Jax Gay Magazine October 2022 Issue

Center Vandalism A Hate Crime

By Donovan Wilson

Police are investigating an incident of vandalism at the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida (PCCNCF) in Gainesville as a hate crime after windows were smashed and a note left behind this weekend.

On Saturday morning, PCCNCF director Debbie

Lewis got a call from a friend across from the center, who told her that the building had been vandalized.

Lewis said she made her way to the scene after calling the group's vice president "because he's younger and more able than I am, so and I wanted to let him know the first thing."

She says that seeing the damage was difficult. "[I]t was pretty shocking to see," Lewis says. "Just all the broken glass, and we could see that rocks had been thrown, and there was a note just inside, which probably also was thrown."

Center staff isn't sharing the content of the note because of the ongoing investigation, but a spokesperson for the Gainesville Police Department

tells Jax Gay in an email that the note referenced an upcoming advertised event.

"So it was clear that it wasn't just people who like to break glass," says Lewis. "It was people who wanted to send a message to us."

The spokesperson with the Gainesville Police Department wrote, "We urge the community to report any suspicious activity. Neighbors in the area are asked to check video surveillance or report if they witnessed the incident that possibly occurred between [4 p.m.] on [September 23] and [9 a.m.] on [September 24]."

They added, "We have asked our officers to increase their patrols in the area."

Lewis, who has been with the center for three years, says there's been a sharp uptick in negative sentiment and incidents surrounding the center in the last year.

She says that before Gov. Ron DeSantis got the "don't say gay" bill passed and signed into law, the center had a well-publicized rally with a huge turnout.

But Lewis says that along with the support came a lot of

abuse.

"I'm the person that listens to the voicemail," she explains. She says that Gainesville has until recently remained free of growing far-right thinking of the remainder of "not blue Florida."

But, she says, the political influence from around the rest of the state is making itself known.

For example, she says that on several occasions, anti-Semitic flyers have been distributed around the area, and last month, the Alachua County Democratic Party headquarters in Gainesville were vandalized.

As reported, experts have registered an uptick in anti semitism and extremist violence in Florida.

"I don't know if they're related, but these things all certainly seem suspect," Lewis says.

Equality Florida representatives tweeted their dismay and support for the center.

"We are heartbroken this has happened in our community but are undeterred," they wrote.

"The PCCNCF remains committed to being a safe place, and this display of hatred has only strengthened our resolve to continue to show

up with love for our beautiful LGBTQ+ community."

Despite the fear and financial burden the attack caused, Lewis says one thing is certain: The vandals won't like that they inspired hundreds of acts of love.

Since the attack became public, she says the attention the story has received has been unlike anything she could have expected.

"It's gone viral because even as I'm sitting here at my laptop, every several times a minute, I'm getting a notification that we've gotten another donation," she says. "And we're probably getting close to 500 donations, individual donations since this happened. And we've gotten donations locally, but we've also gotten donations around the state and the country. We've had a few come in from the West Coast today that I noticed. We had one come in from Germany."

Lewis says it's heartening to see the outpouring of support the center has received, regardless of whether they are from the LGBTQ+ community or allies.

"People are angry that this happened. People love the queer community here, whether part of it or allied with it. I think we have that support from them, and they're spreading the word far and wide, and it is coming back to us."

We at Jax Gay stand with our LGBTQ Brothers & Sisters! Unity brings us strength.

he’s more than just another former pro baseball player who turned a short-lived career into a front office job (officially, he’s the senior vice president, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and special assistant to the commissioner of Major League Baseball), but it wasn’t always that way. Along with the late Glenn Burke, the 58 year old former outfielder is one of only two out current or former MLB players and the only one alive today. It’s a historic distinction but one he didn’t fully comprehend when he came out publicly in 1999.

“

I was living in a tiny little world of my own,” Bean says, adding he “didn’t understand how important representation was at that time.”

