s Gilligan’z Island,” Clermont Performing Arts Center

Third: “Nosferatu,” Renaissance Theatre Company

FAVORITE ADULT NOVELTY STORE

First: Fairvilla

Second: MojoMan Swimwear & Clothing

Third: The Store @ Barcodes

FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO PLAY TOURIST

First: Epcot

Second: Universal Studios

Third: Lake Eola

FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO PAMPER YOURSELF

First: Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa in Winter Park

Second: Walt Disney World

Third: Club Orlando

FAVORITE LOCAL HIDDEN GEM

First: Gatorland

Second: Grumpy’s Underground Lounge

Third: Kings Landing in Apopka

Hands-on Learning

Orlando Science Center

Central Florida’s 1st place Favorite Local Museum

THE ORLANDO SCIENCE

Center offers a lot more than your run-of-the-mill museum, which is one of the reasons why readers have chosen it as their Favorite Local Museum in Central Florida for the third year in a row.

The Science Center was incorporated in 1955 as the Central Florida Museum and opened in Orlando Loch Haven Park in 1960. The existing facility opened in 1997 and has undergone numerous major renovations to keep content current and engaging.

“Orlando Science Center has been in this community since 1955 and our organization has seen a lot of positive growth and change during that time,” says Jeff Stanford, the Orlando Science Center’s Vice President of Marketing. “There is always something new to learn and experience here and we are so excited for the role that we play with helping our community grow. Central Florida’s creative energy encourages us to always keep moving forward.”

Something that separates the Science Center from other museums is the fact that you can touch many of the exhibits. The four-story center is filled with interactive hands-on displays, labs and workshops, theaters, an observatory, youth-focused areas and much more.

The Science Center, which is visited by nearly 700,000 people annually, makes being an open and inclusive learning center a focus of every exhibit, program and interaction.

“Our mission is to inspire science learning for life and we believe in science for all,” Stanford says. “Thank you for selecting Orlando Science Center as your favorite local museum. Our team is dedicated to making Orlando Science Center a welcoming place where everyone can enjoy learning together and you honor us with your support.”

–Jeremy Williams

CENTRAL FLORIDA NAMES THE DEFINING MOMENTS OF 2022

Jeremy Williams

Along with voting for your local LGBTQ favorites in dozens of categories in the WAVEs, we also asked a few questions about the state of your year in 2022.

One thing we wanted to know was what your defining moments of the year were. Some of you responded with personal milestones that you will remember 2022 for: weddings, new jobs, the birth of a child.

Many of you looked to what is happening in the Florida Legislature and its attack on the LGBTQ community as what you will remember 2022 for. In July, the state’s hurtful and hate-filled law known as “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” took effect, leaving students vulnerable and teachers threatened with being fired if they speak about LGBTQ issues.

The midterm elections also left many feeling deflated as the GOP’s Red Wave, squashed in most parts of the country, swept over Florida and gave the

Republicans a super majority in the Florida House and Senate. They also kept the governor’s office as Ron DeSantis won re-election easily.

It wasn’t all bad news for you, as several decided to remember 2022 as the year Orlando’s Maxwell Alejandro Frost became the first Gen Zer to be elected to Congress and when President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act codifying same-sex marriage across the country.

CENTRAL FLORIDA’S FAVORITE THINGS TO RETURN IN 2022

Jeremy Williams

After the COVID pandemic swept across the planet, leaving most people to socially distance and enact safety precautions such as wearing masks and using lots of hand sanitizer, everyone felt its impact as events were cancelled, businesses shut down and nearly everything went virtual.

Since 2020, things have slowly opened back up with 2022 being

a memorable year for many of you because of what you got back.

So many of you rejoiced at the return of what you called “normalcy” after two years of the pandemic, being able to go into shops and restaurants without being required to wear masks. More of you mentioned the return of hugging, which had also disappeared during most of the pandemic. Many more of you were happy to see the return of crowds at shows, concerts and festivals. Specifically, the crowds

Reptile Fun

Gatorland

Central Florida’s 1st place Favorite Local Hidden Gem

KNOWN

AS THE “ALLIGATOR

returning to Come Out With Pride had many of you cheering. By far though, the favorite thing to come back by our readers in 2022 was the return of GayDayS, One Magical Weekend and all the festivities involved with the first weekend of June in Central Florida. After being postponed for several years, the week-long celebration that surrounds the red shirt-wearing Gay Day at the Magic Kingdom came back in full force, and it is sure to be even bigger this June.

CENTRAL FLORIDA REMEMBERS WHAT WE LOST IN 2022

Jeremy Williams

In 2022, we said goodbye to many people who we cared about and loved, both personally and in the celebrity world.

While “Golden Girl” Betty White passed away on New Years Eve in 2021, many of you said losing her had the biggest impact on your 2022. Other celebrity passings that left holes in your 2022 include legendary actress Angela Lansbury, TV journalism pioneer Barbara Walters and singer/actress Olivia Newton-John.

The two biggest celebrity deaths for our readers were

the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who died the U.K.’s longest serving monarch, and actor/ comedian Leslie Jordan.

Personally, many of you wrote about losing friends and family this past year. So many said goodbye to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings. The losses felt were not only human though, as several of you write about losing family members of the canine and feline variety.

Many wrote of the passing of LGBTQ activist and Central Florida interior designer Ted Maines, who passed away in December at the age of 64. Maines, along with his husband Jeffrey Miller, was well known for his work in advancing marriage

equality, fighting for LGBTQ rights and helping to fundraise and elect progressive candidates. By far, the passing that most people wrote about was that of legendary Central Florida actor, entertainer and event host Doug Ba’aser, also known by his drag persona Taffy Pinkerbox, who passed away in July at the age of 62. Ba’aser entertained audiences for more than four decades throughout Central Florida appearing on numerous Orlando stages, as well as hosting everything from bingo and trivia nights to the annual Trash 2 Trends fundraiser and Watermark’s own WAVE Awards.

Capital of the World,” Gatorland has been a fixture in Central Florida for more than 70 years. Even with its longevity, the 110-acre amusement park and wildlife preserve feels like a secret, magical place for the locals to introduce their visiting friends and family to. That’s probably why so many of you voted Gatorland your Favorite Hidden Gem in Central Florida.

“Central Florida is one of the most special places in the entire U.S.,” says Savannah Boan, Gatorland’s Crocodilian Enrichment Coordinator and the International Ambassador to Gatorland Global. “There is nowhere else in the world where you can go from a morning at Gatorland or Disney or Universal to an afternoon kayak trip to see some wildlife and then end the night with a world class show in downtown Orlando. We have it all here and a community that consistently supports one another. Central Florida gives us all big hugs and encourages us to go forward and do great things.”

Gatorland’s popularity is in part due to people like Boan — she has a massed an Instagram following of more than 274,000 followers — showcasing the power, beauty and diversity of these reptiles and of course, the gators themselves.

Gatorland’s love of diversity isn’t just for the gators but for Central Florida’s LGBTQ community as well.

“Every time Gatorland faces a disaster, it is the Central Florida residents, and especially the LGBTQ residents, that return to the park and help us get back on our feet,” Boan says. “We thank you for that, and we thank you for making Central Florida more beautiful every day just by being in it!”

Boan adds a big thank you to all those readers who voted for Gatorland as their favorite hidden gem.

