SFGN 07/15/21 V12iss28 by South Florida Gay News

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JULY 15, 2021 VOL. 12 // ISSUE 28

AIROTIC SEDUCTIVE SHOW DOMINATES AT HUNTERS NIGHTCLUB Happy Hiney Doc Returns

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LOCAL NAME GLOBAL COVERAGE

JULY 15, 2021 VOL. 12 // ISSUE 28

AIROTIC SEDUCTIVE SHOW DOMINATES AT HUNTERS NIGHTCLUB Happy Hiney Doc Returns

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Pajaro Pride Takes Flight

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The Colors of Pride

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NEWS HIGHLIGHT

SouthFloridaGayNews.com

CUBAN POLICE VIOLENTLY ARREST BLADE MEDIA PARTNER’S EDITOR

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• 7.15. 2021

Publisher • Norm Kent Norm.Kent@sfgn.com

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Washington Blade

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Editorial

Michael K. Lavers uban police on Sunday violently arrested the editor of the Washington Blade’s media partner on the island. Tremenda Nota Director Maykel González Vivero’s arrest in Havana coincided with protests against mounting food shortages, the government’s response to the pandemic and a worsening economic crisis that were taking place across the country. Media reports indicate police targeted other journalists who were covering the protests. “It was violent, everything was over,” said González in a text message he was able to secretly send to a colleague from the police station where he was being held. “I was not resisting when they took me down and they consciously threw my glasses to fuck with me.” A tweet that appeared on González’s Twitter page shortly after midnight on Monday confirmed he had been arrested. “I was detained at the violent end of today’s protest in Havana,” reads the tweet. A thread that appeared on González’s Twitter account provided additional details of his arrest. “I had already left the ‘battlefield’ when a police officer wearing civilian clothes shouted to me that I had been throwing rocks,” reads the thread. “I had never thrown a rock.” “Uniformed officials handcuffed me,” the tweet reads. “They turned me over to some riot police after a while.” González said the riot police “bent him over and grabbed him hard by his hair.” “They did it to punish me. There was no other reason. I never resisted,” he said in the thread. “My glasses fell off and they constantly

@SFGN

July 15, 2021 • Volume 12 • Issue 28

Senior Feature Columnists

Brian McNaught • Jesse Monteagudo

Special to SFGN Steve Rothaus

Maykel González Vivero, pictured here in 2019. Photo credit: Washington Blade photo by Michael Key.

kicked them,” added González. “I am now writing by sticking close to the screen.” A source in Cuba told the Blade on Monday that González remains in police custody. CUBAN GOVERNMENT HAS PREVIOUSLY TARGETED GONZÁLEZ Tremenda Nota throughout Sunday posted videos of the protests in Havana to its social media pages, even though the government at times cut access to the internet. One video that Tremenda Nota posted to its Twitter page shows what it describes as “special troops” in Havana’s 10 de Octubre neighborhood moving towards Old Havana. Tremenda Nota also reported artists and intellectuals who gathered in front of the headquarters of Cuban Institute for Radio and Television, the government agency that governs state-run media, in Havana’s

Vedado neighborhood “were repressed” for “demanding a space and to tell the truth about the country.” Cuban police have previously detained González, most recently in November 2020. The Interior Ministry in late 2019 banned him from leaving Cuba. The U.S. on September 18, 2019, granted asylum to Yariel Valdés González, a Blade contributor who worked for Tremenda Nota and other independent Cuban media outlets, because of the persecution he suffered in his homeland. The Cuban government on May 8, 2019, detained this reporter for several hours at Havana’s José Martí International Airport after he tried to enter Cuba to continue his coverage of the island’s LGBT rights movement. The Cuban government eventually expelled him from the country and he flew back to Miami.

Washington Blade courtesy of the National LGBTQ Media Association.

Correspondents

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NLGJA Journalist of the Year SOUTH FLORIDA GAY NEWS.COM, INC. — — FOUNDED, DECEMBER, 2009 BY PIER GUIDUGLI AND NORM KENT South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation or gender identity of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations in SFGN. SFGN contracts with independent entities for stock images. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs.

7.15. 20 21 •

LGBTQIA BITES

BY KENNEDY MCKINNEY

IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE G Demisexual

MICHAELA KENNEDY-CUOMO COMES OUT AS DEMISEXUAL During Pride Month Michaela KennedyCuomo, daughter of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, came out as queer. “When I was in elementary school, I feared that I was lesbian. When I was in middle school, I came out to my family and close friends as bisexual. When I was in high school, I discovered pansexuality and thought, ‘That’s the flag for me,’” she said during an Instagram live interview with Donato Tramuto. Now, she has gone into more detail and explained that she is demisexual. Demisexuals can be gay, straight, bisexual, or pansexual and can be of any gender. However, the identifying element for Kennedy-Cuomo was that demisexuality requires an emotional bond for sexual attraction.

• 7.15. 2021

Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo. Photo via Instagram.

“I’ve recently learned more about demisexuality and have believed that that identity resonates with me most.”

... HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING IN THE LGBTQIA COMMUNITY

Queer

DISNEY CHANGES FIREWORKS GREETING TO PROMOTE INCLUSIVITY

Disney theme parks are set to bring back their firework shows for the first time since the start of the pandemic with a change in the traditional opening statement. Traditionally, the statement before the firework display was “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dreamers of all ages.” But now it begins with “Good evening, dreamers of all ages.” The seemingly small change has sparked mixed reviews on social media. Some Disney Park goers are happy to see the change in wording while others prefer the original statement. This change reflects recent Disney policy updates that are set to promote inclusiveness. A spokesperson for Disneyland Tokyo told Deadline that these changes are to make

Photo via PxHere.

people of all sexual and gender identities “feel comfortable in the park.”

LGBTQIA BITES

Gender-Neutral

EMMA CORRIN SHARES UPDATED PRONOUNS

Emma Corrin, a Golden Globe winning actress for their portrayal of Princess Diana in Netflix series “The Crown,” opened up about their gender identity. After changing their Instagram bio to “she/they,” Corrin posted a picture in a binder. Binders are compression garments worn by trans and non-binary people to help ease feelings of body dysphoria. “Some time before I bought my first binder … very intimate, very new, very cool,” Corrin posted with an intimate picture. People online have commended Corrin for sharing their gender identity and journey. One fan commented, “Thank you for stating which binder you use. My child recently came out to me and told me they wanted one. I’d no clue where to look or who to ask.” Corrin shared their experience in hopes of destigmatizing the gender identity journey.

Emma Corrin. Photo via Instagram.

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7.15. 20 21 •

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HAPPY HINEY DOC RETURNS TO FORT LAUDERDALE Jason Parsley Dr. Elie Schochet. Courtesy photo.

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r. Elie Schochet, best known for his Happy Hiney series at the Pride Center, has moved his practice back to Fort Lauderdale.

Schochet was forced to leave the area when he left Holy Cross hospital and decided to open a private practice. “So, I really liked the hospital. I think it’s a wonderful hospital for the community, but the way they were running my office, they just weren’t letting me sort of build the kind of center I wanted to build,” he said. “So I quit.” He opened up an office in Aventura until he was able to move his new practice back to the Fort Lauderdale area. “When I opened there I knew the plan was always to get back here right away,” he said. Most of his surgeries will now take place at Holy Cross. Schochet is thrilled to be back in the heart of the gay community where he’s able to start seeing his old clients again. Now

that it’s his own practice he’s also able to explore research opportunities. “You know, we’re sitting on one of the largest over 40 gay male populations in the country, if not the world per capita,” he said. “And we have an opportunity to study patients over a long time.” Schochet said he started doing anal cancer prevention in 2009 and has worked with thousands of patients. “We probably have one of the largest experiences of the entire medical literature,” he noted. “So that’s something I was not able to do two years ago, and something which I really hope to do now — get a really good research agenda, off the ground. I was never really able to focus on that.” He also hopes to relaunch the Happy Hiney series with the Pride Center.

SCHOCHET IS THRILLED TO BE BACK IN THE HEART OF THE GAY COMMUNITY WHERE HE’S ABLE TO START SEEING HIS OLD CLIENTS AGAIN.

Dr. Elie Schochet new practice is located at 1930 Northeast 47th Street, Suite 104 in Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-573-1499 or visit www.sflcolorectal.com for more information.

• 7.15. 2021

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J.R.’s SNAPSHOTS

OF THE

From your life... into our pages! SFGN takes a weekly look at a community that has stood together through countless trials and victories in the past year alone.

Former Vice Mayor of Wilton Mamors Tom Green with partner of 43 years Kurt Wilhelm.

John Lilli of Kraeer-Fairchild Funeral Home with Michael Tabers from Neptune Memorial Reef and Wayne Jarvis from Dignity Memorial.

• 7.15. 2021

WEEK Photos by J.R. Davis

SunServe’s Director of Youth Services Sobourney Barnes with Tiffany Arieagus, director of case management and also a former Miss Florida F.I.

Executive Director at Sunserve Gary Hensley with his partner of 37 years Bob Bernhardt.

