Oct. 15-21, 2025
The Pride Issue — interviews with Simran Chugani, trans marathoner; the Orlando Otters Rugby Club; Lisa Gray, founder of LGBTQ Parents of Central Florida; plus a full Come Out With Pride parade and festival guide.
Cover Stories
Transgender runner from Orlando raises funds for gender-affirming care
Simran Chugani is part of a charity team organized by the LGBTQ nonprofit Point of Pride to run the NYC marathon next month.
A conversation with Lisa Gray on founding LGBTQ+ Parents of Central Florida 20 years ago
Gay Parents of Orlando, later renamed LGBTQ+ Parents of Central Florida, originated when Gray and her partner and a handful of other lesbian couples began gathering with their toddlers, meeting for the first official playdate in 2003. What started as a few families soon grew into hundreds.
Orlando Otters rugby team drops 2026 calendar ahead of new season
Not only are the Orlando Otters back on the field for another season, they’re spicing things up off the field, too. With the launch of their first-ever team calendar, the LGBTQIA+ rugby club is raising both eyebrows and funds as they prepare for next August’s Bingham Cup in Brisbane, Australia. Packed with sweat, grit and…
All the Orlando parties and events you need to know about at this year’s Come Out With Pride weekend
Orlando’s annual Come Out With Pride celebrations return in all their glory this weekend, pushing back against intolerance in our state and national governments. This time-honored tradition for Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community has served as a way to honor love, authenticity and empowerment for over two decades running
Sweet 6-year-old dog Hammy is looking for a new home
Hammy prefers to lean on his person, and is constantly looking for approval and affection from everyone he meets.
Foreign Dissent brings punk from around the world to Orlando for a 10th year
Event founder Craig Mazer is celebrating a decade of building a loud global community with a lineup of 10 firebrands from around the world. Foreign Dissent offers international bands already in Florida for Gainesville’s Fest an opportunity to add a gig (read: food money) in what is often their first time playing in the States.
Alt-drag showcase Resistance in Thornton Park is an essential post-Pride Parade stop Saturday
After the parade is over and you depart the Come Out With Pride celebrations at Lake Eola, head to Thornton Park mere footsteps away and let your evening take a darker — yet no less festive — turn.
Bring your best business card to see ‘American Psycho’ at Theater West End
Theater West End debuts the latest production of its 2025 MainStage Series — a musical based on the most fashionable psychopath in popular culture. Based on the best-selling novel by Bret Easton Ellis and subsequent film starring Christian Bale, American Psycho, the musical, recounts the darkly seductive story of Patrick Bateman
Icy-cool duo Phantogram slinks into Orlando’s House of Blues
Case in point: new single “In My Head,” written in collaboration with Charli XCX ally Whethan. This is a band that can tour with the Deftones, casually drop Krautrock references in interviews and then tease a collab with Big Boi, sunglasses still firmly in place.
KT Kink releases feral new synth-punk album ‘Passion’
KT Kink is synonymous with raw. Her sound, her words, her execution — it’s all fueled by raw power. Ever since her arrival on the Orlando music scene a handful of years ago, her untamed anti-pop ways have brought much-needed bleed and edge to an electronic underground usually dominated by cold, sleek vibes.
Minus the Bear and Bayonne make for a night of top-tier emo millennial escapism in Orlando
The band broke up in 2018, but this past winter they announced their triumphant return to the stage. Minus the Bear will bring the nostalgia to Orlando, playing their fan-favorite 2005 album Menos El Oso in its entirety. Hearing David Knudson’s distinct style of guitar-tapping never gets old, and the sold-out crowd will be deep…
Hardcore breakouts Turnstile go wild at the Orlando Amphitheater
The tour is in support of Never Enough, the band’s latest release since 2021’s widely well-received Glow On. The Never Enough tour launched in Nashville and finishes up in Orlando on Sunday at the Orlando Amphitheater. It’s one of just two Florida shows, the other at Miami’s III Points Music Festival.
Gasoline Heart conjure up the spirit of Backbooth this weekend
This weekend Will’s Pub will become Backbooth for a night. Erstwhile local legends Gasoline Heart will return to bring back those glory days of the 2000s with their triumphant rock anthems.
Jala in Winter Park touts its modern Indian cuisine, but its comforting curries are classic to the core
The space at 155 E. Morse Blvd. just off Park Avenue has seen a revolving door of restaurant concepts over the last decade. The newest tenant, Jala, is an Indian restaurant touting its “fine dining” and “modern” aspects.
Orlando Ballet swans into the Steinmetz this weekend with ‘Swan Lake’
Orlando Ballet kicks off their 2025/2026 season with a double dose of classic Tchaikovsky chestnuts. Of course The Nutcracker will dance in the winter holiday season, but starting things off this fall is the romantic Russian composer’s elegant and lovelorn Swan Lake,
Halloween Horror Nights isn’t the only ghoul in town: 4 local haunts to try this spooky season
Halloween Horror Nights might be Orlando’s biggest brand name for haunted houses, but Universal’s event is far from the only ghoulish game in town. There are still three weekends left to go in spooky season, so here are my takes on other area haunts that might lack HHN’s expensive IP, but compensate with lower prices…
Musical unicorn Shaboozey storms into HOB with his Great American Roadshow Thursday
Being a Black man in country music has always been a rare and uphill path. In bitterly divided times like these, it seems like outright fantasy. But Shaboozey is doing it with a big-stomping pop sense
Orlando’s artsiest Halloween block party happens downtown Thursday evening
The Downtown Art District’s spooky arts party returns Thursday evening with the 16th Annual Día de los Muertos and Monster Party at CityArts.
New on Netflix: Season 3 of ‘The Diplomat’ roars back onto screens Thursday
Premieres Wednesday: Inside Furioza — The sequel to the 2021 crime drama Furioza has a new kingpin taking hold of the Polish underworld, with plans to extend its reach into other countries. At press time, a confused Stephen Miller had ordered the arrest of Doda. (Netflix) Loot — Molly and Arthur are stranded on a…
