Dishing with Mark n Carrie…Gay Pirates? YES

Children’s Gasparilla Day Parade

Saturday, January 31 – The Day Parade

Gay Pirates from Bil Browing

Pirates didn’t just break the law; they broke the rules of straight society.

During the Golden Age of Piracy, some crews practiced matelotage. That’s a French term. It means something close to “shipmate marriage.” Two men entered a legal-style partnership. They shared money, food, and property. If one died, the other inherited his share.

This wasn’t a joke or a rumor. It showed up in pirate contracts and court records across the Caribbean in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Sailors signed their names to it.

Life at sea was brutal. Short lives, hard labor, and constant violence were the norm. Pirates responded by building systems that actually took care of each other. Matelotage did that. It created loyalty and family. It also created space for same-sex love in a world that officially denied it.

These weren’t discreet arrangements hidden in the shadows. They were public. Crews knew who was partnered with whom. On islands like Tortuga, authorities tolerated it because pirates kept the economy moving. Rum, repairs, stolen goods. Money talks.

Was every matelotage sexual? No. But some absolutely were. Contemporary writers described men living together, sleeping together, and refusing female partners when on land. In a hyper-masculine world obsessed with survival, these men chose each other.

Queer history isn’t just bars and ballrooms. Sometimes it’s two men on a wooden deck in the middle of the ocean with a promise to split the gold and face the gallows together.

Read more of Bil Browning at https://www.facebook.com/BilBrowning

The Love story between John F Kennedy, the 35th U.S president, and his gay bestfriend Lem Billings

Tampa Bay Pride Band And Tampa Bay Symphonic Winds

https://www.facebook.com/events/1666475737673610

Congratulations to Creative Loafing new owners!!!!

On Thursday afternoon, a group of current employees and two new partners completed the purchase of Tampa Bay’s 39-year-old alt-weekly from San Antonio-based Chava Communications, which has owned the publication since 2023.

SHAME!!!

From Creative Loafing…”The Hillsborough County Commission’s annual commendation for the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs (TOBA) Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast is only signed by four of seven commissioners.

Appearing in the program for TOBA’s annual MLK Day breakfast at the JW Marriott, the only signatories are Gwen Myers, Harry Cohen, Ken Hagan and Chris Boles. Signatures from commissioners Donna Cameron Cepeda, Joshua Wostal and Christine Miller did not appear on the commendation.”

Organizers cancel St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Naples.

Read the details here. https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2026/01/21/the-cherished-naples-florida-st-patricks-day-parade-is-canceled/88288799007

Happy Birthday Pete Buttigieg