local name global coverage January 11, 2017 vol. 8 // issue 2
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Man who threatened a “pulse-like attack” soon to be released Pages 7, 16
ISRAeL SWoRn In FoR SeConD TeRM AS BRoWARD SHeRIFF Page 14
SOUTHFLORIDAGAYNEWS
GAY8 THIS WeeKenD In MIAMI Page 40
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comments from sfGn’s
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Compiled by John McDonald
Wal-MaRt appRoved In oaKland paRK
MIlo yIannopoulous sIGns BooK deal
shawn douglas –
Oakland Park and Wilton Manors will go to shit when this happens! Traffic is already unbearable on Oakland and the traffic on 6th and running into Wilton will be horrendous! Also, be prepared for crime to go up. Not just inside the store either. Which means I hope they plan on hiring a lot more police officers to deal with the clientele that that place brings in. And say goodbye to all the local businesses as they will be put out of business which in turn hurts all of the small business owners and citizens of the area. And don’t think they bring good jobs. They bring crappy pay, crappy hours and low hours. Also, the property values may decrease significantly. So, again, Oakland Park and Wilton Manors are looking for trouble by bringing in this troublesome business!
Brooklyn leigh st John – Stop giving this mut press.
sheila sheri packman abzug – I shall never buy another book from Simon and Schuster since they have no social conscience and certainly won’t read this Yianuphisass tRASH.
Jonathon Infante-May –
Robert youngquist – A couple of members of our community need to meet this EMBARASSMENT in the back room and give him a lesson on how to keep his mouth shut.
we need the jobs and access to affordable goods in Oakland.
Ray Bosch –
Good Bye Scandals parking. Wal Mart will have 24hr security. Sucks!
Gospel sInGeR KIM BuRRell denounces Gays & lesBIans
January 11, 2017 • Volume 8 • Issue 2
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vaughn Branch –
If you really pay attention, she was talking about homosexuality in the church. This wasn’t addressed to everyone. She was talking about those in the house of God and making a mockery of the church.
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noah Kitty –
she’s among many people who make no excuses or apologies.
Rj petrucci –
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She sounds like quite the self righteous witch.
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Craig Jungwirth allegedly soon to be released. Illustration courtesy of Jay Fernweh.
NLGJA Journalist of the Year 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. Copyright © 2017 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.
NEWS highlight
Gay Rep Introduces Gun Control Bill John McDonald
C
arlos Guillermo Smith is wasting no time wielding his new power. Smith, the first openly LGBT Latino elected to the Florida House of Representatives, announced on Thursday his intention to file a gun control bill when lawmakers return to Tallahassee in March. “Assault weapons are the gold standard for mass murder,” said Smith at a news conference on the steps of the Orange County Courthouse. “They are weapons of war, designed for war and have no place on our streets or in civilian hands. We all have a constitutional right to defend ourselves and our families with a firearm, but nobody needs military-style assault weapons to do it.” At Thursday’s news conference, Smith was joined by Florida Senator Linda Stewart (D-Orlando), survivors of the Pulse Nightclub massacre and various gun control groups. The proposed legislation (HB 167, SB 254) restricts the sale and transfer of assault weapons and large capacity magazines in Florida.
Meanwhile, not all who identify as LGBT are supportive of Smith’s bill. Scott Herman, a Democratic precinct committeeman from Broward County, called the proposal “overreaching.” “I see it as an invasion of privacy with a ridiculous definition of large capacity even for a handgun,” said Herman, a disabled combat veteran. HB167 defines large capacity magazines as “any ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than seven rounds.” The bill specifically targets the Sig Sauer MCX rifle used at the Pulse massacre and Bushmaster XM15-E2S used at Sandy Hook.
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NEWS palm beach Photo: Facebook.
MCCPB of Palm Beach Celebrates 35 Years of Ministry Ryan Yousefi
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ecently the Metropolitan Community Church of the Palm Beaches (MCCPB) celebrated their 35th year of providing a place of worship for the LGBT community and their loved ones. Over the course of the last 35 years, MCCPB has grown from a quaint establishment started by Rev. Richard Ross at his home in West Palm Beach in 1981, to what is now a community 150 members call home. According to MCCPB Pastor Lea Brown, the church has accomplished quite a bit and seen some amazing growth since SFGN spoke to them prior to their 30th anniversary in 2011. “We’ve had our largest Easter services in the history of the church, with 250 people coming to worship. We completed the major project of replacing our pews in the sanctuary with portable chairs so that we could accommodate more people and activities in the room. We built a beautiful, new expanded pantry with an addition to the church building.” Brown told SFGN. “Our ministries have grown tremendously; the MCCPB Food Pantry has a fabulous volunteer team of about 20 people who completely run this ministry that provides fresh produce and grocery staples for approximately 2,000 people every month.” The MCCPB was founded in the earlier ‘80s, a time when AIDS and HIV were only beginning to appear on the media’s radar. The timing has meant MCC has been able to provide invaluable support for people living with HIV and AIDS over the years. “Positive Connections (the HIV ministry of MCCPB) provides a safe and very confidential place for people living with HIV (especially
long-term survivors) to find community and support twice a month in a private home, and we are very dedicated to fighting HIV stigma,” Brown said. Moving forward, Rev. Brown says the church hopes to see expansion, as well as financial independence that will enable them to dedicate more funds toward celebrating the spirituality of LGBTQ people and their allies. “By our 40th year, I hope that we will be mortgage-free, and making plans to build and expand our church building to make room for an ever-growing congregation that is serving our community in ever-growing ways,” Brown said. “I especially hope that we will have been able to spread the message far and wide that MCCPB is a place of vibrant worship for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation and/or expression of gender. I hope that we will be known as a church that fights for social justice for all people, and boldly speaks out against hate and oppression in any form.” As for anyone who is shy or in general hesitant about checking out the MCCPB, Rev. Brown has a strong message for you; you’re welcome there. “As a pastor I have to say that I am deeply proud of anyone who walks into MCCPB for the first time. It can be such a scary thing to do because of all the baggage so many of us have around previous experiences with church and religion.” “MCCPB is an incredibly welcoming church! We hear this all the time, about what a warm and friendly place it is.”
MCCPB is located at 4857 Northlake Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens. Each Sunday the church offers identical services at 9 and 11 a.m., with childcare for ages 0 to 5 and children’s services for ages 6 to 10 at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome at MCCPB, to participate as much or as little as feels comfortable for them. For more information, visit info@mccpalmbeach.org or call 561-775-5900.
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Compiled by Jillian Melero
la lGBt center promotes prep via ‘f*ck W/out fear’ campaign (EDGE) F*ck w/out Fear is the message of a new campaign by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, officially launched on Sunday, January 8, to raise awareness for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a safe and effective tool to prevent HIV infection. PrEP involves taking a medicine once-daily that, if used correctly, has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection by up to 99 percent. Those most at risk of HIV are gay and bisexual youth of color and transgender women. But a recent study by APLA Health of young gay and bisexual men revealed that Latino and African-American youth are the least likely to know about PrEP and less than 10 percent are using it. Those who do know about PrEP frequently have misconceptions about it, including the belief that it’s not effective or safe
LA LGBT Center. Photo: Facebook.
and that it’s unaffordable. “It’s widely believed that a two-pronged approach is what will be most effective at ending the transmission of HIV in the U.S.,” said Robert Bolan M.D., Los Angeles LGBT Center chief medical officer. “Quickly linking newly diagnosed HIV positive people to care can reduce or eliminate the risk they can transmit the virus; it’s the same treatment effect for people who have been living with HIV for a while or a long time. Then if HIV uninfected people who are most at-risk of infection successfully protect themselves from the virus, we can effectively end HIV transmission here. Because the availability of condoms alone hasn’t been enough to stop HIV, we’re excited about the promise of PrEP.”
SPORTS
POLITICS
POLITICS
(AP) Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford says the conference is likely to move its football championship game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, again if a state law that limits anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people is not repealed or adjusted. Swofford gave no timetable Sunday for a decision on whether to relocate the 2017 game but he did say the conference will not wait as long as it did last year to move the game. The ACC followed the NCAA’s lead and decided in September to pull its championship from Charlotte in response to North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom bill.” “If something changes in the state of North Carolina that would be welcome,” Swofford said. “Our presidents made what they believe is a principled decision in that regard as to where our championships should be held and shouldn’t. I don’t see that principle changing.” The law limits protections for LGBT people and was best known for a provision that requires transgender people to use public restrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates. It was passed last year after Charlotte officials approved a sweeping anti-discrimination ordinance. A deal to repeal the law fell apart in late December.
(AP) After a string of major victories in recent years, LGBT activists are bracing for a different task in 2017 - trying to prevent Republicans in Congress and state legislatures from undermining those gains. They view President-elect Donald Trump and many of his Cabinet selections as disinterested - and in some cases hostile - when it comes to the various issues of civil rights and antidiscrimination protections that concern lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. At the state level, with Republicans controlling a sizable majority of legislatures, there’s already a push for measures which LGBT activists view as discriminatory. For example, legislators in several states - including Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin - are advocating for laws that would bar transgender students from using bathrooms or locker rooms that don’t match their biological gender at birth. “2017 is going to be our toughest year yet,” said the National Center for Transgender Equality in a recent fundraising appeal. There also may be a push in some states for so-called “religious exemption” laws that would allow some businesses and civil servants to refuse services to LGBT people if their decisions were deemed to be based on religious belief. In Congress, conservative Republicans plan to address the religious-exemption issue by relaunching the First Amendment Defense Act, which would prohibit punitive federal action against people and institutions that define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The measure failed to advance during two previous sessions, but may gain more traction now, with Trump promising to sign it if it reaches his desk. Ian Thompson, a legislative specialist with the American Civil Liberties Union, says the proposed act “would open the door to unprecedented taxpayer-funded discrimination, allowing anyone to act with impunity in rejecting same-sex couples.”
(AP) The Orlando police sergeant who was gunned down in a Wal-Mart parking lot was one of the first responders to a mass shooting at a gay nightclub. The Orlando Police Department on Tuesday confirmed that Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was one of the officers who responded to the shooting at Pulse in which 49 patrons were killed. Last June’s massacre in Orlando was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Authorities say Clayton was gunned down Monday morning in a Wal-Mart parking lot after she approached a suspect who was wanted for questioning in the slaying last December of his pregnant girlfriend. A manhunt for suspect Markeith Loyd was in its second day on Tuesday.
likely to Move championship from activists Brace for Gop efforts to Officer Responded to Pulse Gay Club acc lGBt slain nc again if anti-lGBt law Remains undermine their Gains Massacre
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Master Sgt. Debra Clayton
NEWS local
no JaIl foR JunGWIRth
JunGWIRth pleads GuIlty to county chaRGes SFGN Staff
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Photo: Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Sentences Him to One Year Probation
ne week after federal charges for making online threats against the LGBT community were dropped against Craig Jungwirth, he has pled guilty to two seconddegree misdemeanors in Broward County. He was sentenced to a year’s probation, and ordered to undergo a mental health assessment. Jungwirth had been held in Broward County Jail the past month for violating the conditions of his bond on charges of defrauding an innkeeper, having failed to complete a pretrial diversion program, and getting arrested on a new charge while out on bond on a pending case. He had served 128 days in custody, most recently on a no bond hold due to the now-closed federal indictment. Represented by his counsel, Ron Baum, silent throughout the hearing, except to change Jungswirth pled open before the Honorable his plea, admitting he was guilty, competent, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren. She adjudicated him and understood the terms and conditions of his guilty on both cases, ordering him to serve two sentence. consecutive terms of six months’ probation, Despite the plea agreement placing him on requiring he see a private psychologist or probation, to be served in Orlando, where he court licensed mental health expert, and fulfill now resides, Jungwirth may not get out of jail whatever treatment plans they so outline. for at least another week or so. While in custody, In each of the two cases, the victim was a civil court judge issued a ‘writ of bodily an establishment owned by Wilton Manors attachment’ against him, with a no bond hold. entrepreneur Nick Berry. The first case, in This separate civil case involves a petition for 2015, dealt with Jungwirth’s a civil restraining order requested by absconding from the Courtyard a local businessman, Jeff Black, who he was Cafe without paying his full bill. had been unable to serve process on A second unrelated charge of Jungwirth. The effect of this writ sentenced criminal mischief was filed in requires him to be brought to court to a yeaR’s 2016 after Jungwirth defaced and served. Now set for January the windows at Rumors with 19, when he receives those papers, pRobation, paint. As a condition of his the judge assigned that case may and oRdeRed potentially impose other judicial plea, Jungwirth will have to make nominal restitution to the upon Jungwirth. to undeRgo restrictions establishment as well. While Jungwirth first came to the Additionally, the court attention of the LGBT weekend as a mental ordered Jungwirth to have the proprietor of the failed Beach health no contact with any of the Bear Weekend, he came to notoriety businesses in person, via the assessment. last fall when he supposedly made Internet or any means of social an online threat to launch a “Pulse media. “You understand,” Judge like massacre in South Florida.” It Lerner-Wren told the defendant, “this is a critical led to a federal indictment, dropped only a week part of this plea?” He answered, “Yes.” Weighing ago when the US attorney’s office acknowledged significantly less than the 280 pounds he had they could not prove up the charge and months ago, Jungwirth remained stoic and authenticate he was the author.
feds dRop chaRGes aGaInst JunGWIRth John McDonald
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ederal prosecutors dropped a criminal case against a man accused of issuing social media threats against the LGBT community. In a court document filed Tuesday, the U.S. government dismissed an indictment against Craig Jungwirth, 50, of Orlando. The decision came six weeks after prosecutors admitted the case against Jungwirth was “weak.” “I am disappointed they could not find enough evidence to proceed,” said Wilton Manors Vice Mayor Justin Flippen. Jungwirth was arrested Sept. 4 by the FBI in Orlando. He was extradited to Broward County where he faced charges of sending threatening messages via Facebook. One of the more alarming posts attributed to Jungwirth read: “My events are selling out cause you faggots are total patsies. None of you deserve to live. If you losers thought the Pulse nightclub shooting was bad, wait till you see what I’m planning for Labor Day.” In another post Jungwirth allegedly wrote, “I’m gonna be killing you fags faster than cops kill niggers. It’s time to clean up Wilton Manors from all you AIDS infested losers.” Ultimately, federal investigators were not able to link the threats to any of the 59 Facebook profiles Jungwirth had access to. Prosecutors are barred from proceeding with a case where they do not believe they can prove the allegations in court. Jungwirth was facing 10 to 16 years in federal prison if convicted. “So he actually has to harm someone or do something more drastic to be prosecuted?,”
Wilton Manors resident Anthony Johnson said. “What’s the point of having a political system in place if they let people back on the streets who threaten to take lives of others?” Johnson, a health care advocate, said he has interacted with Jungwirth. “I had my run in with this guy and, let me tell you, I would not put it past him to follow through with his threats,” Johnson said. Meanwhile, Jungwirth remains jailed in Broward County with no bond on two unrelated misdemeanor charges. “Those charges are not being dropped and it is my hope the court will move forward and he will answer for the crimes he committed,” said Flippen. Flippen said he had “brief contact” with Jungwirth when Jungwirth was promoting Beach Bear Weekend to the City of Wilton Manors. He said he did not feel intimidated by Jungwirth and described him as someone who “did not understand” the city’s role in special events. Jungwirth is also accused of failing to pay a food and drink bill at a Wilton Manors restaurant in 2014 and damaging windows at Rumors Bar & Grill in Wilton Manors last May.
