10/5/16 V7i40 by South Florida Gay News

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October 5, 2016 vol. 7 // issue 40

Begins In Center

s o u t h

f l o r i d a

g a y

History Month

n e w s

Honoring our icons

pages 40 - 43

it’s voting season: election coverage Pages 20 - 29

SouthFloridaGayNews

BANKRUPT: agenda and next shut down Pages 4 - 5

soflagaynews

SFGN.com 10.5.2016 • 1

The Opening Line Photos: Facebook, Twitter.

SFGN ENDORSES HILLARY CLINTON FOR POTUS

Comments from SFGN’s

online outlets

Compiled by John McDonald

MUSIC DIRECTOR AT CATHOLIC CHURCH FIRED FOR GAY MARRIAGE

Debra Wynter –

As a lesbian and activist in N.Y. for 3 decades...I cannot support Hillary – aside from her being the female Dick Cheney, warmonger, greedy & horrible...she has not been for US! She’s been a friend to our LGBT community like Nancy Reagan was a friend to Rock Hudson in the end. It’s unbelievable how many people are so uninformed and have their head in the sand...#NEVERHILLARY...plus she sold us out...uranium to Russia, a whore for Saudi Arabia...as they persecute homosexuals…shame on you SFGN! Oh And the tragedy Pulse (the democrats milked it with candle light vigils to campaign)—[the shooter’s] father front and center support for Hillary...and he worked at g4s...remember...Hillary’s a disgrace...

Larry Kraft –

It’s really a terrible thing, but a Church does have the right to make the rules that comply with their religion, I guess .... If he was a Priest molesting boys he’d still have an income.

Darrel Hopkins –

If they had any guts the congregation should all walk out. There are better place to worship.

October 5, 2016 • Volume 7 • Issue 40

2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943

Publisher • Norm Kent Norm.Kent@sfgn.com

Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli

Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com

Editorial

Art Director • Brendon Lies Artwork@sfgn.com Designer • Charles Pratt Editorial Assistant • Jillian Melero JillianMelero@gmail.com Webmaster • Brittany Ferrendi Webmaster@sfgn.com Arts/Entertainment Editor • JW Arnold JW@prdconline.com News Editor • John McDonald John.McDonald@sfgn.com Social Media Manager • Tucker Berardi TBerardi2014@fau.edu Food/Travel Editor • Rick Karlin Gazette News Editor • Michael D'Oliveira Senior Photographer • J.R. Davis JRDavis12000@hotmail.com

Senior Features Correspondents Jesse Monteagudo • Tony Adams

Correspondents

Daniel Nistal –

I mean we want people to follow the law right? ... if you want to marry your bf find another job.

David Towery –

I’d be using your paper for the bird cage if you endorsed Trump. Oh wait, well let me say I’m glad you endorsed her. Still need the paper for the birds (I will continue to read it first tho)!

SouthFloridaGayNews.com

Dori Zinn • Andrea Richard • Donald Cavanaugh • Christiana Lilly • Denise Royal • Sean McShee • Alex Adams • Gary Kramer • David-Elijah Nahmod

Contributing Columnists

MAN WHO THREATENED TO ‘EXTERMINATE GAYS’ APPEARS IN BROWARD COURT Joel S. Slotnick –

Rj Petrucci –

I don’t doubt he was shackled too at the feet. He’s a felon and an escape risk.

Imagine any person or paper not endorsing Hilary as one step to stop Trump - a man who has declared he wants to appoint judges who will over rule federal gay marriage, and reduce choice, and was a racist birther king and appointed Santorum as an advisor and is running on an anti gay platform. They obviously are broken if they think that person is a better candidate than Clinton. Any gay person who does this - should be ostracized from the gay community as they have sided with the enemy.

MEMBER

Robbin Jacobs –

If he gets out everybody better watch their backs.

Brian McNaught • Dana Rudolph • Wayne Besen Ric Reily • Steve Siler • Bil Browning Tucker Berardi • Terri Schlichenmeyer

Associate Photographers Pompano Bill • Steven Shires

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Holy smoke! He’d scare the crap out of anyone!

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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 © 2016 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.

NEWS highlight

National Coming Out Day is October 11

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Denise Royal

ational Coming Out Day is an internationally observed day to celebrate people who openly identify as LGBT. For many, coming out is a journey; it is a way to embody gay pride instead of fear and shame. For others it may be just the opposite. “Being out and proud is important!” proclaims 25-year old Kyle McKenzie. “When we are out and proud, it helps eliminate the stigma of being gay which only helps foster a more accepting and comforting world. National Coming Out Day is a great conduit to telling the world who you are.” Scot Haney agrees, but with one caveat. “If celebrating National Coming Out Day gives someone the encouragement to come out, then I say I’m all for it,” he told SFGN. “But no one should be outed without their knowledge!” There are many reasons not to come out — fear likely tops the list. Other reasons are some relationships may be permanently changed in negative ways. Young people worry about being thrown out of their homes or losing financial support. Coming out could lead to harassment or discrimination at work.

The devastating mass shooting in Orlando back in June left 49 people dead and 53 others wounded. It was the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter, the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in United States history, and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. But, being honest about who you are may have its benefits. A 2013 study found LGB people who were out and open about their sexuality had fewer signs of anxiety, depression, and burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of personal accomplishment), and lower cortisol levels, than those who were still closeted to friends and family. According to the Human Rights Commission, one out of every two Americans has someone close to them who is gay or lesbian. For transgender people, that number is only one in 10. This is the 28th anniversary of National Coming Out Day. If you know someone who is struggling with coming out, this could be a day for you to show compassion and understanding.

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late breaking news

florida Agenda & next shut down Norm Kent

Parent company Multimedia Platforms Worldwide files for bankruptcy

he Florida Agenda is no more. The weekly print newspaper here in South Florida stopped publishing last week after it’s parent company Multimedia Platforms Worldwide was effectively shut down when a judge ordered the seizure of all of its assets and cash on hand. The lawsuit that led to that order alleged that the management team of Multimedia, the baby of local publisher and CEO, Bobby Blair, engaged in fraudulent and deceptive trade practices, along with negligent misrepresentations, in order to induce the transaction. “For the record, I was re-appointed CEO last week as I became informed all this was happening by management,” Blair responded. “The last 4 months I have not been involved or included in any dayto-day business or involved in this now disputed credit facility.” On Tuesday Multimedia filed for bankruptcy in South Florida. However, the petition was for chapter 11 reorganization, so if the company can present a viable business plan to the court within 90 days, which it approves, one day down the road they conceivably could start up again. Locally, Multimedia owned the bar guide, Guy Magazine, which they recently rebranded as Next, after acquiring that publication in New York. Over the past two years, the company went on an acquisition spree, also buying up Frontiers magazine in Los Angeles and Fun Maps, which was later renamed Wirld Maps, tied into their startup of an Internet product, Wirld.com. Last year, the company went public, and began selling penny stock shares, while boasting that it was the first LGBT media company

to ever to go public. Ten months ago, Blair painted a rosy picture of the company’s future with an end of the year release that listed their many “accomplishments:” • Multimedia Platforms LLC went public in January of 2015, becoming Multimedia Platforms Inc. with trading symbol, MMPW. • Raised over $3 million for development and expansion. • Acquired 3 additional global LGBT media brands, considered to be among the highest level media companies in the LGBT media space, and brought a North American corporate footprint, with a global audience. • FunMaps (over 40 US & International cities) • NEXT (NY, New England, and throughout the Northeast US) • Frontiers Media (Los Angeles, and throughout the western US) • Increased the online followers and readers by a very significant number. The much anticipated WiRLD. com, a global LGBT media hub, featuring a global news stand, global social media business directory, real time social media network and an online entertainment network featuring drama series, documentaries, comedy shows, live simulcast

In its most recent quarterly filings with the SEC, MMPW had warned that the financial viability of the company was in doubt, and that it was millions of dollars in debt, likely to close with no further financing. 4

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events and a global rewards program, is ready to be launched early 2016. The strategic investment has positioned the Company to take advantage of the $900 Billion US LGBT market (over $3 Trillion, globally). At the time Blair had this to say: “The MMP brands represent 7.5 million readers and 4 plus million unique online visitors, annually. As the company continues to grow, we continue on a 24-7 basis to be the go-to LGBT news, social media, and entertainment platform that allows us to chronicle the social change our country and world are experiencing, and the mission to ensure that our LGBT community enjoys true equality, acceptance and opportunity around the world.” Then President of MMP, Peter Jackson, also boasted about the company’s future saying “2015 has been a year of successive accomplishments that have exceeded our most optimistic projections. We look forward to continuing this momentum in the coming year.” Jackson left the company this year and now works for HotSpots. Since that press release, Blair left his position as CEO to become Chairman of the

Board, but last week, he was reinstated as CEO after much of the management team abruptly resigned, following a notice of default by their lenders. SFGN reached out to several employees of the Florida Agenda, editor Richard Hack and publisher Maura Lane, for comment with no response. Meanwhile, the company had branded itself as “the world’s largest gay media conglomerate.” The suit filed by White Winston Select Asset Funds in the Suffolk County Civil Court of Massachusetts, renders the future of the company uncertain. The complaint led to an immediate and summary seizure of the all of the assets and cash on hand of Multimedia. The lawsuit is seeking damages in the amount of $1,750,000. The allegations included in the complaint charge that the management team of Multimedia, headed by then CEO Peter Frank, engaged in fraudulent and deceptive trade practices, along with negligent misrepresentations, in order to induce the transaction. The complaint says that the loan was approved in order to keep Multimedia afloat, with their company then assigning its assets and proceeds back to White Winston’s clients, the ‘credit facility.’ The monies from the credit facility would not be advanced at once, but provided for MMPW to draw upon the funds, as needed, subject to the plaintiff’s approval. During the period of Aug. 8 to Sept. 1, 2016, MMPW

late breaking news submitted and received five funding requests in the amount of $140,367.71. Each draw required the defendants to certify that the funds were needed to cover their operating expenses and “no event of default under any of the loan documents exist.” However, incumbent upon the defendants was an obligation to immediately supplement the closing with various documents and records outlining and authenticating its collections, receivables, and collateral. The complaint reads: “Only due to the defendants need for a cash influx to prevent a default on their other notes, White agreed to close and fund the loan on short notice, with the majority of due diligence to be conducted immediately post-closing.” The complaint alleges that while the company took advantage of cash advances, the defendants also engaged in other misconduct constituting unjust enrichment, breach of good faith, and deceptive practices. The plaintiff, White Winston, says the loan was based upon them securing a priority lien over all of MMPW’s assets and receiving MMPW’s daily revenues and receivables in a “lockbox.” According to the complaint, that never happened. Instead of depositing all of its proceeds in a secure account to pay back the loan, between July 26 and Sept. 9, MMPW only put away $604.75. When White Winston balked, saying MMPW represented there should be over a hundred thousand dollars in the account, they only added another $23,943. Then the plaintiffs discovered they were being screwed in yet another way. They accused MMPW of diverting these funds, which should have been paid to White Winston, into a secret account the defendants had failed to disclose at the closing. In its due diligence, the plaintiff, alleges, they uncovered signs that the defendants may have falsely ‘cooked the books’ in order to secure the loan in the

