February 18, 2016
2 /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
3
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda /floridaagenda
TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE WHO MATTER MOST. At MassMutual Miami, we understand the unique financial needs of the LGBT community and can help you build financial strategies to ensure your loved ones are protected. For more than 160 years, MassMutual has helped policyowners on their quest for financial freedom. Gary Ciampitti – Fort Lauderdale Office Insurance and Financial Services Professional Jan Knight – Fort Lauderdale Office Insurance and Financial Services Professional
February 18, 2016
4
MassMutual Miami 2100 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Suite 600 Coral Gables, FL 33134 888-563-3779 www.miami.massmutual.com
LIFE INSURANCE + RETIREMENT/401(K) PLAN SERVICES DISABILITY INCOME INSURANCE + LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE + ANNUITIES
MassMutual Financial Group refers to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual), its affiliated companies and sales representatives. As of November 2015, MassMutual received a 100% score on the Human Rights Commission’s Corporate Equality Index and was named a Best Places to Work. Local sales agencies are not subsidiaries of MassMutual or its affiliated companies. Insurance products are issued by MassMutual, Springfield, MA 01111, and its subsidiaries, C.M. Life Insurance Company and MML Bay State Life Insurance Company, Enfield, CT 06082. CRN201706-173276
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
5
February 18, 2016
6 /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
/floridaagenda
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...
Random thoughts from social media and beyond this week
“IʼM LOOKING FOR A REALLY HOT NERD… WITH A REALLY BIG PENIS.“
BRITNEY SPEARS during her Piece of Me tour in Las Vegas.
A WOMAN BEHIND A COUNTER OF A 7-ELEVEN SAID, ‘I CAN SERVE YOU OVER HERE, SIR.’ IT WAS THE FIRST TIME A COMPLETE STRANGER WAS SEEING THE REAL ME, AND I WAS LIVING OFF THAT HIGH FOR QUITE A WHILE. IT WAS LIKE ALL MY CHRISTMASES HAD COME AT ONCE, LIKE I WAS LIVING ON CLOUD NINE. THAT MUST’VE BEEN THE BEST DAMN STICK OF GUM I’VE EVER BOUGHT. AYDIAN DOWLING in his cover story for Times the first featuring a trans man. Gay Times,
RAYVON OWEN discussing his sexuality in an interview with Billboard.
“YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE, I GET NOT DROPPING THE QUESTION BUT MAYBE WE ASK MEN THE SAME QUESTION.”
Broad City’s ILANA GLAZER discussing what it’s like to be continuously asked about being a broad.
7
TED LEVINE in an interview with Rolling Stone discussing research for his character Buffalo Bill in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs.
“YOUʼD BE SURPRISED AT THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I TRIED TO PRAY THE GAY AWAY FROM ME OR TRIED TO TELL GOD TO TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME. NO KID SHOULD HAVE TO DO WHAT I DID AND PRAY TO NOT BE WHO THEY ARE. THATʼS WHY I THINK ITʼS IMPORTANT EVEN IN 2016 TO SAY THIS.“
Openly gay imam LUDOVIC-MOHAMED ZAHED
February 18, 2016
“BY TRYING TO BECOME A WOMAN, HE GAINS POWER, AND HENCE THE MOTH — THE LARVA TURNING INTO THE BUTTERFLY, THE WHOLE THING BLOSSOMING — IT WAS THE SAME IMPETUS AS A FEMALE IMPERSONATOR, BUT IT BECAME PSYCHOTIC. IT WAS DONNING THE CLOAK OF FEMININE POWER.”
Harry Potter actress MIRIAM GARGOYLES in an interview with Audioboom.
“PERSONALLY I HAVE RECEIVED QUITE A LOT OF THREATS, BUT I SAW MORE PEOPLE COME TO ENCOURAGE ME … SAYING YOU ARE AN EMBODIMENT OF REAL ISLAM.“
floridaagenda.com
MANNY PACQUIAO criticizing same-sex marriage.
“PEOPLE WHO WERE GAY WERE PITIED AND RIDICULED BY MY PARENTS – THEY HAD NO MODERN SENSE OF PEOPLE BEING ALLOWED TO BE WHO THEY WERE. AND I DIDN’T TELL MY PARENTS, IN FACT, UNTIL I WAS SOMETHING LIKE 27. MY MOTHER WAS UTTERLY APPALLED AND DISGUSTED… AND SHE TOLD MY FATHER, ALTHOUGH I DIDN’T WANT HER TO.”
/floridaagenda
“ITʼS JUST COMMON SENSE. HAVE YOU SEEN ANY ANIMAL HAVING MALE-TO-MALE OR FEMALE-TO-FEMALE RELATIONS? IF YOU HAVE MALE-TO-MALE OR FEMALE-TO-FEMALE [RELATIONSHIPS], THEN PEOPLE ARE WORSE THAN ANIMALS.“
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
ALL-GAY ALL-INCLUSIVE ALL OVER THE WORLD
BOOK NOW AND SAVE $200* *Save $100 per person on any new booking.
RATES STARTING AT $2,599!