1.11.2017 •
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lGBTQIA bites
l
lesbian
caRRy youR favoRIte lesBIan pIcK-up BaR In youR pocKet (SFGN) Entrepreneur Liz James was motivated by the disappearance of her favorite lesbian bars when she created the new dating app Click, according to Curve magazine. “Lesbian bars have almost completely disappeared due to gentrification, mainstreaming, the internet culture and a shift in how we identify with more fluid gender identities becoming the norm rather than the exception,” James told Curve. “A lot of women grew up in these bars. Nowadays there are some great events to go to, but nothing permanent, to just go and hang out.” The dating app is modeled after these vanishing bars, the homepage features a door with a neon sign that reads “Open 24/7.” “It’s more a venue than an app, a place where the whole community can relax and meet, no matter how they identify. We expect women will come to Click for all kinds of reasons, whether it’s to make friends, find a date, or just have a chat,” said James, who
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founded online lesbian dating site PinkSofa. com ten years ago. “Click is purposely different to PinkSofa with a freemium business model to encourage greater community take-up. It’s hard to build a thriving community if you shut the gate on those who don’t pay,” said James about the apps pay-structure. Click is available now via iTunes.
B
Compiled by Jillian Melero Bisexual
authoR of ‘GoodnIGht Moon’ Was BIseXual (SFGN) Margaret Wise Brown, author of the children’s classic “Goodnight Moon” is the subject of a new biography “In the Great Green Room” by Amy Gary, the New York Post reports. Gary discovered a wealth of Brown’s unpublished works, diaries and letters and has dedicated her career to sharing Brown’s life and works with others. Among the personal details revealed are some regarding Brown’s tumultuous love life. She never married, had relationships with several men and at least one woman, Blanche Oelrichs. Oelrichs was married, 20 years Brown’s senior, and a socialite turned feminist poet who went by the name Michael Strange. The relationship, while on again off again, lasted over several years till Oelrich’s death. The story, “Goodnight Moon” was originally conceived as “Goodnight Room” during one of the couples’ break-ups, and was reimagined as “Goodnight Moon” once they were back together. Brown had one more relationship after
Alexander Gustavo.
Oelrich, this time with James Rockefeller, who proposed marriage. But Brown passed from surgery complications before the two could marry. “In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown” is available Jan. 10, $12.99 on kindle, and starting at $23.00 on Amazon.
lGBTQIA bites
t
continued transgender
thRee tRansGendeR MuRdeRs RepoRted In the fIRst tWo WeeKs of 2017 (SFGN) Mesha Caldwell, a black transgender woman, was found shot to death in Madison County Mississippi on Jan. 4, LGBTQ Nation reports. Caldwell’s is the first reported transgender murder in the U.S. for 2017. Few details about the case have been released thus far. Friends and family told reporters that Caldwell, 41 was a hair and makeup artist, wellknown in her community. Lawmakers in Mississippi passed a law to protect religious beliefs including that gender is determined by birth and cannot be altered. The law has since been blocked by a district judge and Attorney General Jim Hood has declined an appeal of the decision. Jan. 6, a transgender woman in South Dakota was found dead in her apartment in an apparent homicide, KSFY reported. The victim, Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, 28, identified as two-spirit and was originally from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, according to Sioux Falls Two-Spirit and Allies. “She is the type of person that when she
talks people stop to listen,” Youth Outreach Director Reina Parker told the Argus Leader. “The impact she leaves on people after meeting her once is something nobody forgets.” A third transgender death was reported on Jan. 8, this time the incident was officerinvolved. Pennsylvania transgender man Sean Hake, was killed by police responding to a domestic violence call, WKBN reports. “He had a genuinely good heart and he had struggled with his problems,” a friend told WKBN. “But he always made sure that he was there for other people.”
Mesha Caldwell
Sean Hake
Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow
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NEWS local A few of the sponsors at PBCHRC’s Winter Fête . Photo Credit:: PBCHRC.
Big Surprises In Store for PBCHRC’s Annual Winter Fete This Saturday’s event will be held in Wellington Ryan Yousefi
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954-364-8337
he Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) will hold its annual Winter Fête fundraising event this Saturday, Jan. 14, at the home of Wellington equestrian fixtures and successful businessmen, Mason Phelps and Ron Neal. The event is hoping to raise funds that will help the organization in their continued fight to stop discrimination toward individuals based solely on one’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. According to PBCHRC President and founder Rand Hoch, the hope is to not only get the word out about their cause but to also positively impact LGBT laws and policies by bringing awareness to the community’s biggest issues. “For the past 29 years, we have worked to elect public officials who not only understand LGBT issues, but also who work to enact laws and policies to provide equal protections, rights and benefits for LGBT Floridians.” Hoch told SFGN. The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has a long history of raising awareness on certain issues for the betterment of the LGBT community, but this year the group has a particular issue at the forefront; banning the use of conversion therapy on minors. “To date, PBCHRC have been responsible for the enactment of more than 110 local laws and policies benefiting our community
-- that is more pro-LGBT laws and policies than in all of Florida’s other 66 counties combined. This year, along with SAVE in Miami-Dade County, we are concentrating on banning the practice of conversion therapy on minors in Palm Beach County. We have been successful in our efforts in West Palm Beach, Lake Worth and in Boynton Beach, and this Spring, we will be working to see if we can enact a countywide ban on this abusive practice aimed at LGBT youth.” As for what guests that attend the Winter Fête should expect, well, Hoch says the hosts are keeping that a surprise thus far, but it’s sure to be something grand. “Mason and Ron are keeping the details of the Winter Fête pretty close to the vest, so even I am going to be surprised when I get there. Mason and Ron throw great parties, and they are going all out with this one. According to our treasurer, Dan Hall, we have just under 200 people who have purchased tickets. When I called to ask Mason whether we should stop selling tickets, his response was “Hell no! Keep raising money.” While details of the party are a tightly held secret, one minor detail was recently revealed. “They did let it slip on Facebook that they are laying down a dance floor out by the pool, so that will be a first for our fundraising events.”
Individual tickets to the charitable event are available for $125 each. Proceeds for the event will go towards the PBCHRC fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Tickets to the Winter Fête event will get patrons access to the event that will include hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, entertainment and valet parking. Attire is Palm Beach chic. For more information, or to purchase tickets to the PBCHRC Winter Fête visit www.pbchrc.org/events.
NEWS miami
NEWS palm beach
Boynton Beach Bans Conversion Therapy On Minors John McDonald
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Gay Anime Convention Sweeps Miami Off Its Feet Saturday Brittany Ferrendi
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eady to get your gay geekdom on? to be the first gay convention in Florida Okama Con, one of South Florida’s pretty much so I had no idea how it’d be only LGBT anime conventions, will received … It was greatly received, however, hit the Miami Airport Convention Center on and I learned a ton so I’m excited to put Saturday, Jan. 14. everything I learned from OUT Con and step “The (convention) scene deals with so it up with Okama Con. It’ll definitely be a lot many geeks and people more organized and will do my that are ‘standouts’ to begin best to make it more enjoyable for “Really with that putting focus proud of the everyone.” on a marginalized group When asked about community homophobic remarks or threats and creating a convention centered around LGBT+ is a leading up to the day of Okama for how great way of letting everyone Con, Stryker noted the local receptive out there know that it’s okay reaction was relatively typical. it’s been and to be different,” said J Stryker, “We’ve had the occasional all the love bible nut send us bible quotes founder of OUT Con and Okama Con. and whatnot. Also someone we’ve been Okama, Japanese for “gay” trying to announce that getting.” or “cross-dresser,” hints at convention should celebrate the convention’s purpose everyone and not just a single - J Stryker of celebrating LGBT culture group of people when we’ve Founder of OUT Con within the anime scene. been very clear that everyone’s and Oama Con The event promises panels invited. But yeah, nothing out of covering trivia games, dealing with bullying this world thankfully. Really proud of the and more. community for how receptive it’s been and In addition, the con will feature local all the love we’ve been getting.” drag queens like Naomi Wynter, Lucianna And most of all, Stryker is excited to see Havanna Lords and Hinez Dupree. Costume, community reaction. strip and lip-syncing contests will abound. “I think it’s going to be a dark horse. South Stryker will take experiences from his Florida had yet to see an event like this so I previous event OUT Con, which he launched think it’s doing a great job in standing out in May of last year. and making people view the convention “It was scary,” he said. “It was going scene differently.”
he City of Boynton Beach has banned the practice of conversion therapy on minors. The decision came at the request of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. Also known as reparative therapy, conversion therapy involves changing one’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression through aversion treatment. “Conversion therapy is usually forced on minors by parents who find it impossible to accept the fact that their child is gay or lesbian,” said W. Trent Steele, an attorney and member of the board of directors for PBCHRC, in a news release. “This so-called ‘treatment’ is extremely harmful.” In a unanimous vote, the Boynton Beach Commission voted to prohibit licensed mental health professionals from engaging in the practice of conversion therapy on minors within the city limits. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Boynton Beach had a population of 68,217.
“Being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender is not an illness or disorder that requires treatment or needs to be cured,” said Boynton Beach Commissioner Justin Katz, in a news release. “Numerous scientific studies were presented to the city commission and every one of them has concluded that conversion therapy can be extremely harmful to LGBT youth.” Over the past 28 years, PBCHRC has succeeded in enacting more than 110 laws and policies that provide equal rights, benefits and protection for the LGBT community.
Tickets are $12 for general admission, with a special deal of two tickets for $22 available. For more information, visit OkamaCon.com.
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NEWS local
NEWS national
Photo Credit: J.R. Davis.
South Bend Mayor Enters DNC Chair Race John McDonald
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he campaign to chair the Democratic Party got a new competitor this week. The latest to throw his hat into the ring is Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Buttigieg, a gay man, served overseas in Afghanistan as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. “I am a Democrat because I believe in defending freedom, fairness, families and the future,” Buttigieg writes on his website, PeteForDNC.com. The 34-year-old Buttigieg is a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard graduate who is in his second term as Mayor of South Bend, a rust belt city and home to Notre Dame University. “I don’t think there’s a silver bullet to the party’s issues, but I do think there’s an opportunity, especially with a perspective that comes from state or local government, and from a part of the country where Democrats absolutely should be winning races, and haven’t been,” Buttigieg told CNN. Buttigieg joins a crowded field in the race to chair one of America’s two major political parties. Others who have announced their intentions are: outgoing U.S. Labor Department Secretary Tom Perez, U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison of
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Photo: Facebook.
Minnesota, South Carolina chairman Jaime Harrison and New Hampshire chairman Ray Buckley. Buckley, like Buttigieg, is openly gay. The chair became vacant with the resignation of South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who held the position since 2011. Democrats are gathering in Phoenix next week for the party’s first regional forum.
Poverty A Harsh Reality For LGBT Seniors John McDonald
A
t a restaurant on Federal Highway last week, a group of men gathered to share dinner, swap stories and make new friends. Hosted by Tuesday’s Angels, a Fort Lauderdale-based non-profit that provides care for people living with HIV, the dinner is a once a month occasion where donors hear a progress report of the organization’s mission. To start the year, the group heard from Bruce Williams, director of senior services at Pride Center at Equality Park. Williams didn’t speak much. He let his writing do the talking. On tables inside Mojo café were copies of Williams’ heartfelt article published in The Advocate Magazine January of last year. In the piece, Williams writes of the struggles many LGBT seniors face in what is supposed to be their “golden years.” “At 68 years old, having led a responsible and productive life, I find myself living in poverty with the prospects for the final third of my existence only getting worse,” Williams wrote. “I wake up each day only to hope that I will die before my funds and limited resources run out completely. I also find that I am in the company of hundreds of thousands of other LGBTQ seniors who, through no fault of their own, are in the same tragic and inhumane situation.” On Tuesday mornings Williams can often be found in Pride Center’s building A, overseeing the coffee and conversation program. The weekly two-hour program connects seniors with vital services and offers informative speakers and entertaining guests. Williams has been known to sing a song or two. Raising spirits and providing laughter goes a long way to ease the pain many of his peers proudly mask.
“The desperate cries for financial assistance and low-income LGBT housing generally fall on deaf ears and I fear this means that today’s LGBT seniors will die off before ground is broken for their new home,” Williams wrote in his Advocate piece. There is good news as plans are in the works to bring affordable housing to Equality Park. A 48-unit apartment complex is in the early design stages with groundbreaking expected near the end of 2017. Of the 48 units, 34 have been designated for low-income seniors with disabling conditions. “Broward County has a rapidly-expanding population of aging LGBT adults, and unfortunately, very limited affordable housing options,” said Robert Boo, Pride Center at Equality Park Chief Executive Officer, in a news release. “The Residences at Equality Park, coupled with the Pride Center’s ever-growing seniors programming – the largest LGBT senior program in the nation -- will help give these residents a permanent and safe place to live along with the supportive services they need to stay there.” Similar projects have been built in San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, in two weeks, senior gay men from around the globe will meet in Fort Lauderdale for A Celebration of Friends’ January Jamboree (Jan. 26-29). Proceeds from the weekend affair at Ramada Inn Oakland Park will directly benefit Pride Center’s senior services and Tuesday’s Angels. More Info: www.pridecenterflorida.org www.tuesdaysangels.org www.celebrationoffriends.org
NEWS local Dori Zinn
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lIvInG In GRIef
lmost 20 years ago, Anne Atwell started attending services at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale. Today, she’s the Minister of Connections. “[The church] impacted me so much that I decided to enter seminary,” Atwell said, which she did about 10 years ago. “I was working full-time at a corporation but I knew I wanted to do something more.” That something more led Atwell to get her Masters of Divinity at St. Thomas University. She’s even working on her doctorate right now. Atwell started part-time work at Sunshine almost three years ago, and realized not too long after that there was a lot of loss and grief among the congregants, but they had nowhere to go to talk about it. That’s when Atwell started the bereavement group in mid-2015. Since then it’s grown so much that it meets twice a week — once at Sunshine Cathedral and once at SunServe on Wilton Drive. Since she had training in grieving and loss, she created the bereavement group that specifically targeted the LGBT community. There’s clearly a need for it. “It grew so quickly and fast, we had to make another group,” she said. “Fifteen people [at one meeting] is a lot, so we broke it up.” Now, there’s one in the afternoons at SunServe for those who can’t drive at night and one in the evenings at Sunshine Cathedral for those who work during the day. It works within the schedule of those who need it, and for the LGBT
Sunshine Cathedral’s Bereavement Group helps community cope with death and loss
community, the demand was high. “A lot of groups will say ‘grief is grief’ and I understand that but within the LGBT community, we have certain issues and family dynamics that others won’t understand,” Atwell said. “In our community, our friends are our family. Other groups don’t get that.” That doesn’t just mean the group is just for the LGBT community — anyone is welcome as long as they are comfortable and respectful of the community. Being part of Sunday worship isn’t a requirement, either. Atwell said the group is a gift from the Cathedral to the community. And the gift has been tremendous. Atwell shared a story of a man who lost his spouse very suddenly. He attended the group for six months and created a short play about how the loss affected him. Atwell and her wife went to see the play when the man told Atwell’s wife that the group saved his life. “I see them out and about and they are enjoying life,” she said. “It’ll never be the same but it’s a new normal for them.” Since the start of the group a year and a half ago, Atwell said 439 people have attended. Meetings usually last about an hour in hopes that everyone gets a chance to speak. Atwell has a loose 12-week program that she created but said it’s not a requirement to stick to. “I know grief is not that linear,” she said. “Something is going to happen to someone and I’m not going to exclude them. The conversation will go where it goes.”
