Agenda 101515 issue 308 by Multi-Media Platforms

SAME-SEX PARENTS TO CREATE BABIES FROM SKIN CELLS WITHIN TWO YEARS

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING... Random thoughts and quotes on Facebook this week

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DEMOCRATIC DEBATE DISTRACTION It seems like presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley sparked a sexual awakening during the Democratic Debate: @PeterDavisNYC: I’m sick of @ HillaryClinton’s emails but I would love to read @MartinOMalley’s sexts. #DemDebate @RaganFox: Martin O’Malley for president...of my bedroom. @bradodonnell: Martin O’Malley’s main argument is that he is goodlooking. It’s.... a good argument. #DemDebate @samlansky: Martin O’Malley could get it, right? Photo: Algerina Perna

“I have been very consistent...but, like most human beings, including those of us who run for ofﬁce, I do absorb new information. I do look at what’s happening in the world.” HILLARY CLINTON

JUST ADAM

Musings by Adam Cohen THE PERFECT PAIR. If I had to pick the most glamorous Hollywood couple of all time, hands down, it would be Linda Evans and Yanni. The glamour, the elegance, the synthesizer music… Even perhaps a slight tinge of weed in the air. They were everything. In a close second place however, would be Paula Abdul and that dancing cartoon cat. CRACK IS WACK. I hate to say it, but ever since the iOS software upgrade, my Siri has ofﬁcially began taking the short bus to school. I mean, some of the stuff that comes out of my mouth is usually unintelligible, but some of these "variations?" Either she's got serious crack problems or perhaps she needs to turn up her hearing aid. HARD KNOCK LIFE. In total Miss Hannigan mode tonight. Filled my bathtub with a luxurious hydrangea soak; applied a healthy layer of avocado facemask to clean out my pores. Now the two only things missing from this evening are a bunch of whiny orphans to beat up on, including that glaringly obvious butch dyke leader of the pack, Pepper, and the gloriously stubby tongue of my laundry delivery man it's horrid lover, Mr. Bundles!

Photo: Wade Payne

DOLLY PARTON, entertainer, entreprenuer and legendary songwriter

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, U.S. Representative for Florida’s 23rd congressional district & member of the Democratic Party and the Chair of the Democratic National Committee

PRIDE & JOY. Wait, Fort Lauderdale… I'm confused… It's pride weekend? I thought that was in June… Is this that thing with the booths in the park?

“We’ve celebrated so much progress the past 6 years—from 67 straight months of privatesector job growth, to making marriage equality the law of the land, to the lowest uninsured rate in record—the choice for 2016 is clear: We need another Democrat in the White House.”

October 15, 2015

“[My gay fans know that I completely love and accept them, as I do all people. I’ve struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. I’ve had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love. I don’t think we should be judgmental.”

THE TERRIBLE TWO. I hate to say it but it seems like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have turned into that snooty lesbian power couple that no one likes. The only big movies they put out are 4 hour war sagas. And of course you have to love Tom Hanks but he's getting kind of bloated and annoying as of late.

Photo: H. Dar Beisser

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COVER STORY HIL & BERN MAKE NICE:

Democratic Debate More Substance than Showmanship BY LINDA PENTZ

October 15, 2015

his was your grandfather’s presidential debate. And that’s a good thing. Substance did finally triumph over showmanship. The Democratic presidential debate was articulate, encouraging, refreshing and a relief from the Republican slug-fest. What was depressing was opening this morning’s Washington Post to read that, unlike Donald Trump’s whack-a-mole approach to his Republican rivals, the Democratic candidates could potentially leave viewers “bored senseless.” Have the presidential debates really come down to ratings, entertainment and facsimile reality shows? Are those of us tasked to watch and analyze these debates expected to behave like curmudgeonly film critics rather than political commentators? If facts have become “boring,” this is not a good trend. Not that being a charismatic speaker isn’t important. Before the debate began, it was reasonable to lament the empty lectern that would remain in the wings, unoccupied by Joe Biden. But after Sheryl Crow sang a rather faint-voiced national anthem, the showbiz was over and it was on with the real show. And Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton quickly filled the potential charisma gap left by Biden. Indeed, Clinton’s poise and depth on Tuesday might now convince Biden to stay home for the duration. We’ll see. LGBT rights didn’t come up of course, likely because it simply wasn’t a divisive enough issue on that platform. Clinton referenced the need to end “the continued discrimination against the

LGBT community,” in her opening remarks, while Lincoln Chafee made a passing reference to his support of marriage equality. And then it was on to the “boring” stuff. Which wasn’t boring at all. We were so bombarded with substance that when the inevitable question about Clinton’s emails ﬁnally came up, it was batted away as a trivial sidebar. “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” said Bernie Sanders sympathetically, turning toward Clinton. “Me, too,” smiled Clinton. “Enough with the emails!” cried Sanders in his best Brooklyn. As Mike Signorile aptly tweeted as the debate progressed: “I mean really, there’s yet to be a crazy moment, or a total lie, like a Fiorina dead baby moment.” The closest we came was Jim Webb whining his way into political oblivion about not getting the “ten minutes” everyone else did. Gentle Chafee could probably have left the stage without anyone noticing. Martin O’Malley was earnest and smart, and mentioned gay rights in his closing remarks. There was a moment when you wondered whether Clinton might choose him as a running mate. “There is such a difference between what you hear on this stage and what you hear from Republicans,” observed Clinton. The context was immigration but it could have been anything. “We tried to deal with some of the very tough issues facing our country,” said Clinton. And as they did so, we didn’t miss the Republican clown show for one single second.

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Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton

Photo: popsugar.com

The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” said Bernie Sanders sympathetically, turning toward Clinton. “Me, too,” smiled Clinton.

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October 15, 2015

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BOBBY BLAIR Founder | CEO RICHARD HACK Vice President | Content MAURA “MUMBALL” LANE National Advertising Director

PETER JACKSON President | Group Executive Publisher KEVIN HOPPER Vice President | New York Publisher

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AS I SEE IT

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE WE SLEEP

o we sat at home and watched Hillary do what she does best—debate in a rational, unaffected way, in front of 23 million people.

October 15, 2015

A PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY STOCK SYMBOL: MMPW

Yes, there were four other 2016 Democratic presidential hopefuls on stage Tuesday night in Las Vegas, but, let’s face it, Mrs. Clinton commanded that every word she said be listened to and believed. She did it in her “been there, done that” meticulous way that may not have helped endear her to the LGBT By community Richard for her warmth, but certainly Hack demonstrated that this former First Lady, former Senator from New York, and former Secretary of State, has our back. We believe her when she says, if elected president of the United States, she’ll ﬁght for a Federal anti-discrimination bill for LGBTs and everyone else. And while it’s one bill that is seriously overdue in America, it isn’t the only one. It’s amazing to realize that for all the advances that have been made politically in 2015 in a splurge of legislative victories so enormous as to be life altering even to heterosexuals, those victories only served to make us realize that we still live in an us-against-them world. They have

something that we do not. Yes, we can get married in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton in any state in the union; yet, no, we can’t kiss our husband or wife in the lobby of the very same hotel without risking a scene—or worse. Yes, we can use part of our $880 billion in discretionary income to purchase a golf course estate in even the most conservative of counties; yet, no, we can’t presume that we’ll be allowed to play golf on the very course our homes overlook. No gays allowed is as common a mantra in certain parts of the country in 2015 as no blacks allowed was shouted in 1960. Like it or not, gays are not equal to their straight counterparts in business and in life. There are those who would claim that we dress better, design better, cook better and eat better than any ”breeder” in America. It’s all subterfuge of course. We’ve known many gays who are slobs, and snobs, and tragically overweight. We’re just like them, which is exactly the point. The difference is that they haven’t been ﬁred for being too gay, or acting too gay, or sounding too gay. Or lost their homes, or been denied a service—from baked goods to bathrooms. True, we’ve come a long way baby, but, truthfully, we’ve got miles to go before we sleep. For, as much

as we appreciate the debating skills of Hillary Clinton who managed to point her ﬁnger and puncture holes in the logic of every other candidate on the CNN stage at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel, it will do not good if we cannot get to vote for her or another determined presidential candidate. All of which brings us to the other bill that must be passed. The Republicans in Washington has done more than just argue themselves in a corner over the next Majority Speaker of the House. They have done everything in their considerable power to prevent passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act. That’s a rewritten version of the law that was partially declared unconstitutional two years ago by the Supreme Court. Democrats in the House and Senate are pushing a new bill to restore federal oversight in states and counties with a history of discrimination and voter suppression. Include Florida on that list. Twelve other states are equally as guilty including Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Loui-

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Democrats in the House and Senate are pushing a new bill to restore federal oversight in states and counties with a history of discrimination and voter suppression. Include Florida on that list.

siana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Without passage, millions of voters who want to vote may not get an opportunity to do so. Since the key enforcement provision of the VRA was invalidated, voting discrimination has increased as states, counties, and cities across the country have pushed through laws designed to make it harder for minorities to vote. Opportunities for early voting have been removed, residency requirements have become more onerous, and so-called voter ID laws have been passed that have a disproportionate impact on transgender individuals. Gays too are included in this mess—particularly homeless LGBT youth who are eligible to vote for the ﬁrst time in their lives, but have no means of registering without a legal permanent address. So as we stand around and debate the debate—the winners and losers, and also rans—remember that the right to vote is not only the most fundamental right of our democracy, it is ironically the one easiest to lose. Without our vote, we can never hope to achieve equality—the other right that straights take for granted. And without equality, we can never hope to escape the stigma of abnormality that clings to every member of the LGBT community. Hillary Clinton worked the room Tuesday night in no small degree for us. Now it’s our time to return the favor and make our own voices heard. Loud, clear, and equal.

