Green Lantern that would address homophobia. According to the author, the idea for addressing the issue of gay bashing—verbal or physical abuse directed at the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and others) community—was inspired by the friendship that cartoonist Judd Winick (b. 1970) developed with Pedro Zamora (1972-1994), his openly gay, HIV-positive castmate on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. This article was published in The Watermark, Central Florida's local LGBTQ+ publication.

Since 1994, The Watermark has been the cornerstone source of LGBTQ+ centered news for the Central Florida region. Founded by Tom Dyer in Orlando, the publication began generating bi-weekly issues beginning August 31, 1994. Since then, The Watermark has consistently published newspaper-style issues every other Thursday. Gaining traction, the publication expanded in 1995 to include Tampa and, in 1997, The Watermark became a permanent piece of LGBTQ+ culture when the publication initiated the first large-scale Gay Days Weekend event, the Beach Ball at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Before 1999, the publication printed 20,000 copies every week, distributing them to over 500 locations between its two major cities. Following 1999, the publication launched watermarkonline.com shifting to an online publication style. In 2016, Rick Claggett purchased The Watermark.]]>
The Watermark Colors, Vol. 9, No. 19, September 12-25, 2002, page 1: Publications Collection, GLBT History Museum of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.]]> Watermark Media]]> The Watermark Colors, Vol. 9, No. 19, September 12-25, 2002, page 1.]]> The Watermark Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> Watermark Media.]]> Watermark Publishing Group and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.]]>