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CELEBRATING AN ANTI-LGBT CHURCH IS AN OUTRAGE
I am outraged that the Fort Lauderdale City Commission is honoring this church on its 60th anniversary. The pain that this religious institution has inflicted on LGBT youth, adults, and loving allies over the years is incalculable. Furthermore, today the D. James Kennedy Ministries, located at 5555 N. Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale, has never been more focused and determined in its campaign to malign and degrade the LGBT community. Therefore, I believe the following addendum to the proclamation is appropriate: And whereas Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, under the guidance and inspiration of Dr. D. James Kennedy, spent years demeaning the LGBT community with ugly lies, cruelty, and the torture of LGBT youth with so-called conversion or reparative therapy, and having never apologized or atoned for promoting the hatred of gay and trans people leading to all sorts of negative, violent and undoubtedly deadly consequences, do hereby proclaim March 16, 2021, as a slap in the face to the entire LGBT community of Fort Lauderdale, South Florida, and the nation.
Marc Paige Fort Lauderdale, FL
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! Submit your own letter to Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com
REMEMBERING MICHAEL CALLEN
David-Elijah Nahmod
Michael Callen (1955-1993) is not as well-remembered today as he deserves to be. But during the peak years of the AIDS crisis, Callen was known the world over not only for his AIDS activism, but also for his music.
Callen was a gifted singer/songwriter “And at some point, I saw a reference to his who made a name for himself both as a solo music. So, I turned to my favorite scholarly artist and as a member of the gay a cappella database, YouTube, and found a number of singing group The Flirtations. But it was his clips of interviews, live performances, etc.” AIDS advocacy for which Callen made his Jones noticed that many of the Callen greatest impact. videos had been posted by a user named
Callen loved being gay, and he loved sex, BettyByte, who turned out to be Richard celebrating both unashamedly. In 1983, Dworkin, Callen’s surviving partner. Jones soon after his own AIDS diagnosis, Callen contacted Dworkin, and a friendship ensued. published “How to Have Jones visited Dworkin in Sex in an Epidemic: One New York and was treated Approach,” which he wrote “MICHAEL LOVED to a huge private archive of in collaboration with his friend Richard Berkowitz and SEX, AND EVEN Callen material. Dworkin also pointed Jones toward Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, his physician. Callen was one of the earliest proponents of IN THE MIDST OF THE EMERGING the Michael Callen Papers at the New York LGBT Community Center safe sex. Ironically, some in the community attacked him for his stand. EPIDEMIC, FELT THAT WE NEEDED TO FIND National History Archive, and helped Jones contact friends, colleagues, The legacy of Callen is now remembered in “Love Don’t Need a Reason: The Life & WAYS TO HAVE SAFE, LIFE AFFIRMING and family members of Callen’s. Jones knew he had to tell Callen’s story. Music of Michael Callen,” a new full-length biography GAY SEX.” The author recounts Callen’s difficult by gay historian Matthew J. - Matthew J. Jones midwestern childhood, Jones. The book is a riveting where it was obvious early account of Callen’s 38-year on that he was different. sojourn on Earth and leaves little out. Callen had a tempestuous relationship
“Telling LGBTQ stories, especially untold with his parents, though there’s no denying or overlooked stories, motivates everything that they all loved each other. Jones follows I do,” Jones said. “As someone who grew up Callen on his move to New York City, where in the shadow of the AIDS epidemic, whose Callen embraced the promiscuous gay life notions of what it means to be a gay man are of the period while pursuing a career as fundamentally shaped by the epidemic, I’ve a singer. Diagnosed with HIV early in the also been very interested in that history too.” epidemic, Callen became a fierce advocate
Jones recalled that when he was a graduate of safe sex. student in Critical and Comparative Studies “Michael loved sex, and even in the at the University of Virginia, he noticed that midst of the emerging epidemic, felt that few music scholars had addressed the AIDS we needed to find ways to have safe, life epidemic. He wondered why and began affirming gay sex,” Jones said. “Though he poking around online. He found, to his also suggested that gay men temper their delight, thousands of songs in a variety of trips to the baths or cruising until more genres that addressed AIDS. information was known about AIDS.”
“In footnotes and asides, I kept bumping This stand was not well received by some into this name: Michael Callen,” Jones said. in the gay male community, a community
Left: “Love Don’t Need A Reason: The Life & Music of Michael Callen” by Matthew J. Jones. Right: Michael Callen. Public domain.
which, at the time, viewed sex as a revolutionary act. Jones does not shy away from describing the attacks that Callen endured from within the community.
“This will get me in trouble,” Jones said. “But I really do see that a lot of leftist politics get caught up in these cannibalistic, intracommunity fights. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t argue among ourselves. We have to. We must. It’s part of the process of coalition building, and it’s how marginalized voices within our various subgroups and communities make their concerns known.”
Jones continued: “However, there are also examples of how that kind of infighting can stall the engines of progressive movements. So, it’s a very careful balancing act, and it’s also a reminder that none of our communities is a monolith. There’s diversity, dissent, and divergence alongside the things that bind us together. In a sense, I guess that’s also the heart of a pluralistic, democratic society.”