Richard Hack is the award-winning author of 26 books, and the Vice President of Content for Multimedia Platforms’ publications.

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OPINION

DR. DURRELL’S SPIRITUAL PRESCRIPTIONS indigenous people for thousands of years. So, Johnny-Come-Lately Columbus was the second European to visit a long inhabited continent. Worse than the inaccuracy of calling Columbus the discoverer of North America, is Columbus’ own brutality. When Columbus landed in the Bahamas, he and his crew were treated well by the native residents. Columbus rewarded their decency by seizing their land and enslaving them. Now many of us call what has been known as Columbus Day, “Indigenous Peoples Day” to honor the peaceful people Columbus ﬁrst encountered and soon betrayed and tormented. Indigenous Peoples Day reminds us to honor the peace lovers, to value kindness and generosity, and to speak out against injustice. October is also LBGT History Month where we celebrate heroes from our beautiful and diverse Queer community. We honor such luminaries as lesbian Jane Addams (co-founder of the American Civil

Liberties Union and first American woman Nobel Peace Prize winner), Miriam Ben-Shalom (discharged from the Army in the 1970s for being gay but she won a long court battle which resulted in her being reinstated in the 1980s), bisexual Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer Clive Davis (who helped the careers of such superstars as Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, and Carlos Santana), Arthur Dong (Academy Award nominee, Peabody Award winner, gay film-maker who features gay and Asian themes in his work), Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox (transgender actress, producer, and activist), and Richard Blanco (the youngest, first Latino, and first openly gay U.S. presidential inauguration poet – Blanco read one of his poems at President Obama’s second inauguration). We should be very proud of the many achievements that members of our community have shared with the world! October also gives us National Coming Out Day which encourages

us to leave behind closets of fear and shame and to live out loud as the gifted, wonderful members of the human family we are. October 6, 1968 is the founding date of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, reminding us to honor those who battle cancer, to remember those who lost their battle, and to wish and work for a cure. And sadly, October is the month in 1998 when Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard died from being attacked simply because he was gay. October gives us a lot to think about, and opportunities to renew our commitment to make a difference. So, I call October holy, because in many ways it reminds us that we can be and ought to be angels of healing in our world.

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ctober has become a month that encourages us to celebrate human potential. October challenges us to remember heroes so that we might discover heroic qualities in ourselves. October even calls us to work for justice where justice has By Rev. been denied. October is a Durrell very special Watkins month! There is a national holiday in October: Columbus Day. However, we now know that it is problematic to celebrate Christopher Columbus as the “discoverer” of North America, since Leif Ericson reached our continent 500 years before Columbus did, and the continent had been inhabited by

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Holy October

Rev. Joel S. Slotnick is an ordained Interfaith minister and full time digital court reporter for the state Florida.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Don’t Just Ban All Guns, Ban All Vehicles

Throughout our nation where there are conceal and carry permits, violent crime drops dramatically. Where there is strict gun control, only the criminals get possession of them and rule the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, etc. Is it any wonder that women of all color have led the nation in new gun purchases for the past two decades? It would behoove Gay people to consider the same given the violent crime we are confronted with, too. All due respect to the President, the American people think otherwise, and we in the Gay community need to think long and hard before jettisoning our constitutional rights to bear arms for our own protection of family and property. Sincerely, Kenneth Blunk Boynton Beach, FL

Editor’s note: Gun control advocates typically favor restrictions on assault-style riﬂes, not all guns in general. The number of vehicular deaths per year averages 1.3 million, not 32,500, but those deaths are traditionally accidental in nature. Gun deaths are likely to be intentional. Big difference. There is absolutely no truth to the oft-repeated story that Hitler’s Nazi told German to turn in their guns. In truth, the Nazis allowed private gun ownership, with the notable exception of Jews. However, allowing Jews to carry weapons likely would have had no impact on their destiny given that there were just over six million Jews who lived and died in Germany during World War II, at a time when there were 18 million well-armed Gestapo.

vociferousness “ban-all-guns, onlythe-police-should-have them” voices in our community, we should also ban all automobiles. Yet, history tells us taking away guns from law-abiding citizens is a disaster leading to crimes against humanity and mass murders by governments. Hitler’s Nazi Socialist Party told the German people to turn in their guns because the government would protect them. Then they started putting the Jewish, Gays, and many other groups in the trains to the Holocaust. Tens of millions then died at the hands of the governments who had all the guns. Here’s the best option: In a society that teaches no values, we should support the Second Amendment value of private gun ownership for all law-abiding citizens, including vulnerable Gays who need them as well. The reason?

October 15, 2015

Dear Editor: With the dozens of college campus shooting in the news we are hearing a misguided outcry for more gun control. As a Gay man who happens to be a U.S. Marine Corp Vietnam Veteran and a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) since 1965, I would like to thoughtfully address this wrongheadedness inside the Gay community. According to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, there are about 300 million guns in the United States, and approximately 12,500 homicides by firearms in 2013. According to the Department of Transportation there were 250 million passenger vehicles in the United States and 35,200 fatal traffic accidents, or three times as many vehicle related deaths as gun homicides. Following the conclusion of the

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NEWSWATCH

Another GUY is coming Dec. 3rd

Guy magazine announces Central Florida edition Guy magazine, South Florida’s best gay entertainment and nightlife guide, is expanding to Central Florida with the launch of a separate edition covering Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg. The ﬁrst edition will hit the streets on December 3 and will be celebrated with a launch party in Orlando, said Peter Jackson, president and executive group publisher of Multimedia Platforms Worldwide, parent company of Guy and ﬁve other print and digital brands in New York, Florida, California and 37 more North American cities. “The gay community, LGBTQ business owners and civic organizations in Central Florida have been very vocal to us in expressing the need for their own quality entertainment magazine,” said Jackson. “It’s an important market with a growing consumer base that has been underserved.” Jackson announced the appointment of Florida LGBTQ media

Scott Spar veteran Scott Spar as publisher of Guy Central Florida. “Scott is well-known and respected in Central Florida and we are thrilled to welcome him to our team,” he said. “Scott shares our commitment to produce a quality publication which illustrates the very best of Central Florida in words and

Fred Birks photographs. We will be working closely with the Gay and Lesbian Community Center among a host of community groups to make sure we reﬂect, represent and promote the people, organizations and businesses of Central Florida most positively.” Jackson said an advisory board comprising seven business and community

leaders would be announced shortly. “We could not be more excited about Scott’s appointment and the launch of Guy Central Florida,” said Founder and CEO Bobby Blair. “We’ve known Scott for years both personally and professionally and could not imagine ﬁnding someone better to partner with. We love Central Florida, are thrilled to be establishing deep roots there and welcome the support of the community.” Guy Central Florida will initially be published monthly. A business ofﬁce is being opened and will be manned by Spar and advertising manager Fred Birks, also a wellknown and respected businessman in the area. Both Spar and Birks will also represent the Florida Agenda, the statewide LGBTQ newspaper of record which enjoys a large readership in Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg. Publisher Scott Spar can be reached via e-mail at ScottSpar@ MMPLGBT.com

PAUL BERGE

What’s your opinion?

October 15, 2015

The Agenda wants to know...

The Florida Agenda welcomes signed Letters to the Editor, up to 400 words in length, on topics of general interest to our readers. You may e-mail submissions to Editor@mmplgbt. com. We welcome comments on our Facebook page also.

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October 15, 2015

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THE AGENDA INTERVIEW

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CHRIS: How do you feel knowing that your hit “Brave” has become an empowering anthem for the LGBT community? SARA: It’s still hard for me to understand the impact the song is having. I wrote it as a love letter to a friend who was struggling with coming out as an adult, and it was such an intimate story. It was also so impacted by (Fun’s lead guitarist and co-writer) Jack Antonoff and all the incredible advocacy work he does in the gay community. So, I’m so grateful that the song has taken on a life of its own and is speaking to a message that I deeply, deeply believe in. I’m so proud that it brings either comfort or anything helpful to anybody out there.