Photo Credit: Facebook.
And if growth keeps increasing at the rapid rate it is now, Atwell sees more meetings in the future. “As more people find out about the bereavement group, maybe we’ll have to create more groups,” she said. “It’s free and there are no qualifiers except respecting folks and their journey.”
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FAST and Courteous Service 1.11.2017 •
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NEWS local
IsRael sWoRn In foR second teRM as BRoWaRd sheRIff
Photo courtesy Kevin J. Ryan, BSO.
John McDonald
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roward County Sheriff Scott Israel was sworn in for his second term Tuesday afternoon, promising to continue compassionate reforms that led to his landslide re-election. “This is truly the most talent rich public agency in America,” said Israel. “Through effective and innovative programs, BSO is now a shining example of everything good law enforcement strives to be. Each day, we make a difference throughout our diverse community.” Surrounded by his family and fellow officers at the Faith Center in Sunrise, Israel reflected on how far he’d come. A
“we have diveRsified ouR depaRtment to Reflect ouR community. we’Re building bRidges.” - Scott Israel
BRoWARd CouNTy SHERIFF
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career cop from Brooklyn, New York, Israel first ran for Broward Sheriff in 2008, but came up short against Al Lamberti. “I needed to lose,” he said. “It was a humbling experience. I wasn’t with the people I needed to be with.” He would return to defeat Lamberti in 2012 and won re-election in November with a whopping 72 percent of the vote. “One of the characteristics about my dad that stands out to me is his desire to win,” said Blake Israel, one of the Sheriff’s three sons. “Nothing is given to you. You have to work hard and earn victory.” During his speech, Israel recognized several people in the audience, including former Sheriffs Ken Jenne and Bob Butterworth. He also offered inspirational quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, George Patton and Maya Angelou. Loyalty was a theme throughout the twohour program. “You want people with intelligence working for you, but most of all you want people that are loyal to you because if they aren’t, they are loyal to someone else,” Israel said. Retired BSO Sergeant Jim Dyer emceed the program and Judge Elijah H. Williams performed the swearing in ceremony. Richie Supa, a guitarist from the rock band
Aerosmith, performed two numbers — “Put A Face On Me” and “Lean On Me.” Supa founded a recovery facility for addiction treatment in Fort Lauderdale. Israel called the recording artist his “brother.” “Don’t show me how far you’ve fallen, show me how far you’ve bounced back,” Israel said. Under Israel’s leadership, violent crime in Broward County is down 18 percent and burglaries are down 42 percent. Israel credits this decline to the implementation of a civil citation program designed to give young people who commit misdemeanors a second chance. “We will continue to measure our success by the number of kids we keep out of jail and in school,” he said. During his speech, Israel recognized Ron Gunzburger’s work as a “problem solver” in the office of general counsel. He praised the hiring of new fire chief Joe Fernandez as “a home run” and said BSO would always stand up to bullies. “We will always treat people with dignity and respect,” Israel said. “We have diversified our department to reflect our community. We’re building bridges.” David Currie, a senior detective for the BSO crime scene unit, told SFGN Israel has taken the agency to new levels.
“I have seen this agency grow and forever change, all for the good,” said Currie, a 25-year veteran of the force. “I commend Sheriff Israel for the diversity and acceptance that the agency has portrayed during his administration.” When marriage equality became legal in Florida, Currie married his partner Aaron -- in uniform -- and with the blessing of Sheriff Israel. On that fateful morning in the Broward County Courthouse, Currie became the first openly gay law enforcement officer to be married in Florida. “I am forever thankful for the support and recognition Sheriff Israel showed two years ago,” Currie said. “Sheriff Israel was extremely supportive and gave me permission to be married in my uniform. He and his command staff were present and he recognized Aaron and I by name that evening. He honored and supported me, my beliefs and my lifestyle that evening. I will continue to honor him with my service to the agency and the community. That night was a memorable experience for me as well as many others.” In closing his swearing-in speech, Israel offered words of advice from the Navy SEALs. “Do not rise to the occasion — sink to the level of your training,” he said. “Stay alive. Win the battles you enter.”
NEWS local
Photo Credit: CNN.
aIRpoRt atteMpts to RestoRe oRdeR afteR deadly shootInG Brittany Ferrendi
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he Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood left behind as travelers left the scene of the International Airport is steadily attack. returning to normal after last week’s “The process has started of returning chaos. items but with that number it’s going to Five people were killed and six people take several days,” Airport Operations injured following a shooting at the airport Director Michael Nonnemacher told the last Friday. It was originally believed that Sun Sentinel. “It is an extensive process to eight people were injured. go through those many items and Roughly 36 people also faced them back to everybody.” afteR the fbi getThe minor injuries as a result of airport has opened a notifies the hotline for assistance following anxiety, fall injuries and more after the incident, according the shooting. Passengers looking families of to a press release by the reclaim their lost baggage can the deceased, to Broward Sheriff’s Office. call 866-435-9355 for help. bRowaRd Their Twitter confirmed They confirmed on Twitter that county’s the injured were taken to calls are being returned to help Broward Health Medical distribute lost items. They are medical Center and Memorial also issuing government forms of eXamineR’s Regional Hospital. identification on the lower level office will BHMC Spokesperson Amy between Terminal 1 and Terminal Erez told the Sun Sentinel 2 in large blue and white busses. Release the that five people are still Soon, a website will be created names of hospitalized — two of which to list unidentified items and those Killed. expedite returns. remain in critical condition. Four of the five injured are TMZ leaked an exclusive video being treated for gunshot wounds, while the of the shooting. Broward Mayor Barbara fifth’s injuries are unclear. Sharief told the Sun Sentinel that federal After the FBI notifies the families of and local authorities are looking into who the deceased, Broward County’s Medical took the unauthorized footage. Examiner’s Office will release the names of TMZ did not immediately respond to those killed. request about how it obtained the video. The airport has since been cleaning up The shooter appeared in court Monday following the shooting. It is undergoing morning for a hearing. He is facing federal biohazard cleanup, will replace the carpeting charges for murder, firearm and airport and repair walls. violence. His maximum punishment is the Aside from cleanup, many items were death penalty if convicted.
1.11.2017 •
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publisher's editorial
CONVICTIONS
Bad thInGs happen to Good people Norm Kent
officers in tactical gear sweep the airport terminal at FLL. Credit: Ozzy Sanchez.
norm.kent@sfgn.com
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n November 7, 2016, a former Army reservist walked into an FBI office in Anchorage, Alaska, to report, “his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency.” His name was Esteban Santiago, and he claimed the government was controlling his mind and making him watch ISIS videos. He was brought to a mental health facility, and discharged a month later, given back a 9-millimeter gun he had surrendered. Five days ago, that same man flew to Fort Lauderdale from Alaska, and upon picking up his luggage, retrieved that same gun, and using that same weapon, promptly shot five people to death in that terminal. One elderly victim was a gentle grandmother from Council Bluffs, Iowa, a small, lovely town. Her life came to an end as she bent down to pick up her luggage for a cruise she and her husband were going to sail on within hours. Instead, a funeral to plan, and agonizing questions to ask. You ask how? It’s simple, really. Too many things in our life don’t work anymore. Take Craig Jungwirth, who is likely to get out of jail this week, with virtually no legal or judicial supervision. Surprised? Don’t be. It’s your legal system at work. How is it that the federal government, for all its skill set, can’t seem to prove Jungwirth actually authored online posts threatening to exterminate gays in South Florida? You mean that the entire investigative arm of the FBI and the US Justice Department can’t figure out how one wacko threatened the entire LGBT community of South Florida? No wonder teenagers in the Ukraine are hijacking American computers. Jungwirth’s was facing 12 to 18 months in jail on federal charges, but wound up in county court charged with stiffing a restaurant for a ten-dollar fee, and spray painting graffiti on a window of a local bar. Having already spent 128 days in the county jail for two second-degree misdemeanors, his time was maxed out. There was not much more the court could do.
A year’s worth of unsupervised probation with counseling as required was about as good as we were going to get. It seems that county probation does not provide for electronic monitors, though the court wanted one. It seems that county probation does not even have the authority to transfer non-residential probationers to another county, though the court sought the same. It seems like nothing works anymore the way it should. As SFGN has revealed in multiple stories over the past year, Mr. Jungwirth is a warning sign of a car that has lost its brakes. Even before making an online terroristic threat to commit an “Orlando Pulse like massacre” in South Florida, he had created for himself a judicial history of mental instability. Mr. Jungwirth’s past is pockmarked by accusations made against him by numerous parties for stalking and threats of violence. Various courts and jurists in a number of states and different jurisdictions over the past four years have issued sanctions against him. Not surprisingly, a new request for yet another restraining order is now pending against Jungwirth in Broward County. A local businessman is accusing him of threatening him and sabotaging his business. It’s that one pending case that is now holding Jungwirth in jail on what the law calls a “writ of bodily attachment.” There are actually more victims of Jungwirth than the one complaining, but they are afraid to come forward. These accosted persons are intimidated and scared, because of his past, erratic conduct. You can sympathize of course, but to stop a dragon, somebody has to pick up the sword. Mr. Jungwirth’s has caused some havoc in South Florida. Last year, his deliberate conduct enabled him to sabotage the popular ‘Beach Bear Weekend’ by falsifying contracts and promoting non-existent events with venues that knew nothing of his representations. Mr. Jungwirth has even sued nightclubs for revenues in out-of -county courts based on
theRe aRe actually moRe victims of JungwiRth than have come foRwaRd publicly.
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to stop a dRagon, someone has to picK up the swoRd. - Norm Kent
spurious invoices he created for his falsified Beach Bear parties. Imagine this: these businesses, including four local nightclubs, now have to hire legal counsel to defend themselves against moronic lawsuits against them in another county, because of Jungwirth’s transparent abuse of the legal system. His suits have one major implication, though, if the Orange County clerk of courts or chief prosecutor is listening. I hope they are. Every lawsuit Jungwirth filed was paid for with checks that have bounced and not been made good. Writing bad checks is a crime, and frankly, in this case, an excuse for Orlando to prosecute Jungwirth anew, giving another jurisdiction an additional bite at the apple to impose some sort of continuing supervision over him. Let them know. While check-kiting charges may seem minor, Jungwirth knew exactly what he was doing. He consciously went into an Orange County courthouse and paid a filing fee to sue a licensed alcoholic beverage establishment from Broward County on a frivolous and specious claim. That’s not indicative of mental illness. It’s a conspiratorial and sophisticated attempt to sabotage a legitimate business with legal chicanery. Maybe he is not ill. Maybe he is just mendacious. I don’t know; I am not a doctor. Still, in sentencing Mr. Jungwirth for his criminal mischief charge last week, the court declined to require him to pass a competency examination before accepting the plea. That’s a shame, because there was sufficient evidence, based on the cumulative things
he is alleged to have done, to suggest all his croutons may not be in the salad. A court ordered psychological evaluation could be used in determining whether to even accept a plea from a potentially compromised defendant. A thorough report from a psychologist could have provided a little bit of insight into his aberrant behavior and misguided conduct over the past year. Maybe that report might even propose a line of treatment. Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren did order Mr. Jungwirth to go to a private psychiatrist or mental health center and “complete whatever treatment they so required.” Please, whom are we kidding? There have been too many mass shootings by troubled souls who had voices talking to them in the night, making them do crazy things in the daytime. The truth is painful. America’s mental health system does not work as well as we would like. The best we can hope for is Jungwirth does not wind up seeing the same doctors Esteban Santiago met with last November. As of this date, unlike Mr. Santiago, Mr. Jungwirth has not killed anyone. But the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. And we do know this man has physically threatened some and intimidated others. We do know that if something new happens no one is going to care whether he was mentally challenged, emotionally compromised, or just an evil man. We are all just going to ask why don’t things work anymore. Why don’t they?
CONVICTIONS
Jesse Monteagudo
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wo weeks before Hillary Clinton lost the presidential race to alpha male Donald Trump, the United Nations named the feminist icon Wonder Woman honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. “The objective was to reach out to Wonder Woman fans to raise awareness of UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 5” which seeks to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls, according to UN spokesman Jeffrey Brez. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman’s role as UN ambassador proved to be controversial, and only lasted for less than two months. UN staff members started a petition against the appointment, saying that the character is “not culturally encompassing or sensitive.” “Although the original creators may have intended Wonder Woman to represent a strong and independent warrior woman with a feminist message, the reality is that the character’s current iteration is that of a large breasted, white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thighbaring body suit with an American flag motif and knee high boots - the epitome of a pin-up girl.” The UN decision to drop Wonder Woman upset many of her fans, including actors Lynda Carter, who played Wondy on television in the 1970s, and Gal Gadot, who will do so in this year’s “Wonder Woman” movie. It certainly upset me, a lifelong Wonder Woman fan who followed the character in various media. Though Wonder Woman’s “star-spangled bathing suit” has caused controversy ever since the character was created 75 years ago, it is unfair to describe her as “a pin-up girl,” large breasted or otherwise. Creator William Moulton Marston, who wrote under the pen name “Charles Moulton,” and artist H.G. Peter created
Jesse’s Journal
WondeR WoMan A Woman among Men Wonder Woman to be a feminist symbol, albeit one Moulton sometimes used to indulge his fetishes, including bondage. (Wonder Woman was always being tied up.) Marston made his creation an Amazon, from the island of Themyscira where only women live, and the daughter of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. Though there was always a spirit of sisterhood among the Amazons of Themyscira, only lately has DC Comics admitted what was always obvious: that the Amazons enjoyed romantic and sexual relationships with one another. Though Wonder Woman’s feminism had its ups and downs, depending on whoever was writing or drawing her series, through the decades she retained her status as comics’ greatest female character, a woman among men. “Not content to be just a woman who could perform as incredibly as her male counterparts, her stories contained incidents and attitudes which suggested, and perhaps even embodied, militant feminism on a scale unprecedented in any mass medium,” comic historian Les Daniels wrote. “Wonder Woman symbolizes many of the values of the women’s culture that feminists are now trying to introduce into the mainstream: strength and self-reliance for women; sisterhood and mutual support among women; peacefulness and esteem for human life; a diminishment both of ‘masculine’ aggression and of the belief that violence is the only way of solving conflicts,” according to feminist writer Gloria Steinem. Feminist or not, DC Comics saw fit to publish Wonder Woman’s comics for over seven decades, longer than any other character except Superman or Batman. Unfortunately, Wondy was never as popular or as lucrative as her two male counterparts. According to Carol A. Strickland, “she was a woman to stand among all those tightly-clad, over-muscled male heroes. . . But this Amazon princess,
though wondeR woman was neveR veRy populaR with stRaight boys, she was idoliZed by geneRations of gay and gendeRQuestioning boys.