UPCOMING CRUISES Burgundy & Provence River Cruise (July 1-9, 2016) Prague & Danube River Cruise (August 19-28, 2016)
February 18, 2016
8
Royal Clipper Sailing Adventure (September 3-10, 2016)
FREEDOM TRAVEL at 954.565.2345
2186 Wilton Drive | Wilton Manors, FL | rich@bookfreedomtravel.com
PROMO CODE: FT1602
/floridaagenda
NEWS BRIEFS ArtServe introduces Bunker Bazaar
WILTON MANORS-ArtServe presents Bunker Bazaar, featuring handmade art with an edge, on the first Saturday of every month from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. beginning March 3. Independent artists and crafters will come together to showcase handcrafted home décor, jewelry, clothing, artwork and vintage goods. This free monthly event takes place at ArtsBunker at Equality Park, located at 2034 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors.
FIRED BY NIKE
Key West’s Sacred Cloth Flag head to Sydney, Australia
MARFA, TX--The death of anti-gay Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last Saturday has taken on the mask of a melodrama from the ID channel, instantly awash in conspiracy theories and cries of murder when it because known that Scalia was found in bed with a pillow over his head by the owners of a luxury hunting resort not far from the Mexican border. The implications of the death are discussed in our Spiritual Prescriptions column on page 15 and Capitol Beat on page 16.
Boxing’s Manny Pacquiao hits low blow with same-sex marriage comment
MANILA, PH-- Boxing star Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino world champion, has been forced to apologize after saying that gays in same-sex relationships “are worse than animals.” He later was forced to apologize for his commen.
INTERNATIONAL Puerto Rico nominates 1st Lesbian Supreme Court judge
SAN JUAN, PR--Maite Oronoz Rodriguez, the 39-year-old lover to the the chief of staff of Puerto Rican Senate President Eduardo Bhatia, has been nominated as a justice on the territory’s Supreme Court.
REPUBLICAN SUPPORTS SUPREME COURT DECISION ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
EAST LANSING, MI—John Kasich, currently the Republican governor of Ohio and a presidential hopeful, joined Donald Trump on the side of same-sex marriage when he pledged not to attempt to undo the Supreme Court ruling that allows gays across the country to wed.
Criminal charges dropped against Rentboy employees
9
NEW YORK--Criminal charges have been dropped by the feds against six employees of Rentboy.com founder Jeffrey Hurant.
February 18, 2016
KEY WEST--A 25-foot section of the historic Gilbert Baker Rainbow 25 Sea to Sea flag will leave Key West on February 29, to take part in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on March 5, 2016. The flag will be carried the entire route to Sydney by John Berry, the openly gay US Ambassador to Australia.
QUESTIONS SWIRL OVER THE DEATH OF ANTI-GAY SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA DEAD AT 79; AUTOPSY REFUSED BY FAMILY
vv
Jacksonville drops effort to protect LGBTs in city JACKSONVILLE--Despite his best efforts, local councilman Tommy Hazouri has announced he is withdrawing his bill to expand the city’s Human Rights Ordinance (HRO). After Hazouri originally filled the bill in December, it received overwhelming support from local business leaders. Untimately however, the debate on the attributes of the bill became centered on the rights of transgenders to use bathrooms that were not designated with their birth sex.
floridaagenda.com
FLORIDA
/floridaagenda
Go to floridaagenda.com to read more about these stories.
floridaagenda.com
COVER STORY
/floridaagenda
n n n n n
l 41
#266
Billion is Humana’s Gross Revenue
Ranking Global 500 Worldwide
l #3
of the Top 5 US Insurers
/floridaagenda
GREED:
Humana Overcharges for HIV Drugs--Again
BY RICHARD HACK
n
February 18, 2016
10
A year and a half ago, on December 15, 2014, the president of HumanaOne, Steve DeRaleau, reached an agreement with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. The third largest health insurance company in the United States had been charged with violating section 641.3007, Florida Statutes which states that “A health maintenance organization may not discriminate against an individual who has HIV/AIDS by excluding or limiting coverage.” Humana had placed all prescription drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS in a specialty tier which placed their cost out of reach of most patients struggling with the effects of the disease. Florida officials began investigating after two advocacy groups — the AIDS Institute based on Davis Islands in Tampa and the National Health Law Program — filed a federal complaint alleging four insurance companies had discriminated against HIV and AIDS patients. The insurers named in the complaint were Cigna, Humana,
Coventry Health Care and Preferred Medical. The agreement that DeRaleau signed with the state of Florida guaranteed that Humana with limit the “subscriber’s costsharing responsibility for all HIV/AIDS drugs…to 10% of the cost of the prescription drug,” while also denying that Human “unfairly discriminates” against those with HIV. While sources says that Humana began to honor its commitment to the state during 2015, new evidence obtained by the Florida Agenda shows that the company is abandoning its pledge, as witnessed by recent receipts obtained from Publix pharmacy—a Humana authorized drug dispensary. Truvada is the most popular drug used to prevent HIV cells from multiplying in the body. It is also frequently used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis to keep negative individuals from acquiring the disease. The nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor combines antiviral drugs emtricitabine and tenofo-
vir. The usual and customary cost of the drug is $1,834.95 for a month’s supply of 30 pills. Under Humana’s signed agreement, those pills should cost a subscriber no more than $183 per month—already quite a burden considering that Truvada is not taken alone, but in combination with another drug like Isentress. Isentress, or its generic form raltegravir, costs an additional $1610.95 for a month’s supply and helps support Truvada in keeping the virus from duplicating. According to the agreement, Isentress should cost the subscriber no more than $161, or a total of $344 for the complete monthly treatment. As the Publix receipts prove, this Humana subscriber was charged a total of $950.99— nearly three times the co-pay that the insurer guaranteed it would charge. Given the current state of HIV treatment, these drugs need to be taken for life. Calls placed for comment to Nancy A. Hanewinckel, Media