first place, representing that cash and receipts due them were false from the outset. At least one local businessman called SFGN to complain he was a victim of this practice. As a result, in the second count of the lawsuit, the defendants were accused of “failing to exercise reasonable care and competence in their representations” prior to the closing of the transaction. All these acts, the plaintiffs allege, were done willfully and knowingly, and unjustly enriched the defendants. MMPW purportedly violated the Massachusetts General Laws, by engaging in unfair and deceptive acts in trade and commerce. If proven, representations such as these can potentially lead to Securities and Exchange inquiries, and even federal criminal charges as it involves interstate commerce. In its most recent quarterly filings with the SEC, MMPW had warned that the financial viability of the company was in doubt, and that it was millions of dollars in debt, likely to close with no further financing. The court granted an order providing the plaintiffs the preliminary relief and temporary restraining order they sought. It bars them from: “conveying, transferring, concealing or otherwise disposing of any cash collateral or accounts receivables under their ownership or control, or under the ownership or control of any of defendants’ wholly owned subsidiaries, until further order of this court.” Blair, who is now the lone remaining executive officer of MMPW, has said he intends to “fight the case vigorously,” laying blame on the “new management team” employed in July. As of yesterday however, no lawyer had filed a notice of appearance for Blair or any of his companies. “They screwed up, and I have to fix it,” he said. A resilient and popular amateur former tennis pro, who published a book about his life, ‘Inside the Baselines,’ he has bounced back from business adversities before.

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Compiled by Jillian Melero

California Governor Approves Gender-Neutral Restrooms (AP) Gov. Jerry Brown waded further into the national debate over transgender rights Thursday as he signed a bill requiring that all single-stall toilets in California be designated as gender neutral. The measure requires that businesses and governments post non-gender-specific signs on single-occupant restrooms by March 1, 2017. Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco said his legislation would establish the nation’s most inclusive restroom-access law and “chart a new course of equality for the nation.” “This simple concept is oddly cutting-edge when compared with the discrimination being enacted in other states,” Ting said earlier, while urging the Democratic governor to sign the bill. Lawmakers sent the legislation to Brown in August, a day after a federal judge temporarily blocked an order by President Barack Obama requiring that public schools let

Gov. Jerry Brown

students use bathrooms that correlate with their gender identity. California students can already do so under a law Brown signed in 2013. He also approved adding gender identity to the state’s antidiscrimination laws in 2011. Supporters of the new legislation said 19 states considered restricting access to restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities based on the user’s biological sex, including North Carolina, which passed a law requiring people to use restrooms based on their gender at birth. The U.S. Supreme Court will consider reviewing whether a transgender Virginia high school senior should be permitted to use the boys’ restroom. Supporters say gender-neutral restrooms also would help parents with children of a different gender and adults caring for aging parents. It would not affect restrooms that have multiple stalls.

politics

crime

national

(AP) A Utah senator is bringing back a recently defeated proposal to beef up the state’s hate crimes law and include LGBT people. Republican Sen. Daniel Thatcher of West Valley City said Monday his idea is narrowly tailored to the small group of criminals who terrorize groups of people based on race, religion or sexual orientation. He’s calling his proposal a victim selection measure rather than hate crime legislation. Thatcher says the title reflects the focus on suspects’ actions rather than thoughts or ideas, which are protected free speech. Thatcher faced questions from his colleagues when he introduced a draft similar to one voted down last session. Lawmakers questioned whether the enhanced penalties are necessary, if they could prevent future crimes targeting certain groups and how far the definition of a protected group could extend.

(EDGE) Police from Phoenix, Ariz. say two different gay bars in the city were the site of armed robberies on the same night earlier this week, local news station KTVK reports. The incidents took place Tuesday. The first robbery occurred just after 9 p.m. at Pat O’s Bunkhouse Saloon, where two people were robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot. The second robbery was at Los Diablos, just two miles away from the first incident. Police said the suspects robbed patrons on the bar’s patio. “They were out of here within seconds,” Matthew Harty, owner of Los Diablos, told KTVK. Police told the news station both incidents were similar and involved two young male suspects, who are still at large, armed with a gun. They added they are unsure if the bars or patrons were targeted. Harty thinks otherwise. “I actually think there is some connection with it,” he said. “I don’t know if they thought the opportunity was there at this time of the evening or if it was planned out.” The suspects stole wallets and cellphones, but some of the items were later recovered. Police described the male suspects as Hispanic or Native American and 16 to 25 years old. The authorities are currently investigating and are looking at surveillance footage that shows the suspects at both locations. Both bars will remain open and are increasing security, KTVK reports. “Their (patrons) safety is of the utmost importance to us at Diablos and also I think the [LGBT] community,” Harty told the news station. Watch KTVK’s report on the incidents below.

(AP) Students at a Maryland high school will get to choose whether they want to be considered as a king or queen, regardless of their gender, as part of a gender-neutral homecoming court. The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/2cKXAmp ) reports Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School student government representatives voted last week that the top two finalists from a ballot will be crowned at the school’s football game Oct. 7. Those honored could include two boys, two girls, transgender students or a boy-girl duo. Each winner gets to decide how they want to be identified: as “royalty” or as a king or queen. Student Government Association President Jacob Rains says students didn’t want to tell their fellow classmates that boys can only be considered as kings, while girls could only be seen as queens.

Lawmaker Bringing Back Hate Bars Robbed in Same Night, Ariz. Homecoming ‘Queen,’ Utah 2Gay Gender-Neutral Crime Bill Under New Name Police Say Female ‘King’

Republican Sen. Daniel Thatcher

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Bethesda-Chevy Chase Highschool.

News Briefs

continued sports

acramento Kings Build World’s First Arena to Fully Accommodate Transgender Fans

(EDGE) Two of the nation’s largest LGBT organizations, Equality California and Transgender Law Center, today commended the Sacramento Kings for building the world’s first entertainment and sports arena to fully accommodate transgender fans. Golden 1 Center, which officially opened on October 1, has 23 all gender public restrooms throughout the arena. In addition, the Sacramento Kings proudly support the Transform California campaign — a campaign founded by Equality California and Transgender Law Center to promote respect, understanding and safety for all transgender Californians. As part of the effort, coalition members, legislators and organizations sign the Transform California pledge — opposing discrimination against transgender people. “The Sacramento Kings are leading not only the NBA, but sports worldwide in building the first arena to ensure transgender fans are fully respected and welcomed,” said Rick Zbur, Executive Director of Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBT civil rights organization. “We commend the Sacramento Kings and we are hopeful they are the first of many franchises to provide accommodations for all fans.” “We set out to build the most connected and forward-thinking arena in the world

because we wanted to ensure the very best fan experience for everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Vivek Ranadive, Owner and Chairman of the Sacramento Kings. “It’s heartening to see a major sports team take such a clear and meaningful step to support their transgender fans, and we hope many others will follow the Sacramento Kings’ lead,” said Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center, the largest national organization advancing justice for transgender and gender nonconforming people through litigation, policy advocacy, and public education. “Sports are a big part of many people’s lives, and everyone should be able to enjoy the game without worrying about being harassed if they need to use a restroom.” Photo: Facebook.

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politics

oll Shows Australians Back Gay Marriage but Not Plebiscite

(AP) A majority of Australians support gay marriage, an opinion poll on Wednesday showed, but they do not back the government’s plan to hold a national vote on whether it should be allowed. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government argues that its election victory in July gave it a mandate to hold a nonbinding national vote known as a plebiscite in February to decide whether same-sex marriage should be legalized. But the poll published in The Australian newspaper showed that only 39 percent of voters thought there should be such a plebiscite, while 48 percent said lawmakers should decide the issue without a national vote. Another 13 percent of respondents were undecided. The poll also showed that 62 percent of respondents were in favor of marriage equality, 32 percent were opposed and 6 percent were uncommitted. The poll was a national survey of 1,662 voters last weekend. It had a 2.4 percentage

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point margin of error. The poll bolstered the opposition Labor Party’s stance after it signaled it is likely to decide to scuttle the plebiscite when its lawmakers settle their policy position at a meeting on Oct. 11. The conservative government needs opposition support to get enabling legislation for the plebiscite through a hostile Senate. Parties that support gay marriage, including Labor, argue that the plebiscite was proposed by hard-right conservatives who want it to fail. They argue that Parliament should dec+ide the issue and avoid a divisive public debate. Turnbull has described the 170-million Australian dollar ($130-million) cost of the plebiscite as the price of democracy. The plebiscite would carry no legal weight and Parliament would still have to approve legislation to allow gay marriage. Some conservative lawmakers have said they would vote against gay marriage regardless of the plebiscite outcome.

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10.5.2016 •

NEWS national

Photo: Facebook

Alabama Justice Off The Bench For Denying Gay Marriage Kim Chandler

Edge Media Network

labama Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the bench Friday for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage, more than a decade after he got in trouble for refusing federal orders to move a Ten Commandments monument. By suspending Moore for the rest of his term, the nine-member Alabama Court of the Judiciary has effectively removed him from office for the second time. The outspoken Christian conservative was ousted from office in 2013 for his stand in defense of the 2 and half ton monument he had installed in the state judicial building, but voters later reelected him. The judiciary court ruled that Moore defied law already clearly settled by the high court’s Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling when he told Alabama’s probate judges six months later that they were still bound by a 2015 state court order to deny marriage licenses to gays and lesbians. “Beyond question, at the time he issued the January 6, 2016 order, Chief Justice Roy Moore knew about Obergefell and its clear holding that the United States Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry,” the court wrote in the unanimous decision. They said Moore also flouted a federal judge’s order that enjoined the judges from enforcing Alabama’s same sex marriage ban after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision. The 50-page decision indicated that a majority of justices wanted to completely remove Moore - not just suspend him without pay - but they didn’t have the unanimous agreement. The effect, though, is the same. Moore is off the bench. Moore’s punishment comes as all three branches of Alabama’s government face upheaval.

