LOCAL NAME GLOBAL COVERAGE AUGUST JULY 7, 12022 1, 2022 VOL. 13 // ISSUE 26 32
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DESANTIS DISMISSES MONKEYPOX WHILE BIDEN DECLARES IT A ‘NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY’
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Publisher • Norm Kent Norm.Kent@sfgn.com
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Editorial
G
ov. Ron DeSantis believes the concern surrounding the current monkeypox outbreak is overblown, accusing politicians of “trying to sow fear into the population.” As of Aug. 8, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 7,510 confirmed cases in the U.S. with 633 in Florida. On Aug. 4, the Biden administration declared the monkeypox outbreak a national health emergency. “We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said to reporters during a press briefing Thursday. Meanwhile DeSantis said at a press conference in Orlando: “I am so sick of politicians, and we saw this with COVID, trying to sow fear into the population. We’re not doing fear.” DeSantis also railed against other states and governors who have declared a state of emergency over the monkeypox outbreak. “You see some of these states declaring states of emergency. They’re going to abuse
“WHILE GOVERNOR DESANTIS DISMISSES MONKEYPOX, AT-RISK FLORIDIANS STILL NEED BETTER INFORMATION, BETTER TESTING, AND ACCESS TO VACCINES FOR PREVENTION. GET IT DONE!” - Rep. Charlie Crist
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August 11, 2022 • Volume 13 • Issue 32
• 8 .11. 2022
Webmaster • Kimberly Swan Webmaster@sfgn.com Social Media Director • Christiana Lilly Graphic Designer • Julie Palmer Graphic Designer • Greg Bistolfi Graphic Design Consultant • Brendon Lies Artwork@sfgn.com Arts/Entertainment Editor • J.W. Arnold JW@prdconline.com Food/Travel Editor • Rick Karlin HIV Editor • Sean McShee Community Editor • John Hayden Senior Photographer • J.R. Davis JRDavis12000@hotmail.com
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Gov. Ron DeSantis. Photo via Facebook.
those emergency powers to restrict your freedom. I guarantee you that’s what will happen,” DeSantis said. Rep. Charlie Crist, who is running for governor, shot back at DeSantis on Twitter: “While Governor DeSantis dismisses monkeypox, at-risk Floridians still need better information, better testing, and access to vaccines for prevention. Get it done!” In Broward County, where the outbreak has hit hard, LGBT organizations and health officials are working to vaccinate gay, bi and other men who have sex with men. Those populations have been disproportionately affected by the outbreak. “DeSantis has yet again failed the people of Florida! He lacked leadership in addressing the COVID pandemic that devastatingly
impacted thousands of lives being lost and now shows his lack of caring by slacking on proactively addressing the monkeypox crisis, negatively impacting communities across the state,” Ebonni Chrispin, AIDS Healthcare Foundation Manager of Legislative Affairs & Community Engagement, said in a press release. “Access to vaccines and other critical resources are needed across the state to get in front of the virus continuing to spread and declaring a state of emergency is what is the right thing to do to keep the people of Florida safe. As a patient-centered organization, we are very concerned about the Governor’s actions. It is deplorable that he continues to put his selfish desires for political gain over the people he was hired to serve and keep safe.”
Visit sfgn.com/Monkeypox for vaccine availability and the latest coverage.
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LGBTQIA BITES
BY KENNEDY MCKINNEY
IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE G PANSEXUAL
PANSEXUAL ACTOR JOINS CAST OF ‘THE BOYS’ Amazon series “The Boys” made recent announcements about its cast, including the addition of the character Firecracker, who will be played by pansexual actor Valorie Curry. Curry first came out in 2019 in celebration of National Coming Out Day via Instagram. “I’ve posted a lot in the last year without saying anything directly, so here goes: I’m a queer woman. For a long time, I identified as bisexual, but now that I have the language and the understanding, pansexual feels more authentic (and who wouldn’t want to be associated with Pan?)” said Curry. Following the announcement, “The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke said, “These new Supes are some of the best and craziest
P
Photo via Instagram.
ever written for ‘The Boys.’ You are going to love them. And by love,” he clarified, “I mean be absolutely horrified and a tiny bit nauseous.”
... HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING IN THE LGBTQIA COMMUNITY
NB
NONBINARY
MARVEL REPORTEDLY CASTING MAJOR NONBINARY CHARACTER FOR ‘IRONHEART’
Marvel Studio President Kevin Feige has publicly confirmed that they have put a renewed focus on providing more representation in their projects in theaters and on Disney+. The franchise has been taking steps to achieve that goal in the latest Multiverse saga. Although not confirmed that the character will be nonbinary, Marvel casted their first nonbinary actor, Shea Couleé, in “Ironheart,” which is set to release in fall 2023. Couleé was a recent winner on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and they responded to the news via Twitter saying, “BEYOND excited to be strutting out of the Werkroom right into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Words cannot express how excited I am to be a part of this amazing project! Acting was
Photo by moving standard, via Wikimedia Commons.
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• 8 .11. 2022
LGBTQIA BITES
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TRANSGENDER
YASMIN FINNEY CONFIRMS HER ‘DOCTOR WHO’ CHARACTER IS TRANS
Actress Yasmin Finney confirmed that her character, Rose, in the upcoming “Doctor Who” series is trans, making her one of the only trans character is the show’s history. Finney made the announcement during a speech at the fourth annual Trans+ March and while addressing Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “My character is trans so, Boris, I hope you see ‘Heartstopper,’ I hope you see ‘Doctor Who,’ because I exist, and I know you know I exist.” “Life on ‘Doctor Who’ gets brighter and wilder, how can there be another Rose? You’ll find out in 2023, but it’s an absolute joy to welcome Yasmin to the ‘Doctor Who’ set,” Showrunner Russell T. Davies told BBC. “We all fell in love with her in ‘Heartstopper,’ one of those shows which changes the world, and now Yasmin can change the Whoniverse!” Davies is keeping details about Finney’s character under wraps. The 14th season comes out in October
Photo via Instagram.
