Watermark Issue 29.23: Fusing Cultures | On the Road

has it been two decades since I first confessed to someone that I am a gay man?

“W

E CAN’T CONVERT ANYONE to gay. If that were the case, we’d be doing missions too,” said drag star Eureka O’Hara in the recently released trailer for the third season of “We’re Here.” The HBO reality series features O’Hara, joined by fellow “Drag Race” alumni Bob the Drag Queen and Shangela, as they visit small towns throughout the U.S. spreading the good word on tolerance and LGBTQ acceptance.

I must confess that I am not a big follower of drag. I don’t watch “Drag Race” unless Ginger Minj is on it and I probably couldn’t name more than five or six queens outside of the Central Florida and Tampa Bay area. I must say though that I really love “We’re Here” and I think it is because I grew up in small towns like the ones they go to in the show. Towns where, even if you know your family will accept you, the fear that simply by you

coming out will not only make life harder for you but will also make it harder for them. I have heard too many stories and seen too much how people react to the LGBTQ community, and that includes our allies.

Watching the trailer for “We’re Here,” which the third season premieres on HBO Max Nov. 25, got me thinking about when I did first come out and, after doing the math, I realized that I came out 20 years ago. I about fell over,

I was 23 and in my second year of serving in the U.S. Air Force. I had done pretty well masking my “gayness” — or at least I thought I did — when it came to work. I was serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the anti-LGBTQ watchful eye of the George W. Bush administration so the “straighter” I acted the fewer side eyes and snickers I received. To this day, if I am talking to someone I don’t know and I don’t know what side of the LGBTQ support line they stand, I will revert back to my “straight act.” It amuses some of those in the office when they hear “that voice” answer my phone. I don’t know how much “straighter” I was actually coming across but I thought I was totally masc, like Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis. Looking back, I’m sure it wasn’t like that at all.

But as I made friends and started to relax around them, I started to be the real me. The me who isn’t afraid to laugh, get loud and have fun. You know, the gay me. As I started to show more of my authentic self, I became more comfortable with them and in turn they became more comfortable with me, which allowed them as a group to ask me straight out if I am gay. I was stationed in Aviano, Italy and we were all out having a drink at a bar that was far enough away from base that we didn’t have to worry about other people hearing us chat. A bar mostly frequented by Italians that we affectionately called the Heineken Bar because of a giant, neon Heineken sign behind the bar.

They gathered around me in a semi-circle as if they were having an intervention and asked “Jeremy, are you gay?” Now I had been asked this question before

when I was younger, usually in the context of “Are you a fag?” or “Are you… you know?” accompanied by a limp-wristed hand gesture but this was different. It was asked with calm eyes and caring voices, so for the first time ever I responded to the question with a “yes, I’m gay.”

It felt good to say gay out loud and it felt good to say it to a group of people who were supportive and were going to look out for me no matter what. It was a pivotal moment in my life and I am forever grateful for those who let me know it was OK to be me.

As I write this, it is Election Day and I don’t know what kind of uphill battle we are looking

MELODY MAIA MONET

has her own trans lesbian themed YouTube channel at YouTube.com/MelodyMaia and is the vice president of the board for Come Out With Pride Orlando. To find more information on Pride, visit ComeOutWithPride.org. Page 19

REV. JAKOB HERO-SHAW is the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa. He and his husband are the proud parents of two teenagers. Page 21

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 54

at and I know we probably have a few big wins but I’m not naive and I know we have some tough losses. Those losses are going to be harder for LGBTQ youth who are losing support from people in their schools along with many already having no support in their neighborhoods, churches and families, so it is vital that we are those people who are looking out for them, that we are those people who are here to listen, support and defend if need be. Because, I fear, they won’t be getting too much of that from Tallahassee and up in Washington, D.C.

PHOTOGRAPHY

SABRINA AMBRA, NATHAN BRUEMMER, SCOTTIE CAMPBELL, MIGUEL FULLER, DIVINE GRACE, HOLLY KAPHERR ALEJOS, JASON LECLERC, MELODY MAIA MONET, JERICK MEDIAVILLA, GREG STEMM, DR. STEVE YACOVELLI, MICHAEL WANZIE BRIAN BECNEL, NICK CARDELLO, BRUCE HARDIN, JAMARQUS MOSLEY, CHRIS STEPHENSON, LEE VANDERGRIFT

DISTRIBUTION

LVNLIF2 DISTRIBUTING, KEN CARRAWAY, RAYLENE HUNT, ZACHARY WELCH

created by WATERMARK that have such errors.

Watermark Publishing Group Inc.

It felt good to say gay out loud and it felt good to say it to a group of people who were supportive and were going to look after me no matter what.

Jeremy Williams

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Jeremy@WatermarkOnline.com

IT’S

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF

the year! Depending on who you ask, of course.

October is officially behind us, taking its plethora of Pride and Halloween events with it, and the Thanksgiving table is almost set. Christmas enthusiasts are well into decorating and those who aren’t as holiday-centric are humbugging about Mariah Carey. It’s just magical.

November has always been an interesting time of the year to me. My birthday is the first week of December, so as a child its 30 days were spent reminding folks of that fact. Thanksgiving was exclusively for that purpose, prepping people to pass the gravy and prepare their presents.

The month has taken on new meaning as I’ve gotten older, particularly after I came out. It wasn’t long afterwards that I was able to vote for the first time, and within a few more years

my perspective on November shifted forever.

Barack Obama won the presidency Nov. 4, 2008, showing me that real change – with the necessary work behind it – was possible. It was the first time I felt like the political process had power.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Obama said that night.

I thought he was captivating then, and after all this time still do.

“It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, Black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled

and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states; we are, and always will be, the United States of America,” he continued.

I still remember him saying “gay.” It was the first time I felt like someone who would become the nation’s president had seen value in someone like me.

“It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day,” Obama added. “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

The years since have seen political losses and wins, among them marriage equality. November changed for me yet again six years ago when my husband and I were wed Nov. 12, 2016. Happy anniversary, Wade. I love you.

It’s all helped me realize how important the political process is, given that my civil rights have been on the ballot in every election of my adult life. This year’s been no different.

We’ve just come to the end of a very long election season, one full of calls, emails, predictions, texts and all the anxiety that comes with them. As I write this I’m on one end of it, with every key race impacting our community still undecided.

Once it’s published, we’ll know how the election will impact LGBTQ Americans and those of us here in Florida for years to come. So in other words, there’s still plenty of anxiety.

It makes it a little difficult to write a column like this, but I’m cautiously optimistic. I am most of the time, perhaps because of

landmark victories like we had in 2008. Thanks, Obama.

It sometimes gets me in trouble, like in 2016 when I was sure our nation would do the right thing and didn’t. Other times I’m rewarded with a sigh of relief, like in 2020 when most folks finally did.

I’m not naïve, however, and I know there will be losses to mourn. I just know that whatever the 2022 election brings, I’m still proud to have supported LGBTQ advocates up and down the ballot.

Candidates like Charlie Crist, Val Demings, Eunic Ortiz, Michele Rayner and more will make a

MELODY MAIA MONET

has her own trans lesbian themed YouTube channel at YouTube.com/MelodyMaia and is the vice president of the board for Come Out With Pride Orlando. To find more information on Pride, visit ComeOutWithPride.org. Page 19

difference in whatever comes next, for all of us, and we can join them. We just have to keep showing up.

As a wise man once said, “Don’t boo, vote.” The 2024 election is just around the corner, so take a breather and then get back to work.

We check in with organizations doing important work of their own in this issue. The One Orlando Alliance details the results of their LGBTQ survey in Central Florida. In Tampa Bay, Equality Florida’s Tampa gala raises a record amount of funds.

In arts and entertainment, Nathan Lee Graham guides “Hadestown” through Florida. The mythical musical comes to Tampa and Orlando soon.

Watermark strives to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. Please stay safe, stay informed and enjoy this latest issue.

JAKOB HERO-SHAW is the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa. He and his husband are the proud parents of two teenagers. Page 21

REV.

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 54

SABRINA AMBRA, NATHAN BRUEMMER, SCOTTIE CAMPBELL, MIGUEL FULLER, DIVINE GRACE, HOLLY KAPHERR ALEJOS, JASON LECLERC, MELODY MAIA MONET, JERICK MEDIAVILLA, GREG STEMM, DR. STEVE YACOVELLI, MICHAEL WANZIE BRIAN BECNEL, NICK CARDELLO, BRUCE HARDIN, JAMARQUS MOSLEY, CHRIS STEPHENSON, LEE VANDERGRIFT

PHOTOGRAPHY

DISTRIBUTION

LVNLIF2 DISTRIBUTING, KEN CARRAWAY, RAYLENE HUNT, ZACHARY WELCH

created by WATERMARK that have such errors.

Watermark Publishing Group Inc.

I’m still proud to have supported LGBTQ advocates up and down the ballot.

Ryan Williams-Jent

ORLANDO LOSES BID FOR WORLDPRIDE IN 2026

Jeremy Williams

ORLANDO

| InterPride announced Nov. 3 that Amsterdam, not Orlando, would be the host city for WorldPride in 2026.

Orlando put a bid in to host WorldPride in 2026 to coincide with the 10-year mark of the Pulse tragedy.

“On behalf of the Come Out With Pride Board of Directors, the WorldPride Bid Co-Chairs, and the planning committee, we would like to thank InterPride for the opportunity to bid for WorldPride 2026,” COWP posted to its social media. “We congratulate Amsterdam on their win and wish them the best. We are very proud of our efforts and accomplishments, knowing we stood tall with authenticity, grace and passion. We told our story for the world to hear! We are #OrlandoStrong and we will #KeepDancingOrlando!”

During the same announcement, InterPride also stated that Capital Pride in Washington, D.C. will host WorldPride in 2025. Originally awarded to Taiwan, the event was canceled when the island nation withdrew its bid after InterPride refused to let the Taiwanese organizers use the name of Taiwan in the event title.

InterPride made its decisions during its Annual General Meeting and World Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, held Oct. 27-30.

InterPride members voted by a margin of 59% to 37% to select Amsterdam over Orlando.

According to the Washington Blade, Capital Pride says the proposed dates for WorldPride 2025 are May 22-June 8.

NAZIS A NO-SHOW AT LGBT+ CENTER PROTEST

Jeremy Williams

TOP:

New Leader

CFCArts’ new CEO talks what is coming for the arts organization

Jeremy Williams

hadn’t expected Vickery, who also founded the organization, to be going anywhere.

CFCArts isn’t just making changes to its top position but also in its branding, introducing a new logo that represents a different focus for the organization. The logo — five “whimsical” characters representing a member of each major program and in CFCArts colors — was released Oct. 14 during its annual breakfast event for members, donors and community leaders.

ORLANDO

|

Central Florida Community Arts’ board of directors announced in September that Terrance Hunter is the arts organization’s new CEO. Hunter, who has worked in the cultural sector since 2008, started with CFCArts in 2019.

ORLANDO

| After threatening to protest a drag queen event at the LGBT+ Center in Orlando Oct. 29, even after the event was cancelled, anti-LGBTQ groups never showed up.

The event, a Halloween-themed Drag Queen Story Hour that was to be hosted by drag entertainer Bridgette Galore, was cancelled after members of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group, posted on the instant messaging app Telegram that they intended to march on The Center Orlando to protest the event.

The only protesters to appear were eight members of a local church, who held a sign that read “Dear God: Let NOT the little children be perverted by Drag Queen story hours!” and waved a U.S. flag in front of Addition Financial, compared to nearly 50 counter-protesters who stood in front of The Center Orlando with signs of

Hunter’s announcement came a year after former CEO Joshua Vickery said he was stepping down and a year after Hunter was named vice president of operations and education.

“I did not expect it at all,” Hunter says. “I’ve always been interested in being a CEO or leader of a cultural organization in this community, but I had not envisioned it being at CFCArts necessarily. When the board shared with me that that was the direction we were heading in, I was honored and surprised. I’m really still in disbelief. The message that it is sending to the community is really an incredible one.”

He says that he didn’t envision being CEO at CFCArts because he

“Following the founder is always tricky but he and I had such an incredible relationship and the chance to learn from him, to really understand why he founded this organization and what it means for him to serve this community in that way, and for me to put my spin on that, is a great honor,” Hunter says.

