SFGN 08/26/21 V12iss34 by South Florida Gay News

LOCAL NAME GLOBAL COVERAGE

AUGUST 26, 2021 VOL. 12 // ISSUE 34

UNEQUAL, UNFAIR BLACK LGBT COMMUNITY STILL FACES DISCRIMINATION AND DISPARITY PAGE 16

Trans Talk: Body Positivity

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Manors Housing Prices Soar

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NEWS HIGHLIGHT

ONLYFANS FLIP FLOP COMPANY TRIED TO BAN PORN; BUT AFTER BACKLASH REVERSED ITS DECISION

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August 26, 2021 • Volume 12 • Issue 34

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Publisher • Norm Kent Norm.Kent@sfgn.com

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Editorial

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John Hayden

nlyFans built its brand on the backs of independent creators of adult content. Now that it’s a multi-billiondollar business, it’s kicking them to the curb — or at least tried to. Last week the website announced it would stop letting people post “I DO BELIEVE THIS “sexually explicit content.” People would have been IS CORPORATE able to post anything on AMERICA DIGGING an OnlyFans page, like workout or barbeque IN THEIR HEELS TO videos. to buy into the company. “It SHAME THE SEX But in a stunning certainly seems like [OnlyFans] reversal the company is seeking investments from WORK INDUSTRY announced Wednesday firms who won’t invest in adult AND MAKE SEX it was suspending its [entertainment],” Ford says. decision to ban porn. Adult entertainment is a WORK SEEM LIKE IT Starting Oct. 1, OnlyFans big part of the South Florida ISN’T WORK.” guidelines would have community. Many stars work only allowed some nudes in Greater Fort Lauderdale at - Howard Andrew but nothing hyper-sexual. some point in their career, some FABSCOUT MODEL They never clarified what of whom are represented by MANAGEMENT that would have meant. FabScout Model Management’s JustFor.Fans (JFF) is Howard Andrew. Like many a similar platform based in South Florida. others, he saw this as an attack on sex workers. Founder Dominic Ford says his company has “I do believe this is corporate America digging no plans to ban porn, and welcomes content in their heels to shame the sex work industry creators looking for a new home. and make sex work seem like it isn’t work.” “Platforms like JFF provide a safe and stable Between laws and corporate regulations, income for sex workers,” Ford said. “Without sex workers are constantly under attack. In it, sex workers will be forced back into unsafe 2015 Homeland Security raided Rentboy.com environments, like the street. JustFor.Fans which hosted profiles from male escorts. Last provides recurring, passive income to people year, Pornhub’s payment processors ended who don’t have that elsewhere.” their service after allegations of child sex A report by Axios says that despite tens abuse materials on the site. This month, Rep. of millions of users, venture capitalists and Ann Wagner (R-MO) asked the Department of so-called “mainstream” investors don’t want Justice to investigate OnlyFans “...focusing on

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• 8 . 26 .2021

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Special to SFGN Steve Rothaus

the prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse Material [CSAM] on the website and the specific actions OnlyFans takes to ensure minors are protected from exploitation.” The platform’s popularity exploded during the pandemic when many sex workers couldn’t make studio productions and took their talents directly to their fans. Also in 2020 some mainstream Hollywood stars including Bella Thorne and Tyler Posey started their own pages on OnlyFans and were accused of taking attention and money away from the lesserknown members. FabScout’s Andrew thinks OnlyFans’ new business model would have worked, at least in the short run. Even though the decision has been reversed he hope content creators will check out JFF. “I do believe the platform is much easier and cleaner to use and more model friendly.” He also reminds people that sex work is work that needs to be respected and done in a safe space. “Working with these people, sex work is often harder than a standard 9-5 job, this is 24/7.”

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8 . 26 . 20 21 •

LGBTQIA BITES

BY KENNEDY MCKINNEY

IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT THE G Bisexual

‘AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL’ MARVIN CORTES COMES OUT AS BISEXUAL In early August, Marvin Cortes, a former contestant on “America’s Next Top Model,” took to social media to open up about his sexuality. The 28-year-old content creator and model came out as bisexual via a video posted on Twitter. “I want to let you know that I’m coming out as openly bisexual. I’ve been in love with both men and women,” said Cortes in the video. “I’ve been proud to be a part of the gay community in my personal life, and I just want to share it now publicly online.” He is most notable for being the first male contestant in the history of ANTM to place as the runner-up and later went on to publish his own book, “Don’t Waste Your Looks on Likes.” He is excited to live his truth and continue to use his platform to inspire others.

• 8 . 26 .2021

Marvin Cortes. Photo via Instagram.

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

Transgender

TORI COOPER BECOMES FIRST BLACK TRANS WOMAN TO SERVE ON PRESIDENTIAL HIV/AIDS PANEL Tori Cooper recently became the first Black transgender woman to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council for HIV/AIDS. She serves as the director of community engagement for the transgender justice initiative at the Human Rights Campaign and is eager to advocate for transgender and nonbinary people. In an interview with NPR, Cooper discussed her goals for the council. “My goal as an individual whose part of a collective is to make sure that we are bringing more equitable health outcomes and even the playing field [to] increase people’s capacity to live healthily and happily,” said Cooper. This council was originally formed by former President Bill Clinton and provides advice, information and recommendations on HIV and AIDS to the secretary of Health

Tori Cooper. Photo via the HRC.

and Human Services. “Being the first of anything is always daunting,” Cooper said regarding her new role on the presidential panel. “But it also is a great opportunity to break down barriers and open doors for other people as well.”

LGBTQIA BITES

Pansexual

MAE WHITMAN COMES OUT AS PANSEXUAL

On Aug. 16, Mae Whitman, star of “Good Girls” and “Parenthood,” opened up about her sexuality and came out as pansexual. In a tweet about her Disney Channel animated series, “The Owl House,” she said, “Being pansexual myself, I wish I had such incredible characters like Amity and Luz in my life when I was growing up. Queer representation is so so so important :,) keep it up world! #TOH.” She continued by explaining how she defines being pansexual, “I know ppl might be unfamiliar with what pansexual means; for me it means I know I can fall in love with people of all genders,” she continued. “This is the word that fits me best — and I’m proud+happy to be part of the Bi+ community :,),” she said. Whitman voices the character Amity Blight on “The Owl House” and the show has received praise for its LGBT representation.

Mae Whitman. Photo via Instagram.

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

NEWS NATIONAL

BY COREY ROSE

THE COUNTRY ACROSS

ALABAMA

CITY COUNCIL REJECTS NON-DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE In a 5-4 vote, members of the Montgomery City Council have blocked the creation of a local nondiscrimination ordinance that would have added protections on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The vote came after local businesses called for an ordinance that fills the gaps in federal protections against discrimination, citing Montgomery as a place of major activity during the civil rights movement. Mayor Steven Reed told LGBTQ Nation, “It’s hard to say to yourself that something as simple as a nondiscrimination ordinance can sit on the table for two months. The vote itself is not a step in a progressive direction, it is a step backwards, and it is a step that I believe will have dire consequences.”

Montgomery, Alabama. Photo via Facebook.

After the vote, Reed suggested directing businesses towards Birmingham, Alabama’s second-most populous city. Birmingham adopted a local non-discrimination ordinance in 2017.

CALIFORNIA FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS TRANS, NON-BINARY CREATORS Some of the LGBT community’s most overlooked storytellers had an opportunity to reflect and imagine the future of storytelling at the annual Trans and Non-Binary Summit this past weekend. Now in its fifth year as an official part of LGBT film festival OutFest LA’s lineup, the day-long summit focused on where the doors opened by shows like FX’s “POSE” will lead trans and non-binary creators in the years to come. In addition to short film screenings and moderated discussions, a panel was held on the theme of building unity within the community. Activist and producer Jacob Tobia moderated the panel and told the Hollywood Reporter, “The next frontier is really moving from singularity to

• 8 . 26 .2021

Activist and producer Jacob Tobia. Photo via Facebook.

plurality of storytelling,” they said. “I’m ready for a network to have a trans executive. I don’t know who’s gonna do that, but one of us is gonna have to step up and make it happen.”

COVERING LGBT NEWS SWEEPING THE NATION

UTAH

NEWLYWED GAY COUPLE FOUND DEAD; NO ARRESTS MADE A newlywed couple was found dead with gunshot wounds outside Moab, Utah last week after both women were reported missing by family and friends. According to friends, Crystal Turner, 38, and Kylen Schulte, 24, had been married four months prior, and enjoyed living together at different campsites around the area. Bridget Calvert, Schulte’s aunt, wrote in a GoFundMe post, “They found their way from the best campsite to the next but always showed up for work with the best ethic and greatest intent.” No arrests have been made in connection with the case, and both the State and Federal Bureaus of Investigations have joined the doublehomicide investigation. Grand County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Shan Hackwell

Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner. Photo via Facebook.

told KSL-TV, “It is suspicious in nature, but we believe that this was an isolated incident. We do have active patrol in the area, and this is an ongoing investigation. Our hearts and condolences go out to their families.”

OREGON SCHOOL BOARD BANS PRIDE AND BLM FLAGS The Newberg Public School board voted 4-3 to broadly ban all signs, clothing, or items that are understood as “political” on school campuses, including Pride flags and the Black Lives Matter flag. Sixteen school counselors within the district signed a letter requesting that the school board reject the ban. Teacher Stacey Dalton said in the Aug. 10 school board meeting, “They are messages of love and support. White and or heteronormative students, the majority, see their own validation consistently in the curriculum Newberg school districts have adopted and therefore do not need extra messages of support.” In the days following the ban, local farmer Jaybill McCarthy and a group of volunteers built an 8’ x 16’ foot plywood

The Black Lives Matter flag. Credit: Fibonacci Blue, via Flickr.

sign that displays the Pride flag, with added colors for people of color, atop a hill that overlooks the local high school. Superintendent Joe Morelock said the ban would undergo extensive legal review before the ban is enforced.

NEWS INTERNATIONAL

BY EVERITT ROSEN

THE WORLD AROUND

ASIA

RUSSIA’S ‘GAY PROPAGANDA LAW’ GOES AFTER CHILDREN’S BOOK A month after a Hungarian bookshop chain was punished for selling a children’s book depicting a day in the life of a kid with same-sex parents, the identical picture book was released in Russia — but with a “18+” label to comply with the country’s so-called “gay propaganda” statute. According to The Guardian, the picture book by American authors Lawrence Schimel and Elīna Brasliņa depicts a morning and an evening in the life of two children with same-sex parents. It has two English titles: “Early One Morning,” about a little boy’s morning with his two moms, and “Bedtime, Not Playtime!” about a girl’s bedtime with her two fathers. “[This] is a book that is not only about LGBTQ+ families, but for them. In that

The cover of “Early One Morning.” Image via Amazon.

sense, this book stands on its own as the very first of its kind in Russia,” said Sphere, a foundation that campaigns for LGBT rights.

AFRICA COURT RULES THAT PROHIBITING HATE SPEECH PROTECTS LGBT RIGHTS In a legal saga that began with the death of Jon Qwelane in 2008, the Constitutional Court of South Africa held that it would not be possible to protect the rights of LGBT people without prohibiting hate speech based on sexual orientation. According to Mail & Guardian, Qwelane wanted to instigate hatred towards LGBT people among his audience. The case had made its way from the equality court to the constitutional court and saw the bench weigh the tension between the right to freedom of expression vs. the right to be protected from hate speech. “Less restrictive means of achieving this purpose have not been suggested, and are in fact inconceivable,” it said

The Constitutional Court of South Africa. Photo via the Constitutional Court of South Africa website.

in the ruling penned by Justice Steven Majiedt.

EXPLORING LGBT NEWS EVENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE

EUROPE POLISH REGION REFUSES TO REMOVE ANTI-LGBT RESOLUTION

A regional parliament in Poland refused to remove an anti-LGBT resolution, despite the prospect of losing up to €2.5 billion in EU money. According to Politico, the resolution condemning “public actions aimed at spreading the ideology of LGBT organizations” was passed by the Małopolska area in southern Poland two years ago. It was one of a slews of similar resolutions approved by local governments in response to prominent officials from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s efforts to combat what they dubbed “LGBT ideology.” “Some barbarians want to strip us of the funds that are crucial for our families to live well,” said Jan Duda, the head of the assembly and the father of Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Kraków, in Małopolska, Poland. Photo via PxHere.

