The Watermark, Vol. 12 No. 23, November 17-30, 2005
Gay culture--United States
The twenty-third issue in the twelfth volume of <em>The Watermark</em> was published on November 17, 2005, and covers relevant news in the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning, and others) community. The cover story features the cast of RENT, a film based on the musical of the same name. Other stories include the trial of Steven Lorenzo, a man accused of nine accounts of date rape and the murder of two Tampa Bay men, the recent developments in adoption laws, festivities and holiday support groups, St. Petersburg city council elections, and the impact of Hurricane Wilma. The issue features interviews with Dolly Parton, Eartha Kitt and the cast of RENT. It also provides information on discrimination laws and recent development in AIDS home testing. This issue of <em>The Watermark</em> deals heavily with the concept of gay culture, social injustice and its lasting impact on LGBTQ+ individuals.<br /><br />
Since 1994, <em>The Watermark</em> 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, <em>The Watermark</em> has consistently published newspaper-style issues every other Thursday. Gaining traction, the publication expanded in 1995 to include Tampa and, in 1997, <em>The Watermark</em> 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 <em>The Watermark</em>.
Dyer, Tom
Wiethop, Dave
Hartlage, Kirk
Blanchard, Steve
Carballo, Charlie
Buck, Lisa
Baber, Keith
Burton, Greg
Crescitelli
DeJesus, Edwin
Jenkins, Georgia
Kundis, Ken
Masters, Billy
Middour, Bryan L.
Murray-Parker, Karen S.
Nolan, Margaret
Paull, Anthony
Roehr, Bob
Triggs, Greg
Wiggins, Jayelle
Wilde, Diane
Bechdel, Alison
Maniscalo, Rex
Moore, Travis
Eckert, Tom
Original 76-page newspaper: <a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank"><em>The Watermark</em></a>, Vol. 12, No. 23, November 17-30, 2005: Publications Collection, <a href="http://glbthistorymuseum.com/joomla25/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">GLBT History Museum of Central Florida</a>, Orlando, Florida.
<a href="http://www.watermarkonline.com/" target="_blank">Watermark Media</a>
application/pdf
eng
Text
Orlando, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
Seminole Heights, Tampa, Florida
Lakeland, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Miami, Florida
Key West, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Washington D.C.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Augusta, Maine
Atlanta, Georgia
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt
Education--Florida
Civil rights--Florida
Gainesville (Fla.)
Tallahassee (Fla.)
Colleges
Universities
Homosexuality--Florida
<em>Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt</em>, known colloquially as <em>The Committee</em>, is a short film about the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee's investigation of communism and homosexuality amongst students and faculty at Florida colleges and universities. Commonly known as the Johns Committee, the committee was led by state senator and former governor Charley Eugene Johns (1905-1990). The committee was established in 1956 and originally focused on the investigation of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, an historically African-American university, for its faculty's and staff's involvement of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott (1956-1957). However, as the committee expanded its McCarthy era anti-communist witch hunt, it came to focus on the homosexual lifestyles of many faculty members and students at colleges and universities. After growing public critique of the committee's activities, it was eventually disbanded on July 1, 1965. <br /><br /><em>The Committee</em> centers on the anti-homosexual investigations of the Johns Committee. The film was produced and directed by University of Central Florida professor Dr. Robert Cassanello and Dr. Lisa Mills. Other producers include Slyvana Fernández and Logan Kriete, and Monica Monticello serves as associate producer. The screenplay was written by Monica Monticello, Kathryn Paulson, and Amy Simpson, with research conducted by Alex Boyce and Shay Cambre. Ben Taylor and Alex Wood were the cinematographers and the arts and graphics were created by Patrick Fenelon and Adrien Mills. The film was edited by Aaron Hosé, with the aid of assistant editors Chelsea Echols and David Mariutto. <em>The Committee</em> includes interviews with Ruth Jense-Forbell, a lesbian student interrogated by the Florida State University Police Department in 1964-1965; Chuck Woods, a homosexual student interrogated by the University of Florida Police Department while attending the university from 1959 to 1965; John Tileston, Sr., a UF police officer who investigated various faculty members and students, including Woods; Dr. Karen Graves, a professor of education at Denison University and the author of <em>And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida’s Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers</em>; Dr. Judith Poucher, a professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville; Bob Graham, a graduate of UF, the 38th Governor of Florida (1979-1987), and former U.S. Senator for Florida (1987-2005); and Dr. Fred Fejes, a professor of multimedia studies at Florida Atlantic University. <em>Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt</em> won various awards and accolades, including an Emmy Award.
Cassanello, Robert
Mills, Lisa
Fernández, Slyvana
Kriete, Logan
Original 23-minute and 58-second motion picture produced by Dr. Robert Cassanello, Dr. Lisa Mills, Slyvana Fernández, and Logan Kriete: <a href="http://www.thecommitteedocumentary.org/" target="_blank"><em>Florida's Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt</em></a>, <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>, Orlando, Florida, 2013.
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES<br /></a>
Hosé, Aaron
Monticello, Monica
Paulson, Kathryn
Simpson, Amy
Taylor, Ben
Wood, Alex
Brown, Timothy
Hosé, Brigitte
Echols, Chelsea
Mariutto, David
Boyce, Alex
Cambre, Shay
Fenelson, Patrick
Mills, Adrien
Jensen-Forbell, Ruth
Woods, Chuck
Fejes, Fred
Graham, Bob
Graves, Karen
Poucher, Judith
Tileston, John, Sr.
Jensen-Forbell, Elizabeth
application/website
eng
Moving Image
Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Florida State College at Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida
Stonewall Inn, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York