“It makes our hearts smile to feel so much love,” she says. “Gatorland has been a family owned and operated small business for over 70 years now and we couldn’t do it without all the support from all of you. We love being a part of this amazing community and we are honored by this win.”

–Jeremy Williams

TAMPA BAY 2023 WAVE WINNERS

FAVORITE LOCAL POLITICIAN

First: Tampa Mayor Jane Castor

Second: St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch

Third: State Rep. Michele Rayner

FAVORITE LOCAL ACTIVIST

First: Chris Gorman, Come OUT St. Pete

Second: Nadine Smith, Equality Florida

Third: Sister Agatha Frisky, Tampa Bay Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

GREATEST ALLY TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

First: Carol “Mama” Steen

Second: Jennie O’Leary, Equality Florida

Third: Faith Moeller, PFLAG Riverview

MOST EFFECTIVE LOCAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

First: Metro Inclusive Health

Second: St Pete Pride

Third: Equality Florida

FAVORITE LOCAL TRANS-AFFIRMING ORGANIZATION

First: Metro Inclusive Health

Second: Come OUT St. Pete

Third: Diversity Arts

FAVORITE LOCAL SPORTS LEAGUE/ORGANIZATION

First: Tampa Bay Rays

Second: Suncoast Softball League

Third: Rainbow Sports League

FAVORITE LOCAL WRITER/JOURNALIST

First: Ryan Williams-Jent, Watermark

Second: Joshua Valdez, “Falling in Love in the Burg”

Third: Dave Borman, Tampa Bay Gay

FAVORITE LOCAL WEBSITE

First: ILoveTheBurg.com

Second: WatermarkOnline.com

Third: VisitTampaBay.com

FAVORITE LOCAL FUNDRAISING

EVENT

First: St. Pete Gala, Equality Florida

Second: Red & Green Party, St Pete Pride

Third: Strike Out for AIDS, Empath Partners in Care

FAVORITE ANNUAL LOCAL LGBTQ EVENT

First: St Pete Pride

Second: Tampa Pride

Third: Come OUT St. Pete

FAVORITE LOCAL

TRANS-AFFIRMING EVENT

First: TransPride March, St Pete Pride

Second: Trans Fashion & Health Expo, Metro Inclusive Health

Third: Tampa Bay Transgender Film Festival, TIGLFF

FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ YOUTH EVENT

First: CampOUT LGBTQ+ Youth Summer Camp, CampOUT

Second: LGBTQ+ Youth & Family Day, St Pete Pride

Third: LGBTQ+ Youth Summer Camp, Metro Inclusive Health

FAVORITE LOCAL BUSINESS NOT A BAR/CLUB

First: ZaZoo’d

Second: Bulge Apparel & Gifts

Third: Tyler’z Barbershop

FAVORITE NEW LOCAL BUSINESS

First: The Wet Spot Pool Bar and Day Club

Second: Salty Nun

Third: Zoie’s

FAVORITE LOCAL HEALTH CARE FACILITY

First: Metro Inclusive Health

Second: CAN Community Health

Third: Empath Partners in Care

FAVORITE LOCAL HAIR

SALON / BARBER SHOP

First: Tyler’z Barbershop

Second: Sergeant Mike’s Getup

Third: Top Notch Barber Co.

FAVORITE LOCAL MAKEUP ARTIST

First: Jaeda Fuentes, Jaeda Fuentes Makeup

Second: Naomi Wright, Haute Coudoor

Third: Ian Glending, Freelance Makeup Artist

FAVORITE LOCAL FITNESS CENTER

First: The Body Electric Yoga Company

Second: Planet Fitness St. Petersburg

Third: Crunch Fitness St. Pete Northeast

FAVORITE LOCAL VETERINARIAN CLINIC

First: SPCA Tampa Bay

Second: Pet Pal Veterinary Clinic

Third: Banfield Pet Hospital St. Petersburg NE

FAVORITE PLACE TO PAMPER YOUR PET

First: The Dog Bar

Second: Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming St. Pete

Third: Bow Wow Barber

Bearded Beauty

Adriana Sparkle

Tampa Bay’s 1st Place

Favorite Local Performer: Drag Queen

IN THE EIGHT YEARS SINCE

Adriana Sparkle started doing drag, the self-described bearded mermaid — who “emerged from the sea to bring her unique brand of sparkle magic” to the masses — has taken Tampa Bay by storm.

Just ask anyone who frequents Cocktail, The Saint or The Wet Spot Pool Bar and Day Club, as many Watermark readers do. Among other wins, this year Cocktail secured Tampa Bay’s 1st place win for Favorite Local LGBTQ Bar/ Club and Happy Hour; The Saint received 2nd place for Favorite Local Allied Bar/Club and The Wet Spot won 1st place for Favorite New Local Business.

Sparkle has served as entertainment director at each venue since its respective launch, helping to shape them into the LGBTQ staples they’ve become. She calls her front row seat incredibly rewarding.

“It’s great because I’ve gotten to mix it up to where it’s not just drag queens,” she explains. “I bring in male entertainers, nonbinary performers, burlesque entertainers, pole dancers, fire eaters, things like that. I’ve also gotten to ensure that there is a lot of POC representation through our DJs, dancers and other entertainers.”

It’s for that reason Sparkle says the job has “become more of an important role than I realized when I initially took it.” She’s very proud of her work, particularly as a bearded queen. The entertainer says her facial hair has sometimes presented roadblocks in her industry.

“I’ve gotten a lot of ‘no’s’ because I’m bearded, especially in Florida which has very pageant and kind of traditional drag,” Sparkle explains. “For our area, I’ve been one of the first signs of visibility when it comes to bearded drag.”

In part, obstacles like that are what’s led Sparkle to cultivate new talent throughout the region. She’s long co-hosted an open mic talent night, and currently does so at Cocktail, to create “a completely judgment-free zone.”

“Drag kings, drag queens, nonbinary entertainers, it’s for the whole community,” Sparkle says. “That’s my favorite thing to see — people feeling like they’re accepted.”

–Ryan Williams-Jent

FAVORITE LOCAL REALTOR

First: Eric Wilson, The Wilson Group, Keller Williams Realty

Second: Caitlin Jones, Jones

Home Team, Dalton Wade Real Estate Group

Third: Gabe Alves-Tomko, RE/ MAX Metro Tampa Bay

FAVORITE LOCAL ATTORNEY

First: Bobby King, The King Law Firm, P.A.