SOUTH AMERICA BRAZIL’S FIRST TRANS PASTOR HOPES TO USE FAITH TO HELP LGBT PEOPLE Frantic calls from LGBT young people thinking about suicide or from their parents after they have made an attempt on their lives regularly intersperse Alexya Salvador’s day. At the point when they do, she drops everything to talk. As the first transgender reverend in Latin America at the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), she hopes she can use her faith to help. According to The Guardian, Salvador understands the struggle to reconcile religion and identity in Brazil, where Christianity is the predominant religion. “The panic that lived in my head until I discovered the MCC was that I would go to hell, that I was God’s mistake,” she says. “While studying theology, I learned that I have flaws like all humans do, but being a trans woman is not one of them.”

Reverend Alexya Salvador. Photo via Facebook.

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

NEWS LOCAL

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.

AHF HIV Testing Counselors Marty and Wilson.

• 8 . 26 .2021

Photos by J.R. Davis

Husbands Scott McCoy of Southern Poverty Law Center and Equality Florida Broward Development Officer Mark Barr.

GFLGLCC President and CEO Keith Blackburn with Wayne Besen, the founding executive director of Truth Wins Out. To learn more about Truth Wins Out, visit TruthWinsOut.org.

Husbands Oscar Enamorado and Ernie Barrio.

WEEK

NEWS MIAMI-DADE

TRIAL DATE SET AFTER PLEA NEGOTIATIONS STALL FOR ACCUSED MIAMI GAY BASHERS

THE

ISLANDER

Jason Parsley

A WILTON MANORS NEWSLETTER

n March and April an attorney representing the state sounded confident he’d be able to reach a plea deal with the four men accused of attacking a gay couple after Miami Beach Pride in 2018 before the next court hearing in August. Not anymore. “We are in the midst of plea negotiations [...] there are some discussions going back and forth with some various options,” attorney Justin Funck told the judge in March. At the Aug. 19 hearing the attorney sounded less confident about eventually reaching a plea deal. “I know that at some point, there was, you know, hopes of resolving the case short of a trial,” Judge Andrea Wolfson said. “I am going to have more discussions with the defense attorneys,” Funck said. For now though a trial date has been set for November. “I do think we’re very close to either this case resolving by way of plea, or I think all parties being able to certify ready for trial,” Funck also said in March. The four defendants — Adonis Diaz, Juan Carlos Lopez, Luis Alonso-Piovet, and Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa — all in their early 20s, have pleaded not guilty. Here’s a recap of what allegedly happened: the attack took place when Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov were leaving a public

“I DO THINK WE’RE VERY CLOSE TO EITHER THIS CASE RESOLVING BY WAY OF PLEA, OR I THINK ALL PARTIES BEING ABLE TO CERTIFY READY FOR TRIAL.” - Justin Funck ATTORNEY

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South Florida Gay News From top left to bottom right: Luis Alonso-Piovet, Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, Adonis Diaz and Juan C. Lopez. Photos via Miami-Dade corrections.

bathroom in Lummus Park in Miami Beach on April 8, 2018. “We were walking and holding hands and needed to use the bathroom,” Logunov told SFGN in 2018. So the two of them stopped at a public restroom as they headed home for the evening. As Logunov walked out of the restroom he was allegedly called a “faggot” in Spanish, punched, and then beaten unconscious. His boyfriend at the time, Chalarca, quickly intervened, but three more men jumped in and began to attack them both. The attack was caught on camera and the four defendants have been charged with three counts of aggravated battery. A hate crime enhancement was later added to the charges. A third person, Helmut Estrada, attempted to assist Chalarca and Logunov. He was also attacked during the altercation and injured.

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8 . 26 . 20 21 •

NEWS LOCAL

VINCENT FOSTER, FORMER LOCAL LOG CABIN PREZ, DIES AT 31 Steve Rothaus

incent Foster, who in 2016 led Log Cabin Republicans of Miami when the group bucked its national parent and endorsed presidential candidate Donald Trump, died Aug. 16 at age 31. “Vinny was very good. He was a good the divide between Republicans and friend, a good leader, and a good person,” Democrats. That was his focus, his reason for Miami attorney Jihan “Gigi” Soliman posted wanting to join SAVE at the time,” said Lima, Aug. 20 on Facebook. “He loved America, SAVE’s executive director at the time. “As wholeheartedly, and loved a good time. an activist, he had very strong Republican Americans hate getting old, but it is a gift ideals, but he always thought we could affect we seem to consistently take for granted. We positive change working together.” both joked we’d die young. In his honor, I Foster left SAVE as the 2016 campaign won’t make such jokes anymore, because it’s heated up. “He was gone before the age of just not funny.” Trumpism,” Lima said. Foster’s family has not revealed how he Foster, who was single, recently sold died, according to Soliman. patient data-management software for Her friend, however, halfway houses and rehab quietly suffered failing centers. health. “He was diabetic. He “Vinny was very passionate was diagnosed about eight about life, family, friends, years ago,” Soliman said. “He and politics. He was driven, was living in Coral Springs charismatic, supportive and with his aunt. He moved loving. He had an amazing there to be closer with his energy that reflected on grandmother whose cancer “AS AN ACTIVIST, HE everyone that knew him. He came back. They were very, truly had a heart of gold,” HAD VERY STRONG very close.” according to the family REPUBLICAN Foster was born in Coral obituary, which doesn’t Springs and grew up in North mention his LGBT activism IDEALS, BUT HE Carolina, where his mother’s or that he was president ALWAYS THOUGHT conservative Republican of Log Cabin Republicans family lives. of Miami during the 2016 WE COULD After he graduated from presidential election. AFFECT POSITIVE Porter Ridge High School in A celebration of Foster’s Indian Trail, North Carolina, life was held Aug. 20 in CHANGE WORKING Foster returned to South Coral Springs. He is survived TOGETHER.” Florida and enrolled at the by his parents, paternal University of Miami. In 2012, grandparents, brothers, - Tony Lima he received a Bachelor of aunts, uncles and cousins. FORMER EXECUTIVE Arts degree with a double Soliman said she met DIRECTOR OF SAVE major in political science Foster more than a decade and philosophy, and minors ago, when both were involved in Spanish and criminology, in student government at according to a family obituary. UM. “He was a young man, a man of color. A “I was the first openly gay student bar very tragic thing,” said Tony Lima, who in association president,” Soliman said. “We 2015 hired Foster to work as SAVE LGBTQ’s met, we hit it off so well, we actually bonded development director. over the fight to have smoking areas on “He was very passionate about bridging campus. As Republicans, there needs to be a

• 8 . 26.2021

Vincent Foster. Photo via Instagram.

choice. That was our discussion. It was how we became friends.” They bonded over some conservative issues such as gun rights. “Gun rights are gay rights,” Foster posted nearly five years ago on Instagram. “I always agreed with him,” Soliman said. “No one can f—- you up if you have a gun.” They split politically over Trump. On October 22, 2016 — two weeks before the presidential election — the national Log Cabin Republicans organization announced it would not endorse Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton: “As Mr. Trump spoke positively about the LGBT community in the United States, he concurrently surrounded himself with senior advisors with a record of

opposing LGBT equality.” A week later, Foster issued his own announcement: the Miami chapter defied national and endorsed Trump. “It’s huge,” Foster told the Miami Herald on October 31, 2016. “A lot of our members were upset. We were ready to risk everything and go our separate way to support our most supportive Republican presidential candidate for the LGBT community.” Soliman and several other anti-Trump members departed Log Cabin Republicans. In time, so did Foster. “I left the political ring a lot earlier than he did,” Soliman said. “I was very angry that they endorsed Trump. He respected the democratic process.”

Journalist Steve Rothaus covered LGBTQ issues for 22 years at the Miami Herald. @SteveRothaus on Twitter.

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LOCAL ENTERTAINER RAEJEAN COX DIES AFTER CAR ACCIDENT

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John Hayden

arl Bunning, known throughout South were amazing, keeping crowds entertained Florida as Drag Queen extraordinaire and engaged while also keeping the program RaeJean Cox, passed away. His death on track. was announced on Aug. 25, nearly three RaeJean was also the reigning Empress weeks after a horrific car crash. of the Imperial Sun Court of All Florida Bunning was in critical (ISCOAF). The philanthropic condition after his car went organization raises thousands DURING THE off I-95 in Palm Beach County, of dollars every year for charity. during bad weather, on Aug. 5. They announced her passing PANDEMIC, He wasn’t found until sometime on their Facebook page, saying, RAEJEAN WAS A later and was eventually taken “We are sad to announce the to St. Mary’s Medical Center TIRELESS LEADER, passing of our reigning Empress in West Palm Beach. Friends RaeJean Cox. The Court sends CREATING say he had more than a dozen our most sincere condolences INNOVATIVE, surgeries to repair severe to Earl’s family and community. damage to internal organs. In May his memory be a blessing.” FUN, AND the days following the accident, RaeJean loved working for SOCIALLY Bunning was alert enough to her community and helping DISTANT acknowledge doctors and give local organizations. During a “thumbs up.” But for most of the pandemic, RaeJean was FUNDRAISERS. the last few weeks he was in a a tireless leader, creating coma so doctors could continue innovative, fun, and socially their work to save his life. distant fundraisers. ISCOAF’s investiture As RaeJean, Bunning was a South Florida ceremony in May was one of the group’s first superstar. RaeJean performed at bars, clubs, big, in person events since the pandemic hit. and events throughout Broward and Palm At the time she said, “This is why we do it. Beach counties. If she had the microphone... Everyone [getting] together and being here you knew it. Her skills for hosting events for one another.”

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

NEWS LOCAL

12-STEP GROUPS LEAVE PRIDE CENTER AFTER DRASTIC RENT INCREASES MEMBERS ARE OUTRAGED AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER’S DECISION By Jason Parsley and Christiana Lilly

any people in the local recovery community celebrated when the Pride Center at Equality Park finally reopened their doors after being closed for 15 months due to the pandemic. They were tired of meeting virtually and desperately needed in-person meetings.

The Pride Center at Equality Park. Photo via Facebook, edited by Brendon Lies.

• 8 . 26.2021

But that celebration quickly turned sour when letters to the editors complaining about the new the leaders of these recovery-oriented groups rates as well. learned the Pride Center would be drastically These groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous increasing their rents going forward. Some and Narcotics Anonymous, are made up of groups have since left, while the others are now volunteers; no one receives compensation. struggling to afford the additional costs. Each group collects money by passing around “I am outraged over the Pride Center. It seems a basket at the end of each meeting where they are forcing 12-step recovery meetings to go members typically donate $1, sometimes more. elsewhere by raising their rents to impossible These programs’ bylaws — or rather “traditions” heights. It’s a disgrace, appalling, and doing a as they are internally called — prohibit groups disservice to the community they purport to from charging any dues or fees to attend. support,” said Guy Veronick, in a letter to SFGN. In addition, they are not allowed to solicit In many cases, the rent for outside donations, such as recovery-orientated groups have corporate sponsors. This is “I CAN TELL more than doubled. Now the groups meant to keep the program are faced with a stark choice — open to any person dealing with YOU WE HAVE leave the Pride Center or continue addiction issues in need of help, to struggle to pay rent. For example, as well as keeping the groups free PROVIDED one Alcoholics Anonymous group from any conflicts of interest. ENORMOUSLY that meets five days a week at the The Pride Center has provided center paid $400 per month before a safe space for these groups for GENEROUS the pandemic. Now, they’re paying at least 25 years — long before DISCOUNTS TO more than $1,000. they moved into their current Meanwhile, all of the Narcotics on Dixie Highway in THESE GROUPS.” location Anonymous groups have now left Wilton Manors. the center. According to Veronick, SFGN sent the Pride Center - Robert Boo the Crystal Meth Anonymous group a list of specific questions CEO OF THE PRIDE CENTER has also left. addressing the rent increase and “While it would be highly other concerns that members inappropriate to disclose the details of every of these 12-step groups had. They responded contract with every group, I can tell you we with a 2,500-word letter addressing some of have provided enormously generous discounts the questions and outlining their new COVID to these groups,” Robert Boo, CEO of the Pride policies and procedures. Center, said in a letter to SFGN. “Samantha McCoy, our Customer Service SFGN spoke to a half dozen members of Coordinator for The Pride Center, oversees these recovery-oriented groups, who are all all rental agreements. She’s experienced very upset and angry. Due to the anonymous nature healthy, very collaborative communication with of these programs, most of the members did group leaders in securing new usage agreements not feel comfortable having their identifies in for groups,” Boo’s letter reads. the newspaper. Two additional people emailed Some of the members SFGN spoke to did in