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The Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives was removed from office this summer for criminal ethics violations. A legislative committee is weighing whether Gov. Robert Bentley should be impeached over a scandal involving a top aide. Following the announcement, Lambda Legal released the following statement from Fair Courts Project Director Eric Lesh: “Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s enthusiasm for flouting the rulings of our federal courts and his willingness to cast aside the principles embedded in the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics has harmed the integrity of the Alabama court system and the legitimacy of its rulings. “Chief Justice Moore is Exhibit A for why we shouldn’t elect judges in the first place. Moore was re-elected after being removed from the bench, repeatedly and loudly vilifying LGBT people on the campaign trail. He ran for his seat on an anti-marriage equality platform, predicting that a ruling would “cause the destruction of our country” and would generate a “great backlash.” Moore has even managed to work his anti-LGBT demagoguery into a legal decision by citing scripture in a 2002 judicial opinion in a child custody case that shockingly referred to lesbian parents as “immoral,” “detestable,” “an inherent evil,” and “inherently destructive to the natural order of society.” “Roy Moore’s defiance of federal law, his overtly political actions and his disparaging statements about LGBT people contravene his ethical obligations. We are pleased by the Judicial Inquiry Commission’s decision. The people of Alabama deserve better from the head of their state judiciary.”

News Briefs

continued pride

GBTQ Festival Canceled in Haiti Amid Threats, Gov’t Order Photo: Facebook.

(AP) Organizers of a cultural festival in Haiti celebrating the Afro-Caribbean LGBTQ community said Tuesday that it has been called off due to numerous threats of violence and a subsequent prohibition by a government commissioner. The four-day Massimadi film, art and performance event was supposed to start Tuesday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, but organizers said it had to be postponed as a prominent Haitian cultural institution known as FOKAL and other co-hosts were threatened with arson and other attacks. “FOKAL has been receiving threats of outrageous violence,” said Lorraine Mangones, executive director of the nonprofit Knowledge & Freedom Foundation. Jeudy Charlot of the gay rights group Kouraj, the main organizer of the event, said he is determined that the arts festival by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Haitians and their supporters will be held at a later date. “There are very homophobic people who are against it, and the government official who is responsible for the jurisdiction of Port-auPrince has also taken a decision to prevent the

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festival for now,” said Charlot. “But we still plan on holding Massimadi in the future.” Capital Commissioner Jean Danton Leger confirmed that he issued an order to block the festival, telling a local radio station it was in part to protect Haiti’s “moral and social” values. Leger had received a complaint in recent days from Sen. Jean Renel Senatus, who considers the event an affront to traditional families. Haiti’s LGBTQ community has long remained largely underground because of social stigma, although there are no laws criminalizing homosexual relations as there are in a number of English-speaking Caribbean islands. The Massimadi festival was first launched in 2009 in Montreal by a group called African Rainbow. It has also been held without any problems in Belgium. This was the first year it was scheduled to take place in Haiti.

health

ov. Brown Signs Landmark PrEP and PEP Education Bill

(EDGE) Landmark legislation to boost awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV infection was signed into PrEP is an HIV prevention strategy in law today by California Gov. Jerry Brown, which HIV-negative individuals take a daily becoming the first statewide legislation of its medication to reduce their risk of becoming kind. infected. PrEP has been shown to be up Co-sponsored by the Los Angeles LGBT to 99 percent effective at preventing HIV Center and APLA Health and introduced by transmission. PEP involves taking antiAssembly member Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), HIV medications as soon as possible after AB 2640 will ensure high-risk HIV-negative a potential exposure to reduce the risk of individuals receive information about becoming HIV-positive. According to a methods that reduce the risk of contracting 2015 survey of gay and bisexual men by the HIV, including PrEP and PEP, during HIV post- California HIV/AIDS Research Program, only test counseling. 1 in 10 respondents had ever used PrEP and “We are extremely pleased that Governor nearly 85 percent had never talked to their Brown has signed this bill into law,” APLA Health doctor about PrEP. Chief Executive Officer Craig E. Thompson said. The West Hollywood City Council recently “This is one of several proposals the governor voted to require that the city’s contracted has supported to increase information about providers of HIV testing provide information and the availability of PrEP and PEP, and we about PrEP during pre- and/or post-test thank him for his continued leadership on this counseling. However, there is currently no issue. AB 2640 is a crucial step toward raising statewide requirement to provide information awareness about effective HIV prevention about any HIV prevention methods, including tools, reducing new infections, and ending the PrEP and PEP, during HIV post-test counseling. SFGN_Florida_House3_Top_WP.pdf 1 4/22/2015 10:44:34 AM epidemic in California.”

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NEWS national

Photo by Mike Allen, Facebook.

Alt-Right Website Declares Anti-Semitic

‘Holy Crusade’ on Milo Yiannopoulos Brittany Ferrendi

neo-nazi website is targeting Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos for insisting the alt-right movement isn’t racist. “He is our arch-nemesis,” writes The Daily Stormer Publisher Andrew Anglin last week. “We need to stop this kike.” The alt-right movement is commonly understood as an alternative to the current conservative paradigm, opposing multiculturalism and globalism. To The Daily Stormer, Yiannopoulous is trying to rebrand the movement away from its racist and anti-Semitic origins. The article spews anti-Semitic slurs at the Breitbart Tech

“Force him into being unable to do something snarky. Making him uncomfortable is good, making him defend mainstream liberal positions on racism and anti-Semitism is better.” - Andrew Anglin ALT-RIGHt

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Editor, who is Catholic with Jewish ancestry. They claim he is “relabeling an existing movement” — the alt-right movement — and they wish to “push back and say ‘no it is definitely a racist movement — we are racists.’” “He is taking our brand, our symbols, and turning them against us for a neocon-Jew conservative agenda. He is rewriting our narrative, while taking everything that we have created to use for his own KIKE purposes.” The Daily Stormer provides a three-step plan to challenge Yiannopoulos. They encourage all of their readers to visit his public speaking events (even including a list of his tour dates) and hammer him with questions such as: “When will you be giving out the money you took for the White privilege college tuition fund? I read on the #1 Alt-Right website the Daily Stormer that you stole it.” They also want all of the Q&As to be recorded and put on YouTube to “show his people that the real Alt-Right exists and that we despise him, that the hoax Alt-Right he’s created doesn’t exist.” And for post-show events, the site asks event attendees to “question him further” to get him “looking rattled” and film it because “he is a drug addict and will have a hard time interacting with you in an off-stage environment.” “Force him into being unable to do something snarky. Making him uncomfortable is good, making him defend mainstream liberal positions on racism and anti-Semitism is better. Defending the mainstream makes him look weak and pathetic, yet he has already defined his positions — or defined our positions? — as a form of liberalism.” Last week, Yiannopoulos planned to speak at Florida

Atlantic University as a part of his “Dangerous Faggot Tour,” but had to cancel due to threat of bomb and firearms and an investigation by the FBI. Yiannopoulos told SFGN following the cancellation: “Obviously if I were in charge, I’d speak at all campuses regardless of the threats. But unfortunately I can’t veto security concerns and the safety of students must come first — their actual physical safety that is, not insulation from dangerous ideas.” Breitbart reported on the cancellation and mentioned The Daily Stormer’s “holy crusade,” possibly insinuating a connection to the threats. CBS12 also reported that the threats were indisputably from The Daily Stormer, pointing to an edited photo of a gun to Yiannopoulos’s head posted by a commenter. The neo-nazi website shot back on Friday, refuting the accusations and charging right back. “What appears to have happened here is that [the CBS writer] saw the article on Breitbart that obliquely intimated that maybe one of us did it (given that there was a closeness in the timeframe), misunderstood and thought they were saying we were definitely responsible for it, then went to my article and saw that Pepe meme and decided that was the cause.” Instead of threatening Yiannopoulos, the site wants readers to prevent him from playing the “victim” by instead “confront[ing] him with words.” “He will also be in a state of constant fear when he knows that real Nazis are going to show-up at every show and confront him. That there is nowhere to run.”

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UNBC1849_ML1_SouthFlaGayNews_10x10.75.indd 1

3/25/15 3:57 PM 10.5.2016 • 17

LGBTQIA bites

Lesbian

Man Gets Life in Prison for 2012 Attack on Teen Lesbian Couple (AP) A South Texas man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 2012 shooting attack at a park that left one woman dead and her girlfriend critically hurt. David Malcolm Strickland was convicted Wednesday of capital murder. The 30-year-old Strickland, who was on trial in Sinton, received an automatic life prison term because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the June 2012 case. Investigators have said the two victims were sexually assaulted and shot while at a park in Portland, near Corpus Christi. Authorities say 19-year-old Mollie Olgin of Ingleside died. Her girlfriend, who was 18 at the time of the attack, was shot in the head but survived. The victims were discovered several hours later by some people who were passing by.

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Kristene Chapa (right) and Mollie Olgin. Facebook.

Compiled by Jillian Melero Bisexual

DC Confirms Wonder Woman is Bi (SFGN) To many it was obvious, the superhuman Amazon hailing from the allfemale paradise of Themyscira, surely must have had relationships with other women along the way. Wonder Woman writer Greg Rucka told Comicosity in an interview (http://bit. ly/2ddveSu), “It’s supposed to be paradise. You’re supposed to be able to live happily. You’re supposed to be able — in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner — to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women. But an Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, “You’re gay.” They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist. Now, are we saying Diana has been in love and had relationships with other

women? As Nicola and I approach it, the answer is obviously yes. And it needs to be yes for a number of reasons. But perhaps foremost among them is, if no, then she leaves paradise only because of a potential romantic relationship with Steve [Trevor]. And that diminishes her character. It would hurt the character and take away her heroism.” While writers confirm that same-sex relationships must be part of Diana’s history, future romantic relationships with men, such as Steve Trevor, remain a possibility.

LGBTQIA bites

continued

Transgender

Voter ID Laws may Block 34,000 Trans People from Voting (SFGN) More than 34,000 transgender people may not be able to vote in the upcoming elections due to restrictive voter ID laws, Metro Weekly reports (http://bit.ly/2d6p5Vb). A new study “The Potential Impact of Voter Identification Laws on Transgender Voters in the 2016 General Election,” examined voter ID laws in eight states: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin using data from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality. The study found that in those eight states, “around 112,000 transgender are estimated to have transitioned and be eligible to vote, but about 30% may be prevented from doing so,” because they lack identification that reflects their gender identity. The number of people who could be affected nationwide jumps to 261,000. Thirty-four states require voters to produce

“acceptable” ID to poll workers in order to vote, in the strictest cases, requiring government issued ID. Those most likely to lack proper identification include “transgender people of color, youth, students, people with low income, and people with disabilities,” said Jody Herman, Ph.D. author of the study. The study was conducted by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, a public policy think tank that focuses on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity law.

