22.23 Editor’s Desk

There are things we choose to remember, and there are things we can never forget along this bumpy road toward full equality for the LGBT community. A sort of monumental “Where were you when the sky turned blue – or black?” flashback syndrome of the historical variety, littered with victims and victors, footprints moving forward and sometimes back.

For me, Jan. 6, 2015, sticks right there in the craw for the same-sex marriage victory in Florida, as it should; nearby, you’ll find Feb. 14, 2015, the day that I married my best friend and husband Tony at a glorious outdoor wedding, hastily assembled as if out of fear that we might be imagining things or that it could disappear within the blink of an Alito eye. Then there was June 26, 2015, the day on which we could all – for now, anyway – breathe a sigh of relief, unclench our fists, put on some rings and hold hands in matrimony in all 50 states.

On the flipside, and equally as personal, are some other benchmarks that I might rather allow to slip out of my mind and down into the gutter of humiliating and humbling truths. There was April 8, 2012, the day my former partner Alan took his own life with a gun at our house after an 11-year relationship, unable to fight the culture war, his family, depression and AIDS any longer. Nearby the shrapnel of that horror (and its consequent three years of legal wrangling) sits March 12, 2013, the day I took my sob story to Tallahassee in order to fight for a statewide domestic partnership registry. The anxiety felt like a wobbling high-speed ceiling fan in my chest as I shakily gripped my testimony, ready to speak to a committee that was clearly divided on the issue of whether LGBT individuals should have any rights at all. When one state senator called out sick, the issue of a DPR died for the session. It was one more death than I could handle, honestly, and having to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Florida Family Policy Council president John Stemberger as he gloated about “killing the bill” only made the tragedy worse. Who are these cartoon characters? But I kept fighting, you kept fighting, hearts and minds shifted on their requisite plates and here we are today.

There are these binaries in life, but there are also loose ends. In this week’s issue, we confront the effects of marriage equality on local domestic partnership policies throughout our coverage area and Florida. Many municipalities did as much as they could to place a Band-Aid over the obviously cruel gaping void between compassion and conservative rhetoric, offering a relative feast of scraps for rights to both their staffs and, in many cases, their communities. Lately, local governments have been rolling back domestic partner benefits for their employees quietly, which, as some have purported, is tantamount to forcing marriage upon those who either can’t afford it or just aren’t ready to take the plunge yet. It’s a curious conundrum that speaks to both same-sex and opposite-sex partners; moreover, it raises questions about the future of public domestic partnership registries as governments pull out the scissors and look for fiscal redundancies. It’s definitely something we’ll be keeping our eyes on, especially in a presidential election cycle that seems to be circling back toward prejudice (at least on its right side) instead of keeping its eyes on the keeping this nation together.

But sometimes our eyes wander, too! Sandwiched in the middle of this issue, you’ll find some much-needed hilarity from comedian Lewis Black and RuPaul’s Drag Race breakout star Bianca Del Rio (this one loves to hate!). We’ll smile with civic pride at the burgeoning Trans Pride celebration over in St. Pete while simultaneously figuring out the whats and wherefores of a seemingly displaced St. Pete Pride in a world without Georgie’s Alibi. We’ll dip into viewpoints about environmental progress and hidden bigotry (even within the LGBT community). We’ll do what we have always tried to do: keep you informed and keep you entertained.

We probably won’t make history here, but we will forever honor it. We’re certainly not about to forget.