Burke played for the Los

A’s from 1976 to 1979. Bean played in the big leagues from 1987 to 1995. He came out publicly after his playing career ended. And it wasn’t until he connected with his peers in the LGBTQ+ community that he understood his place in history in the game he loves and how that knowledge would bring him back to it. He’s now using his platform to change baseball’s clubhouse culture and prepare the game for its first active out player.

“

Every player wants to be respected when they walk into that clubhouse,” Bean says. “It takes a lot for that athlete to be invited in there, and that has nothing to do with your sexual orientation but has everything to do with your ability to hit or throw, pitch, coach, manage,

whatever. Whatever it is, it s about baseball.”

That’s a far cry from what Bean and Burke experienced.

“

It was a different time and place when I played, when Glenn Burke played,” Bean recalls. “Culturally, it was acceptable to perpetuate all those stereotypes that other people were defining our community by. We never had a chance to author our own biographies, and now we do because we have fought and persevered. And so I feel great responsibility and pride to be an example of my community to baseball.”

“

I just think that each and every year, each and every day I’m in this seat, I am more humbled by the opportunity to bring people together,” Bean says.

Hallmark Channel To Premiere First Holiday Gay Rom Com

By David Vandygriff

The Hallmark Channel recently announced its 2022 line up of original holiday movies 40 in total—that will premiere along with countless other made for TV flicks airing around the clock on the network beginning October 21. Among the new films is a first for Hallmark: a Christmas-themed film centered on a gay couple. The Holiday Sitter premieres December 11, starring out Mean Girls alum Jonathan Bennett as a “workaholic bachelor” tasked with babysit-

ting his niece and nephew during the holidays. Out actor George Krissa co stars as the hunky next-door neighbor with whom Bennett’s character strikes up a romance.

“

Words can’t describe what it feels like to have Executive Produced and starred in such an incredible story that will mean so much to so many!” Bennett wrote in an Instagram post trumpeting the news. “A HUGE APPLAUSE to @hallmarkchannel and all the leadership and executives, they

not only believed in this story but took such good care of it championed it wholeheartedly the entire process.”

“This Christmas we’ll make history with the @hallmarkchannel as the first EVER LGBTQ rom com on their network!” Krissa wrote in his own post. “I had the absolute time of my life shooting this movie with the hilarious and incredible @jonathandbennett, with @aliliebert as our director, @chelseaxhobbs , and so very many wonderful people.”

At this year s 2022 International AIDS Conference, ViiV Healthcare presented research that cast a spotlight on the efficacy of cabotegravir long acting (LA) for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

In a recent article posted by Healthline, this injectable form of PrEP complements other recent pushes for placing HIV prevention efforts higher on the list of urgency. As cabotegravir LA is the first and currently only long-acting injectable form of PrEP, it could change the face of HIV prevention.

The trial for cabotegravir LA determined that the injectable form of PrEP resulted in an “89% lower rate of HIV

acquisition” as compared to a regimen of oral tablets.

Alex Rinehart, PhD, the Medicines Development Leader and HIV Prevention at ViiV Healthcare, noted that both injectable and oral variations of PrEP helped substantially reduce the risk of getting HIV. However, he also added, “Daily, oral PrEP adherence and uptake can be limited by a number of factors, including side effects, convenience, and stigma.”

Since there is no single medicine that works for everyone in all circumstances, the injectable that comes once every eight weeks with cabotegravir LA brings another avenue to help meet the

evolving needs of prevention.

“With the availability of cavotegravir LA for PrEP as an injection every two months to prevent HIV, people have an important new option besides daily medication,” Rinehart said.

Just ahead of the AIDS Conference, the World Health Organization released new guidelines on cavotegravir LA and noted that while it is a safe and highly effective HIV prevention, it is not yet available outside of study settings. However, support from WHO and other organizations helps put this research into a more immediate focus.

Progress continues to improve HIV/AIDS treatments.

Cuba Legalizes MarriageEquality In Historic Referendum

By Brett Nunes

marriage after Cubans voted in favor of a family code that increased protections for minorities on the island, the country's National Electoral Council announced on Monday.