October 15, 2015

Singer Songwriter Actress Sara Bareilles Speaks Out

Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles is a LGBT advocate, whose song “Brave” has become an empowering anthem for those coming out within the gay community. In her newly released memoir Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song, she relates a story of a fan whose suicide attempt was thwarted when Bareilles’ hit “Hold My Heart” came on the radio. The “Gravity” singer’s newest album, What’s Inside: Songs From Waitress, is a mix of previously unheard tracks and songs that Bareilles wrote for the ﬁlm-turnedBroadway musical Waitress. BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

C: As an ally, how and when did you become so passionate about LGBT rights? S: Growing up, my mom had a lot of gay friends, and so people in the gay community were, essentially, big brothers and sisters to me all my life. I never even thought twice about it until I got older and realized that that wasn’t the norm – it wasn’t everyone’s experience to have an open-hearted and accepting family unit toward a community they weren’t necessarily a part of. To me, it’s about being accepting of an idea that we’re all the same community; it’s almost like, I can’t believe we’re still having the conversation. It’s how I feel about it sometimes. I’m like, “Everybody fuckin’ get on board already! Relax!” But it’s such an exciting time. It really, really is. And so I feel really grateful that I was raised with the mentality of being an openhearted and accepting individual. I feel sad for those who weren’t given that opportunity as a child, but I think those patterns of thinking can be unlearned, and I think that’s what’s happening. C: It might surprise some people that you grew up in an openminded environment. You grew up Catholic, right? S: Yeah, I did.

C: How did you and your family reconcile religion with the gay “brothers and sisters” you grew up with? S: The way my parents always dealt with that was… (Laughs) I suppose we weren’t the most devout Catholics in that way. Certainly, it was distilled into this idea that you treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Period. And there are no exceptions to that rule, and that’s the kind of religion that I want to be a part of. C: Regarding “Brave,” you once said in a webisode, “It’s important to be brave because by doing that you also give others permission to do the same.” How do you react, then, to people in the limelight who are hesitant to come out but could potentially inspire so many people if they did? S: (Sigh) That’s a really hard thing to speak to. Honestly, I understand both sides of it. Everyone is on their path, and I really believe that, at the end of the day, people are doing the best they can with what they’ve got. Not everyone is comfortable enough to step into a leadership position and you can’t really judge them for that. I would love to see everyone step into this holy space of carrying the torch of bravery – it’s just not everyone’s role. If you make someone feel bad because they’re not (out), isn’t that similar to punishing them because they’re quote-end quote “different” in the ﬁrst place? All of that is a form of judgment. I would rather hope that everyone’s doing the best they can and that eventually people feel safe to be exactly who they are. It’s just so hard. You can’t know what’s going on behind the scenes – why someone is as complicated as they are – and I just wouldn’t want to judge someone’s experience. C: In an industry where authenticity isn’t easy to come by, you have always remained true to yourself. Why has it always been important to give the public your most authentic self? S: I have to give my family a lot of

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C: What songs on the Waitress album do you think your LGBT fans might relate to most? S: The lead single, “She Used to Be Mine,” speaks to the idea of anyone’s character and the parts of ourselves that are multi-faceted, the fact that we all can be messy, we all can be forgotten and lonely and strong. That message is not even a female-centric message; it’s more about taking a look at who you’ve become and who you thought you were going to become and juxtaposing those two images. I don’t know if it’s a gay or straight thing – it’s more just about a human condition experience, which I think that song really speaks to.

C: Does this mean you’re in her squad now? S: (Laughs) I don’t know what the squad rules are. I don’t have a Tshirt or, like, anything. Chris Azzopardi is a Bareilles fan and the editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBT wire service. Reach him via his website at www. chris-azzopardi.com and on Twitter (@chrisazzopardi).

C: When “Brave” came out in 2013, Katy Perry was criticized for releasing “Roar,” a song some said resembled “Brave,” shortly thereafter. How much of the “Brave” vs. “Roar” debacle was the result of women being pitted against women? And in general, what are your feelings on the way women are treated in this industry in comparison to their male counterparts? S: We’re in the middle of a really exciting time for feminism. I think it’s going to take on a lot of different shapes and faces within kind of any industry. My issue with that particular experience was the idea that mu-

C: Speaking of “sisterhood,” you’ve been one of Taylor Swift’s many surprise guests on tour when you two duetted on “Brave” in 2013. S: Taylor was beyond welcoming. It’s one of the things she does so well. She really champions other artists with this idea that there’s enough for everybody and you don’t have to pit yourself against other artists. We can celebrate each other’s art and then let people decide who they gravitate toward, but it doesn’t have to be based on a feeling of competition.

October 15, 2015

C: How does writing for a musical compare to writing your own songs? S: The biggest difference is that within my own music I’m telling my own story. My songs tend to be very autobiographical, and so it was a challenge to ﬁnd my way into telling the story on behalf of another character. But it ended up being

one of the most delicious parts of the show for me, that I got to play with the psyche of these characters. I got to challenge myself to find my way into how the crotchety old man who owns the diner would speak to our lead character (Jenna). What would he say to her? What would he want her to know? How does his life inform him as a storyteller? It was a really cool and very exciting challenge to find my way into these characters, and in a way, there was a kind of instinctual impulse I was following with writing for the show and that was very similar to the way I write for myself, except I was telling someone else’s story for the first time.

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C: You featured a lesbian couple, Aly and Andrea, and their surprise proposal in your video for “I Choose You.” How often are you asked to do gay weddings now that it’s legal? S: (Laughs) Well, I am asked to do a lot of weddings, and I love weddings, don’t get me wrong. But yeah… it’s really fun. It’s so beautiful to have made a statement with a song that’s really just about love at the end of the day. The song was inspired by a guy who came up to me after a show and said, “My wife and I wanted to use your music in our wedding, but everything you write is so depressing.” (Laughs) I thought about my catalog of songs, and went, “Wow, I haven’t really said anything positive about love yet.” (Laughs) So that song was sort of inspired by this backhanded compliment. But to be with Aly and Andrea – they were so courageous; they didn’t have the full support of their families, and Colorado was a hotbed at that moment. Not for our video shoot, but

there was a lot of conversation happening around this issue at that time. It was just really beautiful. Those girls stepped out into this very public space with their love, and it was really a beautiful thing to witness. I felt so privileged to be there with them.

sic is a competition, that there isn’t enough for everybody. That’s part of the philosophy behind the creation of music – that there’s always more to draw from, with the intent of creating a bigger and broader music community. And so it was a strange experience to watch people get so angry on my behalf and to pit us against each other. Women, as much as we can, should continue to build up a sisterhood. That doesn’t mean you have to like everybody out there either. It’s a little kumbaya to think that we’re all just gonna hold hands and wonder off into the sunset. But I do think that being treated with respect and fairness and equality is really important to me, and being a woman who wants to feel that my opinion and my creative ideas are accepted as equally as any man or any other human in the room – it’s something that I will continue to walk toward expecting that it will be there. I don’t walk into a room and expect not to be heard. I am surprised when I am not heard.

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credit. I don’t really know how to be any other way. My whole family – we’re all very bad liars. (Laughs) We don’t know how to do it! There are people out there who are much more graceful and adept at navigating social situations; I just think I default to awkwardness, because when I feel awkward I have to just be awkward. So I give them a lot of credit. But also, those are the kinds of people I relate to. When I see someone being honest in the media, I’m so grateful for it. I think everyone has vulnerabilities and everyone feels messy or shameful or not good enough, and I would rather share that and hope to create connection than pretend my life is a highlight reel. It’s just not. It’s human. Celebrity or otherwise, there’s no human out there that has some sort of plateau of happiness – it just doesn’t exist. So, I would rather speak to the highs and lows of what it means to have a dynamic lifestyle and a dynamic life than pretend I’m f*cking happy all the time. I’m a mess. (Laughs)

October 15, 2015

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anybody else says about my marriage making God vomit because I don’t believe in God (Santa Claus, on the other hand, I believe in since I’ve seen him at the mall). But there are a lot of LGBT people of faith who would beg to differ that declaring their love for each other before their friends and family and God is a “sin.” But don’t worry, gays, Graham’s just trying to help you. “Now, for a gay person, I don’t want to bash them,” he said, “but I want them to know the truth, that the lifestyle that they are living, God will one day judge that. And they’ll stand before God and God will condemn that and they will spend an eternity separated from him.” Thanks for the truth bomb, Graham. Will be sure to put that in the Where the Sun Don’t Shine file. It’s pretty sh*tty to try to use God to scare LGBT people of faith into thinking they can pray the gay away instead of accepting people photo: huffingtonpost.com as they are like some guy named Jesus supposedly did. “Whether it be murdering people, or whether it be stealing, or whether it be committing adultery, cheating on your wife or your husband,” Graham said, “you have to turn from those sins. And so for a gay person, or anyone else, you have to be willing to turn and leave those sins. And can you be forgiven? Yes. And you can have that assurance knowing that your sins are forgiven and that one day, when you do stand before God, he’s going to accept you and welcome you.” Aww, isn’t that sweet? God’s gonna welcome you just like he would a murderer so long as you ask for forgiveness for the terrible thing you’ve done, whether it be killing people or loving someone with the same genitalia.