Hunter, who is a Black, queer man, recognizes the significance of taking on this role and the visibility it gives to the communities he is a part of.

“I realize none of us can walk into a room and leave any part of who we are out. ... [T]here are times when I need to balance all of those views while taking into account other peoples as well,” he says. “This moment, what it means to be a leader in this moment, it is about making sure that regardless of where we are, that people see some version of their identity represented in the work that we’re doing because none of us are ever just one thing.”

“The previous logo really focused on where the work took place, this new logo focuses on who we serve,” Hunter says.

The organization also used the event to announce its new member ambassador program. The 13 chosen ambassadors, all active members of CFCArts, will serve as representatives at live events, occasionally “takeover” the group’s social media and be provided interview opportunities to talk about CFCArts’ programs.

“In line with our people-first mission, we have this member ambassador program, and the goal of the program is to allow more of our members to represent the organization publicly,” Hunter says. “We are experts in all that we do but we are experts because of the people we serve, so really allowing those people an opportunity to speak about their experience and the power that they have experienced as a result of participating in the arts

ON

Terrance Hunter, who was CFCArts’ vice president of operations and education, was named the org’s new CEO in September. PHOTO COURTESY CFCARTS

central florida news

Rock, a CFCARTs concert at the Dr. Phillips Center’s Steinmetz Hall Nov. 19, that will have 224 performers on stage.

FROM PG.8

their own, some reading “End White Supremacy” and “Queers Bash Back.”

Outnumbering all protesters were Orlando Police Department officers, whose vehicles lined N. Mills Ave. in front of The Center Orlando along with dozens of officers on bikes, who were in place in response to the NSM’s threat to march. Protesters from both sides dispersed around 2:30 p.m. once it was realized members of the neo-Nazi groups would not be showing up.

“We take these threats very seriously and would not want to endanger or expose children and their parents and guardians to bigotry and hate,” said George Wallace, chief executive officer of The Center Orlando, in a statement earlier in the week after the LGBTQ organization cancelled the event. “We have the support of so many in our community including law enforcement, but as much as we would like to continue this fun-loving, innocent event, we feel that the safety of our community is our number one concern.”

After the protesters began leaving, Wallace simply commented “I’m just happy that there wasn’t any violence.”

Drag Queen Story Hours have been a point of attack for anti-LGBTQ, conservative groups and politicians across the country, with opponents saying the events are “grooming” children.

is something we want to highlight more and bring to the front more.

Each ambassador will serve a one-year term. Hunter also says that the new program is a way to showcase how broad and diverse the organization is.

“We have programs for everyone, and while our ambassador program doesn’t capture the full breath of all of our programs, it really is a great sampling of the people we serve,” he adds. “I like to say that every stage in this community is for every member of this community, so we want to make sure that people can see themselves in the people who serve and having our member ambassador program is a great way to start that.”

Hunter shares he recently learned that CFCArts has the largest community choir and the largest symphony orchestra in the country, something you can see for yourself in Classic(al)

“I’m really excited about this one,” Hunter says. “Our previous record was 183 performers so this should be something spectacular.”

CFCArts’ holiday calendar is also filled for the year, with several shows scheduled including “Winter Wonderland,” a concert presented by CFCArts Community Choir, Members of the CFCArts Symphony Orchestra and CFCArts Dance Company, Dec. 15-16 and a production of “Elf the Musical,” which is being put on by the CFCArts Youth Theatre Program Dec. 16-17.

That doesn’t mean CFCArts is taking it easy come 2023. Hunter says he already has his vision in mind for the organization next year.

“We want to ensure that CFCArts is a place that is centered on collaboration, community, connectivity and creation,” he says. “That means, we’ve never shied away from community

partnerships, but we’re leaning into it more. It means we are listening to the needs of the community more, following that need and doing our best to meet that need in ways that are authentic to us. We know that we are one of three community arts organizations in the country that employ music therapists fulltime, so knowing we have a waitlist, we need to do our best to find more and feed that work more because there is a need and I want to make sure we are feeding that need.

“It also means that we are looking for a home that we can do all of those things in a single place,” he continues. “One of the beautiful things about CFCArts is we are community based and that will never change but there are certain challenges present in being a nomadic organization so I am working on solving that for us.”

Keep up-to-date on all of CFCArts’ programs, events and upcoming plans by going to CFCArts.com and by following them on social media.

| uu | Nazis a No-Show at LGBT+ Center Protest

MIZE GALLERY TO CLOSE CURRENT ST. PETERSBURG SPACE

Ryan Williams-Jent

ST. PETERSBURG | Chad Mize announced Oct. 31 that MIZE Gallery will close next month, a move described by the fan favorite artist as a “reset.”

MIZE Gallery has hosted 55 LGBTQ-focused or inclusive exhibits since opening in 2018. The celebrated venue will host a final curated show in its current location this month and its annual holiday showcase after that, closing Dec. 23.

In a statement, Mize said he decided to take a break from operating the gallery but will continue with offsite projects throughout the year. The artist is well known for his fine art and murals, including custom work for the Tampa Bay Rays’ Pride Night, cover art for Watermark and his lifestyle line CHIZZY.

Mize’s brand specializes in T-shirts, stickers and other products. Well-known work includes his “World Tour” line, which reads “Paris, London, Tokyo, St Pete” and his “Rhonda Santis” stickers.

The artist went viral earlier this year for his caricature of Ron DeSantis in drag. Mize called it his “reaction to the hypocrisy happening in Florida” and noted that “of course the caricature is ridiculous, just as much as the hate-filled bills against the LGBTQIA+ community. That was the point.”

Mize’s stickers of the drawing raised nearly $4,000 for Equality Florida. In the time since, his work has been featured during Halloween on Central 2 and more.

“MIZE Gallery has decided to take a break from operating the current brick and mortar gallery space,” Mize said in his statement. “We feel a space does not define and are excited for a reset in life.

“It has been so magical creating an art community within the 4 walls and seeing artists connect, as well as art collections started and continuing throughout the years,” he continued. “The goal of opening the space was COMMUNITY and we did just that. Thanks to everyone and everybody for all the support.”

Mize also reflected on operating his gallery with Watermark in 2020.

“The most challenging [aspect] is managing large group exhibits,” he said. “The most rewarding [aspect] is also managing large group exhibits – helping other artists present their work and making sales while exhibiting fresh talent.”

Supporters have a final opportunity to see Mize do that at MIZE Gallery now. “FRIEND,” his final curated show in the current space, opened Nov. 4 and will run through Nov. 20.

The exhibition will explore friendships and their importance in life. It features more than 25 artists like Andrea Pawlisz, Jay Hoff, Saumitra Chandratreya and Mize himself. “Stuff & Things & Stuff,” Mize’s final holiday show at the venue, will open Dec. 3.

MIZE Gallery is currently located at 689 Dr. MLK Jr. St. N., Unit C. in St. Petersburg. For more information about his remaining exhibits, CHIZZY and more, visit ChadMize.com.

Record Outing

Equality Florida’s Tampa Gala raises more than $525K

Ryan Williams-Jent

TAMPA | Equality Florida‘s Tampa Gala returned Oct. 28, welcoming more than 400 supporters to Bryan Glazer JCC and raising more than $525,000 in their fight for LGBTQ Floridians.

The nonprofit’s galas detail Equality Florida’s work as the state’s largest LGBTQ-focused civil rights organization. The evening set a new record for Tampa’s annual gathering.

This year’s festivities began with a sponsors’ reception, honoring local leaders. Samira Obeid was recognized with the Charlie Hounchell Spirit of Service and Leadership Award and Hillsborough High School GSA President Kevin Vondruska was awarded the Youth Voice for Equality Award.

Guests entered the JCC’s ballroom afterwards, where they were surprised by a routine from the Tampa Bay Buccaneer Cheerleaders. Michael Womack emceed the evening, which featured video messages from

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D. and Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Equality Florida Deputy Director Stratton Pollitzer gave an address and Kevin Beckner led the live auction. The event also featured DJ Ace Vedo and an awards presentation to School Board Member Karen Perez.

In addition to fighting for civil rights statewide, the record funds raised will allow Equality Florida to commission its latest equality mural in Tampa.

“We made history last year with our very first equality mural,” the organization shared. “Equally beautiful and successful, we intend to go even bigger our second round!”

The 2022 mural will be completed on Sea Maids Creamery in Seminole Heights, a space donated by owners Emily and Zoey. The draft rendering is of a mermaid with a rainbow tail and includes Equality Florida’s logo.

The design will be painted by muralist Gillian Fazio, “a

COMING TOGETHER:

DYLAN TODD

Florida-based artist with eye-popping color palettes that simply dazzle us.” Equality Florida notes “the final product will serve as a beacon of support and safety to the adults and children of Tampa Bay’s LGBTO+ community in these challenging times.”

Equality Florida Regional Development Officer Nicholas Machuca reflected on the gala Nov. 1.

“With the historic success of this event, Equality Florida will continue to be the leading voice for Florida’s LGBTQ community,” he shared with attendees. “When our bullies say things like ‘You’re on your own, kid,’ we know better than to believe them. [The gala] reminded us of the power of community. We’re grateful for you all.”

Machuca also invited members of the community to help shape future events, thanking this year’s steering and host committees.

Interested parties can contact Equality Florida directly for more information.

“Thank you, Tampa, for another stunning evening,” Machuca concluded. “Let’s keep up the momentum until every student is protected and every family is respected. Well, dear reader: Question...? Will you join us at next year’s Tampa Gala?”

View photos from this year’s gala at WatermarkOnline.com. Learn more about Equality Florida and future events at EQFL.org.

(L-R) Former Comm. Kevin Beckner, Comm. Kimberly Overman and Equality Florida Deputy Director Stratton Pollitzer at the Tampa Gala Oct. 28. PHOTO BY

LEGACY IN THE AMERICAN WEST

Connie Horne, Black Miners, 2021, (detail)

Sandra Noble, Annie Box Neal, 2021 (detail) April Shipp, The Bull Dogger, 2021 (detail)

STILL SEARCHING: MISSING LAKELAND MAN, WATERMARK FEATURED ON INVESTIGATION

Watermark Staff

TAMPA BAY | Brian Klecha, a gay man last seen on Dec. 27, 2017 in Polk County, is a subject on Investigation Discovery’s new season of “Disappeared,” the network’s popular missing persons series.

ID calls the show a reinvention of the franchise, which ran from 2009-2018 before transitioning to a podcast. Its televised 10th season “shines a light on individuals who vanished seemingly without a trace and aims to facilitate answers about the missing in order to bring closure to their loved ones.”

“Our recent success with the ‘Disappeared’ podcast inspired us to reboot this fan-favorite series with all new episodes,” ID President of Crime and Investigative Content Jason Sarlanis announced earlier this year.

“With the proliferation of new surveillance techniques in recent years and the audience more determined than ever to participate in solving true crime mysteries,” he continued, “we knew this was the right time to bring ‘Disappeared’ back in a way that could really make a difference.”

Watermark first covered Klecha’s case in early 2020. He went missing 12 days after moving to a shared residence in Lakeland and was last seen withdrawing funds from his local credit union around Christmas 2017.

“Brian was an amazingly kind person,” Klecha’s mother Kathy told Watermark at the time. “Brian worked at Disney as a bus driver and also worked as an Uber driver for extra money. Brian liked to read science fiction and about airplanes.”

As Klecha had ties to Hillsborough, Orange and Polk

counties, the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement oversaw his case. Along with Klecha’s family and Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay, they upped their reward for information that could lead to solving it from $5,000 to $10,000 in late 2019.

“After two years, we continue to work leads in this case, but we need more information,” FDLE Tampa Bay Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell said. “Someone knows what happened to Brian or where he is now, and we won’t stop until we know.”

ID contacted Watermark earlier this year to contribute to the episode after reading our coverage. Managing Editor Ryan Williams-Jent was interviewed for “The Sweetest Man in the World,” which premiered Oct. 26.

“In December 2017, Brian stops responding to his mother, Kathy’s texts,” it’s described. “She decides to file a missing person’s report and Det. Massucci finds himself

DISCOVERY’S ‘DISAPPEARED’

untangling a complicated love triangle involving Brian, which leaves him with more questions than answers.”

