What a year 2021 was. With the pandemic still in full swing and the not-so-peaceful transition of power after a divisive presidential election in 2020 that resulted in the storming of the U.S. Capitol, the past 12 months have been a roller coaster of getting out of the house and “getting back to normal” to skyrocketing COVID numbers and heading back to quarantine, hoarding toilet paper and catching up on the lives of those Tiger King folks. But it was also a year of local heroes continuing to show up and fight for the LGBTQ community. Is was a year of LGBTQ-owned businesses and nonprofits continuing to showcase the talents of this community.
Now, it is that time of year that we want to know from you, our loyal readers, who was the most inspiring? Who was the most motivating? Who was the best of the best in the LGBTQ community? It’s time for you to pick the 2022 WAVE winners, but first we need you to tell us who should be on that list.
The Watermark Awards for Variety and Excellence, or the WAVEs as we call them, recognize the best in Central Florida’s LGBTQ community in the areas of activism, service, entertainment and more.
There are about 50 categories to vote in. In each category, we ask our readers to write in who best represents the values of the LGBTQ community in your area. It can be any person, group or business that falls anywhere in our alphabet soup — including allies — as long as they have demonstrated their support for the community.
IMPORTANT NOTE: One vote per category per user. Multiple votes from a single user will be deleted. Each user must vote in a minimum of 15 categories to have their votes counted. Each ballot must include a valid email address.
Make sure when filling in your answers to include enough information so we can identify who, what and/or where you are speaking about. For questions asking for a person or group of people, make sure to put first and last name(s) of who you are voting for. For questions asking for “local” businesses, if there is more than one in your area (i.e., if you list Planet Fitness as your favorite fitness center) be sure to indicate the location of your favorite either with an address, district name, area or neighborhood.
The first round of voting, our write-in ballot, goes until 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 17. You tell us who as been the best of the best in the categories below. After the results have been tallied up, we will begin the next round on Jan. 21 at noon with the top picks from each category.
Good luck and let the first round begin!
