Every May, Sarasota hosts an LGBTQ film festival that's named after him. He was assassinated during the '70s and now, he is celebrated across the country as a symbol of pride. Harvey Milk Festival: Harvey Milk was California's first-ever openly-gay elected official.This coffee social hour, every other Sunday, is meant to be an open space for the Sarasota gay community, but all are welcome. LGBTQ+ Meetups at the Clever Cup: On the tamer side of socializing, there's a bi-weekly LGBTQ meetup at the Clever Cup.The $48-per-person brunch edition features a cocktail, a meal, and three rounds of bingo. Drag Queen Bingo Bonanza at McCurdy's Comedy Theatre: Once a month, Sarasota-favorite Beneva Fruitville (and her fellow drag queens, on occasion) take the stage at McCurdy's for a night of hilarious, sometimes-raunchy bingo.The group is membership-based, but you can buy $10 single tickets for happy hour events. It's a perfect opportunity for passersby to mingle with the local crowd. Dubbed G2H2, the revelers have been getting together for monthly outings for years now, rotating to different bars and restaurants around the city. Gay Group Happy Hours: Even the straight bars in Sarasota turn gay for this happy hour group.Rick Claggett is a long-time employee of Watermark Media and former board member of both the Metropolitan Business Association and Come Out With Pride.
Watermark Publishing Group, founded by publisher Rick Claggett, purchased Watermark in January of 2016. The award-winning newspaper currently maintains offices in Tampa Bay and Orlando and employs a full-time staff of 12, along with several part-time and freelance contributors.
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The newspaper donates more than $200,000 annually in free and sponsor advertising to worthy local and national LGBT non-profits. Watermark prints up to 20,000 copies every other Thursday, and distributes them in more than 500 locations throughout Orlando, Tampa Bay, Sarasota and throughout the state. Dyer is an attorney, former board member of the Metropolitan Business Association and Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and current advisory board member of the Harvey Milk Foundation. Watermark Media was founded by Tom Dyer in Orlando in 1994, and expanded to Tampa Bay in 1995. Watermark is a multi-faceted media company using opportunities and innovations to communicate and advance LGBT interests, with a corporate emphasis on professionalism while building strong relationships with our readers, customers and community. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for future updates. Watermark spoke with Honey Pot ownership and will share any additional information as it is made available. “Thank You for all you’ve done for me personally, and for the community, Honey Pot was Epic! I will Miss it, but always cherish it!” “Love you guys dearly,” the fan favorite performer wrote. Patrons past and present expressed their thanks for years of entertainment on the post, including Honey Pot’s longtime show director Amy DeMilo. “We are currently looking at other opportunities and hope to be back with a new venue shortly along with many more years of fun, parties, music & dancing! Stay tuned…” “Unfortunately, that means that Honey Pot will not be returning to Ybor,” they continued.
“Hello Friends! Despite our best attempts and hopes of reopening at our current location, the mounting expenses of maintaining the business while shut down without income for months has made it impossible to recover financially,” Honey Pot shared via social media March 27. While the space reopened intermittently over the last year, it was unable to do so sustainably – most recently closing over restrictions on dance floors in Hillsborough County. In addition to the Honey Pot, the group was responsible for Ybor’s G. The venue is the longtime venture of Ernie Webb, Steve Donahue and Stephen Moss, the trio behind The Florida Entertainment Group. TAMPA | The Honey Pot announced March 27 that the LGBTQ hotspot would not reopen in its current Ybor City location due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns and closures.īilled as one of Ybor’s “hottest clubs with the hottest people,” Honey Pot served Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ community for more than 13 years. ABOVE: The Honey Pot, photo via the venue’s Facebook page.