It’s here! That magical time of the year, kiddos—where the holidays are upon us and most people have a little more pep in their step and cheer in their voice.
It’s also that time of year when everyone is doing up lists. Santa has a list of nice and naughty children. Entertainment critics have lists of the year’s best films, shows and songs. Everyone has their list of all the personal changes they hope to make stick in 2019, me included. May the odds be ever in our favor.
It occurred to me as I began to write this column that it would be my last in the year it began, 2018. It’s been a year I’ll never forget for a number of reasons, “chief” among them that I celebrated one year on Watermark’s staff Dec. 11.
My first column highlighted how writing full-time had always been my lifelong dream, something I’ve reiterated ad nauseam, but I’m still thankful that I get to do it and that I get to do it here. I’m very grateful for the family I’ve made at Watermark, for our readers and for our advertisers who make all of this possible. The stories of our ever-expanding LGBTQ community matter and have to be told.
Angie Folks knew she would marry her wife, Lindsay Khanna, after a trip the couple took to St. Augustine.
“We took a long weekend trip to St. Augustine, inadvertently around Valentine’s Day,” Folks tells. “We had some bad luck with our accommodations but rolled with it and still had the best time. I think we both knew then that we had something really special. About 18 months later, we got engaged.”
TIJUANA, Mexico| Melani Sofía Rosales Quiñones, a transgender woman from Guatemala City, was on her way home one night in July 2017 when she saw a group of homophobes waiting for her. She said good evening to them and that alone provoked an atrocious attack.
“They hit me with bats and sticks,” Melani now recalls. “They broke my jaw and left jaw bone. I was in a coma in the hospital for three days and 15 days later I had surgery to reconstruct my face. They put in plates and screws. It took me four months to recover.”
NEW YORK (AP) | Nick Cannon isn’t just defending his friend and fellow comedian Kevin Hart over the Oscars hosting controversy. He’s also going after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences itself.
Cannon was one of many cheering the decision to appoint Hart as host of the Feb. 24 telecast but then with dismay watched as his friend voluntarily stepped down following an outcry over past homophobic tweets. Hart contended he’d already addressed those tweets and they no longer represented his views.
DETROIT (AP) | Authorities say the transgender status of a woman played a role in her fatal shooting in Detroit.
Albert Weathers of Sterling Heights was charged Monday with murder in the death of Kelly Stough, who was found dead on a Detroit street Dec. 7.
Ahead of Democrats assuming control of the U.S. House in the next Congress, the Congressional Transgender Task Force led by Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.) held a meeting on Capitol Hill on Dec. 12 with transgender rights supporters to outline priorities amid continuing anti-LGBT policies from the Trump administration.
The meeting was closed to the public, but Kennedy and other participants held a conference call immediately after the discussion to highlight key points, including oversight of the Trump administration’s anti-LGBT policies and advancement in the House of the Equality Act, legislation that would bar discrimination against LGBT people.
Outgoing Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) claimed a significant victory for the LGBT community on Election Day by becoming the first openly gay person elected governor in the United States.
Today, he remains focused on the work ahead — and decidedly modest about his LGBT milestone.
ORLANDO | The Florida Department of Health in Orange (DOH-Orange) and Seminole (DOH-Seminole) Counties announced they will offer free hepatitis A vaccinations to high-risk individuals, according to a press release Dec. 12.
Men who have sexual encounters with other men are among the list of high-risk groups, according to the DOH. Other groups include users of recreational drugs, those who are homeless, anyone with chronic or long-term liver disease and people with clotting-factor disorders.
ORLANDO | Southern Nights Orlando hosts the 11th annual Broadway Christmas cabaret, presented by Kai’ja Adonis and Jose Marrero and benefiting The Trevor Project, Dec. 20.
Adonis and Marrero began Broadway Christmas in the mid-2000s after they lost a friend to suicide.
University of Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray has issued an apology for old homophobic tweets he posted when he was 14 and 15 years old.
Murray, now 21, received the Heisman Trophy on Saturday after helping his team win a 12-1 record. Hours after Murray was honored with the award, his old homophobic tweets began to circulate. The tweets were posted between 2011-2012 and included the words “queer” or “queers.” Most of the tweets have since been deleted.
An estimated 18.8 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States say they have guns in their home compared to 35.1 percent of heterosexuals, according to a recently released study by the Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank associated with the UCLA School of Law.
Among other things, the study found that LGB adults are more likely than their heterosexual peers to support gun control laws or regulations such as background checks. It also found that among both LGB and heterosexual adults, non-Hispanic whites were more likely to have a gun in their home than people of other races and nationalities.
Sign Up for our eNewsletter
Follow Us
1. Why is sharing biblical warnings about sin hate? I would hope if the situations were reversed you would care... Nov 13, 9:44 PMInsults are a sign you surrender, I accept your concession. You are wrong on several points however. Proverbs 27:5 KJV... Nov 13, 5:39 PM
Love is Love, and I owe you no further time or argument. I refuse to have a battle of wits... Nov 13, 5:29 PM
Watermark is a multi-faceted media company using opportunities and innovations to communicate and advance LGBT interests, with a corporate emphasis on professionalism while building strong relationships with our readers, customers and community.