Wonder Woman, would always be the third-stringer of DC’s Top Three. Whereas entire generations of comics readers could follow the adventures of Superman or Batman without noticing any changes to speak of, fans of Wonder Woman had to deal with abrupt turnarounds that seemed to rock the character back on her heels every time a new editor or writer took charge.” In 1968 WW even lost her Amazon powers, though she regained them in 1972 after a campaign led by Steinem. More recently Wonder Woman is being portrayed as a fierce Amazon warrior, the daughter of Zeus, no doubt to attract the straight boys who make up the majority of
comic book fans. Though Wonder Woman was never very popular with straight boys, she was idolized by generations of gay and genderquestioning boys. Some of them grew up to write or draw Wonder Woman, as did the openly gay comic artist and writer Phil Jimenez. This year promises to be a good one for the Amazing Amazon, thanks to the upcoming Gal Gadot movie. (Gadot’s WW already stole the movie from the two title characters in last year’s overrated “Batman v Superman.”) Let us hope Wonder Woman succeeds, if only because we all need a strong woman, even if a fictional one, in this Age of Trump.
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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CONVICTIONS
seeing In the dark
dIsaBIlIty coMMunIty Blasts andeRson coopeR oveR ada seGMent
Belo Cipriani
O
n December 4, 60 Minutes ran a segment on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For 13 minutes, Anderson Cooper, the host of the show, interviewed corrupt attorneys whose get rich plots involved visiting businesses with the sole purpose of suing them for not being ADA compliant.
With angry tones, business owners expressed their frustrations to Cooper, as they felt wronged for being targeted. The piece also profiled two disabled individuals who had been hired by unethical lawyers, and tricked into participating in what Cooper refers to as “drive-by lawsuits.” For several people, the segment may have come across as simply a cautionary tale – especially when you hear Cooper end the piece with the unnerving words, “Most states and the District of Columbia currently award cash damages for plaintiffs who file such lawsuits, and with so many businesses around the country still not in compliance, it may not be long before you start hearing about these kind of lawsuits in a town or city near you.” However, for a group of disability advocates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cooper and 60 Minutes didn’t just promote fear and animosity towards the ADA, but also deceived them. “I was contacted by 60 Minutes in early June of 2015 to be a part of an ADA celebration story,” said disability rights attorney Lainey Feingold over the phone. “A bunch of us from the disability advocate community were interviewed and had our photo taken. But, the story never ran.” Feingold, who has been representing the blind community for 20 years, says she has done interviews for the media in the past that never aired; though, this is the only time in which she witnessed people having their picture taken for a celebratory story, only to discover their images being used in a negative way. One of the advocates whose cropped photos were used in the 60 Minutes clip is Ingrid Tischer, Director of Development at the Disability Rights Education & Defense
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Fund. Tischer’s fury for what 60 Minutes and Cooper did to the disability community in the San Francisco Bay Area and the ADA is palpable. In her blog, Tales from the Crip, Tischer writes: “…they used that footage to undermine and dishonor the law that made me – a woman with a disability – a full citizen in 1990. 60 Minutes came to OUR house, used us, and told the world people with disabilities are either dupes, greedy or both.” South Florida Gay News reached out to 60 Minutes for comment, but no one replied to our queries. It is also important to note that Cooper is dyslexic, according to Disabled World and Understood.org, and has openly discussed growing up with a disability. Yet, the outrage towards Cooper and 60 Minutes continues to grow across the country, as many people with disabilities feel as though the piece creates a dark sentiment towards people with disabilities, and that the law protects them. New York-based blind writer Stephen Kuusisto condemns Cooper in his personal blog, Planet of the Blind. He writes: “On Sunday evening, CBS ran a vicious piece about the Americans with Disabilities Act, essentially portraying it as a profound impediment to business…. Anderson Cooper should be ashamed of himself, though one supposes he lives in such a perfect bubble he’s beyond social irony. Or perhaps he’s a single issue politician.” Other disability advocates believe Cooper and 60 Minutes are antagonizing the ADA even though the law has been around for more than two decades. And, not knowing the law never makes a person not accountable.
Anderson Cooper. Photo: CNN.
Tammie Stevens, a living skills trainer for people with visual impairments at the Center of Vision Enhancement, reacted to Cooper and 60 Minutes with disgust and rage. “They have to have been living under a rock not to know that there is accountability for non compliance with existing laws of any kind. Yes, the lawyers were taking advantage of the situation. Yes, there exists a situation to be taken advantage of. Villainizing the people that the law was meant to protect clearly misses the point,” Stevens wrote in an email to South Florida Gay News. According to the Current Population Survey (CPS), people with disabilities are the largest minority group in the United States. Furthermore, Disability-Marketing.
com states that of the 54 million people limited in their activities due to long-term disability… • • • • •
73% 46% 58% 77% 48%
are the heads of households are married own their own homes have no children are principal shoppers
Lastly, the aggregate income of people with disabilities tops $1 trillion. This includes $220 billion in discretionary income. Sadly, Cooper and 60 Minutes used their platform to fuel fear among small business owners, instead of showing how complying with the ADA isn’t just the law, but also a smart business investment.
Belo Cipriani is a disability advocate, a freelance journalist, the award-winning author of Blind: A Memoir and Midday dreams, the spokesperson for Guide dogs for the Blind and the national spokesman for 100 Percent Wine — a premium winery that donates 100 percent of proceeds to nonprofits that help people with disabilities find work. learn more at www.belocipriani.com.
CONVICTIONS
editorial cartoon
By andy Marlette
1.11.2017 •
19
CONVICTIONS
letters to the editor
MoRe fallout on peteR thIel as peRson of the yeaR Shame On You Norm Kent! How dare you ‘crown the unthinkable’
Norm Kent is a Traitor
Dear Editor of the SFGN, What a shame! Every week I waited for your newspaper to read; mainly, the gossip of this “assailed” community of Wilton Manors, yes, the very one that serves the upper echelons of the privileged gay life in Fort Lauderdale, a so-called city that is now been considered “too gay.....”?!? I waited for your voice of reason. I learned, back in the days (when people were still interested in learning something else besides, real estate, plastic surgery or the latest scandal of the Kardasians) that the media was supposed to be the voice of reason... but again, that was back in the 1970’s. Those learnings do not do much for your weekly paper anymore. You have listed in paragraph after paragraph all the “do goodies” that billionaire M. Thiel has done for the society at large: his contributions to scholarships, his interest in prolonging human life on the planet, etc. etc. ad nauseum.... Really, just because he has sex with another men that makes him the Gay Person of the Year.... This year, we have seen enough lies, revision of history, falsifications of the sanctity of facts and truth. You are now re-inventing, after declaring Mr. Thiel as such, what real LGBT heroes do all year long. Their indefatigable work within our own communities and the tiring but necessary alliances with our friends in order to pursue our freedoms, to protect our rights, to demand visibility, to end the several epidemics torturing our brothers & sisters. Instead of doing your homework and researching to finding a real LGBT person you hide on a supposedly “fairness and openness” to crown the unthinkable.... It is this kind of media fairness that has brought us to the moral crucible we are now facing. Obviously, you do not understand the seriousness of the situation that we are facing. You do not comprehend the cataclysmic avalanche on our progress and advances. More important than who has sex with whom, to be a Gay Person of the Year means much more than coming out of the closet on an open forum that was just as homophobic as anything I have ever seen: a real theater of the absurd. Mr. Thiel contribution to advance the hard won victories of the LGBT in the USA is pyrrhic, pathetic! Just for your information read his infamous essay wrongly named The Education of a Libertarian! More important than defending your choice, you should now
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acknowledge that you, as many others in the media, have started to normalize and accept what is unacceptable and immoral. Shame on you.... Like I said at the beginning of this letter.... Shame on you! Sincerely, Jimmy lam
Thiel SFGN Honor ʻGood Education For Us Allʼ
Withdrawing a previous indignant letter on the “Man of the Year” selection of Peter Thiel, I’ve now done some weekend reflection on the Trump win and what’s ahead. I now view the Thiel SFGN honor as a bit of good education for us all. We’ve been asleep at the switch. All politics is local, and in this reality, Democrats, liberals and progressives have really come up short. Over the past 8 years, Democrat losses and setbacks have been stunning (to put it mildly!) During the Obama presidency, Republicans have taken over dozens of states and governorships AND the House (2010), AND the Senate (2014), AND the Presidency (2016)! Add in countless losses in unseen local races...for city, county, school boards, and judgeships... and the 8 year liberal/progressive body count is massive and disastrous, indeed. You’ll surely say...”but she won the popular vote, substantially...” Yep, you are right, but the current rules don’t help very much when you lose in states you should have easily won. The hard fact is this... Trump won more than 80% of all U.S. counties...more than 80%! (Did I say “all politics is local”?) So, I am declaring my liberation, starting right now, from Facebook stewings over those losses! And, I am declaring that Democrats need new leadership and a new message! Forget the subtle nuanced policy positions, forget the murky “I’m not as bad” stuff. Retire, now, the out of touch and elderly leadership, develop a broad message, and get back (literally AND figuritively) into the heartland...or remain a minority party for decades! Fred Reissner
To The Editor SFGN:
Ivanka Trump was accosted on a JetBlue flight to San Francisco on December 22nd. Not much in the mainstream media. Lots of "alleged" and "reportedly" when mentioned. No surprise here. Glad to see it covered in SFGN 1/4/17. Ivanka was flying "coach" with her family and some cousins.
Dan Goldstein an attorney who lives in Brooklyn (no record of employment) was holding his adopted son Amos. He was traveling with his husband Matthew Lasner a CUNY Hunter College associate professor of urban studies and planning (just the degree you want, to get a good job). Lasner tweeted, "Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them." #banality@fevil. Goldstein on-board verbally harassed Ivanka, "Your father is ruining the country. Why is she on this flight? Oh my God, this is a nightmare. They ruin our country and now they ruin our flight." Lasner, Goldstein and Amos were kicked off the plane. Goldstein followed with a melt-down, agitated hissy, "You are kicking me off for expressing my opinion?" Who gives a rat's ass about Goldstein's opinion. News cameras picked him up slithering on the moving sidewalk to his rebooked flight. He reminded me of Linus Van Pelt after being disciplined. The Secret Service surprisingly did not intervene, but quickly whisked the Trump party on to a private aircraft. Why was the SS so complacent? Was their inaction standard protocol? Why was Jet Blue so lenient? I am sure the Trump children as well as Amos were traumatized. Why wasn't NYC Child Protective Services notified of Lasner and Goldstein subjecting Amos and the Trump children to this obvious abuse? Was NYC and Hunter College turning a blind eye? Could you imagine this happening to Chelsea Clinton or the Obama daughters? (Google Chelsea Clinton accosted by reporter at signing of Hillary's flop of a book, for another example of the double standard). The SS would be all over the harassers, probably bloodied and their sorry asses hauled off to jail. Maybe even shot or tasered? Jet Blue would have them on the no-fly list. James Combs (SFGN 1/4/17 pg. 2) is on the mark for saying "nobody deserves to be treated this way." And I might add, reflects poorly on our LGBTQ Community to whom Donald Trump has frequently expressed friendship and continues to do so. These two clowns chose a stupid venue to win friends and influence people. I am confident that our president-elect got the message that it is "open season" on all Trumps from every nut-job holding a grudge who didn't get their Participation Trophy this November. As Barak Obama said, "elections have consequences." Perhaps this incident is the reason why Trump is retaining his own security force to supplement the Secret Service? Be civil, love trumps hate. Michael Velsmid Wilton Manors
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1.11.2017 •
21
transforming Gender
CONVICTIONS Hillary Swank stars as Brandon Teena in “Boys Don’t Cry.” Submitted photos.
Rebecca Juro
rjuroshow@gmail.com
I
t’s always been encouraging to me that young trans and gender variant people continue to push the boundaries of gender identification and presentation in ways that those of us who are well into our middle-agedness could never have imagined when we were that young. There are times, though, when that kind of youthful forward thinking exceeds the boundaries of healthy and necessary progressive activism and crosses into true disrespect for the history and progress of transgender people and expression and those who had a role in it. A recent appearance by “Boys Don’t Cry” filmmaker Kimberly Peirce at Reed College during which she was unfairly and unmercifully heckled underscores this problem. In large part, the issue stems from an inability or unwillingness of trans and transsupportive youth to properly judge media in the context of the era in which it was created. The world of today isn’t the world of a generation ago, particularly for trans people. The college students who heckled Ms. Peirce at this event were judging her and her film, which was created almost 20 years ago, by the modern standards we have today for popular media about trans people and how those stories can and should be told. Brandon Teena had been murdered in 1993 and the trial of his murderers, John Lotter and Thomas Nissan, was ongoing when I first began paying attention to all things
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lost In tIMe We must put history in context
transgender in early 1995. At that time, there existed only the beginnings of what would eventually come to be called the transgender community. It was an entity which existed almost entirely online, those of us who frequented trans-relevant and supportive chat rooms, message boards, and email lists. For the most part, the gay and lesbian community wanted nothing to do with us. No doubt due to the sensationalistic aspects of the case, the anti-trans hate crime which was Brandon Teena’s murder was one of the very first trans-relevant news stories in many years to break through to mainstream media coverage. Unsurprisingly, mainstream media consistently misgendered Teena as a woman in their coverage. To make matters worse, in order to further their own political agenda gay and lesbian community media and political activists attempted to co-opt the story as their own by publicly redefining Teena’s gender identification and sexual orientation as lesbian. Our activist community was small then and our media reach outside of the trans community almost nonexistent. Many trans people spoke out online and publicly protested against erasing Teena’s male gender identity in the media, with the Transexual Menace among the most vocal. It was through the activism around this misrepresentation of how Teena lived his life that politically active trans people began
to coalesce around common interests and concerns, eventually forming the beginnings of the trans community we have today. This is the reality into which “Boys Don’t Cry,” an independent feature film starring Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny was released in 1999. When young people complain that Peirce chose Hilary Swank, a cis woman, to play the part of Brandon Teena, the argument is that she should have chosen a trans man to play the part instead. Were we talking about a film released today, or even a modern remake of this one, I’d wholeheartedly agree, but because I lived through most of the ‘90s as a politically-conscious trans woman, I know it’s a completely unfair and unrealistic expectation. For one thing, there were no out trans male actors of any notability at the time, nor any trans actresses, for that matter. None. They just didn’t exist. Swank, who won an Oscar for the role, was basically an unknown herself at the time, with Sevigny the only actor of any real note in the film.
It’s also important to understand how the film was perceived by trans people at the time it came out. We were thrilled, to put it mildly. Finally, a movie featuring a trans person as the lead character in a drama instead of comic relief, and on top of that, an Oscar awarded for the portrayal of that role. At a time when trans people were mostly ignored if we weren’t being openly disparaged in the media, we couldn’t have been happier or more proud as a community. It was the first time we’d broken through in a big way, and it filled many of us, myself included, with hope for the future. Context is indeed everything, especially in a case like this, and it helps none of us to unfairly call out groundbreakers like Kimberly Peirce for work that doesn’t live up to progressive standards which didn’t exist when it was created. Yes, my youthful sisters and brothers, fight as hard as we did, but also fight smart because we all lose when you attack the wrong side.
Rebecca Juro is a nationally-published freelance journalist and radio talk show host who is the Media Correspondent for The Advocate website. Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Washington Blade, Gay City News, the Albany Times union, and The Advocate magazine, among others. Rebecca lives in Philadelphia and shares her life with a somewhat antisocial cat.
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1.11.2017 •
23
CONVICTIONS
If you could Read My MInd: a ptsd dIaRy Shelley Duvall, seen left during her appearance during Dr. Phil and right during her appearance on “The Shining”. Submitted photos.