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ELECTION • first debate

Photo credit:C-Span

Clinton strong, Trump baffles in first debate Chris Johnson

Washington Blade

Hillary confident, while opponent meanders

talking about racial healing in this segment.” f presidential debates serve to enhance On cybersecurity, Clinton said Russia and the distinction between candidates, the first such forum of the 2016 election independent groups are problems, but Trump offered a bizarre response, saying a 400-pound accomplished that task as Hillary Clinton person could have hacked the Democratic delivered cogent responses and Donald Trump National Committee and his 10-year-old degenerated into meandering responses of son whom he said is “good with computers” word salad. Throughout the 90-minute debate at demonstrates the dangers of cyberwarfare. Even though Trump many times fell apart on Hofstra University in Hempstead N.Y., Clinton his own accord, Clinton landed a few jabs with articulated plans to boost prosperity by barbed comments throughout the night. increasing the minimum wage and ensure the One of Clinton’s strongest wealthy pay their fair share of criticisms of Trump concerned taxes, but Trump was critical his promoting “birtherism,” or of current policies while "I was against the the idea that President Obama failing to offer solutions and war. He said, you wasn’t born in the United States delivered responses that used to have fights and therefore wasn’t legitimate. often made no sense. Trump has recently conceded In response to a question with me, because Obama was born in the United about tax plans, Clinton said Sean was in favor States, but has never explained her plan would enhance the of the war. And I why he shifted his view or economy without adding understand that apologized for promoting the a “penny to the debt,” but idea that is widely viewed as Trump bizarrely responded side, also, not very racist. with a line criticizing her for much, because we “He has really started his being public about her plan should have never political activity based on this to defeat ISIS on her website, racist lie that our first black which he said Gen. Douglas been there. But president was not an American MacArthur wouldn’t do nobody called Sean citizen,” Clinton said. “There because it tips off the enemy. Hannity." was absolutely no evidence for Asked when he came to Donald Trump it, but he persisted, he persisted accept that President Obama year after year, because some was born in the United States after promoting the idea of birtherism of his supporters, people that he was trying to bring into his fold, apparently believed it or for years, Trump meandered with remarks wanted to believe it.” about Clinton’s adviser Sidney Blumenthal. Clinton criticized Trump for not making his Moderator and NBC News anchor Lester Holt sought to redirect Trump by saying, “We’re tax returns public as she has, speculating that

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may be because he’s not as rich or charitable as he says he is, he owes money to Wall Street and foreign banks, or because he’s paid no federal taxes. In response, Trump says he’ll release his tax returns when Clinton makes public the 33,000 personal emails she deleted, even though releasing tax returns has been customary for presidents for decades. Trump sought to attack Clinton, but with quips that only undermined himself. When Clinton chided Trump for saying the 2008 Wall Street collapse and the job losses that followed would be good for his investments, Trump replied, “That’s called business by the way.” When Clinton said Trump is dangerous for saying he’d blow Iranians out of the water for taunting U.S. sailors, Trump replied, “That would not start a war.” Concluding an exchange about nuclear policy, Clinton remarked a man who can be baited with a tweet should not be in charge of the U.S. arsenal. Trump replied, “That line is getting a little old,” but Clinton got the better of him and said, “It’s a good one, though. Well describes the problem.” The two found agreement on one issue, the passage of “no fly, no buy” legislation to ensure individuals on the terror watch list are unable to purchase a firearm. Clinton identified that as a proposal to address gun violence and Trump, who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, said he agrees. Under pressure about whether to serve as a fact-checker during the debate, Holt pointed out the record shows otherwise when Trump maintained he opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Trump never made a public statement

in opposition to the war before the invasion, and, as Buzzfeed reported in a now widely circulated report, affirmed to Howard Stern in 2002 he backed the effort. In response, Trump concocted new evidence that he says demonstrates he opposed the war: conversations he had at the time with conservative commentator Sean Hannity, who now serves as an adviser for the Trump campaign. “Sean Hannity said very strongly to me and other people — he’s willing to say it, but nobody wants to call him,” Trump said. “I was against the war. He said, you used to have fights with me, because Sean was in favor of the war. And I understand that side, also, not very much, because we should have never been there. But nobody called Sean Hannity.” Aside from Trump’s reliance on Hannity to provide evidence for his Iraq war views, neither of the candidates articulated any new position they haven’t previously stated over the course of the campaign. No question on LGBT rights emerged during the debate, although Clinton has made them a priority — including articulating support for the Equality Act as well as promoting LGBT human rights overseas — while Trump supports the anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act and has pledged to appoint conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. The next debate will take place on Oct. 4 at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., between Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.

ELECTION • hillary clinton x

Photo:Keith Allison

Collins Hits Campaign Trail For Clinton John McDonald

ason Collins, the first openly gay athlete to play in one of North America’s major four professional sports leagues, is urging people to register to vote. And when they do, Collins said, they need to cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. The basketball star was in Miami Wednesday kicking off a tour of Florida in his role as surrogate for the Clinton campaign. Collins, 37, attended Stanford University with Chelsea Clinton and said his close relationship with the Clinton family aided in his coming out process. “Their words of advice and providing support really helped,” Collins said in a telephone conversation with SFGN. “I’ve known the Clinton family for twenty years. I’ve seen them as parents and now grandparents. They have always been great at empowering people to be the best they can be.” For Collins, there is no choice this election cycle. “Donald (Trump) really doesn’t support us,” Collins said. “He uses verbs that separate us and divide us as a nation and he has surrounded himself with people who have a horrible track record on civil rights and LGBT rights.” Collins said he intends to travel to Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee

encouraging people to vote. At a speaking engagement Wednesday at Miami-Dade College North Campus, Collins promoted the website iwillvote.com. Collins was a journeyman in the National Basketball Association, playing for seven different teams during his career. The 7-footer came out after the 2013 season, graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine and played his final season as a member of the Brooklyn Nets. Hillary Clinton, Collins said, is the obvious choice for LGBT Americans. “She is the candidate for equality,” Collins said. “She cares about us. She’s a big tent politician who cares about everyone regardless of their background.” Collins recently traveled overseas with the U.S. State Department as a sports envoy to Angola. In the southeastern African nation he taught children basketball basics. In addition to his efforts to register new voters, Collins works with the NBA on diversity projects. He told SFGN he will be returning to South Florida to assist with a LGBT outreach effort on behalf of the league and the hometown Miami Heat. Presently there is no openly gay athlete in men’s professional basketball. “I definitely feel it is possible for the player to come out,” Collins said. “It’s just a matter of making that person feel comfortable enough to do so.” 10.5.2016 •

ELECTION • donald trump Donald Trump, here holding a Bible, fortified his anti-LGBT positions with the creation of a Catholic advisory group. Photo: Michael Key.

Trump fortifies anti-LGBT positions, taps Santorum as adviser Chris Johnson

Washington Blade

2016 hopeful reiterates support for the First Amendment Defense Act

onald Trump has fortified the anti- Congress passes the First Amendment Defense Act, I will sign it to protect the deeply held LGBT positions he’s expressed over the religious beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of course of his campaign by tapping as an adviser former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a two- Americans of all faiths.” Trump doesn’t identify which executive time presidential candidate with a notoriously orders he thinks are “issued by presidents anti-LGBT record. The actions are the result of Trump’s creation who have no regard for the Constitution,” but of a 35-member Catholic Advisory Council, from the context of the paragraph, he implies which includes, in addition to Santorum, other a reference to Obama’s LGBT executive order because the initial version of individuals with anti-LGBT the First Amendment Defense records. Accompanying the "Religious liberty Act would have undermined directive. (The most creation of the council is enshrined in the that recent version of the bill has is a new statement from Trump outlining “Issues of First Amendment to language that wouldn’t affect for-profit contracting.) Importance to Catholics” the Constitution." federal Trump has said he would and reiterating his support repeal executive orders he for the First Amendment Donald Trump deems unconstitutional, which Defense Act, a federal could include Obama’s LGBT “religious freedom” bill directive. seen to enable anti-LGBT In addition to expressing opposition to discrimination. Emphasizing his commitment to “religious abortion rights and Common Core, the liberty,” Trump hints at opposition to the U.S. statement reiterates Trump’s pledge to appoint justices to the Supreme Court in the mold of Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage and President Obama’s executive the late U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, order barring anti-LGBT discrimination among who dissented in rulings against DOMA, state bans on same-sex marriage and state laws federal contractors. criminalizing same-sex relations. “Religious liberty is enshrined in the First “Judicial nominations, particularly Amendment to the Constitution,” Trump said. appointments to the United States Supreme “It is our first liberty and provides the most important protection in that it protects our right Court, are one of the most critical issues of of conscience. Activist judges and executive this election,” Trump said. “I will appoint orders issued by presidents who have no regard Justices to the Supreme Court like the late and beloved great Catholic thinker and jurist, Justice for the Constitution have put these protections in jeopardy. If I am elected president and Antonin Scalia, who will strictly interpret the

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Constitution and not legislate from the bench.” Meanwhile, the top name in the list of members of the new Catholic advisory group is Santorum, whose long anti-LGBT record can be traced to a 2003 interview in which he infamously compared homosexuality in 2003 to “man on child, man on dog” behavior. In his most recent bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Santorum said he’d ignore the U.S. Supreme Court decision against the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act and compared the ruling in favor of marriage equality nationwide to the 1857 Dred Scott decision determining slaves are property. Santorum was among the candidates in the 2016 election who signed a pledge with the anti-LGBT National Organization for Marriage to oppose same-sex marriage and back a U.S. constitutional amendment against it. The candidate also pledged to push during his first 100 days in the White House for passage of the First Amendment Defense Act. Trump, perhaps wrongly, gained a reputation for being a relatively pro-LGBT Republican presidential candidate in part for refusing to sign these pledges, but now has brought inside his campaign a rival who did sign them. Another member of Trump’s advisory group is Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who fought the ruling in favor of same-sex marriage in his state, rescinded an executive order prohibiting antiLGBT discrimination against state employees and signed into law a “religious freedom” bill against LGBT students. Other members are four sitting members of Congress: Reps. Andrew Harris (R-Md.), Steve

Chabot (R-Ohio), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Sean Duffy (R-Wis.). Harris, Chabot and Kelly are cosponsors of the First Amendment Defense Act, but Duffy is not. Trump’s Catholic Advisory Group is similar to the evangelical advisory group he created in June that gave top billing to former presidential candidate and Rep. Michele Bachmann, who also has an anti-LGBT reputation. Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of the pro-LGBT Catholic group DignityUSA, said she doesn’t recognize all 35 names on the council, but “many whose presence among Trump’s chosen advisors on Catholicism raise grave concern.” “It seems to be a group hand-picked by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — antiLGBTQ, anti-women’s rights, for the expansion of religious exemptions,” Duddy-Burke said. “Among them are people well known for antiLGBTQ statements and actions, including Rick Santorum, Marjorie Dannensfelser, and Austin Ruse. Overall, this seems to be a blatant attempt to court conservative Catholics, to shore up Trump’s anti-choice credentials, and to show himself as aligned with Catholic doctrine.” Pointing to polls demonstrating a majority of Catholics support LGBT rights, DuddyBurke said the advisory board shows Trump is misinformed about Catholics in the United States. “I guess he has never seen the myriad polls that show that solid majorities of Catholic voters do not agree with official teachings, and certainly don’t believe they should be public policy in the U.S.,” Duddy-Burke said.

