Tag Archives: Tampa

From the Hillsborough County School Board: The Hillsborough County School Board will hold an Emergency School Board Meeting on Wednesday, August 18, from 1-3:30 p.m. in the School Board Auditorium. Board Members will meet to discuss the latest district COVID-19 impact and will discuss the best way to mitigate against the spread of the virus, up to and including mandatory …

Tampa’s NBC News affiliate reports: Thousands of people flocked to streets across Tampa, Florida on Sunday evening to celebrate the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl victory, many of them ignoring public health measures implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Photos and video of the celebration, which kicked off soon after the home-team Bucs notched a 31-9 win over the Kansas …

The Hill reports: There will be heavy security at the Super Bowl on Sunday despite limited attendance after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) risk assessment found the event could be a target for criminal activity. DHS announced on Saturday that 500 DHS personnel will be at the Super Bowl since it garnered a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating. …

Just in from Equality Florida: Today, a federal trial court departed from numerous Florida and national rulings by striking down Tampa’s protections against conversion therapy for minors. Plaintiffs and the extremist, far-right Liberty Counsel brought the Vazzo v. City of Tampa lawsuit seeking to subject minors to the widely discredited and dangerous practice of conversion therapy. “This is a harmful …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Jane Castor is Tampa’s next mayor, making history as the first openly gay mayor to gain office in Tampa Bay. The retired police chief crushed opponent David Straz with 73 percent of the vote, stretching a near-win in the primary seven weeks ago into a full-on rout Tuesday night. It was over before the first …

NBC News Tampa reports: A woman who visited Hamburger Mary’s in Tampa is suing the establishment for $1.5 million after, she said, she was injured by a drag queen’s breasts. According to the complaint, Neldin Molina said she was with other guests and family members at the restaurant for dinner in May of 2015 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Amanda …

The Liberty Counsel has failed multiple times to overturn statewide ex-gay torture bans in California and New Jersey and were even smacked down TWICE by the US Supreme Court. But they’re trying yet again, this time in Tampa. Via press release: Liberty Counsel filed suit in federal court against the City of Tampa for its adoption of Ordinance 2017-47, which …

Overnight open thread for Irma watchers. Here’s the latest: Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida on Saturday, leaving a trail of death and destruction across the Caribbean and prompting one of the largest emergency evacuations in American history. The National Hurricane Center said on Saturday evening the eye of Irma was beginning to slowly move away from the coast of Cuba …

From the Washington Post: The Tampa Bay Rays wore “Orlando” patches and Orlando Rays hats to honor the Orlando shooting victims Friday night. (Chris O’Meara/Associated Press) The Tampa Bay Rays and San Francisco Giants honored the victims of last weekend’s shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub during pride night Friday at Tropicana Field. The Rays sported hats of the Orlando Rays, …

TampaBay.com reports: Two people died after attending the Sunset Music Festival at Raymond James Stadium over the Memorial Day weekend, according to Tampa police. A 22-year-old man was hospitalized Saturday and died Sunday, Tampa police spokesman Steve Hegarty said, and a 21-year-old woman was taken to a hospital Sunday and died Monday. While investigators await the results of toxicology tests, …

JMG reader Dan writes: “A few of us in the Tampa Bay area are trying to organize a meet-up at the Tampa Theatre on Sunday, Aug 2nd for the Summer Classics Movie Series feature Gone With the Wind. Although we interact regularly with other locals on your forum, we thought it might be fun to meet in person. Can you …

As the date for same-sex marriage nears, Tampa’s tourism authority is prepping a national ad campaign to lure honeymoon business. Earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled that a stay in the state’s ban on same-sex nuptials will be lifted Jan. 5 because of the ban’s unconstitutionality. If that holds up, Visit Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County’s nonprofit tourism branch, …

The cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, and Miami Beach today jointly filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs suing for same-sex marriage in a Tallahassee federal court. Also joining the brief are the popular LGBT tourism town of Wilton Manors, the tiny Miami-Dade County town of Biscayne Park, and the government of Broward County (home to Fort …

Via press release from Wodka: Panache Beverages’ Wodka vodka has released another in a series of eyebrow-raising outdoor advertising campaigns. This time, the brand takes aim at the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church. The church recently staged a public protest of Mizzou defensive end Michael Sam after the player came out publicly as gay. Wodka joins the mounting national counter-protest of …

Tampa’s WTSP-TV reports: The video shows a woman repeatedly yelling “God, you’re my savior!” as the plane lands. The man narrating the video claims she told fellow passengers her mother recently passed away and asked for prayers, before she escalated into the screaming chant. The narrator says flight attendants asked that he make sure the woman didn’t try approaching the …

Florida’s Hillsborough County Commission has unanimously repealed a seven year-old ban on the recognition of gay pride events. The vote was spurred by openly gay County Commissioner Kevin Beckner (above). The decision was met with applause and a standing ovation from supporters in the audience at County Center. Earlier Wednesday, the speakers included Terry Kemple, head of the Hillsborough-based Community …

By putting them in drag and having them dance to Call Me Maybe. For added humiliation, the players were forced to wear their outfits back to the team hotel in Boston. They all seemed to have a great time.

In past Schock has maintained that he is not gay. In addition to his vote against the repeal of DADT, he voted against the Hate Crimes Act and has stated his opposition to same-sex marriage. He has a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign and votes the GOP party line 93% of the time.

Buzzfeed has some funnier ones.

The teabaggers are disappointed. They wanted Palin or Hologram Reagan. Still it’s an interesting choice considering this from Eastwood last year: “These people who are making a big deal about gay marriage? I don’t give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making …