NEWS NATIONAL

SAN FRAN GAY MEN’S CHORUS SONG SPARKS HARASSMENT, DEATH THREATS

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song and video created by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and posted to social media July 1 led to a barrage of harassment including death threats against the group and its members. It prompted investigations by law enforcement and the temporary closure of its administrative offices. The song, “A Message from the Gay Community,” was designed as satire, tonguein-cheek and irreverent, the group said. However, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of InfoWars, and others, purposefully took the lyrics out of context and said the song is “pedophilic.” An InfoWars online article posted July 7 brought “death threats, vile attacks, false accusations, doxing and other forms of harassment,” the SFGMC said in a statement. The group’s executive director, Chris Verdugo, told the Bay Area Reporter July 8 about one particular message he received. “The threat that stuck in my head was, ‘We’re gonna put lead in your head.’ That was quite frightening,” Verdugo said. It all caused the organization to place the video in a “private mode,” but it was eventually brought back for the public to access. “Upon reflection, we have made it live again for all to see the satirical and obviously tongue-in-cheek humor,” the group said in a statement. “We want everyone to judge for themselves. We will not allow ourselves, even in the face of death threats, to retreat or bow to attempts to twist our words, meaning, selfdeprecation and humor.” The song’s lyrics include the line: “We’re coming for your children,” which Verdugo said is meant to evoke long-standing fears that gay men will “convert” children to homosexuality, but for the purpose of exposing those fears. He explained that the actual conversion meant in the song is one of tolerance and fairness. “The song is tongue-in-cheek, satirical, and I’d say nuanced except it’s not even that,” Verdugo told the Bay Area Reporter. “Since Anita Bryant, there have been people who think there is a gay agenda; that pedophiles will convert children to become homosexuals. That’s not true, but we do have a gay agenda

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“A Message From the Gay Community.” Image via YouTube.

— teaching children to be tolerant and fair.” Bryant is the anti-gay activist who ran the “Save Our Children” campaign in the 1970s in an effort to overturn equal protection laws across the country. In 1977, she successfully led the repeal of an anti-discrimination ordinance in then-Dade County. She effectively pushed the idea that since homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce, they are interested in recruiting children as part of a gay agenda. GLAAD’s research shows that the LGBT community faces more online hate and harassment than any minority group. Some it is fueled by false equivalencies between homosexuality and pedophilia, as it reports in one of its studies. GLAAD’s president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, said the group’s “Social Media Safety Index” shows that hate and harassment often goes unchecked on social media and that platforms don’t act fast enough to address hateful and violent content, such as what has been directed toward the SFGMC. “The ugly anti-LGBTQ rhetoric just reinforces the need for LGBTQ visibility, community, and advocacy, all of which the SFGMC has exemplified in its 40-plus year history,” Ellis said in a statement.

7.15. 20 21 •

NEWS NATIONAL

BY COREY ROSE

THE COUNTRY ACROSS

TENNESSEE

JUDGE BLOCKS ANTI-TRANS RESTROOM SIGN BILL A federal judge has granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against HB1182, a Tennessee law that would require businesses to post warning signs saying they allow members “of either biological sex” to use restroom facilities. Business owners Kye Sayers and Bob Bernstein filed the lawsuit on the grounds that being forced to post the signs constitute a First Amendment violation that would cause immediate, irreparable harm to their businesses by offending customers and driving away transgender employees and community members. Judge Aleta Trauger wrote, “The plaintiffs have presented evidence that they have strived to be welcoming spaces for communities that include transgender individuals and that the signage required by the Act would disrupt the welcoming

Sanctuary Café and Performing Arts, owned by Kye Sayers. Photo via Facebook.

environments that they wish to provide. That harm would be real, and it is not a harm that could simply be remedied by some award at the end of litigation.” The law was slated to go into effect July 1, but enforcement is blocked while the lawsuit launched by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee continues.

MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON PRIDE DISSOLVES ORGANIZATION Weeks after the president of the organization expressed intentions to step down, the leadership behind Boston Pride, one of the nation’s oldest pride organizations, decided to cancel its upcoming events and close its doors for good. The unexpected dissolution comes after calls for the organization to be more inclusive. In a statement posted to the organization’s website, the board of directors wrote, “We have heard the concerns of the QTBIPOC community and others. We care too much to stand in the way. Therefore, Boston Pride is dissolving.” Boston Dyke March wrote in its own statement, “Instead of working with community leaders to change leadership without disruption to the organization, they have chosen to close up shop,

• 7.15.2021

Boston Pride. Photo via Facebook.

taking, as they go, resources given to Pride by the community.” Trans Resistance MA also released a statement, letting the community know they “remain committed to communitydriven action that centers and uplifts TQBIPOC leadership and our TQBIPOC community.” Both organizations are partnering with other LGBT organizations like Boston Black Pride and the Transgender Emergency Fund to fill the programming gaps left by Boston Pride.

COVERING LGBT NEWS SWEEPING THE NATION

OHIO

RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION PROVISION TUCKED INSIDE STATE BUDGET Among the last-minute amendments to Ohio’s two-year budget bill was a provision that allows medical providers, from doctors to insurers, “the freedom to decline to perform, participate in, or pay for any health care service which violates the practitioner’s, institution’s, or payer’s conscience as informed by the moral, ethical, or religious beliefs.” Republican Sen. Terry Johnson added the language in June, and Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law last week. DeWine told Fox 9 News, “If there’s other things that maybe a doctor has a problem with, it’s worked out. Somebody else does those things. This is not a problem. This has not been a problem in the state of Ohio, and I do not expect it to be a problem.” Advocates have raised concerns about

Photo via Adobe.

the broad language in the bill opening the door for LGBT discrimination. Equality Ohio public policy strategist Dominic Detwiler told the Columbus Dispatch, “They know that they couldn’t pass this on its merits as a standalone bill, because literally no one is asking for this to be passed.”

MISSOURI GAY MAN MURDERED; FAMILY ALLEGES HATE CRIME The family of a man who was fatally shot near the Kansas City police headquarters held a press conference last week to announce that they feared he was the victim of an anti-gay hate crime. Shauntice Wallace, sister of 28-yearold De’Angelo Wallace, told FOX 4 News, “I’ve been on phone calls several times where he’s been threatened here in Kansas City. He’s been told that if they see him downtown, he’ll be killed.” Kansas City Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina told the Kansas City Star, “There is absolutely no indication whatsoever this was related to a hate crime.” One suspect was taken into custody, but was released shortly after. LGBTQ Commission Vice Chair Justice Horn

De’Angelo Wallace. Photo via Facebook.

told FOX 4 News, “Them making this gut reaction and saying this case is said and done — if the family here is saying it’s a hate crime, if the action leading up to it is a hate crime, there just needs to be a better set of eyes.” Charges have not been announced relating to Wallace’s death.

NEWS INTERNATIONAL

BY EVERITT ROSEN

THE WORLD AROUND

ASIA

LGBT RIGHTS GROUPS BLOCKED ON WECHAT APP The biggest social media app in China, WeChat, has banned accounts belonging to prominent university LGBT rights groups in China, raising worries of targeted censorship and calls for an online protest. According to Channel News Asia, or violations of unspecified social media regulations, the WeChat pages of groups such as Huazhong University of Science and Technology Gay Pride and Peking University’s Colors World had their past posts scrubbed and replaced with a notice stating, “All content has been blocked and the use of the account has been stopped.” Content deemed politically sensitive or improper is regularly censored on Chinese social media platforms, with censors previously targeting LGBT-

Photo credit: Marco Verch, via Flickr.

related content on video streaming apps and international films. Several WeChat users who were not impacted by the ban distributed lists of deleted accounts and called for a digital protest against the deletions on Wednesday, urging readers to change their profile names to “Unnamed Account” in solidarity with the organizations.

AFRICA

EUROPE

GEORGIANS PROTEST OVER DEATH OF JOURNALIST DURING ATTACK ON ACTIVISTS A cameraman was found dead, after several journalists were assaulted during attacks on LGBT activists in Tbilisi. Hundreds of people gathered in the streets of Georgia’s capital on Sunday to demand that those guilty be punished. According to Reuters, Alexander Lashkarava, a cameraman who was beaten up in the event, was found dead at his house by his mother on Sunday. The cause of death was not disclosed. Human rights advocates in Georgia are horrified over Lashkarava’s killing, and have accused authorities of emboldening hate groups and neglecting to protect journalists and LGBT sympathizers. “What happened is a tragedy and I send my condolences to the entire media community and to all of Georgia,” said Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili

Alexander (Lekso) Lashkarava. Photo via Twitter.

in a tweet. “It must be investigated and those responsible must be punished.”

OCEANIA

SOUTH AFRICAN RIGHTS GROUPS MOBILIZE AGAINST ANTI-LGBT CAMPAIGNS South African queer civil society organizations are urging the government to take significant and immediate action in response to the recent spate of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes and deaths in the nation. According to OpenDemocracy, these organizations stated in a joint statement that the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, which is one of numerous governments acts necessary for appropriate protection and access to rights for LGBT populations, must be finalized and enacted as soon as possible. The measure was written in 2016, and Cabinet approved it in 2018, but it has yet to become law. These planned legislative reforms, which would increase safeguards and equal rights for LGBT persons,

EXPLORING LGBT NEWS EVENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE

Photo via Pixabay.

have become rallying grounds for the country’s radical right, who have been mobilizing to stop this legislation and other policy developments that challenge heteropatriarchal systems of privilege, power, and oppression.

FIRST TRANS ATHLETE TO COMPETE AT THE OLYMPICS Laurel Hubbard is set to be the first openly transgender athlete ever to compete at the Olympics, but her inclusion has sparked a heated discussion about gender, sexism, and sport. According to CNN International, to this New Zealand weightlifter’s supporters, Hubbard’s selection is a long-awaited milestone that represents the Olympic spirit of inclusiveness and might encourage other transgender athletes who are underrepresented in sport at all levels. Hubbard’s critics, notably Piers Morgan, a conservative British shock jock, believe that being a transgender woman, or a woman who was designated male at birth, provides her an unfair physical edge. Hubbard’s inclusion was even dubbed “a bad joke” by one of her

Photo via Pixabay.

rivals, who said it was unfair to cisgender women, whose gender identity matched their sex given at birth. Hubbard has been silent about the uproar, but stated that she’s been “humbled by the love and support” she’s received from her fellow citizens in a brief statement.

7.15. 20 21 •

NEWS LOCAL

FLORIST CASE WON’T BLOOM IN ARID SUPREME COURT Lisa Keen

Keen News Service

n the last day of the 2020-21 session, the U.S. Supreme issued relief and worry for the LGBT community.