Second: Lindsey Sheppy, GBY Law

Third: Ian Gómez, GBY Law

FAVORITE PLACE TO BUY A CAR

First: CarMax Tampa

Second: Tyrone Square Mazda

Third: AutoNation Ford St. Petersburg

FAVORITE LOCAL SHOPPING/ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

First: The Grand Central District

Second: Ybor

Third: The Edge District

FAVORITE LOCAL CLOTHING STORE

First: Out of the Closet St. Petersburg

Second: Bulge Apparel & Gifts

Third: Atlas Body + Home

FAVORITE LOCAL GEEK SPOT

First: Mad Hatters Kava Bar

Second: Right Around the Corner Arcade Brewery

Third: Emerald City Comics

FAVORITE LOCAL

TRANS-AFFIRMING SPACE

First: Metro

Inclusive Health

Second: LGBTQ Resource Center, Gulfport Public Library

Third: MCC Tampa

FAVORITE FAITH-BASED ESTABLISHMENT

First: MCC Tampa

Second: King of Peace MCC

Third: Allendale UMC

FAVORITE LOCAL FLORIST

First: Absolutely Beautiful

Florist & Flower Delivery

Second: Carter’s

Florist & Greenhouses

Third: Delma’s, The Flower Booth

FAVORITE AREA MUSEUM

First: The Dali Museum

Second: Museum of Fine Arts, St. Pete

Third: Imagine Museum

FAVORITE LOCAL SPACE TO BUY ART

First: The Factory, St Pete

Second: Studios @ 5663

Third: Woodfield Fine Art

FAVORITE LOCAL HOTEL/B&B

First: Hollander Hotel

Second: Casa del Merman at GayStPete House

Third: The Birchwood

FAVORITE LOCAL ARTIST

First: Chad Mize

Second: David Rule

Third: John Gascot

FAVORITE LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER

First: Morgan Le Shade

Second: Dylan Todd

Third: Jamarcus Mosley

FAVORITE LOCAL RESTAURANT

First: Red Mesa Mercado

Second: Salty Nun

Third: Zoie’s

FAVORITE LOCAL BRUNCH SPOT

First: Hollander Hotel

Second: Salty Nun

Third: Zoie’s

FAVORITE LOCAL LATE NIGHT DINING

First: New York New York Pizza, Ybor

Second: Red Mesa Cantina

Third: Zoie’s

FAVORITE LOCAL UNIQUE DRINK/EAT/TREAT

First: The Chicken Coop, Zoie’s

Second: Old Testamint Holiday Cocktail, The Saint Speakeasy

Third: Tootie Fruitie Fully Topped Donut, Daddies Donuts and Delites

FAVORITE LOCAL CATERER

First: Memphis Style BBQ Co.

Second: Red Mesa Mercado

Third: The Stuffed Mushroom

FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ BAR/CLUB

First: Cocktail

Second: Enigma

Third: Bradley’s on 7th

FAVORITE LOCAL ALLIED BAR/CLUB

First: The Dog Bar

Second: The Saint Speakeasy

Third: Lost & Found Cocktail Lounge

Infinite Act

Apollo Infiniti

Tampa Bay’s 1st Place Favorite Local Performer: Drag King

WHEN APOLLO INFINITI

began entertaining in drag, cosplay and as a boylesque performer in 2014, he was drawn to the artform’s escape. He liked the idea of being celebrated for an identity on stage that didn’t align with his identity outside of the spotlight.

That eventually changed. He began exclusively performing as a drag king in 2018 and hasn’t looked back. “As time grew and I began my medical transition, now I celebrate my identity in drag and out of drag as a harmonious journey,” he says. “As a timeline of my survival and dedication to finding my place in this world.”

Infiniti describes his drag style as alternative and multi-faceted. He’s long admired the sense of style enjoyed by supervillains in pop culture.

“I like to think that if Apollo was in a video game, he’s the guy that was either a villain disguised as a hero or the final nemesis you battle,” he muses. “Other times I find that my drag takes a deviant route, as I’m really fond of Catholic imagery and showing it off more in a corrupt manner.”

That’s on full display when he hosts Devil’s Den at The Spookeasy Lounge, Tampa Bay’s 3rd Place Favorite Local Non-Alcoholic Hangout. The show rotates between drag performers and a sister variety show called The Graveyard. You can also find him “jumping around to the other numerous LGBTQ safe spaces.”

“I hope that everyone is ready to expect the unexpected,” Infiniti says. “I have many projects that I am working on that I can’t speak about right now, but I do know that they will be of epic proportions.”

Placing first for Favorite Drag King is an honor, he adds. It’s Infiniti’s hope “that I can advance more projects that aim to showcase the diverse talents that Tampa has to offer.”

–Ryan Williams-Jent

FAVORITE LOCAL NON-ALCOHOLIC HANGOUT

First: Mad Hatters Kava Bar

Second: Black Crow Coffee Co.

Third: SpookEasy Lounge

FAVORITE HAPPY HOUR

First: Cocktail

Second: Enigma

Third: Quench Lounge

FAVORITE KARAOKE, TRIVIA OR BINGO NIGHT

First: Alexis De La Mer, Drag Queen Bingo at Quench Lounge

Second: KJ Brad Rox, Karaoke Live at Cocktail

Third: Miranda Marie Sugarbaker, Trivia Night at Zoie’s

FAVORITE LOCAL BARTENDER/SERVER

First: Sebastian

Hathcock, Cocktail

Second: Kaitlyn

Lampasso, Cocktail

Third: Nikos Daras, Quench Lounge

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: DRAG QUEEN

First: Adriana Sparkle

Second: Brianna Summers

Third: Crystal Reigns

FAVORITE LOCAL PERFORMER: DRAG KING

First: Apollo Infiniti

Second: Vyn Suazion

Third: Adam Cole

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: STAGE

First: Robert Rigsby

Second: Matthew McGee

Third: Spencer Meyers

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: MUSICIAN

First: Jay Miah

Second: Vyn Suazion

Third: Fatalya

FAVORITE LOCAL

PERFORMER: DJ

First: DJ Ace Vedo

Second: DJ Mike Sklarz

Third: DJ Greg Anderson

FAVORITE LOCAL

BREAKOUT PERFORMER

First: Aquariius

Second: KC Starrz

Third: Taniyah Iman

FAVORITE LOCAL TV/

WEB PERSONALITY

First: Trevor Pettiford, Spectrum News 9

Second: Shawn Nikolas, Common Courtesy

Third: Greg

Dee, ABC Action News

FAVORITE LOCAL RADIO

SHOW/PODCAST

First: The Big Gay Radio Show, 88.5 WMNF

Second: MJ Morning Show, Q105

Third: The Scotty Show, Hot 101.5

FAVORITE LOCAL INFLUENCER

First: Chris Gibson (@ChrisGibsonLive)

Second: Angelique Young (@Angelique.YoungCavalier.9)

Third: Cam Parker (@PainkillerCamIsYourDaddy)

FAVORITE LOCAL PERFORMING ARTS VENUE

First: Straz Center for the Performing Arts

Second: Ruth Eckerd Hall

Third: American Stage

FAVORITE LOCAL THEATRICAL SHOW

First: “RENT,” Eight O’Clock Theatre

Second: Zubrick Magic Theatre

Third: “Footloose,” American Stage in the Park

FAVORITE ADULT

NOVELTY STORE

First: Bulge Apparel & Gifts

Second: The Backroom by ZaZoo’d

Third: Todd Couples Superstore

FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO PLAY TOURIST

First: St. Pete Pier

Second: Busch

Gardens Tampa Bay

Third: Tampa Riverwalk

FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO PAMPER YOURSELF

First: The Body Mechanic Massage Therapy St. Petersburg

Second: The Spa at Cortiva

Third: Sunshine City Massage

FAVORITE LOCAL HIDDEN GEM

First: The Event Space at Bulge

Second: The Big Catch at Salt Creek

Third: Pinellas Arts Village

Community Conscious

‘The Big Gay Radio Show,’ 88.5 WMNF

Tampa Bay’s 1st Place Favorite Local Radio Show/Podcast

WMNF HAS

BROADCAST

volunteer and listener supported content for decades. Billed as Florida’s first community radio station, it’s sought to create radio with a mission, values and vision since 1979.

