Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner got every chair to turn when he was awarded the 2015 Voice for Equality Award at the Ninth Annual Tampa Gala by Equality Florida. The first openly gay person to hold office in Hillsborough County, Beckner introduced a domestic partner registry for the county just a couple of months after taking office in 2008, which was shut down, then gained the momentum to get it passed unanimously in 2014. More than 600 people attended the event to see Beckner accept his award.
In a legislative year that would be filled with crappy bills, Republican State Representative Frank Artiles of Miami filed the “Single-Sex Public Facilities” bill Feb. 7. The bill looked to bar people from using restrooms that align with their gender identities. The controversial bill was an obvious transphobic piece of legislation yet Atiles defended it saying it was not about discriminating against transgender people, but rather attempting to stop criminal acts that were not actually occurring in public restrooms.
Love is in the air as Valentine’s Day serves as the day (future) Watermark editor-in-chief Billy Manes weds Tony Mauss at the Acre. The marriage of Orlando’s dynamic duo was the event of the season in a year filled with marriage celebrations by same-sex couples across the country. This would turn out to be a huge year of change for both Manes and Watermark.
Wow, what a difference MC Film Fest made for Tampa. After 26 years of bringing film, fest and friendships to the Ybor strip, Mark Bias and Carrie West announce they are closing up the MC Film Fest shop. Much in the way Blockbuster Video ended its reign, film (especially LGBT cinema) has become so readily available online that video stores don’t have the same place in culture that they once did. While the shop closed up, Mark and Carrie certainly did not and continued their work in the Gaybor district.
They fell in love in a hopeless place. After five seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead, a post-zombie apocalyptic TV drama, we finally come across a loving, caring couple of men and discover not all LGBT relationships were destroyed by the flesh-eating walkers. Aaron and Eric were not only the first gay couple to appear on the hit show but a kiss shared between the happy couple sparked a Trump-sized hatefest on social media with many fans of the show taking to Facebook and Twitter asking why all the gay people couldn’t have been eaten by zombies. Lucky for the show (and humanity) not everyone who watches The Walking Dead is a homophobe and ratings for the series continued to be some of the highest on TV.
Well goooolly. The former acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning was selected by U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter as his Chief of Staff, and the first openly gay man to hold the post. Fanning was named the Acting Air Force Secretary in June 2013, at that time he became the highest ranking LGBT person in the Defense Department. While Fanning being appointed is an obviously spotlight on the LGBT community in the military, the American Military Partnership Association stressed that Fanning’s appointment was “due to his experience first and foremost.”
Left of Center. Former Orlando GLBT Center interim executive director Russell Walker leaves to become the events manager for the Hope and Help Center Feb. 16. Walker moved up to community development director and is one of the reasons 2015 Headdress Ball was the huge success it was. Russell became involved with Hope and Help among changing times with HIV/AIDS in a year that has seen new advances in developing a vaccine and a push to get the sexually active to become educated on PrEP.
The Zebra Coalition believes that children are our future and they are looking to teach them well and let them lead the way with the launch of their Education Fund Feb. 27. The fundraiser was a kick off for the Jefferson R. Voss Education Fund for the Zebra Coalition Youth. The event, sponsored by John Michael Weddings and Savoy, offered the opportunity to learn about funding and how to donate. The scholarship foundation looks to assist LGBT youth that have difficulty securing funding for college.
Una Voce, the Florida Men’s Chorale, brought a Mid-West voice on board as they welcomed native Iowan Joseph Caulkins as their new director February 2015. Caulkins studied at the University of Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois University before heading to Florida where he directed the Southwest Florida Symphony and was artistic director of Key Chorale in Sarasota. Caulkins introduced himself to the Tampa Bay area later in the year with a tribute concert to Harvey Milk.