On the relief side, the court on July 1 indicated it would not hear the appeal of a florist who wants to deny service to a samesex couple getting married. The case, Arlene’s Flowers v. Washington, purported to be the “ideal vehicle” for resolving the original question skirted in Masterpiece v. Colorado. In Masterpiece, in 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 in favor of a baker who refused to sell wedding cakes for a same-sex wedding because, he said, to do so violated his religious beliefs. But the court did not say the baker had a First Amendment free exercise right to violate Colorado’s law against sexual orientation discrimination. By refusing to hear Arlene’s Flowers, the Supreme Court is avoiding that issue for now and leaving intact a decision of the Washington State Supreme Court, which ruled against the florist twice—once before and once after the Masterpiece decision.

“NO ONE SHOULD WALK INTO A STORE AND HAVE TO WONDER WHETHER THEY WILL BE TURNED AWAY BECAUSE OF WHO THEY ARE.” - Ria Tabacco Mar ACLU ATTORNEY

• 7.15.2021

Ria Tabacco Mar, an ACLU attorney who represented the gay couple in the Arlene’s Flower case,applauded the court’s denial of review. “No one should walk into a store and have to wonder whether they will be turned away because of who they are,” said Mar. “Preventing that kind of humiliation and hurt is exactly why we have nondiscrimination laws. Yet 60 percent of states still don’t have express protections for LGBTQ people like the kind in Washington State. Our work isn’t over yet.” On the down-side, the Supreme Court Friday agreed to hear a case where, once again, religious entities are trying to find work-a-rounds to laws and policies separating church and state. The court granted review to Carson v. Makin, which is not an LGBT-related case but is yet another case in which religious entities are seeking special dispensation under ordinary law. It’s also a case that echoes the arguments religious entities have been making to avoid complying with nondiscrimination laws: that the religious person isn’t discriminating against a gay person, but discriminating against a person because his or her partner is of the same-sex. In Carson, the parents of five children in Maine are fighting a state policy of providing public funding for parents to send their children to private schools that are willing to provide “nonsectarian education.” Maine does not provide funding for parents to send their children to schools providing religious education. The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Maine could withhold funding to sectarian schools because the exclusion was not based on any school’s religious affiliation but on “on what the school teaches through its curriculum and related activities,

The Supreme Court. Photo via Adobe.

and how the material is presented.” The Supreme Court did not indicate Friday whether it will review an appeal from a Catholic-run California hospital that refused to perform a hysterectomy for a female-tomale transgender patient. The case, Dignity Health v. Minton, was on the court’s list of cases to review in its private conference July 1. But the court did refuse to review a lower case decision, Hoggard v. Rhodes, brought by the anti-LGBT Alliance Defending Freedom. In the case, a student at the Arkansas State University said her First Amendment rights were violated when the school refused to

let her ignore university rules regarding the setting up of a table to form a chapter of a group on campus. The student lost in the lower courts on procedural grounds. Friday’s orders list also disposed of a case similar to Americans for Prosperity v. California, that was decided Thursday. The conservative Institute for Free Speech appealed its case against California to stop disclosure of donors. The Supreme Court order’s list July 2 granted the appeal and sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit for consideration in light of the high court’s ruling in Americans for Prosperity.

NEWS LOCAL

SAFE SCHOOLS SOUTH FLORIDA CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY Everitt Rosen

afe Schools South Florida is celebrating its 30th year of service to the safety, support and education of LGBT students and their educators and staff in South Florida schools. Established in the fall of 1991 by two Miami-Dade County Public School teachers and activists, Rolly Funk and Robert Loupo, offers district-wide training for teachers, counselors, administrators, and staff to help create safer classrooms and schools for LGBT students. Safe School’s mission is to help these students grow, thrive, and succeed in their academic careers, personal lives and career endeavors. “When we first started 30 years ago, information on LGBTQ issues was not readily available, it wasn’t something that you could just google and find a wealth of information,” said the Executive Director of Safe Schools South Florida Scott Galvin. “During COVID, Safe Schools South Florida volunteers marching at a we temporarily rebooted the organization past Pride march. Photo via Facebook. because all the programs we were doing before were in school classrooms, like Galvin said. “We have done some silly, some serious, to try to get kids to tune in and enjoy training, faculty training, etc.” With schools not meeting and the dangers interacting with other kids.” Considering that COVID has blocked most of the pandemic, it was not the time to host any special events or field trips, such as their of Safe School’s year, they are trying to come diversity day, in which students can meet up with how to celebrate their anniversary. “We are planning a celebration, but we other LGBT students from other schools, and are still working on that,” leadership training programs, Morales said. “We’re trying to in which gay-straight alliance figure out, in what ways can officers are trained on how to we have a big party for the have a successful GSA. 30th anniversary.” “We have trained more Morales is also an English than 20,000 teachers and teacher at Felix Varela Senior counselors, and about High School, where she has three million students,” the created a haven for all her Vice-Chair of Safe Schools LGBT students. Despite all Elizabeth Morales. “I feel the positivity and help she like even in high school, I’ve has offered her students, opened up the minds of a she has still experienced lot of kids, to stop being so setbacks from not only other close-minded and start being teachers but other students. more accepting.” Every year Safe Schools In response to COVID, South Florida gives out they started being more - Elizabeth Morales scholarships to a student. active on social media and VICE-CHAIR OF SAFE SCHOOLS This year they are awarding launched their own YouTube a student $1,000 and are channel. They also started to do weekly TV shows and have had several planning a celebration for them. “We’re coming out of COVID in a good special guests on the show, including Perez spot, and hopefully the next 30 years are all Hilton, who is local to the organization. “We’ve really had to adapt our messaging,” going to be great ones too,” Galvin said.

“WE HAVE TRAINED MORE THAN 20,000 TEACHERS AND COUNSELORS, AND ABOUT THREE MILLION STUDENTS.”

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PA L M B E A C H BELOVED LGBT BAR PENNY’S AT THE DUKE IS CLOSING Kendall Little EIGHT YEARS AFTER OPENING, LGBT BAR PENNY’S ON THE DUKE IS CLOSING. “With an opportunity we couldn’t pass up, we are closing the bar by the end of this month,” the bar said in a statement shared on Facebook. Customers flooded the bar’s Facebook comments to express their sadness, but also their gratitude for the memories made at the bar. “This sucks but everything happens for a reason they say. Thank you for all the wonderful memories and all that you did to bring that bar together for the community,” one comment read. Penny’s is one of the few LGBT bars in Palm Beach County. Customers shared how special the bar was to them and how happy they are for the owners’ new opportunities elsewhere. “Thanks for all the times we had there. Have enjoyed meeting everyone I have met over the years and enjoying the time there. Good luck

Photo via Facebook.

to the next chapter and can’t wait to see what it will be,” another comment read under the bar’s closing announcement. Penny’s often offered events such as bingo nights, fundraisers, pool tournaments, and karaoke. According to WPTV, “July 17 will be the last hurrah for Penny’s at the Duke.” Though Penny’s is closing, the owners assured customers that the friendships and connections made would not diminish. “We have enjoyed making memories these last eight years and wouldn’t have wanted to do so with anyone but all of you. The friendships and good times we have created with everyone won’t disappear and we are looking to enjoy the next chapter in our lives,” they said.

news

PAJARO PRIDE TAKES FLIGHT John Hayden

Rolando Chang Barrero with his Pajaro during his meeting with Jonathan Chait Auerbach, the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami. Photo via Rolando Chang Barrero, Facebook.

QUIRKY AND COLORFUL, FIERCE AND FABULOUS, THE PAJARO PRIDE WALL PROJECT IS A COLLABORATIVE ARTISTIC VISION DRIVEN BY SOUTH FLORIDA ARTIST AND ACTIVIST ROLANDO CHANG BARRERO.

He designed the white Pajaro (Spanish for bird) with a tuft of red hair, yellow nose, and blue eyes long ago and it has become an iconic symbol at local Prides and among area artists. Now over 100 artists, friends, allies, and community leaders created and donated embellished versions of his Pajaro design. The result is an array of style and vision that even took Barrero by surprise.

NOW THE INSTALLATION IS COMING TO THE BOX GALLERY IN WEST PALM BEACH TO BE AUCTIONED OFF SATURDAY, JULY 24 AT 7 P.M.

• 7.15.2021

“Inspiration for this particular project came because of a desire to be truly inclusive of all people that may want to be a part of it,” Barrero said. “Of course I had no idea that this many would reach out to be a part of the Pajaro Pride Wall Project.” The work caught the eye of a member of the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami, and went on display there in midJune. Now the installation is coming to The Box Gallery in West Palm Beach to be auctioned off Saturday, July 24 at 7 p.m. Each Pajaro is about 14”x14” and bidding will start at $100 each but if someone wants to beat the competition a bird can be bought outright for $400. The auction will also introduce a young musical prodigy, 12-year-old Carly Cantor from Bak School of the Arts. Cantor will perform Shirley Bassey’s “I Am What I Am” and Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” Just because the current pieces are going up for sale, Barrero says that doesn’t mean the Wall Project will end. “Moving forward, there are plans for it to travel to Mexico, and to recreate in other states where I have lived and have strong ties to the LGBTQA communities.” He said other artists will create new Pajaros, and some buyers at the auction may be asked to allow their purchase to go on tour.