Boycott dR. phIl
Mental illness is not entertainment David-Elijah Nahmod
I
know what it’s like to have my condition laughed at. Everywhere I go there’s always one or two assholes who will make snarky comments about how “sick” I am or lecture me — using the cruelest language imaginable — regarding all the “help” I need. These “concerned” souls usually do these things as publicly as possible in order to fully maximize the degradation they wish to subject me to. I am well aware of what my PTSD — caused by being subjected to childhood gay conversion therapy and other abuses — can do to me. The last thing I need is for some idiot to use my condition as a weapon against me — or as a “teaching tool” to “educate” me. With that in mind, I join millions of people who have expressed their disgust at talk show host Dr. Phil’s recent interview with the former movie star Shelley Duvall. Duvall was riding high during the 1970s and 80s. She played major roles in numerous films by the late director Robert Altman, most
notably in the Oscar winning “Nashville” (1975) and opposite the late icon Robin Williams in “Popeye” (1980). She had a small but memorable role in Woody Allen’s Oscar winning “Annie Hall” (1977), and is most likely best remembered for co-starring role opposite Jack Nicholson in Stanley Kubrick’s classic chiller “The Shining” (1980). Duvall had a glorious second act as a producer. Her 1980s TV series, “Faerie Tale Theater,” which she created, produced and occasionally acted in, was a huge hit for Showtime, helping to put the then second tier network on the map. A little over a dozen years ago, Shelley Duvall dropped out of sight. Rumor had it that she had moved back to her native Texas and was living a life of quiet retirement, comfortable with the money she had earned during her twenty-plus years in show business. In late 2016 Duvall resurfaced on “The Dr. Phil Show.” The TV psychologist interviewed Duvall about her current state of health. Many viewers were shocked by the once rail-thin Duvall’s
the last thing i need is foR some idiot to use my condition as a weapon against me — oR as a “teaching tool” to “educate” me.
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overweight appearance — another example of how the public rushes to judgment. Duvall is now 67 years old — 45 years have passed since she made her film debut. It’s absurd for people to expect Duvall to look in 2016 as she did in 1971. What is most concerning is the fact that Ms. Duvall has developed mental illness in the years since she left the spotlight. On her recent Dr. Phil interview, Duvall claimed that Robin Williams, her “Popeye” co-star, was still alive and was a shapeshifter. She made many other bizarre statements, few of which made sense. One statement she made stood out for its truthfulness: Duvall told Dr. Phil that she was “very sick.” After asking the former star a series of leading questions, many designed to elicit the disturbing answers that his audience was expecting, Dr. Phil assured Duvall that he was there to “help.” Wasn’t that nice of him? Earth to Dr Phil: You should be ashamed of yourself. I don’t know what caused Ms. Duvall to deteriorate so severely, but I do know that she’s a human being, and a lovely one at that. I actually met Shelley Duvall in New York City
in 1981. She and I had a delightful conversation which went on for several hours. The person I met was sweet and charming, down-to-earth and quite talented. What has happened to her in recent years is a tragedy, not an excuse for Dr. Phil to make an exploitative grab for ratings. Ms. Duvall clearly needs help. That help should be given to her out of the public eye, where she can regain her wellness in an environment which is nurturing, supportive and loving. Too many people judge and ridicule mental illness. Even more people treat it as a character flaw. It is most certainly not a character flaw. Mental illness is exactly that, an illness. A medical condition, and that’s how it should be treated. Those who exploit it, those who judge it, those who ridicule it are only contributing to the problem. They are making it more difficult for people who are ill to get well. In some cases, they are causing those who are ill to get worse. That’s a despicable thing to do. The mentally ill deserve kindness and compassion. What Dr. Phil did to Shelley Duvall is inexcusable. His show should be boycotted and he should make amends for the harm he’s done to people’s lives.
david-Elijah Nahmod is an American/Israeli half-breed who has lived in New york City and Tel Aviv. Currently in San Francisco, his eclectic writing career includes lGBT publications, SF Weekly & monster magazines. A survivor of childhood gay conversion therapy, he lives with PTSd: Post Traumatic Stress disorder.
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ToTheMoonMarketplace.com 1.11.2017 •
25
CONVICTIONS
column
Gay actIvIst leon acoRd Is Ready to taKe on tRuMp Last month he publicly sparred with actress Susan Olsen
David-Elijah Nahmod
F
ormer child star Susan Olsen, beloved by millions for her portrayal of Cindy Brady on the classic sitcom “The Brady Bunch,” made headlines in early December when she locked heads with Leon Acord, a Los Angeles based writer, actor and gay activist. Acord, who has performed extensively on stage, is the writer/creator and star of “Old Dogs and New Tricks,” a popular online sitcom about a group of middle aged gay men who find themselves navigating the gay dating pool. On December 5 Acord appeared as a guest on “Two Chicks Talkin’ Politics,” a chat show which Olsen co-hosts with LA radio personality Sheena Metal. The show is heard on L.A. Talk Radio, a popular online station. Olsen and Acord had strong disagreements on who the next President should be. Olsen supports Donald Trump. Acord supports Hillary Clinton. After his appearance, Acord posted a message on Facebook in which he accused Olsen of spreading false information and called for LA Talk Radio to fire the actress. Olsen responded with a number of public postings and private messages to Acord in which she called him a “cunt,” a “faggot,” and “human waste.” After Acord posted Olsen’s messages publicly, the story went viral. Both Acord and Olsen were banned from Facebook for several days, though Acord did not use offensive language of any kind and urged his supporters to do the same. Facebook, Olsen and LA Talk Radio did not respond to SFGN’s request for a comment, though LA Talk Radio did announce on the station’s Facebook page that they had severed ties with Olsen. “Two Chicks Talkin’ Politics” was cancelled. “LA Talk Radio takes pride in its close and collaborative relationship with the LGBT community, and will continue to provide a home for those who have hopeful and positive messages of togetherness and tolerance to share with our listeners,” the station posted on December 9. “We will not tolerate hateful speech by anyone associated with our radio station and have severed our ties with a host that veered off the direction in which we are going.” On December 13 LA Talk Radio backtracked
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on their earlier statement. “Susan Olsen voluntarily advised LA Talk Radio that she was leaving the show and the radio station on the afternoon of December 8, 2016,” the station posted. “The show was discontinued on December 9, 2016. LA Talk Radio is not a political radio station and we hold no political position.” Olsen’s outburst shocked many. In the past she publicly supported marriage equality and spoke lovingly of her Brady Bunch TV dad Robert Reed, a closeted gay man who died of AIDS in 1992. “Somehow the actual apology that I made days ago did not get posted.” she posted on Facebook on December 16, the day she was allowed to access her account after her oneweek banishment from the social networking site. “I am very sorry for ever hurting the LGBT community that I love so much. For that, I am sorry and frankly find it hilarious that I am being called a homophobe. What could be more ridiculous??? I think that the real LGBT community knows that I have and always will support them. I love you!” The actress continues to express her support for Donald Trump. “Getting fired is never a happy event, even when the person deserves it,” Acord told SFGN. “This is less a victory, more a badly needed course correction. I merely sounded the alarm. It was everyone, working together who made justice happen.” Acord said that he’s ready to take on an even bigger adversary: Donald Trump himself. As the President-elect continues to claim that he’s an LGBT ally while surrounding himself with people who oppose LGBT equality, Acord has launched a new Facebook group: No LGBT Rights Equals No LGBT Taxes. Now just over a month old, the group has more than one thousand members. Acord posted the group’s mission statement at the top of the group’s page: “An Open Letter to Donald J. Trump & Company: No taxation without representation. [It’s] one of the main reasons we broke away from England and created America. Please be advised: If/when you are so illadvised to enact your threats of repealing
marriage equality & allowing discrimination against LGBT in the name of “religious freedom,” the LGBT members of this group believe we should withhold our federal taxes until our rights are restored. You cannot strip us of civil rights yet expect us to still pay for the privilege of being treated like second-class citizens. Push us. We’d LOVE to take this one to court. And we bet the American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center & many others would love to join us. You stand warned. Members of “No LGBT Rights=No LGBT Taxes” “It didn’t really hit me until the middle of that night,” Acord said of Election Day. “I woke up, as if from a nightmare, but quickly realized that I was waking up to the nightmare, Trump had one, and this was no dream. My spirits plummeted.” Acord added that he’s fearful of what may be coming. “Even if you ignore his downright ignorant and hostile picks for his cabinet, the fact that he seems clueless about diplomacy, the fact that he’s ignoring intelligence briefings to go on his ridiculous Evita Peronlike thank you tour, that fact that he’s still tweeting bullshit doesn’t bode well for this country,” he said. Acord explained that the formation of his Facebook group was a reaction to his postelection day despair.” The GOP would prefer that we can be fired for being gay, lose our homes for being gay, and that we can’t get married,” he said. “But they still expect us to pay full taxes as if we were getting the full
[complement] of rights that straight people take for granted.” The activist also noted Vice President Elect Mike Pence’s advocacy for gay conversion therapy as well as the promise of “religious freedom laws” which would enable people to discriminate against LGBT people on religious grounds as among the other reasons he formed his group. “If Trump is so ill-advised that me makes good on some of his threats we are prepared to raise funds and do whatever it takes to fight and resist,” he said. “We’re not trying to get out of paying taxes. We’re insisting on representation for our taxation. We’re insisting on equal rights for equal taxation.” Acord hopes to get the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center involved should the fight become necessary. “Go to protests,” he urges people. “Get involved. Call your representatives, don’t email them. If they insist on registering Muslims, I think every member of the LGBT community has to be the first in line to sign up and make the registers meaningless. Our Facebook group will be organizing a response in that regard. We’re all in this together.” Acord specified that his actions aren’t about “sour grapes”, as he’s been accused of. “We are objecting to a man who is a proven admitted sexual predator, racist, misogynist, xenophobe, serial liar and philanderer,” he said. “We have to show Trump and his group of self-interested cronies that we are watching this every step—we are prepared to fight them every step of the way.”
Facebook group: Bit.ly/2i3x5c3/
1.11.2017 •
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KEEP YOUR EYES ON
South Florida Gay News
lifestyle history
homo History 101 The Presidential Edition
History was never as straight as we are told. Recording our history means reporting the truth. Pier Angelo
SFGN.com @SoFlaGayNews
SouthFloridaGayNews It’s about time. It’s about us. A paper that speaks with you, to you, and about you. A paper that pulls no punches, protects our friends, defends our allies, and defines our adversaries. Our goal is to have you make our paper your home page.
Welcome to the South Florida Gay News.
James Buchanan, Jr. (1791 –1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857– 1861), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He is, to date, the only president from Pennsylvania and the only president to remain a lifelong bachelor. While Buchanan may have been asexual or celibate, there are many indicators that suggest he was homosexual. The argument has been put forward by several biographers and historians. A source of this has been Buchanan’s close and intimate relationship with William Rufus King (who became Vice President under Franklin Pierce). The two men lived together in a Washington boardinghouse for 10 years from 1834 until King’s departure for France in 1844. King referred to the relationship as a “communion”, and the two attended social functions together. Contemporaries also noted the closeness. Andrew Jackson called them “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy” (the former being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man), while Aaron V. Brown referred to King as Buchanan’s “better half”. James W. Loewen described Buchanan and King as “Siamese twins.” In later years Kat Thompson, the wife of a cabinet member, expressed her anxiety that “there was something unhealthy in the president’s attitude”. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) The 16th president of the United States has long been rumored to have been gay. Numerous historians point to his rocky marriage with Mary Todd Lincoln as well as the fact that he had very close relationships with several men. Most of it centers on his relationship with a man named Joshua Speed. Lincoln and Speed spent four years living together and sharing a small bed -- and therein lies the “silver bullet” of the speculation. Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973) Many historians attribute a big portion of LBJ’s political success to a man named Walter Jenkins (19181985), who served as his top and closest aide from 1939 (when Johnson was in Congress) until a month before the 1964 presidential election. Jenkins resigned in October of 1964 when he was caught with a young man in a YMCA bathroom Since the man who was closest to LBJ for 25 years turned out to be gay on the down low (he had a wife and six kids; they separated a few years after the scandal) -- speculation surfaced that maybe there was something between Johnson and Jenkins. His presidential opponent, Barry Goldwater, even had bumper stickers made that read “All the way with LBJ, but don’t go near the YMCA.”
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William R. King (1786 –1853) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the 13th Vice President of the United States for six weeks in 1853 before his death. Earlier he had been elected as a U.S. Representative from North Carolina and a Senator from Alabama. He also served as Minister to France during the reign of King Louis Phillippe. There are strong indicators that suggest he was gay. The argument has been put forward by Shelley Ross, biographer Jean Baker James W. Loewen, and Robert P. Watson. After King died in 1853 Buchanan described him as “among the best, the purest and most consistent public men I have known. While some of their correspondence was destroyed by family members, the length and intimacy of surviving letters illustrate “the affection of a special friendship.” Oliver Sipple (1941 –1989) was a decorated U.S. Marine and Vietnam War veteran known for saving the life of U.S. President Gerald Ford during an assassination attempt on September 22, 1975. Sipple was part of a crowd of about 3,000 people who had gathered outside San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel to see President Ford. Sipple noticed a woman next to him had drawn and leveled a .38-caliber pistol at Ford as he headed to his limousine. Reacting instinctively, Sipple lunged at the woman just as her finger squeezed the trigger. Sipple’s contact was enough to deflect her aim and cause the bullet to miss. Though he was known to be gay among members of the gay community, Sipple’s sexual orientation was a secret from his family. He asked the press to keep his sexuality off the record, making it clear that neither his mother nor his employer knew he was gay. Harvey Milk outed Sipple as a “gay hero” to San Francisco Chronicle’s columnist Herb Caen in hopes to “break the stereotype of homosexuals” of being “timid, weak and unheroic figures.
