Nephew of the Week: Jeremiah Kerr
This very talented young guy is the Outreach and Community Coordinator at the USF Pediatric Infectious Disease Center in Ybor City. He is also the treasurer at PFLAG Tampa. In his free time you can find him with friends in GaYBOR. He is also a board member of the GaYBOR District Coalition.
You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
This time of year many of us Floridians travel up north to get away, ski or to experience snow. Afterwards we always say, “What the f— were we thinking?!?!?!”
One year we flew into Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was way below zero and there was a lot of snow and ice. We were all excited to see the family and parents. We were about 20 miles from the car rental when we noticed something. The car had no heat to warm our shivering bodies! We tried and tried to recalculate the digital heater. We were plain COLD!
We turned the car around and went back to the car rental agent. They told us that the car had come from the South. Sorry…no heat! WTF!
“I DO” and “I DO”!
What most people, gay or straight, never thought would ever happen in their lifetimes, actually did! Florida was the 36th state to have legalized same-sex marriage. It was more than exciting. It was the unthinkable. Tears came to so many…just because. You live your whole life growing up and sharing your life with someone you love, but marriage to that special person was out of reach and illegal if you were GLBT!
But all that has changed! Progressive political thinker and Clerk of Circuit Courts Pat Frank led a procession out to Joe Chillura Courthouse Square, across from the Hillsborough County Courthouse. She dressed in her late husband’s robe, then set out to hold an outside same-sex wedding ceremony for gay couples who applied for marriage licenses.
A total of 159 licenses were issued to loving partners in Hillsborough County, and in Pinellas 62 licenses were issued.
So at noon that day, 36 GLBT couples were legally married. Boy, how things have certainly changed! And to the state’s betterment. Short and sweet…now we don’t have to go up north to get legally married!
What I really enjoyed seeing was all the friends, family members and some of the couples’ children engaged in this memorable occasion. Love is love! Congratulations everyone.