October 15, 2015

In a recent interview evangelist Franklin Graham used the “s” word. And he used it a lot. That word is, of course, “sin,” as in, “(T)he Obama administration is celebrating sin and they are pushing sin.” That’s right. Obama pushes sin just like a dealer pushes dope. And how does Graham know this? Because Obama doesn’t hate the gays. In fact, Obama downright acts like LGBT people are, like, human or something and worthy of living. Franklin is not to be confused with his father Billy Graham, the evangelical celebrity who is still alive, by the way (I had to look it up, but I can’t really be blamed since his new book is titled Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity, and Our Life Beyond. I mean, that title basically screams “written from beyond the grave”). But it was the younger Graham who was interviewed recently by the Church Boys, a podcast Franklin Graham by two guys who, as far as I can tell, are kind of like the shock-jocks of rightwing radio. When asked what concerns him most about “where we are now,” Graham replies, “Well, our country has changed so much, and we’ve seen the moral decline, and that moral decline being led by the Obama administration, and championing things like same-sex marriage, which is really defiance against God. Same-sex marriage is a sin against God.” And what evidence does Graham offer for this declaration of “defiance against God”? Penises and vaginas, of course. “God made us male and female,” he said. “And then to say that marriage is between two men or two women, this is sin.” Now, I don’t care what Graham or

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By D’Anne Witowski

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CREEP OF THE WEEK

Daniel Webster

Paul Ryan

Jason Chaffetz

Lynn Westmoreland

Peter King

Tom Cole

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CAPITOL BEAT

“BAD, WORSE, ROTTEN”

all photo: wikipedia.com

October 15, 2015

Speaker chaos reigns

Kevin McCarthy is not known for his oratorical prowess. Daniel Webster is. That Daniel Webster. But not this Daniel Webster, at press time still a potential candidate —although by no means favorite — for Speaker of the House. Instead of fiery oratory, we must contemplate the prospect of further condemnation, since today’s Daniel BY Webster, the LINDA Congressman PENTZ from Florida, has a zero score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard for his LGBT voting record. Webster was just one of a slew of pretenders to the Speaker throne thrust into the spotlight after the surprise withdrawal of McCarthy, widely considered the heir apparent, including by outgoing House Speaker, John Boehner. Webster promised some kind of consensus

model if selected, which appealed to the mob mentality of the socalled Freedom Caucus, which used him to stage an effective coup to bounce McCarthy. The Freedom Caucus, a virtual Republican secret society that does not disclose the names of its estimated 40 members, leaped into the void McCarthy’s withdrawal created to push a slew of candidates including Webster. All of them promise to drag the House even farther rightwards, making the departing Boehner look almost like a moderate. Which he most certainly was not, on LGBT issues among many things. The ominous lineup of Tea Party types and other extreme right wingers vying for the Speaker’s job, prompted Democratic New York Congressman, Steve Israel, to tweet: “House GOP lurching from right wing leadership to righterwing leadership to rightest-wing leadership?” Or in the words of Leo Rosten’s immortal creation, Hyman Kaplan, the GOP trajectory is “bad, worse, rotten!” None of this bodes well for LGBT rights nor the Equality

Act which still lacks Republican House signatories. David Cicilline (D-RI) who introduced the Equality Act on the House side, favored Israel’s other comment on Twitter: “Americans don’t have time for the @HouseGOP to ﬁnish playing Game of Thrones. Let’s get to work creating jobs.” Former Democratic House Speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), concurred. Webster is of course a known quantity in Florida, and the possibility of his candidacy elicited a quick response from Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. “As a state legislator Daniel Webster was certainly no friend of the LGBT community in Florida,” she said. “If he became Speaker of the House in Washington, he’d likely use his power to block any measures that would protect us from discrimination.” Tony Lima, Executive Director of SAVE (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone), a Florida LGBT advocacy group, sounded a similar note of warning. “Now isn’t the time to install such a divisive ﬁgure to lead such an important deliberative body,” Lima

said. “Right now our country needs consensus on issues that affect real Americans and Floridians every day, like inequality in the workplace,” Lima added. “That’s why we need a Speaker who is willing to listen to the large majority of Americans who support vital workplace non-discrimination measures like the Equality Act currently under the House’s consideration,” Lima continued. “We hope that the House gives more unifying and qualiﬁed candidates a second look as it chooses its next leader at such a critical juncture.” The best the GOP has come up with so far on the “unifying” front is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) another zero (on the HRC scorecard), who played it coy by ﬁrst saying he was not a candidate and then stirring up more palace intrigue by suggesting he would run after all. Meanwhile Boehner has been making “tear down that wall” kinds of comments in a frantic attempt to reunify the squabbling toddlers in his party. Other potential candidates include Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) who twice voted against repealing

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“Kevin, you need to not be in the race,” according to the Washington Post. That experience ought to help McCathy better empathize with the bullying suffered by LGBT youth. But of course it will do nothing of the sort. Is there no one in the Republican party who can offer even a glimmer of support? Ironically, the only place to look is Florida. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the sole Republican member of the House LGBT Equality Caucus and was the first House Republican to support samesex marriage (although she had previously voted against marriage equality.) She knows a little more about it than most because she has a transgender son whom she accepts. She is on record as warning “never reject your child.” But Ros-Lehtinen, or any woman for that matter, is nowhere in the running. The old schoolers of the Freedom Caucus likely believe that women should have the freedom of the kitchen, but that’s about it. What a kerfuffle, as Lou would say after the latest act of chaos instigated by his wheelchair-bound charge, Andy, two characters in the deliciously rude and irreverent UK television comedy series, Little Britain. A kerfuffle indeed, the only difference being that while Andy isn’t really crippled and sneaks off behind Lou’s back to wreak havoc, the GOP seems to be stuck in its wheelchair in a near-permanent state of paralysis.

Linda Pentz is the Washington correspondent of the Florida Agenda. She can be contacted at lindapentz@mmplgbt.com. Follow her on Twitter @CapitolAgenda

October 15, 2015

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and against hate crimes protections, according to the HRC scorecard. Chaffetz supports amending the U.S. Constitution to ban marriage equality and he voted against protections for LGBT survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Also in the mix are Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland (R-GA), Rep. Peter King (R-NY), and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) to name a few. The race for Speaker is starting to look a lot like the Republican presidential race, with so many candidates self-nominating that you start to wonder who isn’t running? Maybe all of this is a good sign, an indication that the Republican is party fracturing so badly that this latest schism only serves to weaken it more. Perhaps there is no need to fret over the Freedom Caucus coup, because, given the indistinguishability of the GOP candidates, it doesn’t really matter who the Republicans select for the position. The LGBT community is left just as high and dry by any or all of these unfriendly choices. Speculation ran the gamut as to why McCarthy, just as lousy as the rest of them on LGBT issues, stepped away. Was it purely a numbers game, the threat of “misdeeds” that would be outed, or the ruckus he left in his wake after apparently accidentally revealing the truth behind the intent and timing of the Benghazi hearings? Maybe the real reason was due to something that many LGBT kids experience routinely: bullying. Hours before the announcement, McCarthy got a verbal bludgeoning from House bulldog, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) who wanted McCarthy gone and told him bluntly, in a room full of 75 House members:

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The LGBT community is left just as high and dry by any or all of these unfriendly choices.

Gay ambassador to Denmark weds partner

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INTERNATIONAL

Stephen (L) - Rufus (R)

October 15, 2015

COPENHAGEN, DK (AP) - The U.S. ambassador to Denmark has married his partner in the Scandinavian country that became the first nation to allow gay couples to formalize their unions in 1989. Rufus Gifford, the U.S. envoy since September 2013, is a strong gay rights advocate and often appears with Stephen DeVincent, a 56-year-old veterinarian, at his side.

photo: washingtonpost.com

The two were married Saturday at the Copenhagen City Hall. Gifford, a 41-year-old Boston native, wrote on Twitter: “26 yrs ago the site of 1st legal gay unions in the world. Humbled and emotional.” Later in the day, he posted a smiling photo of the two, showing off their rings: “In the land that created fairy tales, we just started our own.”

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NATION Locker room off-limits to transgender PALATINE, IL (AP) - A suburban Chicago school district says it won’t honor a federal ruling ordering it to let a transgender student into the locker room of the student’s preferred gender. Palatine-based Township High School District 211 held a news conference Monday to announce that it has denied the student’s request, citing privacy issues for other students. Officials said the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled that the district was violating federal gender equality laws. Superintendent Daniel E. Cates said the district supports transgender students but its decision was about “protecting student privacy.” The American Civil Liberties Union is representing the unidentified student. It called the district’s policy “blatant discrimination.” The student’s family filed the federal complaint in spring 2014 after the district offered use of a private locker room space.

October 15, 2015

Shirts, Pants: students’ choice in Puerto Rico SAN JUAN, PR (AP) - Puerto Rico’s education secretary says public school students can for the ﬁrst time choose to wear pants or skirts as part of their uniform regardless of their gender without being punished. Rafael Roman said Monday that the new regulation is meant to be inclusive of gay, lesbian and transgender students. He said teachers will no longer be allowed to discipline students who prefer to wear pants instead of skirts or vice versa. Girls in public schools across the U.S. territory traditionally wear skirts as part of their uniforms and the boys wear pants.

school district says it won’t honor a federal ruling ordering it to let a transgender student into the locker room of the student’s o Chicago preferred gender.

Idaho schools ignore LGBT protections BOISE, ID (AP) - The majority of public schools in Idaho have not adopted new policies on gender identity and gender expression protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Only a handful of public school boards have rejected the proposed guidelines - submitted for the first time this year by the Idaho School Board Association. The association submits policy suggestions to school districts four times a year. In July, schools received proposals for the first time on specific gender identity and sexual orientation situations. Out of 115 public school districts, only the Teton School District in eastern Idaho has included the new sweeping sexual orientation and gender identity protections against discrimination that apply to education opportunities, school sponsored activities and specific situations involving bathrooms and overnight trips.