THE

GAZETTE VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 14 JULY 15, 2021

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OAKLAND PARK

Rickards Parents Still Waiting to Find Out Where Their Children Will Go to School After Ceiling Collapse By Christiana Lilly Parents of children attending Rickards Middle School were presented with options for the upcoming school year as the county works on repairing the damage the school sustained when the ceiling of the media center collapsed in March. Three options were discussed at the meeting at Northeast High School and the Broward County School Board will make a decision at its July 20 meeting. Oakland Park Mayor Jane Bolin, Commissioner Mitch Rosenwald, former Mayor Tim Lonergan, and School Board member Sarah Leonardi were present. “I will be here to see this all through,” said Washington Collado, school principal, who answered questions from parents in English, Spanish and French. The students will not be able to return to school right away, as the portables are not expected to be complete until after the children’s winter break; they will need to attend school elsewhere temporarily. The county is still in the permitting process and also needs to wait for the School Board to make its decision later this month before they can hire an architect to design the portables. “We didn’t even get full access to the building until a few weeks ago,” said Frank Girardi, the executive director of capital programs at BCPS. “The reality is these things take time.” During the meeting, Jeff Moquin, chief of staff to the superintendent, told parents that a forensic analysis of the site revealed that a bolt failed, which led to a domino effect and the ceiling’s collapse. Sitting in the auditorium at Northeast High School less than a week after the Surfside building collapse, what could

have been was not lost on parents. Dr. Valerie Wanza, the chief school performance and accountability officer at Broward County Public Schools, told parents that there were three options for the upcoming school year: • Have sixth and seventh graders AM and PM sessions at Buildings 2 and 5 on campus if they can be “brought up to standard” while eighth-graders attend school at Northeast High School. • Have each grade split up among three middle schools and high schools nearby (William Dandy Middle School, Lauderdale Lakes Middle School, and Crystal Lake Middle School or Northeast High School) • Bus the more than 900 students to Pine Middle School in Pembroke Pines, a 30- to 45-minute commute each way. Wanza emphasized that even though they will be on another campus, “Rickards kids will be taken care of by Rickards staff” and they will run independently of the other students. When the portables are complete, sixth and seventh graders would return to the Rickards Middle School campus and eighth graders can complete their year at Northeast High School, since they will be going there for ninth grade. The future of the school was also discussed at the meeting, with options to repair the damaged building, do a partial replacement, or a total replacement. The completion timeframe would be two years at the earliest. “Regardless of the decision that is made,

James S. Rickards Middle School. Photo via Sarah Leonardi, Facebook.

you are looking at a two-to-three-year time span,” Moquin said. “The wisest investment would be a total replacement and clearly this community deserves that.” Parents also have the option to take advantage of requesting that their child be reassigned to another school; some parents in the audience were not happy with sending their children to the proposed middle schools. Muriel Theophin-Atilus, who has a daughter going into seventh grade, is concerned about transportation and being able to reach her child at another school in case of an emergency. “I think the community meeting should have been done a long time ago and that the information should have been given to us a long time ago,” she said. “I feel as though

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things should have been handled better as far as inspections with the building beforehand and things like that. The building is quite old — I myself went to Rickards Middle School.” In March, the ceiling of the media center at the Oakland Park middle school collapsed. Fortunately, the room was not occupied and there were no major injuries reported; 12 children and faculty were taken to the hospital to be treated for headaches and anxiety. For the rest of the school year, the children either attended virtual school or went to in-person classes at Broward College in Coconut Creek. A final decision for Rickards will be made at the July 20 School Board meeting, and school staff said they will have an operational plan ready a week or two later. The first day of school is Aug. 18.

7.15. 20 21 •

OPINION

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July 15, 2021 • Volume 8 • Issue 14 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305

Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Associate Publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com Webmaster • Kimberly Swan webmaster@sfgn.com

Editorial

Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com Oakland Park Editor • Christiana Lilly Wilton Manors Editor • John McDonald

Correspondents

Christiana Lilly• Sal Torre • James Oaksun

Staff Photographers

J.R. Davis • Carina Mask • Steven Shires

A fictional space shuttle. Photo via Pixabay.

too effective throughout much of our history. Instead of welcoming programs that would lift 1.2 million children out of poverty, we allow the right-wing distortion machine to frame the argument as a return to the days of Welfare Queens and people taking advantage of the system. But yet these same people backed a president who proudly proclaimed that he took full advantage of the system to create his personal wealth and not pay taxes. So it’s ok for a white male to use the system for personal gain and not pay any taxes on his millions but when it’s a Black female trying to feed her children, then there’s a problem. Perhaps there is more to this systematic racism argument then some of us white folk want to accept. Here in our island City and elsewhere, July and August are busy as municipalities finalize budgets for the next fiscal year. Tough choices on infrastructure, labor cost, neighborhood projects, park facilities, and needed programs for seniors will have to be made. Everyone wants to pay city staff more money and have more park facilities but you need revenue to pay the cost of such big-ticket items, and balancing these factors is not an easy task. Having a more realistic national policy for health care coverage, education, child care, infrastructure, drug addiction, homelessness, mental health initiatives would free up millions in local budgets each year. Available funding could then be spent on local programs for youth, services to the elderly, public safety, and so much more. Just like with local budgets, some might argue where the money will come from nationally to pay for such programs, that the money has to come from somewhere. Indeed it does, and the billions that the wealthy 1% keep accumulating can be taxed correctly rather than at lower and lower rates, treated as income not investments, and no longer allowed to be

hidden away in tax loopholes and off-shore tax havens. Level the playing field on taxing income and wealth, then perhaps some of the money now going to the moon will be better spent right here on earth. Until we see more permanent relief on the national level, local municipalities will continue to struggle with balancing the books. Here in our small city, do we pay for a compensation study only to learn we cannot afford to pay staff higher salaries? Do we cut the training budget for city staff to pay for transportation services for seniors? Do we postpone needed IT upgrades to pay for body cameras for our police department? Tough questions with no easy answers. Comes the final date for budget approval set in September, all these questions and more will be answered by our elected officials. Through the process, we cannot look solely at the cost of each line item, or the return on investment only in dollar amounts. How do you put a dollar amount on keeping a young person out of trouble by providing them with after school programs? What is it worth to turn a young mind onto books and creativity at our local library, or to bring elderly residents out of isolation to spend a day at the community center, or to provide affordable child care to working families, or to have clean and safe recreational facilities that all residents can enjoy? All this cost a lot of money with little return in revenue — however the return on the quality of life that we cherish here in our Island City is unmeasurable. Let us keep this in mind as we bring this year’s budget to the finish line over the next two months. Keeping our eye not just on the bottom line but on providing for our residents in a thoughtful, caring and responsible manner that will keep life just better here…

www.WMGAZETTE.com 16

GAZETTE Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943

By Sal Torre Recent news and media hype concerning billionaires blasting themselves into outer space leaves this concerned resident of planet earth shaking his head in disgust. We live in a distorted world where a private citizen can spend millions to secure a seat on a spacecraft for billionaires while people clog every intersection begging for money. There are 4,500 homeless school children in the Broward School District, public education is in shambles, homeless beg at every intersection, infrastructure is crumbling and yet the wealthy 1% have seen their share of the nation’s wealth increase to higher and higher levels. Perhaps these billionaires are figuring a way to leave us all behind once they finish extracting all the prosperity from the middle class, to start some colony in space, safely away from the turmoil and ruin back left behind here on earth. America has always been quick to villainize those who talk seriously about such economic inequality. Labels and accusations are too easily used to tarnish those who speak of the injustices in our society. The dirty slurs of liberal, progressive, socialist, free-loader are all

THE

2 •

JULY 15, 2021

Sales & Marketing For ad placement in the Wilton Manors Gazette, contact 954-530-4970

Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER

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A manatee enjoys the summer. Photo via PxHere.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

WILTON MANORS

Photo via Adobe.

There are 3 Kinds of Lies:

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Commissioner Caputo, are these miles-pertrip numbers quoted in your article based on drives during the pandemic? People don’t drive the same amounts during a lockdown — they don’t behave the same way, at all. We have no evidence that the patterns you quote will continue. It would be ill-advised to form public policies based on the pandemic. When you say around half of car owners in the U.S. are over 60, what is your point? That we don’t matter? We don’t count? We should hurry up and die? We should check into a rest home and get it over with? That we should walk, even though we can’t? Your friends from South Beach aside, are you aware that we have a graying population here in America? That people are not having children because they cannot afford them? That young people are not buying homes for the same reason? I sincerely wonder if you realize, when you write these things, how you are impacting your constituency — those who elected you. We’re not all young, buff, rich, gay men, you know! I used to love to run 10 miles at a time! I could leg-press 800 lbs.! We all are young once. It felt like I could run forever. I also loved walking, biking, hiking, and even field hockey. I was a gifted athlete. It felt like I would live forever. Now, I can hardly walk, due to pain. That isn’t because I choose it! Sometimes, I dream I am running (or walking, without pain) again. I wake up, however, encased in this prison of pain. This body, and this life, are the only ones God gave me. As the poet writes:

“Come blooming youth, as you pass by, And on these lines do cast an eye: As you are now, so once was I — As I am now, so you must be: Prepare for death and follow me.” I realize that my writing to you in the past has fallen on deaf ears. I recognize, too, you have a different point of view and have been elected to office. I’m only a person — perhaps I have no right to respond, or to write you, or to say anything. It must be a joy to be so young and fit — I vividly remember the days when I was a gifted athlete. There is no feeling better in the world! Will you do me a favor, Commissioner Caputo, and stop being so discriminatory and insensitive? Not everyone is like you, you know. It is no secret that given the right statistics, you can prove anything you like. You can choose your statistics. You can even choose your scientists, where you get your numbers! Please don’t rub our noses in it. We already know these things you are pointing out. What you are planning, will not in the least help us cope. You are only making life harder for us. On the other hand, when we listen to older people, we get the wisdom of the ages. Please stop acting as if older, straight, established business owners and home owners have nothing to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth! Kind regards,