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8 .11. 20 22 •
7
THE COUNTRY
NEWS NATIONAL
ACROSS
WASHINGTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY IS UNDER STATE INVESTIGATION AFTER ANTI-LGBT EMPLOYMENT POLICY Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is under Washington state investigation after the private school has been in the headlines for its discriminatory employment policies. SFGN has reported in the last months following the story about SPU not hiring a professor full time due to his sexuality not lining up with the Christian school’s “lifestyle expectation.” According to NBC News, State Attorney General Bob Ferguson released a statement confirming his office sent a letter to Seattle Pacific University in early June seeking information regarding its alleged discrimination against LGBT staff
Photo via Seattle Pacific University/Facebook.
members through its “employee lifestyle expectations” policy. Students and faculty previously protested against the university’s decision in April, receiving over 1,200 signatures in a joint letter of lament.
BY KIZZY AZCARATE
COVERING LGBT NEWS SWEEPING THE NATION
COLORADO COLLEGE PROFESSOR CREATES LGBT HISTORY WORKSHOP FOR K-12 TEACHERS Prof. Thomas Dunn will have his first workshop this summer that will educate K-12 teachers about LGBT history under his Queer Memory Project of Northern Colorado. “Being able to tell those stories both in a way that is age appropriate as well as giving an increasingly surging LGBTQ youth population some representation is important,” Dunn said to Chalkbeat Colorado. “And I’m also a father — I have an adopted daughter — and so this is something I care about in that way.” Dunn’s project’s goal is to instruct teachers what to teach their students about LGBT history that has nothing to do with conversations surrounding sex and sexuality like current conservatives believe.
Professor Thomas Dunn. Photo via colostate.edu.
Within his teachings, Dunn will not only be covering big historical events and figures like Stonewall and Harvey Milk, but lost details and stories that many may have not been inclined to.
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• 8 .11. 2022
CONCERNS ARISE AS KINK FESTIVAL ATTENDANTS ARE AT HIGHER RISK FOR MONKEYPOX EXPOSURE San Francisco, California is throwing their annual kink festival, “Up Your Alley Fair,” which is commonly referred to as “Dore Alley Fair.” Concerns over the spread of monkeypox have cast a shadow over the event due to their large attendance being bisexual and gay men. Previous reports have come out that the men within the LGBT community have been infected the most. “Prolonged skin-to-skin contact and possibly through sexual transmission, although skin-to-skin contact is the main thing,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told KRON 4. “So that’s large. In terms of medium, that
Photo via Up Your Alley, Dore at Folsom/Facebook.
will be prolonged kissing through saliva, but it requires hours. Hugging by itself, giving a high five, shaking somebody’s hand is not going result in transmission.” San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to declare a local emergency over monkeypox.
Visit sfgn.com/Monkeypox for vaccine availability and the latest coverage.
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14-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE UPHELD FOR CUBAN TRANS WOMAN Visit SFGN.com to find out more.
THE WORLD
NEWS INTERNATIONAL
AROUND
BY EVERITT ROSEN
EXPLORING LGBT NEWS EVENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE
SOUTH AMERICA
ASIA
COLOMBIANS HOLD KISS-A-THON TO SUPPORT LGBT COUPLE WHO WAS ACCOSTED
CHINESE STUDENTS FIGHT PENALTY AFTER GIVING OUT RAINBOW FLAGS
On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered in a park in Colombia to support a homosexual couple who had been attacked after sharing a public kiss. he couple was accosted by a group of ladies, one of whom was carrying a broomstick. In 2016, Colombia legalized same-sex unions, although homophobic assaults are still frequent. The demonstration was organized online after a video of two young homosexual men being ejected from a park by incensed neighbors on Friday went viral. The pair can be heard being yelled at by ladies in the video as they inform them that “in our neighborhood we don’t allow sex in the park, especially not in front of children.” People gathered at the park in the
Photo via Luis Carlos Leal A/Twitter.
capital’s Engativá neighborhood holding posters that said, “Kisses are signals of affection, not a crime.” Couples kissed and rejoiced while raising rainbow flags.
Despite the possibility of being dismissed, two female students at China’s esteemed Tsinghua University, who were punished for passing out rainbow flags on campus, are requesting to have the sanction reversed. The Tsinghua student affairs office sent warning letters to Christine Huang on Friday and to a different student, who wished to remain anonymous, on Sunday for distributing unauthorized promotional material on campus. In mid-May, they allegedly planted 10 rainbow flags behind the cash register of a campus store. They were subsequently located using the campus security cameras, and administrators at the institution were
Photo by Karolina Grabowska, via Pexels.
instructed to speak with them. “We will seek appeals. Why are they banning the rainbow? The disciplinary procedure and rationale — none of that is right,” said Huang to the South China Morning Post.
EUROPE FRENCH MINISTER’S REMARKS ABOUT LGBT COMMUNITY SPARK ANGER In the latest blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s authority, pressure is rising on a French government official to resign after remarks stigmatizing homosexuality and LGBT people. Many individuals, including her colleagues, were offended and incensed by Caroline Cayeux’s comments, which also sparked a wider debate about the continued use of discriminatory attitudes by those in positions of authority. In a letter published in the daily Journal du dimanche, more than 100 eminent people questioned why she was still in power. Members of the French parliament, senior government officials, an Olympic medalist, physicians, artists, a former prime minister, a former top Macron adviser, and others from Macron’s centrist political
THERE’S MORE ONLINE!