relations manager for Humana in South Florida, were not returned. The National Health Law Program is reinvestigating the charges against Humana, which will result in a new complaint to the Federal Department of Health and Human Services as well as Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation. “Florida’s law is unique in that it specifically prohibits limiting coverage for individuals with HIV or a specific medical condition resulting from HIV such as AIDS,” Amy Bogner, spokeswoman for the Office of Insurance Regulation, said in an email. Florida had 108,608 people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of April 2015, according to the state Department of Health. Of those, 26,678 were in Broward and Palm Beach counties and 27,899 were in Miami-Dade. Meanwhile Humana, which is in the process of being acquired by Aetna, had gross revenue of $41 billion. nn
/floridaagenda
Publix receipts of Humana subscriber
/floridaagenda floridaagenda.com
W COMBINED CHARGE $950.99 TO SUBCRIBER
W PRESS TIME UPDATE conduct examination and investigation compliance program no later than July 1, 2016. For its part, Humana continues to deny allegations that its classification of drugs unfailrly discriminated or that is plan violated the Florida Insurance code. The Consent Order does not address the current pricing of HIV drugs which appear to be in direct violation of its agreed upon commitment to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
February 18, 2016
On February 16, 2016, Humana agreed to pay a fine of $500,000 in penalties in relation to the 2014 investigation by the Office of Insurance Regulation that the insurer may have been in violation of Florida’s HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination law. According to the Consent Order released by OIR commissioner Kevin M. McCarty, Humana will also pay $3,000 in administrative costs. As part of the Consent Order, Humana has promised to establish an independent market
11
Graphics By: HRC.org
February 18, 2016
12 /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
/floridaagenda
two grooms and broward center present
/floridaagenda
apr 10
an interactive gay wedding comedy
floridaagenda.com
Mar 31
Tickets at BrowardCenter.org Ticketmaster | 954.462.0222 Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office Group Sales | 954.660.6307
February 18, 2016 13
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda
Publisher Maura “Mumball” Lane
2000 Oakland Park Blvd. Suite 106 | Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 Phone: 954-380-8563 | www.floridaagenda.com
Art Director Kevin Broady
Editor-In-Chief Richard Hack richardhack@wirld.com
AS I SEE IT
/floridaagenda
TRUMP SUPPORTERS: BLOCK GAYS FROM AMERICA
S
urprise. It’s not just Muslims that need to be blocked for entering the United States. It’s also gays that should be stopped at the border, or at least according to a third of Donald Trump supporters.
February 18, 2016
14
Hidden with the results of the Public Policy poll released on Wednesday, as the primary in South Carolina takes center stage, there was some shocking news from Trump’s base supporters. According to the poll, 31% of voters in the Trump camp support “banning homosexuals from entering the United States.” “It’s shocking enough to even see that question on a poll,” said By Ron SterRichard ling, a political Hack consultant from Washington. “But to see how many Trump supporters were in favor of it I’m certain surprised even Donald Trump.” Equally as amazing is that supporters of Republican evangelical contender Ted Cruz, whose anti-LGBT stance is the stuff of
legend, only 17% want to ban gays from America. An equal amount on the Marco Rubio team felt the same way. Among Jeb Bush supporters, 12% thought gays should be blocked from travel, while only 7% of John Kasich and Ben Carson supporters agreed. While it was once easy to dismiss Donald Trump and make his candidacy the brunt jokes, the depth of his fan base continues to grow across all demographics. He is supported by 41% of “somewhat conservative voters,” 40% of young voters, 38% with men, 36% with self-identified Republicans, 35% with Evangelicals, 35% with middle-aged voters, 34% with non-Evangelicals, 31% with women, 30% with selfidentified independents, 30% with “very conservative voters, 30% with seniors, and 29% with moderates. In South Carolina, he has a substantial lead across all those groups. “Donald Trump doesn’t seem to have lost any support in South Carolina following last Satur-
day night’s debate,” according to Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “He has a pretty consistent across-theboard lead with the different segments of the Republican electorate”—this despite the fact that 29% of voters say they might change their minds between now and Election Day. “Trump benefits from having supporters who are pretty resoute though—77% of them say they will definitely vote for him, compared with 76% for Cruz and 62% for Rubio,” Debnam said. Given that Trump supporters dislike Muslims, with many of them wanting to make the religion illegal the in U.S. and close all Mosques, it comes as little surprise that there are few subjects that his camp won’t broach. Trump has even entered his opinion on the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia while talking to conspiracy nut and far-right radio host Michael Savage. “Scalia: was he murdered? I know it’s pretty brutal to say
this, but this is going to get bigger and bigger,” Savage asked. “We need a commission, we need an autopsy before the body is disposed of. What do you think of that?” “I’m hearing it’s a big topic, the question… it’s a horrible topic.They say they found a pillow on his face. It’s a pretty unusual place to find a pillow. I can’t give you an answer… I literally just heard it.” Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time Trump threw his weight behind a conspiracy theory – he was a prominent backer of theories that Barack Obama was not eligible to be President because he was ‘secretly born in Kenya.’ But then, like we’ve often said, where Trump is concerned, we’re ready for anything.
