As Queen would sing, another one bites the dust. Maybe I should just say another one bites! 2024 was an emotional strain that I think we are still recovering from.
In my last column of 2024 I made one big prediction, so big it’s the pull quote of this column on Dec. 7, 2023: “Trump will lose.” Well, that didn’t age well.
I guess it isn’t totally wrong. He was found guilty of 30+ felonies in a New York court. If Jack Smith’s cases were allowed to move forward he would have been exposed and he would have lost bigly. The Supreme Court had other plans and derailed that path with some remarkable immunity claims for the former president, now president-elect.
Despite the negative ending, 2024 was a landmark year for the Watermark team. We launched a membership campaign where readers can show their support for us with a monthly fee. We have had a handful of people take advantage of this and I cannot thank you enough. As the saying goes: LGBTQ+ journalism is free, producing it is not. The expenses continue to grow and this show of support from the community is needed and appreciated more than words on a page can convey.
Watermark also launched a 30th anniversary gift campaign. We sought to have 1,000 readers gift us $30 to help us celebrate the landmark year. Although we are far from reaching this goal, we had a large number of you come through and I am again eternally grateful for that support. If you have not contributed to this campaign and would like to, please visit WatermarkOnline.com/30th. There is still time.
We celebrated our 30th year of reporting your stories with an exhibit at the Orange County Regional History Center. It was the brainchild of former Watermark employee Scottie Campbell. They did an amazing job that far exceeded my expectations. It was a beautiful thing to see, 30 years of our history, of your history. I have spent nearly half of my life at Watermark and I could see every milestone reflected in that exhibit.
Watermark also put the finishing touches on the documentary “Greetings From Queertown: Orlando” and partnered with The Plaza Live and Come Out With Pride to showcase it during Pride with a Q&A with the cast afterward. My goal with this project has always been to celebrate the brave pioneers who helped build this community and it was beautiful to give them this moment. Keep your eyes peeled to Watermark for future updates. We are working on a streaming option that might make this available in your homes as soon as January.
“Wine, Wine Not: A Queer Podcast” will hit 100 episodes this month, thanks in part to the support of Pineapple Healthcare. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to it, Watermark’s Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Williams and I discuss our opinions of LGBTQ+ entertainment and talk about events we attend around the area. It is my favorite part of the week! Check out the Dec. 23 episode where we welcome a special guest for the first time: Watermark contributor, podcast listener and Pineapple Healthcare employee Andres Acosta Ardila.
It is nearly impossible to predict what 2025 will bring to our community. Will the nation now experience the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation we have faced in Florida for decades? Will we get a new governor? Will Lara Trump be our next state senator?
If I had to guess I would say yes to all of those things. Sadly, I feel like we are entering a dark time for the LGBTQ+ community and local journalism. The attacks will harden on our transgender and nonbinary community members first, resulting in cruel bathroom policing and denial of gender-affirming care on a national level. Whether it happens in legislation or the courts, it is on the horizon. Unfortunately, this will be met with some support within our own community from those who “don’t get it” and think support of trans rights “sucks up all the oxygen in the room.”
Once successful, MAGA will turn its attention to marriage equality. It will start with a misinformation campaign to garner majority support. Most likely as a plea to save our nation’s children. All that needs to happen is a repeal of the bipartisan law that protects us, then a case to the Supreme Court. From there the legality of our existence can be questioned. If this seems a bit extreme for you, check out Berlin before the Nazis took control.
Of course, my prediction for 2024 was wrong, so I could be wrong here and we do still have a fighting chance. We must stay visible and hold people accountable. The worst thing we can do right now is walk away from the fight. We have to read the news, know what is happening and be vocal in opposition to policies that hurt us and our siblings. Let’s get to the midterms and then create the change we need.
It’s about to get bumpy, but together we can make a difference. Stay visible, stay strong and support each other.