In the episode, Williams-Jent details Watermark’s reporting while providing context and information regarding LGBTQ life in the region. Klecha’s mother, his landlord Andrew Dowler, Det. Chuck Massucci of FDLE and more share their perspectives.

“35-year-old Brian Klecha was last seen on Dec. 22, 2017 as he prepared to leave on vacation,” ID shared ahead of its release. “After friends and family couldn’t get in contact with him for weeks, they reported him missing.

“The detective on the case learned that there was some tension between Brian and one of the other occupants in his house — Brian had once dated AJ, another man living in the home,” the network continued. “Find out what else the detective uncovered on ‘Disappeared.’”

Klecha’s case is ongoing. Family members and local law enforcement urge anyone with information that could help contribute to solving his disappearance contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay, which can be done anonymously. Their contact information can be found below.

Watermark was proud to contribute to ID’s coverage of Klecha. “It is always better to have more eyes and more ears on every story,” Williams-Jent explained in the episode. “It helps lead to answers and answers can bring closure.”

“Disappeared” airs on Investigation Discovery and streams on Discovery+. View the Brian Klecha-focused episode on demand or streaming and learn more at InvestigationDiscovery.com. Anyone with information about Klecha is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-8477 or to submit a tip online at CrimeStoppersTB.com.

U. OF FLORIDA APPROVES ANTI-LGBTQ SENATOR AS NEXT PRESIDENT

Wire Report

Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse won approval Nov. 1 from the University of Florida Board of Trustees to be the school’s next president despite vocal opposition from some faculty and students.

Sasse, a Republican, was recommended for the top post by a unanimous vote of the trustees. A final vote to elevate Sasse as the school’s 13th president is set for Nov. 10 by the state university system Board of Governors.

The recommended compensation package for Sasse comes to about $1.6 million, university officials said. That will also be finalized at the governors meeting.

During a four-hour meeting Nov. 1 on the Gainesville campus, Sasse sought to allay concerns that he’s more a creature of

politics than academia by saying he will take a “pledge of political celibacy” with regard to partisan issues.

“I would have no activity in partisan politics in any way as I arrive at the University of Florida,” Sasse said, adding that his candidacy was not pushed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis or other Florida elected officials. “There is just tons and tons of learning and listening that I need to do.”

Opposition to Sasse, who was first elected to the Senate in 2014, has focused on his stance against same-sex marriage and positions on other LGBTQ issues.

Some faculty and students question his qualifications to run such a sprawling school with more than 50,000 students. leading to a recent no-confidence vote by the university’s faculty Senate.

Sasse, a historian by training with a doctorate from Yale

University, was previously president of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, which has just over 1,600 students. He also taught at the University of Texas.

“I want to ask, senator: Why are you here?” freshman student Nathaniel Pelton asked at the meeting, which drew several dozen protesters outside. “I don’t want any politician to be my president. I want someone who cares about my community.”

Sasse, 50, said he does not foresee changes in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. He said LGBTQ students and faculty will be treated with “dignity and respect,” just like anyone else on campus.

“Communities of ideas are built on respect and trust,” Sasse said. “Everybody is created with infinite worth.”

Still, some students are skeptical and want assurances

that Sasse will keep his promises of political neutrality, said Lauren Lemasters, the university student body president.

“There is this hill of trust that is going to have to be climbed by you,” she said.

Sasse also said he strongly supports faculty tenure and academic freedom so that there is a robust exchange of all ideas on campus. And despite his strong criticism of the communist Chinese government, Sasse said students and faculty from China should feel welcome.

“We want the best faculty to stay at this place and to be recruited to this place, and that requires academic freedom,” he said. “We want more and all students from every background.”

Much criticism of Sasse’s choice centered on a new selection process in which all candidates remained anonymous

until only the single finalist’s identity was revealed. Mori Hosseini, the trustees’ chairman, said almost none of the most qualified candidates would have pursued the job had the process been public.

“I can tell you for a fact none of the top 12 we considered would have moved past the initial conversation with us.” Hosseini said. ”It’s that simple.”

Sasse would resign his Senate seat if he wins final approval as the university’s president. The Republican governor of Nebraska would appoint a replacement to finish the four years remaining on his second term.

Sasse will replace Kent Fuchs, who has been Florida’s president since 2015 and has overseen the school’s rising academic reputation among public universities nationally.

FLORIDA BOARD OF MEDICINE RESTRICTS GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE FOR YOUTH

Brody Levesque of The Los Angeles Blade, Courtesy of The National LGBT Media Association

The Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy finalized their rules to restrict gender affirming care for transgender youth Nov. 4 in Florida which, when in effect, will be the only ban of its type in America. Similar measures in Alabama and Arkansas are currently blocked in court.

The board voted 6-3 with five others not present to adopt a new standard of care that forbids doctors to prescribe puberty blockers and hormones, or perform surgeries, until transgender patients are 18. Exceptions will be allowed for youth already undergoing the treatments.

The Boards landed on similar language that would bar future puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy

and extremely rare surgical interventions as treatments for gender dysphoria in youth.

Once the rules are posted, advocates have the opportunity to request an additional hearing and workshop from the Boards, a move that groups have indicated they will take. If denied, the rules move to a 21-day period in which the public can submit written comments before a final, procedural vote by the Boards.

The New York Times reported that before the medical board decided to craft the new standard, members received personal calls from the state’s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, urging them to do so.

Earlier this year, Florida became one of at least nine states to bar Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care, affecting thousands of low-income adults and children.

“With young lives on the line, another state agency has placed the political ambitions of Ron DeSantis over its duty to protect Floridians,” said Nikole Parker, Equality Florida Director of Transgender Equality. “These

rules, as written, put transgender youth at higher risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Those are the facts purposely ignored by a Board of Medicine stacked with DeSantis political appointees who have put their toxic politics over people’s health and wellbeing.

“Transgender Floridians exist. We are part of this community,” she continued. “Gender-affirming care is lifesaving care — and it is care that is supported by every major medical organization, an overwhelming majority of medical providers, and should be left to young people, their families, and their doctors. Not politicians. Shame on the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy for trading the suffering of transgender youth and their parents for cheap political points.”

Dozens of advocates for transgender youth packed the meeting room Nov. 4 and thousands of people have sent messages to board members since the start of this process. They have expressed their support for transgender youth, a demonstration of the

unpopularity of continued attacks on the rights of youth and their families to access the health care they need by DeSantis and his allies.

Public testimony included the powerful personal stories of transgender Floridians, families, allies and health care professionals all pointing to increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in transgender youth whose identities are not affirmed.

Commenters also pointed to the over $80,000 in donations from members of the Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy to DeSantis’ campaigns and political committee.

The rulemaking process was initiated after Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo sent a transphobic and medically inaccurate letter in April that officially positioned the Department of Health against health care for Florida’s transgender youth.

Similar policies targeting health care for transgender young people have faced legal challenges in other states, including an Arkansas ban that has been

placed under preliminary injunction by a federal judge as the legal process moves forward.

“This is the first time a state medical board has been weaponized in this way to ban medical treatments for transgender children,” Equality Florida also released in a statement. “However, the Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy are just two among the many state agencies stacked by Governor DeSantis with right-wing extremists and subverted into weapons against LGBTQ Floridians.”

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s rule ending Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care in the state went into effect this summer.

On Oct. 19, the State Board of Education adopted a new series of rules dramatically expanding enforcement of the Don’t Say LGBTQ Law, putting teachers’ licenses at risk and targeting school districts with LGBTQ-inclusive policies regarding bathrooms and locker rooms.

HOW DRAG QUEENS GOT PULLED INTO POLITICS Wire Report

Lately, drag has been dragged through the mud.

The art form has been cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children. Opponents often coordinate protests at drag events that feature or cater to children, sometimes showing up with guns. Some politicians have proposed banning children from drag events and even criminally charging parents who take their kids to one.

Performers and organizers of events, such as story hours in which colorfully clad drag queens read books to children, say the protesters are the ones terrorizing and harming children and making them political pawns — just as they’ve done in other campaigns around bathroom access and educational materials.

The recent headlines about disruptions of drag events and their portrayal as sexual and harmful to children can obscure the art form and its rich history.

WHAT IS DRAG?

Drag is the art of dressing and acting exaggeratedly as another gender, usually for entertainment such as comedy, singing, dancing, lip-syncing or all of the above.

Drag performances became a mainstay at gay bars throughout the 20th century, and remain so.

RuPaul took things a step further with his reality-competition

show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which became an award-winning hit and allowed drag to explode into the mainstream.

IS DRAG SEXUAL?

Many drag opponents cite nudity in their objections. Every performer makes different choices, but drag queens often wear more, not less, clothing than you’d see on a typical American woman of the 21st century, at a public beach or on network TV.

Their costumes tend toward extravagant, sometimes floor-length gowns. Drag queens may use false breasts, wear sheer costumes, and use makeup or other means to show cleavage and appear exaggeratedly feminine.

The difference, performers note, is that opponents of drag see sexual deviance in the cross-dressing aspect.

SHOULD CHILDREN SEE OR DRESS IN DRAG?

It’s up to parents and guardians to decide that, just as they decide whether their children should be exposed to or participate in certain music, television, movies, beauty pageants, concerts or other forms of entertainment, parenting experts say.

Performances in nightclubs and brunches meant for adults may not be suitable for children, while other events, such as drag story hours, are tailored for children and therefore contain milder language and dress.

THREATS AND

‘GROOMING’

Opponents of drag story hours and other drag events for

audiences of children often claim they “groom” children, implying attempts to sexually abuse them or somehow influence their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The term “grooming” in a sexual sense describes how child molesters entrap and abuse their victims. Its use by opponents of drag, as well as by protesters in other realms of LGBTQ opposition, seeks to falsely equate it with pedophilia and other forms of child abuse.

Perpetrators of the false rhetoric can then cast themselves as saviors of children and try to frame anyone who disagrees — a political opponent, for example — as taking the side of child abusers.

The objections are often religious in nature.

The threats are likely an attempt to scare parents into not taking their children to such events, leading them to fizzle out and push drag back into the closet, observers say. Some organizers, parents and performers have dug in their heels, insisting they won’t cave.

Despite some opponents’ claims, drag cannot “turn” a child gay or transgender, although its playful use of gender may be reassuring to kids who are already questioning their identity. That way, therapist Joe Kort wrote in a blog post in Psychology Today, gender-nonconforming kids can have “other templates as they begin to sort out their feelings about who they authentically are.”

TOKYO BEGINS RECOGNIZING SAME-SEX COUPLES

Wire Report

TOKYO | Japan’s capital, Tokyo, began issuing certificates recognizing same-sex couples on Nov. 1, becoming the largest municipality to do so in a country in which same-sex marriage is not allowed.

Seven years after Tokyo’s Shibuya district first introduced same-sex partnership recognition in 2015, more than 200 smaller towns have joined the move,

accounting for less than one-fifth of Japanese municipalities.

The certificates are not legally binding but allow same-sex partners to apply for public housing like married couples, give them access to medical data and allow them to be beneficiaries in auto and life insurance.

Support for sexual diversity has grown slowly in Japan, and legal protections are still lacking for LGBTQ people. They often face discrimination at school, work and at home, causing many to hide their sexual identities.

Still, many sexual minority couples say the partnership recognition will improve their daily lives, allowing them to rent apartments and sign documents in medical emergencies, and in inheritance.

“With this (certificate), there is no need to explain, and I think I will be able to talk to other people about the relationship between myself and my partner with a bit more confidence,” said Soyoka Yamamoto, who campaigned for same-sex partnership recognition by Tokyo.

IN OTHER NEWS

MUSK PROMOTES ANTI-GAY CONSPIRACY THEORY ABOUT PELOSI ATTACK

Elon Musk retweeted a false claim Oct. 30 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, and David DePape, the man who police say attacked him with a hammer, were lovers. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted a Los Angeles Times story about far-right conspiracy theories to which DePape had subscribed. Musk responded to Clinton’s tweet with a link to the Santa Monica Observer, a right-wing website, that said Paul Pelosi “was drunk again, and in a dispute with a male prostitute.” The Santa Monica Observer, in an update, said “San Francisco Police said today that victim Pelosi and suspect DePape did not know each other prior to the attack.” Musk has deleted his original tweet.