In recent years, its lineup has evolved to include “The Big Gay Radio Show,” now in its second iteration. It launched in 2021 to provide three hours of LGBTQ talk, music and more and airs live on Tuesday nights from 12-3 a.m. It’s also available to stream later via the WMNF app, Spotify and Apple Music.

The show is led by radio veterans Bryan Hinkson and Esme Russell as well as Chris Gorman, a relative newcomer to radio. He’s also Tampa Bay’s 1st Place Favorite Local Activist.

Hinkson, who’s broadcast radio for nearly 11 years, joined the show not long after it was created. He was followed by Russell, having served as her cohost on “The Esme Russell Show,” a previous WAVE winner which aired for nearly a decade.

“We have a really good show and I’m very proud of the work we’ve done,” Russell says. “Our visibility on the radio every week is a very powerful message.”

“We’re very proud of the diverse culture we have,” Gorman adds, noting that Russell is trans, Hinkson is gay and he is demisexual. The three are also different races and ages, he continues, on full display through their individual perspectives.

“It’s a show for everybody because we want to celebrate the entirety of the community and those who support the LGBTQ spectrum, which is what we are,” Gorman says. “We’re the spectrum giving our opinions, which we haven’t been traditionally given the platform to do. We’re very thankful to WMNF for that.”

The three hosts stay in constant contact to plan each week’s show. Broadcasts feature commentary on pop culture, local events and frequently highlight special guests or initiatives.

“We’ve just tried to become the best show that we can,” Hinkson says. “We’re working to fill the void of LGBTQ voices on air.”

“We’re not only creating a platform for our community,” Russell adds, “we’re normalizing who we are.” – Ryan Williams-Jent

TAMPA BAY NAMES THE DEFINING MOMENTS OF 2022

Ryan Williams-Jent

For more than two decades, readers have recognized their favorites in the WAVES. In recent years, we’ve also asked you to reflect on the stories that helped shape your 365 days prior.

Readers primarily said the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Supreme Court reversed nearly 50 years of precedent last June, overturning the 1973 ruling that protected a pregnant person’s right to have an abortion should they choose.

It’s an issue that impacted the entire LGBTQ community — not only because many members have or could seek to exercise that right, but because Justice Clarence Thomas targeted same-sex marriage in the decision. The conservative wrote that with Roe’s reversal, decisions like marriage equality should be revisited.

By December, it resulted in another moment readers named, President Joe Biden’s signing of the Respect for Marriage Act into law. The measure provided federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.

Readers also reflected on the political landscape in Florida, citing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing attacks on minorities. They named his support for the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which regulates how schools and businesses address race and gender, and the state’s “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law. The latter limits discussions of LGBTQ identities in schools, the impacts of which are still being felt. DeSantis and his administration’s attacks on trans youth and drag entertainment were also named, efforts which have extended into 2023.

TAMPA BAY’S FAVORITE THINGS TO RETURN IN 2022

Ryan Williams-Jent

Readers had plenty of things to find comfort in last year. That’s why we asked you to detail some of your favorite things to return in 2022.

You overwhelmingly named events. St Pete Pride’s landmark 20th year was high on the list, particularly the return of its parade. Thousands of Pridegoers from around the world came to St. Petersburg to mark the

milestone, cementing its status as Florida’s largest LGBTQ Pride celebration. Equality Florida’s St. Pete Gala was also named. The organization marked 25 years as the state’s largest LGBTQ-focused civil rights organization last April with its first in-person gala in St. Petersburg since 2019, raising a record amount for their work.

Other readers listed the return of restaurants, specifically the Cider Press Vegan Gastropub. It relocated to the renovated Georgie’s Alibi to resume

Proud & Out

CampOUT LGBTQ+ Youth Summer Camp, CampOUT

Tampa Bay’s 1st Place Favorite Local LGBTQ Youth Event

MORE

THAN 100 YOUTH

operations in 2022. The Salty Nun also made its debut at the reimagined Swinger’s Patio Bar and Grill, a reinvention of Gulfport’s Stellas and Salty’s. Readers also highlighted fashion choices, pointing toward the crop top, and even named music. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (Make a Deal with God)” was given new life in 2022 thanks to its inclusion in Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” providing an anthem for the year in the process.

TAMPA BAY REMEMBERS WHAT WE LOST IN 2022

Ryan Williams-Jent

In recent years, we’ve also asked readers to reflect on the year’s losses, sharing what they’ll miss the most as they move forward. There were many goodbyes in 2022.

The loss of loved ones weighed most heavily on respondents. Readers shared general tributes to their late grandparents, parents, siblings, children, partners, lifelong friends, pets and more, looking back on the loss of beloved friends and family. Some were named specifically, like Gerald J. Mayes. More widely

known as Tampa drag legend Tiffani Middlesexx, the longtime entertainer died at 73 in January 2022. Middlesex captivated audiences throughout Florida for decades.

Readers also named Tampa Bay entertainer Star Montrese Love, who died at 43 in May. The performer described herself as “a pageant girl to start with” and became the first Miss St Pete Pride in 2009. St. Petersburg mainstay Keith Joseph Frey, who died in September at 44, was also remembered.

Celebrities made the list as well, LGBTQ advocate and actor Leslie Jordan more than any other.

The social media sensation — a staple on “Will & Grace” and other hit TV shows — died last October at 67. Readers also paid tribute to the late singer-songwriter Irene Cara, legendary performer Angela Lansbury, journalist Barbara Walters and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

Finally, they reflected on the loss of small businesses like St. Petersburg’s Dr. BBQ and Punky’s Bar and Grill, a frequent WAVE winner in years past. The latter announced its immediate and permanent closure last August after serving Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ community for more than six years.

from throughout Tampa Bay and beyond participated in CampOUT last year, which promises “more than your average summer camp.” The week-long, overnight experience clearly made its mark, cultivating a space for adventure, experiences and authentic expression.

“CampOUT provides an experience for youth unlike any other that is pivotal to their healthy development as queer people,” Camp Counselor and Lifeguard Lindsey Spero explains. “As a transgender young adult and staff member, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of a queer community-focused experience and how many lives were changed because of our visibility.”

Campers are given the tools, resources and supplies they need to “assist their growth as a queer person,” they continue. “Without programs like CampOUT, queer students in the state of Florida would be even more at risk of self-harm, extreme mental trauma and suicide, but because of our presence, we’re noticing a direct benefit in the health of our campers and staff.”

CampOUT will return July 16-23 in Ocala, once again providing access to canoes, archery, camp games, swimming, sports, arts & crafts, bonfires and other activities. “Utilizing workshops, adventures, experiences, peer connections and positive role models we can create an environment our youth can thrive,” CampOUT explains.

This year’s outing is open to those who are LGBTQ or an ally with a maximum capacity of 112 campers and 50 staff members. Limited spots remain, with a May 15 deadline to sign up for this year’s festivities.

“CampOUT was a wild dream we would have on the couch in late night convos, but dreams come true with a lot of hard work and passion,” CampOUT Vice President Grizzly Mann says. “Winning this award in only our first year is beyond amazing!”

