Mini Pride may come to Sarasota
On the heels of was undoubtedly a wildly successful Sarasota Pride, organizer Cindy Barnes is already considering expanding her role in the LGBT community. While sharing her thoughts on the 2011 festival that was held Oct. 22, she said the City of Sarasota approached her and asked if she would be interested in organizing a summer festival. Barnes was quick to point out that any secondary event would not compete with St. Pete Pride or other Prides in the state and that it would strictly be an indoor affair. “Air conditioning would be key,” she told us. While her “mini-festival” is in the preliminary stages, she did share that in February she hopes to hold a sort of town hall forum for different LGBT organizations to create a network for change. Details will be released later in the winter, she said.
Leather and Fetish Pride arrives at Flamingo
For the first time, the Tampa Bay area will have what's described as an event for the “Leather, Fetish, Kink, BDSM, SM Lifestyle for all.” Not coincidentally, the celebreation at the Flamingo Resort is on Nov. 11 (11/11/11) and is affiliated with Tampa Leather Sir n boy 2012. As with most leather events, Leather and Fetish Pride will benefit charities”namely the Francis House, Mr. Friendly, Tampa Metropolitan Community Church and the AIDS Service Association of Pinellas. The weekend long celebration will incorporate a salute to veterans and sounds by DJ Phil DaBeatz and Cyon Flare. For details and information, visit TampaBayLeathernFetishPride.com.
Familiar territory, new names
Watermark enjoys sharing breaking news, so asking us to sit on something is incredibly difficult. But out of respect, we won't share all of the details of two major developments coming to Pinellas County in the next month. What we can share is that there are two LGBT destinations currently negotiating contracts in some high-traffic and familiar territories in two southern areas of the county. Once finalized, LGBTs will have even more options when celebrating Pinellas County's LGBT community and we'll once again do our part to revitalize a part of our community and add even more culture to another. We've been told details on both businesses will be official in mid-November.
