If there was any doubt about Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's support of the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, it was put to rest when the city's new mayor took to the podium on opening night Oct. 6.
â┚¬Å”I couldn't be prouder of what this festival has accomplished by making Tampa a place for distribution place for films and for amazing parties,â┚¬Â Buckhorn told those attending the opening night film at the Tampa Theatre. â┚¬Å”It's a signal to the country that this community celebrates diversity as a strength.â┚¬ÂÂ
Buckhorn has big shoes to fill in the eyes of LGBT citizens. His predecessor, Pam Iorio, attended every TIGLFF during her eight-year tenure and received standing ovations before and after every appearance.
The crowd at the 22nd Annual TIGLFF opening did show their enthusiasm, applauding for nearly a minute before Buckhorn spoke.
â┚¬Å”I appreciate that but you can keep it,â┚¬Â Buckhorn joked. â┚¬Å”It's you who deserve it. Even when politicians felt differently about diversity you stood up and never stopped. You are part of what makes this community unique and I look forward to doing this every year.â┚¬ÂÂ
Buckhorn was followed by Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor, who got a laugh when she paused before saying, â┚¬Å”It's my people!â┚¬ÂÂ
The out police officer was a onetime liaison to the LGBT community before she became assistant police chief under Stephen Hogue. She was appointed to chief by Iorio following Hogue's retirement in 2009.
â┚¬Å”This is a great event and it showcases what's so great about Tampa,â┚¬Â she said. â┚¬Å”This shows that everyone in the city is valued.â┚¬ÂÂ
She added that the return of the festival's black tie gala was especially exciting to her, since she already had a black tie incorporated into her uniform.
While the crowd at the opening night celebration seemed smaller than year's past, TIGLFF Board President Ken Hodges was optimistic, sharing later in the week that ticket sales were picking up and that festival pass sales were equal to last year's numbers.
â┚¬Å”It's always a struggle and it's a tough economy out there,â┚¬Â Hodges said. â┚¬Å”But it is going smoothly and we have some extremely powerful and fun films to showcase over these 11 days.â┚¬ÂÂ
Tampa secured those films thanks to the hard work of this year's festival programmer, K.J. Moore, who also spoke on opening night.
â┚¬Å”Tampa is a festival I always heard of as awesome for hospitality,â┚¬Â she said. â┚¬Å”I'm thrilled to be involved and it was extremely hard to pick films for this year's festival because there were so many great ones to choose from. I think you'll enjoy every one you'll see.â┚¬ÂÂ
The 22nd Annual TIGLFF runs through Oct. 16 and its annual Sugar and Surge parties will be at The Honey Pot and The Ritz Ybor, respectively, in Ybor City on Saturday, Oct. 15. For details, visit TIGLFF.com or get a festival guide here.