Richard Hack is the awardwinning author of 26 books, and the Vice President of Content for Multimedia Platforms’ publications.
“
Shocking news from Trump’s base supporters. According to the poll, 31% of voters in the Trump camp support “banning homosexuals from entering the United States.”
DR. DURRELL’S SPIRITUAL PRESCRIPTIONS
macy and perhaps a life together cannot by any reasonable person be compared to murdering someone! Arguments against consensual adult relationships are just bigotry posing as morality.”
about not allowing it to infect our own hearts even when remembering those who were not always just toward us. And may those who loved and who will miss Justice Scalia be comforted in their time of grief. Amen.”
I have not had occasion to make comment on Justice Scalia since that day in 2012, until his death last week. In response to his passing, I posted the following comments on social media:
I disagreed with Scalia’s prejudicial views on gays and lesbians, and I believed he used his power and influence to hurt and vilify same-gender loving people. But even so, he was a member of our highest court, appointed by one of our chief executives, and most importantly, he was a human being. He might not have known that Queer people are fully human, but let us in the wake of his passing choose to be better than he ever imagined we could be. Let us wish comfort for his family, even as we renew our efforts to thrive in ways he consistently opposed. Let us be noble warriors, continuing the struggle for what is right without demonizing those we believe to be wrong. Let us be better than our enemies.
“It is bad form, and probably bad karma, to rejoice when an enemy falls. So, while Justice Scalia used his power and influence to marginalize, demonize, and dehumanize same-gender loving people, even so, I wish him the peace in death that he denied so many in life. The only condition I place on my blessing is that free from the limits of society and physicality, he might know and deeply regret the pain he caused. And my prayer is that the forces of homophobia and hatred that Scalia represented may never do psychological or spiritual damage to any person or community ever again. Jesus said to bless those who curse you, and so, I bless Scalia’s memory; may it serve to remind us that we must be diligent against hate, and while we work against hatred, may we also be intentional
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins is the senior minister of Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.
February 18, 2016
PAUL BERGE
“[Supreme Court] Justice Anton Scalia has shockingly compared homosexuality to murder. He asked a Princeton student, ‘If we cannot have moral feelings about homosexuality, can we have them about murder?’ Obviously, such a comparison is inflammatory and hurtful to samegender loving people and their friends and families. Justice Scalia justifies his hateful rhetoric by calling his opposition to homosexuality a moral By Rev. argument. The reason that Durrell same-gender relationships can’t be compared Watkins to heinous acts such as murder is that people being attracted to each other, sharing time and intimacy together, and even loving each other are sharing mutual, victimless, life-enhancing experiences. Two people choosing to share inti-
floridaagenda.com
In 2012 I wrote a piece titled, “Scalia Needs to Rethink ‘Morality’”. In that missive I said:
/floridaagenda
REMEMBERING JUSTICE SCALIA
[
/floridaagenda
OPINION
15
floridaagenda.com
CAPITOL BEAT
/floridaagenda
n n n n n
ll 79
30
Years of Age 1936-2016
Years As Supreme Court Justice
/floridaagenda
A DING DONG MOMENT
as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies
n
February 18, 2016
16
We interrupt what should have been a column this week on LGBT endorsements for Hillary Clinton, to write about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia instead. And although it’s become positively Trumpian (ugh) to be antiPC, to heck with that. Scalia popping off while a Democrat is still in the White House is a “ding dong the witch is dead” moment. For sure there have been plenty BY of sanctimonious LINDA cautionings PENTZ littering Twitter about not speaking ill of the dead; to mind our manners; that Scalia’s family must have loved him, blah blah blah. No, sorry. Read Scalia’s dissent on marriage equality which he labeled a “judicial Putsch.” Opposing the Court’s 5-4 decision in favor of samesex marriage, Scalia wrote, “The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.”
