Looking Back at 2009 in Tampa Bay
What a year 2009 was. This is a small highlight of this past year’s top stories. GaYBOR District Coalition’s second year quadruples in membership, now at 270. Wow…what a difference a year makes! New GLBT club/store openings in the area include: Tampa Social Club, Tampa Eagle, Tribeca Colorsalon, Joffrey’s Coffee Shop, Agora Furnishings, Hamburger Mary’s, Flamingo Hotel and Ybor Resort & Spa. Major events in the community: St. Pete Pride’s Promenade attracted over 100,000 in attendance. The 2nd Annual GaYBOR Days …
Looking Back at 2009 in Tampa Bay
What a year 2009 was. This is a small highlight of this past year’s top stories. GaYBOR District Coalition’s second year quadruples in membership, now at 270. Wow…what a difference a year makes! New GLBT club/store openings in the area include: Tampa Social Club, Tampa Eagle, Tribeca Colorsalon, Joffrey’s Coffee Shop, Agora Furnishings, Hamburger Mary’s, Flamingo Hotel and Ybor Resort & Spa. Major events in the community: St. Pete Pride’s Promenade attracted over 100,000 in attendance. The 2nd Annual GaYBOR Days in July had acclaimed stature being recognized for the achievements with 3 government proclamations (Tampa City Council, Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio). The 20th Anniversary of Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival broke record attendance. A National Gay March on Washington in October had over 300,000 attending. A large number of bus loads of ralliers represented Florida. A new state organization was formed to work with all GLBT groups, OUT (Organizations United Together). A local NBC affiliate, WFLA TV 8, opted to air a homophobic hateful infomercial for the American Family Association on St. Pete Pride. They received a lot of hate mail and were picketed by hundreds of GLBTA protesters. Some of the firsts included Tampa first newly appointed lesbian Police Chief Jane Castor, newly elected gay St. Petersburg City Councilman Steve Kornell, and of course taking the oath of Hillsborough County Commissioner at the beginning of the year, gay advocate Kevin Beckner. Tampa Bay Business Guild chose us to receive the Citizens of the Year Award (wow, were we honored beyond belief!). We lost many great friends, including: Rex Maniscalco (photographer and GLBT genealogists) and Jim Riis (school teacher and Log Cabin political activist). Here’s hoping 2010 is just as exciting as 2009!
