OUTie Awards GAYLA coming to Gulfport Casino May 31. Deb Carson

RadioSt.Pete.com INSIDER correspondent Deb Carson helps kick-off our month-long PRIDE celebration with the May 31 OUTie Awards GAYLA coming to Gulfport Casino from 7-10pm. Wear your “Gulfport chic” and dance, “dessert” and help honor those who built the OUT Arts & Culture organization including those who founded the original organization, formerly known as the LGBTQ Resource Center which opened within the Gulfport Library in 2015. As a special treat, Deb throws the spotlight on one among eleven Center founders who will be honored - Jerry Notaro, a longtime advocate and tireless volunteer for our LGBTQ community, organizer of the first and subsequent St. Pete PRIDE celebrations, a tireless volunteer, arts and culture supporter and Emeritus Librarian, USF St. Pete. The LGBTQ Collection of books and materials, the foundation of the original Resource Center was what Jerry first began cataloging with 250 donations. Now grown to more than 10,000, the Collection will remain with the Library while the newly branded OUT Arts & Culture focuses now on a broader palette of arts and cultural resources and programming, developed and offered through an LGBTQ+ lens. The ten other LGBTQ Resource Center founders to be honored with OUTie awards at the event: Patty Callaghan, Molly Ellowis, Susan Gore, Daniel Hodge, Phyllis Plotnick, Alison Solomon, Greg Stemm, Bill Ward. Seven organizations will receive recognition and awards for their support: Gulfport Public Library, Pinellas Community Foundation, Raymond James PRIDE Inclusion Network, Florida Humanities, Watermark LGBTQ Media, Stetson University College of Law and Gulfperk Coffee Bar. For information and tickets to what’s sure to be a great kickoff to PRIDE - the inaugural OUT Arts & Culture Inaugural GAYLA Awards, visit https://www.outartsandculture.org #pridemonth #pridegulfport #LGBTQ+ #LGBTQresourcecenter #geraldnotaro #debcarson #GAYLAawards #tampabay #radio #radiostpete