The Electoral Council said 74.1 percent of those eligible to vote in Sunday's national referendum had turned out to cast their ballot.

With 94 percent of the votes counted as of 9 a.m. ET on Monday morning, 3,936,790 had voted in favor and 1,950,090 against signaling an overwhelming support for the new law.

The new family code extends greater protection to women, children, and the elderly, as well as allowing LGBTQ+ couples to marry and adopt children.

For decades, LGBTQ people in Cuba faced official discrimination on the communist-run island. In the early 1960s, after Fidel Castro took power, many gay people were sent to government work camps alongside political dissidents. Though homosexuality was legalized in Cuba in 1979, many gay men and women said they still faced open discrimination.

Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban president Raul Castro, has openly advocated through a government-funded center for improved rights for gays, lesbians, and transgender people. But the push for greater equality faced stiff opposition from both outside and from within the Cuban government.

In 2018, Cuban legislators abandoned provisions that would have legalized same sex

marriage amid fears that a homophobic backlash would have lowered turnout for a referendum to approve a new constitution. The following year, Cuban police broke up a peaceful LGBTQ rights parade saying the marchers did not have permission to hold the rally.

Cuba's growing evangelical community in particular had openly advocated against approving the family code. But in the weeks before the referendum, the Cuban government made a full court press in favor of the new family code across state-run media, arguing the new code is proof the island's now more than six decades old revolution is capable of adapting to the times.

Congrats to our LGBTQ Cuban Brothers & Sisters.

Cruising App Helps You Find Where The Gays Are

By Becky Elliot

Before the age of the hook-up app, traveling while queer could be a lonely experience until apps like Grindr allowed real-time connections with locals and fellow tourists.

Sniffies, a relatively new addition, allows not just sweaty meet ups but intel on where queer people hang out enabling gay travelers to find community.

Sniffies, launched in 2018, features a map interface, showcasing cruising destinations where you can love him and leave him or actually spark up a conversation and, possibly, friendship. The app includes tips for timing and even “vibe checks” so users can feel comfortable exploring a new place. There’s also a chat option allowing people to

connect with those already checked-in at the cruising spots, while Travel Mode allows users to get a better handle on gay hangouts.

Shane Moran, social media marketing manager for Sniffies, says the app allows queer travelers to get an idea of how sexually progressive any destination is (power in numbers!) a benefit, even if you’re not looking to hook up. A good example is Little Beach on Hawaii’s Maui Island, a clothingoptional spot where LGBTQ+ travelers congregate. Some beachgoers retire for romance in the wooded area behind the sand, while others chat and make friends. While knowing of Little Beach’s wonders used to require word of mouth, apps like Sniffies will direct even the

uninformed to the island’s unofficial gay nexus.

Finding queer people outside the U.S. can be tougher Moran says. “We always get testimonials on social media about people finding successful cruising spots and group events in foreign places.

”

Sniffies operates outside Apple’s app store, allowing for explicit pics and kinks. Bisexual sex columnist Zachary Zane said it directed him to group experiences in New York City.

“

As an orgy connoisseur, the app’s most intriguing feature is the fact that people can post about orgies they’re hosting,” Zane wrote in Men’s Health. (Little did Zane know New York hosts at least five to 10 orgies a day!)

By Lee Turner

In 1994, a Missouri high school teacher named Rodney Wilson the first out public school teacher in the state wanted to give students better access to LGBTQ history as well as more role models with whom they could identify.

He established a planning committee with LGBTQ leaders from around the country, and from there, Gay and Lesbian History Month was born. The group selected October for what would ultimately become LGBTQ History Month because school would be in session. October is also when we celebrate National Coming Out Day (on the 11). The two LGBTQ marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987 also took place in October.

After its founding, organizations like the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, GLAAD, and the Human Rights Campaign endorsed Gay and Lesbian History Month, and in 1995, the National Education Association passed a resolution officially recognizing it as a commemorative month.

In 2006, the civil rights organization Equality Forum became the official organizer

and promoter of the month. Each year, Equality Forum selects 31 icons to honor, one for each day.