Read his dissent in Lawrence vs.Texas back in 2003. “Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in Scalia’s view on homosexuality was that it was “deviate their children’s schools, or as sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex.” boarders in their home,” he wrote. almost a year a “shameful abdication There is something Scalia’s view on homosexualof one of the Senate’s most essential called the Thurmond ity was that it was “deviate sexual Constitutional responsibilities.” Rule which could intercourse with someone of the But can McConnell and his croallow this. same sex.” nies get away with this? Therein But Scalia being dead and gone lies the confusion. There is someis less important than what happens thing called the Thurmond Rule Obama’s choice) particularly delinext. And that is not so much about which could allow this. But is it cious. Because one of them will who President Obama will nomia rule or just a practice? It’s not win, despite all the media flash and nate to replace Scalia, than whether entirely clear. At the end of the day, fanfare that obsessively follows the that nominee will arrive on the however, it appears that the RepubRepublican campaign bus (behind bench while Obama is still in office. lican majority can in fact just sit on which Jeb Bush continues to run, Republican Senate Majority Obama’s nomination and wait it out. crying “wait for me!”) Leader, Mitch McConnell, has Which I think will actually be When that happens, let’s hope the already vowed to stall any Obama great for the Democrats. It will nominee is both super progressive Supreme Court nomination from enrage people, especially Sanders and gay. At which point we can moving forward, banking on a supporters who already decry the say, with deserved smugness, “rest Republican presidential victory next oligarchical hold both the political in peace Scalia.” nn November that would replace both and corporate establishments have Obama and his nominee. over our so-called democracy. Senate Minority Leader, Harry And it will make the moment Linda Pentz is the Washington corresponReid, called the possibility of ignorwhen President Sanders or President of the Florida Agenda. She can be ing Obama’s nomination and leaving dent Clinton nominates the next contacted at lindapentz@mmplgbt.com. a Supreme Court seat vacant for Supreme Court justice (or confirms Follow her on Twitter @CapitolAgenda
“
/floridaagenda /floridaagenda floridaagenda.com
954-629-1377
Ernest@EmeraldEliteHomeHealth.com
17
www.EmeraldEliteHomeHealth.com
February 18, 2016
CALL ERNEST OLIVAS
/floridaagenda
Marco Rubio BY D’ANNE WITOWSKI
February 18, 2016
18
On Feb. 8, Marco Rubio was asked a very important question by New Hampshire resident Timothy Kierstead, a man who said he’d been married for a “long time.” “Why do you want to put me back in the closet?” Kierstead asked, according to the Washington Post. “I don’t. You can live any way you want,” Rubio responded. “I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman.” Kierstead wasn’t placated by that answer and after some words about marriage equality, the Post reported that the tense exchange ended with Rubio disengaging and walking away. Poor Rubio. He’s so misunderstood. People think he’s a moderate (a.k.a. “the least scary” among the GOP’s presidential contenders), but he’s really as far right as Ted Cruz. And yet Cruz seems to get all the credit — and the criticism — for this radical positions. I think in part it’s because Rubio is a pretty handsome guy compared to smug-mug Cruz. So everything that comes out of Cruz’s mouth sounds insane, but when Rubio says it, people are all, “Oh my, are those dimples I see?” Just like Cruz, Rubio is antiabortion with no exceptions for rape. Just like Cruz, Rubio supports so-called “religious freedom” laws which are by and large aimed at protecting those who discriminate
against LGBT people. In fact, Eric Teetsel, Rubio campaign’s director of faith outreach, told the Christian Post that there “are few, if any, substantive policy differences” between Cruz and Rubio when it comes to what feeds to the right-wing base. Teetsel continued, “The National Organization for Marriage calls Marco, ‘a champion of marriage’ and the Family Research Council’s political arm recently gave him a 100 percent score.” Which leads, of course, to Kierstead’s question and Rubio’s bullshit answer, one that any LGBT person or ally would be wise to look at more closely. When Rubio says, “You can live any way you want,” he’s being disingenuous at best. Because for many same-sex couples, the way they want to live is married, and they’ve fought for that right, and all the legal protections that come with it, for decades. Rubio would like to see all of that undone. And he’s not shy about it. When speaking about marriage equality on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Dec. 13, 2015, Rubio said, “It is the current law. I don’t believe any case law is settled law. Any future Supreme Court can change it. And ultimately, I will appoint Supreme Court justices
that will interpret the Constitution as originally constructed.” In other words, if Rubio gets elected president, he will be sure to try to stack the Supreme Court with right-wing justices who would overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, not to mention Roe v Wade. But make no mistake, Rubio says, “It’s not about discrimination. It is about the definition of a very specific, traditional and age-old institution.” I call bullshit on that, too. Because the only reason Rubio wants to lock down that narrow definition is so gays can’t get married. Hence, that’s discrimination. He also argues that equality advocates who won the right to marry didn’t do it right. “If you want to change it, you have a right to petition your state Legislature and your elected representatives to do it,” he said. “What is wrong is that the Supreme Court has found this hidden constitutional right that 200 years of jurisprudence had not discovered…” Earth to Rubio: America has changed a lot in the past 200 years. If you haven’t noticed that, then you would be a very dangerous man to lead this country. To people who support equality: come November, you’d better show up.
CREEP OF THE WEEK
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
[
OPINION
LGBTQ facts
Three times in the last two days, Florida Senator Marco Rubio campaigned for President on his opposition to nationwide marriage equality and overturning the Supreme Court’s historic decision last June. In the Republican debate in Greenville, South Carolina on Saturday, Rubio twice invoked his opposition to marriage equality. And then, in his closing statement, Rubio said, “We are going to be a country that says that, ‘life begins at conception and life is worthy of the protection of our laws.’ We’re going to be a country that says ‘that marriage is between one man and one woman.’” Rubio’s meaning was clear.
60% support
Support for marriage equality has hit a high of 60 percent in the last year. Polling done by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for HRC shows that a 55 percent majority of voters are less likely to support a candidate for president who opposes allowing samesex couples to marry. This majority includes Independents, married women and white millennials. All of these groups voted Republican in the last congressional election. For more on the records of the candidates, visit http://www. hrc.org/2016republicanfacts.