MARRIAGE EQUALITY NOW LEGAL THROUGHOUT MEXICO

Same-sex couples can now legally marry across Mexico after lawmakers in Tamaulipas state on Oct. 26 approved a marriage equality bill. Mexico City in 2010 became the first jurisdiction in the country to allow same-sex couples to legally marry. The Mexican Supreme Court in 2015 ruled state laws that ban same-sex marriage are “discriminatory.” Lawmakers in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, on Oct. 26 by a 23-12 margin voted to amend the state’s Civil Code to allow same-sex couples to marry. Legislators in Guerrero state in southern Mexico on Oct. 25 approved a marriage equality bill.

IRELAND WILL CRIMINALIZE INCITEMENT TO HATRED AGAINST TRANS PEOPLE

Ireland’s Minister for Justice presented the Irish government with her approval on legislation that will criminalize incitement by any person to commits acts of hate against transgender people, those with disabilities and acts condoning, denial or gross trivialization of genocide such as the Nazi holocaust and war crimes. The new legislation will repeal the previous incitement to hatred laws and is intended to make prosecutions easier. A person who seeks to incite hatred against a person or group with one of these characteristics may be guilty of an offense which could carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.

BRAZIL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GOVERNOR WINS RE-ELECTION

Rio Grande do Sul Gov. Eduardo Leite, a member of the center-left Brazilian Social Democracy Party, defeated Onyx Lorenzoni of the right-wing Liberal Party who is President Jair Bolsonaro’s former chief-of-staff, by a 57.12% to 42.88% margin. Lorenzoni defeated Leite in the election’s first round that took place on Oct. 2, but neither received at least 50% of the vote. A runoff election took place Oct. 30. Leite, 37, became governor of Brazil’s southernmost state in 2019. He came out in July 2021 during an interview with a late-night talk show host.

political backlash and how it rallied their base, they have quickened their pace. Since my last column in July, Republicans were successful in eliminating payments for gender affirming care through state Medicaid for all trans people. Just before Halloween, the Florida Board of Medicine voted to advance a rule that would effectively eliminate all gender affirming care for trans people under 18. As you read this, the full board will have approved the rule change. The next step will be to eliminate gender affirming care for all trans people in the state.

is so funny! She just sent me a text saying a tranny from Planned Parenthood just came around to remind us to vote!” I felt crushed, not just by the slur, but also by the fact she found it humorous at all.

The next few years are going to be tough with

won’t be tolerated. It can’t just be assumed gay-safe means trans-safe. Trans people know it doesn’t. As individuals, we need to be there for each other. That means texts, hugs and a shoulder to cry on. It means speaking out when we encounter transphobia.

carry the emotional burden alone. That wouldn’t have happened a few years ago and I am grateful things are slowly getting better. That kind of support is the only way trans people like me will be able to survive the bad times to come.

AFEW

MONTHS

AGO I bought a gun and had myself certified for concealed carry. I never thought I would ever do such a thing. I’ve never been especially fond of guns and I’m still not. They used to scare the crap out of me.

However, I got one because I’m more scared of how Republican politicians and right-wing media are ginning up the extremist elements of their base with appeals to fear and fascism. We have seen direct physical threats to our local LGBTQIA institutions such as a recent Drag Queen Story Hour at The Center. On a national level, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, was attacked by a hammer wielding, QAnon conspiracy spewing nutjob. It is not a coincidence that, despite police denials and loads of evidence to the contrary, the attack was spun to be a homosexual encounter gone wrong by some Republicans.

As a leader in a local LGBTQIA nonprofit, I have felt especially vulnerable. That said, my gun has only made me feel marginally safer because the greatest danger the trans community faces is legislative. Republicans have made trans people nationwide a wedge issue and filled every available media outlet with propaganda and misinformation. As a result, Republicans have faced minor resistance to their anti-trans agendas in any state legislatures they control. My anxiety has climbed sky high as I have watched state after state draft legislation that restricts the rights of trans people and even taken away our access to gender affirming medical care. It has been like standing on the deck of the Titanic with the lifeboats gone, watching it sink and knowing it is only a matter of time before we all drown. Helpless, even with a gun in hand.

Not to belabor the metaphor, but the state of Florida is sinking fast. Republicans started by banning trans girls from girls’ and women’s sports through to state college. Emboldened by the lack of damaging

Not surprisingly, my mental health has suffered terribly. It has taken me days to write this column because the emotional labor it requires is actually more than I can give at the moment. I write a few sentences or a paragraph and need to take a break, but I haven’t stopped completely because I think shining a light on what is going on is too important.

To get me through, I have been looking for safe spaces beyond my couch and have found precious few. Clubs and bars have traditionally been a place of refuge for gay people, but not for trans people. Case in point; on the Friday of the Florida Board of Medicine decision, I went to my local gay club. I was accosted for several minutes by a lesbian who I had blocked years ago on my social media after a long argument where she tried to justify that trans women should be banned from women’s sports. On this occasion, she told me she hadn’t intended to hurt me and that she loved me but didn’t apologize or indicate her views had changed.

I took it as a version of “hate the sin but love the sinner.” That was followed by an incident two days later at the gay softball league. During the team wrap-up after a great win, one of the players started laughing and said, “My wife

Republicans in control. More anti-trans legislation will be passed, so we need to do a better job of securing safe spaces for trans people. Blue states need to follow the lead of California and offer legal refuge to transgender youth. Gay spaces need to become explicit about their support and the kind of behavior that will and

Especially in our community. To complete my softball story, one of the players on my team shouted “We don’t use that word anymore,” and my coach approached me to see if she wanted me to have her say a word to the player who had used the slur. I hadn’t expected any of that to happen and felt so relieved that I didn’t have to

Melody Maia Monet has her own trans lesbian themed YouTube channel at YouTube. com/MelodyMaia and is the vice president of the board for Come Out With Pride Orlando. To find more information on Pride, visit comeoutwithpride.org

Gay spaces need to become explicit about their support and the kind of behavior that will and won’t be tolerated. It can’t just be assumed gay-safe means trans-safe.

Maia Monet

Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw

and I don’t always know all the terminology or relate to the experience of trans kids today. But I do know that their lives have value and that they need to be treated with care and respect.

Our journey to good allyship starts with understanding basic information about trans kids. You have probably heard some of the lies and deceptive claims that are made about trans youth. It’s our job to counter these messages with the truth and to offer support in the face of prejudice.

characteristics that align with their gender identity. Anti-trans messaging aims to convince you that frequently medical professionals are surgically altering the bodies of children. This is simply not happening. Surgical interventions are extremely

“we should just let kids be kids.” However, when we support and care for trans youth, we are providing them with the ability to be themselves, we are letting them be kids and trusting them when they tell us who they are! The same is true for all kids who

No matter how you feel about the outcome of the midterm elections, I hope that we can all agree LGBTQ young people deserve safety, care and respect. As adults in the LGBTQ community, let’s be unwavering in our commitment to being good allies to LGBTQ youth.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN

anywhere near a television in the past couple months, you have been bombarded with political ads.

Many have spouted phrases like “they’re trying to turn boy into girls” and “teaching radical gender identities to children.” These ads use typical fearmongering tactics to demonize LGBTQ youth and the adults who care for and support them. They also put the health, wellbeing and safety of kids at risk.

There are many young people in our state who will not live to adulthood because they do not have the support they need. This is especially true for transgender and nonbinary young people. As adults in this community, it is our responsibility to help these kids survive. The suicidality rate for trans kids is significantly higher than their non-trans peers.

Multiple studies in recent years have also shown that trans and gender nonconforming people are significantly more likely to be victims of violent crimes. Later this month, communities around the world will be holding vigils for the Trans Day of Remembrance. Every year we recognize TDoR to memorialize those who have died that year from transphobic violence.

Trans people are killed so often that we require an annual event to continually respond to these deaths. TDoR is an important event, and the ongoing need for this type of commemoration speaks volumes about trans people’s need for support and protection

Trans kids face the constant risk of violence, bullying and ostracization. At the same time, they are bombarded with messages that they are damaged, misguided, even dangerous. Do not underestimate the power you have to change kids’ lives, just by letting them know that you see them as human beings who deserve respect and safety.

Trans youth need adult allies. Perhaps you feel that you don’t know how to support trans youth because you don’t totally understand the issues they face. It’s okay if you don’t fully understand. I am a trans person,

Not every trans kid is expecting to be able to medically transition while still a child. Advocating for trans kids does not mean that we provide them with irreversible medical treatments. Even within the LGBTQ community, I have heard adults say that trans kids should not be allowed access to trans-affirming care.

I think that often this comes from a misguided attempt to protect trans youth. Most people debating this issue do not have a clear understanding of what trans-related support and care looks like for young people.

Many trans young people are simply seeking the right to transition socially. Social transition involves wearing clothing that makes the child most comfortable in their identity and using a name and pronouns that align with the child’s gender identity. Social transition can include other things that affirm the child and keep them safe, such as access to either private restrooms or the restrooms that match the child’s identity.

Along with social transition, some trans kids seek access to medical interventions. Trans health care for young people can include hormone blockers, to delay the onset of puberty, or hormone treatments to allow the person to develop the secondary sex

rare for transgender minors. I have known of some transgender young people who have had chest reconstruction surgeries in their late teens, but this is uncommon and a far cry from the claims being made about surgeries on children. Sometimes we hear people say that trans kids should be denied access to care and support because

identify within the LGBTQ community. We allow them to be kids when we affirm them and support them in who they are.

We have witnessed people in power bullying LGBTQ kids for years now. We have seen the young people of our community used as political pawns. We know the harm that this can cause.

Let’s help give them a fair chance to grow into their fullest potential as the future leaders of our community.

Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw is the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa, MCCTampa.com. He and his husband are the proud fathers of two wonderful children.

There are many young people in our state who will not live to adulthood because they do not have the support they need.

Letting queer kids be kids (and survive to adulthood)

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 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 .

RADCLIFFE REITERATES LGBTQ SUPPORT

DANIEL RADCLIFFE, STAR OF “HARRY POTTER”

AND MORE, REFLECTED ON HIS SUPPORT FOR LGBTQ FANS Nov. 1, a contrast to the series’ creator. J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views first made headlines in 2020 and Radcliffe was among the stars who spoke out. Addressing his decision in a new interview with IndieWire, he reiterated his support for the trans community. “I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing ‘Potter,’ I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with ‘Potter’ on that,” he said. “[S] eeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way.”

talking points

TAYLOR SWIFT ANNOUNCES TOUR

TAYLOR SWIFT ANNOUNCED HER 27-DATE “ERAS TOUR” NOV. 1, FRESH OFF ONE OF HER BIGGEST ALBUM LAUNCHES EVER with “Midnights.” The stadium tour will launch March 18, 2023 in, Arizona and conclude with two nights in Los Angeles on Aug. 4-5. The longtime LGBTQ ally will have two Florida stop, appearing at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa April 14 and 15. Tour openers set to appear include Paramore, beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, girl in red, MUNA, HAIM, Gayle, Gracie Abrams and OWENN. “I can’t WAIT to see your gorgeous faces out there. It’s been a long time coming,” Swift said on Instagram. She billed the tour as “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!).”

‘HEARTSTOPPER’ STAR FORCED OUT

“HEARSTOPPER” STAR KIT CONNOR, 18, SAYS HE WAS FORCED TO COME OUT AS BISEXUAL. The actor known for Netflix’s hit series returned from a self-imposed Twitter hiatus to share the news. “back for a minute. i’m bi,” he tweeted. “congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye.” Connor announced he was leaving Twitter in September after a video was shared that showed him holding hands with actress Maia Reficco. He had previously refused to accept any label for his sexuality. He came out after feeling pressured with accusations of queerbaiting. Fans around the world have since shared their support for the actor.

We’re living in a time where there is a lot of divisiveness and there are a lot of attacks on our community … that is why it’s so important as to who we have sitting in that Oval Office right now.