Today, as conservatives continue their widespread attacks on the rights of LGBTQ students, LGBTQ History Month feels more important than ever, serving to remind LGBTQ young people that they are part of a long, storied history of strength, resilience,

Thus, LGBTQ students are often unaware of the fact that many figures they study in school were in fact LGBTQ. They also miss out on learning about the LGBTQ rights movement and the many figures who have fought heroically for LGBTQ equality.

LGBTQ History Month is a way to encourage schools, media, and other institutions devoted to sharing knowledge to amplify the important stories of the LGBTQ community.

When is LGBTQ History Month Celebrated?

In the United States, LGBTQ History Month is celebrated every October. Canada and Australia also celebrate it this month. It is also recognized in the United Kingdom (in February), Hungary (in February), Finland (in November), and Berlin (in June).

What is LGBTQ History Month?

LGBTQ History Month is celebrated both nationally and internationally and has become a crucial tool in ensuring that queer history is shared, taught, and celebrated, as it is rarely included in school curricula.

And this past year in May, Cuba became the first country in Latin America to celebrate it. Italy also celebrated its first one this year in April.

LGBTQ History Month vs. Pride Month

LGBTQ History Month focuses on the achievements of the

LGBTQ community. Pride

Month in June, on the other hand, originated with the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and is about uplifting the LGBTQ rights movement.

Pride is more focused on rebellion and the continued fight for LGBTQ rights, whereas LGBTQ History Month focuses on honoring the past.

Pride is a protest, a battle cry, whereas History Month is a celebration.

Iconic Queer Figures to Honor

There are endless LGBTQ figures to honor this month, but here a few icons to start with:

• Bayard Rustin, who

• organized the March on Washington in 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech took place

• Angela Davis, a radical political activist

How to Celebrate LGBTQ History Month

Celebrating LGBTQ History Month can take many forms, including:

• Visit Equality Forum’s website dedicated to honoring queer icons and search their database of almost 500 LGBTQ people who have made history.

• Help spread awareness and share stories on your social media pages that celebrate LGBTQ role models.

• Find out if LGBTQ history is taught in your local public schools, and if not, advocate for change.

• Make a donation to a worthy LGBTQ cause.

• James Beard, a closeted chef who was once as famous for American cooking as Julia Child was for French cuisine

• Harvey Milk, famed out activist who became one of America’s first gay elected officials and was assassinated

• Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, trans rights activists who helped start the Stonewall Uprising

• Lorraine Hansberry, award winning playwright and author of A Raisin in the Sun

• Sally Ride, the first woman astronaut in space

• Marlon Riggs, award-winning filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist

LGBTQ people continue to make history, which is why LGBTQ Nation honors modern day heroes every year.

Rihanna Set To Headline Super Bowl In 2023

By Drew Wilson

The Super Bowl is inching closer, and now everyone who tunes in for something other than the sport itself is getting a first look at what to anticipate at this year’s half time show Rihanna.

Rumors that the “Diamonds” singer would be keeping audiences entertained come February’s game started to swirl in recent days, so Rihanna herself took to Instagram to confirm the news on Sunday, sharing a picture of what appears to be her hand holding up an NFL football.

Super Bowl LVII will be the first time RiRi has headlined the

annual event, and her backlog of recognizable and well-loved songs will undoubtedly make for a spectacular show.

At the same time, fans who have been anxiously awaiting new music since the release of Anti all the way back in 2016 were ready to use this opportunity to once again joke about how Rihanna seems willing to do justaboutanything other than finish her next album at this point in her career.

Now, that doesn’t mean people aren’t psyched for the event. This will be Rihanna’s first live performance in five years — and those who keep holding

out hope that she isn’t abandoning her music career are eager to find out if this is the beginning of the next chapter for that aspect of her life.

Dr. Dre, who was among the performers at last year’s Super Bowl, has already stepped forward to publicly congratulate Rihanna on landing the gig and offer up some advice.

“She has the opportunity to really blow us away,” he said, before suggesting to just “put the right people around you, and have fun.”