But Jones acknowledges that at times the infighting can go too far. He recalls the problems Callen had with Gay Men’s Health Crisis, an AIDS service organization founded in 1982. Early leadership of GMHC went out of their way to squash Callen’s efforts to educate gay men about AIDS.
The book also goes into detail regarding Callen’s musical career. There’s a lengthy section which describes the struggles Callen went through in order to complete “Legacy,” his second and final solo album. Callen was quite ill when he recorded the tracks for “Legacy,” but he was determined to see the project through and soldiered on. Sadly, he did not live to see the release of “Legacy,” which was issued posthumously. The book also documents Callen’s decade-long love affair with Dworkin, who is now the executor of the Michael Callen Estate.
Though a bit on the long side, “Love Don’t Need a Reason: The Life and Music of Michael Callen” nonetheless serves as a remembrance not only of an extraordinary activist, but of a time in gay male history that must never be forgotten. So many young LGBT people of today have no idea about what the community went through during the 1980s, when people fought back even as they lay dying. Jones takes readers back to that era and brings it to life. He does so while imbuing an enormous amount of respect not only for Callen, but for all those who loved him.
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Join us for our Annual 2nd Night Seder– Sunday, March 28 at 6pm No charge for members, Guest donation is $36 Pick up your boxed Passover dinner and join in our zoom Seder! What a story we have to tell!!
Shabbat service Friday 8pm on our YouTube channel
Congregation Etz Chaim
2038 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL 33305, on the Pride Center campus www.EtzChaimFlorida.org / RSVP HERE: info@etzchaimflorida.org
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.
Holy Angels National Catholic Church
SOUTHFLORIDAGAYNEWS.COM SPIRITUALITY Until further notice: Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, our worship services are streamed on Facebook Live every Sunday at 10 AM, rather than held at our church property. https://www.facebook.com/ ChurchofOurSaviorMCC. Visit our web site for more details & updates. A home for your spirit. 1436 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors. 33305 Facebook.com/HolyAngelsFL www.HolyAngelsFL.org 954-633-2987 Mass Schedule: Sabado 6:00 PM misa en español • Sunday Mass at 11 AM in English • All are welcome! PrEP At Midway Specialty Care Center we are now offering SAME DAY PrEP now offering SAME DAY PrEP At Midway Specialty Care Center we are now offering SAME DAY PrEP able to start almost everyone on same day PrEP, those with and without insurance. At Midway Specialty Care Center we are able to start almost everyone on same day PrEP, those with and without insurance. able to start almost everyone on same day PrEP, those with and without insurance. now offering SAME DAY PrEP At Midway Specialty Care Center we are able to start almost everyone on same day PrEP, those with and without insurance. now offering SAME DAY PrEP now offering SAME DAY PrEP 2608 NE 16th Ave. | Wilton Manors, FL 33334 2608 NE 16th Ave. | Wilton Manors, FL 33334
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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.
HOLY ANGELS CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 2917 NE 6th Avenue Wilton Manors
954-633-2987 - HolyAngelsFL.net
Sunday Mass at 11AM , PA-C 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
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Full Charge Bookkeeping Services
UNIQUE LGBT GIFTS FROM FELTED FLYING FOX
Kendall Little
If you’re searching for a unique gift for someone, try a custom or premade needle felted sculpture from Felted Flying Fox.
Etsy categorized the shop as a top shop for gifts: “Buyers bought gifts from this shop and gave them five-star reviews!”
Lup Sachiko Nakamura, 24, began their small business after realizing that they made too many pieces to keep.
“I love making art but I don’t have the space or want to keep it all so I threw my art on Etsy!” they said.
Nakamura sells needle felted wool sculptures, stickers, necklaces, keychains, and LGBT wool bottle charms.
Their needle felted sculptures range from small colorful birds to Pokémon characters to LGBT-themed animals.
Nakamura’s LGBT wool bottle charms are one of their most popular products. The small glass bottle charms are filled with wool that corresponds with the colors of a certain pride flag.
“I bought five of these on Black Friday, and I’m in love with them!!! The colors of the felt are so vibrant,” one customer’s Etsy review said.
They work with customers to create custom commissions as well.
“Most of my commissions are for pride animals!” Nakamura said.
Nakamura is asexual and genderless, so creating LGBT-inspired products is important to them.
“I would like to do something special again for pride month! Last year I felted a different animal every day with different pride flag colors,” they said. “I’m not sure just yet what I’ll do this year, but I hope it’s just as enjoyable for everyone as last year.”
Nakamura’s RedBubble shop offers several types of pride stickers such as demisexual, bisexual, and pansexual.
They also make it a priority to educate about the LGBT community and donate to charities.
“I also enjoy using my business to educate about lesser-known LGBTQ+ identities and to donate to causes I believe in,” Nakamura said.
While Nakamura loves creating art, they said that the most rewarding part of the business is seeing customer reactions to their products.
“It brings me such joy to know that something I made brought a little happiness to someone’s life,” they said.
Lup Sachiko Nakamura. Photo via Facebook.
You can support this LGBT-owned small business by visiting the Felted Flying Fox’s Etsy shop, RedBubble, or Instagram @feltedflyingfox.