NEWS LOCAL fact praise McCoy, telling SFGN that she really during the pandemic to 93,000 in 2020 — fought for them. Regardless, though, the end the highest ever recorded. Meanwhile, the result was still a drastic increase in their rents. National Institutes of Health states on its “We have established and will apply website “substance use patterns reported standard and generous rental discount by sexual minority adults … are higher rates for Equality Park Business Partners compared to those reported by heterosexual [our nonprofit tenants on campus] and adults.” For example, the latest data available progressively more generous discounts for shows that 9% of sexual minorities abused regular/ongoing monthly, weekly and daily opioids compared to 3.8% of the overall adult groups,” the letter reads. population. Oftentimes, venues that host “We’re talking about 12-step recovery meetings will recovering alcoholics and drug base the rent on a percentage of addicts. I’m really shocked and donations they receive. This is hurt and surprised that the Pride because meeting attendance — Center could be so greedy with and therefore donations — can 12-step programs,” Veronick wildly fluctuate. For example, said. “This is just a way for them the groups that decided to to get rid of us.” continue to meet at the Pride Veronick is the treasurer Center have seen their inof the group he attended on person attendance drop since Thursday evenings. They were the reopening; they’re hoping forced to leave the center after these numbers will eventually their rent was raised from $65 increase. a month to $168.75. Their new So the groups have been hit location charges $60 a month. - Guy Veronick doubly hard — more rent and “They almost tripled the now less people to help pay for rent for a meeting with 10 to 15 it. people,” he said. “It would not be just or equitable for one Veronick also attends a 5:45 p.m. meeting, type of support group to be paying a higher whose rent was increased 250%, where he rate than another for the use of the same said members have been announcing that the space at a similar time,” the letter from Boo group is looking for a new home since they reads. “Nor would it be just or equitable to cannot afford the rent anymore. apply a different standard in determining the “They say it at every meeting, they’re room rate for one type of recovery group than looking for a new place,” he said. a recovery group for a different substance. If any of these recovery-oriented groups do That’s why we have standard rates and collect money above and beyond the cost of progressive, standard discounts for groups.” rent, it goes to buy things such as literature Veronick disagrees, saying LGBT people and meeting lists; chips and key tags to dealing with addiction issues are some of celebrate sobriety; and coffee. If there are the most vulnerable and in-need members leftover funds after that, the money is used of the community. The statistics back him to support regional programs, such as a local up. According to multiple media reports, hotline to assist people looking for meetings overdoses nationally have surged 30% or support.

“THEY SAY IT AT EVERY MEETING, THEY’RE LOOKING FOR A NEW PLACE.”

To read the full statement from The Pride Center, go to: SFGN.com/12steps

Members of the groups that have decided to stay at the Pride Center told SFGN they will have little to no money to support these programs going forward because of the increased rent. A couple of other groups left the center before the facility reopened because they wanted to start meeting in person again. Members of those groups tell SFGN, though, that there is no way they can afford to come back to the Pride Center. “The Rainbow Group was the original group of any meeting at the Pride Center,” a member of the group said. They met once a week and paid $20 per meeting. The member says the rent would have been raised to $40 or $60 per meeting if they were to come back. Currently they’re meeting at Lambda South, an LGBT recovery clubhouse in Fort Lauderdale, off of Las Olas Boulevard, where they are paying $60 a month. The discounts mentioned by Boo may be generous, but even so, the rents have still more than doubled since the reopening. “All of these 12-step meetings that meet at the Pride Center have supported the center for years. Twelve-step recovery groups do not charge dues or fees,” Veronick said. “We rely on donations for members who are just getting their lives back on track.” The member of these groups said they were told by the center that the rents were being raised due to the cleaning and sanitizing costs. The letter does mention extra cleaning costs, but cleaning alone doesn’t appear to necessitate the drastic increase in rent. The letter from Boo addresses the issue: “The Center continues to underwrite costs for groups. As you can imagine, the discounted hourly rate, for instance, for a daily group using a 2,108-square-foot room with exclusive access to four restrooms does not cover the facility staff’s costs for cleaning and sanitizing that room and restrooms before and after every meeting — much less the costs of security, AC, cleaning and sanitation supplies and many other expenses incurred for those spaces.” But many of those costs, such as air conditioning, and “exclusive access to four restrooms” are the same as before the pandemic. The letter goes on to add: “Last year, we also installed Plexiglas shields in the Cyber Center and in offices where HIV testing or other individual services occur to support the reopening of these programs on campus. These shields are cleaned and sanitized daily.” The letter does not explain why these additions would increase the rent for 12-step groups. “We strongly believe in the immense value

Robert Boo, CEO of The Pride Center, responded in a letter to SFGN. Photo via Twitter.

of recovery and peer support groups, and although our costs for staff, security, utilities, cleaning and sanitation are exponentially higher now than when we moved to this campus in 2009, we have worked hard over many years to ensure that group rental rates remain low,” the letter reads. Not everyone is satisfied with the Pride Center’s responses to the rent increases. “I wonder if the generous donors of the Pride Center are aware of this?” wrote Eric Masse-Demarco in a letter to the editor to SFGN. “Does the community know that a place where gay 12-step groups could go for recovery meetings is pushing the groups away by price gouging?” In order to compare the rates, SFGN reached out to Compass, the LGBT community center in Palm Beach County, to find out what they charged a 12-step group that meets at their facility. “There is no ‘rent’ being paid for the space. Community lead groups ask participants if they would like to make a donation to the center. There is no specific dollar amount that we request,” a spokesperson wrote to SFGN in an email. “The space is reserved for the group’s ongoing meetings whether they pay or not since it is a free service that benefits the community.” The member of the Rainbow Group mentioned how the group was started by three HIV-positive, straight people who chose to meet at an LGBT community center because of the stigma surrounding HIV in the 1980s. “It’s heartbreaking we had to move out of there. That was our home,” the member of the Rainbow Group said. “But it’s their loss too. We were a resource to them, more than they were to us. When it’s a community center, it’s supposed to be serving the community.”

The Pride Center at Equality Park. Photo via Facebook. 8 . 26 . 20 21 •

NEWS LOCAL

David Jobin, CEO and president of Our Fund, speaking at a past event. Photo via Our Fund, Facebook.

OUR FUND AWARDS $355,000 IN ‘HEALTHY’ GRANTS Beneficiaries include Compass, Equality Florida, and Gilda’s Club John Hayden

ore than a year of pandemic has area organizations. Recipients include Big exposed the dangerous gaps Brothers Big Sisters of Broward’s BIG Pride in health coverage for many program, which gives one-to-one mentoring underserved people in the LGBT community. to LGBT youth. Compass’ Transgender Our Fund Foundation has Mental Health Access program studied the need and recently was also recognized along awarded grants to South Florida with Equality Florida’s LGBTQ organizations that work towards Health Equity Program which better health and wellness. gives culturally competent “We recently conducted a LGBT training to health comprehensive, researchedprofessionals. based Needs Assessment which Gilda’s Club got a grant to identified critical gaps between give cancer support services needs and services in South for lesbian, bisexual, and Florida’s LGBTQ community,” transgender people. said David Jobin, president and For more than a decade, CEO of Our Fund. “The need for Our Fund has been identifying - David Jobin expanded health and wellness needs within the LGBT PRESIDENT AND CEO programs which address unique community and awarding OF OUR FUND LGBTQ+ community health grants to further causes risks and disparities ranked important to our community. highest, and we are extremely proud to help Our Fund Foundation is the third largest support these wonderful non-profits and LGBT foundation in America and the only initiatives.” one in South Florida. Our Fund works to Their LGBTQ+ Health & Wellness Fund promote philanthropy by matching donors gave grants ranging from $8,000 to $40,000 with organizations that LGBT issues and each, for a total of $355,000 awarded to 16 causes.

“... We are extremely proud to help support these wonderful non-profits and initiatives.”

To learn more about their work and the organizations that benefit, visit Our-Fund.org.

• 8 . 26.2021

LET’S STOP HIV TOGETHER

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8 . 26 . 20 21 •

NEWS LOCAL

RESEARCH REVEALS THE DOUBLE DISPARITIES BLACK LGBT PEOPLE FACE Denise Royal

eing a person of color is challenging in the United States. Being part of the LGBT communities can be difficult too. Recently released research examining the intersection of anti-LGBT and racial discrimination highlights the “shockingly disproportionate harms” inflicted on LGBT people of color.

The National Black Justice Coalition led the stinging reminder that racism, and its strategic report, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, objective, white supremacy, is as defining a the National LGBTQ Task Force, and Freedom characteristic of the American experience for All Americans in collaboration with the as those ideals upon which we claim to hold What We Know Project, a research portal our democracy — justice, equality, liberty,” at the Center for the Study of Inequality at said Nadine Smith, executive director of Cornell University. Equality Florida, in a statement to SFGN. “We It found “overwhelming consensus” understand what it means to rise up and push that discrimination inflicts back against a culture that profound significant harm tells us that we are less than, on LGBT people of color in that our lives don’t matter.” various areas. Race-based In Florida, Governor Ron bias leads to greater economic DeSantis signed a bill last insecurity, poorer mental and month barring transgender physical health, and higher females from playing on rates of suicidal thoughts. public school teams intended Discrimination is also for student-athletes born as evident in the workplace. girls. The controversial law Even though a year ago, the is sure to be challenged as U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. It highlights in favor of LGBT workplace a pattern unfolding nationally protections. as Republican-controlled According to the report, states move to limit the when applying for jobs, rights of LGBT people, whose - Nadine Smith nearly a third of LGBT people advocates were particularly EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF of color report experiencing annoyed that the Florida EQUALITY FLORIDA homophobic or transphobic legislation was signed on the harassment compared to 13% first day of Pride Month. of white LGBT individuals. Queer people also “We’ve heard and read about the killings face a greater risk of being victims of anti- of transgender people — Black transgender LGBT discrimination when dealing with the women in particular,” Smith said. “This year police. alone, we have lost at least 12 transgender Another critical finding is geography. More members of our community. Many of our than 5.5 million LGBT people of color live in organizations have made progress in adopting the U.S., and about half live in states without intersectionality as a core value and have protections from discrimination based on committed to being more diverse, equitable, sexual orientation or gender identity. and inclusive. But this moment requires The majority of Black LGBT Americans that we go further — that we make explicit live in the South (51.4%, more than twice the commitments to embrace anti-racism and end share of any other region), where most states white supremacy, not as necessary corollaries lack anti-discrimination protections. to our mission, but as integral to the objective “Twenty twenty-one has been a stark and of full equality for all LGBTQ people.”

“WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO RISE UP AND PUSH BACK AGAINST A CULTURE THAT TELLS US THAT WE ARE LESS THAN, THAT OUR LIVES DON’T MATTER.”

• 8 . 26.2021

Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida, speaking about diversity at Imagine Museum in 2020. Photo via Facebook.

THE

GAZETTE VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 17 AUGUST 26, 2021

FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/WMGAZETTE COMMUNITY

WILTON MANORS

UNAFFORDABLE HOUSING Low inventory drives up cost

By John McDonald As more data from the United States Census Bureau is released, a snapshot of America’s cities is coming into focus. In Wilton Manors housing and rental costs rank above national averages. The Census Bureau listed the city’s median gross rent from 2015 to 2019 as $1,420. The national average was $1,062. For workers, many employed in the city’s restaurant and bar industry, rental prices make life harder, not better. James Oaksun, a South Florida realtor, said a worker making $15 an hour has little to no chance of landing their own apartment in the Island City. “They would have to have a roommate and even then the inventory is very limited,” Oaksun said. The going rate in the Wilton Manors rental market is at least $1,500 for two bedrooms and one bath, said realtor Amber Taylor. “It’s a sad state of affairs for those who might bag our groceries, serve our drinks and dare I say teach or work for our city,” Taylor said. The lack of low-income housing is only part of the equation. A deeper dive into Census data shows Wilton Manors’ median value of owner-occupied housing units was $326,600, well above the national rate of $217,500. Median monthly owner costs with a

mortgage came to $1,967, and without a mortgage came to $719. The national averages were $1,595 and $500. However, all of those figures come with a big asterisk — they were tallied before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Mike Trottier, a real estate agent with Dettman Realty Group, said COVID-19 dramatically changed the market. “Showings and closings stopped for a long time and that pent-up demand,” Trottier said. “Then the Federal Reserve dropped interest rates to record lows and that also added to the pent-up demand.” Once stay-at-home orders were lifted and showings and transactions resumed, that pent-up demand flooded the market, Trottier said. “Competing offers drove bidding wars which increased the sale prices that people were willing to pay,” he said. Other forces, Trottier said, were millennials taking advantage of historically low-interest rates and entering the market for the first time, while older people simultaneously prepared for retirement by purchasing second homes. Housing is briefly mentioned in a draft of Wilton Manors’ strategic plan for the next five years. Objectives related to housing in the plan include increasing density to accommodate residential development

James Oaksun, a South Florida realtor, said a worker making $15 an hour has little to no chance of landing their own apartment in the Island City.

