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The Tampa Museum of Art, Inc.’s annual Pride & Passion will return May 31 for “an unforgettable evening of Shakespearean splendor” benefiting the museum’s Art Space and Connections programs.

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Netflix's “Emilia Pérez" had 13 nominations, with first-time nominee Karla Sofia Gascón making history as the first trans woman to be nominated for best actress. The film only won two awards: for best supporting actress and best original song.

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Tampa Bay celebrated the diversity, excellence and resilience of its LGBTQ+ community with the WONDER Awards celebration at Cocktail Feb. 28. View our photos from the step and repeat here.

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Project Pride has announced key dates for this year’s forthcoming events, including the return of the nonprofit’s Grand Carnival and the inaugural Gulfcoast Pride.

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Several hundred people took to the streets of D.C. on March 1 to protest the Trump-Vance administration’s policy proposals and executive orders targeting the transgender community.

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LGBTQ+ travel company Vacaya said the Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas, which had left from New Orleans, discovered the migrants’ boat in the Yucatán Channel, a strait between Mexico and Cuba that connects the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

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The Pentagon said Feb. 27 that within 30 days it will draft and submit a procedure to identify service members who are transgender and begin discharging them from the military within 30 days of that date.

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The justices heard arguments in an appeal from Marlean Ames, who contends she was passed over for a promotion and then demoted because she is heterosexual. Both the job she sought and the one she had held were given to LGBTQ+ people.

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For transgender students involved in a very special project at the Culinary & Hotel Institute of Pakistan, there is more to a class than just learning the art of cooking.

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Watermark Out News celebrated its 2025 WONDER Award winners in Central Florida at the Renaissance Theatre Company last night. Check out all of the photos from the celebration here.

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"Qmunity isn’t just about being an LGBTQ+ safe space; it’s about celebrating diversity in all forms," owner Gina M. Garcia says of the Venice restaurant, which opened its doors last June.

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Those arrested, who were part of a group of more than 30 activists, began chanting and blowing whistles while holding signs, “Save USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development), Save Lives” and “US Congress Kills People With AIDS Worldwide.”

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The WONDER Awards recognize the best in Central Florida and Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ+ community in the areas of activism, service, entertainment and more. Readers voted in record numbers and the results are detailed here!

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"Maybe it’s time we put less focus on angry social media posts that preach to the choir and ... take a lesson from those who came before us and stand on the front lines," Publisher Rick Todd writes in his latest column.

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Readers voted in record numbers for the 2025 WONDER Awards, and now your results are here! Our Tampa Bay cover features Alex Quinto, Veronica Foxx, Marta Opsasnick, Daniel Harris and Jobsite Theater's Colleen Cherry and is on newsstands at bit.ly/3pxInxr and out digitally at WatermarkOutNews.com.

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Readers voted in record numbers for the 2025 WONDER Awards, and now your results are here! Our Central Florida cover features Brianna Rockmore, Tymisha Harris, Ken Terrell, Ivy Les Vixens and Edil Hernandez and is on newsstands near you bit.ly/3pxInxr and available digitally at WatermarkOutNews.com.

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Pride at the Village, last held in 2023, returns this Saturday at Studios @ 5663 in Pinellas Park.

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Join Watermark Out News for our WONDER Awards celebration this week! Central Florida celebrates tomorrow at the Renaissance Theatre Company and Tampa Bay celebrates Friday at Cocktail St Pete. The awards nights are proudly presented by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AHF Pharmacy and Out of the Closet.

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The mayoral campaign for Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskamani kicked off with an event Monday night featuring speeches from many local leaders and Eskamani delivering a message of hope for the city of Orlando. Eskamani announced in December that she is running to become the next mayor of Orlando.

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The Singhaus Oscar Watch Party, benefiting the Singhaus Scholarship Fund, was a time-honored tradition of the Singhaus Family and the party is continuing! Dress to impress for the live broadcast of the Academy Awards hosted by Central Florida’s own Gidget Galore and Divine Grace as Bea Arthur.

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Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas’ brain tumor has returned, and the 80-year-old intends to lead his final performance in April.

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Hunter Schafer says “it’s important to just keep track of where things are in our country,” a day after the “Euphoria” star posted a video in which she revealed her new passport had been issued with a male gender marker.

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Members of the British band The 1975 cannot be held personally liable for losses of a Malaysian music festival that was shut down by authorities after lead singer Matty Healy kissed a male bandmate on stage, a London judge ruled.

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A judge ruled that the law was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad,” allowing drag performances to continue in parts of the state. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision in July, ruling that the theater company that filed the complaint lacked standing to sue.

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Michigan Rep. Josh Schriver, a far-right politician representing the state’s 66th district, introduced a resolution to the U.S. Supreme Court Feb. 25 calling for the overturning of Obergefell v. Hodges, a historical case requiring states to recognize same-sex marriages.