Photo by By Nanard, via Wikimedia Commons.
group were among the signatories. According to ABC News, Cayeux was questioned about her opposition to the 2013 French law that legalized homosexual marriage and adoption, as well as remarks she made at the time that it was “against nature.” She said that she was being falsely accused of bias.
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ART SERVE HOSTS OPEN HIV FORUM FOR BLACK MEN Deon C. Jefferson
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frican American men are one of the main groups affected by the HIV/Aids epidemic. What’s even more alarming is that gay men are affected in larger numbers than their straight counterparts. According to the CDC, the largest number of HIV infections in the United States were among young Black males. Unfortunately, 81% of those cases were same-gender-loving men. Island City Stage recently hosted the “Behind the Red Curtain,” which was a free open forum that dived into topics about social issues of being African American, and the impact of AIDS in the Black community. The forum was held at Art Serve in Fort Lauderdale. BTRC featured a panel of distinguished members of the LGBT community. The panelists were Lorenzo Robertson, who serves as the founder of the Ujima Men’s Collective, Jim Jones who is the CEO of the Rapha Center, and Ederick Johnson, HIV specialist for Florida Department of Health. They were joined by HIV activist, author and photographer Jesse Brooks, a native of California. The forum was moderated by Worlds AIDS Museum Educational Center Director Terry Dyer. One of the topics that came up in the discussion was geared toward the gays in the Black church. Audience members and the panel had
plenty to talk about when it came to this ohso-familiar hot topic. “Some of the messages we received when we were growing up indicated that we were not worthy, ‘’ said author Jesse Brooks. “I was raised in the church and I was taught that I was going to hell because of who I was. Those thoughts were something that my mind consciously had to work against.” The open forum was hosted in conjunction with the opening of the production of “One in Two,” which will debut in South Florida on Aug. 4 at the Island City Stage. This captivating production is written by Donja R. Love and directed by NAACP theater award-winner Delicia Turner Sonnenberg. “One in Two” tells the story of the current HIV projection rate that indicates how one in two Black men who have sex with men, and one in four Latino men who have sex with men, in the U.S. will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime. This statistic comes from a study done in 2016 by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Furthermore, this production will be unique: the audience chooses which actor will have the coveted lead role each night. Lead role duties require the actor playing the role of a Black man who is diagnosed with HIV.
For more information, call (954) 928-9800 or visit islandcitystage.org. The show will run until Sept. 4.
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• 8 .11.2022
NEWS LOCAL
BOARD OF MEDICINE VOTES TO STOP TREATMENT FOR TRANS YOUTH WANTS TO ADD WAITING PERIOD FOR ADULTS
Christiana Lilly
A
fter hearing testimony from the trans community, the Florida Board of Medicine voted on Aug. 5 to create standards of gender-affirming care for trans youth, prompted by the Department of Health’s petition to not allow any treatment until adulthood and for adult patients to have a 24-hour waiting period. All but one member of the 15-person board voted in favor of the department’s petition; the dissenting vote was vice chair Dr. Kevin Cairns, whose term is up in November. “I don’t feel like this has been done in a way that’s in genuine conversation; this has been pushed to you as the board as a political maneuver,” Dr. Michael Haller, a pediatric endocrinologist from the University of Florida, told the board during the meeting. The department’s petition suggests that no surgeries, hormone blockers, or even social transitioning be allowed in children and adolescents. This goes against the recommendations of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of Social Workers, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Endocrine Society, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The meeting began at 8 a.m., and the discussion started in the afternoon. Equality Florida hosted a rally outside of the Marriott Fort Lauderdale Airport at Dania Pointe, where the transgender community, activists, community organizers and allies waved signs and chanted “trans power!” Speakers included Dr. Haller, Tatiana Williams of Transinclusive, Nathan Bruemmer of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and Jeannette Jennings, the mother of Jazz Jennings, a transgender woman. After the rally, many participants entered the hotel to sit for the meeting, waiting through the other agenda items. Also in the audience were members from Moms for Liberty and the Christian Family Coalition of Florida, donning stickers that read “let kids be kids.” Anthony Verdugo, the founder of the Christian Family Council Florida chapter, said that the decision surrounding gender — such as hormone therapy and surgeries — should be made when they’re an adult and the group was there to stand up for children and their protection. The chairperson for the Collier County chapter of Moms for
Photo by Christiana Lilly.
Liberty also said that children are not mature enough to make decisions surrounding treatment. Others opposing the treatment called it “barbaric and cruel” and “mutilation.” Dr. Quentin Van Meter, a Georgia doctor, testified that due to COVID, people were “living in internet land” for two years and were exposed to the ideas of gender identity and that the country was conducting “a giant experiment on American children.” In 2020, a Texas judge ruled that Van Meter’s testimony be thrown out in a divorce case that involved a transgender child, saying that he was not able to provide fact-driven evidence. Dr. Haller and his colleague Dr. Kristin A. Dayton answered questions from the Board of Medicine, including the number of children they were treating for gender dysphoria, the medications they were receiving, and their standard of care for receiving top and bottom surgery. They explained that their clinics generally do not allow top surgery for patients younger than 16 and bottom surgery is usually not done until the age of 18. They also said treatments cannot be done without parental consent, which can be complicated when parents have opposing views on the matter. During three hours of public comment, people on both sides of the issue spoke for or against the petition. This included those who have detransitioned, sharing that they felt pressured to go through transition, which they regretted. Others told stories of how hormone therapy saved their lives. Comments had to be cut short due to the large number of people who signed up, and the board voted in favor of starting the process of implementing the Department of Health’s recommendations, as well as creating a 24-hour waiting period for adults seeking treatment. “This proposed rule is dangerous,” said FL Rep. Anna Eskemani. “Identifying as trans is not like bell-bottom jeans. It is someone’s identity and must be respected and acknowledged. These are folks that just want to be treated with dignity and respect like anyone else.”