Photo credit: rWorks, via Flickr.

and assessing and evaluating the use and necessity of city-owned real estate. Taylor said she hasn’t noticed any indications the city’s plan will help lowincome renters and middle-class families. “If anything the multifamily housing still deemed affordable is being torn down and replaced with second homes for the more fortunate who come down on a seasonal basis,” she said. “We have no concept of tenant protection or rent-controlled apartments like the other big metro areas.” Information about the first-time homebuyers purchase assistance program can be found on the city’s website.

www.WMGAZETTE.com

Administered in partnership with Broward County’s Housing Finance and Community Redevelopment Division, the program offers a maximum of $40,000 per household for firsttime homebuyers seeking to live in Wilton Manors. Trottier said as the pandemic subsides, inventory will increase and the market will begin to normalize. He predicted prices will continue to rise but not at the same pace of the last six months. “With safety protocols and the vaccine being more widespread and effective, more sellers feel comfortable and inventory is slowly rising,” he said.

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

WILTON MANORS

OPINION

Kudos to Mayor Newton for Showing Leadership at Tuesday’s Meeting

2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305

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

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residents, listened to city staff and understands the tough choices our city needs to make to bring us securely into future sustainability. Similarly, Commissioner Chris Caputo and Vice Mayor Paul Rolli were equally engaged, informed, and looked to move the process along to final approval. Both at times expressing confusion and disagreement at comments made by Commissioner Resnick along the way. On a few occasions reminding Commissioner Resnick that the information he was questioning was all in the back-up material and to ask what was the point of such obstruction-ary inquiry at such a stage in the process. Many thanks to our four elected officials who voted to approve the very important ordinances on Tuesday night. The first ordinance is the creation of the TOC-West, which changes the zoning along the Andrews Avenue and Oakland Park Blvd corridor. The second ordinance was much more detailed and included issues such as density, height restrictions and permitted

usage and was much more contentious. Both ordinances reached this final stage with many years of input, Planning & Zoning meetings, community outreach, commission hearings, changes based on public input, compromise, and adjustments. Final passage on Tuesday night was a culmination of much input and discussion. We don’t always get what we want, but we should be able to work together, compromise when needed, and be able to do what is right and necessary for our community. That is what makes us a great city. Commitment and professionalism of our city staff makes us a great city. Active community involvement makes us a great city. Commissioner Bracchi, Commissioner Caputo and Vice Mayor Rolli make us a great city. And yes, Commissioner Resnick over the years has helped make us a great city, however one must question what his recent obstructionisms is all about. And finally, our Mayor Scott Newton, with is wonderous finale on Tuesday night, deserves the exclamation of surprise and astonishment of, “Great Scott.” The passage of these very important two ordinances this past Tuesday night will ensure that life in our Island City will remain just better here….

Fed up with Sal?☺Have a different opinion? Submit your column to Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com

www.WMGAZETTE.com • 8 . 26.2021

August 26, 2021 • Volume 8 • Issue 17

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

I am sure many in the chambers, city management, and those following at home on Zoom let out a similar gasp of surprise and astonishment.

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

By Sal Torre A somewhat outdated phrase from days gone by, used to express surprise and astonishment. “Great Scott”- it’s the perfect phrase to use after Tuesday’s City Commission meeting. Our Island City Mayor Scott Newton finished a long debate with a surprise rebuttal to Commissioner Gary Resnick’s diatribe of how city staff mishandled bringing two very important ordinances through the process. Great Scott! Words came rushing out deep within me — finally someone calling out the baseless rhetoric coming from Commissioner Resnick. Years, not months, of waiting, years of public meetings, years of changes, years of delays, and years of listening to Commissioner Resnick claim that the process was somehow deficient, that staff did not do a good job of informing the public, that this was wrong and that was wrong. Finally last night, before the final vote, having heard from all the commissioners’ final comments, Mayor Scott Newton had his opportunity and seized it masterfully and courageously. I am sure many in the chambers, city management, and those following at home on Zoom let out a similar gasp of surprise and astonishment. Many perked up and were reminded why we voted for Scott to be our mayor in the first place – leadership. Leadership is not an easy road and Newton could have chosen not to make such a robust statement that night. However there are times when honesty and decency need to make a stand and last night was one of those times. I thank you Scott Newton, residents throughout our city thank you, and I am sure that our hard working and dedicated city staff thank you. Great job Scott Newton. Fellow members of our City Commission deserve credit and recognition of their steadfast commitment to our city and its future. Commissioner Mike Bracchi demonstrated his commitment to make the tough decisions we elect our public officials for in the first place. Getting past the misinformation, the accusations by some during Public Comments of retribution, and the divisiveness over the past year, Commissioner Bracchi looked at the facts, listened to the consultants, listened to

THE

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AUGUST 26, 2021

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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COMMUNITY

WILTON MANORS

Wilton Manors Officially Increases Density, Heights for Buildings in City By John McDonald Wilton Manors Commissioners finalized changes to the city’s code at its regular meeting Tuesday evening. The much-debated changes to Article 30 of the city’s Unified Land Development Regulations passed on a 4-to-1 vote. The changes essentially increase density, adjust heights and setbacks and add properties to the city’s transit-oriented corridors. “It’s been a long road but I think we’ve been able to preserve our neighborhoods with all the changes we’ve made,” said Mayor Scott Newton. Commissioner Gary Resnick cast the lone no vote, objecting to allowing 90-foot buildings in the city and questioning the honesty of the process. Resnick, attending via Zoom, noted the state had fined the city for a sewer discharge and said increased density would only hamper an already stressed sewer system. “I think this goes too far in the balance of what developers want,” Resnick said, adding, “the impact on our quality of life is going to be tremendous” and “traffic is already a nightmare.” Newton responded that he was hurt by Resnick’s suggestion the planning process was intentionally misguided. “Wilton Manors is changing in a way that is a nice step at a time,” Newton said. “We are not doing leaps and bounds like Fort Lauderdale. We’re not doing the 20-30 story buildings like Fort Lauderdale. I don’t want that either. I think it’s a nice compromise and it will be a nice aesthetic look.” Vice Mayor Paul Rolli said development changes are vital for the city’s future and commended Community Development Services Director Roberta Moore for her dedication to seeing the project through. “It’s a major undertaking,” Rolli said. “Our goal here is to increase our tax base so that the city can become fiscally sustainable as it grows in the future. It’s not all about tomorrow, it’s about 10, 15, 20 years from now.” Commissioner Mike Bracchi said there was a lot of public engagement and compromise. “I think we did a really good job with this,” Bracchi said. Density is calculated at 60 units per acre and caveats were added to eliminate microunits. The new laws also permit drivethrough windows for banks, coffee shops and pharmacies in the city’s east and west zones. Commissioners also discussed developer agreements, variances and waivers. “In my experience, in all the years I’ve been

NEWS

OAKLAND PARK

Man Hit by Tri-Rail Train in Oakland Park By Christiana Lilly An unnamed man was killed after being hit by a Tri-Rail train in Oakland Park the morning of Aug. 16. The man was struck at Prospect Road and Powerline Road at 8:44 p.m. and was lying dead next to the tracks when fire rescue arrived, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. His name has not been released as law enforcement is working to notify the next of kin. BSO says that the man was sitting on the railroad tracks facing east; the conductor of the Tri-Rail train turned on the horn and emergency brakes, but “the victim was unable to move off the tracks and was struck by the train.” Crime scene and homicide detectives determined that there was no “suspicious trauma or foul play” and the man’s body was taken to the medical examiner’s office for further examination.

Tri-Rail. Photo via Facebook.

Photo via PxHere.

doing this a variance is a lot harder to prove than a waiver,” said planning consultant Jim Hickey. During the public hearing, several residents voiced concerns. Mark Seymour, one of the owners of Hunter’s Nightclub, said he felt vulnerable that his business could be forced out of its Wilton Drive location by changes to city code. Meanwhile, resident Michael Pierce, the partner of former Mayor John Fiore, said there would be “consequences” if development creeps into eastside neighborhoods. Others asked for a shift in focus to Andrews Avenue on the westside. “Moving forward, I hope this commission realizes that there is another street other than the Drive,” said resident Jake Valentine. “Take your blinders off because you’ve done a wonderful job. It’s done … other than some damn trees and remember there’s the Avenue.” Tuesday night’s four-hour meeting was the first gathering inside commission chambers since a positive coronavirus diagnosis was reported to health officials from the July 2728 meetings. The majority of attendees wore masks with the exception of a few members of the public. Facial coverings are required for employees inside city buildings, said Johnnie Goodnight, Wilton Manors LGBT liaison.

NEWS

WILTON MANORS

Auto Show Revs Up In Wilton Manors By John Hayden Engines will be purring this weekend at the Wilton Manors Car Show. Cool cars will find their spot outside Wilton Manors City Hall and compete for trophies and bragging rights. Cobra Joe Productions (CJP) is hosting the event along with the Wilton Manors Community Affairs Advisory Board and Wilton Dive Improvement District. CJP gave us a glimpse of what will be rolling in. “Our car shows are open to hot rods, customs, muscle cars, tricked-out trucks, classic motorcycles, late models, and, of course, the classics.” Trophies will be abundant, as cars will be competing in 40 categories including Best of Show. Helping complete the Sunday Funday will be food and drink will be available and DJ Tom Caminiti hosting. Best of all, admission is free. If you think your car is cool enough to take

www.WMGAZETTE.com

“Dream Car Classic,” a show hosted in 2016 by Cobra Joe Productions. Courtesy photo.

home a prize, registration is $20. The event is Sunday, Aug. 29 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Wilton Manors City Hall, 2020 Wilton Drive.

For more details go to their website at CobraJoeProductions.com.

3 •

AUGUST 26, 2021

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

Don’t miss a

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

WILTON MANORS

tastE Feeling the hunger?

Map courtesy of Chris Caputo.