Thumbs up to same-sex birth certificates WICHITA, KS (AP) - Kansas officials say no court order will be needed in the future to process birth certificate applications of children from same-sex couples who conceive by artificial insemination. That assurance came in a court filing Monday in a federal lawsuit that challenges the Kansas ban on same-sex marriages. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling already cleared the way for such marriages in Kansas, but the judge wanted evidence the state was complying with that decision. Kansas also objected to the American Civil Liberties Union even raising the birth certificate issue because none of the plaintiffs in the federal gay marriage case are seeking to become parents.

Conservatives take off gloves in Indiana fight INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Religious conservatives and supporters of gay rights are preparing for a potentially bitter debate over enshrining LGBT rights into state law. Both sides remain polarized following last spring’s religious objections law, which brought unwanted national attention to Indiana. Lawmakers have shied away from public statements on LGBT rights, though acknowledge it’ll be hard to avoid when the Legislature meets in January. Opponents say giving civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will have negative repercussions and could expose children to transgendered people and what opponents call “sexual predators” in public restrooms. Supporters of LGBT civil rights say those are “scare tactics” and point to other states and cities that have approved such rights without problems.

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October 15, 2015

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NATION Stalking conversion therapy in New Hampshire CONCORD, NH (AP) - A young Republican lawmaker is proposing legislation in New Hampshire to ban therapy aimed at changing the sexual orientation of minors, a move that is sure to cause friction within the GOP when lawmakers reconvene in January. State Rep. Eric Schleien, 27, said he doesn’t think it’s possible to change someone’s sexual orientation through so-called conversion therapy, and research has led him to believe trying to do so can be dangerous. But some fellow Republican lawmakers say the effort could undermine religious liberty and parental rights. “I think our culture grows stronger when we’re able to accept differEric Schleien ent people’s lifestyles and treat people with honor and respect. I don’t think that’s that radical,” Schleien said. “You can’t convert people’s sexuality. I think most people get that.” If Schleien’s bill passes, New Hampshire would become the fifth state to ban the practice. The American Psychological Association and other major health organizations have discredited its efficacy, but some Republican lawmakers think the practice is appropriate. “Schleien said he expects opposition will center on parental rights or religious liberty. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage nationwide earlier this year ignited a new fight over religious liberty, with some people arguing that being forced to recognize gay marriage violates religious freedom. “We always see backlash when a minority group starts to gain rights,” said Samantha Ames of the National

Center for Lesbian Rights, which is driving a nonpartisan campaign to ban the therapy nationwide. “Unfortunately, this particular backlash is falling on our youth.” Research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers who go through the therapy are at higher risk of suicide, substance abuse and depression. The White House announced support for state bans earlier this year. California became the first state to ban conversion therapy for minors in 2012, with Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Oregon and Illinois following suit. In Illinois and New Jersey, Republican governors signed the legislation. A study by the Family Acceptance Project found that roughly one-third of people who identify as LGBT went through some photo: huffingtonpost.com type of conversion therapy effort as an adolescent, Ames said. It’s harder to tell how many people offer conversion therapy, and Schleien doesn’t know how frequently it is practiced in New Hampshire. Under Schleien’s bill, any licensed professional counselor providing conversion therapy to minors would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by the licensing authority. The bill would also make it easier for authorities to charge people who practice conversion therapy with fraud. A group of men successfully sued a nonprofit in New Jersey for practicing conversion therapy under the state’s consumer fraud laws. Schleien said the bill doesn’t aim to clamp down on freedom of speech or religion. As for parental rights, he said sometimes there needs to be a limit. “Just because you’re under 18 doesn’t mean that someone owns you to the point they can harm you,” he said.

Kim Davis’ reps say marriage licenses legit FRANKFORT, KY (AP) - Lawyers for Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis say the altered marriage licenses she issued to same-sex couples are valid because they have been recognized by Kentucky’s highest elected officials. Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. She spent five days in jail for refusing to obey a federal judge’s ruling ordering her to issue the licenses. When Davis got out of jail, she changed the marriage licenses to remove her name and to say they were issued under the authority of a federal court order. Last month, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union questioned the validity of these altered licenses and asked U.S. District Judge David Bunning to order Davis and her employees to reissue them. Tuesday, Davis’ lawyers responded in a new court filing calling the ACLU’s request “extreme, unnecessary and improper.” They noted Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway have both recognized the licenses as valid. And they said the ACLU was trying to “needlessly create controversy where it does not currently exist.” “Davis has taken reasonable steps and good faith efforts to substantially comply with this Court’s orders, and marriage licenses are

Kim Davis

photo: hufﬁngtonpost.com

being issued in Rowan County that are authorized, approved, and recognized as valid by Kentucky’s highest elected officials,” attorney Jonathan Christman wrote for the Liberty Counsel, the Florida-based law firm that represents Davis. The ACLU called the altered marriage licenses “a stamp of animus against the LGBT community, signaling that, in Rowan County, the government’s position is that LGBT couples are secondclass citizens unworthy of official recognition and authorization of their marriage licenses but for this Court’s intervention and Order.” But Christman said the ACLU cannot “allege that Rowan County has issued or is issuing marriage licenses to the ‘LGBT community’ that are in any way different from licenses issued to the ‘non-LGBT community.” Bunning has not yet ruled on the ACLU’s request.

Salt Lake City says “maybe” to Harvey Milk Blvd. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Salt Lake City could soon have a street named after pioneering gay leader Harvey Milk, an idea that reﬂects the progressive bent of the city that’s home to the Mormon church and capital of a conservative state. City ofﬁcials say they’ve been working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender leaders on the initiative, which would place Harvey Milk Boulevard near

thoroughfares named for civil rights icons such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. If approved, the name would go on 900 South, about a mile and half from the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Milk became one of the first openly gay men elected to public office in the U.S. in 1977 and was assassinated the following year.

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October 15, 2015

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SUNSHINE STATE Florida bill allows churches to refuse same-sex weddings TALLAHASSEE – A bill that would allow churches to refuse to marry gay couples won its first approval today even though its sponsor said churches already have that right and he knows of no cases in which a church has been forced to perform a samesex wedding ceremony. After listening to dozens of pastors, most of whom supported the proposed law and some of who opposed it, the House Civil Justice Committee approved the bill on a 9-4 vote, with all Republicans supporting it and all Democrats opposed. “We think it’s a good idea to put this in law now because it’s difﬁcult to predict where this is all going,” said Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, who is sponsoring the bill along with Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs. “Some have said, ‘Well, it’s unnecessary.’ I would hope that that’s so, quite frankly, so there’s no harm in putting in an extra layer of protection.”

While the bill (HB 43) doesn’t specifically mention gay marriage, it says that churches and clergy do not have to perform a wedding or allow a reception if it goes against sincerely held religious belief. But it was clear during questions, testimony and debate on the bill that it is a response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision giving gay couples the right to marry. While pastors and lawmakers acknowledged the state and federal constitutions protect churches, some pastors expressed fear that a future legal decision could diminish that protection and praised the bill for giving them added protection. Pastor Gerald Bustin of the Open Door Community Church in Summerfield said the bill is “extremely necessary” for pastors. “We will die before we will give up our religious freedoms in the United States to any group or any organization regardless

of who they are, whether they’re government or whether they’re an LGBT organization or whoever because we will stand for God and what we believe God has told us to stand for,” he said. Pastor Harold Thompson of Miami Beach Community Church said the bill creates a division. “Search your heart. Look at the true intent of this bill. It is

October 15, 2015

Non-discrimination voted into West Palm Beach WEST PALM BEACH--At Tuesday evening’s meeting of the West Palm Beach City Commissioners, they voted unanimously to expand the civil rights of minorities and women by amending the definition of “public accommodations” to include retail stores, schools, day care and senior centers, medical offices, funeral homes, bakeries, laundromats and virtually all other places of business within city limits. The County Commission unanimously adopted the same definition last month. Both actions were taken at the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), the County’s most prolific civil rights organization. Over the past twenty-five years, PBCHRC has succeeded in having local public officials enact more than 95 antidis-

crimination laws and policies. “When the local civil rights ordinances were (originally) enacted decades ago, elected ofﬁcials focused only on those places where discrimination was most blatant hotels, restaurants, bars and movie theaters,” said Rand Hoch, PBCHRC’s President and Founder. “Unfortunately, discrimination is more widespread. Initially, our goal was to address consumer racism,” said Hoch, a retired judge. The experience of people of color being refused service or given poor service - known as “shopping while Black” - is not uncommon. Black customers are also frequently followed by store clerks, wrongly detained, steered away from certain products, and asked for additional forms of identiﬁcation regarding credit applications.

“Allowing businesses to choose their clients based on prejudice deprives Americans of the freedom to walk into businesses that appear to be open the general public and be treated equally,” said West Palm Beach City Commission President Sylvia Moffett. “If you hang out a shingle and get a license to do business, you should be required to provide the same service to all consumers.” Lesbian and gay couples are also targets of public accommodation discrimination. Since same-sex marriage has become legal, a handful of companies in the wedding industry in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have refused to provide services to gay and lesbian couples.

not to protect pastors, it is not to protect the church, it is to protect an agenda. It is nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing, intending to deceive, intending to harm,” he said. “The bill has one more committee stop before it can be considered by the full House. A Senate bill (SB 110) sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz has yet to be heard.