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PRIDEFÊTE, LGBT CARIBBEAN FEST, TAKES PLACE AUG. 13 IN WILTON MANORS Kim Swan
O
n Aug. 13 PrideFête, an LGBTQ+ Caribbean Festival, is taking place in Wilton Manors, and all are welcome to
join. “Wilton Manors has a special place in the LGBTQ+ culture, where it is affectionately known as ‘the gayborhood,’” Jasmen Rogers, the planning committee member, told the Sun Sentinel. “We wanted the LGBTQ+ communities to access [the festival] very easily, almost like a coming home.” The event is hosted by Hotspots in partnership with Pride Fort Lauderdale, and the City of Wilton Manors. The festival will take place Aug. 13 from 6 to 11 p.m. at Wilton Manors’ Richardson Historic Park & Nature Preserve. PrideFête will have food
booths, singers, drag performers and more. It’s $5 pre-event and $7 at the gate. VIP tickets that offer an air-conditioned indoor area, private VIP bar, five drink tickets and Caribbean hors d’oeuvres are available for $50 pre-event and $75 at the gate. Rogers told the Sentinel that the organizers wanted to highlight the importance of Caribbean Pride. “Black and brown Caribbean people need a safe space where they can all be their authentic selves,” Rogers said. “We know there is a lot of homophobia in our communities, no more than other communities, but also in several places it is illegal to be gay or dangerous to be gay. We need a Wilton Manors celebration that celebrates every part of who we are.”
Visit PrideFete.lgbt; hotspotsmagazine.com/pridefete or Facebook.com/CaribbeanPrideFete for more information.
‘HERSTORY’ OPENS AT STONEWALL, LAUNCHES WOMEN’S FUND INITIATIVE Christiana Lilly
W
omen are integral to LGBTQ history, but they seldom make the walls of exhibits and programming outside of Women’s History Month. The Stonewall National Museum & Archives in Fort Lauderdale wants to change that. “HERStory,” an exhibit at the museum, opened July 29 to kick off the Women’s Fund, a five-year initiative to increase programming and events geared toward women. “History that women have been a part of and have pioneered — seeing that on the wall is needed,” said Paola Sierra, the exhibit’s curator and museum’s digital asset manager. “Those stories need to be told HERStory is now on display at the Stonewall and it’s just incredible to see it together in a National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale. collection up on the wall.” Courtesy of Stonewall. Starting the project in June, the Stonewall team was able to put together “HERStory,” we are serious about welcoming women into an exhibit featuring newsletters, magazines, the organization.” newspaper clippings, photographs, and The Women’s Fund will be focused on objects such as Ellen DeGeneres’ shoes, increasing programming and women’s Martina Navratilova’s warm-up suit, and outreach. Think the Women’s Liberation t-shirts from different movements. Guests Movement, the role women played during can also see copies of activist publications the AIDS crisis, and local heroes such as such as Sisters For and By Gay Robin L. Bodiford, who Women and Off Our Backs. “WHAT WE REALIZED fought to keep Broward But Robert Kesten, who took County’s human rights IS WE REALLY over as executive director of ordinances in place to Stonewall in June, and others LGBT people. NEEDED TO DO MORE protect at the museum didn’t want Bodford also serves as the the recognition of women in honorary chairperson for PROGRAMMING FOR the equality movement to be “HERStory.” a fleeting exhibit — that’s why “What we realized is WOMEN, AND WE the exhibit also coincides with we really needed to do NEEDED TO CREATE the launch of the Women’s more programming for Fund, a five-year initiative to and we needed PARITY, EQUALITY IN women, showcase the role of women in to create parity, equality LGBTQ history. THE ARCHIVE AND THE in the archive and the “There were very few collection,” said Karen COLLECTION.” women that came through Kelley, the chairperson the door, and there were very for “HERStory” and a few programs geared towards member of the Women’s - Karen Kelley attracting them,” Kesten Fund board of directors. “HERSTORY” CHAIRPERSON explained. “I didn’t think just “We think for the next doing an event asking people to come here generations to learn how to fight for their was enough. We should do not only an rights, they have to learn from the past exhibit but … create a Women’s Fund to show generations.” Visit stonewall-museum.org to learn more about “HERStory.”
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NEWS LOCAL
OUR FUND PRESENTS POST-ROE DISCUSSION
EVENTS WILL TAKE PLACE TUESDAY / WEDNESDAY IN WILTON MANORS AND MIAMI Jason Parsley
L
GBT leaders will take part in a panel “For Better or Worse in Post-Roe in the U.S. - A Vow to Protect LGBTQ+ Equality” August 16 in Wilton Manors and August 17 in Miami. Ever since Roe vs. Wade, the constitutional right to abortion, was overturned LGBT leaders have been deeply concerned for the myriad of LGBT rights the Supreme Court has bestowed upon the community such as marriage and intimate relations. The forum is free and open to the public. “Due to the Supreme Court’s recent decision, the LGBTQ+ community has learned a sad new fact of life. Our planning for the future must now take into consideration the possibility of losing our hard-fought current rights,” said
WILTON MANORS
WHEN: Tuesday August 16, 6 - 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Our Fund Foundation, 1201 NE 26th Street, Suite 108, Wilton Manors, FL 33305
David Jobin, CEO of Our Fund Foundation. Panelists include: Gregory R. Nevins, Esq., Senior Counsel, Lambda Legal; Elizabeth F. Schwartz, Esq., Principal, Elizabeth F. Schwartz P.A.; David Treece, Treece Financial Group; Rev. Amy Carol Webb, River of Grass Unitarian Universalist Congregation; Eugenio Duarte PhD, Psychoanalyst * Miami only; Moderator: Nik Harris, Esq., Director of Strategic Outreach & Engagement, HRC. Those interested in attending should RSVP to ocaballero@our-fund.org and are required to wear a face mask or show proof of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccinations. Both events will be live streamed on Our Fund’s Facebook page.