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JULY 15, 2021

7.15. 20 21 •

COMMUNITY

WILTON MANORS

Former Mayor’s Firm Hired To Woo Commuter Rail By John McDonald

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Wilton Manors Commissioners approved a consulting services agreement with the law firm of former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler. The deal, approved unanimously at Tuesday night’s meeting, is for one year with a $9,000 compensation. Seiler, who served as mayor of Wilton Manors from 1998 to 2000, is a principal attorney of Seiler, Sautter, Zaden, Rimes & Wahlbrink. He retired as mayor of Fort Lauderdale in 2018 after serving three terms and currently serves as president and chair of the Capital One Orange Bowl Committee. City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson said the firm’s assignment will be lobbying on behalf of Wilton Manors to Broward County and beyond. “We anticipate their efforts will help bring us a commuter rail station,” Henderson told the Gazette. Before the meeting adjourned, Commissioner Gary Resnick demanded the agreement produce a comprehensive report on commuter rail service. “Where’s it going to go? What’s the cost? What are our obligations and benefits?” Resnick asked. “To go forward on this we all need to be on the same page.” Added Mayor Scott Newton, “Getting it is one thing, supporting it is another.” Elsewhere, the only commission meeting of July lasted one hour and 22 minutes, a far cry from the five hour and 37 minute session in the aftermath of the Stonewall Pride tragedy. SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS:

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Commissioners tabled the feather flag sign and temporary banner discussion for a future meeting. Community Development Services Director Roberta Moore provided information on the county’s Building Safety Inspection program. Structural and electrical inspections on buildings 40 years old or older are required every 10 years. Moore said the city is preparing 16 inspection notification letters with the bulk going to Manor Grove associations. A proclamation recognizing July as Parks and Recreation Month was issued. Mayor Newton mentioned repairs are needed to the children’s playground at Hagen Park. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board member Lisa Theisen asked for funding for the expansion of Colohatchee Park, the Kiwanis Club proposal and Site 92. Resident Michael Rajner asked the city to change its elections format to ranked voting, referencing the recent New York City elections as an example. Rajner said no Wilton Manors candidate received more than 38% of the vote during the last election cycle. “When you run for office you should get a majority of the vote to win and ranked voting helps accomplish that,” Rajner said.

City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson said the firm’s assignment will be lobbying on behalf of Wilton Manors to Broward County and beyond.

Resnick, attending remotely, tried to revive the debate over density, stating he was against 60 units per square acre, but was voted down by Commissioners Mike Bracchi, Chris Caputo and Vice Mayor Paul Rolli. Finance Director Pennie Zuercher gave a presentation on the American Rescue Plan. Zuercher said the city is expected to receive $5,360,355 over two years from President Joe Biden’s direct relief plan. Anthony Logrande, chair of the Wilton Drive Improvement District, reported on the board’s efforts to improve safety, beautification and marketing in the district. Logrande asked the commission to eliminate temporary signage in the city.

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Jack Seiler. Photo via Facebook.

www.WMGAZETTE.com JULY 15, 2021

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

WILTON MANORS

City Needed to Communicate Better to Parade Goers During Incident As a Wilton Manors LBGT resident homeowner, questions linger after my experience at the Stonewall Pride Parade and Festival on June 19. We now know this was not an attack on our community but a tragic accident at the festivities. My words fall short of expressing my sorrow for the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus members impacted, especially for the loss of life, the injured and the driver. Considering the incident occurred just minutes before 7 p.m., many of us were left with no information of the incident while waiting along the parade route. Likewise, NBC6 staff parade participants reported (two minutes and 30 seconds into the video) they waited in their cars at the front of the parade from 6:30 p.m. An hour or more passed before they better understood the reason for the delay, the gravity of the incident and a few minutes later that the parade was canceled. As mentioned during the broadcast, many attendees in the crowd were out celebrating as though nothing had happened and many rumors were circulating. Now the questions: What if this was an actual attack on our community? On June 19, the 11 p.m. NBC6 News reported the Fort Lauderdale Police Department was not able to announce if this incident was an intentional attack or an accident and they were was considering all possibilities during, at that time, an active investigation. As mentioned on the broadcast, many questions were left unanswered after 11 p.m. Attendees waiting along the barrier for the parade to start, as well as those attending the festival, could have been comprised by possible accomplices. Why weren’t the attendees immediately notified of the incident and its possible gravity since an investigation was ongoing to

determine if the incident was intentional or accidental? Attendees could have evaluated incident risk and make decisions based on early information. Attendees solely there for the parade may have left. The incident occurred just before 7 p.m. NBC6 News Staff mentioned on the broadcast they were advised of the parade’s cancellation apparently after 7:30 p.m. Using social media to notify attendees at 8:14 and 8:15 p.m. on Facebook and Twitter seems misplaced and late. Why were attendees left in place and not informed much sooner the parade was canceled? Many attendees lined the barriers along the parade route before 7 p.m. waiting for the parade to start; some with friends/partners, some with children, some with pets, some older like my partner, a friend, and myself, standing in the extremely humid heat. For us, we learned a truck hit two people, killing one, just at 8 p.m. from another attendee. Still unaware of what happened and that the parade was canceled, we eventually left around 8:15 p.m. What if you needed a police officer to report a concern to? In fact, our friend was concerned about a suspicious box along the parade route and wanted to report it. He couldn’t find an official around the 7 p.m. timeframe possibly because of their response to the incident. What if timely announcements were made, regardless if the decision to cancel the parade was still under consideration? Attendees patiently waited with no word of the parade’s pause or possible cancellation and no word on how this might jeopardize the festival. Many waiting along the parade route were nowhere near a stage where I understand announcements were made. I don’t know the time of the announcements but they certainly

A press conference the night of the incident. Photo credit: Carina Mask.

weren’t timely for most of the attendees. It is my view from a possible emergency management point of view, this incident was handled poorly, especially when a public official offers a media statement early in the incident that it was a terrorist attack on the LBGT community. Announcements should have been bullhorned down the parade route to the attendees with timely information of the incident, its nature and that a decision to cancel the Parade and/or Festival was under consideration and followed by a final announcement that the Parade and/or Festival was/were canceled. The list below includes government organizations present; it does not include media. If there were Press Releases, I could not locate them. Based on my research, the government organization notification times to the public on the evening of June 19 were:

WILTON MANORS CITY SITE – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation

FORT LAUDERDALE CITY SITE – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation

WILTON MANORS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP FACEBOOK SITE – no apparent mention but mentioned incident and parade cancellation at 7:23 p.m. in a reply to a posted comment

FORT LAUDERDALE CITY FACEBOOK SITE – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation FORT LAUDERDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT SITE – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation

WILTON MANORS CITY FACEBOOK SITE – notified incident and parade cancellation at 8:54 p.m. WILTON MANORS POLICE DEPARTMENT SITE (PART OF WILTON MANORS) – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation WILTON MANORS POLICE DEPARTMENT FACEBOOK SITE – notified incident and parade cancellation at 8:14 p.m. WILTON MANORS 411 TWITTER FEED – notified incident and parade cancellation at 8:15 p.m. WILTON MANORS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP STONEWALL PRIDE PARADE SITE & STREET FESTIVAL SITE – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation

BROWARD SHERIFF’S OFFICE PIO SITE – no apparent mention of incident or parade cancellation.

— Rob Nadeau

www.WMGAZETTE.com 5 •

JULY 15, 2021

7.15. 20 21 •

Publisher's Editorial

CONVICTIONS

RUMINATIONS ON SUMMERTIME Chairman Norm’s Meaningless Recitations About Life

and

Photo via Pixabay.

Norm Kent

norm.kent@sfgn.com

• 7.15.2021

I wish I could be 25, and surfing the Fort Lauderdale beach again. Hell, I would settle for 35. Or 45!

An inner calmness gives you the strength to pilot the roughest oceans of life.

Any time a car salesman tells you a deal “has” to be done today you should absolutely wait until tomorrow.

Diversity and inclusion is the essence of humanity. Key West was right. We are one human family.

If you can laugh at yourself you will never cease to be amused.

You can’t fly like a bird, swim like a fish, or run like a leopard. But human beings built planes, boats, and automobiles. No small task. Diversity is a beautiful thing.

Palms trees are beautiful but woodpeckers don’t care.

If you have core beliefs that guide your soul, decision making is very easy.

The days are long, but one day you wake up and realize life was pretty short. Make every moment count has to be a guide for living your life.

Don’t do anything in the daytime that prevents you from sleeping in the nighttime

It can take years to build something you can lose in a nanosecond, like sandcastles on a beach. Build anyway.

Our country may strive for perfection, but we have never been perfect. Check with Florida’s unemployment office, for example.

Just because something is popular does not make it right. Sometimes the right thing to do can make you unpopular.

Getting angry at the guy who texts when the light turns green means you are already upset at something else.

The sun tans, but it also burns. Moderation in life is a good thing.

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.

Even in Utopia, somebody has to take out the garbage. So pick up after your pet.

The stronger you are, the more restraint you must employ.

If you want your life to have more meaning, be the person your dog thinks you are.

Always listen to your dog’s barks, mom’s advice and associate publisher’s warnings.

CONVICTIONS

EDITORIAL CARTOON By Mike Luckovich

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CONVICTIONS

Guest Column

REMEMBERING A LEADER

LARRY KRAMER Anthony T. Eaton

ay marked one year since Larry Kramer died. He was one of the most influential leaders in the LGBT community. With the annual Pride celebrations in June, we must not forget the impact Kramer had in the fight against AIDS and the struggle for our rights. Kramer was an accomplished man earning a degree from Yale, an academy award nomination as a screenwriter, twotime Obie winner, Pulitzer Prize nominee, and activist. Born in a time when being out was unheard of and the role models we have today did not exist, he had his own struggles with coming to terms with and accepting himself as a gay man as many did and still do. Going as far as attempting suicide while in college, Kramer would come to terms with who he was and go on to lead a movement that would change our world. While not initially interested in activism, Kramer would become a leader in the gay rights movement and the fight against AIDS when gay men began to get sick in 1980 with a then-unknown disease. Kramer was instrumental in so many ways, from forming the first AIDS organization, which would become the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), to ACT UP in 1987 after years of the government and the world turning a blind eye to what was happening. Kramer forced gay men, the government, and mainstream news to pay attention and respond to the AIDS crisis, starting with his lengthy essay entitled “1,112 and counting,” of which Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner said, “With that one piece, Kramer changed my world. He changed the world for all of us.” Indeed, he did. Kramer exemplified what it means to stand up and take action even when that makes you unpopular and a target. While many were willing to stand back because they were afraid of being outed in a time when we had few, if any, rights, Kramer said no. He stepped forward, mobilizing a movement that would bring forth money for research to fight AIDS. He would not let all those that had died were dying, and suffering to do so in vain. Widely criticized for his methods even by the gay community, GMHC ousted him in 1983 due to his “in your face” approach — that approach resulted in the intended outcomes. People and the government took notice and took action. Kramer knew someone had to do something, and he did.

