Somebody had to stand up, and the downtown Orlando restaurant, known for hosting drag events like brunch and bingo, stepped up to volunteer as tribute. Hamburger Mary's sued the state in May over a new law that contains penalties for venues that host an "adult live performance" (widely perceived as a reference to drag) with children under 18 present. Because of that lawsuit, the law has since been blocked. "This bill has nothing to do with children, and everything to do with the continued oppression of the LGBTQ+ community," Hamburger Mary's co-owner John Paonessa wrote in a statement on the restaurant's Facebook page after the lawsuit was filed. "We've spent too many years moving forward. We can't go back!"
110 W. Church St., hamburgermarys.com/orlando
Best of Orlando: Local Notables
1st: Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, feedhopenow.org
2nd: Zebra Coalition, zebrayouth.org
3rd: Aeras Foundation, aeras.foundation
1st: Equality Florida, eqfl.org
2nd: Stand With Abortion Now (SWAN), swanoforlando.org
3rd: League of Women Voters of Florida, lwvoc.org
1st: Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, petallianceorlando.org
2nd: Pet Rescue by Judy, petrescuebyjudy.com
3rd: Orange County Animal Services, orangecountyanimalservicesfl.net
1st: State Rep. Anna Eskamani, annaforflorida.com
2nd: Mayor Buddy Dyer, orlando.gov
3rd: U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, frost.house.gov
1st: Scott Maxwell, orlandosentinel.com/author/scott-maxwell
2nd: Savannah Boan, facebook.com/thesexysavannah
3rd: Johnny Magic XL 106.7, xl1067.iheart.com/featured/johnny-magic/about
1st: WTKS 104.1-FM Real Radio, realradio.iheart.com
2nd: WMFE 90.7-FM, wmfe.org
3rd: WDBO 107.3-FM and 580-AM, wdbo.com/on-air
1st: Johnny Magic, XL 106.7 xl1067.iheart.com/featured/johnny-magic/about
2nd: Sabrina Ambra, Real Radio 104.1, facebook.com/sabrina.ambra
3rd: Russ Rollins, Real Radio 104.1, realradio.iheart.com/featured/monsters-blogs-russ-rollins
1st: "Johnny's House" on XL 106.7, xl1067.iheart.com/featured/johnny-s-house-live-blog
2nd: "Monsters in the Morning" on Real Radio 104.1, realradio.iheart.com/featured/as-heard-on-the-monsters
3rd: "The News Junkie" on Real Radio 104.1, thenewsjunkie.com