And then maybe get back to work on that album, RiRi!

A gay, out California state senator attended Folsom Street Fair, & conservatives are melting down over a photo he took at the event.

State Sen. Scott Wiener tweeted a photograph of himself shirtless with a group of men in various leather gear with the caption, "Happy Folsom Street Fair." Almost immediately, right wing Twitter took notice & took exception to the elected official's participation.

Mixed martial artist Jake Shields tweeted, "The same politician who kept your kid out of school for 2 years because covid is attending gay orgies during monkeypox. Feel free to Google Folsom street fair and see the wonderful delights he’s enjoying."

Wiener said that he had an excellent time at Folsom and that the attacks on him as a gay man, while not new, have gotten more extreme recently because society has given a particular element permission to spew its bigotry in public. "This has been going on for me for years," he says. "There are a number of pictures of me shirtless from as far back as 2016 that they'll recycle all the

time. It's just straight-up homophobia."

He said, "they're attacking a gay man for being a gay man who is participating in a heavily LGBTQ+ event."

He adds that the discomfort and antipathy toward queer male sexuality also stem from homophobia. Wiener explains that there's a mindset of '"I'm okay with gay men existing, they just can't actually be gay men."

It is opportunistic Republicans who are driving a narrative that is at the expense of the LGBTQ+ community, he says.

"They're being empowered on social media by sociopath elected officials like Ron DeSantis and others who have normalized attacking and degrading LGBTQ+ people," Wiener says.

"I will add that I've been called pedophile tens of thousands of times," he continues. "It's rare that a day goes by that somebody doesn't call me a pedophile on social media."

Earlier this year, an anti-vaxxer threatened Wiener over a bill that would've let teens receive vaccinations without parental consent. The man was convicted of seven felonies two

weeks ago.

He was found guilty of threatening the senator's life, two counts of assault weapons possession, two counts of manufacturing unregistered firearms, and two counts of concealment of firearms in a vehicle.

Wiener says that people need to remain vigilant to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the United States.

"We've had a lot of progress the last few decades, but we need to be clear that there's still a massive undercurrent of homophobia and transphobia in this country."

He says, "They want us to disappear. They hate us. They're trying to bring this country back to the 1950s. They're doing it around women & abortion, around race, and for queer people. And if we have to exist, they want us to be very quiet about it and not be in any way public or celebrate our community."

"I'm a gay man. I'm a single gay man," he says."I enjoy life, and sexuality is part of human existence. If they have a problem, that's their issue, not mine, and they need to get a life."

has opened up on social media about her intestinal cancer diagnosis along with a plea for everyone to get regular checkups.

“Recently I was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma. A type of Cancer in the Smaller intestine,” she wrote across her social media pages. “I’m 100% fine and everything is in the early stages so [I’ll] be back to my normal self in no time. Absolutely curable!”

Her reason for sharing, she explained, was a hope that others would take her experience to heart and be proactive about taking care of their own health. “I say this to let everyone know that no

matter how young you are PLEASE GET REGULAR check-ups. I’m glad I caught mine at this stage,” she wrote.

In true Kornbread style, she finished the post with a message of gratitude and with a look to the future. “A lot of health things will be changing for me and I’m grateful for all the support. Ready to get back to the stage again!”

The future is incredibly bright for the drag star. Kornbread was an early frontrunner and instant fan favorite when she competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14. However, she was forced to leave the competition early due to an ankle injury.

When she left the show, she

promised we hadn’t seen the last of her. “I want to do more TV and movie appearances ... I ain’t stopping here; I’m going to still act a fool on Twitter. I have nothing but time now!” she said in an Entertainment Weekly exit interview, and she was right, her next gig is an iconic one.

In March, it was announced that she, alongside Kahmora Hall and Ginger Minj, are set to appear in the upcoming Hocus Pocus sequel, playing drag versions of the Sanderson sisters. Kornbread reportedly appears as Mary.

We can’t wait to see it but most importantly, of course, we can’t wait to hear that Kornbread is cancer-free and back to living her best life.