NORTH MIAMI
WHEN: Wednesday August 17, 7 - 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Latinos Salud, 640 Northeast 124th Street, North Miami, FL 33161
8 .11. 20 22 •
15
PA L M B E A C H
news
APPELLATE COURT REJECTS REHEARING ON CONVERSION THERAPY BANS
NEWS STATE
FLORIDA’S MONKEYPOX CASES SKYROCKET TO 938 MIAMI-DADE OVERTAKES BROWARD
John McDonald
Jason Parsley
M
iami-Dade has overtaken Broward for the most monkeypox cases in the state with 367. Broward has 330 as of
CONVERSION THERAPY CAN CONTINUE IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, A COURT RULED.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit refused to hear a challenge to its November 2020 decision to strike down bans on the practice in Boca Raton and PBC. “The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is saddened by this court’s failure to find legal footing to keep U.S. District Court Judge Robin Rosenberg’s well-reasoned order from 2019 in place,” said retired judge Rand Hoch, PBCHRC’s president and founder. The July 20 ruling, Hoch said, means “young LGBTQ+ people throughout Florida, Alabama, and Georgia are once again at risk from the psychological abuse caused by conversion therapy.” Following the initial rejection of the bans, the City of Miami filed an amicus brief in support of a rehearing. Jurisdictions from across the country signed onto the brief, including Broward County, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park and Wilton Manors. It took the Eleventh Circuit 20 months to deny a rehearing by a 12-judge Atlanta court. Ordinances were passed to prevent therapists
Photo by Daniel Tobias, via Wikimedia Commons.
from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Those bans were ruled unconstitutional by a three-judge panel on the basis of First Amendment violations: “content-based restrictions of speech, not conduct.” Talk therapy or not, U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist said he would take executive action to end the practice. “Conversion therapy is child abuse,” tweeted Crist, who is campaigning for Florida governor. “When I’m governor, we’re going to go after people abusing LGBTQ+ kids. You do not have the right to abuse a child. Period.”
PBCHRC TRIES TO AVOID SHOWDOWN WITH SUPREME COURT ASKS BOCA, PALM BEACH COUNTY, TO OVERTURN CONVERSION THERAPY BANS Jason Parsley CONVERSION THERAPY IS NOW LEGAL AGAIN IN BOCA RATON.
After years of legal wrangling the City of Boca Raton on Friday repealed its conversion therapy ban on minors that was enacted in 2017. In July the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit refused to rehear a challenge to its November 2020 decision to strike down bans on the practice in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County. Rather than continue to fight, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council asked Boca and Palm Beach County to repeal their bans. Boca Raton promptly did so.
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“By repealing the ordinances, the legal issue before the District Court will be moot and the lwitigation will end,” Hoch said in a press release. Hoch noted that with the current makeup of the Supreme Court it would not be wise to continue a legal challenge. Hoch said the ruling, “effectively [...] prevents conversion therapy bans from being enforced anywhere in the states of Florida, Georgia and Alabama.” Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBT hate group, challenged the bans in Palm Beach County after they were enacted, setting up a year-long battle with mixed results. Hoch continued: “There will be blood on the hands of the judges who failed to apply the law to protect LGBTQ youth.”
Aug. 7. Since the state saw its first monkeypox case, cases have risen at an alarming rate, with that trend continuing over the past week. According to the Florida Department of Health the state has 938 confirmed cases, a sharp rise from 480 cases last week – an almost 100% increase. Before that the state was seeing about a 50-60% increase each week. Here are the numbers as of Aug. 7 with last
week’s number in parenthesis: Broward had 330 (225) cases; Miami-Dade had 367 (113) cases; Orange County had 54 (32); Palm Beach had 43 (30); Pinellas had 36 (20); Hillsborough had 37 (16); and Monroe had 13 (12). As of Aug. 4, the White House has allocated over 109,000 vaccines to the state, and 65,000 more have been requested. The outbreak is particularly concerning for the LGBT community, as the disease is disproportionately affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex men, according to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, among other sources.
If you suspect you have been infected with monkeypox, contact your doctor immediately or call the Florida Department of Health at 954-467-4700 or 850-245-4444.  Visit sfgn.com/Monkeypox for vaccine availability and the latest coverage.
NEWS STATE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO STOP SECOND MONKEYPOX SHOT Jason Parsley
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FGN confirmed Tuesday the Florida Department of Health would stop giving a second dose of the monkeypox vaccine. “To maximize the supply of smallpox/ monkeypox, Jynneos vaccines, the Department of Health is using all available doses as first doses only,” said Nina Levine, the Public Information Officer for the Florida Department of Health Broward County. “Second doses will be rescheduled as vaccine supply increases.” Other places have already taken this approach including Washington D.C., New York City, Canada and the U.K. Some individuals received their second dose of the monkeypox vaccine at the Pride Center in Wilton Manors on Tuesday. That evening though the organization sent out an email canceling the second doses. “Unfortunately, this means all second doses [...] from August 10 to August 20 are canceled. Like you, we are disappointed. We recognize,
Photo by Mufid Majnun via Unsplash.
though, that dose-sparing is a public health strategy utilized in many locations across the nation,” the Pride Center wrote. To be fully effective the Jynneos vaccine requires two shots. According to one limited study the Jynneos vaccine is 83% effective after 28 days in HIVnegative individuals and 67% effective in HIVpositive individuals. Because of the new dosing strategy the Department of Health would be making more first doses available.