– OPENLY LGBTQ WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN-PIERRE REFLECTS ON HER ROLE AND PRESIDENT BIDEN TO THE ADVOCATE, OCT. 25

LESLIE JORDAN, THE AWARD-WINNING ACTOR WHOSE WRY SOUTHERN DRAWL AND VERSATILITY MADE HIM A COMEDY AND DRAMA STANDOUT on stage and screen, died Oct. 24 at 67. The performer was known for standout roles in “Will & Grace” and more, with personal videos during the pandemic turning him into a social media star. “The world is definitely a much darker place today without the love and light of Leslie Jordan,” his representative said. “Not only was he a mega talent and joy to work with, but he provided an emotional sanctuary to the nation at one of its most difficult times.” Co-stars of his publicly mourned his loss, with “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes sharing “Everyone who ever met him, loved him. There will never be anyone like him.” The chief executive of GLAAD lauded Jordan as a talented entertainer who “charmed audiences for decades with heartfelt characters on-screen and passionate LGBTQ advocacy off-screen.”.

E n d i n g t h e HIV epidem i c

SURVEY SAYS

One Orlando Alliance prepares to release findings from first-of-its-kind LGBTQ survey in Central Florida

Jeremy Williams

THE ONE ORLANDO ALLIANCE

has completed its first-of-its-kind, LGBTQ-focused survey in Central

Florida to collect comprehensive data on the area’s queer community.

The “We Belong Here” survey — funded by Contigo Fund and facilitated by Polis Institute — launched earlier this year as a way to gather information in an array of areas including basic demographic data, household size, education level, annual income, health care access, mental health access, stigma, sexual and gender identities, housing stability, religious affiliation, family makeups, citizenship status and more.

“In a season where, at a state level we are under sustained attack legislatively and there is this push for us to be less open and less visible, it is important that we have this kind of information we’re getting from this survey,” says Josh Bell, the One Orlando Alliance’s executive director. “We know they are doing these attacks in specific places right now like schools, but we know the people behind it want that everywhere. They are going after drag queen story hours and that doesn’t have

to do with the schools at all. They’re coming after our trans siblings’ health care, it’s across the board. So we have to find ways to stand up to say that we’re here, that’s incredibly important, and the best way to do that is with information.”

This survey builds on the One Orlando Alliance’s work and mission that it has been focusing on since its inception. The organization strives to unite LGBTQ-serving organizations in Central Florida through advocacy, community transformation, organizational development and resource sharing.

The One Orlando Alliance started its work within the first few days after the Pulse tragedy that took 49 lives, injured and impacted countless more and left members of all marginalized communities feeling attacked and frightened. The first Alliance meeting took place June 16, 2016 and was a collection of 18 LGBTQ organizations in Central

Florida who came together to help fill gaps in resources for those impacted by the tragedy. Jennifer Foster and Carlos Carbonell were the original conveners of the Alliance.

“Carlos and I just jumped in and said, ‘what needs to be done?’ The first year was just us responding to the tragedy and making sure things were getting accomplished,” Foster said in an interview with Watermark in 2020.

Since it began, the One Orlando Alliance has grown from an 18-group collective to a coalition of more than 40 Central Florida organizations who are all working toward a safe, welcoming and inclusive community for all LGBTQ people.

Among its early initiatives, the Alliance launched Acts of Love and Kindness, a movement to honor the lives taken at Pulse by showing expressions of compassion in the 49 days leading up to June 12; held community discussions on a variety of topics impacting Central Florida’s LGBTQ community; launched fundraising efforts to assist members of the LGBTQ community in need during the COVID-19 pandemic; and established the Alliance Agenda,

an annual report that lays out the 10 most critical issues impacting LGBTQ inclusiveness in Central Florida.

“One of the earliest things the One Orlando Alliance realized it needed to do was to create the Alliance Agenda,” Bell says. “From pretty early on we were interested in knowing this is what our community is dealing with. That’s been really in our DNA.”

The Agenda highlighted work needed to be done in the areas of coming out, hate crimes, health care, homelessness, immigration, racial inequality, transgender and nonbinary individuals, vulnerable populations, workplace equality and queer youth. The 2020 iteration would change racial inequality to anti-racism and add the community’s addressing of COVID-19 in response to those major issues being in the spotlight that year.

“The Alliance Agenda, co-created by members of the One Orlando Alliance,

honors the Pulse victims and builds on our promise to them of looking to the future. By staying true to the fundamental values of inclusivity, respect, communication and collaboration that originally brought us together, our coalition commits to purposeful action to ensure our community thrives in the future,” the One Orlando Alliance states on its website.

The work on the Alliance Agenda is what led the collation to create its survey.

“When I came into this position, we were looking at the Alliance Agenda and I recognized a lot of great work had been done but there wasn’t a lot of local data,” Bell says. “So the data that was in the Agenda was mostly national numbers. What we wanted to be able to do is create a more robust version of that document that’s very focused on Central Florida. So that was the origin of this project.”

Bell says that once One Orlando Alliance started moving forward with the survey, he knew he wanted the Polis Institute to be involved. Polis is a nonprofit that focuses

on research and engagement primarily working on social issues.

“I was familiar with Polis from some of the previous work I had done in nonprofits and I knew they did good work,” Bell says. “I knew they were focused on what is called asset-based community development.”

Asset-based community development is an approach to sustainable community-driven development. Beyond the mobilization of a particular community, it is concerned with how to link micro-assets to the macro-environment.

“That is very true for the LGBTQ community,” Bell adds. “We are such a huge spectrum of identities and life situations and backgrounds that the help that we, and that certain segments of our population, need is already present but we just need to know where it is.”

Dr. Bahiyyah Maroon, the Chief Executive Officer at Polis Institute, has provided research and strategy insights to Intel Corporation, the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, Harvard University, Columbia University, the U.S. Department of Labor and more.

Facilitating the One Orlando Alliance’s survey was something that she was eager to get on board with.

“The Polis Institute deeply believes in community partnerships to bring about change,” Maroon says. “So ensuring that organizations dedicated to vulnerable populations have great data is part of our mission.”

Gathering this information was also important for Maroon on a personal level being a queer, Black woman.

“I have access to the astonishing power of data. Big data sets, rich data sets, quantitated data, quantitative data; and the power of data to transform social issues into social solutions is exponential,” she says. “Being able to contribute my knowledge base and skill sets to transforming opportunities for equity and equality is what I get up every day for. It’s what I love about my work, it’s what I love about partnerships like this one.”

This information will provide insight into areas of the community that were previously unavailable, at least on a local

and state level, because a survey like this hasn’t been completed.

“The reason why our community doesn’t have comprehensive data sets is because we are only two generations into living openly,” Bell says. “When The Pride Chamber was founded, they didn’t publish their membership lists because you could get fired for being out. So now that more of us are living out in the open and we’re proud enough and out enough, we are able to answer a survey. Even though most surveys are anonymous as this one was, that was a huge hindrance of gathering data on our community. Also the surveys that are out there are more specific or more targeted, and we wanted something broader.”

“I have been working on LGBTQ data sets since probably 2008 or 2009, and they have always been very limited,” Maroon adds. “Funders will provide limited funding for a particular, focused area such as middle school or high school students, or college students, or homeless folks. Typically funding for surveys about our

LEADING THE CHARGE: Josh Bell, the One Orlando Alliance’s executive director. PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: Dr. Bahiyyah Maroon, Polis Institute CEO. PHOTO COURTESY POLIS INSTITUTE

| uu | Survey Says

community have been woefully limited, so historically funders have provided money for work, for activities, for policy, for advocacy, but they haven’t provided substantive financing for research. I think what we are seeing in the LGBTQ funding community is a new hunger for being able to tell true stories based on real data.”

Crafting the survey started with identifying the best questions to ask participants.

“As social scientists, we could ask 7,000 questions and be very happy to keep you locked up for a weekend and get the answers,” Maroon jokes, “but people only want to respond to a limited number of questions.”

One Orlando Alliance began with a Central Florida Foundation initiative called Thrive.

“The Thrive initiative takes the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Determinants of Health and creates categories around those,” Bell says. “So that initiative was an initial skeleton in terms of making sure we were asking questions that could tie into larger data sets so that we could compare the realities of our community with larger sample sizes.”

“These are questions that have been tested out on other surveys with tens of thousands of respondents, so we know they are good questions that will get us to honest answers,” Maroon says. “What we did is we identified over 10 different national and international survey instruments and we picked those questions within each instrument that the LGBTQI community in Central Florida believe is most important to be aware of.”

This was done by bringing the One Orlando Alliance coalition together to get input from each of its member organizations.

“We invited anyone in the coalition who wanted to come to meet with some of the folks at Polis to talk about what data would be most helpful for them,” Bell says. “That was an important piece of this puzzle.”

“Josh put together an entire roundtable of people to speak to, ‘Do we need to know more about HIV/AIDS?’ ‘Do we need to know more about housing?’ ‘Do we need to know more about income levels?’” Maroon says.

The survey had nearly 800 respondents with the bulk coming from the Greater Orlando area, although they did have responses from all over the state, Bell says, from Tampa to Jacksonville to Miami.

“I feel like it was a great first time in terms of responses,” Bell says, “and when we take that information and show how

we will be using it, then I’m confident the number of people taking it will go up. Right now, the goal is to repeat it in two years and then two years after that. There might be some drill down specific surveys in the meantime, but the big omnibus survey would be repeated probably every two years.”

So why is this kind of survey important? According to Maroon, it is because the more data you have, the more compelling a case you can make for your cause.

“Whether that’s advocacy or intervention or fundraising, you need data to be able to tell your story,” she says. “How we understand issues shapes how we resolve those issues. The loudest voices in the room are not necessarily representative of the most important voices, the most vulnerable voices. A truly well-done survey is the most democratic instrument any community has to give all voices within the community the ability to shed light on what is most critical in the community, what most needs funding, what most demands advocacy, what most requires attention. That’s what a good survey provides. That’s what good, rich data offers. And that’s what is going to come out of this survey. What do funders fund, what do policy folks advocate for and what do community partners act on? That is what is going to come out of this survey.”

It also comes down to funds, Bell adds.

“The importance of having this information is because dollars follow data,” he says. “If we want more funding for our community and the work that we are doing out here we have to be able to show people these are the needs and do that in a statistically reliable way. This data is going to strengthen the grant applications that our organizations write and unlock more sources for our community.”

The results of the survey will be shared with Central Florida’s LGBTQ community during an event called “The State of the Central Florida LGBTQ+ Communities,” held at Orlando’s City Hall Nov. 15 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The data will be presented by Bell and Maroon with a panel of local LGBTQ nonprofit leaders sharing their impressions of the implications of the data to follow.

“This will be an opportunity for all of our community leaders to come together and say ‘hey, this is what we’ve learned so far,’” Bell says. “This will be just an initial snapshot of the data. Then the goal is for the Alliance to convene the conversations and dig down and say hey this revealed something we didn’t know what was going on or

this finally gives us numbers around something we’ve known anecdotally. I don’t expect a lot of bombshells in the data, I expect it will confirm what our community has already observed.”

This information is the first step in moving towards having very strategic conversations for the first time based on data in Central Florida’s LGBTQ community.

“I cannot begin to express how vibrantly powerful this survey is going to be for Central Florida because the respondents are from so many walks of life and so many age groups,” Maroon says. “That is 100% because of the incredible work One Orlando Alliance has done around getting the word out to all partners possible to distribute the survey.”

The State of the Central Florida LGBTQ+ Communities will be at Orlando’s City Hall Nov. 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m. It is a free-to-attend event; however you must register for tickets. To register go to Eventbrite.com/e/the-state-of-the-ce ntral-florida-lgbtq-communities-ticke ts-444088951007.

FROM PG.27

ORLANDO UNITED: Orlandoans, led by Mayor Buddy Dyer, gather in front of the Dr. Phillips Center to form a giant heart as a part of the Alliance’s Acts of Love and Kindness in June 2019. PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

KIND ART: Local leaders unveil a piece for the city’s “Bring Kindness to the Table” project in Orlando in April 2022. PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

SHOWING KINDNESS: Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (L) and City Commissioner Patty Sheehan welcome people to Carl T. Langford Park to kick off the Alliance’s annual Acts of Love and Kindness. PHOTO BY JEREMY WILLIAMS

IN 2016, GUENET AND SAM ROBERTS

of the Caribbean American Passport and Yves Bouele of the African Leaders Council approached Terry Olson, Orange County’s director of arts and cultural affairs, about creating an international event that would fuse together the many backgrounds and heritages of the people of Orlando.