Read SFGN’s weekly food column for an exclusive bite on local bars, restaurants, and seasonal flavors.

sFGn.com/FooD

Approved Development Rules Ensure Responsible Growth in Wilton Manors The idea of growth and development in our charming city has been a very polarizing issue for years. With the final approval of our new development rules at the Aug. 24th commission meeting, I am optimistic that all residents will appreciate the positive changes we have enacted with the passing of “Article 30.” While most residents in Central and West Wilton overwhelming supported the proposed changes to height and density, the East Side was far more divided. Knowing that our goal was to encourage development while also protecting our neighborhoods, we found a winwin solution for concerned nearby neighbors and potential future developers. I would like to take a moment to specifically demonstrate how these new rules will better protect nearby homes by giving an example from the East Side. The hub map shows the newly approved heights which can allow for an “incentive additional height” if a developer delivers a superior product by including things like enhanced landscaping, street activation and public art. The majority is the North and South Side of 26th Street is color coded pink, guaranteeing a developer the right to build five stories and potentially building six. A small portion of 26th Street shown in red, which isn’t directly adjacent to any single-family homes, allows between 6-8 stories. Any area in white has not been affected by these new rules. It’s incredibly important to know that this pink area on the east side previously legally allowed for five-story buildings! Our city attorney was responsible in pointing out that if we decreased the maximum height in this area, the city could be held liable for decreasing the value of the land and incur significant legal and settlement expenses. Not only did our previous development rules allow for five-story heights on those properties along NE 26th St., but they also allowed for building designs that created a canyon effect over neighboring homes. If you

lived directly behind one of these parcels, you might have found yourself looking straight up at a five-story building wall that was literally 10 feet from your property line. With a rear set back (distance from the property line) of 10 feet, your backyard would no longer feel like a private sanctuary. While it is true that we increased the height from five to six stories for the parcels highlighted in pink on the map, we did so in a way that built in new safeguards for concerned residents. Rather than allow a five-story building 10 feet from the backyard of a singlefamily home, our new rules require a 45-foot set back from adjacent homes. If the building is more than three stories, the 4th story and above must be set back an additional 20 feet. This is what we have referred to as the wedding cake affect, and it ensures that nearby properties won’t be overshadowed. I would certainly rather have a six-story building whose top floor was 65 feet from my backyard than a five-story flat-walled building just 10 feet from my property line, wouldn’t you? Article 30 required a tremendous amount of creativity and compromise to come up with rules that are better protect residents and make new development feasible in our city. By allowing developers to build up to 60 units per acre (compared to 25 previously) and providing for additional height in some areas, we were able to ensure that development was financially viable and build in new safeguards that better protected our neighborhoods. I wish to thank every single stakeholder who shared their ideas and concerns with us. I personally read every email and listened to every resident who reached out to me and I will continue to do so. If you have any questions or concerns about the new development rules, please email me at ccaputo@wiltonmanors. com or text 954-557-2801.

www.WMGAZETTE.com 20

• 8 . 26.2021

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AUGUST 26, 2021

— Chris Caputo

WILTON MANORS CITY COMMISSIONER

IN MEMORIAM STEVE VIANEST

STEVE VIANEST, HUSBAND OF DR. HOWARD CUNNINGHAM, DIES OF COVID-19 Norm Kent

ess than 30 days ago, on July 27, Steve Vianest, the husband of Dr. Howard Cunningham, was in Mexico, watching his son Brad, 16, make his first ever shipwreck dive. Ever the proud daddy, Steve posted pictures of the adventure on Facebook. Three weeks earlier, the two were to South Florida after a “lifetime of love touring Mayan ruins, negotiating the and worldwide travel with my partner rain forests while trying out native Howard.” recipes. Steve made a point of tasting the In an interview with SFGN in 2010, homemade coconut cookies and Mayan Vianest told the paper “our lives changed honey. forever when on a trip to Key West we Before the month was over, on July 30, both agreed we wanted to adopt a child.” Vianest and Brad were also at a Marlins Since it was before same-sex adoption game in Miami, undoubtedly downing a became legal in Florida, there were legal hot dog with mustard, softening the blow and administrative hurdles the couple of watching our local franchise lose yet would face. But nothing would stop them. another game. Today, Cunningham will Next to his 40tell you that raising Brad year partnership with illuminated Vianest’s life, "HE TOUCHED Cunningham, nothing gave so too will dozens of SO MANY LIVES but Vianest more life and joy Facebook posts, showcasing IN HIS TIME. HE the times and joys the than raising and sharing time with Brad, who the shared together, from ACCOMPLISHED family couple first boldly adopted cruises in Alaska to days at SO MUCH. HE as a Latvian youth 11 years Disney. ago. Stated Kenny Silverman, WAS SUCH A Vianest, who would have a local realtor, who was one GREAT MAN." been 65 next month, passed of Steve’s closest friends: - Joe Heredia away from COVID-19 this “He was like family to me. FRIEND OF STEVE VIANEST week, only 14 days after Please keep his husband being hospitalized for Howard and son Brad in the illness. Despite being your thoughts.” vaccinated in March, Vianest’s earlier Vianest’s passing has left a legion of struggles in life with cancer and leukemia friends wounded, from his lifetime in took a greater toll on his body and heart the shoe industry in Manhattan to South than he could now bear. Florida. A host of colleagues have been Raised on Long Island, graduated from posting fond farewells capturing the Hicksville High and then attended Nassau essence and energy of this enthusiastic Community College, Vianest had retired barrel of a man.

Steve Vianest (left) with husband Dr. Howard Cunningham (right) and their son Brad. Photo via Facebook.

From lifelong friend Ed Wenzel, a musician, “From the early days in our band, Flyer, to your friendship with Cyndi Lauper, we are all saddened and heartbroken.” Added Joe Heredia, “He touched so many lives in his time. He accomplished so much. He was such a great man.” Hope Ruby, a friend for 35 years said, “From our years of fun at the Shoe Box to meeting you in Florida, I will forever miss you … You were always so happy and ecstatic to be a DAD.” Over 200 more comments praised Vianest’s courage, tenacity, and strength, along with his valiant struggle to overcome COVID-19, but in the end, Cunningham wrote, “Despite his vaccinations and vigilance, this horrible virus did too much damage to him.” Services will be held this Sunday at Kraeer-Fairchild Funeral Home, 4061 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, from 1-4 p.m., and 6-8 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held the following morning, Monday, Aug. 30, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Coleman’s Catholic Church, 1200 S. Federal Highway, Pompano Beach. In lieu of flowers, Cunningham has asked that donations be made to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or the Coral Reef Alliance.

Steve Vianest. Photo courtesy of Howard Cunningham.

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

CONVICTIONS

Trans Talk

BODY POSITIVITY HOW CAN YOU SEE YOUR BODY IN NEW, POSITIVE WAYS TODAY?

Atticus Ranck

aise your hand if you’re like me and gained weight during the pandemic. It seems like everyone has. I’ve been working full-time from home since mid-March 2020. I have access to food at all times of the day. I don’t feel like I’ve changed my eating habits, but I must have because my weight slowly creeped up on me — not a crazy amount of weight — about 15-20 pounds — but it’s enough for my clothes to fit differently and to feel a certain amount of “yuck” when I look in the mirror. I struggle between trying to be body positive but not loving what I see in the mirror or feeling good about the way my clothing fits. Being trans can make being body positive even harder. Like many trans guys, I think, I’m too short, my hips are too big, my voice is too high, my feet are too small, and the list goes on. But let’s try to look on the bright side of things. My short feet mean I can buy shoes from the boy’s section and I save a lot of money that way. The same shoes for men would cost $75 and I buy the exact same ones but in the boy’s sizes for half the price. I can’t help my short height but at 5 foot 6 inches, I’m taller than many other trans guys and the tallest female-born person in my immediate family. Besides, I married a woman who’s 5 foot 11 inches, so she can reach everything on the tallest shelves for me. My hips are bigger than I’d like, but HRT did help to narrow their look. However, something my brother said actually helped my outlook on my hips. My brother was in my wedding party and I asked him to help me pick out my wedding suit. While trying on suits, I said, “My hips are too big,” and he responded with, “A lot of guys have larger hips.” My brother, a cisgender straight man, made me feel better about my body with this little comment and that meant a lot to me. On the phone, I’m often mistaken for a woman. It’s one of my biggest insecurities. As someone who uses

WHILE TRYING ON SUITS, I SAID, “MY HIPS ARE TOO BIG,” AND HE RESPONDED WITH, “A LOT OF GUYS HAVE LARGER HIPS.”

• 8 . 26.2021

Photo via PxHere.

their voice often for work and activism, it makes me feel self-conscious. But this voice is my power. It’s educated people, helped me stand up for myself and others when needed, expressed excitement and sorrow, and more. My voice is my most powerful feature. And if it’s a bit high, well, I guess I can live with that, because look where it’s gotten me. It’s hard for anybody, transgender or not, to look in the mirror and be happy about their body. Especially this past year when so many of us have turned to food for comfort and that’s become reflected in our weight. I’m in my early 30s now, so I’ve wondered if this is just how it is now? Have I become someone with a bit of a “dad bod”? Ok, so I’ve gained some weight and I’m not ecstatic about it.

But, also, who cares? My wife and I went to Portland, Maine recently for vacation. We were on the beach and I’m looking around at all these different bodies and I think, “Nobody cares.” Literally, nobody seemed to care about anybody else’s body. This is my body and this is what it does for me: it digests my food, it self-heals when I cut myself, it gets me up and down the steps, I can ride a bicycle, and open a jar of food, and it can do pretty much any DIY project I ask of it around our house and yard. This body is amazing. I’ve asked my body to go through two puberties for me and it obeyed. I’m not always good at being grateful, but I try to practice. Just writing this article helped me see my body in new ways. How can you see your body in new, positive ways today?

Atticus Ranck (he/him/his pronouns) works in the Education and Training Program of the AIDS Institute for the New York State Department of Health. Atticus identifies as a trans man and he is married to a trans woman. Together, they are raising two puppies and a cat and happily live in rural upstate NY. Previously, he was the Director of Transgender Services at SunServe in Wilton Manors.

CONVICTIONS

EDITORIAL CARTOON Image via Facebook

When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross Sinclair Lewis 1935

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

CONVICTIONS

My Best Gay Self

HOW COMING OUT IMPROVED MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY CHILDREN Mark A. Turnipseed

hen life happens every parent faces the question of how a child may respond to this event/situation. Will it hurt them? Will it make them confused? Will it bring us closer or pull us apart? Will they get angry, sad, or mad? Will this help them grow or will this stall their progress? Coming out is certainly one of those events that rattled my nerves and brought these questions up. These questions can paralyze the first-time parent. I remember with my first child debating back and forth with my ex-wife as we tried to figure out between formula or breastmilk. I remember scrutinizing little things like day-care situations down to exhaustion so that we just ended up deciding one of us would always be home with the kid. All the small things aside, parents also make huge life decisions based on the wellbeing of the children. But, what about those things that a parent can’t control? Those things not as flexible as day-care settings. Well, I’ve come to learn that these things, although difficult, are things that affect our children in the most positive way because it is through these things a parent and a child bond through human experience and vulnerability. The things we can’t control humble us and when our child sees us humbled by life their view of superhuman parent disappears momentarily and we become beings on their level. I remember seeing my father cry and it made me feel a longing and a love for him, even more so than when he fixed the car. In his authentic vulnerability I would find myself reaching out to embrace him for his good, which is rarely the case for a young child. The act however, shows tremendous relationship building and strengthening. This is what coming out did for the relationships with my sons. It placed me on level playing ground with them. It showed them that we as people don’t have to have it all figured out and that it’s OK not to. It’s OK to adjust, change, and accept the direction of your life as life happens. It also showed them that we all catch

IT SHOWED THEM THAT WE AS PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT AND THAT IT’S OK NOT TO.

• 8 . 26.2021

Mark Turnipseed with his children. Photo courtesy of Mark Turnipseed.

ourselves at some point and have to stand up and face the truth. It’s in that moment that a person either evolves into a greater being or digresses into a depression. When I came out to my son he simply hugged me and said, “Wow dad… I see why you wrote a book about it!” and then we went on our way playing. Life as I knew it changed in many ways after coming out and it has been so very fun to explore some of these with my son. Before coming out I was the type of closet homosexual who displayed hyper and often toxic masculinity to shield my gay from being exposed. I held in emotions, I acted tough, I said stupid things like “boys don’t cry” and “a real man knows how to yield

an axe.” All the while there was this little boy screaming inside of me saying, “Let me out! I want out to dance, perform theater, I want to laugh, I want to cry, LET ME OUT so I can play with your son!” Coming out opened up the possibility for our relationship to experience fun and play together in a real authentic way. It has allowed me to let loose with my kids, and to fully be present in their lives, not always concerned with how straight I am acting or if I’m teaching them the right way to grow into a “man.” I can now help them to grow not into “men,” but people of strong values of love, truth, kindness, and authenticity. Our relationships have only become stronger by weaving it together with the threads of openness and vulnerability.

My Best Gay Self is a column by author, speaker, fitness coach and LGBTQ addiction and wellness advocate, Mark A. Turnipseed. He is also the Owner and CEO of Integrity Endurance, a network of personal trainers with the goal of fighting the opioid crisis through fitness. Visit www.markaturnipseed.com to learn more/contact or to find his book “My Suicide Race: Surviving the trauma of addiction, recovery and coming out.”