Of Florida's Ron DeSantis

By Maggie Cawthon

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has taken Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to task over the anti-LGBTQ+ politician flying asylum seekers from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

"Obviously, there are issues with the border and with migration, but these are the kinds of stunts you see from people who don't have a solution,” Buttigieg said in an interview with journalist Evan Smith at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival.

His comments drew applause from the audience.

“Governor DeSantis was in Congress. Where was he when they were debating immigration reform?” Buttigieg asks in the interview. “What have any of these people done to be part of the solution?

“

So, you know, I get that if you’re after attention … it’s one thing to call attention to a problem when you have a course of action … it’s another thing to just call attention to a problem because the problem is actually more useful to you than the solution, and that helps you call attention to yourself. And that’s what’s going on,” Buttigieg continued, “And the problem is, it’s one thing if it was just people being obnoxious, but human beings are being impacted by that. You flee a communist regime in Venezuela, you come here, and then somebody tricks you somebody using Florida taxpayer money for some reason tricks you in going from Texas to Massachusetts.

“It is not just ineffectual, it is hurting people in order to get attention.”

The clip posted online has been viewed by more than 2.1 million on Twitter and has been liked by more than 105,000.

One Twitter user responded to the clip, “Slayer Pete.” Others praised Buttigieg for his response to DeSantis’s actions.

About two weeks ago, asylum seekers, many of whom are believed to be from Venezuela, were sent to Martha’s Vineyard from Texas due to arrangements made by DeSantis. Many said they did not understand where they were heading or why. DeSantis said that he wanted to make a statement about President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

The move has been condemned by Biden administration officials and human rights advocates.

the firm of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on behalf of Equality Florida and Family Equality as well as students, parents, and a teacher. The defendants in that suit include DeSantis, the Florida State Board of Education, other state entities and officials, and several local school boards.

The plaintiffs in that suit are not seeking a preliminary injunction. The trial in the case is scheduled to start in February. The state has asked the court to dismiss the suit, but the court has not ruled on that yet.

Cruising Parks In Pocatello, Idaho

By Michael Bryson

When I was growing up in Pocatello, Idaho, Upper Ross Park was known as the Fruit Loop. Men would meet behind evergreen trees, shrubs, and lava rocks, to have sex. I’m not sure how I came to know that, but I did. Queer knowledge has often been communicated undercover, via word of mouth, covert gestures, shared cultural touchstones.

Before I ever took a drink I also knew that there was a gay bar in Pocatello called Charlie’s. Years later I spent a lot of time in Pocatello’s one LGBTQ+ bar, which was no longer named Charlie’s. The bar had burned down in a (likely hate fueled) arson fire. In its place rose The Phoenix. Decades later, I am back, living on my parent’s farm outside of Pocatello caring for family. The LGBTQ+ bar has moved

locations and is now called Club Charley's. Upper Ross Park is no longer a gathering place for queer men. Families and disc golfers now crawl over the rocks and into the underbrush that once shielded covert lovers.

These days many of us don’t have to rely on subterfuge to find other queer folks, although as legislatures around the country (including Idaho) burn through a string of antiLGBTQ+ bills, I worry we may be cycling back to the repression that first drove us underground.

These days Charley’s can display a rainbow flag yearround, and instead of following rumors of fruit loops, queers can turn to dating apps to find sexual partners. One of the newest, Sniffies, the map-based cruising app,

helped show me where the boys are now. It’s an undeveloped public park with dirt trails and bushes shielded from the road by trees.

The first time I walked there I was with my mom. As I waited for her to slowly exit the vehicle, I noticed a folded piece of paper on a log. I picked it up, unfolded it and read, “I love to suck dick.” It included a phone number.

I didn’t pocket the note. I didn’t call the number. But I did carefully refold it and place it back on the log like it was sacred. It had made me smile. It helps me to know other queers are here. It makes living on a small farm in a conservative community a tiny bit more tolerable. It helps me to know there are gay guys getting blown nearby. Even if I never meet them.