“While there are dozens of festivals centered around one heritage or another in our community,” they write

on their website, “we thought, what if we all came together at the same time?”

That coming together became FusionFest, a two-day, free-of-charge festival in the heart of Orlando celebrating the people and the many different heritages that make up Central Florida by showcasing the music, food, art and stories from more than 110 different cultures during Thanksgiving weekend.

FusionFest celebrates its fifth annual event Nov. 26-27 in Dr. Phillips Center’s Seneff Arts Plaza with more than 1,000 local artists expected to perform and showcase their craft on FusionFest’s stages, in its galleries and in its interactive

installations. The highlight of the festival is sure to be the all-new signature show called Kaleidoscope.

Kaleidoscope will feature over 40 musicians, dancers and singers from various organizations including Inez Patricia School of Dance, the Asian Cultural Association, Central Florida Vocal Arts, Polynesian Luau Productions and Orlando Dance Network. They will appear in one blended show providing each cultural community with a unique

Jeremy Williams

Central Florida’s CeCe Teneal talks FusionFest, music and that amazing voice

PHOTO COURTESY FUSIONFEST

experience to collaborate with local representatives from each of the ten regions of the world.

“Kaleidoscope will fuse together an unexpected myriad of performances which will all speak to unity, as well as use artistic creation to uplift and offer hope,” FusionFest wrote in a press release.

Kaleidoscope will be produced by local music icon and FusionFest entertainment director CeCe Teneal.

Teneal grew up about 30 miles north of Orlando in Osteen, Florida. A “country girl blessed with a powerful voice that is filled with soul and resonance,” Teneal has opened for and performed with blues greats such as Buddy Guy, Joe Cocker, Johnny Lang, Betty Wright and B.B. King, as well as toured to perform her own original music with her band, Soul Kamotion. Teneal may best be known for her brilliant covers of Aretha Franklin, which she tours the world performing in a tribute show to the Queen of Soul.

Teneal was gracious enough to chat with Watermark over Zoom ahead of this year’s Fusion Fest to talk about what kind of entertainment we can expect to see at the festival and how this girl from Osteen found her powerhouse voice.

WATERMARK: TALK TO US ABOUT GROWING UP AND PERFORMING HERE IN ORLANDO AND IN CENTRAL FLORIDA?

CeCe Teneal: I was born and raised in a little town outside of Orlando called Osteen, and I didn’t really do a lot of performing other than in church growing up and I didn’t want to do that forever. This wasn’t what I had my heart set on. I was going to be someone’s teacher, you know. You hear these stories of people who started young doing theatre throughout high school, and they do chorus or band, that was not me.

I was 21 years old and a friend of mine said “You are always singing around the house, as my present for my birthday all I want is for you to sing in this talent show.” Literally from that moment, it was like a bug bit me and I knew this is where I’m supposed to be and this is what I’m supposed to do. So that’s what I have committed my life to doing.

I started performing in Orlando in 2002, started and built-up Orlando’s first really big open mic night downtown, where it was spoken word and live music. I did that for about 15 years. I also worked at B.B. Kings, I was the headliner there for four years. Then I started traveling doing my own shows. I’ve released two albums now, and that’s kind of been my trajectory. Always pushing to see what the next thing is going to be and always advocating for the arts in the

a lot of different rooms. I’ve had a lot of different opportunities from opening Steinmetz Hall with being a part of the Rise & Shine galas, doing things with Cole Nesmith and now moving on to do things with FusionFest. I think what has helped to keep me going in Orlando, what has really caused me to be an international singer, is that the people of Orlando have always supported me. I love to talk about the people of Orlando. There are so many, many people in Orlando who love and support

Jackson record. I also listen to some of the Blues’ greats like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Johnny Lang, Joe Cocker; I love all of those people. I have a pretty eclectic music taste, but if I had to say “inspirations” it would definitely have to be the old divas of soul.

WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING CLIPS ON YOUTUBE OF YOU PERFORM AND YOUR VOICE IS AMAZING. WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE YOU HAD THAT KIND OF POWER IN YOUR VOICE?

[laughs].

YOU HAVE RECENTLY COME OUT AS A MEMBER OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH ORLANDO’S LGBTQ COMMUNITY?

If I’m being honest, I’m just now connecting with the LGBTQ community here. It wasn’t until last year, [One Orlando Alliance’s] Josh Bell had me on a panel, and I actually felt comfortable enough to say it publicly. To say “Yes, I am a part of this community.” I’ve started to connect with my community and they have been embracing me and I’m happy about that. But I don’t have a lot of experiences with being out publicly right now, but what I can say is they have really embraced me and if that is indicative of how they maneuver then I am going to have a great time.

I think I was worried for so long that the music industry had placed a stigma on being plus size, on being gay, on being a Black business woman; the industry places a stigma on that, so I tried to fly under the radar with who I am but in 2020, in the aftermath of the racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement, I decided that I was gonna be unapologetically me. And I am finding that people really like me and I don’t have to pretend to be anything else, and I don’t have to follow the guidelines from the people who have put those in place. That in of itself has been refreshing for me to walk in that.

WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU NOTICED MOST ABOUT YOURSELF SINCE YOU HAVE COME OUT?

process.

SO MUCH ATTENTION GETS PUT ON THE THEME PARKS HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA WHEN IT COMES TO PERFORMERS AND LIVE ENTERTAINMENT, BUT THERE IS SUCH A DIVERSE CULTURE OF ENTERTAINERS THROUGHOUT THE AREA. HOW HAS ORLANDO AND THE GREATER CENTRAL FLORIDA AREA HELPED YOU TO BECOME THE PERFORMER YOU ARE TODAY?

I don’t have a lot of experience with Disney, which it lends to what you said about having a rich culture outside of Disney, because Orlando certainly has that. I think for me, performing in Orlando, I’ve just been fortunate enough to have my name mentioned in

the arts, and that’s why I’m able to be successful and why I’m able to express myself as an artist, because those people come and they listen and they love.

AS A PERFORMER, WHO ARE YOUR MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS?

I would definitely have to say Aretha [Franklin] is probably my biggest inspiration. That’s how I travel all over the world making my money [laughs]. I am traveling and doing a tribute to her, so I do think she is my biggest inspiration, but I love Whitney Houston. I love Etta James. I love Diana Ross. I love Chaka Khan, I love the divas of music; the ones who have paved the way for us. You can also catch me listening to a good Prince or a good Michael

The funny thing is I talk about this in my show, I always remember my mom and my grandma would say “Nobody can sing the blues like Aretha.” So I just remember one day my grandma stumbled upon me and I was singing the blues like Aretha, and I was like nine or 10 years old, singing about “my baby done left me” and “my man’s been cheating on me” [laughs]. I think it was then that my grandma really said, “Wait a minute, she’s really got something. She can really sing.” Then my mom had me singing for her friends and that kind of thing, so I think once they start asking you to do it then it must be good. Because it you sound horrible, they aren’t

I think authenticity. That it’s OK to be myself, to be who I am and that you don’t have to have everyone’s approval. You just need a subset of the universe because not everyone is gonna like you, not everyone is going to always be on your side; I think once I realized that, that has kind of been my “a-ha moment.” Coming out and being a part of all the different communities that I represent — the arts community, the LGBTQIA+ community, being a part of all these communities, it just confirms that we are all human. We can be all different colors, all different shapes, all different elements and still come together in this beautiful menagerie of what is the human race.

gonna ask you to sing for their friends

BRINGING THE FEST: Members of FusionFest’s leadership team: (L-R) Teuruhei Buchin, CeCe Teneal, Thali Sugisawa and Terry Olson. PHOTO COURTESY FUSIONFEST

We will have different cultures layered on top of each other. ... It is going to be this fusion of all these different cultures coming together to show that we are all one human race.

— CECE TENEAL

YOU POSTED A PHOTO ON INSTAGRAM RECENTLY OF YOURSELF WITH THE PHRASE “BE REAL, NOT PERFECT!” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

When you are in the public eye, there’s so many challenges for you to be perfect. I recognize that in my quest for perfection I was depressed and filled with anxiety, so I found that being real and authentic garnered me the most happiness as well it attracted the right people to my tribe.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH FUSIONFEST?

I just got into this role in April or May of this year, so not very long, but the way it came about is I participated in Rise & Shine at Dr. Phillips Center, and I did a cultural fusion

performance where I brought together all different types of dancers. I brought in Peruvian dancers, Hispanic dancers, African dancers, and music of all kinds and put them together on one stage for one 8-minute performance. The FusionFest team saw me put that together and they asked me to submit a proposal for doing something similar but on a larger scale for FusionFest. I presented them my ideas and they presented who they are back to me and we found that it was a match so we got married [laughs].

FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T BEEN BEFORE, WHAT IS FUSIONFEST?

FusionFest, and it is interesting because I have never been, so I am brand new to this experience and I am learning so much about the different cultures that exist in Orlando, but what I can tell you from what I know is it is a safe

space for you to express who you are and educate other people about your culture. There’s food and there’s displays and there’s music and there’s dance; there is something for everybody. It’s a two-day festival that centers around all the different cultures around the world.

TALK TO ME ABOUT SOME OF THE ENTERTAINMENT PEOPLE WILL BE SEEING AT THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL.

During the entire festival there will be all different cultures and all types of entertainment woven throughout. So you may have spoken word on one stage mixed with fashion. There will be dancers ranging from five years old to 85 years old, there will be musicians from Colombian musicians to jazz musicians and brass band musicians, so it is going to be a cultural overload of music, dance, art and more. We

will have 10 regions of the world represented.

And let’s talk about Kaleidoscope, because that is a whole different monster. It’s a big, beautiful monster because what we are doing with Kaleidoscope is we are taking all of these cultures and we are weaving them together in a 45-minute performance. We will have different cultures layered on top of each other, so you may see hip hop with Irish dancing, or you may see Peruvian dancers mixed with Vietnamese dancers while opera is performed. It is going to be this fusion of all these different cultures coming together to show that we are all one human race. We are all one in the same underneath it all.

The fifth annual FusionFest will take place in the Seneff Arts Plaza at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 26 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Nov. 27 from 12-6 p.m.

The FusionFest line-up includes several all-new features including a Cosplay meet up/contest (1:15 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday) and a Citizenship Ceremony (10 a.m. on Saturday) – along with the return of festival favorites, among them: Family Village featuring the Cardboard Village of the World, the Fun & Games Tent and the Family Art Tent; Cultural Displays; International Marketplace; Foods of the World & Fusion Foods; screenings of MYgration Films in partnership with the Global Peace Film Festival; Diversitastic! Choir performances; Visual Arts Gallery; Global Street Dance Party; Scavenger Hunt; two stages featuring music, dance, spoken word, fashion and a cosplay contest; plus, community panels, prizes and contests with cash awards.

Visit FusionFest.org/Schedule for the complete line-up.

You can find out more about CeCe Teneal, including information on her albums and upcoming tour dates, at CeCeTeneal.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY FUSIONFEST

(ABOVE)

TOUR GUIDE: Nathan Lee Graham plays Hermes in the North American tour of “Hadestown.”

PHOTO BY T. CHARLES ERICKSON

On The Road

Nathan Lee Graham guides Florida through ‘Hadestown’

vibrant ensemble of actors, singers and dancers, ‘Hadestown’ invites you to imagine how the world could be.”

Graham has done that for his entire career, advocating for LGBTQ representation in and outside of his industry. It led the Human Rights Campaign to honor him with the organization’s Visibility Award in 2019.

“I think we should be represented just like everyone else because we exist,” Graham explains. “We exist in every medium, every echelon of society, every city, every port, every town, all around the world, and we always have. We are real human beings with full, well-rounded lives … It never made any sense to me why we wouldn’t be recognized.”

That’s why Graham has sought LGBTQ roles throughout his career, which began in the late ‘70s with “The Wiz.” It’s where he met De Shields, whom he calls “a dear friend, colleague and mentor.”

