Love, exciting and new; come aboard, we’re expecting you! It’s WAVEs week, which means that we’ve been buried in profiles and lost in the madness of photo shoots and the interstate, but it also means that we love you, as do many other people.
Without being too repetitive (see the actual WAVE section inside), this issue is one of our favorites to put together. The Tampa Bay community and Central Florida community have come to know and love the WAVEs for nearly two decades, and this year they turned out in droves. This year, of all years, our LGBTQ community needed it. This year we received one of our largest responses in history.
The Watermark Awards for Variety and Excellence were launched in 2001 to show a mirror upon this LGBTQ community so that it could know that, with a little perseverance, we could make it and we could make it big. Scrolling through the list of winners, it’s easy to see why. Each among them has dedicated his or her life to pushing through walls, crushing boundaries and making a difference. It may sound pat, but it’s important, and here’s why.
In the coming months we are going to be facing challenges we haven’t faced for decades. In the coming months we’re going to have to steel ourselves and make it matter. In the coming months, we’re going to have to reignite a flame that may have faded, whether through joy (marriage equality) or fear (a new administration running the White House). In the coming months, we’ll be more than just a gaggle at a polling place or a spark in a longtime narrative. When we rise, we rise.
It’s an interesting conversation to have, and Watermark publisher and owner Rick Claggett posits a similar perspective in his column in this issue.
“It takes courage to be feminine, to be masculine or to be both. It takes courage to go to a gay bar, to walk hand in hand with your partner and to fall in love,” he writes. “It takes courage to hold your leadership to a high standard of honesty and integrity, inside your community and all the way to the White House.”
But this White House is a different White House, and by now – even with apparent concessions littered across Congress in late February – we’re going to have to pull on our big pants and make some noise. That’s why it’s so important that we have allies and a community to support us. I’m fairly certain that everyone I know right now is living on an anxiety diet, so this is real.
It’s not more real than us, though. It’s not more real than anything that we see playing out before us on When We Rise, nor is it more real than the tragedy at Pulse. It’s not more real than entertainers like the Ten Tenors and Paula Poundstone; it’s not more real than crying in your soup, either. This is our time for celebration at Watermark, and so we’ll just go ahead and own it.
On March 9 and 10, we’ll be holding celebrations – galas, if you will – in both Orlando and Tampa Bay. We’ll be throwing off the shackles of a somewhat miserable political season and the horrendous event that preceded it. We will rise. We will survive.
Actually, we’ll do more than that. We will stand on the streets and repeat Harvey Milk’s mantra of “I am here to recruit you.” We’ll be ourselves, because that’s what it’s all about anyway.
To the victors, enjoy your delicious spoils. It takes a lot to motivate your audiences these days – hello, Facebook and Twitter – and all of you did just that in record numbers. All eyes are on Florida lately, and Florida, despite Florida Man, doesn’t like to disappoint. We’ve already been disappointed enough. We have fun and we like it.
To those who didn’t win, there’s just as much love in this community for you. What you’re doing is making a difference in this world – making WAVEs, you might say – and all of your services and personages are greatly appreciated. It’s only a popularity contest when people are involved, and you have certainly been involved.
You’ll also find some interesting information on a Congressional push to block a rollback on trans rights, all of the latest on Manatee Pride and Tampa Pride, some bits and pieces about how we’re pushing forward, and maybe, just maybe, an image of yourself.
So, kick back, grab a stiff drink or person, turn on a lamp and absorb our 2017 WAVE Awards issue.
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