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10.5.2016 •

ELECTION • hillary clinton

SFGN Endorses Hillary Clinton In 2011 then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made this historic

In 2011 thenof Secretary State Hillary Clinton speech in front the Unitedof Nations. This speech, as wellmade as forthis other

historic speech in front of the United Nations. This speech, to endorse her in Tuesday's primary. After asreasons, well asprompted for otherusreasons, prompted us to endorse her for president week. reading the about speechcommitment there should be reading thelast speech thereAfter should be no doubt to the no doubt about her commitment to the LGBT community. LGBT community.

Palais des Nations Geneva, Switzerland • December 6, 2011 This weekend, we will celebrate Human Rights Day, the anniversary of one of the great accomplishments of the last century. Beginning in 1947, delegates from six continents devoted themselves to drafting a declaration that would enshrine the fundamental rights and freedoms of people everywhere. In the aftermath of World War II, many nations pressed for a statement of this kind to help ensure that we would prevent future atrocities and protect the inherent humanity and dignity of all people. And so the delegates went to work. They discussed, they wrote, they revisited, revised, rewrote, for thousands of hours. And they incorporated suggestions and revisions from governments, organizations, and individuals around the world. At three o’clock in the morning on December 10th, 1948, after nearly two years of drafting and one last long night of debate, the president of the UN General Assembly called for a vote on the final text. Forty-eight nations voted in favor; eight abstained; none dissented. And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. It proclaims a simple, powerful idea: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. And with the declaration, it was made clear that rights are not conferred by government; they are the birthright of all people.

Presidential Hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton

Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights 24

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ELECTION • hillary clinton It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments are bound to protect them. In the 63 years since the declaration was adopted, many nations have made great progress in making human rights a human reality. Step by step, barriers that once prevented people from enjoying the full measure of liberty, the full experience of dignity, and the full benefits of humanity have fallen away. In many places, racist laws have been repealed, legal and social practices that relegated women to secondclass status have been abolished, the ability of religious minorities to practice their faith freely has been secured. In most cases, this progress was not easily won. People fought and organized and campaigned in public squares and private spaces to change not only laws, but hearts and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, human minds. And thanks to that work of generations, for millions beings born free and given bestowed equality and dignity, of individuals whose lives were once narrowed by injustice, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the they are now able to live more freely and to participate more remaining human rights challenges of our time. I speak fully in the political, economic, and social lives of their about this subject knowing that my own country’s record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect. communities. Until 2003, it was still a crime in parts of our country. Now, there is still, as you all know, much more to be Many LGBT Americans have done to secure that commitment, endured violence and harassment that reality, and progress for all Like being a woman, in their own lives, and for some, people. Today, I want to talk about including many young people, the work we have left to do to like being a racial, bullying and exclusion are daily protect one group of people whose experiences. So we, like all nations, human rights are still denied in religious, tribal, have more work to do to protect too many parts of the world today. human rights at home. In many ways, they are an invisible or ethnic minority, Now, raising this issue, I know, is minority. They are arrested, beaten, sensitive for many people and that terrorized, even executed. Many are being LGBT does not the obstacles standing in the way treated with contempt and violence of protecting the human rights of by their fellow citizens while make you less human. LGBT people rest on deeply held authorities empowered to protect personal, political, cultural, and them look the other way or, too religious beliefs. So I come here often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from before you with respect, understanding, and humility. their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny Even though progress on this front is not easy, we cannot delay acting. So in that spirit, I want to talk about the who they are to protect themselves from harm. difficult and important issues I am talking about we must address together to reach a global consensus that recognizes the human rights of LGBT citizens everywhere. The first issue goes to the heart of the matter. Some have suggested that gay rights and human rights are separate and

distinct; but, in fact, they are one and the same. Now, of course, 60 years ago, the governments that drafted and passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were not thinking about how it applied to the LGBT community. They also weren’t thinking about how it applied to indigenous people or children or people with disabilities or other marginalized groups. Yet in the past 60 years, we have come to recognize that members of these groups are entitled to the full measure of dignity and rights, because, like all people, they share a common humanity. This recognition did not occur all at once. It evolved over time. And as it did, we understood that we were honoring rights that people always had, rather than creating new or special rights for them. Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal, or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. It is violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave. It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished. It is a violation of human rights when lesbian or transgendered women are subjected to so-called corrective rape, or forcibly subjected to hormone treatments, or when people are murdered after public calls for violence toward gays, or when they are forced to flee their nations and seek asylum

continued on next page

10.5.2016 •

ELECTION • hillary clinton in other lands to save their lives. And it is a violation of human rights when life-saving care is withheld from people because they are gay, or equal access to justice is denied to people because they are gay, or public spaces are out of bounds to people because they are gay. No matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we are, we are all equally entitled to our human rights and dignity. The second issue is a question of whether homosexuality arises from a particular part of the world. Some seem to believe it is western phenomenon, and therefore people outside the West have grounds to reject it. Well, in reality, gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths; they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes; and whether we know it, or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a Western invention; it is a human reality. And protecting the human rights of all people, gay or straight, is not something that only Western governments do. South Africa’s constitution, written in the aftermath of Apartheid, protects the equality of all citizens, including gay people. In Colombia and Argentina, the rights of gays are also legally protected. In Nepal, the supreme court has ruled that equal rights apply to LGBT citizens. The Government of Mongolia has committed to pursue new legislation that will tackle antigay discrimination. Now, some worry that protecting the human rights of the LGBT community is a luxury that only wealthy nations can afford. But in fact, in all countries, there are costs to not protecting these rights, in both gay and straight lives lost to disease and violence, and the silencing of voices and views that would strengthen communities, in ideas never pursued by entrepreneurs who happen to be gay. Costs are incurred whenever any group is treated as lesser or the other, whether they are women, racial, or religious minorities, or the LGBT. Former President Mogae of Botswana pointed out recently that for as long as LGBT people are kept in the shadows, there cannot be an effective public health program to tackle HIV and AIDS. Well, that holds true for other challenges as well. The third, and perhaps most challenging, issue arises when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason

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continued

to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT homosexuality is a disease that can be caught or cured, or citizens. This is not unlike the justification offered for that gays recruit others to become gay. Well, these notions violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow are simply not true. They are also unlikely to disappear if burning, or female genital mutilation. Some people still those who promote or accept them are dismissed out of defend those practices as part of a cultural tradition. But hand rather than invited to share their fears and concerns. violence toward women isn’t cultural; it’s criminal. Likewise No one has ever abandoned a belief because he was with slavery, what was once justified as sanctioned by God forced to do so. Universal human rights include freedom is now properly reviled as an of expression and freedom unconscionable violation of of belief, even if our words human rights. or beliefs denigrate the In each of these cases, we humanity of others. Yet, Now, the Marine Corps came to learn that no practice while we are each free to or tradition trumps the human believe whatever we choose, Commandant, who was one rights that belong to all of us. we cannot do whatever we And this holds true for inflicting not in a world where of the strongest voices against the choose, violence on LGBT people, we protect the human rights criminalizing their status or of all. [Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell] repeal, behavior, expelling them from Reaching understanding their families and communities, of these issues takes more says that his concerns were or tacitly or explicitly accepting than speech. It does take their killing. a conversation. In fact, it unfounded and that the Marines takes a constellation of Of course, it bears noting that rarely are cultural and conversations in places religious traditions and big and small. And it have embraced the change. teachings actually in conflict takes a willingness to see with the protection of human stark differences in belief rights. Indeed, our religion as a reason to begin the and our culture are sources conversation, not to avoid it. of compassion and inspiration toward our fellow human But progress comes from changes in laws. In many places, beings. It was not only those who’ve justified slavery who including my own country, legal protections have preceded, leaned on religion, it was also those who sought to abolish not followed, broader recognition of rights. Laws have a it. And let us keep in mind that our commitments to protect teaching effect. Laws that discriminate validate other kinds the freedom of religion and to defend the dignity of LGBT of discrimination. Laws that require equal protections people emanate from a common source. For many of us, reinforce the moral imperative of equality. And practically religious belief and practice is a vital source of meaning speaking, it is often the case that laws must change before and identity, and fundamental to who we are as people. fears about change dissipate. And likewise, for most of us, the bonds of love and family Many in my country thought that President Truman that we forge are also vital sources of meaning and identity. was making a grave error when he ordered the racial And caring for others is an expression of what it means desegregation of our military. They argued that it would to be fully human. It is because the human experience is undermine unit cohesion. And it wasn’t until he went universal that human rights are universal and cut across all ahead and did it that we saw how it strengthened our religions and cultures. social fabric in ways even the supporters of the policy The fourth issue is what history teaches us about how could not foresee. Likewise, some worried in my country we make progress towards rights for all. Progress starts that the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would have with honest discussion. a negative effect on our armed forces. Now, the Marine Now, there are some who Corps Commandant, who was one of the strongest voices say and believe that all gay against the repeal, says that his concerns were unfounded people are pedophiles, that and that the Marines have embraced the change. Finally, progress comes from being willing to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. We need to ask ourselves, “How would it feel if it were a crime to love the person I love? How

ELECTION • hillary clinton

would it feel to be discriminated against for something about myself that I cannot change?” This challenge applies to all of us as we reflect upon deeply held beliefs, as we work to embrace tolerance and respect for the dignity of all persons, and as we engage humbly with those with whom we disagree in the hope of creating greater understanding. A fifth and final question is how we do our part to bring the world to embrace human rights for all people including LGBT people. Yes, LGBT people must help lead this effort, as so many of you are. Their knowledge and experiences are invaluable and their courage inspirational. We know the names of brave LGBT activists who have literally given their lives for this cause, and there are many more whose names we will never know. But often those who are denied rights are least empowered to bring about the changes they seek. Acting alone, minorities can never achieve the majorities necessary for political change. So when any part of humanity is sidelined, the rest of us cannot sit on the sidelines. Every time a barrier to progress has fallen, it has taken a cooperative effort from those on both sides of the barrier. In the fight for women’s rights, the support of men remains crucial. The fight for racial equality has relied on contributions from people of all races. Combating Islamaphobia or anti-Semitismis a task for people of all

faiths. And the same is true with this struggle for equality. Conversely, when we see denials and abuses of human rights and fail to act, that sends the message to those deniers and abusers that they won’t suffer any consequences for their actions, and so they carry on. But when we do act, we send a powerful moral message. Right here in Geneva, the international community acted this year to strengthen a global consensus around the human rights of LGBT people. At the Human Rights Council in March, 85 countries from all regions supported a statement calling for an end to criminalization and violence against people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. At the following session of the Council in June, South Africa took the lead on a resolution about violence against LGBT people. The delegation from South Africa spoke eloquently about their own experience and struggle for human equality and its indivisibility. When the measure passed, it became the first-ever UN resolution recognizing the human rights of gay people worldwide. In the Organization of American States this year, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights created a unit on the rights of LGBT people, a step toward what we hope will be the creation of a special rapporteur. Now, we must go further and work here and in every region of the world to

Photo: Adam Rose/ CNN.

galvanize more support for the human rights of the LGBT community. To the leaders of those countries where people are jailed, beaten, or executed for being gay, I ask you to consider this: Leadership, by definition, means being out in front of your people when it is called for. It means standing up for the dignity of all your citizens and persuading your people to do the same. It also means ensuring that all citizens are treated as equals under your laws, because let me be clear — I am not saying that gay people can’t or don’t commit crimes. They can and they do, just like straight people. And when they do, they should be held accountable, but it should never be a crime to be gay. And to people of all nations, I say supporting human rights is your responsibility too. The lives of gay people are shaped not only bylaws, but by the treatment they receive every day from their families, from their neighbors. Eleanor Roosevelt, who did so much to advance human rights worldwide, said that these rights begin in the small places close to home — the streets where people live, the schools they attend, the factories, farms, and offices where they work. These places are your domain. The actions you take, the ideals that you advocate, can determine whether human rights flourish where you are.