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Hamburger Mary's announced they are in the “home stretch” of opening their new location in Kissimmee. The LGBTQ+ restaurant, which closed in downtown Orlando after 16 years last June, will take over the Capone’s Dinner & Show building off Highway 192, but not before a total revamp and remodel.

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Junk Journal Club was founded by Bela Colamarco as a social club for Orlando residents to make friends and memories while working on “junk journals.” The next meeting will be March 29 from 4-7 p.m. at Ivanhoe Park Lager House. Find more information at WatermarkOutNews.com, link in bio.

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Don't miss your chance to see Kylie Minogue at the Kia Center in Orlando April 13. Go to urlshorty.co/kylie to bid on a private concert suite for 16 people. Proceeds go to the Singhaus Scholarship for the Performing Arts. Bidding goes on until March 9.

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“I see this as an opportunity for me to continue her legacy of fighting for what’s right, of serving the residents of District 42 and making sure that all of our voices are heard in Tallahassee.” --Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet on running for Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskamani's District 42 House seat.

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Zebra Youth’s second annual “Strikes For Stripes” event took place Feb. 16 at Aloma Bowl in Winter Park. The fundraiser not only brought in more than $26,000 but also brought the community together for a night of bowling, raffles, a silent auction and a myriad of other competition-driven events.

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Come OUT St Pete‘s Chili Cook-Off will return March 1 in the Grand Central District. The competition has been a staple in the city for over a decade and was turned over to COSP in 2023. This year’s event will be a part of the district’s Mardi Grad Street Fair and will feature fun for all ages.

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The couple, aged 24 and 18, were arrested on Nov. 7. The lead judge said that the two college students were “legally and convincingly” proven to have had gay sex and would receive 85 and 80 strokes respectively.

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Winter Pride 2025 finished strong with its first Grand Central District street festival Feb. 23, wrapping a week’s worth of festivities with headliners Monét X Change, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige, Jewels Sparkles and more. View our photos here.

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Winter Pride supporters gathered at FloridaRAMA Feb. 22 for their inaugural Drag Race, where the victorious team of drag sisters won $5,000 for Southern Legal Counsel. Read more and view our photos here.

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"LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History" was originally published by the National Park Foundation for the National Park Service.

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The fifth annual Venice Pride will be held March 8 at SunCoast MCC, featuring Diversity: The Voices of Sarasota, a Pride Pet Parade and more.

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Their brief but heated exchange happened during a meeting of the National Governors Association at the White House on Friday.

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The suit focuses on Target’s 2023 Pride campaign, a product collection in advance of Pride Month. The collection raised tensions in favor of and against the campaign, ultimately resulting in Target removing some items. This story courtesy Florida Phoenix News.

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Lawmakers in several states have introduced bills prohibiting Medicaid coverage of gender-transition services, prevent state/county health professionals from providing it or bar the use of public money to pay for such care for adults who are incarcerated. This story courtesy Florida Phoenix News.

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The webpage, which went live Feb. 19, for HHS’s Office on Women’s Health highlights President Donald Trump’s executive actions defining sex in a manner that excludes transgender, nonbinary and intersex populations.

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In the first month of his second term, Donald Trump has ousted the Kennedy Center’s leadership, filled the board of trustees with his supporters and announced he had been elected the board’s chair — unanimously.

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Cynthia Erivo, who has won a Grammy, Emmy and a Tony, will host the Tony Awards on June 8. They will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

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Florida marked 10 years of marriage equality last month. Local couples, Equality Florida and other LGBTQ+ advocates reflect on the milestone and how safe same-sex marriages are under the Trump administration.

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Maia Monet reflects on being a transgender person "in Donald Trump's America" for her latest viewpoint column.

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Read Tampa Bay Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Sister Juana Reaction's latest "Positive Reactions" Viewpoint, online now!

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The three-day event will span 10 city blocks and featuring hundreds of artists including Michael James Scott, Blue Man Group and Drawn to Life, presented by Cirque du Soleil and Disney.

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"We believe in the power of music to educate and uplift, to foster love, understanding, and community, and we regret that this opportunity has been taken away," the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington shared.

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Winter Pride held its signature Trans-N-Dance Feb. 18 at The Ball, welcoming supporters to the celebration's first trans-focused event. Read more and view our photos here.

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Muhsin Hendricks, who is widely regarded as the first openly gay Muslim imam, was ambushed by two men while visiting the southern city of Gqeberha in South Africa Feb. 15.

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Maia Monet reflects on being a transgender person "in Donald Trump's America" for her latest viewpoint column. Read it in our new issue by finding a print edition near you at bit.ly/3pxInxr and in the digital version here: bit.ly/3D346Uw

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