New fund in SW Florida

FORT MYERS,--LGBT Community Fund of Southwest Florida has been established at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. The fund is a giving circle that engages like-minded individuals and organizations to increase philanthropic support in Southwest Florida for the unique challenges and opportunities facing our LGBT community. “This new fund seeks to help existing community organizations and institutions better serve our local LGBT youth, families and elders through focused and researched grants,” said Shawn M. Williams, chairman of the fund’s steering committee. “Understandably, we are better together than individually to build synergy within our community. The goal is to build capacity, knowledge and understanding, so we may respond capably and equally to the needs of all constituents.” For more information on how to become a participant of the LGBT Community Fund, visit LGBTSWFL.com.

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LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH

BY PERRY BRASS

Dick Leitsch: History is unavoidable

or my friend Dick Leitsch, the last president of the Mattachine Society of New York, who last May turned 80, history was unavoidable. I met Dick in two different periods of my life. At 20, I attended my first and only meeting of the New York Mattachine Society, at the old Wendell Wilkie House near Bryant Park in New York City. He moderated, handsome, stylish, with a softspoken Kentuckian polished air. I was turned totally off: Mattachine was strictly out of my world as, new to New York, I struggled to make sense of myself. Two years later, a few months after Stonewall, I joined the Gay Liberation Front. GLF offered me a valid political understanding of why queers were being destroyed in American society, and what we had to do, often rowdy as we were, to change it. Both Dick and Mattachine were loathed by many of my young GLF brothers and sisters, some of whom had been in it and, like unruly kids, resented their dowdier parents. Dick was often referred to as “Pig Leitsch.” For us, he represented gay accomodationists, what we called “dragonfaggots,” “Aunt Sallies,” queer “Uncle Toms.” His very image seemed like a ghost from the 1950s and mid-1960s. Then in 1975, I started freelancing for Countrywide Publications, a scrappy pulp magazine conglomerate on lower Park Avenue, run by the infamously cheap Myron Fass and his brother (often described as “borderline personality” types for their explosive dealings with employees), who presided over a farm team for a later generation of successful writers and editors. My editor was Robert (Bobby) Amsel, a gifted young man editing a group of low-end, hetero porn magazines often written by hungry gay scribes like myself. Bobby and I became close; he literally taught me how to write for commercial publication. He revealed that his long-time partner was Dick Leitsch, “president of the old Mattachine Society.” I blinked twice. Bobby had actually had a history with Mattachine, and after Stonewall, as Mattachine was folding, became president while Dick

remained executive director. I soon met Dick again, and quickly adored him. He was a throwback to another era, of courtly Southern gentlemen (he’s from Louisville) and old-school gay bar queens, denizens of a complete culture of gay bars, something that younger people now find difficult to understand. For decades, gay bars were our most visible institutions. Gay men and lesbians found their only home in them. In New York, bars were raided cyclically: usually before elections, before major events like the 1964 New York World’s Fair when Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. closed the bars to keep innocent tourists from wandering in (like, what were they going to do in them?), or when cops decided they wanted to squeeze out a bit more payola from mafia barkeeps. This was fostered by New York’s state alcoholic beverage agency, which had rules dating from the 1920s against serving homosexuals “openly” in any bar. In 1966, Leitsch, along with other members of NY Mattachine staged the “Sip-In,” the first “out” gay demonstration in New York state history. They walked into Julius’, an oft-raided bar on Waverly Place in the West Village, declared themselves gay and were immediately refused service. The event was recorded in Fred W. McDarrah’s famous photo showing Dick in profile next to Craig Rodwell (soon to open the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the first gay bookstore in the United States) and long-time activist Randy Wicker. Mattachine took Julius’ and the state agency to court, paying the bar’s legal fees because, as Dick put it, “We just wanted to make a case, not punish them.” A New York judge declared that the state’s policy denied gays their basic right to free assembly; the rule was unconstitutional. But this did not stop gay bars from being harassed, and three years later a June raid on the Stonewall Inn in the Village exploded as no one thought it would. Dick told me he never thought of himself as being political; he was simply for “our right to exist.” For close to a decade before Stonewall, he was one of a few openly gay men in America. To be that open, he’d had to

take a virtual vow of poverty, and for several years lived rent-free in a room in a spacious rent-controlled apartment leased by Madolin Cervantes, a straight woman and Mattachine officer who loved gay men. To make money, as a solitary advocate for gay rights, he got sent out on college lecture circuits where he met the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, America’s second openly gay man. “We would DICK LEITSCH criss-cross each other on college campuses,” Dick told me. “We became friends. He published stuff in Mattachine publications.” Dick worked as a journalist, a holiday decorator for restaurants and stores and a bartender. He loved working in bars and restaurants. “When you’re a writer, you have to wait for the reviews to come out. When you work in a restaurant, you get the review immediately. It’s called a tip.” He was very close to his siblings back in Kentucky who all had children, so Uncle Dick had a large extended family. Later when I became close to Jack Nichols, another Mattachine pioneer and a prolific writer who died in 2005, after becoming much more radical than most of his generation, Dick told me that having family made him less interested in leaving a legacy for history. “I have lots of nieces and nephews,” he told me. “They will live after me.” But history is unavoidable. We are now starting to see what huge courage and sacrifices these gay pioneers went through — Frank Kameny, who was jobless after a federal witchhunt deprived him of a position as an astronomer; Nick Nichols, whose own father, an FBI agent, plotted to

photo: file

have him murdered as a teenager; and Dick Leitsch, who took his role in it with such gallantry, never trying to re-invent history to try to concoct a place himself. He went from being America’s most famous, if only, homosexual, to almost forgotten. In 2006, on the 40th anniversary of the Sip-In, he was asked by Scott Simon on National Public Radio: “Mr. Leitsch, is there still a Mattachine Society?” He answered, “Oh, no, not after Stonewall. I kept saying, what’s the goal of Mattachine? And I always said the goal of Mattachine is to put ourselves out of business. When the cops walked into Stonewall, they tried to close it. People said, no, you’re not going to close our bar. We have a right to have our bars and it’s been established we have the right to have our bars. And Mattachine had nothing to do with Stonewall. That was something where the people rose up and did it. And that’s the beginning of the gay movement.” Perry Brass has published 19 books. Brass frequently writes for the Huffington Post and can be reached through www.perrybrass.com.

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CONTACT NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR, MAURA “MUMBALL” LANE AT 954-543-5947 OR MAURALANE@MMPLGBT.COM TO GET ON THE LIST.

ACCOUNTING

CHURCH / SPIRITUAL

DENTAL

Sterling Tax & Accounting 2435 N Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-667-9829 / sterlingandhart.com

Las Olas Financial Group 3000 NE 30th Place, Suite 206 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 844-779-7936 / lasolasﬁnancialgroup.com

FITNESS

ATTORNEYS

Pump’n Inc Tom Bonanti 1271 NE 9th Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-557-1119 / pumpnincgym.com

Michael D. Becker Attorney at Law 201 NE 2nd Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-727-5067 / becker-lawyer.com Law Offices of George Castrataro 707 NE 3rd Avenue, Suite 300 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-573-1444 / lawgc.com Law Offices of Phillip Menditto 524 S Andrews Avenue, Suite 200 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-641-9100 / phillipmenditto.com Law Offices of Caro Kinsella 20801 Biscayne Blvd, Suite 403 Miami, FL 33180 954-304-2243 / immigrationlawyerfl.com Dean Trantalis Attorney 2255 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-2226 / trantalislaw.com

AUTO Vista Motors BMW 744 N Federal Hwy Pompano Beach, FL 855-793-7093 / vistabmw.com

CHURCH / SPIRITUAL

FOOD / GROCERY Diana’s 12001 Avalon Lake Drive Orlando, FL 32828 407-207-0205 /dianasbakeryandcafe.com

Center for Spiritual Living 1550 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-2868 / cslftl.com Holy Angels Catholic Community 2917 NE 6th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-633-2987 / holyangelsﬂ.org Etz Chaim 1501 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-564-9232 / etzchaimﬂorida.org The Parish of St Francis & Clare 101 NE 3rd Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-731-8173 / stsfrancisandclare.org

COUNSELING Shoshana Paris House Call Counselor shoshana.paris@gmail.com 954-985-5362 / 305-951-1279

DENTAL

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Bove Dental 2500 E Oakland Park Blvd Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-564-0181 / bovedentistry.com Magnolia Dental 12014 E. Colonial Drive, Ste 130 Orlando, FL 32826 407-205-9585/ MagnoliaDentalFL.com

Wilton Manors Dental 2517 N.E. 9th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-564-4746 / wiltonmanorsdental.com

EVENTS I DO Custom Events PO Box 2357 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-626-0131 / idocustomevents.com Source Events 605 Lincoln Road, #410 Miami Beach, FL 33139 305-672-9779 / sourceevents.com

FINANCIAL

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INSURANCE

REAL ESTATE

Genesis Health Institute 1001 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-561-3175 / ghinstitute.com