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
19
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda /floridaagenda
WINNER! 2 0 1 3 T O N Y AWA R D
®
February 18, 2016
20
MARCH 1-13
TICKETS STARTING AT $35! BrowardCenter.org • 954.462.0222 For Groups of 10+: 954.660.6307
RATCHET: has had some serious staying power over the past year especially amongst teen girls, despite increased dialogue around cultural appropriation. BAE: your significant other; stands for “before anyone else.” THOT: stands for “that ho over there.” Basic: used to describe a person or activity that is too obvious or vapid.
TURN UP: getting wild, most likely drunk or high. SLAY: to succeed in something; similar to “killing it.” (THROWING) SHADE: dissing someone or casually disrespecting them, this is an older slang phrase that has had a recent resurgence.
‘Queer’: Word du jour?
There seems to be yet another controversy in our community this week. The issue du jour is over HuffPost changing its dedicated LGBT site’s name from “GayVoices” to “QueerVoices.” While there By are strong Mark opinions on Segal both sides of this issue, when I heard about it, it brought a smile to my face. Since the beginning of my activism back in 1969, I’ve witnessed our community’s attempts to unite over a word or term to define ourselves. There was “homosexual,” “homophile,” “gay,” “gay and lesbian” and most recently, and most accepted, “LGBT.” So what about queer? HuffPost’s reasoning? “We, like many others before us, have chosen to reclaim
‘queer.’ ‘Queer’ functions as an umbrella term that includes not only the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people of ‘LGBT,’ but also those whose identities fall in between, outside of or stretch beyond those categories, including genderqueer people, intersex people, asexual people, pansexual people, polyamorous people and those questioning their sexuality or gender, to name just a few.” First, on reclaiming the word. I say, good luck with that. We saw how great that worked for the black community when some tried to reclaim the “n” word. While the word “queer” is popular with young LGBT activists, many in our community detest that word. Reclaiming a derogatory word is not a new trend. Some of us used to use the word “faggot.” The first suggested title for my memoir was “Pinko Jew Faggot.” We ruled it out for the same reasons “queer” would have been; it’s just a word du jour. It’s popular with only one segment of our community, and that segment is overwhelmingly activist-driven.
Most in our community do not consider themselves activists and still feel hurt when they hear that word. Are we trying to teach our own community, or are we trying to fight for equality? Are we trying to hurt the seniors in our community who suffered harassment by the use of that word and give them another barrier to overcome? Maybe we should attempt to solve some of the hardcore issues in our community rather than spending time debating semantics. While all individuals have the right to identify with whatever term or image they wish for themselves, and that should be respected, the word-reclaiming, like that in the black community, will eventually be passé. So if you spend any capital or time on this, you’re ignoring issues such as homelessness, poverty, employment discrimination, housing to protect our seniors and anti-trans violence. Those are issues I’d rather fight to solve, not a word — and especially not one that some of the most endangered people in our community see as another barrier.
Mark Segal is the nation’s most-award-winning commentator in LGBT media. His Best selling memoir And Then I Danced, Traveling The Road To LGBT Equality is available on Amazon.com and at you favorite bookseller. February 18, 2016 21
SLIDE INTO THE DMS: when you take flirting with someone on Twitter to the next level by smoothly moving the conversation from the public to private messages.
SWAG and YOLO: are back and surprisingly big; we see Millennia’s using the words both sincerely and ironically.
[
floridaagenda.com
What language is really sticking with our audience? We found the biggest and/or breakout slang of the past couple months. Through our research of Millennia’s aged 14-24 from across the country, in their opinion these were the words that they and their friends are trending with the most.
MARK MY WORDS
/floridaagenda
The Millennial Words
OPINION
/floridaagenda
yBREAKOUT SLANG
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda /floridaagenda
Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal
February 18, 2016
22
February 27
Tickets at ParkerPlayhouse.com Ticketmaster | 954.462.0222 Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office Group Sales | 954.660.6307
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
23
at Parker Playhouse
PHOTOS BY: ADRIANNA CORTEZ
February 18, 2016
24
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
Stonewall Museum Gala
THIRSTY FOR MORE? OF COURSE YOU ARE. CHECK OUT ALL OF THE PHOTOS YOU CAN HANDLE AT FLORIDAAGENDA.COM!
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
25
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda /floridaagenda
26 February 18, 2016
ADVERTORIAL Does Back Pain have you Frustrated….. Are You Worried You Will Have to Take Pain Pills For The Rest of Your Life?…….. If this is you or someone you love, keep reading to learn about an amazing free report helping back pain sufferers!
Wilton Manors, FL Are you one of the 100 million Americans who are suffering from chronic back pain? Is your back pain stopping you from doing the things you enjoy? Are you using pain pills regularly just to get through the day? Are you afraid this may eventually lead to surgery? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we can help. We have put together a free report filled with tips to help you avoid the most common mistakes made by back pain sufferers. Back pain is not something you have to learn to live with. There are solutions, and we can help you find them. Claim your copy of “Erasing Back Pain: How to Avoid the 9 Most
Painful Mistakes and What You Should Be Doing Instead” today to take charge of your pain and get back to doing the things you love! In this report you’ll find The 3 things you can do to avoid back surgery that will cost you nothing. How to save yourself time and money by making the right choices for your back pain today. How to avoid the biggest mistake made by back pain sufferers. Call (954)-351-2299 now for your FREE report or request it online at www.oceantherapycenter.com/ back.php
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
27
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
Market Place /floridaagenda
CONTACT NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR, MAURA “MUMBALL” LANE AT 954-543-5947 OR MAURA@WIRLD.COM TO GET ON THE LIST.