Visit sfgn.com/Monkeypox for vaccine availability and the latest coverage.
NEWS STATE
DESANTIS UPSET USDA REQUIRES STATE TO INVESTIGATE CLAIMS OF DISCRIMINATION IN SCHOOLS Jason Parsley
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t a press conference last week Gov. Ron DeSantis accused the Biden administration of taking children’s lunch money away because of Florida’s decision to ban transgender athletes in amateur female sports. “We did that. I think most people agree it’s the proper thing to do,” DeSantis said. “Biden is now threatening to penalize states that have taken basic common-sense actions like just recognizing the importance of women’s sports.” But that’s not quite true. According to a memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “state and local agencies, program operators and sponsors that receive funds from [Food and Nutrition Service] must investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Those organizations must also update their non-discrimination policies
and signage to include prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.” The memo cites the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County as one the reasons for the decision. In Bostock the court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because they are gay or transgender. “A key step in advancing these principles is rooting out discrimination in any form – including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “At the same time, we must recognize the vulnerability of the LGBTQI+ communities and provide them with an avenue to grieve any discrimination they face. We hope that by standing firm against these inequities we will help bring about much-needed change.”
NEWS NATIONAL
MICHIGAN TOWN DEFUNDS LIBRARY OVER LGBT BOOKS DIRECTOR RESIGNS OVER ONLINE HARASSMENT Kim Swan
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public library in Michigan may close its doors for good after a fight over an LGBT-themed graphic novel. Voters in Jamestown Township, a politically conservative community in Ottawa County, rejected renewal of a millage (a rate of taxation) that would support the Patmos Library, according to Bridge Michigan. The vote effectively cuts the library’s operating budget by 84% in 2023. The $245,000 budget comes from property taxes collected through a millage. The library is likely to run out of money next year without a millage. “I wasn’t expecting anything like this,” Library Board President Larry Walton told Bridge. “The library is the center of the community. For individuals to be short sighted to close that down over opposing LGBTQ is very disappointing.” According to voters, books in the adult and
Photo via Adobe.
young adult sections of the library depict samesex relationships. A parent earlier this year complained about “Gender Queer: A Memoir” that features the author’s coming out as nonbinary story and illustrations of sexual acts. Amber McLain, the library director, resigned in the spring due to harassment she received online, including being accused of “indoctrinating children,” Bridge reported. When the Patmos staff and elected board of directors refused to remove LGBT books, residents became upset and created a group to get rid of the library’s millage renewal. The group wants to make the library a “safe place” for children.
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NEWS NATIONAL
NEWS INTERNATIONAL
BOOK: TRUMP WISHED HIS GENERALS WERE ‘LOYAL’ LIKE HITLER’S
Jason Parsley
Kim Swan
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hen Donald Trump was president, he asked his aide why his generals couldn’t be “totally loyal” like the German generals following Adolf Hitler, according to a new book. “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump told John Kelly, his chief of staff, according to an excerpt from “The Divider: Trump in the White House,” by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, published online by The New Yorker. The authors write how Trump became frustrated by his top military officials, whom he saw as “insufficiently loyal or obedient” to him, according to the New York Times. Kelly tried to explain to Trump that the German generals had tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off, but Trump wouldn’t listen. “‘No, they were totally loyal to him,’ the president replied,” according to the book. Trump believed the generals of the Third Reich were loyal to Hitler, and this is what he wanted
GERMAN PARLIAMENT TO COMMEMORATE LGBT VICTIMS OF NAZIS
T
Photo via Amazon.
for his military. The excerpt then focuses on Gen. Mark A. Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s top military official, under Trump. Milley wrote, but never delivered, a resignation letter accusing Trump of “embracing tyranny” after Trump asked him to shoot the Black Lives Matter protesters in the legs after they rallied near the White House on June 1, 2020. Milley refused.
he president of the German parliament announced Friday they are planning to commemorate individuals who were persecuted and killed for their sexual or gender identity by Nazis. The event will take place during the international Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is Jan. 27 every year. Since 1996, Germany has officially marked Holocaust Remembrance Day with a solemn ceremony featuring a speech by a survivor and commemorations across the country, according to the The Local. Sadly, there are no known LGBT survivors left to speak. According to the story Baerbel Bas, president of the Bundestag, the name of Germany’s parliament, the MPs would put those victims “at the center of the commemoration ceremony.” Bas said they would work closely with the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany on the event. Former German President Roman Herzog
Pink triangles were used in Nazi concentration camp badges to represent gay men.
named homosexuals among the victims of the Nazis at the first commemoration in 1996. But as Henny Engels, a member of the LSVD board, noted in The Local, “these victims have yet to have their own memorial.” In other LGBT news from Germany, the parliament raised the Pride flag for the first time during Berlin’s Pride festivities this month. Also earlier in the month a mosque in Berlin became the first in Germany to fly a rainbow flag in advance of the Pride festivities to show their support of the LGBT community.