CONVICTIONS

Open Closet

WHAT THE HELL DO I WEAR? Avraham Forrest

en years ago, if you asked me about clothing, I would have sprouted out the usual mantra given to midwestern kids: “Boys wear suits and girls wear dresses.” Well, it’s 2021 and I am goddamn confused. Before I came out as nonbinary, identifying as male kept me to a certain style. The culture I saw around gender and clothing was much healthier, and I had no issues with nail polish, colors or intermittent nights of makeup, but I still felt like the standard rotation of shirts and pants were the only comfortable options on my table. But after I ventured into new-to-me they/ them territory, my table was subsequently dismantled and incinerated. It was time to reassess my wardrobe. One of the best things I learned early on was to do what makes you feel the maximum “you.” My choices in presentation all came down to what made me feel right. Gender norms could be shrugged and an identity built seam by seam. The concept was dazzling, revolutionary and incredibly goddamn difficult to execute. But I’m getting better at it. Sometimes I feel like I’m lost in a fabric tornado. Pants, skirts, sweaters, dresses whip past me, each presenting itself as the perfect fit designed to make me feel the way I want. But the clothes flash away in an instant, replaced again in a never-ending string of silk-denim-linen. Questions beat around my head: Am I masculine? Feminine? Both? Neither? Why not try it all? Grab the storm by the stirrups and ride this wild fashion squall into a new identity. That’s what half of me says, anyway. But another part of me — an incredibly shy, closeted voice — wants to be tucked into sweaters and out of sight. The overwhelming number of choices combined with that anxious portion of myself

Photo via Adobe.

makes my progress in fashion complicated, but no less steady. Out of the closet I was no stranger to pinks and purples. I saw no gender in color, which for me, at the time, was a big step. It was an introductory course into destroying gender stereotypes. Today it’s ignoring the gender on pants and shirts, though I’m still a step short of skirts. Originally, I thought my experiments in fashion would end in the men’s section. Now out as nonbinary, a new Everest has appeared. It’s a dress. A few months ago, I spotted a cute floral sundress with thin shoulder straps and a wonderfully flowy design. In a strange way, it kept me up at night. I kept imagining myself in the flowing fabric, glowing in flower print. But I realized other people existed. People who may see me in public and consider the scene of me and the dress as perverted. The vision is still wrapped in apprehension, though no less lovely. I keep seeing myself in that dress, steeped in euphoria. Every day I feel myself take a step towards it. For me, new to nonbinary, that is success: hope in the feeling that my day with the dress is inevitable. And beautiful.

Avraham Forrest is a writer from Indiana. They attend Indiana University. In their spare time they enjoy baking and jogging. Follow on Instagram: avraham_forrest.

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

Jesse’s Journal

CONVICTIONS

A PORTRAIT IN TIME: 1992 Jesse Monteagudo

n 1992, a photo appeared in The Weekly News (twn), South Florida’s gay community newspaper, which featured several LGBT community leaders in the early part of the “Gay Nineties.” Announcing that “Broward Gay Activists Stand with Alan Schreiber,” It was a campaign ad for Schreiber, Broward County’s long-lasting (1977-2005) public defender, who recently passed away. Schreiber, poised in the center of the photo, is flanked by (from left to right) Brad Buchman, Tom Bradshaw, Shane Gunderson, and Gary Steinsmith. Bradshaw, the most experienced of the lot, was active with the Dade and Broward County Coalitions for Human Rights before he helped found (1982) the Dolphin Democrats. The other three activists were rising stars. Buchman and Steinsmith, then partners in life as well as in politics, were Broward’s Power Couple. Together or apart, they headed virtually every queer political or social group during the early ‘90s, including GUARD (Gays United to Attack Repression and Discrimination) and UCHR (United Citizens for Human Rights). Gunderson was president of Broward Young Democrats before he joined the Dolphin Club. All four men served as president of the Dolphins at one time or another from 1989 to 1998 and three of them (Bradshaw, Gunderson and Steinsmith) wrote columns for the local gay publications. Shane Gunderson, who posted this photo on Facebook (and allowed this writer to use it), remembers this event: “It is important to realize that back in 1992, there was a stigma attached to aligning yourself with equal rights for the LGBTQ community. It was not easy to make this photo happen. I had to convince the gay activists to support Schreiber. We had lunch before this photo and the activists put Schreiber on the spot about supporting many of our issues. He pledged support.” There are two things about this photo that are of some significance and tells us much about the state of LGBT leadership in 1992 (and beyond). For one thing, except for Gunderson, all the activists in the photo are now dead. Bradshaw, Buchman and Steinsmith were HIV positive, part of the “lost generation” of gay men that was decimated by AIDS. Bradshaw passed away in 1994 from AIDS complications while Buchman and Steinsmith, who died from other causes during the early years of this century, were hastened in their demise by HIV. Like Alan Terl and too many other activists, these men might have continued to contribute their leadership skills

IT WAS ONLY AFTER THE TURN OF THIS CENTURY THAT THE DOLPHINS ADOPTED GENDER PARITY.

• 8 . 26.2021

Schreiber, poised in the center of the photo, is flanked by (from left to right) Brad Buchman, Tom Bradshaw, Shane Gunderson, and Gary Steinsmith. Photo originally appeared in TWN and was given to the author by Shane Gunderson.

to our community until this day, had they been allowed life and health enough to do so. There is something else about this photo that characterizes it as a historical artifact. All the people in the photo (including Schreiber) were cisgender white men. As in other activist circles; women, people of color, and trans people were kept out of the ranks of leadership. Robin Bodiford, who along with Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis was instrumental in bringing human rights legislation to Broward County, is not alone when she accused many of the men then active with the Dolphin

Democrats of being “misogynist.” It was only after the turn of this century that the Dolphins adopted gender parity. Meanwhile, and through their own efforts, women (Bodiford, Denise Yoezle), Blacks (Percy Johnson, Nik Harris), Latinx (Tony Ramos, Alfredo Olvera) and trans people (Gloria Stein, Carvelle Estriplet) achieved positions of leadership within the Dolphin Democrats and other queer activist groups, in South Florida and elsewhere. Thanks to their efforts, South Florida’s LGBT community now embraces diversity and inclusion. The men of 1992 have their place in our history; but now it is time for us to move on.

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and journalist. He has been an active member of South Florida's LGBT community for more than four decades and has served in various community organizations.

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8 . 26 . 20 21 •

LIFESTYLE CELEBRITY

BY ELLIOT RODRIGUEZ

GAY VINE THE

KEEP UP WITH THE CELEBRITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY

CELEBRITY

FILM

A STAR WAS RECAST!

YAS!

LIL NAS X MAKES ACTING DEBUT

WOULD BEYONCÉ HAVE BEEN BETTER CHOICE THAN GAGA? “A Star Is Born,” known for its beautifully portrayed characters and story, along with great music of course. So it’s safe to say that everyone should like the movie, right? Wrong! Barbra Streisand, who was in the 1976 version of the film, heavily preferred Beyoncé as the actress for one of the main characters, Ally, instead of Lady Gaga. She said in an interview with The Project, “I don’t know. I thought it was the wrong idea, but, look, it was a big success, so I can’t argue with success, but I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.” The original stars for the film were rumored to be Will Smith and Beyoncé in the early 2000s, PRIDE reported, only to be picked up later on and cast Bradley

Beyoncé. Photo via Facebook.

Cooper and Gaga. “At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé … I thought, that’s interesting. Really make it different again, different kinds of music, integrated actors. I thought that was a great idea. So, I was surprised when I saw how alike it was to the version that I did in 1976,” Streisand said in the interview.

For the fans of Lil Nas X, prepare to see him on the television screen as well as your streaming platforms. Nas X made his debut on the series “Dave,” which can be watched on FXX. PRIDE reported, “Lil Nas X almost made his acting debut on HBO Max’s ‘Euphoria.’ The beloved teen drama is currently in production for its second season, and the ‘Industry Baby’ rapper was considered for a role alongside Zendaya.” With much going for the young star, his most recent achievement being his newest single “Industry Baby,” it seems as if Nas X just keeps piling on more activities for himself. The 22-year-old told Variety, “I was actually going to do ‘Euphoria,’ but

Lil Nas X. Photo via Facebook.

I didn’t want to take time away from finishing my album.” It would have been nice seeing Nas X have a role next to Zendaya on “Euphoria,” but at least fans got to see his debut on the season finale of “Dave.”

EVENT

DANCE OFF!

DANCING CHAMPIONSHIP KICKED OFF IN FLORIDA Get ready to get some dancing fever because the Red Bull BC One championship is right in our backyard in Orlando, Florida. With regionals out the way and the main event around the corner, the main stage was where the B-boys and B-girls battled it out to get that firstplace spot. The B-girl competition took place Aug. 21 and the B-boy competition took place Aug. 22. However, according to BC One’s description they will also have another B-boy competition on Aug. 23 at 1:30 a.m. EST. According to PRIDE, there were “special guest performances by Kida the Great and 18-year-old Logistx. Honey Rockwell, Baby Girl Ericka, and RoxRite will judge” during the B-girls competition. The intermission for the B-boys PRIDE said was “a special exhibition battle featuring legacy

• 8 . 26.2021

breakers like Flo Master, Orko, Reveal, and Wicket [who is gay] going up against others like Victor, Somar, and more.” The description of the BC One competition, located in the description of their YouTube livestream of the event, reads, “Red Bull BC One is the biggest one-on-one Breaking competition in the world. Every year, thousands of dancers across the globe vie for a chance to represent at the World Final. Sixteen B-boys and B-girls earn the right to enter into an all-out battle on the Red Bull BC One stage, but only one will be crowned the champion.” Redbull BC One also streamed the event live on their YouTube channel. You can watch both of the competitions on their channel, along with other dancing videos that BC One has collected throughout the years.

B-Boy Morris took the win on Aug. 22. Photo via Facebook.

LIFESTYLE READING WITH PRIDE

‘THE JASMINE THRONE’ Aurora Dominguez

ebut author Tasha Suri, who has written the epic tale, “The Jasmine Throne,” talks about her book that is filled with action, suspense and LGBT characters that you’ll love. WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR MOST RECENT NOVEL? “The Jasmine Throne” is a fantasy novel inspired by the mythology, epics and history of India. I’ve always wanted to explore the roles of women in the tales I grew up with, and place women like them — clever, political, stubborn and vengeful women — at the heart of an epic of my own. Writing a story about a captive princess, a maidservant with secret magical gifts, and the way they fall in love and set an empire ablaze has given me the chance to do exactly that.

WHICH CHARACTER IN THIS NOVEL DO YOU MOST RELATE TO AND WHY? I like to think I relate most to Malini — the vengeful, cunning and charming princess seeking to depose her brother — but I actually relate more to Priya. She’s a maidservant who often fades into the background. She’s always trying to do the right thing, doesn’t know how to process trauma, eats her meals too fast, and often makes terrible life choices. I think that’s pretty relatable! I do wish I had her plant magic, though.

WHY DO YOU FEEL NOVELS WITH POWERFUL AND UNIQUE CHARACTERS ARE SO POPULAR AND HAVE SUCH A VOICE RIGHT NOW? I think everything in the world often feels out of our control at the moment. Reading about characters who are fierce and driven, and not only willing to change the world, but able to do it? It’s freeing. It lets us imagine what we would do, if we had the same choices and powers.

PLEASE DESCRIBE THE CONTENT OF YOUR LATEST READ AND WHAT CAN READERS EXPECT FROM IT. My latest read is the first Murderbot novella, “All Systems Red” by Martha Wells. It’s about a robot killing machine that hacks its controls and gains autonomy … and uses that autonomy to watch soap operas and feel awkward around people. It’s just very relatable! Martha Wells’ writing is clever and warm and welcomes you like a friend. I never knew I could feel so much kinship with a murderous, misanthropic robot, but here we are.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU IN THE WORLD OF BOOKS? I’m working on the second book in “The Burning

Kingdoms” trilogy, which continues the story in “The Jasmine Throne.” It should come out in 2022. I’m excited about it. It feels epic and thorny and I can’t wait to share it with readers (and hopefully break their hearts, at least a little). I also have a young adult remix of Wuthering Heights coming out in 2022, which is very gothic and romantic, and explores the possibility of Heathcliff being the son of a South Asian sailor, and Cathy the daughter of an East India Company officer.

WHO IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE WRITER? WHY? Everything Aliette de Bodard writes is perfect joy. She writes compassionate, beautiful and often Vietnamese-influenced SFF that always draws me in by the heartstrings.