ACCOUNTING
Sterling Tax & Accounting 2435 N Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-667-9829 / sterlingandhart.com
ATTORNEYS
EVENTS Source Events 605 Lincoln Road, #410 Miami Beach, FL 33139 305-672-9779 / sourceevents.com
FINANCIAL
FOOD / GROCERY
HEALTH
Diana’s 12001 Avalon Lake Drive Orlando, FL 32828 407-207-0205 /dianasbakeryandcafe.com
HEALTH
Dean Trantalis Attorney 2255 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-2226 / trantalislaw.com
INCOME TAX
BARBERSHOP
Best Books and Taxes 2201 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-565-1041 / bestbooksandtaxes.com
INSURANCE Dunham Fort Lauderdale 2601 E Oakland Park Blvd, Suite 303 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-564-7772 / dunhamins.com
CHURCH / SPIRITUAL
We Insure 1975 E Sunrise Blvd, Suite 602 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-903-7519 / weinsurefl.com
FITNESS Pump’n Inc Tom Bonanti 1271 NE 9th Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-557-1119 / pumpnincgym.com
FURNITURE
Center for Spiritual Living 1550 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-2868 / cslftl.com
LANDSCAPING
Genesis Health Institute 1001 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-561-3175 / ghinstitute.com Ocean Therapy Center 2530 NE 15th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-351-2299 oceantherapycenter.com
February 18, 2016
28
Holy Angels Catholic Community 2917 NE 6th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-633-2987 / holyangelsfl.org
Better Hearing-World of Sounds 2450 E Commercial Blvd Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 954-491-2560 betterhearingworldofsounds.com
Etz Chaim 1501 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-564-9232 / etzchaimflorida.org
mm
/floridaagenda
Market Place /floridaagenda
PAWNBROKERS
SPA 11 Lic#MA75718 2000 E Oakland Park Blvd, Suite 103 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-945-5133 / spa11massage.com
UPHOLSTERY
floridaagenda.com
MASSAGE
MUSIC
PHOTOGRAPHY Dennis Dean Images 3554 NE 12th Avenue Oakland Park, FL 33334 954-240-8307 / dennisdean.com
REAL ESTATE OPTICAL Island City Eyecare 2301 Wilton Drive, Suite C1 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-764-6906 / visionsource-ice.com
ORGANIZATIONS
Robert Geary MacKilligan on Las Olas Boulevard Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-234-8759 / rgmsell@aol.com Joe Grano Realtor 1881 NE 26th Street, Suite 212 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-931-0031 / joegrano.com
REAL ESTATE
The Pride Center 2040 N Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-463-9005 / pridecenterflorida.com Out of the Closet 2097 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-358-5580 / outofthecloset.org
29
Sunrise Pawnbrokers 3043 N Federal Hwy Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-563-3147 / SunrisePawn.com
February 18, 2016
PAWNBROKERS
February 18, 2016
30 /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
31
floridaagenda.com
Gay Things You Do Playing Football
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
PUZZLE
February 18, 2016
32
Across
1 The Unicorn author Murdoch 5 Famed Loch 9 Sits for 63-Across 14 “Queen of Country” McEntire 15 Prefix with potent 16 Give the slip to 17 Give relief to a thief 18 One of Bernstein’s strings 19 Beat off 20 He reaches between the center’s legs 23 Aunt in a Disney film 24 Merchant of films 25 Less likely to come out 27 Computer command 30 Make possible 33 Christopher, to Madonna 36 Former NFL player Tuaolo 38 Seat at the Stonewall Inn 39 Where boxers are visible 41 Sound from guitarist Townshend 43 Engage in some watersports 44 One who gets screwed by an agent? 46 Triangle-shaped peninsula 48 ___ Miz 49 Gulliver’s Travels brutes 51 Philippines island 53 The Gay Nineties, for example 55 Alexander conquered it 59 Gone With the Wind extra 61 Where football players get naked together 64 Video category for porn 66 Royal threesome 67 Go down 68 Release from bondage 69 “How queer!” 70 Sea eagle 71 “See ya” 72 Actor Auberjonois 73 Cannon of Hollywood For the solution to this puzzle go to: floridaagenda.com/puzzle
Down
1 Persian Gulf figure 2 [ELK] - [K] + [LEND] - [D] 3 Erection supporter 4 Governor of 55-Across 5 Stein, for one 6 Arab head 7 Stuck-up sort 8 Nancy’s older son, on Weeds 9 Tony of Hollywood 10 Cheer for Lorca 11 Winners of this wear matching rings 12 Rosie O’Donnell’s Exit to ___ 13 Ward of Once and Again 21 Wear down 22 Evita narrator 26 Chows down 28 Randy Shilts’ area 29 Chase behind 31 Dance legend Fuller 32 Shade trees 33 Noise of an ass 34 Costa ___ 35 Where football players pat each other 37 Shakespeare’s Hathaway 40 Sticky stuff 42 A pink triangle symbolizes this 45 Alarm cock? 47 Cicero’s way 50 U. of San Francisco, e.g. 52 Wore away 54 Score for Billy Bean 56 “Pardon me” 57 “___ roll!” 58 Navratilova’s winter home 59 Male actor named Julia 60 John Travolta’s Hairspray role 62 Hourly pay 63 Actor Richard 65 Hwy. to the Hamptons
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
33
n LORD OF THE DANCE:
DANGEROUS GAMES
FRIDAY 2/19 @ 7:00PM BB&T Center Michael Flatley’s wildly successful Lord of the Dance series came to fruition in the mid-1990s when Flatley conflicted with the producers of Riverdance, a show he had first found fame. He ventured into his own project, combining Celtic and contemporary dance on a grand, soul-stirring scale. His newest production Dangerous Games continues the Lord of the Dance tradition, retelling an old Irish folk legend. 7:00 p.m. BB&T Center. 2555 NW 136th Ave. Sunrise. 33323.
