Equality Florida Protests WFLA

WFLA-Ch. 8 aired the informercial Silencing the Christians the day the Tampa LGBT community celebrated Gay Pride Day. The informercial was created by the American Family Association. The AFA has come out in opposition of the Matthew Sheperd Hate Crimes bill.

WFLA and it's parent company Media General have a long history of conservatism. Glenn Beck got his big break on WFLA Radio. The Media General company the Tampa Tribune has never endorsed a Democrat for President.

Personally, I think the protest is giving AFA and Silencing the Christians more attention than it deserves. People don't watch informercials. Don't believe me, I dare you to watch this Erik Estrada informercial. Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9 11 gained greater box office success because of the negative publicity.

I understand why Nadine Smith and Lorna Bracewell are upset. No amount of protests are going to change WFLA. Boycotts never work. The best thing to do is tell people Media General provides shitty news and entertainment. WFLA TV and Radio should be the unhip equivalent of Eric Cantor attending a Britney Spears concert. No human being over the age of 13 years old has an excuse for listening to Miley Cyrus. The same should hold true for WFLA. Their audience should be dwindled down to the Eric Cantors of the world.

Lorna Bracewell - Song for the Voiceless

Lorna Bracewell is a feminist/lgbt sinder-songwriter. The Tampa edition of Creative Loafing is now doing recording sessions with local musicians. It is about time they used Youtube to spotlight local musicians.

Lorna Bracewell At the Loafies

I was floored by Lorna Bracewell's Loafies performance. The performance is now on Youtube. The video doesn't catch the energy Bracewell put out, with just her voice and acoustic guitar. Bracewell needs to be seen live to be fully appreciated.



Lorna Bracewell's Myspace page

Lorna Bracewell Fanclub

Open Thread: The Loafies

I attended the Loafies. It was a rather surreal experience. I didn't go up onstage because my win was already announced in Creative Loafing. I was happy to see WMNF, Creative Clay and Jobsite Theatre win. I finally met Wayne Garcia. I saw David Jenkins, but he disappeared before I had a chance to say hi.

I saw Tommy Duncan and thought it was best we didn't talk. Sticks of Fire won readers' choice for best blog.

I technically didn't get my award. The CL staff don't know where it is. They looked. They're going to send it in the mail. Winners get a framed certificate. I declined my loaf of bread. I'm not mad at CL. It's just one of those things that happens. Besides, blogging shouldn't be about winning awards.

Anyone else who reads this blog at the Loafies? I like other people's take on it. It had a New York Eastside feel to it. I thought about cutting out when I saw the people in bath robes waiting to get in.

How many people split for the Hub before the show was over? I hated how the beer line was set up at the Tampa Theatre.

Update: David Jenkins has post up on the Loafies. He also left an interesting comment about the behind-the-scenes work Jobsite did at the Loafies.

The weirdest and most humorous part of the red carpet event was people getting in limos in front of the Tampa Theatre. The limos would drive around the block and drop the people off in front of the red carpet. Eric Snider and Katrina Stevenson were interviewing people with Loafies as prop microphones.

Update: Lorna Bracewell's musical performance impressed me. She performed the song Flowers On the Chains. The song can be heard on her Myspace site.

Update: I need to tell Jill about Lorna Blackwell. She has good (Ani DiFranco) and evil (Pussycat Dolls) musical tastes. I feel it's my duty to save her from the dark side.