NOW MORE THAN EVER, THAT FACT IS NOT LOST ON ME WHEN I SEE THE WORLD’S RESPONSE TO THE COVID PANDEMIC COMPARED TO WHAT HAPPENED BACK THEN.

“You’d think one day we’d learn. You don’t get anything unless you fight for it, united and with visible numbers.” - LARRY KRAMER

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While we now know that HIV had probably been around for decades, it was not until 1981 that the virus seemed to take hold and spread. If you were born after 1981, chances are you don’t know what effect the disease had back then, the toll it was taking. I was 14 and I remember clearly the fear that permeated the gay community and the lack of response or even acknowledgment of the government to do something because it was that “gay disease.” I remember my fear as a young gay man, seeing all those who were sick, dying, or who had passed. Had those infected with HIV been white straight men, things would have been much different. Now more than ever, that fact is not lost on me when I see the world’s response to the COVID pandemic compared to what happened back then. “AIDS was allowed to happen. It is a plague that needs not to have happened. It is a plague that could have been contained from the very beginning.” - LARRY KRAMER Had it not been for Kramer and others like him, we would be in a very different place today. Because of his courage, we should all recognize that one person, each of us can make a difference even when the stakes are high, we are afraid, and there is much to lose but also much to be gained. Today more than ever, we all need to be like Kramer and

Larry Kramer. Photo credit: David Shankbone, via Flickr.

stand up against all that is wrong in the world and our own country. Renowned immunologist Anthony Fauci said of Kramer, “In American medicine, there are two eras. Before Larry and after Larry.” Kramer’s life and courage should be a catalyst for our own response to the lack of leadership in our country, to the continued and pervasive racism and bigotry that still exists, the inequality and injustice of anyone. We must raise our voices however we can. We must demand change and not stand by meekly and wait for someone to do it for us. We must unite not as groups of color, gender, or sexuality but as human beings. Kramer’s passing should be a call for action, so we do not let all those who have gone before us, who have sacrificed, risked, and even lost their lives to have done so in vain. Each of us must have a cause and do something to advance that. We must get involved by voting, writing our representatives, and raising our voices. Like Kramer, we must act up. “Some reporter called me ‘the angriest gay man in the world’ or some such. Well, it stuck, but I realized it was very useful.” - LARRY KRAMER Larry’s legacy should remind us that the rights we have gained are fragile and can easily be stripped away as we continue to see. Leadership comes in many forms and people, but most often, it comes from those we least expect. Larry Kramer was 84.

CHECK WEBSITES AND FACEBOOK PAGES FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION REGARDING IN PERSON ATTENDANCE OF SERVICES AS WELL AS VIRTUAL VIEWING OPTIONS.

We close out Pride month by resuming in-person services!

Join us every Friday night at 8pm We’re getting back together again – Welcome home! Your community shul welcoming LGBTQIA Jews & allies since 1974

Our Shabbat service can also be viewed on Facebook Live Every Friday at 8pm

Congregation Etz Chaim

2038 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL 33305, on the Pride Center campus www.EtzChaimFlorida.org / RSVP HERE: info@etzchaimflorida.org

Church of Our Savior MCC 2011 South Federal Hwy. Boynton Beach, FL 561-733-4000 www.churchofoursaviormcc.org

In Person Worship Returns

SPIRITUALITY

Join us June 27th at 10 AM for services in our beautifully updated sanctuary. We will also continue streaming the service on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/ ChurchofOurSaviorMCC. Visit our web site for more details & updates.

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.

“Love without judgement” Holy Angels National Catholic Church 1436 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors. 33305 Facebook.com/HolyAngelsFL www.HolyAngelsFL.org

954-633-2987

A home for your spirit. Mass Schedule: Sabado 6:00 PM misa en español • Sunday Mass at 11 AM in English • All are welcome!

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LISTINGS 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 1436 NE 26th St Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-633-2987 - HolyAngelsFL.net Sunday Mass at 11AM

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

7.15. 20 21 •

LIFESTYLE CELEBRITY

BY ELLIOT RODRIGUEZ

GAY VINE THE

KEEP UP WITH THE CELEBRITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY

CELEBRITY

FILM

OH MY!

STARSTRUCK!

SARA RAMÍREZ SPLITS WITH HUSBAND Sara Ramírez, who many may know from the ever-so-popular show “Grey’s Anatomy,” has announced that they have just split with their husband of nine years. Ramírez took to Instagram to reveal the news to their followers. Ramírez wrote, “Ryan and I are no longer together. We remain loving and supportive in how we are choosing to forge our new individual paths. Thank you for holding space around our choices and respecting our families’ privacy as we navigate this process on our own terms. In the meantime, here’s an invitation to focus your energies and attention on learning about, donating to and/or uplifting the work of these orgs below. Blessings to all!” ⁣ They also urged fans and followers to take it upon themselves to help certain

Sara Ramírez. Photo via Instagram.

organizations, at the bottom of the post. They posted the links and names of certain LGBT organizations, trying to get people to make donations and help out.

STEPHANIE BEATRIZ TO STAR IN DISNEY’S ‘ENCANTO’ Bisexual “In the Heights” star Stephanie Beatriz is set to star in Disney’s new upcoming film “Encanto.” Beatriz posted a little sneak peek into the film on her Instagram, where she showed a little trailer for the movie. She wrote, “You’re invited into the exceptional, fantastical, and magical Casa Madrigal. Watch the new trailer for #Disney’s #Encanto now! I’m playing Mirabel in ENCANTO and it’s a dream come true, a wish my heart made as soon as it knew what dreams and wishes were. I’m Colombian on my father’s side, and playing this role fills me with immense pride. Can’t wait for you to see the movie this November!” The film follows a magical family in Columbia called the Madrigal’s. Each

Stephanie Beatriz. Photo via Facebook.

member of the family is gifted with different powers. “Encanto” will be released on Nov. 24, until then Disney fans will have to make do with trailers. The first trailer you can find on Disney’s YouTube channel.

MUSIC

POWER!

HALSEY REVEALS NEW ALBUM ART If you’re a fan of Halsey, then get ready for some new tunes. The pregnant icon posted on her Instagram the release date of her new album “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,” which will come out Aug. 27. Halsey wrote, “This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth. It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully.” You can also watch the singer stroll through the Met on her YouTube channel

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where she doesn’t only admire her own work, but the work of others in the museum. The 26-year-old isn’t afraid to talk about her hardships as a mother. Her last album consisted of anecdotes from her three miscarriages. This upcoming album will be her fourth album. While some might find the cover art explicit, Halsey wrote, “This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired … We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!” according to Pride.

Halsey’s new album cover for “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.” Image via Instagram.

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LIFESTYLE TWO GUYS AND A DOG

WHAT ARE THE COLORS OF PRIDE? Brian McNaught

ray is just a color. We give it meaning. The meaning can change as we change our perspective. When someone my age heard of my book title, “On Being Gay and Gray,” he replied, “No, I’m gray and gay.” He wanted the emphasis not on his older age but on his exuberance as a gay man. He brings to the word “gray” different meaning than I might. The word “gay” may conjure different feelings too. When I say “gray,” multiple images come to mind, one of which is age, because as we age, most people’s hair turns shades of that color regardless of the person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. But my very handsome, young nephew’s hair turned a beautiful gray color when he was still in his 30s. Some younger people dye their hair gray because they think it looks cool, not old. The very cool, 40-something, gay male couple next door has both Rainbow Pride and American flags on poles in opposite corners of their property. It’s always comforting to Ray and me to spot those flags blowing together in the wind. The guys’ landscaping, for the month of June, is illuminated in the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Those colors, when pulled together in that sequence, mean LGBT Pride to them, to Ray and me, and to millions of LGBT people and allies around the world. The meaning I’ve always given the colors of the Rainbow Pride flag is the great diversity of sexual attractions, gender identities and expressions, faiths, races, incomes, HIV status, ages, physical and mental abilities, politics, etc. of our community members. Our neighbors have good hearts and raised consciousness, and they once ordered and tried the altered Pride flag with the added black, brown, powder blue, soft pink, and white triangles to express solidarity with Black Lives Matter, the transgender community, and people living with HIV, but it just didn’t fly. They took down the changed “Progress” flag soon after they raised it on the poles and put back up the more common and, to them, meaningful expression of their lives, the flag with just six colors of the rainbow. The Rainbow LGBT Pride Flag, originally created in eight colors (hot pink and indigo) by Gilbert Baker in San Francisco in 1978, touches my heart every time I see it, even if its lookalikes are actually waving in Peru in honor of indigenous people, in India in remembrance of Meher Baba, or in Italy for the Peace Movement. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer people aren’t the only ones who embrace and give meaning to the colors of the rainbow. Without knowing this, my first response to seeing the flags in Cusco, Peru was, “We ought to move here.” They were everywhere. If I was a Black or Brown gay person, or a person who identified as transgender, or as having HIV, I might want to imagine the traditional LGBT flag altered to more precisely represent my life, just as I’d want a letter added to the acronym to affirm my different life experiences. I’m glad not to be the one asked to make those decisions regarding our community’s official symbols and names, especially knowing there is no