MO’NIQUE
34
BRYAN ADAMS
SATURDAY 2/20 @ 8:00PM Fillmore Canada’s best-selling recording artist has sold over 100 million records in nearly forty years of show business. His greatest triumph was in 1991 when he wrote a song for the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” ruled the airwaves throughout the world, reaching the top of the charts a record-breaking sixteen weeks at number one. 8:00 p.m. Fillmore. 1700 Washington Ave. Miami Beach. 33139.
n MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS
SATURDAY 2/20 @ 8:00PM James L. Knight Center Perhaps more interesting to the LGBT community as research study as opposed to relationship advice, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is the hit theatrical show based on John Gray’s famous book. The show examines the diverging approaches men and women take to relationship conflicts. 8:00 p.m. James L. Knight Center. 400 SE Second Ave. Miami. 33131.
d
FRIDAY 2/19 @ 7:30PM Palm Beach Improv Sassy and blunt comedian Mo’Nique began her career as Nikki Parker on UPN’s long-running early millennial TV show The Parkers. From there she became a fixture on Showtime at the Apollo and transitioned into films like Phat Girlz and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. Her dark, realistic portrayal of abusive mom Mary solidified her place in film history. 7:30 p.m. Palm Beach Improv. 550 S. Rosemary Ave. West Palm Beach. 33401. February 18, 2016
n
d
THURSDAY 2/18 @ 7:30PM Broward Center Slow Burn Theatre Company’s newest production reveals how danger and illusion can sow the seeds of romantic lust. Romance, Romance contains two one-act musicals each observing the ironic nature of love. Set in 19th century Vienna, The Little Comedy involves a burgeoning relationship between two people with adopted personas. 7:30 p.m. Broward Center for the Performing Arts. 201 SW 5th Ave. Fort Lauderdale. 33312.
By Patrick Robert
floridaagenda.com /floridaagenda /floridaagenda
nevents nnightlife ntheatre nexhibits
n ROMANCE, ROMANCE
n
n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n
T he Week entertainment calendar
n
DELRAY BEACH OPEN
SUNDAY 2/21 @ 11:00AM Delray Beach Tennis Center This year’s Delray Beach Open heralds the return of 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro. The popular Argentine player has been suffering from a rash of injuries. He will face stiff competition from some of the ATP tour’s best, including up-and-comers Bernard Tomic and Grigor Dimtrov, and American favorites Sam Querrey and Donald Young. 11:00 a.m. Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center. 201 W. Atlantic Ave. Delray Beach. 33444.
POETRY SHELF NOTES ON A PAST LIFE BY DAVID TRINIDAD Notes on a Past Life (BlazeVOX, 2016) by David Trinidad, as dishy and revealing as the best literary memoirs, picks at old scabs, slashes new wounds, spills the beans on contemporary poetry-world wars, ignites new feud fuses and drops names like F-bombs. This book is so hot; it should come with its own flame retardant gloves and fire extinguisher.
THE BOOK OF HULGA BY RITA MAE REESE Selected by Denise Duhamel as winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, The Book of Hulga (University of Wisconsin Press, 2016) by Rita Mae Reese, with illustration by Julie Franki, “speculates on a character that Flannery O’Connor envisioned but didn’t live long enough to write,” brought forth with a combination of “humor, tenderness, and a brutal precision.”
MATTERS OF THE SEA BY RICHARD BLANCO Matters of the Sea/Cosas del mar (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015) by Richard Blanco, son of Cuban exiles and Barack Obama’s inaugural poet, written for U.S. embassy in Havana’s ceremonial reopening, is a bilingual chapbook-length poem.
NOTES ON THE ASSEMBLAGE BY JUAN FELIPE HERRERA Like Blanco, United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera is the son of immigrants, and his poetry collection Notes on the Assemblage (City Lights, 2015), touches on the migrant experience and politics, subjects that take on considerable weight particularly during an election year.
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
35
February 18, 2016
36 /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
/floridaagenda /floridaagenda floridaagenda.com
IS NOT
February 18, 2016
WWW.LEATHERWERKS.COM
37
BAD BEHAVIOR
REWARDED!!! Copyright © 2016 The Werks Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Werks, LeatherWerks, PaddleWerks, Lifestyle Club, BootWerks and “Where Leather is a Lifestyle” are Registered Trademarks of The Werks Company, LLC
February 18, 2016
38 /floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
/floridaagenda
/floridaagenda
floridaagenda.com
February 18, 2016
39