NEWS INTERNATIONAL
AHF LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE YOUTH IN AFRICA ON HIV Kim Swan
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frican youth are disproportionately affected by HIV, according to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. That’s why it launched the “Protect The Child” campaign to help empower youths. The goal of the campaign is to reach thousands of young people with ageappropriate comprehensive sexual health education initiatives (CSE), according to a press release. The Foundation helps provide high-quality HIV care and services to those in need. “Protect The Child” also provides HIV/STI testing, health screenings, and counseling for students in secondary schools. The campaign focuses mainly on African youth who are affected by HIV. Research shows that CSE significantly decreases rates of HIV, other STIs, and unplanned pregnancies, according to the Foundation. This remains a contentious issue in subSaharan Africa and receives pushback from
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• 8 .11.2022
Photo via AHF/Flickr.
religious and community leaders and some governments. The campaign will continue for the next few months while AHF Africa Bureau plans to expand “Protect The Child” initiatives.
CHECK WEBSITES AND FACEBOOK PAGES FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION REGARDING IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE OF SERVICES, AS WELL AS VIRTUAL VIEWING OPTIONS. CONGREGATION ETZ CHAIM 2038 N. Dixie Hwy (Pride Center Building B), Wilton Manors 954-564-9232 - etzchaimflorida.org RabbiNoahKitty@etzchaimflorida.org Friday Night Shabbat Service 8p.m.
SPIRITUALITY
SOUTHFLORIDAGAYNEWS.COM
LISTINGS
HOLY ANGELS CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 1436 NE 26th St Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-633-2987 - HolyAngelsFL.net Sunday Mass at 11AM
Join us for masked, socially distanced in person worship. 11 AM Sundays. Services also LIVE-streamed on Facebook and posted on website for safe at home viewing.
Church of Our Savior MCC
“Love without judgement” Holy Angels National Catholic Church 1436 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors. 33305 Facebook.com/HolyAngelsFL www.HolyAngelsFL.org
2011 South Federal Hwy. Boynton Beach, FL 561-733-4000 www.churchofoursaviormcc.org
954-633-2987
Join us for in-person worship
A home for your spirit. Mass Schedule: Sabado 6:00 PM misa en español • Sunday Mass at 11 AM in English • All are welcome!
at 10 AM Sunday, or live streamed on Facebook www.facebook.com/ChruchofOurSaviorMCC
CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOR, MCC Church of Our Savior, MCC 2011 S. Federal Hwy. Boynton Beach. churchofoursaviormcc.org | 561-733-4000 Sunday Service 10AM TEMPLE BAT YAM 5151 NE 14th Ter Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 954-928-0410 Friday Night & Saturday Morning Streaming Online at templebatyam.org
ARRESTED? DON’T BE A DOPE! CALL 954-763-1900
NORMKENT.COM
THE LAW OFFICES OF NORMAN KENT AND RUSSELL CORMICAN Russell Cormican
Attorney at Law 12 SE 7th St Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Norman Elliott Kent
Attorney at Law 2520 N. Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305
THE CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAW CENTER OF SOUTH FLORIDA NORM@NORMKENT.COM
A LITTLE BIT OF FAITH AND
PRIDE
SFGN is here for you, no matter who — or what — keeps you going. Read our Spirituality Section to stay in touch with your local religious LGBT community. The only requirement? Be yourself.
SEE MORE ONLINE AT SFGN.COM/TABLE/NEWS/RELIGION 8 .11. 20 22 •
19
CONVICTIONS
Off The Wall
CONVICTIONS
Jesse’s Journal
SUPREME DANGER TOO OLD TO BE
PRESIDENT?
Pier Angelo
I
f men could get pregnant there would be a drive-thru abortion provider attached to every McDonald’s. And now you have it: the Supreme Court reversed almost 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade, a direct attack on women across the country. The consequences will be devastating, especially for people of color and young people in the 28 states that are positioned to immediately restrict or outlaw abortion altogether. The big question now is “Who are they coming after next?” This Taliban-inspired Christian Nationalist Supreme Court, a group of white (minus one) Republican older men (minus three) are now deciding the cultural direction of our country, no matter what a majority of the public thinks. I am pretty sure that starting with Judge Thomas this is what the future holds: I can almost see the Post-it Notes on his wall. It is a makeshift PowerPoint presentation called Proudly Going Backward: 1. Gay marriage will be gone. Start making your legal arrangements because shortly we will no longer be protected. 2. We know already that contraception pills will be made illegal and so will the abortion pill. 3. Voting rights already eroded will be eviscerated. 4. Sodomy will be reintroduced and its legality overturned. 5. The wall between Church and State will crumble completely. One nation under God but whose God, which God? 6. Bring back slavery? 7. Bring back segregation? 8. Prohibition? 9. Women will have to wear a veil in public and the Burka during high holidays. 10. Mandatory church attendance on Sunday? There is one more touchy issue: What about interracial marriage? Well I guess Judge Thomas will not bring it up for the time being
Jesse Monteagudo
W
Image created with asset from Pixabay.
since he is married to a white woman, after all, personal interests outweigh even selfrighteousness. Is there anything we, you, can do to stop Trump’s Supreme Court? YES! Recruit, support, and elect prochoice candidates at the community and state levels. These candidates can work to decriminalize abortion, help patients travel to receive care, and serve as the first line of defense in a world without Roe v. Wade, and prevent further erosion of our rights. Lambda Legal made it very clear that we must mobilize to ensure continued, nationwide access to abortion care and to reject this profoundly misguided judicial travesty. Make no mistake, although Justice Alito’s majority opinion paid lip service to the distinctions between abortion rights and other personal rights rooted in the same longstanding legal precedents, the same selective reasoning used to erase abortion rights can be used to erase our victories over sodomy laws and affirming marriage equality as a constitutional right.
Pier Angelo was born in Italy, moved to England at the age of 17 and learned English at the Nelson School of English. He attended college and graduate school in Manhattan. In 2009 he founded SFGN with Norm Kent. Now he’s retired with his husband Tom and his Affenpinscher Cabbage. He still enjoys writing his column Off The Wall for SFGN.
