Page 15 - BEQ Magazine Iss 19

Winter Park PRIDE Project to direct the effort and
enlisted the support of community and business
leaders, including the Winter Park Chamber of
Commerce.
When pitching the project to the chamber,
Falk was open about his own struggles to feel
accepted, supported and included as a gay man. “I
told them I was a boy who knew he was different
but not entirely sure how or why. I was a high
schooler trying to navigate the social constructs
of dating but not feeling fully vested in that. I was
a college student who had ‘faggot’ yelled at him
from the fraternity windows,” Falk told the group.
“I worked as a restaurant manager living two lives.
Then I left gay life entirely for years and focused
only on my career. I slowly re-emerged when I
achieved success but I struggled with dating men
after being out of circulation for so long. I came
out fully and saw my bookings with certain clients
decline or disappear.
“Despite all of this, I’m happy with the life I
have built and who I am. That said, I cannot help
but wonder what impact seeing a Pride flag on a
neighbor’s house, in front of a general business,
along an avenue where I shop or hanging from
my grandmother’s window might have had on the
trajectory of my life.”

SUMMER 2021 15
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