• 7.15.2021

The Progress Flag (left) and the Pride Flag. SFGN file photo.

end to it. There will always be an unrepresented minority that finds its voice and wants its name and symbol known and included. What I’ve learned in my time as a student of life is to love myself enough to know and respect my boundaries, and to always be open to learning new things about the life experiences of others. For instance, it’s perfectly okay for me not to like, or to use, the word “queer” in reference to myself, and it’s also illuminating and freeing for me to listen to and learn from the stories of others who embrace the word “queer” to describe themselves. My preference is for the now traditional six color Rainbow flag. It’s been part of my life, and my identity for a very long time, but I’m open to change. Because I’ve listened to a lot of people explain why they prefer the term “queer,” I always include it in the acronym in my writing and speaking. But I haven’t yet heard from others why the inclusion in the Pride flag of the powder blue, pink and white triangles is critically important to them, nor the black and brown stripes. Those stories might help me let go of the comfortable and stretch my boundaries to be more wisely inclusive. Everything changes. That is the nature of life. I grew up calling my beloved younger brother “Tommy.” One day, he said he preferred being called “Tom.” But, in my mind, he wasn’t “Tom,” and I mourned the loss of all of the emotional meaning the name “Tommy” carried in my heart. Yet, how could I not call him the name he preferred. “Tommy” didn’t feel like an adult name to him. Who am I to argue with that? Some people squirm uncomfortably with the requested use of the pronoun “they” to designate people who identify as non-binary. “But, ‘they’ is a plural pronoun for a singular subject,” the linguists among us say, myself included. And, yet, rules change. As we are reminded, the law was made for humans, not humans for the law. As such, I gladly let go of my strict adherence to the rules of grammar in order to focus on the needs of another. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but when it’s the right thing to do, you do it. I remind myself that there were many homosexuals who didn’t much like the word “gay” as the new term of selfidentification. Many heterosexuals felt our community was ruining a perfectly good word that once meant lighthearted and carefree. It even took liberal newspapers many years before they substituted the word “gay” for “homosexual” in their news stories and features. Change can take time. One day, I might grow to love a Pride flag that incorporates colors different from those selected from the rainbow to represent our diverse but collected lives. The red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet colors of the Rainbow Pride

flag make me smile. Whenever I see them I feel at home. I want everyone in our community to feel the same sense of belonging when they look at the flag. I can’t create that feeling for them. We each decide what meaning we give to colors, symbols, and words. I wonder though, just as the U.S. flag represents all Americans without incorporating the colors and symbols for Mississippi, Maine, and Montana, maybe we could agree that the LGBT Rainbow flag, as Baker eventually settled on, with just it’s six colors, represents all of us in the community, and we could fly separate flags to speak of our unique nature and stories. If not, I’ll eventually come to like, and maybe love, the multi-purpose, multi-colored, multi-symbolled flag, just as I grew to embrace the gray color of my hair. We just couldn’t call it “the Rainbow” flag. Black, brown, powder blue, pink, and white aren’t colors in the rainbow, and neither is gray, I’m afraid. Now there’s a thought. If we’re going to change the traditional Rainbow flag, why not add a bold stripe of gray to represent not just the extraordinary contributions of Baby Boomers to our movement, but also the significant challenges older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people face in securing safety and independence? What are the colors of your LGBT Pride?

Brian McNaught has been a leading educator on LGBTQ issues globally since 1974. He has made his many books and DVDs available for free at Brian-McNaught.com. The New York Times named him “The Godfather of gay diversity training.” Brian has a weekly YouTube/FaceBook podcast called, “Are You Happy Without the Movie?”

LIFESTYLE SHOP WITH PRIDE

NATURAL REMEDIES TO

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f you’ve been searching for an LGBT-owned CBD and Delta-8 THC business to shop, look no further than Kayz Homegrown Blendz. “I was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, and depression at a young age and struggled to find any medications that would actually help my symptoms. So I tried to find more natural remedies that would help me and after lots of research and trying out different things, cannabis was the only thing that was showing actual results and relief for me,” business owner Kay Rickerson said. Rickerson wanted to share her relief with others, so after growing her own cannabis, she began to create products with it. Kayz Homegrown Blendz offers a multitude of CBD and Delta-8 THC products such as gummies, facial serums, pain relief gels, and tinctures. “My favorite items are either the CBD Tinctures, since we are almost one of the only companies that offer 3600mg of CBD, and the Delta-8 Gummiez since they have a similar effect to edibles you would buy at the dispensary,” Rickerson said. Kayz Homegrown Blendz launched earlier this year and Rickerson is doing everything she can to spread the word and grow their business. “The biggest challenge for us is to market/advertise our products to consumers so they can find us and our awesome products and events,” they said. Kayz Homegrown Blendz has already begun making appearances at cannabis events nation-wide and plan to continue to do so all this year.

Photo via @kayzhomegrownblendz, Instagram.

Rickerson says that her business has allowed her to pursue her love for growing cannabis while also meeting new people within the community. “I really do have a passion for growing and just that alone is awesome, but then also being able to make that into products that can help others is something that really makes me feel like we are doing something right,” they said. “My other favorite part [of owning my small business] is being able to meet so many different and awesome people that also have the same love for cannabis as I do.” Rickerson believes that Kayz Homegrown Blendz sets itself apart from competing businesses. She says that her business is unique because of three main factors: “We truly put all our hearts into every product we make, only put the best pure ingredients and our own organic CBD into our products, and that we strive to have every package be 100% eco-friendly.”

To support this LGBT-owned small business, visit kayzhomegrownblendz.com or check out their Instagram @kayzhomegrownblendz.

Got the itch to shop for more? Visit SFGN.com/ShopWithPride.

7.15. 20 21 •

LIFESTYLE FOOD

NIGHT OF THE LIVING VEGANS! Rick Karlin

EG NIGHT OUT will take place Saturday, July 17 from 6-10 p.m. in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s MASS District, which stands for Music and Arts South of Sunrise. The neighborhood wedged between just south of Wilton Manors and the über-popular Flagler Village neighborhood. Organized by Melissa Guzman, owner of The Caribe Vegan, who thought she might be able to attract more folks to an evening festival. The various food trucks and vendors will offer savory food, sweet desserts, and handcrafted merchandise with no animal products. In addition to the vendors, there will be giveaways and raffles. Admission is free. Sean Russell (founder of SoFlo Vegans) explained, “We have had the good fortune of being involved with 200-plus events since we launched in 2017. I wanted to make sure [this] was something that has not been done before. To my knowledge this is the first time there is all-vegan night market.” If you’re expecting a bunch of emaciated folks chewing on flax seeds, think again. The offerings run the gamut from comfort food to exotic and spicy fare. Try some TexMex, a hearty pizza, filling empanadas, or a simple sandwich. “There’s such a variety now, from around the globe,” Guzman says. “It’s definitely a celebration for the vegan community, for the community in general,” Russell said. “People are looking to get out now and make up for lost time. Maybe explore food options they are starting to tap into. Maybe they are starting to do something like drink more oat milk and now they’re curious to see what else is out there.” For those who may be wary of solely vegan fare, area restaurants offering animal-based

products will be open. For a share ride or a navigation app, use the address 817 NE 4th Ave. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 and you’ll find yourself right in the middle of all the animalfree based products and fun. And while the food and products may be animal free, dogs are definitely welcome at this event. For more information, go to SoFloVegans.com/vegnight-out.

CHEWS NEWS BONA ITALIAN now has live music every Thursday night. The Wilton Manors restaurant is also hosting an exclusive Sicilian fivecourse wine dinner for $75/person on July 21. Reservations required, call 954-565-7222. Congrats to BULEGREEN CAFÉ YARD, named to Yelp’s 2020 list of the “Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States.” It was ranked 27th and received a rave review from us earlier this year. Unlike other lists of must-dine spots, Yelp’s list runs the gamut from upscale, pricey spots, to little hole in the wall joints. The only other South Florida place to make the list is FRATELLINO in Coral Gables, which ranked 6th. Fratellino is upscale and pricey, Bulegreen is casual and moderate to inexpensive. “’Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States’ list is more accessible than a list of all fine dining establishments and really reflects the uniqueness of the Yelp community,” Yelp’s Trend Expert Tara Lewis says.

THE OFFERINGS RUN THE GAMUT FROM COMFORT FOOD TO EXOTIC AND SPICY FARE. TRY SOME TEX-MEX, A HEARTY PIZZA, FILLING EMPANADAS, OR A SIMPLE SANDWICH.

THERE’S MORE ONLINE! 28

• 7.15.2021

Photo courtesy of The Caribe Vegan. LÄDERACH, the largest Swiss chocolate retailer, has taken over several Godiva stores across the country, including The Galleria Mall. Each store offers 85 or more varieties of artisanal chocolate directly from Switzerland. Flagler Village will be home to the second location of BATCH NEW SOUTHERN KITCHEN AND TAP. The flagship opened in West Palm Beach. It will serve Southern favorites, craft cocktails and what it promises will be an “epic brunch party.” The 5,500 square-foot restaurant with an outdoor patio will open in the former location of Mellow Mushroom, 525 N Federal. The locally sourced farm-to-table, comfort food menu includes slow-smoked burnt ends, shrimp n’ grits and a BBQ jackfruit “pulled pork” sandwich. An extensive whiskey menu and garden-to-glass cocktails are also planned for the restaurant expected to open in fall 2021. batchsouthernkitchen.com. Former NFL linebacker Stephen Tulloch’s

HUNGRY FOR MORE? 