ANY WRITING ADVICE FOR ASPIRING WRITERS? I think sometimes we can feel discouraged by the worry that we’ll never be as good as we hope to be. (Or at least, I do.) So my advice is to remember that everything you try — every idea you play around with then discard, every draft you scrap, every plot you can’t quite get to work — makes you a stronger writer. Talent isn’t just something you’re born with. It’s something that grows and flourishes the more time, work and joy you pour into it. Have fun and keep writing, and over time your work will become an even better reflection of what you’d like it to be.

8 . 26 . 20 21 •

LIFESTYLE SHOP WITH PRIDE

TRY ON LGBT CROCHETED ITEMS FROM

MOON BY MOON Kendall Little

ynique Moon never intended to start a small business but after taking up crocheting during the COVID-19 quarantine, they found a new passion. Soon, they had made so many pieces that they needed to make room for new creations. One hundred and fiftysix Depop sales later, Moon has a successful small business, Moon by Moon Crochet, that grows daily.

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“[I sell] scrunchies, bandanas, beanies, bucket hats, sweaters, bralettes, crop tops, skirts, and cardigans will be coming soon!” Moon said. “I have a Pride collection, I make fruit print things, and fictional character related items.” Moon’s favorite product is a black and white Doctor Who-inspired sweater that they hand-crocheted. “Yes, my corny behind had to make a Doctorriver sweater revolving around this line of dialogue because IT’S JUST SO GOOD,” they wrote under a photo of the sweater on Instagram. Moon, who is pansexual, recommends three products for new customers: bucket hats, bandanas, and sweaters. Their bucket hats come in many different designs, such as grapethemed, cloud-themed, and heartthemed. Moon’s bandana selection has a pride collection which includes transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and more LGBTinspired color schemes. They also offer pride-inspired scrunchies. Sweaters can be custom-made or bought from pre-existing listings in Moon’s shop.

Moon by Moon’s pride collection. Courtesy of @byvynique on Instagram.

Moon by Moon Crochet has accumulated over 1,760 followers between Instagram and Depop and over 150 sales just on Depop. “I like to think people like my designs because of how I execute them. Also, my color schemes are delicious, in my opinion,” Moon said. Advertising their products on social media has been challenging, according to Moon. “Instagram’s algorithm is horrific and I don’t have the funds to do an ad campaign or anything like that,” they said. However, they are determined to grow their business despite the challenges. The goal of their business is simple: To make art.

To support this LGBT-owned small business, visit Moon’s Depop shop @vyniquemoon or check out their Instagram @byvynique.

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

• 8 . 26.2021

SPORTS FLAG FOOTBALL

SOUTH FLORIDA FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE RETURNS

These legal questions answered

and more FOR FREE at NormKent.com

Denise Royal

oid What are 25 ways to av getting busted? What can I do if I have been accused of a crime?

? How do I seal my record Photo courtesy of the South Florida Flag Football League.

fter a year of being stuck at home, are you ready for some football? After taking a year off due to the pandemic, the South Florida Flag Football League and LGBTQ+ Sports League are excited for their fall seasons. Week one of the season starts on Saturday, Sept. 11. Games take place Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Oakland Park. For more information or to register, go to www.sfffl. org/leagues for more details. There is an age limit of 18 and over. All skill levels are encouraged to participate, and the leagues are committed to providing a comfortable and enjoyable setting for those who want to play football and foster community. The leagues foster an environment where LGBT people can participate in a competitive and friendly team sport environment through flag football. They can also compete and be social in a

safe and inclusive environment, on and off the field. It’s an easy way to build friendships and develop a social support system among the LGBT community in South Florida. This year, the league continues its growing partnership with the Miami Dolphins Football Unites program, which will partner with the league throughout the year and sponsor the league by providing jerseys. Other returning sponsors include Hunters, GYM Bar, Scandals, and new sponsors like LIT Bar. Aside from networking, playing flag football is an excellent source of exercise, and who couldn’t use that after the past year and a half? While everyone is welcome to join, organizers ask that players experiencing signs or symptoms of COVID-19 or who test positive must stay home and not play in games for at least a week.

If you have questions about schedules or eligibility, you are encouraged to contact Andrew Shinner, the League’s Director of Recruitment at recruitment@sfffl.org.

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www.NormKent.com 8 . 26 . 20 21 •

KEYS TO THE CITY! LIFESTYLE FOOD

Take a culinary trip to Key West at this restaurant in Boca Raton Rick Karlin

Key Lime Pie at Luff’s Fish House. Photo courtesy of Rick Karlin.

LUFF’S FISH HOUSE

390 E Palmetto Park Rd, Boca Raton 561-609-2660 luffsfishhouse.com I love how folks from up north have no idea of the geography of South Florida. My mother-in-law, who I dearly adore, was visiting to celebrate her birthday and asked if we could go to a little spot in Key West for brunch. After explaining to her that it was a good three-hour drive (she also thought we might go to Disneyworld for the afternoon), I promised her a taste of the Keys for her birthday brunch. We were meeting relatives from Lake Worth, so we decided on Luff’s Fish House in Boca Raton as a good meeting point and the closest you’ll get to an authentic Key West dining experience. Luff’s opened in 2017, in a historic bungalow built in the 1920s and specializes in serving fresh seafood directly from the boat to your plate. You can even bring your day’s catch and they’ll prepare it for you. Whether you relax outside under the airy covered gazebo or sit in the tropically inspired dining room, you will feel like you’re on a culinary vacation. The vibe is laid back, but the service is top-notch: attentive, and knowledgeable. Daily specials and creative cocktails augment the classic menu. Luff’s is a mouth-watering alternative to a trip to the Keys. Appetizer portions are large enough to share or serve as a light entrée. I was gobsmacked by the amount of fresh seafood in my lobster quesadilla. There had to be at least half a lobster’s worth of delicate flesh nestled amongst the jack cheese, corn, onions, and avocado and sandwiched between two enormous, crispy flour tortillas. I could have done without the chipotle crema topping,

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• 8 . 26.2021

which I felt overpowered the dish, but I just scraped it off. Sure, it’s $21 for an appetizer, but it served as my entrée, and I still took three-quarters of it home. Other starter options include shrimp gumbo, smoked fish-hummus dip, crabguacamole, tuna nachos, sriracha-honey wings, and fish or brisket tacos. Whatever you do, order a side (or two or three) of the cornbread, the best I’ve ever had! Sandwiches are served with a choice of French fries, coleslaw, or sweet tater tots. The shrimp po-boy comes brimming with large, battered crustaceans. Other choices include a Mahi Reuben, grilled steak with truffle gouda, lobster BLT, grilled mahi-mahi sandwich, open face chicken Parm, or the Luff’s burger. Salad selections include Greek. Caesar and Southwest, all of which can be augmented by a variety of grilled seafood, chicken, or steak. The star of the entrée options is the shrimp Parmesan, served atoplinguine in marinara, with fresh mozzarella and basil. Again, the shrimp in the dish were unbelievably large and perfectly cooked. If the seafood paella is one of the daily specials, make it a point to sample it. The saffron rice supports a mélange of seafood, all of which are cooked to perfection. Other entrées include penne in vodka sauce topped with an enormous crab cake, coconut curry grouper, seared diver scallops, crab fried rice, seafood fettuccini, and Key West snapper, as well as a variety of fried or grilled fish and seafood. For those who are not fans of seafood, there are plenty of other choices: chicken pot pie, BBQ baby back ribs, and filet mignon au Poivre.

KEYS IN THE CITY Even if it means taking home half your meal, save room for Luff’s legendary Key Lime Pie. It’s another high-priced item ($12), but easily enough for two or more to share and feel satisfied. Milk chocolate cheesecake and apple pie milkshake round out the other yummy dessert offerings. It wouldn’t be a tropical vacation without a cold one, and Luff’s offers several unusual brews on tap or in the bottle: Narragansett Lager, Funky Buddha Floridian, Hopageddon Imperial IPA, and Cigar City Jai Alai. Specialty cocktails flow easily. Among them; Endless Summer with bourbon, Amaretto, strawberries, and pineapple sour mix, or I’m Feeling Beachy, with rum, peach, coconut, and “hand-shaken colada.”

HUNGRY FOR MORE? 

These waterfront spots also offer the Key West experience without ever leaving the city. SOUTHPORT RAW BAR & RESTAURANT 1536 Cordova Rd, Fort Lauderdale 954-525-2526 southportrawbar.com COCONUTS/G&B OYSTER 429 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale 954-525-2421 Coconutsfortlauderdale.com gandboysterbar.com BOATYARD 1555 SE 17th St., Fort Lauderdale 954-525-7400 boatyard.restaurant

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.

NICARAGUA SEEKS TO SHUT DOWN COUNTRY’S OLDEST LGBT RIGHTS GROUP Visit SFGN.com to read more.

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

Rosh Hashanah begins Monday, September 6th Make your plans now for the New Year Join Us! Let’s bring in the holidays together! Sign up on our website: www.EtzChaimFlorida.org

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

and

TEMPLE BAT YAM 5151 NE 14th Ter Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 954-928-0410 Friday Night & Saturday Morning Streaming Online at templebatyam.org

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Two major gifts will further be planning and preparations for a new Boca Raton Arts Center on the north end of Mizner Park. Credit: Boca Raton Arts Center.

ARTSBEAT BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS AND WILD EXHIBITS J.W. Arnold

NEW BOCA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER GETS BIG DONORS The Boca Raton Arts District Exploratory Corporation (BRADEC) recently announced a new capital gift of $1 million from a member of the board, philanthropist Elizabeth Dudley. Dudley’s contribution will help make the Boca Raton Center for Arts & Innovation at the north end of Mizner Park a reality and comes just one week after another donor announced the project’s first seven-figure capital pledge of $5 million. In May, BRADEC won unanimous support from the Boca Raton City Council and the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency to negotiate a lease for the Mizner Park Amphitheater site and an adjacent 1.8 acre land parcel. Following further negotiations with the city, these capital gifts will further the new Center’s design, programming and community engagement. The planned venues include a 1,100-seat concert and performance hall; an existing amphitheater stage that is improved to allow for a transformation into a 450-seat “Studio Theater” interior space, through the use of an innovative structural curtain; the 3,500-seat existing Mizner Park Amphitheater, which can be programmed simultaneously with the “Studio Theater” space; a 99-seat performance hall that can be converted into a large rehearsal studio or event space; an outdoor rooftop terrace; and additional campus spaces that will enable technological innovation and education. A canopy will shelter the center’s outdoor spaces. For more information, go to BocaRatonArtsCenter.org.

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY As New York’s theater community prepares to reopen next month following the pandemic shutdown, Tonynominated producer Julie Boardman announced plans to open the Museum of Broadway next summer in the heart of Times Square. At the heart of the interactive experience, museum guests will travel through a visual history of Broadway from its birth to the present day, highlighting pioneers, landmark moments of social change and many of the most beloved plays and musicals of all time. Key points along the timeline will focus on the pivotal shows that transformed the landscape of Broadway, through immersive installations designed by leading contemporary visual artists and acclaimed Broadway designers. Fans will also go backstage to get a taste of “The Making of a Broadway Show,” with a special exhibit honoring the community of brilliantly talented professionals – both onstage and off – who bring Broadway plays and musicals to life every night. Tickets are expected to go on sale later this year. For more information, go to TheMuseumOfBroadway.com.

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• 8 . 26.2021

Wiener Museum of Decorative Arts (WMODA), 481 S. Federal Hwy. in Dania Beach, is showcasing a new exhibition of Murano glass, “Animalia,” August 28 – October 23. The works utilize the Sommerso technique developed in the 1930s to blow multi-colored glass sculptures without mixing the contrasting colors, and mastered more recently by Dale Chihuly. The Mid-Century Modern glass animals, created by Nason, Signoretto, Cenedese and Seguso and curated by Italian expert Sergio Gnesin, are all available for sale. Proceeds benefit the educational programs at WMODA. For more information, go to WMODA.com.

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YOU CAN’T PRAY THE GAY AWAY

SAUNA • BY RONNIE LARSEN NOW PLAYING THRU SEPT 25TH

NEW NETFLIX DOC IS A MUST WATCH

They come, they go. In and out. Men of all ages, races and body types and sexual orientations. Relaxing. Drying off. Cruising. Touching. It’s not legal to have sex in this particular sauna. Not in this one. But does that stop them? This is just a sauna in an ordinary gym but when you get a bunch of horny naked men squeezed together in a tight, hot and sweaty box, well things are bound to happen, right? But be careful. A guy was arrested here last week. But isn’t that part of the excitement? The danger? And who wants to play and who just wants to be left alone isn’t always clear at first. So be careful. But come on in.

