A new Sarasota Pride emerges
A brand new—and what many say is an improved—Sarasota Pride emerged in 2010 with a new logo, new board, new date and new location. The Oct. 30 celebration was outdoors for the first time in history and featured well over 50 vendors, outdoor entertainment and even a dunking booth. Organizer Cindy Barnes said the community had asked for an outdoor festival for years and although the previous Sarasota Pride at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was well attended in 2009, it had too many restrictions accompanying it. Police estimated that somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 people attended the inaugural festival and Barnes is already working toward a larger October 2011 event.
Sarasota celebrates Harvey Milk Day
It was a hot day on Saturday, May 22, but that didn’t stop several hundred revelers from participating in the first-ever Harvey Milk Festival in Sarasota’s Rosemary District. Several bands, artists and performers helped commemorate the nation’s first openly gay elected official on what would have been his 80th birthday. Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk introduced and helped pass gay rights measures in the city. He was assassinated in 1978. Sarasota’s festival was one among nearly 25 rallies in 20 states across the country, and crowds showed up almost immediately after the festival started the music. Organizer Shannon Fortner kept the festival focused on Harvey himself by adding theatrical and artistic acts to the entertainment lineup.
Trinity MCC gets a new pastor
After more than two years of operating under an interim pastor, Trinity Metropolitan Community Church finally found a permanent leader in August. The congregation elected Rev. Charles Tigard to the pulpit during a special election Aug. 22 and he began pasturing full time in September. The California native is a former pastor of MCC congregations in Harrisburg, Pa., and Key West, Fla. Interim pastor Lisa Heilig is now the interim pastor of Joy MCC in Orlando.
Bowling in Boxers makes a come back
Sure, bowling is fun—but it’s even more fun when everyone is in underwear! After taking a year off, one of the LGBT community’s largest fundraiser returned in 2010. The 11th Annual Bowling in Boxers event raised cash for charity at the AMF Gulf Gate Lanes on April 18 and was emceed by the hilarious David “Scarbie” Mitchell. Admission, auction items and a 50/50 raffle raised money for Diversity: The Voices of Sarasota and ALSO Out Youth.
Sarasota documentarian Tom Murray dies
The Sarasota community lost a leader and its premier LGBT filmmaker when Tom Murray passed away on Thursday, July 29. He was 65. Murray, who spent more than three decades with his surviving partner, Vince Kieler, began making films in 2004 and was finishing his seventh film when he died of a heart attack. Murray’s films focused on varying aspects of LGBT life. His first film, Farm Family, won multiple awards and focused on LGBTs living in rural America. Murray was active in several area organizations and his films were often showed at area film festivals in Sarasota and Tampa.