It also sheds “even more light on maintaining safe spaces for queer youth, especially in the state of Florida,” they add. “And we won’t be stop! Everyone deserves to be their authentic self.” –Ryan

Williams-Jent

‘AGE’ OF LOVE

Gregg Shapiro

MARCH IS A LITTLE EARLY TO start compiling a list of the best movies of the year. But don’t be surprised if you see writer/director Goran Stolevski’s “Of An Age” on some of those lists when the time comes.

At turns, exhilarating, funny, sexy, touching and ultimately heartbreaking, “Of An Age” is one of those rare transformative gay coming-of-age stories. The combination of the acting (both Elias Anton as Kol and Thom Green as Adam are exceptional), the writing and direction are effective.

Stolevski was gracious enough to make time for an interview in advance of the movie’s opening.

WATERMARK: “OF AN AGE”

BEGINS IN 1999, SEVEN YEARS AFTER MANY AMERICAN AUDIENCES LEARNED ABOUT AUSTRALIA’S FASCINATION WITH BALLROOM DANCING COMPETITIONS IN BAZ

LUHRMANN’S “STRICTLY BALLROOM.” WAS THIS SOMETHING OF WHICH YOU WERE AWARE, OR DID YOU ALSO DISCOVER IT VIA “STRICTLY BALLROOM?”

GORAN STOLEVSKI: I moved to Australia in 1997. “Strictly Ballroom,” unfortunately, wasn’t that much of an event in Eastern Europe where I grew up. The way I discovered Australia was through one of our other gayest films, which was “Muriel’s Wedding,” which is a masterpiece. With Baz Luhrmann, my induction was through “Moulin Rouge” and “Romeo + Juliet.” I came to

FILMMAKER GORAN STOLEVSKI TALKS ABOUT HIS LATEST GAY LOVE STORY, ‘OF AN AGE’

PHOTO BY THUY VY/COURTESY OF AN AGE FILMS PTY LTD

“Strictly Ballroom” afterward, during my film nerd days.

I had a complicated relationship with Australia, probably still do, in the sense that I was a very unwilling child of migrants. My film nerdness is a reaction to being moved to this other place where I didn’t want to be. I was always looking to be transported elsewhere, through books and especially movies. Apart from Baz Luhrmann, and maybe Jane Campion, I pretty much resisted watching Australian films for many years. I think I’m the last gay guy to ever watch “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” which I saw maybe five years ago. I fucking love it, now [laughs]!

“1999” IS THE TITLE OF THE FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS OF “OF AN AGE,” WITH THE SECOND BEING 2010. WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THOSE YEARS?

Initially, I was going to do something set across a 24-hour period. Then I realized there wouldn’t be enough for a whole movie. Dancing in the back of my head were these ideas of how they met, how they would run into each other 10 years later. I knew there would have to be a specific cataclysmic event that had to bring them together. Then I remembered the Icelandic volcano being quite a news story in my life back in the day [laughs].

THE “1999” SECTION LAUNCHES LIKE A ROCKET SHIP TAKING OFF AT FULL THROTTLE, BEGINNING WITH EBONY’S (HATTIE HOOK) PANICKED PHONE CALL TO KOL, WHO THEN HAS TO FIND A SOLUTION TO THE SITUATION. IT’S THE KIND OF THING THAT GETS VIEWERS’ ADRENALIN PUMPING. WAS THAT YOUR INTENTION?

A little bit. I’ve done a few short films in that style. I do find it thrilling as a viewer, and as a filmmaker. In this case, it was also how being a teenager felt to me [laughs]. Parts of my brain have outgrown others but there are parts of me that still function like a teenager. It captures that part of my life. Pretty much the style that evolved in this film at every point is keeping track of the characters’ feelings. That’s what directed it. Then, obviously, a shift in style and energy happens and we are keeping in lockstep with this

character. How those elements interact is its own thing. I was a little bit worried about whether people would stay for the ride when that shift occurs [laughs]. That was my main concern before the film was edited. I wanted that feeling of being caught completely off guard. It’s a blip in the universe. Those first 18 minutes feel like day-to-day life, and then suddenly something veers off in another direction and life feels completely different.

WE’RE GLAD YOU MENTIONED THE SHIFTS BECAUSE THAT SECTION FEELS VERY SERIOUS, AND THEN SUDDENLY THERE’S REALLY WONDERFUL HUMOR WHEN KOL SHOWS UP AT TARI’S AND JAYA REFERS TO HIM AS “THIS GAY KID” AND THE HUMOR HITS A HIGH POINT WHEN KOL’S IN THE CAR WITH ADAM AND THERE’S SEXUAL TENSION, FLIRTATION AND TEASING, ALONG WITH HUMOR. BUT IT ALSO FEELS AUTHENTIC. THIS MADE US WONDER HOW MUCH OF YOU, AND YOUR EXPERIENCE, IS IN THESE CHARACTERS?

In terms of personality, 100% [laughs]. In terms of incidents, it’s not autobiographical in that sense. God knows I never did ballroom. I don’t even dance now. Even the character of Kol. He’s Serbian and I’m Macedonian. There are key differences to make sure it’s not exactly me. My rule when I’m writing something is just because it happened to you, that doesn’t make it interesting. In terms of the humor that you mentioned in that section. I think there are funny things that

happen in the opening, but they don’t feel funny because to them it’s so dramatic. I wanted to honor how they feel in the moment. I’ve noticed people laugh a little more at the early section on a second viewing because I guess you watch it from more of a distance then. I am thrilled at how much it feels like a tense sequence.

WHILE ADAM IS DRIVING WITH KOL, HE SUBTLY REVEALS THAT HE’S GAY AND THAT HE STILL HAS SOME OF HIS EX-BOYFRIEND GORAN’S BELONGINGS IN HIS CAR. KOL THEN MAKES FUN OF THE NAME GORAN, WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE YOUR NAME. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT NAME FOR ADAM’S EX?

At the time, it was because the dialogue was coming at me too fast to keep up. Mine is a foreign name that’s really easy to spell and type quickly. I thought I would change it eventually but I never did because I found it hilarious. I kind of like being the negative character [laughs]. I have a cameo as an even more negative character in my next film. Actually, (in “Of An Age”) I’m also the toxic dude at the airport who bumps into him. I’m much more interested in being the toxic person on screen for some reason. I think it’s safer. Otherwise, you become very narcissistic as an artist.

THE SEXUAL TENSION BETWEEN KOL AND ADAM EVENTUALLY REACHES ITS PEAK AND THEY END UP HAVING SEX IN THE STATION WAGON. IT’S A BEAUTIFUL AND EROTIC DEPICTION OF THE

A HOT MAN AND CARRIES HIMSELF DIFFERENTLY. We were all keenly aware on set of that happening in front of our eyes. In the script, the difference in Kol was mainly about demeanor and personality. I felt like he was more similar to how Adam was when Kol first met him.

FIRST TIME SOMEONE HAS SEX. HOW CHALLENGING IS IT TO WRITE A SCENE SUCH AS THAT AND NOT HAVE IT COME OFF AS CHEESY OR MANIPULATIVE?

It’s not something I was too worried about. Matthew Chuang is my cinematographer, and my straight husband, and I feel very safe in his hands. He tends to rely on natural lighting, and then when that’s not available, he mimics it so closely that (you) don’t realize it’s not natural. Natural lighting never leads to tawdriness. It helps the film feel tactile without it being tasteless or artificial. Because all of our work is shot according to those principles, I don’t think we approach the sex scene in a different way. With the sex scene, it was all about the actors’ comfort and also trying to convey that feeling of sex for the first time as primally as we possibly can while everyone’s being treated respectfully. You don’t have to rely on explicitness or shock tactics.