Flagler Village drive-thru CIRCLE HOUSE COFFEEHOUSE has been such a hit that he will open a sister café in Oakland Park this month (if it hasn’t already done so by the time you read this). In addition to Mojo Donut flavors, Circle House offers breakfast sandwiches, empanadas, slushies, CBDinfused coffee, vegan cookies and hold on to your sombrero, guava cheesecake pie shakes. It will be located at 119 W. Oakland Park Blvd., 954-870-6456, CircleHouseCoffee.com. Watch for BUOY BITES, the popular seafood shack, to open a permanent location later this summer. It is taking the space formerly occupied by Phat Boy Sushi, 4391 N. Federal, which itself moved to bigger quarters down the street. Buoy Bites will continue to feature oysters on the half-shell, buckets of mussels and clams, crab cakes, fish-fry baskets, lobster clambakes and New England clam chowder. 954-306-2775, BuoyBites.com.

VISIT SFGN.COM/FOOD!

Rick Karlin is SFGN’s food editor. Visit SFGN.com/Food to read his previous reviews. Have a culinary tip to share? Email Rick at RickKarlinFL@gmail.com.

WHAT TO READ: ‘¡HOLA PAPI! HOW TO COME OUT IN A WALMART PARKING LOT AND OTHER LIFE LESSONS’ Visit SFGN.com to check it out, along with many other reading suggestions.

A&E THEATER

MICHAEL AMAN’S LEGACY OF LAUGHS J.W. Arnold

urtain speeches are a quaint tradition at many South Florida theaters. The artistic or managing director of the company thanks patrons and sponsors, plugs upcoming performances and, most importantly, points out the restrooms and emergency exits. Director Michael Bush’s curtain speech at the world premiere of Michael Aman’s “Off Balance: A Comic Parable” last weekend was, expectedly, anything but quaint, an emotional introduction to the artistic labor of love to follow. Sporting a fashionable utilikilt and fighting problems with his dentures, Bush alternately elicited laughs and tears from the audience in the intimate Empire Stage, packed with friends and fans, as he shared the story behind the occasion. Bush met Aman while the aspiring playwright was a student in a graduate musical theater course he was teaching more than two decades ago. They became more than lovers and husbands, but collaborators artistically and in almost every other pursuit, until Aman lost a three-year battle against brain cancer earlier this year. As the end became apparent, Aman became concerned about his legacy. He had already snagged a prestigious Carbonell Award for “Poz” years ago and a new production of his play “Coyote” in Los Angeles was set to be featured in an upcoming television series, “Opening Nights America,” and begin filming later this year. He pulled out his un-produced “Off Balance,” making changes and updates that foreshadowed his own grapple with mortality, Bush said. Two months after Aman’s death, that work would leave Fort Lauderdale audiences with a legacy of laughter that shouldn’t be forgotten soon. Bush chose this work as his personal tribute, not only co-producing (with Empire Stage) and directing, but throwing his abundant energy into set design and costume design. The final performance on July 25 will conclude with a celebration of life service. Like most of Aman’s works, the plot of “Off Balance” is not easy to summarize because the quirky spoilers are so integral to the storyline: Billy (Caleb Polsky) is a young writer restoring a farmhouse in upstate New York. He’s quirky and uptight and still pained by an ill-fated fling years ago with a beguiling young hustler, Peter (Michael Paul). Billy’s straight friend April (Brooke Hall) is an antiques dealer and remains aggressively protective of her friend, especially when she learns he has

Playwright Michael Aman passed away earlier this year, but his previously unproduced comedy “Off Balance” is receiving an inspired world premiere at Empire Stage this summer. Courtesy photo.

invited Peter to stay with him for a while. April is suddenly stricken with vertigo and takes temporary residence with Billy and a scantily clad Peter. April is hostile until she discovers Peter has left his sketchy lifestyle behind, eschewing prostitution, drugs and alcohol. He even took up work as a contractor, working for a wealthy older woman, Loretta (Beverly Blanchette), who makes an unexpected appearance later. And like “Poz,” Aman introduces some paranormal twists for good measure. Thanks to Aman’s writing and Bush’s direction, the one-act, 80-minute comedy speeds along, often with the feel of a familiar sitcom. Billy and April are reminiscent of “Will & Grace” and Loretta is clearly a “Karen,” albeit with the ‘60s fashion flair of Barbara Eden a la “I Dream of Jeannie.” Peter is unfailing honest about his own transformation and the unlikely straight man to most of the jokes. Polsky and Hall, both rising seniors at the University of Miami, handle their roles professionally, even if they are a few years too young. Most importantly, they master the comedic timing Aman’s quips demand. L.A.-based Paul is immediately likeable and fresh, even if most of the older, gay male audience was more focused on his trim, defined physique (he spends most of the show costumed only in running shorts) and the occasional glimpses of his penis. Blanchette, a seasoned character actress, commands the stage in her every scene, but always allows her castmates to shine. While not perfect, ultimately, “Off Balance” succeeds in the cardinal role of entertainment: “Always leave them [audiences] wanting more.” While Aman will not be penning any new works, his legacy is secure, thanks to the devotion of Bush and this heartfelt production.

Michael Aman’s “Off Balance: A Comic Parable” will be presented through July 25 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Dr. in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $30 at EmpireStage.com. 7.15. 20 21 •

A&E APPOINTMENTS

Tedd Davis’ mixed media “Measured in Love” is one of the featured works by LGBT artists on exhibit through July 31 at Box Gallery in West Palm Beach. Courtesy.

ARTSBEAT ON EXHIBIT J.W. Arnold

ARTSUNITED SHOW IN WEST PALM BEACH Curator Rolando Chang Barrero is showcasing the works of South Florida LGBT artists at his Box Gallery, 811 Belvedere Rd. in West Palm Beach, July 17 – 31. “The Best of ArtsUnited” kicks off with a reception on July 17 at 7 p.m. and features a wide variety of art works by Axel Martinez, Rosaria Vigorito, Tedd Davis, Alfred Pérez, Ornella Verano and Joseph Skarzynski. ArtsUnited, Inc. was founded in 1999 in response to a growing desire of local LGBT artists for an interactive and supportive working environment. The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization focuses on showcasing the art of the LGBT community in all genres of the arts, including visual art, music, theatre, film and fashion. For more information, go to PalmBeachFineArtGallery.Blogspot.com.

GET NAUGHTY AT WILTON THEATER FACTORY Former porn star and one-time aspiring local politician Antonio Biaggi is bringing his politically incorrect autobiographical show “Naughty & Nuts” back to Wilton Theater Factory, 2304 N. Dixie Hwy. in Wilton Manors, for one night only on Aug. 13 at 8:30 p.m. The one-hour show incorporates Biaggi’s rich life experiences, including vivid anecdotes from both his adventures in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Warning: This show contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. Tickets for “Antonio Biaggi: Naughty & Nuts” are $40 – 48 at Eventbrite.com.

RETURN TO “THE HEIGHTS” AT THE ARSHT Before “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda wowed the theater world with his musical, “In the Heights,” winner of 2008 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. The show retells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions to keep and which ones to leave behind. If you liked the recent movie adaptation, revisit Miranda’s unforgettable neighborhood one more time on stage at the Arsht Center in Miami. Loxen Productions, in association with Loud and Live, is mounting a new production, Friday, July 23 – Sunday, July 25, made for Miami by South Florida artists. Tickets for “In the Heights” start at $51.25 at ArshtCenter.org.

• 7.15.2021

A&E THEATER

SEXY SHOW DOMINATES HUNTERS NIGHTCLUB John Hayden

ensually aerobatic and sexually athletic the performers of AirOtic amaze audiences. The show is an intimate celebration of the body and companionship developed by Stephane Haffner and his husband Kyle Kier. “It has lots of LGBTQAI+ tendencies,” Kier said. “It’s a show for everyone in the community. It’s very inclusive.” Kier and Haffner developed the show a few years ago and have run versions of it in places including Provincetown and on Atlantis cruises. “The costumes, the choreography, the music is all very tongue in cheek, it’s super camp but also with a sensual undertone. It’s like 50 Shades of Grey meets Cirque du Soleil.” Kier said. “Everything is done with class. It’s all about sensuality, physique, and the circus art that is behind it. Like the Crazy Horse in Paris, France. That kind of style with a modern twist.” Kier said part of the modern twist is the music. “Our music generally is top pop covers, acoustic versions more dark and heavy and a lot of ups and downs in the show. There’s a sexy side but also a loveydovey romantic side to it as well.” While the show is often compared to Cirque du Soleil productions, this show features a small cast allowing audiences to make a more personal connection with the performers. “The new version at Hunters is a small cabaret version,” Kier said. “It’s very intimate, fun, and sexy.” AirOtic just extended its run at Hunters Nightclub through the summer, every Thursday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. When the pandemic hit Haffner and Kier found all their work gone but eventually found a home thanks to the team at Hunters. “They decided to help us by donating the space to produce and run our show,” Kier said. “They were a huge blessing to us. Without them we would have been totally financially out of it.” Kier and Haffner live in Fort Lauderdale and have found a loving, welcoming community. “I think Wilton Manors is a special place

AirOtic. Photo via Facebook.

and tight community,” Kier said. “I’m excited to be part of it, I’m excited to live here and excited to give back to the community and I hope they’re just as excited to receive it.” Together now eight years, their highprofile romance started at sea. Kier, who’s from New York, and Haffner, who is from Europe, were both working on a cruise ship and hit it off immediately. After nurturing their personal and professional lives on board the boat, they took both to the next level and helped change hearts, minds, and public policy. “We got engaged on Italy’s Got Talent,” Kier said. “It was quite big in Italy at the time when we got engaged on a huge international platform. Marriage or civil union wasn’t even legal so it shook things up and started a movement.” They’re also starting a version of the show in Chicago and hope to be back on cruises as things open up. Kier said it’s about reflecting representation and love. “As a gay artist and a gay person myself it’s important to see people in our community being themselves not playing a role of something they’re not,” Kier said. “Love is love and art is art. We’re using our art to push the idea that sexuality, gender identity, all of this is acceptable and tolerated. It’s who we are as humans.”

For a sneak peek of the show and ticket info, go to AirOticShow.com. 7.15. 20 21 •

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