10.5.2016 •

Publisher's Editorial

Convictions

Donald Trump. Photo: POOL, CNN.

The Continuing Disgrace of Donald Trump and his Surrogate Army Norm Kent

norm.kent@sfgn.com

ince the outset of his campaign, our newspaper has called upon Americans to ‘dump Trump.’ We even made an unprecedented endorsement of an LGBT-offensive candidate in the primaries, Marco Rubio, just to reaffirm our position that this country could not abide a Donald Trump candidacy. Everything we feared has come to pass. The Republican Party has revealed its true soul, and a disgraceful and disgusting person has become their nominee. Donald J. Trump is not just a mean and mendacious mysogynist, he is a threat to the safety and security of the United States of America. Worse than everything he says and does daily, so repetitively despicable, he has proven himself to be a fundamentally indecent person, eminently unfit to hold the office of the presidency of the United States. Yes, I know. We have said it before. But we must say it again, day in and day out, right up to Election Day. I cast my first vote ever in 1968, as an 18 year old at Hofstra University. It was for the Republican anti-war candidate, Charles Goodell. Our nation was engaged in

a conflict overseas, torn apart by Vietnam and the draft, political assassinations and racial turmoil. We were radically divided, but we debated war and peace, issues and ideas. President Richard Nixon demonized students, pot smokers and protestors, but we challenged his war machine, chemical polluters and institutional racism. The battle was fought based on causes and conscience. I feel like apologizing to the world today. The false innuendos, nasty nuances, and evil conspiracy theories generated by Donald Trump have forever stained and tainted this election cycle. Raising up for discussion the sexual dalliances of former presidents, questioning without cause the integrity of voting processes, viciously libeling the media, purposely maligning women, the disabled, federal judges, and virtually anyone who takes him to task, Trump has revealed himself to be a sick, obsessed, unstable human being. Trump, on a daily basis, has been slighting ethnicities, mocking obesity, demeaning women, and childishly name-

Truly, beyond question, he is the worst nominee in modern history to be a finalist for the White House.

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calling his adversaries. He has reduced the campaign for the Oval Office to the lowest of the low, to the gutter. His foundation is a fraud, and yes, that’s a double-entendre! Truly, beyond question, he is the worst nominee in modern history to be a finalist for the White House. We must all vote against him. The LGBT perspective has to jump out at you. Between Trump, Rudy Giuliani, who has become a rabid dog, and Newt Gingrich, they have nine wives. But they want to preach morality and family? Starting with the gay community’s own Log Cabin Republican club, the sad parade of Republican surrogates trying to defend this man are unconscionable. Too often running roughshod over the media, wrongly calling out the press for just simply doing its job, these apologists are shills for delusion. Trump is not smart, not a genius, and by far, not the only one in the world who can fix our system or inspire our country. In fact, he is an anathema to everything this country is supposed to stand for. In the face of this evil, remember always that our society is a melting pot of many nationalities; that we come together as a society not to restrict the rights of any, but to secure the rights of all. For a man who supposedly graduated a respected business school in Pennsylvania, it’s clear Donald Trump does not understand that and never has.

Column letter from the editor

Photo: Adam Rose, CNN.

Convictions

Editorial Cartoon

By Andy Marlette

Trump Is a Cancer in Our Democracy Jason Parsley

Editor’s note: Reprinted from December 2015.

ike many progressives, liberals and Democrats I was giddy when billionaire Donald Trump entered the presidential race. He was sure to shake things up on the Republican side and thoroughly amuse us all in the process. Well six months later he has now delivered on his promise to shake things up but monthby-month he’s become less amusing. His angry rhetoric has veered from merely divisive to dangerous. And he’s become a cancer, not just in the Republican race, but throughout our democracy. Some of his outrageous and dangerous statements have been to refer to Mexicans as rapists; call for a ban on all Muslims entering the country; creating a database for Muslim Americans; comparing Syrian refugees to a Trojan horse; applauding the folks who beat up a black protestor at his rally; and even going so far to hint that President Obama is in bed with the terrorists saying “there is something going on with him that we don’t know about.” Trump’s fear mongering reminds me of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous poem about the rise of the Nazis. Here’s my slightly revised version. First Trump came for the Mexicans, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Mexican. Then Trump came for the Syrian refugees, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Syrian refugee. Then Trump came for the immigrants, and I did not speak out— Because I was not an immigrant. Then Trump came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Muslim. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. Do we really think that Trump will stop at Muslims? What group will he use to scare people with next? The transgender community comes

to mind. Right wing fanatics did it recently in Houston with ads featuring predators dressing up as women in order to come after little girls. Will Trump use a similar attack? Why not? He has nothing to lose. If he doesn’t win the presidency he goes back to be being a bombastic billionaire reality star. But each time he comes after another group we lose — we all lose. And unlike Trump, who can simply go back to life as normal, we will have to live in the new normal he’s created for us. It’s easy to dismiss Trump as (insert adjective), or his policies as not being “serious,” as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said. And while that may be true, his rhetoric may very well have serious consequences on the Republican Party and our democracy. Most other presidential candidates have condemned Trump’s latest policy proposal of banning all Muslims from entering the U.S., but not all Republicans have done so. Presidential candidates former Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz both stopped short of condemning Trump. Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, would only criticize Trump’s tone — not his proposal. Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, refused to directly address Trump’s comments. Ann Coulter, a prominent far right pundit and author, showed her excitement for Trump’s latest policy by tweeting out: “Add in every other kind of immigrant and it's perfect!” and “My best birthday gift! Donald Trump Calls For ‘Complete Shutdown’ of Muslim Entry to U.S.” That’s why it’s more important than ever for the LGBT community speak out on behalf of our fellow humans whether they are Mexicans, immigrants, Syrian refugees or whomever the next group Trump decides to go after. We know oppression. We’ve been singled out. So while these other groups may differ from us we must stand together in the face of bigotry and hatred. I am no longer giddy with Trump in the race. I am scared — not of Muslims and immigrants, but of what he is doing to our democracy. 10.5.2016 •

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WMG

Community

Volume 3 • Issue 19 October 5, 2016

Wilton Manors Gazette

Purrfect Friends with Benefits The little cat cafe hidden away in Wilton Manors At first glance, Boomerangs Thrift Store may seem like any other second-hand shop. But tucked away in the back corner is a special room filled with furry companions. It’s the Good Luck Cat Cafe, a 100 percent volunteer-run room where cats run free in hopes of getting adopted. “We don’t believe in dogs in pens and cats in cages,” said Matt LaMariana, manager at Boomerang Thrift Shop and president of the Animal Rescue Fund, sitting in the cat cafe. Around him are the six cats currently residing there — mischievous Adonis, lively Diego and his curious sister Frida to name a few — playing with their toys, relaxing on the cat bungalow and spending time with customers wandering in from the thrift shop. Instead of cages, the room has enclosures for up to ten cats. Throughout their normal hours, the enclosures are usually left open so the cats can explore the room and interact with Boomerangs customers while they sip a cup of coffee from the Keurig or snag a bag of chips. “You can see (the cats) in a home environment, you can see how they interact,” said Mark Schreck, co-manager and volunteer at the Good Luck Cat Café. “So it’s a little bit different than a cat that nobody knows anything about coming from animal care control.” The Cat Café’s interior, which is filled with cat toys, bungalows, seating and more.

The Cats All of the cats at the Good Luck Cat Café come from the rescue organizations behind them — Good Karma Pet Rescue and Lady Luck Animal Rescue, both not-for-profit 501(c)3 rescue organizations. From their foster homes, the rescues and volunteers take a few precautionary measures before assimilating them into the cafe. “We want them to be quarantined a bit before coming in to make sure they aren’t going to bring in any illnesses that will make the other cats sick before they even come into the room,” LaMariana said. “It’s kind of like air traffic control. You make sure that they’re ready to come in here.” Once they are cleared from quarantine and have all of their Jim Souther, one shots up to date, the cats are of the volunteers brought into the cafe, where they learn to assimilate to the who comes in a active environment. few hours a week “People coming in and out, to spend time with florescent lights, you’ve got the cats, enjoys different music playing and the environment different scents. Some cats he works in. “We thrive on it, and others get have a lot of scared.” nice volunteers, Any cats that can’t thrive in their new environment have they’re all nothing to fear — they return sweethearts,” he safely to their foster parents. told WMG. However, any cat that can adapt gets to stay with their play friends within the cafe until someone walks in and adopts them into their forever home. “The thing that I would love people to do is the next time they know a person looking to add a pet to their family, come and check out the café cats because these kitties all deserve a home,” said Schreck. “This is bold of me to say, but that’s much much more important to me than the money. It’s the reason why we’re doing any of it.” To adopt a cat, prospective owners must fill out an adoption form, pay a $75 adoption fee and agree to a required home visit before the adoption process is completed.