THE SECOND SECTION, WHICH TAKES PLACE 11 YEARS LATER IN 2010, BEGINS DURING THE “ICELANDIC VOLCANO APOCALYPSE” (OF EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL), WHICH YOU MENTIONED. KOL AND ADAM BUMP INTO EACH OTHER IN THE AIRPORT; BOTH BACK IN AUSTRALIA FOR EBONY’S WEDDING. A COMMENT IS MADE ABOUT HOW KOL’S PERSONALITY HASN’T CHANGED MUCH BUT A PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATION HAS OCCURRED — KOL IS NOW

HE EXUDED A NEWFOUND CONFIDENCE THAT ADAM HAD. Yes! To me, that also shows the impact Adam had on him. It’s what life makes of you. You have to build a certain kind of resilience if you’re a gay kid from that kind of background; socioeconomically, culturally and so forth. There was a lot of conversation with Elias, the actor, because he was 23 or 24 at the time we were shooting. It’s easy to play someone younger than you, but it’s really hard to convey life experience beyond your own actual years.

HE SUCCEEDS.

Thank you! There was a lot of conversation. But to be honest, it was also kind of uncanny. I remember tearing up at the most casual dialogue when they’re talking on that bus. I was like, “Oh, my God, it’s my boy growing up.” There was a parental dynamic with all three of them. Especially with Elias and Hattie, who were younger. You just watch them grow as well offscreen. ... There was a lot of talk before we even started shooting anything about the difference between your mindset and your inner life when you’re older, like 28 compared to 17, and so on and so forth. Once we started shooting, I didn’t want to talk about things in the abstract. I feel like it’s something you have to absorb unconsciously, and then you’re acting from an organic place.

WITHOUT GIVING TOO MUCH AWAY, THE FINALE FALLS INTO THE TEARJERKER CATEGORY AND YET IT’S NOT A TRAGEDY. IS THIS HOW YOU ALWAYS ENVISIONED THE STORY ENDING?

Yes. I think there’s a parallel between how the 1999 and 2010 sections end. It’s been interesting because people have slightly different interpretations about the ending. For me, emotionally, the whole premise of the film is “Were these feelings worth it?” I don’t think it’s a standard happy or sad ending.

“Of An Age” is in theaters now.

THE CAST: (L-R) Hattie Hook stars as Ebony, Thom Green as Adam and Elias Anton as Kol in director Goran Stolevski’s “Of An Age,” a Focus Features release. PHOTO BY BEN KING / COURTESY OF AN AGE FILMS PTY LTD

CONGRATULATIONS

PFLAG Safety Harbor officially launched Feb. 17. Read more at PFLAG.org/Chapter/Safety-Harbor.

ALSO Youth held its 2023 ALSO Youth Prom Feb. 18, welcoming nearly 200 youth. For more information, visit ALSOYouth.org.

The Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber celebrated four decades of service Feb. 22 at its 40th annual State of the Chamber luncheon. Read more on p. 10.

Phantom History House held its official grand opening Feb. 23. Read more soon at WatermarkOnline.com.

Nathan Bruemmer was elected president of the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus Feb. 25.

Bradley’s on 7th celebrates 12 years in Ybor March 4. The Dog Bar will celebrate seven years March 5.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s re-election campaign announced Feb. 27 that the candidate has been endorsed by Equality Florida Action PAC, the LGBTQ Victory Fund and LPAC ahead of Tampa’s March 7 election. Read more at WatermarkOnline.com.

LOCAL BIRTHDAYS

Tampa Bay activist Jason Toleldo, Hollander Hotel’s Tim Calandrino, Tampa Bay bowler Carmen Aguilar (March 2); Tampa photographer Todd Montgomery, Tampa Bay Sister of Perpetual Indulgence DiDi Daytripper, Florida House Rep. and ally Fentrice Driskell, St. Petersburg realtor

DJ Soucy, Tampa staple Debbie Wilson Cano Ducko, Carrollwood Cultural Center Entertainment Director Derek Baxter (March 3); Tampa Bay songstress Judy B. Goode, Sarasota activist Mark Kidd, Yankees Fan Martin Jeavons, Tampa mama Patty Cannon (Mar. 4); Carnival Cruise Line’s Seth Grunes, St. Pete socialite David Hines, The Pub/Lakeland and Southern Comfort Campground owner Vaughn Howell (March 5); Tampa colorist Chas Stickney, Sarasota Modern agent Hector Esteban (March 6); Tampa Bay fashionista Robert Chmura-Pappadeas, St. Petersburg muralist Dereck Donnelly, Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas & West Pasco’s Val Brinkley, Tampa Bay political expert

Randy Smith, Tampa Bay bear David Sparks, Ponytail princess Cheryl Prestero (March 7); St. Petersburg realtor Matt Lawrence, Jobsite Theater Producing Artistic Director David Jenkins (March 8); St. Petersburg mail carrier Derek Wilkins, Sarasota woman about town Misty Smeltzer, City of Tampa Communications Director Adam Smith (March 9); Tampa Bay licensed mental health counselor Blake Williamson, Gulfport gal Caitlyn DeWitt, St. Petersburg City Councilmember Gina Driscoll, St. Petersburg artist Tom Amidon (March 10); Dunedin dentist

Mike Hopkins, SMART Rider Chrys Bundy, Photographer Jamie Lawry, Foreign film aficionado Bob Austin (March

11); Burlesque performer Shena Lollar (March 12); Tampa muscle man Danny Watson, Longtime LGBTQ activist Larry Biddle (March 13); Beau n Mo’s bartender Mitch Demmons, Tampa event planner Tim Thompson, Tampa Bay entertainer James Watson aka Josie Jay (March 14); Tampa nutritional biochemist Debra Roche, St. Petersburg realtor Bobby Poth, Sarasota realtor Rob Krasow, United Health’s Paul Bradford, Universal lover Bobby Dixon (March 15).

TAMPA BAY OUT+ABOUT

1

STAR POWER: Theatre Manager Kristofer Geddie (R) welcomes Norm Lewis to Venice Theater Feb. 25. PHOTO FROM VENICE THEATER’S FACEBOOK

2 SATURDAY SPARKLE: Hostess extraordinaire Adriana Sparkle emcees Saturday evening’s drag show at Cocktail. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

3

DRAG IN THE CITY:

(L-R) Alexis De La Mer, Kori Stevens, Jay Miah and KayKay Lavelle strike a pose for City Side Lounge’s Buffet of Beauties

Feb. 25. PHOTO FROM CITY SIDE LOUNGE’S FACEBOOK

4

DOING THE WORK:

(L-R) Rolando Reyes, Nate Taylor and Argenis Peralta table for Metro Inclusive Health at Enigma Feb. 24.

PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

5

LGBTQ LITERATURE: Managing Editor Ryan Williams-Jent (C) moderates a panel featuring authors Sarah Prager (L) and Rob Sanders (R) Feb. 17 at the Gulfport Public Library for ReadOut. PHOTO COURTESY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

6

TEAM CAN: (L-R) Precshard Williams, Allison Williams, Jasmine Akins, Rose Hornedo and Melissa Whitaker represent CAN Community Health which was honored with Nonprofit of the Year at the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber’s 40-year luncheon Feb. 22. PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

7

HEAVY HITTERS: Team I’d Hit That strikes a pose at the 29th annual Gasparilla Softball Classic in Tampa Bay Feb. 18. PHOTO BY RICK TODD

ALL DUCK’D OUT: “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 15 standout Anetra (C) takes the Southern Nights Tampa stage by storm Feb. 18. PHOTO FROM SOUTHERN NIGHTS TAMPA’S FACEBOOK

8

CONGRATULATIONS

BarCodes Orlando celebrates 14 years on March 5. Central Florida’s own Jazell Barbie Royale has joined the second season cast of “Queen of the Universe,” a drag vocal competition that airs on Paramount+. This season will see 10 queens from around the world compete for a cash prize of $250,000. Royale will be joined on the cast by one other U.S. queen, Militia Scunt. The rest of the cast will be Aura Eternal from Italy, Chloe V from Brazil, Love Masisi from the Netherlands, Maxie from the Philippines, Miss Sistrata from Israel, Taiga Brava from Mexico, Trevor Ashley from Australia and Viola from the U.K. “Queens of the Universe” season two premieres on Paramount+ March 31.

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT

Central Florida Community Arts will host cast members of the Tony Award-winning musical “A Strange Loop” at The Abbey Orlando March 28. “A Strange Loop’s” L Morgan Lee, John-Andrew Morrison, James Jackson Jr. and Jason Veasey will join host Chevalier Lovett for “Make Them Hear You: Black, Gay & On Broadway,” a one-night only event benefiting CFCArts. The panel will be joined by Central Florida musician and educator Dr. Terrance Lane and will be moderated by CFCArts CEO and Watermark contributor Terrence Hunter. Seating is limited and tickets start at $75. You can purchase them at CFCArts.com/AStrangeLoop.

LOCAL BIRTHDAYS

Former Joy MCC pastor Lisa Heilig, Orlando community activist Heather Leibowitz, Girls in Wonderland’s Yesl Leon (March 2); Old Town Kissimmee marketing director Jason Saucier, former Watermark intern Tomas Diniz Santos (March 3); Office of Multicultural Affairs’ Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Senior Specialist for the City of Orlando and chair of the One Orlando Alliance

Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, Club Orlando attendant Arthur Adams (Mar. 4); Orlando playwright, actor and Watermark contributor Michael Wanzie, Orlando realtor Rustin Davis, Rollins College theater director Thomas Ouellette, Les Vixens dancer Allyna NiKohl (March 6); WAVE-winning Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell, Orlando actor Erik Branch, Co-owner of E.M. & Voss Solutions Event and Wedding Services Eric Muenks (March 8); St. Matthews Tavern bartender Cathy Binkewicz (March 9); Founder and executive director of Gender Advancement Project Ashley Figueroa, Halcyon singer/songwriter Deb Hunseder, Biz Buzz Inc’s Bryant Dannic (March 10); O-Town actor Kevin Kelly, Orlando

WAVE-winning activist Margo Dixon, Central Florida artist Terry Hummel, BodyStreet Fitness Center co-owner Steffen Brandt, Former Doggie Door co-owner Jeff Brow (March 11); The Florida/Georgia Gay Rodeo Association’s Todd Garrett (March 12); Orlando Hamburger Mary’s coowner John Paonessa (March 13); Central Florida softball superstar Mary Johnson (March 14); Central Florida mental health professional Kristy Weick, Brevard-based activist Scott Wall-DeSousa (March 15).

CENTRAL FLORIDA OUT+ABOUT

1

MIX AND MINGLE: (L-R) Ed Bohannon-Dobski, Bill Bohannon-Dobski, Billy Mick and Brian Villa mingle at Watermark’s February Third Thursday at The Hammered Lamb in Orlando Feb. 16.

2

WATERMARK WINNERS: Steffen Brandt (L) and Diane Cox show off their raffle prizes during Watermark’s February Third Thursday at The Hammered Lamb in Orlando Feb. 16.

3

CONFERENCE KICKOFF: Sergio Cartagena (L) and Vivian Rodrigez attend the welcome reception for the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus Winter Conference at Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel Feb. 24.

4 STAR POWER: Tymisha Harris (L) and Garrick Vaughan in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” at Orlando Shakes, playing through March 5. PHOTO FROM ORLANDO SHAKES’ FACEBOOK

5

BEHIND THE SCENES: Axel Andrews makes friends with a baby gator during the Central Florida WAVE cover shoot at the Orlando Science Center Feb. 23.

6

MAKING HISTORY: U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost attends his ceremonial Congressional swearing-in at the Grand Avenue Neighborhood Center in Orlando Feb. 16.

7

FOR THE VETS: Keri Griffin represents the Orlando VA and the LGBTQ community at the Thunder on the Beach POW WOW at the Indian River County Fairgrounds Feb. 18.

8

DRAG ICON: Gidget Galore hosts the Resistance Drag Brunch for the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus Winter Conference at Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel Feb. 26.

PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

PHOTO FROM MAXWELL ALEJANDRO FROST’S FACEBOOK

PHOTO FROM KERI GRIFFIN’S FACEBOOK

PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

Byron and Elliott Green-Calisch from St. Petersburg, Florida

ENGAGEMENT

DATE:

April 26, 2022

WEDDING DATE:

Nov. 20, 2022

WEDDING VENUE: Museum of Fine Arts, St. Pete

FLORIST: Personal Arrangement

OFFICIANT: State Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby

CAKE FLAVORS: Chocolate, Fun Fetti and Vanilla

PHOTOGRAPHER: Joseph Gay

Tiffany Razzano

IT WASN’T EASY MEETING NEW people at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the world was in lockdown with people stuck in their homes.

Byron and Elliott Green-Calisch, both living in St. Petersburg, connected quickly when they met online in April 2020 and decided to take a walk along the downtown waterfront by the Vinoy hotel.

“There wasn’t anything else to do. Everything was closed up tight,” Byron says. “I joke that it’s like Rihanna. ‘We found love in a hopeless place.’”

The two talked for hours — then met up for another walk, then another.

“We’ve been inseparable ever since,” Byron says.

When his roommate at the time had a friend who was traveling stay at their apartment, he became nervous about possibly getting sick. So he stayed with Elliott.

“We joke that I came over to avoid COVID and I never really left,” he muses.

The new couple had a lot in common — “just weird, random things,” Elliott notes — and also enough differences to keep things interesting.

“The things about Byron that interested me were things I normally wouldn’t have been interested in on my own,” he explains.

They both discovered early on they had a shared interest in museums after walking by the Museum of Fine Arts on their first date. Or as Byron says, “he likes to nerd out on things I also like to nerd out on. And then we went back and got married there.”

Their engagement was a mutual decision that they talked through together. Knowing Byron isn’t a fan of jewelry, they had one designed to his tastes.

“So, he knew the proposal was coming,” Elliott says.

The jeweler told them the ring would be ready in about

a month. When they called Elliott to let him know it was done earlier — the day of his parents’ anniversary, April 26, 2022 — Byron says “it was a little bit of kismet and the stars aligning.”

Elliott picked up the ring but rather than plan an elaborate proposal, he just went home and proposed.

“The same day. I’m not one of those people who can hold onto a present,” he says. “It just turned out to be great timing. The day was beautiful. I picked up champagne. I go home and say, ‘Hey, guess what?’”