David-Elijah Nahmod

s the new Ryan Murphy produced documentary “Pray Away” begins, a young man with a thick Southern accent is driving his car through the rain. He’s Jeffrey McCall, and he’s on a mission to pray for people. He stops at a shopping center and randomly walks up to various individuals, asking them if they need prayer. He tells them of the life he left behind, a life of homosexuality and transgenderism, a life he now refers to as “sin.” McCall left that life when he found Jesus. But as the film progresses, some viewers may wonder if McCall is being honest not only with others, but with himself. “Pray Away” is a film about the “ex-gay” movement. It focuses on Christian ministries who claim that they can “cure” homosexuality through prayer. A large portion of the film is about Exodus, a Christian organization founded in the 1970s by a group of “ex-gay” men who wanted to share their “cure” with others. Those men are all interviewed in “Pray Away.” All of them now admit that conversion therapy, as it’s more commonly known, doesn’t work. They now all live as out gay men, and they live with regret. One of them is told that he has blood on his hands, his eyes welling up with tears as he recalls that conversation. And conversion therapy indeed does harm. Just ask Julie Rodgers, a former “ex-lesbian” who is prominently featured in the film. While still in her teens, Rodgers became involved with a conversion therapy ministry called Living Hope. She became one of the organization’s stars, joyfully addressing packed auditoriums, speaking of how she left lesbianism behind her. Years later Rodgers admits to her female fiancé that she regularly burned herself during those years. “I’m sorry,” her fiancé whispers, as Rodgers fights tears. The two have since married in a wedding ceremony that’s seen in the film. The film’s most stunning example of what a sham conversion therapy is comes when the story of John Paulk is told. Years ago Paulk was the official face of Exodus. He and his wife went on talk shows and spoke of leaving the “homosexual lifestyle” and of falling in love with each other. They had two children together. In a vintage 60 minutes interview Paulk tells journalist Leslie Stahl that he’s not even tempted by same-sex attraction. But Paulk was lying. Throughout his years with Exodus Paulk struggled with his attraction to men. In a newly shot interview Paulk recalls being

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recognized in a gay bar when he was at the height of his Exodus celebrity. He tries to cover his face with his hand as a photographer follows him down the street. He said that he didn’t know that he had entered a gay bar, that he had just gone in to use the restroom. No one believes him. With his cover blown, Paulk is fired by Exodus. Today Paulk lives as an out gay man. The film shows him holding hands with a boyfriend. Should Paulk, Rodgers and the others be forgiven? The filmmakers don’t attempt to judge them, they merely let them speak for themselves. Their testimonies are powerful as they bear witness to the horrors of conversion therapy. The film also includes footage shot at conversion therapy prayer meetings. These sections of the film may be difficult to watch for those who have survived conversion therapy. Though hard to watch in parts, “Pray Away” is a well-done film. It blows the lid off the phony ministries who do this kind of work and exposes them for what they are. It’s an important film that needs to be seen, and hopefully will be seen by people who are considering joining an ex-gay ministry. A title card at the end of the film informs viewers that over 700,000 people have gone through conversion therapy, and that LGBT youth who are subjected to these therapies are more than twice as likely to commit suicide.

“Pray Away” is currently streaming on Netflix.

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J.W. Arnold

dult cartoons are not new – Fox’s “The Simpsons,” MTV’s “Beavis & Butthead,” Comedy Central’s “South Park” and Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” have been around for years (even decades). And who can forget “Queer Duck,” which aired after episodes of “Queer as Folk” on Showtime? Now, Netflix is going far beyond gay with its latest offering, “Q-Force,” premiering Sept. 2 on the streaming service. Steve Maryweather (Sean Hayes), AKA Agent Mary, was once the golden boy of the American Intelligence Agency (AIA), until he came screaming out of the closet. Unable to fire him, the agency sent him off to West Hollywood to disappear into obscurity. Instead, he assembled a misfit squad of LGBT geniuses, all yearning for the opportunity to prove themselves in the fight against evil. Joining forces with the lesbian expert mechanic Deb (Wanda Sykes), master of drag and disguise Twink (Matthew Rogers), and hacker Stat (Patti Harrison), together they’re Q-Force. After a decade of waiting for their first official mission from the AIA, Mary becomes hell-bent on proving himself to the Agency that turned its back on him, and decides to go rogue with Q-Force. After finding their own case, and solving it on their own terms, they get the reluctant approval of the AIA, and are officially upgraded to active secret agents in the field. But, that approval comes with one major caveat – they must put up with a new member of the squad, straight-guy Agent Buck (David Harbour), and remain under the watchful eye of homophobic Director Dirk Chunley (Gary Cole) and Deputy Director “V” (Laurie Metcalf). In addition to the star power of Hayes, Sykes, Cole and Metcalf, many viewers will see themselves reflected in the characters and their backstories. This fun series may have been drawn in 2-D, but it offers 3-D portrayals of LGBT lives. After you’ve binged all 10 22-minute episodes of “Q-Force,” check out these other entertaining queer-friendly series from last year again on Netflix: “Elite” This Spanish telenovela – set in an elite private high school – is already in its fourth

Netflix’s campy adult cartoon series “Q-Force” debuts Sept. 2 on the streaming service. Credit: Netflix.

season. The clashes between the workingclass scholarship students and their resentful spoiled classmates predictably end in murder, but not before they all go for a romp in the sheets. Like most of Gen Z, whether they’re straight, gay or bi, there are few labels or inhibitions. Don’t forget to check out the backstories in the “Elite Short Stories” featurettes that just came out. “Toy Boy” Another soapy Spanish murder mystery – this time set in a male strip club on the Costa del Sol. Think “Magic Mike,” but in tall, dark and handsome. This series came out during the early months of the pandemic, but it’s not too late to pass a few evenings while you sit out the Delta variant. The dance numbers are steamier than “Magic Mike” and word has it that filming on a second season started earlier this year. “Hollywood” Ryan Murphy’s nostalgic – if revisionist – love letter to Tinseltown features an amazing all-star cast, including Darren Criss, Joe Mantello, Holland Taylor, Jim Parsons and Patti LuPone. In this version, which also debuted a year ago, Hollywood embraces a gay Rock Hudson and gives an approving nod to mixedrace relationships. Murphy takes the same carefree approach to the second season of his retro murder mystery “Why Women Kill,” but you’ll have to subscribe to Paramount+ to watch that one.

Watch at Netflix.com.

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the Mpell redemption process. BASIC SYSTEM: $99 Parts and Install. 36-Month Monitoring Agreement required at $27.99 per month ($1,007.64). Monitoring Agreement required at $27.99 per month ($671.76) for California. Offer applies See24-Month all off er details below. to homeowners only. Basic system requires landline phone. Offer valid for new ADT Authorized Premier Provider customers only and not on purchases from ADT LLC. Cannot be combined with any other offer. The $27.99 Offer does not include Quality Service Plan (QSP), ADT’s Extended Limited Warranty. ADT Pulse: ADT Pulse Interactive Solutions Services (“ADT Pulse”), which help you manage your home environment and family lifestyle, require the purchase and/or activation of an ADT alarm system with monitored burglary service and a compatible computer, cell phone or PDA with Internet and email access. These ADT Pulse services do not cover the operation or maintenance of any household equipment/systems that are connected to the ADT Pulse equipment. All ADT Pulse services are not available with the various levels of ADT Pulse. All ADT Pulse services may not be available in all geographic areas. You may be required to pay additional charges to purchase equipment required to utilize the ADT Pulse features you desire. ADT PULSE + VIDEO: ADT Pulse + Video installation is an additional $299. 36-month monitoring contract required from ADT Pulse + Video: $59.99 per month, ($2,159.64), including Quality Service Plan (QSP). Doorbell camera may not be available in all areas. GENERAL: For all offers, the form of payment must be by credit card or electronic charge to your checking or savings account, satisfactory credit history is required and termination fee applies. Local permit fees may be required. Certain restrictions may apply. Additional monitoring fees required for some services. For example, Burglary, Fire, Carbon Monoxide and Emergency Alert monitoring requires purchase and/or activation of an ADT security system with monitored Burglary, Fire, Carbon Monoxide and Emergency Alert devices and are an additional charge. Additional equipment may be purchased for an additional charge. Additional charges may apply in areas that require guard response service for municipal alarm verification. Prices subject to change. Prices may vary by market. Some insurance companies offer discounts on Homeowner’s Insurance. Please consult your insurance company. Photos are for illustrative purposes only and may not reflect the exact product/service actually provided. Licenses: AL-21-001104, AR-CMPY.0001725 AZ-ROC217517, CA-ACO6320, CT-ELC.0193944-L5, DC-EMS902653, DC-602516000016, DE-07-212, FL-EC13003427, EC13003401, GA-LVA205395, IA-AS-0206, ID-ELE-SJ-39131, IL-127.001042, IN-C.P.D. Reg. No. – 19-08088, City of Indianapolis: LAC-000156, KY-City of Louisville: 483, LA-F1914, LA-F1915, LA-F1082, MA-1355C, MD-107-1626, ME-LM50017382, MI-3601205773, MN-TS01807, MO-City of St. Louis: CC#354, St. Louis County: 100194, MS-15007958,MT-PSP-ELS-LIC-247, NCGIFT CARD: $100 Visa Gift Card fulfilled by Protect Your Home through third-party provider, Mpell, upon installation of a security system and execution monitoring contract. $4.95 shipping and handling fee,Vegas: gift3000008296, cards can take up toby8 the weeks arrive after 25310-SP-FA/LV, NC-1622-CSA, NE-14451, NJ BurglarofAlarm Lic. # -NJ-34BF00021800, NM-353366, NV-0068518, City of Las NY-Licensed N.Y.S. to Department of Statefollowing UID#12000317691, NYS #12000286451,OH-53891446, the Mpell redemption process. BASIC SYSTEM: $99 Parts and Install. 36-Month Monitoring Agreement required at $27.99 monthOR-170997, ($1,007.64). 24-Month Monitoring Agreement at $27.99 perRI-7508, monthSC-BAC5630, ($671.76) California. OfferTX-B13734, appliesACR-3492, UT-6422596-6501, VA-115120, VTCity of Cincinnati: AC86, per OK-AC1048, Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor Registration required Number: PA022999, RI-3582, SD- for 1025-7001-ET, TN-1520, ES-2382(7C),WA-602588694/ECPROTEYH934RS, WI-City of Milwaukee: PAS-0002966, WV-WV042433, WY-LV-G-21499. 3750other Priorityoffer. Way South Indianapolis, IN 46240 Inc. dba Protect Your Home DF-CD-NP-Q220-FL to homeowners only. Basic system requires landline phone. Offer valid for new ADT Authorized Premier Provider customers only and not on purchases from ADT LLC. Cannot be combined with any TheDr.$27.99 Offer does©2017 notDEFENDERS, include Quality

have a private studio where I also do specialty facials which include back and buttocks facials. Come treat yourself for a relaxing facial and get silky smooth skin at the same time. Check out my website for more info. www.waxiitaxi.com or you can book online at WaxiiTaxi.Booksy.com IG: @waxiitaxi Facebook.com/waxiitaxi. Kurt Ruback: 561-956-0626

Ask about same-day LIMITED TIME OFFER—CALL TODAY! GIFT CARD: $100 Visa Gift Card fulfilled by Protect Your Home through third-party provider, Mpell, upon installation of a security system and execution o

installation! the Mpell redemption process. BASIC SYSTEM: Reply$99 ByParts and Install. 36-Month Monitoring Agreement required at $27.99 per month ($1,007.6 to homeowners only. Basic systemJuly requires18, landline phone. Offer valid for new ADT Authorized Premier Provider customers only and not on purc 2020 Service Plan (QSP), ADT’s Extended Limited Warranty. ADT Pulse: ADT Pulse Interactive Solutions Services (“ADT Pulse”), which help you manage y monitored burglary service and a compatible computer, cell phone or PDA with Internet and email access. These ADT Pulse services do not cover the ope ADT Pulse services are not available with the various levels of ADT Pulse. All ADT Pulse services may not be available in all geographic areas. You may b ADT PULSE + VIDEO: ADT Pulse + Video installation is an additional $299. 36-month monitoring contract required from ADT Pulse + Video: $59

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