By Brittany Ferrendi Donations

The Good Luck Cat Café is a room completely donated by Boomerangs Thrift Store. The rescue organizations behind it, Good Karma Pet Rescue and Lady Luck Animal Rescue, decided to combine their effort towards the cafe. “They cooperate together really well so when I offered them the room, they decided to (share it),” LaMariana told WMG. “It’s a joint effort between the two, and it gets the cats good exposure.” The cafe relies on efforts from their nearly 25 volunteers, as well as through donations. According to Schreck, donations can be made to the cafe directly, sent to the two rescue organizations that run it or in the form of money or goods to Boomerangs. “Every donation you make to Boomerangs — whether it be money or a bed or clothing — the proceeds from that funnel back into animal rescues throughout South Florida.” But LaMariana really encourages you to come to the shop and “be thanked by the cats in person.” Volunteering Other than donating, patrons can make a difference through volunteering. “It takes somebody with a little bit of time and a big heart,” LaMariana said. “Most of us have had or have cats and maybe other pets. We have people who volunteer here who are actually allergic to cats.” To volunteer, come into the cat café and grab an application right by the front door. From there, co-manager and volunteer Laura Summers will schedule a meeting with you and begin training. “Everybody that comes through here gets a little bit of a training program,” Schreck added. “It’s really easy. You learn how to turn on the music, you learn how to open up the cat doors, and basic feeding instructions.” Jim Souther, one of the volunteers who comes in a few hours a week to spend time with the cats, enjoys the environment he works in. “We have a lot of nice volunteers, they’re all sweethearts,” he told WMG. There is no cash in exchange for volunteering, but Schreck claims there’s an even better payoff. “We get paid in cat kisses.” WMG For more information such as cafe hours, visit GoodLuckCatCafe.com. Check out the pet rescues behind the cafe at LadyLuckAnimalRescue.com and GoodKarmaPetRescue.org.

If you go: Boomerangs Thrift Store • 2365 Wilton Dr, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 • 954-635-2725

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10.5.2016 •

Opinion

WMG Election Overload

October 5, 2016 • Volume 3 • Issue 19 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305

By Sal Torre I sit here a bit numb now that October has already arrived, and 2016 is roaring to the finish line as one of the fastest years ever. One bright spot is that Election Day will soon be over, and we can finally be finished with all the insanity we’ve had to endure over the past year. I have reached election overload, and I am sure that I am not alone. Unless you enjoy watching reality TV shows that now make up a large portion of TV viewing, you must be tired of the Donald Trump Show being broadcasted on all channels from morning until the latenight hours. As with most reality shows, the more bizarre and rude the behavior, the more people talk about it, and the more the ratings go up. We are not watching a campaign for President of the United States of America. We are watching a horrible reality TV show where the main character, Donald Trump, reacts with greater and greater vulgarities, insults, and ridiculous behavior keeping ratings high and the show continuing on. Unfortunately, we have allowed our democracy to be hijacked by a very clever demagogue. Instead of a debate about ideas and vision for the future of our great nation, we watch the latest episode of The Trump Show having to do with the body weight of a beauty pageant contestant. Episode after episode, we watch the behavior and the insanity grow more extreme and more insane. I just want it to end. I have reached the breaking point. Forget the rest of October, cancel Spooktacular, cancel Halloween. Just get us to November already, the day after Election Day 2016. Please, enough already. However, we must be careful what we wish for. The day after Election Day could be the beginning of a four-year run of the Trump Show. I remain optimistic that America will elect the one sane and qualified candidate, making the day after Election Day the final episode of a truly horrible reality TV show. The same hopefully will be the case here in Wilton Manors, where residents have a clear choice for Mayor of our great city. Over the past year, Boyd Corbin has been paying attention to the Trump Show. He learned that if you say something aggressively, loudly, and often enough, people will start believing what you say to be the truth. Corbin has been making exaggerated claims about how the city handles water and sewage bills, about narrowing Wilton Drive, and about how the city mishandles the parking program. Mayor Resnick

Community

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

Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com

Editorial

Photo: Facebook.

might not be the most well-liked person here in Wilton Manors, but he has served our city extraordinarily well and will continue to do so for the next two years. The choice of the better candidate is clear, as clear as our choice in the Presidential race. The race for two City Commission seats might not be such a clear choice for many residents. Tom Green, Paul Rolli and Julie Carson have definitely been active and dedicated individuals, committed in their vision to make Wilton Manors a wonderful city. However, I am slightly baffled by the candidacy of Celeste Ellich. Celeste has been absent from city politics for at least the last five years. She reminds me a bit of Rip Van Winkle, when, after the whole messy Alan West affair, she found a hollow on the Eastside and fell asleep for a few years. Having awakened thinking that she is still the active community leader she once was, Celeste decided it was a good idea to run for City Commissioner once again. Unfortunately, too much time has gone by, and Wilton Manors is a much better place than in days gone by. My choice for our city leaders are those who answered the vision question at the Candidates Forum with actual reality of what the future can hold for our great city, not a longing for memories of the past which will never come again. Similar to Donald Trump, Celeste wants to play on our memories, when America was great and all was right with the world. Unfortunately, memories usually leave out the bad parts we try to forget. So in just a few weeks, we will be waking up on the morning after Election Day, putting behind us the bad reality TV program we called an election. Hopefully, we will have elected those candidates who truly have the abilities to lead us forward, both nationally and locally here in Wilton Manors. Making that choice makes life just better here… WMG

Commissioner Green Wants To Enact Commercial Recycling Program

Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com Designer • Charles Pratt Webmaster • Brittany Ferrendi Webmaster@sfgn.com Editorial Assistant • Jillian Melero JillianMelero@gmail.com News Editor • Michael d’Oliveira

Correspondents

Natalya Jones • John McDonald • James Oaksun

Staff Photographers

J.R. Davis • Pompano Bill • Steven Shires

Sales & Marketing

Director of Sales & Marketing • Mike Trottier mike.trottier@sfgn.com Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Sales Assistant • Tim Higgins Tim.Higgins@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 sales@rivendellmedia.com South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER

MEMBER

Associated Press MEMBER

By Michael d’Oliveira For years, Commissioner Tom Green has occasionally talked about commercial recycling. Green, who touts himself as the “Green” commissioner in name and action, has wanted to create a commercial recycling program since he was first elected to the commission in 2008. But never moved the issue past discussion at commission meetings. Now, after finding out the city of Parkland has a mandatory commercial recycling program, Green may go further and bring the idea up for a vote in the near future.

“If there’s some legal way to force them, I’d like to do that,” said Green at a recent commission meeting. The state allows municipalities to enact mandatory recycling programs for businesses but each business must be allowed to choose its own waste carrier. City officials can’t force businesses to hire a certain waste removal company. According to a report by Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Sarasota County led the state in recycling in 2010 because of its commercial recycling program. WMG

MEMBER

Carla, an 11 yearold cat rescued after her owner went into hospice care. She can be adopted at Boomerang's Cat Café.

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October 5, 2016

Broward’s Real Estate Yearbook: WilMa Inventory

Real Estate Geek

By James Oaksun As promised, in this column I want to discuss what I have found about single family home inventory trends here in the Island City. All this and more will be in my 2016 Broward’s Real Estate Yearbook, available soon. But as an exclusive to my SFGN and WMG readers, I am sharing the Wilton Manors excerpts with you first. The first thing I have to note is that I use a more expansive and differently calculated number than some (all, probably) of my Realtor brethren. The explanation would require more space than this column. Short version — in considering smaller geographic areas I think a different technique is needed, and there are things I have learned in crawling around in the data and through my own experiences in the market that I believe make my calculation more realistic.

The “rule of thumb” you often hear in real estate is that a “balanced” market has enough inventory for six to 12 months of sales. More than 12 months of inventory is considered a “buyers market,” and less than six months is considered a “sellers market.” Like most rules of thumb, however, I have yet to find any source material or research that analytically proves this statistic. But I digress. Let’s accept the rule of thumb for now, and you can see from the charts that the three WilMa neighborhoods have, generally, been in a balanced inventory situation in recent years, with some notable exceptions. As the market recovered from its trough in mid-2011, inventories generally got stretched thin by the end of the 2012-13 high season. As one would expect with strong price performance, though, properties came onto the market to meet the demand for 2013-14. An expected continuation of strong pricing into the 201415 high season did not materialize. So far this year, inventories have been lowest east of Dixie, not quite to being a sellers market, but close. The notable situation this past high season was in West Wilton, where sales activity fell off the map and inventories were very high — a classic buyers market. WMG James Oaksun, Broward’s Real Estate Geek(SM), is BrokerOwner of New Realty Concepts in Oakland Park. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).

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10.5.2016 •

Politics

Wilton Drive, Redevelopment Dominate Candidates Forum Mayoral candidate complains of too many gays on city boards By Michael d’Oliveira

Photo: Facebook.

based on a new design. Henderson said the At the Sept. 28 Candidates Forum, some of city is looking to add more landscaping and the usual suspects showed up. trees to the project but will pay for those with Questions about Wilton Drive, parking grant money, not tax dollars. and redevelopment dominated much of Resnick also attacked one of Corbin’s oftthe discussion as moderator Naomi Cobb, a repeated lines: that he has knocked on many longtime resident and commission candidate doors and the overwhelming majority of in 2014, asked the candidates to choose a residents he talks to don’t want Wilton Drive position on the issues. altered. This November, voters will be asked to “I think only 10 people opened the door,” choose between four candidates for two said Resnick whose line drew applause and commission seats and two candidates for laughter by some in the audience. “Civility” the mayoral race. Mayor Gary Resnick responded Corbin. is facing a challenge from Boyd Corbin Ellich, who had previously said she was and Commissioner Julie Carson and still studying the issue, came out against Commissioner Tom Green are running the proposal and suggested that the road against challengers Celeste Ellich and Paul be temporarily reduced to study the impact Rolli. Organized by the city’s neighborhood before a permanent change is made. associations, not all candidates were given Carson said some cars would avoid Wilton the same questions. Drive by driving through On Wilton Drive, the neighborhoods, but that’s incumbents, Resnick, The one something that already Carson and Green, kept up occurs on many streets. their support for reducing issue every On the proposed the road from four to two candidate redevelopment of the lanes. Rolli joined with former Center for Spiritual seemed to them in support but he Living site at Northeast 26 expressed some concerns agree on was Street and Northeast 15 over the impact it would that the city Avenue, Cobb asked if the have on traffic. A reduction in accidents and fatalities needs to attract candidates would approve 100-unit residential involving pedestrians has new businesses acomplex. The project has been the main reason given and investors. not yet gone before the for support of the project. commission but will in the Corbin, the project’s most But getting near future. outspoken opponent, kept there is where Everyone except Resnick up his opposition. “We can’t each candidate said they would vote just narrow all lanes and add against the project if it had hundreds of new condos differs. 100 units. Resnick said he and expect everything to needed more information be OK.” He suggested more before committing to a vote. But he did police officers on duty, assisting people, and express support for redeveloping the site. more crosswalks would improve safety. “The [Center for Spiritual Living] needs to be Resnick responded to Corbin, saying his turned around.” opposition to the lane reduction was based On parking, Corbin, Ellich and Rolli said on “incorrect information . . . it’s not costing the city should build a parking garage at city us anything.” hall instead of the multiple lots the city has City and MPO officials say the project purchased and developed over the last few will cost $2.8 million and that none of the years. Rolli said the small lots were disruptive money will come from the city. Corbin said to the neighborhoods and inefficient. He a previous study of narrowing the road added that the city should more closely study estimated the cost at $3.5 million. Asked the parking situation during peak hours about that estimate, City Manager Leigh Ann before it spends more money on the problem. Henderson said the cost is less because it’s