It was a stressful time to be planning a wedding with so many other life changes. They had just bought a new home that they were renovating, and both had been promoted at work.

“And I was never the one that dreamed of a wedding,” Byron says.

Elliott adds, “Same here.” They nearly eloped, but decided, first, to see if the Museum of Fine Arts was available for their very specific date — Nov. 20, 2022. To their surprise, it was. So, they got to work planning.

“I just wanted people to have good food and a good time,” Byron says. They kept things as simple as possible, only inviting people who already knew both of them, with some exceptions for family who hadn’t been able to travel due to the pandemic.

“We didn’t want to do the big hoopla,” Elliott explains. “We didn’t want to spend a lot on this while doing the house and everything else. We kept it in budget. We kept it simple. We didn’t even do flowers

or anything. The museum was the setting, which was already decorated.”

Byron adds, “I think we threw the traditional views about a wedding out early on, as well. If we were going to do this, we were going to do this our way.”

They held their reception the night before the wedding ceremony in their home’s backyard — complete with a drag show.

“Because what would a gay wedding be without a drag show?” Byron says.

At the ceremony, State Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby served as their officiant.

“She was able to pull together all of the things that were not overly religious but still very much us,” Byron says. “She spoke to our love in a way that was really impactful for both us and our guests.”

WEDDING BELLS

community calendar

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Watermark’s Central Florida WAVE party

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 7-10 P.M.

RENAISSANCE THEATRE COMPANY, ORLANDO

Join us at the Renaissance Theatre Company as we honor the Central Florida winners of the 2023 Watermark Awards for Variety and Excellence with music, live entertainment, food, a cash bar and more. This event is free to attend. For more information, visit Facebook.com/WatermarkFL.

Singhaus Scholarship Oscar Watch Party

SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 7-11 P.M.

WINTER PARK EVENTS CENTER, WINTER PARK

Join hosts Ginger Minj and Gidget Galore for Hollywood’s biggest night — the Oscars. This second annual star-studded evening benefits the Singhaus Scholarship Fund and will feature live performances, light bites by Chef Jamie McFadden, music by DJ Joanie and more. Tickets are $45. For more information, go to Facebook.com/TheCenterOrlando.

TAMPA BAY

Gasparilla Festival of the Arts

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 4-5, 9 A.M.-5 P.M.

JULIAN B. LANE RIVERFRONT PARK, TAMPA

The 53rd annual Gasparilla Festival of the Arts will showcase artists and their work to include ceramic, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, painting, sculpture, watercolor and more. This event will also feature the works of local young artists and a weekend full of live entertainment. Learn more at GasparillaArts.com.

SARASOTA

Manatee Pride 2023

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 12-5 P.M.

BRADENTON RIVERWALK, BRADENTON

ALSO Youth presents the 8th Manatee Pride Festival. This family friendly event will feature live entertainment, music, food, refreshment and more at Rossi Park at the Bradenton Riverwalk. The free event supports ALSO Youth’s work throughout the region. Learn more at ALSOYouth.org/Manatee-Pride-2023.

EVENT PLANNER BACK TO OZ

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

CENTRAL FLORIDA

“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” Through March 5, Orlando Shakes, Orlando. 407-447-1700; OrlandoShakes.org

“Pretty Woman: The Musical,” Through March 5, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

Black History Month Art Exhibit, Through April 30, City Hall’s Terrace Gallery, Orlando. 407-246-2121; Orlando.gov

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Viewing Party, March 3 & 10, Savoy, Orlando. 407-898-6766; SavoyOrlando.com

National Theatre

Live: “Much Ado About Nothing,” March 4, Enzian Theater, Maitland. 407-629-1088; Enzian.org

The Nook turns 5!, March 4, The Nook on Robinson, Orlando. 407-906-6675; TheNookOnRobinson.square. site

Drag Brunch – White Party, March 5, Island Time, Orlando. 407-930-2640; IslandTimeOrlando.com

One Vision of Queen, March 5, The Plaza Live, Orlando. 407-228-1220; PlazaLiveOrlanod.org

Bungalower Drag Bingo and Music Video Dance Party, March 7, Tactical Brewing Co., Orlando. 407-203-3303; TacticalBeer.com

Pride Night at The Central Florida Fair, March 8, Central Florida Fair, Orlando. 407-228-8272; Facebook.com/ TheCenterOrlando

Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay, March 8, The Abbey, Orlando. 407-704-6261; AbbeyOrlando.com

“A Quarter of a Century… and then some!,” March 9-11, Fringe ArtSpace, Orlando. 407-648-0077; OrlandoFringe.org

Sasha Colby, March 10, Southern Nights, Orlando. 407-412-5039; Facebook.com/ SouthernNightsOrlando

“Steel Magnolias,” March 10-19, Cocoa Village Playhouse, Cocoa. 321-636-5050; CocoaVillagePlayhouse.com

Leslie Odem, Jr., March 12, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

TAMPA BAY

Watermark’s 2023 WAVE Party, March 3, Metro Inclusive Health, Tampa. 813-655-9890; WatermarkOnline.com

HIDE: Leather Night, March 3, Cocktail, St. Petersburg. 727-592-1914; CocktailStPete.com

Trixie and Katya Live, March 3, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.com

Dine ‘N Drag with Legends, March 3, Zoie’s, St. Petersburg. 727-855-6990; ZoiesFL.com

Cocktails & Couture

X, March 4, The Ritz, Ybor. 813-248-4050; CocktailsXCouture.com

“The Beat Goes On: Cher Tribute,” March 5, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 727-791-7400; RuthEckerdHall.com

WMNF’s Big Gay Drag Bingo, March 7, Quench Lounge, Largo. 727-754-5900; QuenchLounge.com

Miranda Marie

Sugarbaker’s Trivia Night, March 7; 14, Zoie’s, St. Petersburg. 727-855-6990; ZoiesFL.com

“Wicked,” March 8-26, Straz Center, Tampa. 813-229-7827; StrazCenter.org

Spring Art Walk, March 11, Art at 400 Studios, St. Petersburg. 786-567-1024; Art-at-400.com

Sasha Colby, March 11, Southern Nights, Tampa. 813-559-8625; Facebook.com/ SouthernNightsTampa

Tampa Bay Black Lesbians Karaoke Night, March 11, Zoie’s, St. Petersburg. 727-855-6990; ZoiesFL.com

Hollywood Awards Night 2023, March 12, Tampa Theatre, Tampa. 813-274-8981; TampaTheatre.org

“Misery,” March 15-April 9, Jobsite Theater, Tampa. 813-476-7378; JobsiteTheater.org

Sabrina Carpenter, March 17, St. Petersburg. 727-565-0550; JannusLive.com

SARASOTA

Drag Kings Live!, March 4, Oasis Restaurant & Bar, Sarasota. Facebook.com/ OasisSarasota

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

The Broadway smash “Wicked” returns to the Straz Center in Tampa March 8-26. PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

Orthopedic Leaders.

We’ve got your back. And your elbows, wrists and knees too. Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute is the region’s most trusted provider for orthopedic conditions. From minimally invasive joint replacements, to carefully repairing severely broken bones, to spinal injuries or even simple sprains, our caring, orthopedic specialists can get you back on track. Giving you more reasons to choose well.

OrlandoHealth.com/Ortho