1.11.2017 •
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lIFESTylE video games
lESBIANS, loVE, ANd
KILLeR ZoMBIeS
Tucker Berardi
A
pparently, zombies are all it takes to make the video game world a gayer place. In a video game market flooded with zombie stories, the title ‘The Last of Us’ may seem like one zombie story in the bunch. The game’s protagonists — middle-aged Joel and adolescent sidekick Ellie — try to survive what is left of the zombie-ridden world. But the story of ‘The Last of Us’ is so much more than a post-apocalyptic survival story; it is an opportunity to shift the gaming industry to one of more LGBT inclusivity. In the game’s DLC (downloadable content) titled ‘Left Behind,’ the focus is on Ellie and her friend Riley as they explore an abandoned mall. At the pinnacle of the plot Ellie and Riley kiss, revealing that main character of the game was a lesbian. According to Adrienne Shaw, the developer of an archive of all LGBT content
dRucKmann’s goal was not to shoot foR the sensational, but to show ellie as the chaRacteR she had developed into — and being gay was Just a paRt of that. 30
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in video games, the majority of LGBT game characters are side content or buried in speculation — unlike Ellie, who takes the spotlights throughout ‘The Last of Us.’ “[LGBT characters] have been in the background in a lot of games,” Shaw said in a phone interview. “Between 1980 and 2005 we have found 207 characters who are LGBT. In the grand scheme of things, that is not a ton.” When asked if Ellie’s positive reception as a main-role lesbian would encourage more LGBT main characters in games, Shaw said it was likely, though it would be a slow process. “[The game developers] are testing the waters with DLC, and later on they will incorporate that into the main game,” Shaw said. “Right now we’ll see a slow influx of LGBT main characters. Companies will find ways to tell their stories, we’ll see a lot of content coming out of the indie scene.” The voice actor who plays Ellie, Ashley Johnson, was excited about Ellie’s plot line and this milestone for the character, and was happy to see that people responded so positively. “I was surprised by the way people reacted. We didn’t know how people were going to respond and I think I was more prepared for the negative comments,” Johnson said, “What I wasn’t prepared for was the positive ones. I’ve had so many men and women come up to me and told me things that sometimes they haven’t even told their parents.” “It has profoundly changed my life,” Johnson continued. “A lot of people have come to the actress who plays Ellie … and have told her playing
that game and having Ellie as this role model gave them strength to come out to their friends,” Neil Druckmann, Creative Director and producer of the Last of Us said in an interview. Some people were upset with this revelation, taking to the internet to reassure that this was just a ‘platonic’ kiss to signify friendship, instead of the romantic moment the game’s creative team said it was. “It wasn’t my intention in writing that [kissing] scene for it to be platonic,” Druckmann told The Frame in July. “Actually, our intention in writing was that they’re gay … but I understand that people have different interpretations to the material.” Despite some players who are uncomfortable with such a prominent character being revealed as gay, the overall response to Ellie’s sexuality has been a positive one. The game won multiple awards, with the DLC alone receiving “Most Valuable AddOn Content,” and the character Ellie was awarded with “Most Valuable Character,” both at the SXSW Gaming Awards. The story of “Left Behind” took a chance in showing that Ellie was a lesbian, and received praise because of it. But Druckmann’s goal was not to shoot for the sensational, but to
show Ellie as the character she had developed into — and being gay was just a part of that. “No, we don’t want a token gay character,” opinion writer Ashley Benjamin wrote for the Gamer Scene. “We don’t want to have a writer rub a character’s sexuality in our face. But the joy of coming to the realization that a character is LGBT can be a huge, joyful moment for a lot of people.” The sequel to the game, “The Last of Us Part Two,” will again feature Joel and Ellie, though little else has been revealed about the plot. Though many fans are hopeful that Ellie’s sexuality will continue to be an important focal point in the story. In terms of LGBT leads in video games, Shaw believes that developers and audiences are ready for a more inclusive game market. “We’re past ready, video games have been around since the seventies and in every other medium there are gay characters,” Shaw said, and explained that the best way to go about that is to have more queer world building. “It’s not enough to include a gay or trans character,” she continued. “[Developers] need to actively envision an inclusive game world, and hire more queer writers. Unless you have actual lesbians in the room writing that, it’s not going to hit all the right spots.”
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lIFESTylE food B&B Burgers & Beer Joint
B Square Burger + Booze.
Rick Karlin
a
B
Burgers, Booze, Beer & Brunch
s Barbie said, “Math is hard!” I couldn’t remember the math term for the equation that comes after squared (a number times itself) and cubed (a number times itself, then times itself again). It’s quartic and that’s the end of today’s math lesson, except for this equation 4 x B =? The answer is delicious; if B equals burgers, booze, beer and brunch, as it does at the two places we focus on today.
B SQUARe Burger + Booze 1021 E las olas Blvd., Fort lauderdale 954-999-5216 bsquareburger.com Restaurateurs Tommy Febbraio and Marc Katzenberg and chef Rafael Palomino took almost a full year to convert the former market on Las Olas into B Square and during that process they had plenty of time to decide exactly what they wanted to offer in their restaurant. The result is a well thought-out menu, in a comfortable, casual environment. The menu’s primary focus is on the not-sohumble hamburger, although there are plenty of options for those looking for something lighter, healthier or a full entrée. Make no mistake, though, the star item here is the burger, whether it’s your unadorned beauty or one all gussied up, the B-burgers feature hormone and antibiotic-free beef,
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Submitted photos.
One big B&B buger!
unless of course, it’s made with tuna, duck, turkey or the veggie version, which combines black beans and brown rice. In addition to the standard burger combinations, check out some of the restaurant’s special concoctions. The “Big Daddy”, is topped with pastrami and melted matured cheddar, while the “Dad Bod”, features melted Maytag bleu, truffled mushrooms, caramelized onions and a sunny-side-up egg. The rest of the options don’t feature the same daddy issues, but are just as delicious. If the burgers don’t entice (and I can’t imagine why), there are a variety of salads, including a clever design your own version for $10.95, for which you get a checklist and tick off what you want on a bed of your choice of five greens; five additional ingredients from a list of two dozen (if you really can’t stop at five, it’s 75¢ for each addition) and a choice of five dressings. You can even add on additional proteins if you want to make
it an entrée. For those looking for an entrée, the options include; salmon, pork chops, churrasco steak, shrimp fried rice, ahi tacos, rigatoni and a choice of chicken, either parm or in lemon-yogurt caper sauce. B Square’s also recently inaugurated weekend brunch, served from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. We checked it out and thoroughly enjoyed the lobster eggs Benedict; two perfectly poached eggs atop chunks of lobster (at least a tail’s worth) with a tasty and hearty potato hash. The same hash accompanied the filling and meaty short rib Benedict, served atop two cheddar biscuits. Other options include a three meat skillet, banana nut French toast, a smoked salmon pizzetta or a frittata with roasted tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms and Gouda. The B-Square Bloody Mary is a great accompaniment for brunch, as is the prosecco cocktail. As a matter of fact, the cocktail menu alone makes B Square worth a visit. B&B Burgers & Beer Joint 14775 lyons Rd., delray Beach 267-348-0544 bnbjoint.com The first Burger & Beer Joint opened in South Beach in 2009 and soon expanded to six locations open throughout Florida and Puerto Rico. The latest location is in the new Market Place Mall just west of the Florida Turnpike in Delray. B&B is part of the Frank’s theater complex, which also includes a bowling alley and arcade as well as the reserved seat and Imax theaters, making it a one-stop entertainment complex.
As you can tell from the name, the main focus is on burgers and brews. In fact, it offers more than 75 beer options. The signature burgers offer unique sauces and toppings that make B&B a special dining experience. The standard burger mix is a blend of brisket and Black Angus beef. Among some of the burger combinations (all named after songs) are: “Hotel California”, topped with sharp cheddar, grilled onions, fried egg, guacamole, jalapeno relish and cilantro sour cream on a brioche bun, while the “Mustang Sally” pairs a special Wagyu beef blend with red onion marmalade, brie cheese, sliced prosciutto on a brioche bun. For those seeking something healthier, there is a fantastic ground chicken burger as well as a very tasty veggie version that is no after-thought. The “Dr. Feelgood” veggie burger is a 7 oz. house-made patty of toasted rainbow quinoa, smoked cumin beans, roasted red peppers, and oats, topped with roasted red pepper & corn salsa, manchego cheese and basil-mint pesto on a brioche bun. Burgers either come with skinny fries or fries made from sweet potato, mushroom or zucchini. Each beer comes with a suggested beer pairing, or try a beer flight. Large groups may want to try the $150 Mother Burger, a ginormous beast the size of a manhole cover, sandwiched in a bun that resembles a couch cushion! For another $25 you can add bacon and cheese, which sounds like a lot, but keep in mind it takes a couple pounds of bacon and cheese to cover that enormous patty. It arrives at the table with great fanfare; a parade of servers banging pots and pans. While it is intended to feed a crowd, if you finish it yourself within 2 hours, it’s free!
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F O R
T H E
SFGNITES
W E E K
O F
J.W. Arnold
jw@prdconline.com
THU
1/12
THEATER
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And The Winner Is…
The Maltz Jupiter Theater has an impeccable track record with big Broadway musicals. This weekend, they bring Mel Brooks’ record Tony Award-winning musical comedy, “The Producers,” to the stage in north Palm Beach County. A down-onhis-luck producer schemes with his accountant to produce a Broadway flop, until their foolproof plan backfires. It’s worth the drive. Tickets at JupiterTheatre.org.
FRI
1/13
DANCE Miami City Ballet debuts Program II: “Calcium Light Night” tonight at the Arsht Center. The dancers will tackle Peter Martins’ witty 1978 ballet, along with dances set to music by minimalist composer Philip Glass and Broadway legend Richard Rodgers. The program will also be repeated in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Center and West Palm Beach at the Arsht Center. Tickets at MiamiCityBallet.org.
Friday
1/13
THEATER
Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors, presents “The First Step – Diary of a Sex Addict,” by associate artistic director Michael Leeds, a blistering dark comedy that graphically depicts a gay sex addict’s turbulent journey toward recovery. The New York Times called the production, “A wry tale of sexual obsession with inventive stellar moments.” Through Feb. 12. Tickets at IslandCityStage.org. Submitted photo.
SAT
1/14 SUN
1/15 MON
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ART
FESTIVAL
TELEVISION
TELEVISION & FILM
If you liked Art Week in Miami, then you’ll love Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Art Fair, Jan. 12 – 15 in downtown West Palm Beach. Produced by the same team that organizes many of the most popular fairs in Miami, this show offers investment quality works in a much more intimate setting. While there, check out the exhibits at the historic Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, 2051 S. Flagler Drive. More info at ANSG.org.
Last year, more than 17,000 people attended Gay8, the annual LGBT art, music and food street festival in Miami’s historic Little Havana. Head down to Calle Ocho between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. and enjoy performances by Locos for Juana, Lucy Grau, Sonlokos, Electric Piquette, the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida and more. The main stage will be at 17th Ave. For more information, go to Gay8Festival.com.
Netflix rolls out another original series to binge on, “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” The adaptation of Daniel Handler’s “Lemony Snicket” books stars Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf, malevolent guardian of the Baudelaire children. We have a feeling this is going to quickly become a campy classic thanks to the crazy prosthetics and over-the-top performances by the former “Doogie Howser, M.D.” Streaming on Netflix.com.
Like any good, card-carrying homosexual, you were glued to the television last Sunday night for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globes Awards. Tonight, catch up on the big winners: The glitzy musical “La-La-Land;” “Moonlight,” written by Liberty City’s Tarell Alvin McCraney; Netflix’s “The Crown;” and AMC’s thriller, “The Night Manager.” Check local listings for show times, theaters and stations.
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A&E music
phoeBe leGeRe, RenaIssance WoMan, coMes to aRts GaRaGe J.W. Arnold
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n the LGBTQ community, we’re all about “labels”—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two spirit, Chanel, Gucci, Donna Karan, Tom Ford. The list is endless Seriously, for cabaret artist Phoebe Legere, long considered a gay icon, a so-called label is much more difficult to pin down. Arts Garage, the funky performing space in Delray Beach where she’s appearing on Saturday, is billing her as “a transmedia video force.” With a multi-octave musical range, she nails the diverse musical sounds of Edith Piaf, Aretha Franklin and, yes, Maria Callas. Billboard called her “the female Frank Zappa.” Renaissance woman, definitely. In our phone interview, she speaks in whispered, sultry tones that match the publicity images that portray her as a chanteuse, an exotic ingénue in a dimly-lit cabaret. But, she’s not just a singer, Legere is also an accomplished visual artist who will be displaying works in the same space. It’s all part of the complex persona she’s created. “I’m nothing special, it’s just that my parents happened to be creative geniuses and I got all their talent together,” Legere said. Legere grew up in a creative environment. Her mother was a groundbreaking commercial art director in the Madison Avenue tradition, before the era of computers. (Don’t get her started on the mechanization of creative pursuits!) “She had to draw out her ideas and taught me how to do this with a pencil, pen and ink,” recalled Legere. “She had an incredibly tailored New England style of timeless classic fashion.” While Legere’s mother went for the masculine, tailored suit, the singer also found inspiration from her grandmother, “who went for the hyper-feminine look, ruffles and lace.” Today, Legere has three-foot-long platinum locks and embraces her naturally curvy contours—God is the ultimate artist, she says—but can still play music like a tomboy. She mastered seven instruments and formed her own rock band at 15. After studying at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory, she spent a lot of time in South Florida playing piano at exclusive country clubs. “I’d play golf during the day, like a golf bum, hanging out with my buddies and then at night, I’d get in my car and travel from club to club singing the music of the ‘Great American Songbook’,” she said. Today, she still travels the country from gig to gig and show to show in her “visionary van,” accompanied by a band of French-speaking,
Phoebe Legere. Photo Credit: Bobby Miller.
Cajun musicians from Louisiana. “The queer esthetic is a huge part of what I do,” she explained, speaking of her various artistic pursuits. In Delray Beach, she plans to sing some of her original songs and may even dance around the stage with her paintings. “Some who love me are visual people and others are sound people and they can all be entertained by a Phoebe Legere show. My music combines a social awareness and desire to make the world a better place with party music and gay theatrics.” Expect a political message or two, also. And, here come more labels: Did I mention Legere is also part Native American, a committed environmentalist and has launched efforts to promote arts education? “Artists have a moral duty to comment on the politics and science of the time. I’ve had some great experiences but the best is giving free art experiences to children. Music can actually bring the organs and body into balance and harmony. Reefs are dying, at the same time, music is dying because they’re taking it out of the schools.” Apparently, no heights are beyond her imagination because Legere holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for performing “La Vie en Rose” at the highest recorded elevation, 18,000 feet above sea level. She hauled her accordion up the mountain on the back of a mule.
Phoebe legere appears at Arts Garage, 180 NE 1st St. in delray Beach, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14. Tickets start at $30 at ArtsGarage.org.
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Don’t miss a
tastE Feeling the hunger?
Read SFGN’s weekly food column for an exclusive bite on local bars, restaurants, and seasonal flavors.
sFGn.com/FooD
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A&E television
actRess aleXandRa GRey
David-Elijah Nahmod
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he made her debut in 2011. Alexandra Grey, a transgender woman of color, has been working on television ever since. From roles on “Glee,” the Emmy winning “Transparent” and the upcoming gay historical epic “When We Rise,” Grey is making a name for herself in an industry where African Americans and transgenders are often forced to jump through hoops just to get an audition. Grey’s rapidly growing resume isn’t just in LGBT productions—her lovely smile and long, beautiful tresses have also been seen in mainstream fare such as “Chicago Med” and “Code Black,” both medical dramas produced for major networks. Currently Grey has 26 credits listed at IMDB. Though she credits Emmy winner Laverne Cox for making it easier for performers like herself, Grey modestly told SFGN that she’s not in Cox’s league. “She’s on fire!” Grey said of Cox. “I believe we’re all grateful for her visibility—it’s opening doors for all of us.”
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Actress Alexandra Gray. Photo: Facebook.
Trans woman of color makes her mark in Hollywood Grey added that she wants more trans stories to be told. “I can’t sit back and watch another trans woman of color be murdered,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking. We have to let the world know we exist and that we are all human and deserve love. The media has this opportunity to enlighten the world.” Grey shared her humble beginnings. “I’m 25, from Chicago,” she said. “I lived there for 19 years of my life. It was some of the best times I’ve had and the most challenging. Some people know I grew up in the foster care system and many know how tough that kind of life can be. Nevertheless, I finished school and learned a lot of hard lessons.” One of those lessons was the realization of who she was. “I knew I felt like a girl and wanted to be one,” she recalled. “But growing up in my area you were not educated on all things LGBT. When I learned what transgender was and tried to express myself I lost a lot of things—most importantly my family.”
