Watermark Editor, 2006-2009
From 2006 to 2009, I had the honor of serving as Watermark’s first female editor-in-chief. I’m so proud of my time there and grateful that I had the opportunity to not only write about the diverse community in Orlando, but to become a part of it as well.
Watermark was my first foray into local journalism after editing and writing for pioneering national LGBTQ+ (then referred to as “gay and lesbian” or GLBT) publications Out Magazine and The Advocate when I resided in the queer-friendly bubble of Los Angeles.
Florida was way different from California. I’d attended middle school, high school and college in Central Florida, and the feelings of not fitting in led me to move all over the country in my 20s, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, New Mexico and back to my birthplace of New York. When the cost of living proved too much in Brooklyn, a desire to be closer to my family and have a more sustainable lifestyle brought me back to the Sunshine State. There was no longer a queer bubble. It was a challenge to adapt. Florida was a red state (like it is now, of course) and we were trying to paint it rainbow.
Social media was in its infancy, and MySpace was the big player. Before memes and reels, print journalism had a much bigger impact. Sure, we had cell phones but we only used them to talk and text. When we had disagreements, we had difficult discussions and couldn’t hit block to eliminate people from our lives.
It was a thrill to interview celebrities for Watermark. There’s not much that compares to picking up the phone and hearing Liza Minnelli, John Waters or Lily Tomlin on the other end asking for you by name. When I asked Liza about following in her late mother Judy Garland’s iconic footsteps, she quickly reminded me that she’d won more awards than her mother had ever won. She was fiery and unpretentious, and I loved every minute of our conversation.
Politics got me more fired up though. It seemed our biggest barrier to equality was President George W. Bush. Yes, I even had the “Worst President Ever” bumper sticker. Then, in 2008, a young Black senator from Illinois named Barack Obama entered the primary contest for president. I loved Hillary Clinton as well but there was something magical about Barack Obama, and I endorsed him over Hillary despite many in the community’s understandable allegiance to Clinton. I was, as founder and then-publisher Tom Dyer called me, a lightning rod. My worldview was forever changed after photographing Obama from about 15 feet away at a National Urban League conference at the Orange County Convention Center. When he won the election, I danced and celebrated in the streets of Thornton Park with Black and Brown people, LGBTs, and our straight allies. It was electric. We wept with joy.
As I write this tonight, I am watching the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and Barack Obama is delivering one of his most powerful, inspiring speeches, endorsing the first woman of color for the office of the presidency. George W. Bush is far from the Worst President ever since Donald Trump joined the political fray and lied and defrauded legions of people on his way to the top. But I feel that familiar electricity again seeing Kamala Harris. As the cliché goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I’m doing a lot of praying for our future as I reflect on our past.
Thank you Watermark for having me. Congratulations on 30 years!
