Florida
Gay Days pausing Orlando event. Here’s what we know
ORLANDO, Fla. – A major event for the LGBTQ community in Orlando won’t be happening this year as the organizers deal with challenges on several fronts.
The organizers for Gay Days announced Sunday that its annual event in Orlando is on pause for this year.
“Changes to our host hotel agreement, the loss of key sponsorship support, and broader challenges currently impacting LGBTQIA+ events nationwide made it impossible to deliver the experience our community deserves,” the organizers posted on Facebook.
However, organizers say the event is not over, just on pause.
Gay Days began in 1991 as a single-day gathering where people would wear red and go to Central Florida theme parks, particularly Disney World.
Over the next 35 years, the event evolved into a weeklong celebration with parties, concerts, theme park visits and special events drawing over 180,000 attendees in recent years.
However, recent laws and actions in Florida have jeopardized the state’s status as a friendly place for members of the LGBTQ+ community to visit, according to Human Rights Campaign.
[WATCH: Gay Days adjusts to Florida’s new LGBTQ+ legislation]
They include a law to criminalize transgender people from using the restroom that matches their gender identity (HB 1521), policies banning gender affirming care, or allowing health care providers to refuse a patient care based on religious or moral beliefs, and a law that revokes licenses from businesses that allow children at “sexually explicit” shows.
The Human Rights Campaign issued a travel advisory for Florida after those laws were signed in 2023.
However, Orlando itself received a 100% score on Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index last year, showing how the city has remained a welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community.,
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
Tallahassee State College’s District Board of Trustees is keeping three of its current members after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent reappointments.
TSC board chair and longtime member Eugene Lamb as well as trustees Karen Moore and Sara Bayliss will remain on the college’s board after being reappointed by the governor May 1.
At the same time, Moore was reappointed to the board by DeSantis less than five months ago in December 2025 during the same time of Bayliss’ initial appointment. Trustees are usually appointed to four-year terms at a time before being considered for reappointment. The timing of the reappointments is unclear, a TSC spokesperson said.
Moore’s reappointment comes after she has served as a trustee at TSC since 2007 when she was first appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist followed by reappointments by former Gov. Rick Scott and DeSantis.
The CEO and founder of The Moore Agency currently serves as chair of the Florida College System Foundation Board of Directors and is a member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She is also founder and chair at Tallahassee Collegiate Academy (TCA), which is the college’s STEM-based charter school on its campus.
Bayliss is a college admissions advisor at St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Tallahassee and a counselor at Game Plan College Admissions Counseling. The Florida State University alumna earned her bachelor’s degree in management information systems and French from the University of Iowa and her master’s degree in business administration from FSU.
Regarding Lamb’s reappointment, it comes as he is currently serving in his fifth non-consecutive term as chair of the board. Lamb, a Midway native and army veteran who had a 33-year career of working with youth as a teacher and coach, first joined the college’s board in 2007 after being appointed by Crist. Since then, he has been reappointed to five consecutive terms by Scott and DeSantis.
In addition, Lamb – who’s well known and celebrated by the TSC community for laying bricks for the first buildings on the college campus as a young man – was named Trustee of the Year in 2024 by the American Association of Community Colleges, which honored his leadership and service.
All reappointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
While a popular Mercato nightclub closed earlier this week, the venue continues to fight lawsuits filed against it in recent years.
Cavo Lounge announced on social media April 26 that it had closed for good, which was two days after health inspectors closed it for violations including live roaches.
Here’s what we found.
Taxes owed, slip-and-fall, assault suits
A search of Collier County court records show Cavo Lounge was being sued and a few suits remain open:
- Collier County Tax Collector sued Cavo and hundreds of others in June 2025 for back taxes owed. The suit said Cavo (named in suits as SLR Naples Corp.) owed $6,084.60.
- Ann Ficcaro of Pasco County sued in October 2025 for more than $50,000, alleging she “slipped and fell due to a pooled liquid substance from ceiling condensation and sustained significant injuries.” No specific injuries were listed but the suit alleges that Ficcaro “suffered bodily injury in and about her body and extremities, resulting in pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, permanent and significant scarring, mental anguish” and more. Cavo responded in court records that Ficcaro “conducted herself in a careless and negligent manner, including” that she failed to watch where she was walking. Such negligence, Cavo replied, “was a contributing and/or the sole legal cause of the injuries and damages.”
- Yuksel John Bal of Lee County sued in February 2025 seeking over $50,000, claiming to have slipped and fell at Cavo on July 2023 while exiting a restroom. Bal cited an injured right ankle from slipping in a puddle of liquid. In Cavo’s questions to the plaintiff, Bal acknowledged previously suing someone for damages and settling another claim. And Cavo replied in a court filing that Bal failed to “pay attention, failing to exercise reasonable care while walking, and otherwise failing to ambulate as a reasonably prudent person. Plaintiff’s right to recover is therefore defeated or diminished as a result of her own conduct.”
- Matthew Zeitler of New York and Carole Zeitler of Collier County filed suit in March 2023, each seeking more than $30,000. They said they were at Cavo with family members in October 2022 when an intoxicated customer began to insult and berate them. The customer showed a firearm then hit each plaintiff, causing injuries. The suits were settled in December 2024.
Neither Cavo Lounge attorneys nor the nightclub’s co-owners were unavailable for comment.
The nightclub announced the closure on Instagram.
“This morning, we woke up with the heaviest of hearts to share that last night was our final night. After eleven incredible years, CAVO has officially closed its doors for the last time,” the Instagram post read.
The post did not disclose why the restaurant and nightclub was closing.