TV show, every film, every stage play that is ever written.”

“Hadestown” marks Graham’s first tour in years, an experience he calls extraordinary. Watermark spoke with the actor ahead of its three stops in Florida, which he’ll guide through Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts Nov. 29 – Dec. 4 and Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Dec. 13 – 18.

WATERMARK: WHAT DREW YOU TO PERFORMANCE?

Nathan Lee Graham: Well first of all, I’m as old as the hills so that is a very long and sordid story. My parents and my grandparents noticed that I enjoyed performing and that I had an affinity for it at school and at church, so it was just something that they thought, “well, let’s put him in every sort of training program, and every sort of early childhood development thing for performing arts, because he seems to enjoy this.”

I come from a family full of teachers and preachers, so everyone’s had an oral argument, if you will, and I was used to people being in front of other people, making speeches and telling stories.

WHAT COMES MORE NATURALLY FOR YOU, STAGE OR SCREEN?

Ryan Williams-Jent

IN THE WORLD OF GODS AND MEN,

Nathan Lee Graham stands proud. The LGBTQ performer has been celebrated for his authenticity on screen and stage for years, most recently as Hermes in “Hadestown.”

Graham joined the award-winning musical’s North American tour last month, not long after its 2024 extension. It launched last year to critical acclaim after becoming Broadway’s most-honored show in the 2018-19 season.

“Hadestown” was nominated for 14 awards at the 73rd Tony Awards, the most for any production. It won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Veteran actor André De Shields, a mentor of Graham’s who originated his current role, also won Outstanding Featured Actor. His performance as Hermes – the

audience’s guide through the story – is immortalized on the show’s Original Broadway Cast Recording, which won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020.

“Welcome to ‘Hadestown,’ where a song can change your fate,” the musical is described. It’s billed as “a love story for today... and always” about ancient Greek literature.

“It intertwines two mythic tales — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — as it invites you on an unforgettable journey to the underworld and back,” its synopsis continues. “Performed by a

Graham would go on to originate Broadway roles in “The Wild Party” and the musical adaptation of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” On film, he’s shared scenes with Reese Witherspoon in “Sweet Home Alabama” and kept up with comedians Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell in the “Zoolander” series.

His work is also seen on television. He’s traded barbs with Lisa Kudrow on HBO’s “The Comeback” and taken on Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders’ Patsy and Edina on “Absolutely Fabulous.” Graham is thankful for every experience.

“Whether the character was an antagonist or protagonist, I felt it was important to be visible and recognized,” he says. “So yes, in the beginning of my career I played the best friend to the female lead, but I am the best friend to a lot of females. It didn’t bother me in the slightest as long as the role was well written, fully thrashed out and represented in a positive way.

“That’s not so say the character has to be positive,” he adds. “The character can be a villain, but we’ve got to be in it. We should be in every

I must say that at this point in my career, they both come naturally. There’s a slight switch in the mind when you are going from one medium to the other and it depends on the project. I have more of a European aesthetic to work, which is, if a project is good, if it’s well written, I’m going to do it if it’s right for me.

European actors don’t worry about if it’s film, if it’s TV or if it’s stage, they just really care about the work. I’m hoping that more Americans get into that, because that’s really what it’s about.

That’s why my career has been so diversified and thank God for that. I don’t have to rely on just one medium. As far as what’s easier, well, listen, eight shows a week is damn hard, but it depends on what you’re doing in the show … it just depends on the role and the project.

WHAT LED YOU TO “HADESTOWN” AND HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE IT?

We went through the normal process. It wasn’t strenuous at all because it was a role that I was right for, and it was wonderful to get it.

Now, as far as the show is concerned – I hate to be so basic –but it’s just really exciting.

Hope was born thanks to the efforts of three radical Nuns who came to Apopka in the early 1970s to spread their unconditional love and faith through action. As a result, we continue to dream of immigration reform, racial equity, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

“Hadestown” is a Greek, mythical thriller, because you become so invested in all the characters’ journeys and you really want to know what’s going to happen. It’s all about these human themes: love, trust, betrayal, power, desire. “Hadestown,” this wonderful musical, punches up these things in such a unique way that you can’t stop watching it.

WHY IS THAT?

It’s visually stunning to watch. In some moments, it’s absolutely intimate and almost personal, like you’re the only person in the theater and it’s just for you. And then other times, it’s dominating and washes over you. Even if you already know the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and Persephone and Hades – and Hermes, being the messenger between the two worlds, the one up above and the one down below – it’s still so exciting to see what’s going to happen and how we’re going to tell this this mythical story. I love a thriller. I love something that’s full of suspense. It’s exciting.

HOW DID YOU APPROACH HERMES?

Well, to be quite honest with you, I loved everything that André De Shields did with the role and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is my opinion about everything. What you do is you go in, you have the same content, but it’s how you interpret the content that makes it special. So it’s not unlike Shakespeare. The plays are all the same, but how you interpret playing Hamlet or King Lear is left up to you. That’s theatre magic.

I’m a part of the very exclusive club now, the Hermes club. I know all of the people that have played Hermes, and it’s very exciting to be a part of this club, because we all do it differently. It’s like Mama Rose in “Gypsy.” It’s a great role, but Ethel Merman is going to do it differently than Dame Angela Lansbury; than Bette Midler or Bernadette Peters or Patty LuPone. But it’s all Mama Rose.

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER?

He’s this wonderful guide for the audience, but he’s also a part of the story and so sometimes he’s affected by it too. Unknowingly, unwittingly affected, and that’s what makes it exciting for me to play the role

and to guide these people and be the storyteller, much more than a narrator. A narrator seems so, I don’t know, basic. He’s part of the story, so he’s a storyteller that weaves in and out and is also perhaps even a moral compass for the story.

this irrational fear of leaving New York City. (Laughs.) But because of that I’ve forced myself on tour and it’s been nothing but wonderful.

WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE WORKING WITH THE CAST AND CREW?

wants and needs. They go through trials and tribulations. They have doubts. They go through all of the emotions that are happening in “Hadestown.” If your life is not a journey in the LGBTQ+ community, I don’t know what is.

WHAT’S

TOURING BEEN LIKE SO FAR, ESPECIALLY COMING OUT OF THE HEIGHT OF THE PANDEMIC?

It’s a challenge in that you can’t do all of the things that you used to be able to do. We are tested every other day. We can’t really interact with the audience afterwards, like one is used to doing; saying hello, taking photos, signing autographs on their playbills. So that’s a bit of a challenge, but at the same time it also makes me focus on what I’m doing even more.

It’s exciting for me to be on tour, I haven’t been on tour since “The Golden Girls” went off the air it seems. Or “The Golden Palace” was on; either one, it was the late 90s, let’s put it that way, because I’ve been doing so much film and TV in between.

So it’s also new for me –not only did I come out of the pandemic, but I came out of the pandemic and now I’m going across the country, and I have

The company itself is phenomenal. The creative team behind “Hadestown” is extraordinary. Everyone from the original Broadway cast and all of the years of the development of this piece are still involved in every single possible way, so all of the creatives of the Tony Award-winning musical put me into the show; put me and the other new principles into this tour.

There is no daylight between what happens with the creative team on Broadway and what happens on tour, and that’s why the show itself is so intact and in great, great shape. What the audiences are getting across North America is the best show that “Hadestown” could possibly be.

WHY DO YOU THINK “HADESTOWN” CAN RESONATE WITH LGBTQ AUDIENCES?

Because LGBTQ+ people fall in love. They have desires, they have

So for you to go through a journey – and for you to see it all the way through, for there to be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel, for you to have learned something and to grow – that’s every reason why the LGBTQ+ community should see the show and be a part of it in every way.

It’s also gorgeous. It’s gorgeous to look at, gorgeous to be a part of, it’s gorgeous and legendary is what I would say. Gorgeous and legendary characters that can be sometimes larger than life, but at their base they’re very real and very sincere. And that’s what the LGBTQ+ community is to me.

“Hadestown” plays at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa Nov. 29 – Dec. 4 and Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando Dec. 13 – 18. Learn more and buy tickets at StrazCenter.org and DrPhillipsCenter.org.

Read more about “Hadestown” and its full tour at Hadestown.com and keep up with Nathan Lee Graham at NathanLeeGraham.com.

THE MYTH, THE MAN: Nathan Lee Graham takes center stage in “Hadestown.” PHOTO BY T. CHARLES ERICKSON

THE LEGEND: Graham is an actor and activist. PHOTO COURTESY THE STRAZ CENTER

EVENT PLANNER

community calendar

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

CENTRAL FLORIDA

“Hamilton,” Through Nov. 20, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

EDC Orlando 2022, Nov. 11-13, Tinker Field, Orlando. Orlando. ElectricDaisyCarnival.com

“Steppin’ Out with Irving Berlin,” Nov. 11-20 & Dec. 1-17, Winter Park Playhouse, Winter Park. 407-645-0145; WinterParkPlayHouse.org

7th Annual Seafood & Jazz Fest, Nov. 12, Eagles Nest Park, Orlando. Eventbrite.com/e/427884613397

24th Annual Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, Nov. 12-15, Enzian Theater, Maitland. 407-629-1088; Enzian.org Festival of Trees, Nov. 12-20, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando. 407-896-4231; OMArt.org

Drag Bingo, Nov. 15 & 22, Island Time, Orlando. 407-930-2640; IslandTime.com

Remi Wolf, Nov. 15, The Plaza Live, Orlando. 407-228-1220; PlazaLiveOrlando.org

Bonnie Raitt, Nov. 15, King Center, Melbourne. 321-242-2219; KingCenter.com

Straight No Chaser: The 25th Anniversary Celebration, Nov. 16, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

Drag Me Out Wednesdays, Nov 16 & 23, Mango’s Tropical Café, Orlando. 321-710-4195; Mangos.com

Daniel Tosh, Nov. 17, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando. 844-513-2014; DrPhillipsCenter.org

Chelsea Handler, Nov. 19, Peabody Auditorium, Daytona Beach. 386-671-3472; PeabodyAuditorium.com

READY FOR ACTION

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Healthy Living, Healthy Weight and HIV

THURSDAY, NOV. 17, 5:30-7 P.M. LGBT+ CENTER, ORLANDO

Join Wanda Vazquez, senior community liaison at Janssen Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, for a conversation on living healthy with HIV. The event is a part of the HI-fiVe! HIV workshop series. Refreshments will be provided. To register, go to https://rb.gy/ecsk21.

Classic(al) Rock

SATURDAY, NOV. 19, 3-5 P.M. & 8-10 P.M. STEINMETZ HALL (DR. PHILLIPS CENTER), ORLANDO

Central Florida Community Arts presents Classic(al) Rock, a high-energy concert featuring CFCArts’ 170-member orchestra, a rock band and a few special guests performing everything from The Beatles and Queen to Metallica, Pink, Bon Jovi, Journey, Van Halen and more. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at CFCArts.com/Rock.