But Grey has no regrets. “I did it for me and I am still happy,” she said. Grey also spoke of why she became an actress. “I love the idea of shutting myself down and becoming someone else,” she explained. “I love storytelling and making people happy or sad or just educating. This business is all about imagination and during my darkest time my imagination was all I had—and God of course!” She said that the challenges she faces in Hollywood are often no different than those faced by any other performer. “It’s a very hard business but you just keep trying and giving your best,” she said. “I think being transgender is a bit more challenging but I’ll never use that as a crutch or as a reason to feel down. When it’s your time it’s your time—all we can do is ask that Hollywood give transgender talent a shot.” And to those who want to follow in her footsteps, Grey offers some simple advice. “Do it!” she said. “Know that you want to do it. Believe that you can do it. And then
do it—there is no road map. Get into acting classes and perfect your craft. Be prepared for the rejection and everything else this business will, throw at you. Be ready to never give up on it—always fight for your dreams. They always come true.”
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A&E festival
Gay8 thIs WeeKend In MIaMI Lynare Robbins
Gay Latin art, music and food festival is back
T
he Gay8 Festival is back for another and make connections by opening doors year! Gay8 is a free Latin LGBT throughout the community. When asked art, music and food street festival for an example, Pardo stated, “We see in Miami. The second annual one-day organizations in Hialeah joining the festival will take place on Jan. 15 where Miami Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber “Calle Ocho” (8th Street) in Miami’s “Little of Commerce. We see LGBT groups hiring Havana” district is transformed into a bands they had never heard of before the grand street party where people from all festival or holding events in Little Havana. backgrounds are welcome to participate We see LGBT people coming back to Little with opportunities for connection. Havana for dining or entertainment. We see When co-founder, Damian Pardo, was the community here open their arms and asked about the inspiration embrace not just LGBT people and conception of Gay8, he but diversity in general. We we see the reported the following: “Joe see city leaders react in awe at Cardona, myself and a friend community how well so many people from were having coffee one day so many parts of South Florida heRe open in Little Havana bemoaning celebrate in Little Havana theiR aRms how segregated Miami can be, together. And the magic of the and we thought it would be a and embRace event is the diversity in the great idea to bring different crowd and the fact that people not Just parts of Miami together to from all parts of South Florida have a festival experience. lgbt people show up together.” We thought it would be a This year Gay8 will but diveRsity recognize great way to encourage more and celebrate in geneRal.” four individuals at the Gay8 connection in a city that often lacks cohesion. We thought Pa’Lante Awards who have - damian Pardo the LGBT community was the helped move Miami forward Co-FouNdER perfect community to host with a proven and long the event as LGBT people are track record of connecting in every slice of life: African-American, different parts of Miami. The recipients Hispanic, Women, Special Needs, etc. of the Pa’Lante Awards are: Steve Adkins, We thought that since LGBT people have President of the Miami Dade Gay and generally been able to work through their Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC); differences toward a common goal like Desmond Child, Singer, Producer and equality, then the community-at-large Song Writer; Denise Brown, Founder of could learn from LGBT people how to RJT Foundation; and Cecilia Guitierrezconnect better.” Abety, Executive Director of the Miami Pardo has said that in its first year, Children’s Initiative. The Pa’Lante Awards Gay8 were able to build these bridges will take place on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017 at the Gay8 organizers have implemented a fun marketing strategy this year of having a “Gay8 Car.”
Photo: AHF, Facebook.
Cubaocho Museum and Performing Arts Center in Miami. Gay8 organizers have implemented a fun marketing strategy this year of having a “Gay8 Car.” The Gay8 Car is wrapped Smart Car sponsored by Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables and Smart Car Center. Just like in the film, “Herbie Goes Bananas,” the Gay8 Car has been burning up the road as it has traveled to bars like Georgie’s Alibi; Club Bailo; and Twist to advertise the event. It also makes appearances at establishments that are sponsoring Gay8, like the legendary Versailles, and AIDS Health Foundation (AHF). When the Gay8 Car is not in motion it is parked at Cubaocho Museum and Performing Arts Center. Pardo says that, “Gay8 is not really about the Cuban-American community and the LGBT community. The festival is about all South Florida communities. That’s the point! We do the festival on MLK weekend in Little Havana with a large outreach in the Jewish community, Caribbean community, Anglo community and African-American community.” As the leaders of Gay8 focus on connecting South Florida communities,
they also focus on social issues in the community as they highlight the issue of gun violence. Pardo stated, “We are donating 10% of our revenue to RJT Foundation, an organization of mothers dedicated to helping families that have lost their children to gun violence. One of our honorees is the founder of this organization. We asked Stonewall National Museum and Archives to debut an exhibit on PULSE at the Tower Theater. So, an issue like gun violence becomes a bridge between the African-American, LGBT and Hispanic community, especially since East Little Havana is also disproportionately affected by gun violence.” When asked what the future of Gay8 might look like, Pardo stated, “I think Gay8 has a potent message. It’s like pride on steroids. It’s everyone’s pride: men, women, African-American, Anglo, Jewish, LGBT, Caribbean, and Hispanic. At a time when people are questioning the legitimacy of this rainbow coalition type of message, here comes Gay8, proving that it works in practice. A strong message wrapped in fun with the opportunity to grow definitely has legs.”
To find out more about Gay8 and purchase tickets, visit: Gay8Festival.com
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Presents
JANUARY 19–FEBRUARY 5 Amaturo Theater
JANUARY 26–29 Abdo New River Room
TICKETS at BrowardCenter.org Ticketmaster | 954.462.0222
Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office Group Sales | 954.660.6307 The Broward Center 2016-2017 season is presented by the Broward Performing Arts Foundation with generous support from the Salah Foundation. Follow us:
BrowardCenter
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WINTER CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 21
SING! DANCE! ACT! LEARN! Enroll today for ADULT CLASSES in ACTING, SINGING, DANCE & IMPROV BrowardCenter.org/Classes 954.414.6904
A&E music Sebrina Maria Alfonso conducts the South Florida Symphony. Photo Credit: Steven Shires.
syMphony offeRs pReMIeRe, RaRe peRfoRMances J.W. Arnold
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ore than 100 musicians will fill the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater stage for the South Florida Symphony’s performance of Richard Strauss’ epic tone poem, “Also Sprach Zarathustra” next week. The landmark program, titled “Übermensch” (“Superman”) and conducted by Maestra Sebrina Maria Alfonso, will also include a performance of the Korngold violin concerto by Tessa Lark on a rare Stradivarius violin and the world premiere of “Legend of Bird Mountain” by Fort Lauderdale composer Tom Hormel. The famous brass fanfare of the Strauss work (“Sunrise”), best known as the theme to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” is actually just the first movement of a longer, hour-long orchestral work. The nine movements, scored for full orchestra, percussion and two harps, were inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical novel of the same name. The work received its premiere in 1896. “It’s a massive work,” said Alfonso, “and that’s why you don’t hear it performed in its entirety very often and, then, usually by major orchestras.” Alfonso took to social media this week, seeking housing for the many extra musicians required for the performance, which will also be repeated at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, the Arsht Center in Miami and the Tennessee Williams Theatre in Key West, Jan. 22 – 26. Tessa Lark, winner of the prestigious Naumburg International Violin Award in 2012 and silver medalist at the 2014 Indianapolis International Violin Competition, is considered one of the most exciting young artists of her generation, praised by critics for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility and musical elegance.
As a medalist of that quadrennial competition, she also won the right to play a rare 1683 Stradivarius violin for four years, which she will use to perform Korngold’s lyrical and demanding concerto. This is another rare experience for South Florida audiences, Alfonso pointed out. Rounding out the program will be the world premiere of Hormel’s “Legend of Bird Mountain.” In keeping with the concert theme, Hormel is a Renaissance man, an accomplished dancer, artist and self-taught composer. Hormel, 86, began composing “Legend of Bird Mountain” about 25 years ago when the New York City Ballet placed an ad in a local Sun Valley, ID newspaper seeking local composers for a new project. Hormel was participating in a summer dance program and submitted an initial four-minute piece. His music was accepted and eventually he would compose a 23-minute, multi-movement work. “I, to this day, still do not read music,” Hormel said. “My interest in music is primarily melodic, but chord structures are based on melodies and surely chord structures are one of the most motivating things to me in writing music.” Following the world premiere and a recording, the work will form the basis of a ballet to be choreographed and performed with the South Florida Symphony next year by the famed Martha Graham Dance Company. Alfonso is most excited by the opportunity to work with a living composer, another rarity in classical music. “As an artist, when you have access to the composer, it’s more personal,” she explained. “I know him and the beauty in his music is pretty much him. He’s a great soul and incredibly nice person…his music captures such beautiful colors.”
The South Florida Symphony performs “Übermensch” (“Superman”) Jan. 22 at FAu’s Kaye Auditorium in Boca Raton, Jan. 24 at the Broward Center in Fort lauderdale, Jan. 25 at the Arsht Center in Miami and Jan. 26 at the Tennessee Williams Theatre in Key West. Tickets at SouthFloridaSymphony.org.
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SPoRTS soccer
oRlando cIty socceR dedIcates seatInG to pulse vIctIMs Brittany Ferrendi
O
rlando City Soccer announced a permanent change to honor victims of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. In a live Facebook video yesterday, Orlando City Soccer Club revealed 49 rainbow-colored seats in a section of their stadium in honor of the 49 victims of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in June of last year. Currently, the Facebook video has over a million views. “Thank you Orlando City Soccer Club for this amazing, heartfelt, lasting memorial to our brothers & sisters of the LGBTI community!” said one Facebook user in the comments, with an accompanying rainbow flag emoji. Departing President Phil Rawlins
tweeted about the seats near the end of last November while they were being installed in the stadium. “@OrlandoCitySC @ORLPride so happy to see our @PulseOrlando tribute seats being installed #DefyExpectations,” he wrote on Twitter. Stadium construction is set to finish by early March, gearing up for the team’s match against the New York City FC.
Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida, Inc. Third Annual Gala Brunch
Building Bridges Sunday, February 5th, 2017 | 11AM Hyatt Regency Pier 66 2301 SE 17th Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 www.gmcsf.org | 954.763.2266 1.11.2017 •
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Jan. 11 - Jan. 18
Datebook
Theater Christiana Lilly
Calendar@SFGN.com
top
picks
The First Step - Diary of a Sex Addict
Jan. 12 to Feb. 11 at Island City Stage, 2034 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. A dramedy following the journey of Joe, a gay sex addict, as he works through recovery. Play contains nudity and graphic sexual situations. Tickets $35. Call 954-519-2533 or visit IslandCityStage. org.
My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish, and I’m in Therapy
Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. at the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St. in Aventura. Steve Solomon leads this one-man comedy, telling the story of his childhood filled with odd characters. Tickets $45 to $50. Call 305-466-8002 or visit AventuraCenter.org.
Jay Leno
Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Once the host of “Tonight Show,” Leno is hitting the road to return to his stand-up comedy roots. Tickets $29 and up. Call 561-832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
broward county * Mel Schwartz Sleeps With Mae West
Jan. 12 to 22 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale. A man discovers that his mistress used to be a man, and that she’s the long-long child of his best friend in this topsy turvy comedy. Tickets $30, save $10 with code “Save.” Visit MelSleepsWithMaeWest.com.
* Henry Rollins
Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The punk rocker weaves together spoken word, storytelling, comedy, and music. Tickets $29.59 to $39.59. Call 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.
* With A Song in My Heart Starring Glenda Grainger
Jan. 15 at 3 p.m. at The Tennis Club, 600 Tennis Club Drive in Fort Lauderdale. The multilingual performer puts on a cabaret show under the direction of Gary Lawrence. Tickets $20 plus two-drink minimum, residents $15 plus twodrink minimum. Call Ken Harrison at 954-5472819 or email Kenh7748@yahoo.com.
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* Simon Johnson
Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. at The Pink Church (First Presbyterian Church), 2331 NE 26th Ave. in Pompano Beach. Johnson from St. Paul’s Cathedral in London performs. Call 954-3285950 or visit ThePinkChurch.org
* The Five Irish Tenors
Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. at Parker Playhouse, 707 NE Eighth St. in Fort Lauderdale. In a salute to Ireland, the quintet performs favorites like “Danny Boy,” “She Moves Through the Fair,” and more. Tickets $35.50 to $55.50. Call 954462-0222 or visit ParkerPlayhouse.com.
* Well Strung
Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The foursome of hunky guys perform everything from Beethoven to Madonna on their string instruments. Tickets $35 to $75. Call 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.
* Titanic the Musical
of the gypsy culture is on display with Eli Bishop at the helm on violin. Tickets $10. Call 561-2437922, ext. 1 or visit OldSchoolSquare.org.
* Michael Bolton
* Program Two
Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. The two-time Grammy Award winner returns to South Florida to perform his classic love ballads. Tickets $26 and up. Call 561832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
Jan. 13 to 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. In its second performance of the season, the Miami City Ballet performs “Serenade,” “Carousel Pas de Deux,” “Calcium Night Lights,” and “Glass Pieces.” Tickets $20 to $99. Call 305-949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.
* Domestic Animals
* Sunday in the Park with George
Jan. 13 to 22 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre, 201 Clematis St. in West Palm Beach. Lori’s brother dodges the draft during the Vietnam, but her husband lists to join the fight. Tickets $25. Call 561-514-4042 or visit PalmBeachDramaworks.org.
miami-dade county * Pink Martini
Jan. 19 to Feb. 5 at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The stories of the many people aboard the doomed ship are told through music. Tickets $47 to $60. Call 954-4620222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.
Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Founded in 1994, the orchestra has performed in 22 different languages around the world. Tickets $35 to $95. Call 305-949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.
Cabaret
* Black String
Through Jan. 22 at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The Kit Kat Klub provides a nightly escape from the world in preWWII Berlin, but as the war comes creeping closer, can it still mask the dangers that lay ahead? Tickets $35 and up. Call 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.
Tickets $15 to $30. Call 305-466-8002 or visit AventuraCenter.org.
Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St. in Aventura. In its US debut, Black String incorporates traditional Korean music with modern jazz.
Jan. 19 to Feb. 12 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Inspired by the painting, a struggle ensues between an artist and his muse in this musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. Tickets $50. Call 305-9496722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.
Outdoor Music Series
Third Thursdays at the Perez Art Museum Miami, 101 W. Flagler St. in Miami. Come out for live music from DJs and musicians by the bay. Drink specials available. Free with museum admission. Call 305-375-3000 or visit PAMM.org.
The Big Show
Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. at Just the Funny Theater, 3119 Coral Way in Miami. A collection of comedy mixing the likes of improvisation and sketches. Tickets $12. Call 305-693-8669 or visit JustTheFunny.com. * Denotes New Listing
palm beach county * Golden Dragon Acrobats
Jan. 12 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. For more than 25 years, the acrobats have wowed audiences with their gravity-defying feats. Tickets $29. Call 561-8327469 or visit Kravis.org.
* What’s Going On: The Marvin Gaye Experience
Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Brian Owens pays tribute to the Motown legend with performances of “Let’s Get it On,” “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” and other classics. Tickets $15 and up. Call 561-8327469 or visit Kravis.org.
* The Pure Zeppelin Experience
Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Tribute band Pure Zeppelin Experience perform music by one of the greatest rock bands in support of Artists for MS. Tickets $30 and up. Call 561-832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
* Occidental Gypsy
Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Crest Theatre at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. Music
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Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. at the Crest Theatre at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. A talk with the film and television actress and singer. Tickets $32 to $67. Call 561-243-7922, ext. 1 or visit OldSchoolSquare.org.
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Jan. 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Village Pub, 2283 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. Meet with other businesses at a mixer hosted by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Free for members. $10 for future members. Visit GoGayFortLauderdale.com.