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Galleria International Realty 945 Las Olas Boulvard Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-234-8759 / galleriarealtors.com

Better Hearing-World of Sounds 2450 E Commercial Blvd Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 954-491-2560 betterhearingworldofsounds.com

Marvel Quevedo Insurance Agency 5062 South Conway Road Orlando, FL 32812 407-737-7778

Joe Grano Realtor 1881 NE 26th Street, Suite 212 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-931-0031 / joegrano.com

Ocean Therapy Center 2530 NE 15th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-351-2299 oceantherapycenter.com

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HEALTH

OPTICAL Island City Eyecare 2301 Wilton Drive, Suite C1 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-764-6906 / visionsource-ice.com

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Lifting and Staging Needed strong person to lift & place furniture with some concept of design and people skills. Will train. Call to set appointment. 350 S Federal Hwy, Deerﬁeld Beach, FL 33441

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PAWNBROKERS Sunrise Pawnbrokers 3043 N Federal Hwy Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-563-3147 / SunrisePawn.com

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UPHOLSTERY

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HEALTHWATCH Sleep is precious and critical to good health

nxiety, worry, fear and stress all seem to be everywhere and few of us get enough sleep. Sleep is critical to good health. I tell patients that if we were to rate good sleep on a 10 scale where 10 is the best sleep, very few of us get that. A 10 on a sleep scale would mean By that you got to Dr. Don sleep, stayed a Fisher sleep and slept for 7-9 hours and awoke feeling rested. These days with our constant exposure to electromagnetic fields (lights, wi-fi, computers, and cellphones) we have significantly depleted our natural sleep hormone which is melatonin. Most patients that

I see who are older than 40 have no melatonin. Stress and lack of sleep go hand in hand. Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality contribute to elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol is a vital and necessary hormone which is normally secreted from your stress gland -- the adrenal. The healthy adult with no extra stress has the greatest amount of cortisol ﬁrst thing in the morning. It gets us up out of bed feeling energized and the lowest level of this hormone is just before bedtime. Poor sleep causes stress and elevated cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol contributes to fat and this is often why I see men or women that have sleep issues also have difﬁculty getting lean and losing fat. Sleep is critical. We all need it but not all of us get good quality of sleep. Perfect sleep is all of that, but here are some general good sleep hygiene tips:

• • • •

• • • • • • •

Establish a routine time for bedtime and awakening. Avoid daytime naps. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and other central nervous system stimulants. Administer medications that might lead to insomnia in the morning (so the effect wears off by bedtime.) Exercise regularly, but not just prior to bedtime. Limit fluid intake close to bedtime. Avoid eating large meals immediately before bedtime. Reduce ambient lighting at least one hour before bedtime. Mask noises or use soft earplugs if necessary. Use the bedroom only for sleeping, reading, or sex. Avoid engaging in stressful activities or unpleasant tasks near bedtime.

Women often complain of very poor sleep near menopause and it often relates to poor hormone balance and a serious lack of one female hormone -- progesterone. Men as we get older lose growth hormone, melatonin and testosterone, just to name a few. When hormones are replaced to more youthful and optimal levels -sleep improves. Another sleep tip is replacing magnesium as it is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies and studies now show that most adults over the age of 40 are magnesium deficient. So simply replacing magnesium can improve sleep. So many natural measures can be taken even before sleep medication is offered -- so it is always best to speak with a healthcare professional who can offer help.

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FAST FIT 70 percent of bottled water sold in the US never crosses state lines and is therefore exempt from federal regulation.

Excess stress releases chemicals into the body to such an extent that organ damage can occur as well as suppression of the immune system.

Generally, it takes between three and ﬁve hours to completely metabolize each ounce of alcohol, with much of that task accomplished in the ﬁrst 60 minutes.

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By Richard Hack and Andy Kress from their book Baby Boomers’ Guide to the Fountain of Youth

Having intimate sex is a perfect pre-sleep activity. It is, in fact, an extremely predictable way of preparing the body for sleep.

WWW.LEATHERWERKS.COM Copyright © 2015 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

October 15, 2015

FIND EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GO FROM THE PARTY TO THE BEDROOM!

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PUZZLE Amazing Actress

October 15, 2015

Across

1 Where open drawers can reveal a lot 5 Early AIDS play 9 Garbo, for one 14 Police incursion at Stonewall 15 Bone in a limp wrist 16 Stand next to Eakins 17 Type of geometry with triangles 19 Milan showplace, with “la” 20 1985 movie with the actress in circles 22 Bond opponent 24 Prepare to shoot off again 25 It may keep you up at night 27 Cheapest bas reliefs of Lincoln 31 Fabric name ending 32 Title character for Barbra 36 The two of them 38 McKuen and more 40 With 57-Across, 1984 movie with the actress in circles 42 Kind of package 43 At some remove 44 Brought up the rear? 46 Swell location 47 Olympic nickname 50 Placed one inside another 52 Ready for action, in the men’s room 56 ___ Side Story 57 See 40-Across 62 Trooper’s device 63 Sweet, hairy guy? 67 Top 68 From square one 69 Otello villain 70 What a jockey straddles 71 Untouchable head 72 Oman man

Down

1 Eminem’s mentor 2 What 50 million Frenchmen never drink 3 Caesar’s thus

4 Duet partner for Tony Bennett 5 Subject of autoerotic fantasy? 6 More devious 7 Like someone blown away 8 Vixen’s master 9 Part of Ali Babi’s opening 10 Queer 11 Actor Morales 12 Woody valley 13 Jerusalem server 18 Maurice director James 21 Extra in Lord of the Rings 22 Go extinct 23 Grease director Kleiser 25 Wang in fashion 26 Bygone nuclear agcy. 28 Network of The Ellen DeGeneres Show 29 Says “Bottoms up!” 30 Castro, in San Francisco 33 Little black bk. listings 34 Stuff for a blow job? 35 Tony Randall’s 7 Faces of Dr. ___ 37 All that’s seen of the Wizard, at first 39 B’way hit sign 41 Alternative to smoking 45 Disney duck 48 Gave a hoot 49 Areas for Dr. Callie Torres 51 Balkan region 53 Hawke or Allen 54 Fairy tale hag 55 The sounds of music 57 Very in Vichy 58 “Hold your horses!” 59 Falco of The Sopranos 60 Mr. Right-now 61 They have boughs for bows 64 Stud site 65 Eastern title 66 Chicago director Marshall For the solution to this puzzle, go to www.floridaagenda.com/puzzle

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THE FRIVOLIST

BY MIKEY ROX

Halloween marathons for you and your boo Before the ghoulish parties kick off and trick-or-treaters roam the night, curl up with your own special cuddle monster for these scary TV-and-movie marathons sure to give a fright.

Evil Dead Night,

Scream Queens Marathon, FX Catch up on FOX’s devilishly campy horror-comedy series starring Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Nick Jonas, and original “scream queen” Jamie Lee Curtis, from 6 p.m. to midnight on Oct. 31.

Starz Watch Ash Williams singlehandedly battle the forces of evil over and over again in this Evil Dead marathon that will play on loop for 24 hours ahead of the new scripted series Ash vs. Evil Dead, premiering at 9 p.m. Oct. 31.

31 Days of Halloween Spook-a-Thon,

Syfy Enjoy cringeworthy content all month long, including venerable horror film series like Insidious and Hostel along with a handful of original movies, including Night of the Wild, Ominous, They Found Hell and The Hollow.

Ghost Adventures Marathon,

Travel Channel Explore the haunted houses, hospitals and asylums of America during this 15-hour back-to-back block of episodes beginning 9 a.m. Oct. 30.

October 15, 2015

FearFest,

AMC Now’s your chance to catch up on the most talked about show on television, The Walking Dead, during the “Zombie Apocalypse” lead-up to the season 6 premiere early in October. Then settle in for a few classic chills as Oct. 31 draws closer with holiday standards like Resident Evil, The Amityville Horror, Child’s Play, and Friday the 13th.

Cinemax Horror Movie Marathon,

Cinemax The network’s After Dark programming swaps its skin for spooks on Oct. 31 with Carrie, Dracula Untold, Sweeney Todd, Annabelle, and more.

Twilight Saga Marathon,

FX Let’s be honest – the only reason anyone watched the Twilight Saga was to catch glimmering glimpses of Edward Cullen’s abs and Jacob’s perpetually shirtless pecs. Relive those quivers during replays of the vampire-versus-werewolf trilogy that takes a bite out of Halloween beginning at 5 p.m. on Oct. 30.

Halloween FREAKend Marathon,

Nat Geo Wild It doesn’t get much wilder – or weirder – than with multiple eps of nonstop freak show World’s Weirdest, featuring mutants, mole rats and murderous animal siblings, airing from noon to 7 p.m. on Oct. 31.

13 Nights of Halloween, ABC Family If you prefer your thrillers and chillers with more bark than bite, tune into this festive but familyfriendly schedule of semiscary flicks like Casper, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the seasonal can’tmiss Hocus Pocus.