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• 8 .11.2022
hen Joseph R. Biden became president of the United States, he was 78 years old. Though still physically and mentally fit, Biden was, in the words of Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times, “far past his prime.” Though at first acclaimed as the man who defeated Donald Trump, Biden’s poll numbers swiftly declined because of a pandemic that would not quit; a bad economy; a wave of foreign and domestic crises; and an increasingly divided nation where even the best president is automatically hated by half of the population. But even some of Biden’s biggest followers seem to agree with Goldberg, who hopes “he doesn’t run again, because he’s too old.” And she continued: “I didn’t want Biden to be the Democratic nominee in 2020, partly for ideological reasons but even more because he seemed too worn out and unfocused … The presidency ages even young men, and Biden is far from young ... As a recent New York Times/Siena College poll found, 64% of Democrats want a different presidential nominee in 2024. Those Democrats cite Biden’s age more than any other factor, though job performance is
AT 79, BIDEN IS ANCIENT, BUT HE IS NOT ALONE. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI IS 82, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER STENY HOYER IS 83, AND SENATE MAJORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER IS 71.
Photo by Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons.
close behind.” At 79, Biden is ancient, but he is not alone. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is 82, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is 83, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is 71. In all fairness, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is 80 (even older than Biden) and the Donald is 76. Ironically, most Justices of the Supreme Court, once a depository for old, white men, are younger than the leaders of the Executive and Legislative branches, thanks in part to Republican presidents’ political appointments. As we all know, Biden went on to be nominated by the Democrats in 2020; and I ate my words and voted for Biden as the only one who could get Trump out of the White House. Though Trump is still energetic he is almost as old as the man who defeated him. Like many Democrats, many Republicans agree that their peerless leader is too old for the job and now seek one to replace him, like the 43-year-old Ron DeSantis. As the incumbent, alas, Biden will be his party’s nominee no matter how old he is, and I will vote for him as better than Trump or DeSantis. But should he run? Perhaps it is time for Biden to step down, with his head high, having served his full term as president and allow his party to nominate a younger woman or man who will continue his legacy.
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and journalist. He has been an active member of South Florida's LGBT community for more than four decades and has served in various community organizations.
A&E REVIEW
‘ONE IN TWO’ AT ISLAND CITY STAGE J.W. Arnold
Island City Stage’s production of “One in Two” stars (left to right) Randall Swinton, Kevane La’Marr Colemen and Nathaniel J. Ryan as three Black men confronting an HIV diagnosis. Credit: Matthew Tippins.
F
lip through the channels or scroll your social media feeds and you might rightfully think that monkeypox is the greatest health threat to society, even though COVID-19 diagnoses are surging again thanks to wily new variants. While monkeypox is being compared to the early outbreak of AIDS in the early 1980s – men who have sex with men seem particularly disposed to catching this bug, too – HIV/AIDS is largely dismissed, thanks to two decades of antiretroviral drugs and more recent PrEP preventative therapy. Donja R. Love’s “One in Two,” receiving its Florida premiere at Island City Stage through Sept. 4, offers a potent reminder that while gay men may be more worried about contracting monkeypox today, HIV/AIDS infection still remains a looming threat, especially among gay men of color. As the title of the play states, one in two gay Black men are statistically likely to contract HIV. Love’s drama opens in a stark clinic waiting room, as three Black men pull numbers for their diagnoses. Foreshadowing the interactive nature of the action to come, the audience at the intimate Wilton Manors theater was also asked to pull numbers as they took their seats. After short introductions, the audience then had the duty to determine which of the three men would receive the dreaded news and send the story barreling forward. In Sunday’s matinee, local actor Randall Swinton “won” the contest and portrayed #1/Danté. Kevane La’Marr Coleman, a veteran of San Diego-based Diversonary Theatre’s 2021 production, was #2 while Nathaniel J. Ryan became #3. What followed are a series of vignettes that were probably very much familiar to the audience at Island City – Wilton Manors boasts one of the highest concentrations of gay residents in the country and, presumably, an
equally substantial proportion of men living with HIV. And South Florida has, at times, led the nation in new infection rates. Love, with the help of director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg and the charismatic cast, sent the three men and their compatriots in the audience on a whirlwind trip through childhood sexual exploration, coming out, hookups, failed relationships and most of the seven stages of grief. While the play purports to explore the realities lived by gay Black men, the themes and experiences are universal, regardless of race or culture. Swinton brought an appealing naivete to #1/Danté, a young man who seeks love and understanding, but now must cope with his lifechanging circumstance. Coleman sprung to life as a number of campy characters, while Ryan was the handsome leading man who otherwise elevated secondary, but necessary roles in the fast-paced story. Yes, the story is heavy and delivered an anticipated lesson at the conclusion, but Love also explored unexpected moments of joy and human connection, especially thanks to Swinton and Coleman’s acting prowess. The production is further aided by the set design by Ardean Landhuis, a series of white lacquered boxes and benches that quickly transformed into beds and bars without losing the ethereal feeling. Overhead, a monitor ticked relentlessly as new cases of HIV are tallied for all to see. While “One in Two” is certainly a powerful tale that resonates in Wilton Manors, this is a play that deserves productions in other communities – communities that are less gay, less white, less affected by HIV/AIDS – where its message of resilience can have an even bigger impact, especially with the young men of color who could be destined to become statistics.
Donja R. Love’s “One in Two” can be seen through Sept. 4 at Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Hwy. in Wilton Manors. Tickets are $35 at IslandCityStage.org.
8 .11. 20 22 •
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