What the April 24 inspection said
County health inspectors said they closed Cavo Lounge, 9108 Strada Place, Unit 14140, on April 24 after reviewing it.
The routine inspection turned up three violations, two of which were “high-priority,” the inspection report said. They were:
- High Priority ― Dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at proper minimum strength. Discontinue use of dishmachine for sanitizing and set up manual sanitization until dishmachine is repaired and sanitizing properly.
- High Priority ― Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found. On top of dishwasher, observed 10 live roaches.
Cavo was cited during past health inspections, including in 2023 when violations included “15 small flying insects in large bar area around soda guns” and interior of ice machines “with a black/green mold-like substance.”
Cavo Lounged opened in 2014
Open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, Cavo Lounge became a popular spot for Naples-area nightlife.
And in 2018, Cavo began hosting drag lunches that at the time were trending nationally at LGBT-friendly restaurants and bars.
A fatal shooting occurred outside Cavo in October 2022. In January 2025, a judge sentenced Alexander Michael Evans of Fort Myers to 35 years in the shooting.
Evans, 35, had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery on a person 65 old or older.
Prior to the shooting, authorities said, Evans and the victim were in a physical altercation and were escorted to the parking lot, where Evans pulled a gun from his waistband and shot the victim.
He then fled on foot and the victim died at the scene, said the State Attorney’s Office. Collier deputies arrested Evans in October 2022 after they identified him because he left his credit card on a table inside Cavo Lounge.
Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Contact him at dosborn@usatodayco.com and follow him on Instagram @lacrossewriter.
A so Florida thing is coming up to kick off the weekend. A rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is scheduled for the same day as the first full moon of May 2026 (yes, there are two full moons in May this year).
SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit on Friday, May 1. The four-hour launch window opens up 10 minutes after the May 1 full moon peaks in the sky.
Though rockets here launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, people from the Treasure Coast can sometimes see this phenomenon.
Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover and trajectory, a rocket launch from Florida’s Space Coast could be visible as far north as Jacksonville Beach and as far south as West Palm Beach.
When there’s a launch window in the middle of the night or very early morning, there’s an opportunity for unique photos — the rocket lights up the dark sky, and the contrail after makes for a great photo.
Below is more information on the next rocket launch from Florida and suggestions on where to watch it from the Treasure Coast.
For questions or comments, email USA TODAY Network Space Reporters Rick Neale at rneale@floridatoday.com, Brooke Edwards at bedwards@floridatoday.com or Eric Lagatta at elagatta@usatoday.com. For more space news from the USA TODAY Network, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Is there a rocket launch from Florida today? Next launch is Friday, May 1
SpaceX Starlink 10-38
- Mission: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 29 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit.
- Launch window: 1:33 p.m. to 5:33 p.m. ET on Friday, May 1.
- Trajectory: Northeast.
- Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Sonic booms: No.
- Live coverage starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space: You can watch live rocket launch coverage from USA TODAY Network’s Space Team, which consists of FLORIDA TODAY space reporters Rick Neale and Brooke Edwards and visuals journalists Craig Bailey, Malcolm Denemark and Tim Shortt. Our Space Team will provide up-to-the-minute updates in a mobile-friendly live blog, complete with a countdown clock, at floridatoday.com/space, starting 90 minutes before liftoff. You can download the free FLORIDA TODAY app, which is available in the App Store or Google Play, or type floridatoday.com/space into your browser.
Where to watch a rocket launch in Sebastian, Vero Beach, Florida
- Sebastian Inlet State Park, 9700 S. State Road A1A, Melbourne Beach, Florida (cost to enter)
- Wabasso Beach Park, 1808 Wabasso Beach Road, Wabasso, Florida
- Ambersands Beach Park, 12566 N. SR A1A, Vero Beach, Florida (free parking)
- South Beach Park, 1700 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach, Florida (free parking)
- Merrill Barber Bridge in Vero Beach, Florida
- Alma Lee Loy Bridge in Vero Beach, Florida
Where to watch a rocket launch in Fort Pierce, Jensen Beach, Florida
- Fort Pierce Inlet State Park, 905 Shorewinds Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida
- Blind Creek Beachside North and South, 5460 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida
- Blue Heron Beach, 2101 Blue Heron Blvd., Fort Pierce, Florida
- Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, 3600 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida
- Dollman Park Beachside, 9200 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, Florida
- Herman’s Bay Beach, 7880 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, Florida
- John Brooks Park Beachside, 3300 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida
- Middle Cove Beach, 4600 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida
- Normandy Beach in Jensen Beach, Florida
- Pepper Park Beachside, 3302 N. SR A1A, Fort Pierce, Florida
- Walton Rocks Beach, 6700 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, Florida (dog park)
- Waveland Beach, 10350 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, Florida
Where to watch a rocket launch in Stuart, Florida
- State Road A1A causeway in Stuart, Florida
- House of Refuge and beach, 301 S.E. MacArthur Blvd., Stuart, Florida
Watch rocket launches with NASA on Prime Video
Watch NASA+ content with Amazon Prime Video
NASA content, including some rocket launches, is available to watch through NASA+ on desktop, both from its official site and YouTube. The platform is also available to download as a mobile app on smartphones.
All NASA+ content is also available to those who have Prime Video downloaded on any of their devices – whether it be a smartphone or smart TV.
The content, which does not require a Prime subscription to view, is one of Prime Video’s FAST channels (free ad-supported television). Viewers can find it under Prime’s Live TV section at the top of the screen when they open the app.
Lianna Norman and Jennifer Sangalang are trending reporters for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, rocket launches, Florida wildlife, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
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