TMC Horror,

TMC If you have a penchant for a particular genre of horror – namely scary kids (Oct. 16), literary horror (Oct. 23), and Val Lewton films (Oct. 30) – make room on your DVR for this weekly themed marathon that will feature titles such as Mad Love, The Bad Seed, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Body Snatcher, respectively. Mikey Rox is an awardwinning journalist and LGBT lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. He splits his time between homes in New York City and the Jersey Shore with his dog Jaxon. Connect with Mikey on Twitter @ mikeyrox.

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THE WEEK: FORT LAUDERDALE .

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10/18 Promises, Promises

photo: youtube.com

Neil Simon’s musical version of the 1960 ﬁlm The Apartment concerns a lovelorn junior executive at an insurance company. His ambition and morals are tested when he allows his superiors to use his apartment for clandestine, illicit affairs. The popular music from the show was composed by the legendary Burt Bacharach and features such Broadway standards as “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “A House Is Not a Home,” and the title track. 2:00 p.m. Broward Stage Door Theatre. 8036 W. Sample Rd. Margate. 33065.

Puerto Rican salsa singer Victor Manuelle broke through in a big way with his ‘90s hit “Justo a Tiempo.” Known as El Sonero de la Juventud (The Singer of Youths) to his fans, Manuelle has had the most hits on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart. His newest album is titled Que Suenen Los Tambores. Tonight, he performs at the Hard Rock Live. 8:00 p.m. Hard Rock Live. 5747 Seminole Way. Hollywood. 33314.

photo: artserve.org

10/20 BIG Big Beautiful Art

10/17 Victor Manuelle

October 15, 2015

By Patrick Robert

photo: bluegobo.com

ArtServe exhibits massive large-scale works for their fall gallery. These stunning pieces prove how large art can deﬁne a small space, tying color together while creating a focal point. The exhibition continues for all of October and will be judged by Michael Joseph, publisher of Art Blend magazine, and Margery Gordon, a freelance journalist and founder of Arts Encounters. 9:00 a.m. ArtServe. 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd. Fort Lauderdale. 33304.

photo: clubzone.com

10/16 Juan Gabriel One of Mexico’s most influential performers, Juan Gabriel has been recording albums for more than forty years. The rather flamboyant chanteuse has kept his sexuality private despite multiple questions (a video last year even seemed to show him flirting with a man). He has sold thirty million copies of his albums and was inducted into the Billlboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1996. 9:00 p.m. American Airlines Arena. 601 Biscayne Blvd. Miami. 33132.

Hard rock, California-based Korn has been successfully releasing nu metal music for twenty years. The band’s 1998 album Follow the Leader helped launch the band into mainstream success. With forty-one singles, two Grammy Awards, thirty-nine music videos, and over 35 million albums sold worldwide, Korn is one of the most successful hard rock groups currently still together. The band will be playing the entirety of their debut release tonight in honor of its twentieth anniversary. 8:00 p.m. The Fillmore Miami Beach. 1700 Washington Ave. Miami Beach. 33139.

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The spirit of Chinese music blends with the power of a Western orchestra as Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra performs at the Adrienne Arsht Center. The four-year-old ensemble draws upon ﬁve millennia of culture and legends, using Western strings, percussion, woodwinds, and brass to accentuate ancient Chinese sounds. Expect to hear the twostringed erhu and the plucked pipa. 8:00 p.m. Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. 1300 Biscayne Blvd. Miami. 33132.

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10/16 Korn

10/15 Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra

photo: shenyunperformingarts.com

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THE WEEK: MIAMI

photo: craveonline.com

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THE WEEK: JACKSONVILLE .

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Three haunted houses take over Jacksonville Beach’s Adventure Landing. Apocalypse 3D: Clown Takeover is a one-of-a-kind 3D haunted house featuring psychotic clowns The Ringmaster and Al Stabya. Pinehurst Asylum mimics a mental ward turned evil while The Backwoods explores the cannibals and mutants surrounding the Hatﬁeld family compound. 7:00 p.m. Adventure Landing. 1944 Beach Blvd. Jacksonville Beach. 32250.

10/17 Def Leppard

10/16 9 to 5: The Musical

The 1980 ﬁlm 9 to 5 starring Dolly Parton and a pre-Drexell’s Class Dabney Coleman set the standard for comical revenge-on-boss ﬁlms. Here, it’s been made into a musical, with a score written by Ms. Parton herself. The plot involves a trio of women conspiring against their boss to make woman-friendly changes in the workplace. 6:00 p.m. Alhambra Dinner Theatre. 12000 Beach Blvd. Jacksonville. 32246.

photo: deﬂeopard.com

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10/17 Haunt Nights

photo: sidetracks.com

October 15, 2015

By Patrick Robert

photo: scaryevents.com

Hit songs such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Let’s Get Rocked” helped Def Leppard become an American household name during their 1980s heyday. The band relishes the stage show, putting on elaborate, pyro-technic infused performances while still indulging in their hard rock roots. They will be performing with classic icons Foreigner and Night Ranger. 7:00 p.m. Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. 300 A. Phillip Randolph Blvd. Jacksonville. 32202.

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THE WEEK: ORLANDO

Last year’s One Direction single “Steal My Girl” sounds very similar to New Found Glory’s punk-pop classic “It’s Not Your Fault.” It’s no wonder the producers of that single would rip-off New Found Glory—the band has been creating radio-friendly pop punk for almost two decades. Tonight, they share the bill with Jacksonville pop punk group Yellowcard, known for their single “Ocean Avenue.” 7:00 p.m. House of Blues. 1490 E. Buena Vista Dr. Lake Buena Vista. 32830.

Before breaking through in the midnaughties, Plain White T’s were an underground punk group from Chicago. Everything changed when they released the number-one hit song “Hey There Delilah.” They received two Grammy nominations and the song achieved platinum status. Their newest album is named American Nights and was released earlier this year. 7:00 p.m. The Social. 54 N. Orange Ave. Orlando. 32801.

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10/21 Plain White T’s

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10/16 New Found Glory

photo: 3news.co.nz

10/17 John Cleese and Eric Idle

photo: mtv.com

As founding members of Monty Python, Cleese and Idle introduced the world to a satirical brand of humor that is both wacky and smart. Their newest production Together Again At Last…For the Very First Time blends scripted work with improvised bits of storytelling, musical numbers, exclusive footage, aquatic juggling, and an extended audience Q&A. Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. 455 S. Magnolia Ave. Orlando. 32801.

photo: ben.edu

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THE WEEK: PALM BEACH .

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10/19 History Becomes Memory

photo: twitter.com

10/17 Jerry Seinfeld

The king of observational humor takes a break from enjoying his millions earned from Seinfeld’s syndication in order to return to his ﬁrst love—the stage. Seinfeld’s 1990s eponymous sitcom catapulted his humorous take on life’s little peculiarities to the masses—something that allowed him to become one of the most successful sitcom stars in the world. 7:00 p.m. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. 701 Okeechobee Blvd. West Palm Beach. 33401.

October 15, 2015

By Patrick Robert

Boca Raton Museum of Art’s newest exhibition History Becomes Memory marks the 70th anniversary of the end of both World War II and the Holocaust. Four powerful, speciallycommissioned contemporary art installations will examine the human inspirit while making commentary on intolerance, fear, resilience, and the homeland. Some of the artists featured include Terry Berkowitz, Shimon Attie, Renata Stih & Frieder Schnock, and Izhar Patkin. 10:00 a.m. Boca Raton Museum of Art. 501 Plaza Real. Boca Raton. 33432

photo: southﬂorida.com

photo: southﬂoridajazzlist.com

10/21 Bobby Rodriguez Orchestra Formed in 1981, the 19-piece Big Band playing Bobby Rodriguez Orchestra is famous for its 1940’s swing and bebop. In their thirty active years, the band has expanded its scope and now perform a wide variety of jazz, pop, swing, bebop, and Latin. The talented musicians have worked with many successful other groups, including the Miami Sound Machine, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Count Basie Orchestras. 8:00 p.m. Boca Black Box Center for the Arts. 8221 Glades Rd. Boca Raton. 33434.

THE WEEK: TAMPA / ST. PETE .

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One of America’s most popular horror icons, Hannibal Lecter, is given the parody treatment with this musical poking fun at Thomas Harris’ classic The Silence of the Lambs. Power ballads about decapitated heads, jazzy serial killers, and songs like “Are You About a Size 14?” and “Papa Shtarling” promise a rather wacky evening. 8:00 p.m. Straz Center for the Performing Arts. 1010 N. MacInnes Place. Tampa. 33602.

Similar in spirit to such artistic smashes as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, The Importance of Being Earnest With Zombies pokes fun at societal conventions and propriety against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. Oscar Wilde’s canonical text is made even wittier with this production from freeFall Theatre. 7:00 p.m. freeFall Theatre. 6099 Central Ave. St. Petersburg. 33710.

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10/16 Silence! The Musical

10/15 Being Earnest With Zombies

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photo:browardcenter.com

10/16 The Naked Magic Show

photo: freefalltheatre.com

Australian beefcakes Mike Tyler and Christopher Wayne wide the wave of nudity in American popular culture (think Naked and Afraid and Naked Dating) with their touring magic production. Rabbits and other things come out of hats as the two entertain with this boisterous R-rated show. 7:00 p.m. Straz Center for the Performing Arts. 1010 N. MacInnes Place. Tampa. 33602.

photo: broadway.com

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