29th Annual Fall Festival of the Arts DeLand, Nov. 19-20, Downtown, DeLand. 386-734-4371; FallFestivalOfTheArts.com

Barktoberfest, Nov. 20, Lake Eola Park, Orlando. 407-836-3111; OCNetPets.com

The Florida Vintage Market, Nov. 20, Ace Café, Orlando. 407-996-6686; AceCafeUSA.com

TAMPA BAY

“Dracula,” Through Nov. 13, Jobsite Theatre, Tampa. 813-476-7378; JobsiteTheater.org

9th Annual Veterans’ Day Celebration, Nov. 11, Williams Park Veterans Memorial, St. Petersburg. 727-893-7111; StPete.org

“Deeper Meaning: The Art of D. Yael Kelley” Opening, Nov. 11, Woodfield Fine Art, St. Petersburg. 727-254-6981; WoodfieldFineArt.com

70s, 80s and 90s Night, Nov. 11, The Garage on Central Ave., St. Petersburg. 727-235-9086; Facebook.com/ OFCLGaragePage

“A Night of 1,000 Britneys,” Nov. 12, Enigma, St. Petersburg. 727-235-0867; EnigmaStPete.com “Changes,” Nov. 12, Art at 400 Studios, St. Petersburg. 786-567-1024; Facebook.com/ ArtAt400

Mr. and Mrs. SSL Pageant, Nov. 12, Bradley’s on 7th, Tampa. 813-241-2723; SuncoastSoftball.org

International Food & Arts Festival, Nov. 12-13, Water Works Park, Tampa. 813-451-7936; YourTampaMarkets.com

EPIC Generations, Nov. 15, Museum of American Arts and Crafts Movement, St. Petersburg. 727-328-3260; MyEPIC.org

2022 Ybor City Tree Lighting, Nov. 16, Ybor City, Tampa. 813-248-3712; Ybor.org

Chelsea Handler: “Vaccinated and Horny” Tour, Nov. 17, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa. 813-388-4263; SeminoleHardRockTampa.com

Sketchy Sketch, Nov. 18, The Event Space at Bulge, Tampa. 813-202-1000; BulgeTampaBay.com

Dance Party, Nov. 18, Shuffle, Tampa. 813-450-3797; ShuffleTampa.com

“Dirty Dancing” Concert, Nov. 19, Straz Center, Tampa. 813-229-7827; StrazCenter.org

Drag Queen Charity Bingo, Nov. 20, Hamburger Mary’s, Clearwater. 727-400-6996; HamburgerMarys.com/ Clearwater

SARASOTA

Fall Fine Art Festival, Nov. 19-20, JD Hamel Park, Sarasota. 941-487-8061; ParagonFestivals.com

TAMPA BAY TDoR 2022

SUNDAY, NOV. 20, 5:30 – 7 P.M.

CITY HALL, ST. PETERSBURG

The Trans+ Liberation Collective will lead this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance in St. Petersburg, reflecting on lives lost to anti-transgender violence, suicide and other hardships. The candlelit march will begin at the Sunshine Center at 5:30 and lead to City Hall, where speakers will commemorate the event with gifts and read the names of those lost. For more information, visit Facebook.com/TransLibStPete.

SARASOTA

Venice Pride

CENTENNIAL PARK, VENICE

SATURDAY, NOV. 12, 11 A.M. – 4 P.M.

Venice Pride returns for its 3rd Pride Festival, a family and pet-friendly event. For the first time, festivities will be held downtown and begin at with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring local leaders and special guests. Learn more about this year’s festivities at VeniceFLPride.com

Chelsea Handler’s “Vaccinated and Horny” Tour comes to Tampa’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Nov. 17 and Daytona Beach’s Peabody Auditorium Nov. 19.

CONGRATULATIONS

Equality Florida’s Tampa Gala raised more than $525,000 Oct. 28 in the organization’s fight for LGBTQ Floridians. Read more on p. 12 and view a full gallery of photos at WatermarkOnline.com.

The Wet Spot Pool Bar and Day Club held its grand opening Oct. 29. Read more at WatermarkOnline.com. Halloween on Central 2 was held Oct. 30 and featured an LGBTQ spooktacular from organizations like Come OUT St. Pete, Metro Inclusive Health and St Pete Pride. Read more and view a full gallery of photos at WatermarkOnline.com.

MIZE Gallery announced Oct. 31 that its current St. Petersburg space will close this year, allowing owner Chad Mize to focus on a professional reset. Read more on p. 12. Johnsons Tampa announced Nov. 1 that Wednesdays will require no cover for entry. Read more about the new venue at WatermarkOnline.com. Metro Inclusive Health also shared that the space’s grand opening raised $1,800 for the organization’s youth services.

ALSO Youth celebrated three decades of advocacy, leadership, support and outreach in and around Sarasota Nov. 9 with “Now, More Than Ever,” the organization’s 30th Anniversary gala held in Sarasota. Read more about their work and the celebration at WatermarkOnline.com.

LOCAL BIRTHDAYS

CAN Community Health’s Kiala Santi (Nov. 10); Tampa Bay writer Mike Halterman, Tampa leather bear Brooks Davis, Tampa Bay entertainer Daisy Rae Welch, 9 Colors Initiative Founder Rocky Butler, BULGE Apparel & Gifts owner P.J. Salas (Nov. 11); Sarasota actor Brian Craft, Tampa Bay tangler Justin Geleta, Tampa Bay entertainer Mr. Vyn Suazion (Nov. 12); Dash Creative Group’s Jay Aller, Sarasota opera singer Ron Rispoli, Tampa networking guru Vincent Papaleo (Nov. 13); Ritz Ybor Marketing Director Okie Tilo, Tampa flutist Joseph Rose, Tampa Bay educator Brandon Rader (Nov. 14); Sarasota activist and GAIN member Bart Coyle, Tampa-based Out Q news freelancer Mike Wells, Fox enthusiast Aleksander Helios, Tampa Bay activist SueZie Hawkes (Nov. 15); Tampa Bay entertainer Chi Lalique (Nov. 16); Ray Sickles, AKA Sarasota diva Angelique Monet, St. Petersburg activist Randini Meyer (Nov. 17); Tampa Bay hairstylist Frank Piscopo, Stonewall activist Jay Chetney, Tampa Bay entertainer Lilith Black, Marketing extraordinaire Yasmin Marinaro-Basone, Tampa Bay nurse Michael Board (Nov. 19); Equality Florida Pinellas Development Director Todd Richardson, former Punky’s co-owner Lynn Deibert, Boys’ Entrance instrumentalist Bill Ramsey (Nov. 20); Tampa concert aficionado Dwayne McFarlane, St. Petersburg artist Jennifer Dunham (Nov. 21); Tampa swimwear designer La’Daska Mechelle, charity-driven Ybor resident Mike Hammonds, Tampa Hospice’s admissions manager Peter Shute, St Pete Pride Secretary Molly Robison (Nov. 22); Tampa actor Lauren Clark, Tampa Bay Sisters member John Miller (Nov. 23)

SPECIAL TREAT: Chris Hannay (L) joins “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Trinity the Tuck for Tuck or Treat at Enigma Oct. 30. PHOTO FROM ENIGMA’S FACEBOOK

QUEEN ME: Aquariius is crowned National Southeast Bearded Queen at Southern Nights Tampa Nov. 6. PHOTO BY MORGAN LE SHADE COURTESY THE TAMPA BAY SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE

BLAST OFF: Ryan Zubrick (L) and son Oliver take a trip through Halloween on Central 2 Oct. 30. PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMS-JENT

PURSE FIRST: Alex Miley (L) and partner Tyler enjoy Bob the Drag Queen at the Straz Center Nov. 4 after winning tickets from Watermark’s giveaway. PHOTO COURTESY ALEX MILEY

LOUD AND PROUD: DJ Ace Vedo and Angie Maldonado say LGBTQ at Equality Florida’s Tampa Gala Oct. 28 at Bryan Glazer JCC. PHOTO BY DYLAN TODD

TEAM HALLOWEEN: Metro Inclusive Health’s St. Petersburg staff strike a Halloween pose before their costume contest Oct. 31. PHOTO FROM METRO INCLUSIVE HEALTH’S FACEBOOK

VERY IMPORTANT DATE: CAN Community Health’s Tampa Bay staff and supporters go down the rabbit hole for an “Alice in Wonderland” drag show hosted by USF St. Pete Nov. 3. PHOTO FROM CAN COMMUNITY HEALTH’S FACEBOOK

OUT FOR THE EARLY: The Hillsborough County LGBTQ Democratic Caucus assists early voters in Tampa Nov. 6. PHOTO FROM THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY LGBTQ DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS’ FACEBOOK

announcements CENTRAL FLORIDA OUT+ABOUT

CONGRATULATIONS

Winter Park bakery, The Glass Knife, celebrates its fifth anniversary Nov. 10.

Equality Florida raised more than $338,000 during its Great Orlando Gala at the Harriett’s Orlando Ballet Centre Nov. 4, a record for the event. During the gala, the LGBTQ rights organization also honored both Will Larkins and the Jara family with the Voice for Equality award.

Larkins, a student at Winter Park High School, helped to organize the statewide student walkouts to protest the Parental Rights in Education bill, better known as the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill, earlier this year. They also testified against the bill in the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee and joined in filing a suit against it when it became law.

The Jara family — led by 10-year-old trans student Dempsey and Jaime, her mom and a high school teacher — have been advocating for trans kids in sports and gender-affirming care for LGBTQ youth. In March, they met with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to discuss the attacks by conservatives on LGBTQ students and their families in Florida.

CONDOLENCES

Central Florida-based flight attendant, James “Sparky” Sparkman passed away Oct. 31. He will be missed.

LOCAL BIRTHDAYS

The Orlando Gay Chorus show off their Halloween costumes to their social media followers Oct. 31. PHOTO FROM ORLANDO GAY CHORUS’ FACEBOOK

2

3

4

5

6

PHOTO BY DANNY GARCIA 7

SCREAM QUEENS: (L-R) Trixie Deluxxe, Chantel Reshae and April Fresh entertain at Savoy Orlando’s Ghouls and Giggles Halloween party Oct. 31.

PHOTO BY DANNY GARCIA

8

1

3 654 7

watermark Your LGBTQ News Source. NOVEMBER 10 - 22, 2022 // ISSUE 29.23 WATERMARKONLINE.COM 47

White

Lutz, Florida

ASHLEY AND SARAH WHITE FIRST

met online through Facebook Dating in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m pretty sure Sarah was the only person who responded to me at all, and she only messaged a couple of people,” Ashley says.

After long conversations getting to know each other, their first date was on her birthday at Sarah’s home.

“I walked into her house and Sarah was doing a puzzle,” Ashley remembers.

Then, after the date, Ashley began “feeling off.”

“I had no sense of taste or smell and when I told Sarah that, she thought I was joking around,” she says.

It wasn’t long before Sarah was sick, as well, and they decided

to quarantine together over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

“It’s a very, very quick way to find out if you like somebody,” Ashley says.

They spent their quarantine playing board games and as they recovered, testing out their slowly returning taste and smell.

In May 2021, the Lutz couple got engaged.

“When I met Sarah, that was it; I knew right away,” Ashley says.

With COVID still rampant, they decided to get married in a quick ceremony in August 2021 and then went bowling.

“We just wanted to get the marriage portion done,” Ashley explains. “Besides, I had to get

her to marry me before we went bowling and she saw how terrible a bowler I am.”

They decided to have their big party with friends and family at a later date.

They finally had their wedding party this past summer, on July 16, at Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa. The LGBTQ-affirming church has served the area for more than 50 years.

It was great to bring everyone together to celebrate, they say, including some coworkers they’d never met in person before.

Their theme was “fire and ice,” which featured deep red and light blue decorations.

“It’s been our little joke about each other,” Ashley says. “She’s very fire. I’m very ice. She’s hot. I’m cold.”

Since they don’t drink, they had a coffee hour, rather than a happy hour, and had Mr. Coffee Concierge make iced coffees for their guests.

They also hired Pasta Chef Catering to set up a pasta station for the event.

“It was so great how everything pulled together,” Ashley says.

From the beginning, the couple found they had a lot in common. They have similar backgrounds and values. They’re both first responders and in their conversations, they clicked.

“A lot of it was intellect,” Sarah says. “The fact that you could have a conversation and it flowed.”

She adds, “Everything just fell into place like a puzzle.”

Now, they’re starting a business together, White Knight Organizing, which offers professional office and home organizing, as well as packing and unpacking for moves. Sarah handles the digital marketing for the company while Ashley handles other aspects.

“It’s a good balance of working together but not on top of each other,” Ashley notes.

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

Tiffany Razzano

Everyone

CHOOSE EXPERT ER CARE.

With two conveniently located ERs, you’re never far from highly specialized emergency care. At Bayfront Health St. Petersburg we’re equipped to handle any emergency, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

• Board-certified emergency medicine physicians and an expertly trained clinical team.

• Only Level II Trauma Center in Pinellas County.

• Utilizes a Fast Track system for minor emergencies, providing personalized emergency care in less time. BayfrontStPete.com/ER

St. Petersburg | Pinellas Park*

*A SERVICE OF BAYFRONT HEALTH ST. PETERSBURG. THIS IS NOT AN URGENT CARE CENTER. ITS SERVICES AND CARE ARE BILLED AT EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT RATES.