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Jan. 12 to 26 throughout MiamiDade County. View a variety of films exploring Jewish history and heritage by filmmakers from around the world. Visit MiamiJewishFilmFestival.org.
* Denotes New Listing
bRowaRd suppoRt seRvices
GENDER BENDER YOUTH GROUP
Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at SunServe Campus, 1480 SW Ninth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. A group for LGBT youth 13 to 21 to discuss gender, gender expression, binary systems, friendship, family and whatever else comes up! Free. Visit SunServeYouth. com
PFLAG
Tuesdays in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs and Southwest Ranches. A support group for parents of LGBT youth 13 to 21. Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com for dates and locations.
SUNSERVE YOUTH GROUP
Tuesdays and Thursdays in Fort Lauderdale, Southwest Ranches, Coral Springs and Hollywood. A support group and night of fun for LGBT youth 13 to 21. Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com for dates and times.
SURVIVOR SUPPORT
First and third Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Broward Health Imperial Point Hospital cafeteria, 6401 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Find support from counselors and peers who have lost loved ones to suicide. Call the Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention at 954-384-0344 or visit FISPOnline.org.
broward county Healthy Living Event
Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. at Delicious Raw, 2276 S. University Drive in Davie and CycleBar, 2270 S. University Drive in Davie. Start with a free CycleBar class, followed by food and juice samples, a presentation by nutritionist Meryl Brandwein, and a raffle. Free. RSVP to 754-2232582 or email nicole@delraw.com.
* Art Explosion
Jan. 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. at ArtServe, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Forrt Lauderdale. The opening reception of ArtsUnited, a collection of winning artists in 3D, painting, photography, mixed media, and prints/drawing. Exhibit runs through Jan. 27. Visit ArtServe.org.
* Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast
Jan. 14 from 8 to 11:30 a.m. at American Legion Post 222, 4250 NE Fifth Ave. in Oakland Park. Enjoy a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and coffee as well as a bake sale, door prizes, and raffle drawings. Entry $5 donation. Call 954695-0880 or visit OaklandParkKiwanis.com.
* Happy New You Bingo
Jan. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Ring in the new year with a game of bingo with snacks. Game package $15. Call 954-463-9005, ext.
306, 308, or 309 or visit PrideCenterFlorida. org.
Text
Through Jan. 18 at the Broward College Central Campus Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, 3501 SW Davie Road in Davie. Artists John Chang, Robert Ladislas Derr, Tatana Kellner and Barbara Oettinger Searle create art using legible and obscured text. Call 954-201-6984 or email aclyman@broward.edu.
Belief + Doubt
Through Jan. 22 at the NSU Art Museum, One E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Contemporary art from more than 60 artists in the collection of Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz. Closed Mondays. Call 954-525-5500 or visit NSUArtMuseum.org.
The Lure of Provincetown
Through Feb. 11 at the Stonewall National Museum - Wilton Manors, 2157 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. A popular vacation spot for the LGBT community, including “Dyke Drag Brunch,” the exhibit showcases photographs by Midge Battelle and Al Kaplan and paintings by Len Paoletti. Free. Call 954-763-8565 or visit Stonewall-Museum.org.
Jan. 11 - Jan. 18 What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye’s America
Through Feb. 27 at the Miramar Cultural Center Arts Park, 2400 Civic Center Place in Miramar. An exploration of how the Motown pioneer influenced music and and society. Guests are invited to bring a photo of themselves from the ‘70s and a reflection of how life has changed since then for the “My 70s” portion of the exhibit. Call 954-602-4500 or visit MiramarCulturalCenter.org.
Life Coaching
Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Latinos Salud Clubhouse, 2300 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. Get one-on-one life coaching from certified CRCS coaches. For guys living with HIV, their partners, and anyone who identifies as transgender. Free. Call 954-7656239 or visit LatinosSalud.org.
Transgender Advisory Group Meeting
First Mondays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at various locations. The Florida Department of Health in Broward County meeting of the Transgender Advisory Group which is part of the Broward County HIV Prevention Planning Council. Call 954-467-4700, ext. 4991 or visit browardgreaterthan.org/broward-county-hivprevention-planning-council-bchppc/
palm beach county * Arguments about Art in the 19th Century
Jan. 12 at 4 p.m. at the FAU University Theatre, 777 Glades Road in Boca Raton. Dr. Karen Leader explores the Paris art world from the mid-19th century to the fin-siècle. Tickets $20. Call 561-297-6124 or visit FAUEvents.com.
* Reflections of a Holocaust Survivor
Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. at the FAU Performing Arts Building room 101, 777 Glades Road in Boca Raton. Holocaust survivor Norman Frajman talks about surviving the Holocaust, including the Waarsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 as a child. Free. Call 561-297-2979 or visit FAUEvents.com.
Fifteen Minutes
Through Jan. 15 at the Cornell Art Museum at Old Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. Andy Warhol once said, “Everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” This exhibit examines the culture of celebrity. Suggested donation $5. Call 561-243-7922 or visit OldSchoolSquare.org.
Who is Joan Quinn? A Life in Portraits
Through Jan. 15 at the Cornell Art Museum at
Old Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. A collection of works created over 50 years by contemporary artists celebrating the legacy of Joan Agajanian Quinn. Suggested donation $5. Call 561-243-7922 or visit OldSchoolSquare. org.
Park, 401 E. 65th St. in Hialeah. Volunteer your time with painting, lake clean up, planting, litter cleanup, mulching, and other beautification projects. Volunteers will receive a light breakfast and lunch snack. Free. Visit MiamiDade.gov/parks/volunteer.asp.
Transcendence
* Soiree by the Sea
Meets at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. A closed transgender youth support group for teens ages 12 to 19. For more information, email youth@compassglcc.com.
Sober Sisters
Mondays at 6:15 p.m. at Lambda North, 18 S. J St. in Lake Worth. A support and discussion group for female recovering alcoholics. Visit LambdaNorth.net.
miami-dade county * Meet Wayne Pacelle
Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave. in Coral Gables. The CEO of The Humane Society talks about his book “The Humane Economy,” which explores how business can transform animal welfare. Free. Call 305-4424408 or visit BooksAndBooks.com.
* MLK Day of Service
Jan. 14 from 9 a.m. to Noon at Amelia Earhart
Jan. 20 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at Marriott Biscayne Bay, 1633 N. Bayshore Drive in Miami. Enjoy a night of cocktails music, raffles, passed bites, and more to help raise money for Miami Beach Gay Pride. Tickets $50 donation. Visit BrownPaperTickets.com/event/2595424.
The Other Dimension
Through Jan. 22 at Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, 770 NE 125th St. in North Miami. Antuan Rodriguez’s exhibit is separated into seven rooms exploring five narratives of philosophical, scientific, and cultural themes. Tickets $5. Call 305-893-6211 or visit mocanomi.org.
key west Jazz in the Gardens
Sundays 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gardens Hotel, 526 Angela St. in Key West. Wind down from the crazy weekend with a few hours of soothing jazz. Call 305-294-2661.
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Business Directory a&e FT LAUDERDALE GAY MEN'S CHORUS PO Box 9772, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33310-9772 954-832-0060 www.theftlgmc.org GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF SOUTH FLORIDA PO Box 39617, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33339 954-763-2266 Gaymenschorusofsouthflorida.org
chiropractic COAST CHIROPRACTIC INJURY & WELLNESS CENTER 2608 NE 16th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954.463.3036 www.coast-chiropractic.com
final arrangements
Have you made your wishes known? We’re here to help. 1-800-343-5400
www.levitt-weinstein.com
Pre-Arrangement Discounts For All Our LGBT Friends design How’s that business logo look? Get it redone in high resolution for only $50!*
Excellence in aesthetics
cleaning BARTON & MILLER CLEANERS 2600 N. Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-4314
For any visual task that needs a sly eye, Visit DogFoxDesign.com
*Price for high res flattened image. Vector and original files require an additional fee.
florist
dental
OAKLAND PARK DENTAL 3047 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954.566.9812 Oaklandparkdental.com ANDREWS DENTAL CARE 2654 N Andrews Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33311 954.567.3311 Andrewsdentalcare.com ISLAND CITY DENTAL 1700 NE 26th Street, Ste. 2, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954-564-7121 Islandcitydental.com
final arrangements KALIS-MCINTEE FUNERAL & CREMATION CENTER
2505 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-7621 Kalismcintee.com
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handyman MIAMI/BROWARD/PALM BEACH Paint/Caulk/Remove Grout/Yard Work Fix Drips & Switches/Debris removal Assembles Furniture & Appliances Repair or Fix Call "Avrom" Keith 786-227-9981
handyman
To place an ad in the Business Directory, call our sales team at 954.530.4970 framing
health DR. TORY SULLIVAN 2500 N Federal Hwy #301, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954.533.1520 Torysullivanmd.com AMERICAN PAIN EXPERTS 6333 N. Federal Hwy, Ste. 250, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 954-678-1074 Americanpainexperts.com NATURA DERMATOLOGY 1120 Bayview Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 754.333.4886 naturadermatology.com
MASTER HYPNOTHERAPIST AND LIFE COACH ADDICTIONS • SMOKING • WEIGHT LOSS • INSOMNIA • STRESS REDUCTION • ROAD RAGE • ANGER MANAGEMENT • PAST LIFE ANALYSIS • RELATIONSHIP COACHING Coach Bill For Life
WWW.COACHBILLFORLIFE.COM
954.641.8315
professional services
Income Tax Preparation •Individual •Small Business •Free Consultation Doug Turner, Enrolled Agent Best Books & Taxes, LLC 2201 Wilton Drive, Suite 4 bestbooksandtaxes.com
954-565-1041
Call today for appointment
professional services
pets
AMERICAN TAX & INSURANCE 2929 E Comm. Blvd, 8th Floor Penthouse D, Fort Lauderdale, FL
954.302.3228 Americantaxandinsurance.com
LAW OFFICE OF GEORGE CASTRATARO 707 NE 3rd Ave #300, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954.573.1444 Lawgc.com LAW OFFICE OF ROBIN BODIFORD 2550 N Federal Hwy #20, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954.630.2707 Lawrobin.com LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY KABEL 1 East Broward Blvd #700, Fort Lauderdale, 33301 954.761.7770 gwkesq@bellsouth.net
real estate
LAW OFFICE OF SELZER & WEISS 1515 NE 25th St, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.567.4444 Selzerandweiss.com LAW OFFICE OF SHAWN NEWMAN 710 NE 26th St, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.563.9160 Shawnnewman.com
sfgn.com
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Business Directory To place an ad in the Business Directory, call our sales team at 954.530.4970 restaurants STORKS BAKERY 2505 NE 15th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.567.3220 Storksbakery.com BEEFCAKES 1721 N Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 954.463.6969 boardwalkbar.com J. MARK’S 1245 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 (954) 390-0770 Jmarksrestaurant.com
ERNIE'S B-B-Q 1843 S Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 954-523-8636
The Best Cellar
Boutique Wine Shop & Wine Bar The Ultimate Wine Tasting Experience
spirituality DR. PIERRE B. BLAND, DVM 1332 E. Commercial Blvd., Oakland Park, FL 33334 954-673-8579 Doctorblandvet.com
The Parish of Sts. Francis and Clare Where we welcome and appreciate diversity.
services
101 NE 3rd St Fort Lauderdale FL 33301 Mass Times: Saturday 5:00 PM Sunday 10:30 AM Ecumenical Catholic 954.731.8173
www.stsfrancisandclare.org Baptisms • Weddings • Memorial Services
technology
Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., at 8:00 p.m. ONLY $15 PER PERSON! 954-630-8020 1408 N.E. 26th St. Wilton Manors, FL 33334
retail PEACE PIPE 4800 N Dixie Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 954.267.9005 Facebook.com/peacepipefl
Licensed & Insured
954-725-3633
custom alarm contractors, Inc.
Est. 1989 “Experience Matters” Service after the sale! ▶ residential security ▶ commercial security ▶ closed circuit tV
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www.customalarmcontractors.com
SFGN Classified$ To place a Classified Ad, call Tim Higgins at 954.530.4970 or email at Tim.Higgins@sfgn.com
electrician
HARRY’S ELECTRIC RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL - Additions, renovations, service upgrades, breaker panels,FPL undergrounds, code violations, A/C wiring, ceiling fans, recessed, security & landscaping, lighting, pools, pumps, Jacuzzis, water heaters, FREE PHONE ESTIMATES 954-522-3357 Lic & Ins. www. harryelectrician.com
piano WANT TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO? Learn from an experienced teacher. All levels and ages welcome. Learn to play classical, popular, jazz, or show tunes. Visit www.edwinchad. com or call 954-826-9555 for more information.
licensed massage
HUSBAND FOR RENT - Is he procrastinating home repairs? He says he will do it tomorrow?? After the football game?? We fit right in - in the house or the yard, small or big jobs: tile, dry wall, paint, plumbing, roof leaks, broken furniture, irrigation, fences, and more! It doesn't cost to hassle us to see the work - so why wait? Neat, clean work for a reasonable price. Call Haim at 954-398-3676, sidnalll@yahoo.com
AFFORDABLE AWESOME MASSAGE BY JIM Offering Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports and LomiLomi Massage for Men; in a very comfortable, relaxed and Private Massage Studio, NOW conveniently located in Wilton Manors on NE 26th Street, with plenty of free parking. Same Day appointments are welcome; please call Jim, 954-600-5843 email: info@ massagebyjim.com or visit my website for testimonials, rates and more. GREAT OPENING SPECIAL NOW AVAILABLE! www.massagebyjim.com Licensed and Certified MM22293
MANSCAPING SERVICES WE OFFER - Treat yourself to a Full Body Hair Removal, Shaving, Trimming, and Waxing. European Facial, Oxy Hydro Treatment. No Chemicals used.Looking Good & Feeling Good Call Ebi at 561-502-3217 or www.euromanscaping.com
VOICE LESSONS & MUSIC THEATRE COACHING - Over 30 years experience. Students have performed on (and off) Broadway, in National & International tours, recorded solo albums & placed in prestigious competitions. www.kreutzmusic.com 617-967-0575
GREGG'S PAINTING - I paint both interior and exterior. Great rates, free estimates. I am detailedoriented, friendly, reliable, punctual, and neat. No job too small. Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Call Gregg at 617-306-5694 or 954-870-5972 Email: gmanbenn44@gmail.com
COOL POOLS- RELIABLE POOL SERVICE Professional pool service.Covering Wilton Manors, Lighthouse Point, and eastside of Pompano Beach. 15 years experience. Licensed and insured.Free estimates. Call 954-235-0775.
help wanted
health
painting
music lessons
pool service
rentals wilton manors
LARGE 2 BED & 2 BATH - Located 1 Block from Wilton Drive on NE 16th Street. New Kitchen, Tile Floors, Central A/C, Laundry, Private Backyard $1450 month, First & Security to move in. Avail. Feb 1 954-815-2550 MIKE THE RENTAL GUY - NE Lauderdale/Wilton Manors/Oakland Park-1/1 from $990, 2/1 from $1140. Victoria Park-1/1=$1090.00 cable included. Credit & Income Requirements-Pets okay with restrictions Call for Details Mike 561-703-5533 or miketherentalguy@aol.com
Now HiriNg! Call 800-DiLigENT
VERY NICE COTTAGE FOR RENT - Separate cottage for rent for $800.00 has full kitchen and showered bath. Includes washer/Dryer and water tenant pays elec. Has a private entrance and private parking. Requires F/L/S to move in. Call Michael at 954-615-7103
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