Green, who has voted in favor of the small lots, supports building a mixed-use garage with commercial or residential space. Ellich said a garage is needed to accommodate the surge in parking during festivals, such as Stonewall. She said it would also be easier to get developers to invest in helping the city build a garage. Previously, the city has unsuccessfully tried to get developers to form a public/private partnership with the city. The hope was that the city would provide the land for the garage and the developer would spend the money to build it. Resnick came out against building a garage in favor of encouraging the use of ride-sharing apps, such as Uber and Lyft. Carson also talked about ride-sharing. Asked about diversity and if marketing the city as an LGBT destination was exclusionary, Resnick said reaching out to residents was “constantly a struggle” and that “we can do a better job.” Corbin said the city could do better at reaching out to seniors and other segments

of the city. “The boards are almost exclusively gay,” Corbin said. In an interview with The Gazette, Cobb said she didn’t think either mayoral candidate answered the question. “I think the answers were an avoidance,” she said. The one issue every candidate seemed to agree on was that the city needs to attract new businesses and investors. But getting there is where each candidate differs. Carson said she’d like to see a higher diversity of businesses, not just bars and restaurants. She suggested a possible limit on the number of bars and restaurants allowed. Rolli said the city needs to take a look at every major corridor and create a new business model with the help of experts. Ellich said the city should improve communication with business owners and fill its now vacant city planner position so that person can assist with development and business growth. Green said rezoning certain streets, including Andrews Avenue, would set the city up to attract the right kind of new business. WMG

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October 5, 2016

Business

KEEP YOUR EYES ON

Closed For Business

South Florida Gay News

Green Market shuts down due to lack of customers By Michael d’Oliveira Photo: Facebook.

SFGN.com @SoFlaGayNews

SouthFloridaGayNews

Oakland Park, the Whole Foods in Fort Apparently, there isn’t always money in Lauderdale, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, and the banana stand. other nearby green markets popping up, After more than five years of selling she said green markets are now “a dime a produce and organic items next to city dozen” and competition is tough. hall, the Wilton Manors Green Market “Sales kept dropping and dropping. It is no longer in operation. The co-owner, just wasn’t enough.” Naffiza Parbhoo, announced the closure on According to a 2014 SFGN article, the Facebook. Wilton Manors Green Market was founded “I am very sorry to say that Wilton by Franki Altieri and Ron Manors Green Market will Leonard because another be closed permanently green market failed due to ... sorry for the “We have lack of sales. Parbhoo took inconvenience of all our it over from them. “They faithful customers that coined a phrase were two guys who lived have been with us for the ‘Life’s Just in the community and past five and a half years. encouraged people who Thank you all for your Better Here.’ It made stuff themselves,” faithful following and takes a lot more said Parbhoo in 2014. support throughout the “They wanted to support years.” In an interview than a tag line local people.” with The Gazette, she said it takes actions Resident Kimber she will concentrate on White said the loss of the running her green market behind words.” green market is a sign in Tamarac. that the quality of life in In Wilton Manors, she - Kimber White Wilton Manors needs to had switched from two Wilton Manors be improved. “We have days a week to one day Resident coined a phrase ‘Life’s but said that still wasn’t Just Better Here.’ It takes justified by the limited a lot more than a tag line number of customers it takes actions behind who showed up. She cited words. I love our city but we just need to increasing competition as the main reason stop relying on our so-called gay Mecca for shutting down. status.” When she first opened in Wilton Manors, Patrick Caan, Leisure Services she faced very little local competition. A lot Department director, said his office is of her customers were from outside the working on bringing another green market city and had to come here because their into the city. WMG cities did not have green markets. But with

• • • • www.WMGAZETTE.com • • • • 5 •

October 5, 2016

10.5.2016 •

Community

Politics

Lost Your Way?

No problem, city moves forward with wayfinding signs

Then wrongly accuses commission of passing budget in empty room

By Michael d’Oliveira city. The welcome center is partly to get more attention for Art Gallery 21 but both would benefit from a sign. “I think [wayfinding signs are] essential if we’re going to direct people where to go,” she said. Ruppender was in Miami Sunday and said that city has wayfinding signs pointing towards Lincoln Road, the beach, and other destinations there. “It really makes a difference.” The deadline for proposals to be submitted to the city is Oct. 27. City officials could choose a contractor as early as Nov. 15. The Task Force is also working on creating a “photospot” in the city to encourage tourists and visitors to post their trip to Wilton Manors on social media. Jaycee Park, located across from city hall, is the spot chosen by the Task Force. WMG

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By Michael d’Oliveira In a press release, mayoral candidate Boyd Corbin criticized the commission for a lack of transparency, giving “bloated” employee raises and funding those raises with a hidden tax. “Wilton Manors has been issuing raises of 6-7% for the last three years in a row. This hike comes in the form of a standard 3% raise plus another 3%-4% in “merit pay” (nearly all employees get the maximum) as it was outlined in the city’s initial 2017 budget,” he wrote. He also pointed to the 2014-2015 Florida League of City’s State of the Cities report in which 70 percent of Florida cities gave employee raises of three percent or less. The other 30 percent did not give raises in 2014-2015. In 2014-2015, Wilton Manors gave general employees a 3 percent COLA and a 0-3 percent merit increase. While this year’s police raises are a possible 6 to 7 percent, 3 percent COLA and 0 to 4 percent merit per the three-year PBA contract which expires in 2017, the general employees are only eligible for a 1.5 percent COLA and a 0 to 3 percent merit. At the Sept. 12 commission meeting, Commissioner Julie Carson suggested increasing the employee COLA and Commissioner Justin Flippen said he’d like the general employee and police salary increases to be closer together. Both ideas failed for lack of support from the rest of the commission. During the Sept. 29 Candidates Forum at Hagen Park, Mayor Gary Resnick disputed Corbin on employee pay. “We are not giving huge raises to our employees.” This year’s budgeted wages for all employees increased from $7.6 million in 2015-2016 to $7.9 million in 2016-2017, an increase of 3.1 percent. Every city employee received a 1.5 percent COLA [cost of living adjustment] and the possibility of an additional 0 to 3 percent merit pay increase. At their Sept. 12 budget meeting, commissioners discussed an increase to the 1.5 percent COLA for city employees but kept the original number. In his accusations of lack of transparency, Corbin wrote in the headline of his press release that city officials discussed employee raises in an empty room during the commission meeting on Sept. 12. In the body of the press release, he wrote “The video clearly shows virtually nobody in the Commission Chambers.” But the video in question, provided by the city on its website, does show individuals in attendance. One can be seen throughout the video and a second can be seen briefly during the Pledge of Allegiance. Resident Paul Kuta can also be seen speaking during the public comment section of the meeting. There were also several individuals in the audience that can be seen at the very end of the video after the meeting ends. All the individuals seen in the video were in the audience for the entire meeting. Asked about his statements of lack of transparency when the city publishes meeting dates, allows the public to attend meetings, and posts meeting videos of meetings online for anyone to review, Corbin said he considers the number of people in the audience as virtually empty and that the commission tries to discourage public input. “There are more people running the meeting than watching the meeting. The residents are very frustrated and completely ignored. It’s a great way to keep people out of their way.”

Photo: Facebook.

Every visitor or tourist who gets lost in Wilton Manors is a lost chance for the city’s businesses to make money. That’s one of the reasons the city plans to erect wayfinding signs, said Kimber White, member of the city’s Economic Development Task Force. “We want to direct people to the Entertainment District, bars, restaurants, other businesses, parking lots, city hall . . . to drive people into the heart of town. If people don’t know where they’re going you are kind of defeating your purpose.” White said the Task Force wants signs similar to those in nearby Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. “It will help our city grow.” According to the city’s request for proposal, the signs will “increase connectivity of community assets, develop an increased sense of place, increase awareness of commercial areas, allow the identification of unique neighborhoods, and encourage exploration of the city by tourists.” One of the places likely to get a sign is the welcome center that Constance Ruppender plans to incorporate into Art Gallery 21, located in the Woman’s Club of Wilton Manors next to Hagen Park. Ruppender has put a lot of work into Art Gallery 21 and is currently working to turn part of it into a welcome center for the

Mayoral Candidate Questions Budget, Salaries

Carson said that she and other commissioners want the public to attend meetings and speak up if they have something to say. Corbin accused Carson specifically of admitting she wanted less transparency when she said she was “so glad Boyd Corbin is not here” during the meeting. In an interview with The Gazette, Carson said she was glad Corbin was absent because he makes statements that aren’t correct. “Part of the difficulty of when Boyd speaks is he misrepresents or gets many of the facts incorrect. As a result [the commission] has to go back and provide accurate information for the record for people who are there. So when he’s not there, we don’t have to undo some of the misstatements.” Corbin also accused officials of not wanting to release salary information of employees over the last 10 years and requested he pay $20,275 for the information. Corbin said the city provided the information after he talked to the First Amendment Foundation. Dio Sanchez, human resources director, said that the request for payment was dropped when Corbin refined his request. In his original email, Corbin asked for personnel files and salaries. Sanchez said the salary information was easy to procure but getting all of the personal files, some of which are hundreds of pages or more for each employee, would have required extensive staff time and copies. Corbin accused the city of using an increase in water rates to pay for the raises. The city gets its water from Fort Lauderdale and is subject to raises in the water rates set by that city. Because it is geographically surrounded by Fort Lauderdale and Oakland Park, which also gets its water from Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors effectively has no choice but to buy water from Fort Lauderdale. According to Finance Director Bob Mays, the four percent increase in water rates this year will result in additional $320,000 paid by city water customers. Mays said the cost of water is 1/3 of the total cost of what Wilton Manors pays. The other approximate 2/3 is used to fund operating costs and infrastructure costs. Even though the water is provided by Fort Lauderdale, the city still has to fund the improvements and maintenance of its own water and sewer infrastructure. WMG

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October 5, 2016

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Year” in 1999 shortly after he joined Girl ne legendary skateboarder is Skateboards team. breaking the norms of the maleHiding his sexuality from the public took dominated hyper-masculine world a toll on him. of skateboarding by coming out as gay. “I would watch him drown his shame in “My name’s Brian Anderson,” the 40-year-old told Vice Sports in an interview. booze,” Lindsey Brynes, former Marketing “I’m a professional skateboarder, and we are Director of High Speed Productions, said with tears streaming down her face. “I just here to talk about the fact that I’m gay.” wanted him to be happy.” Anderson, who won the His father passed away World Cup of Skateboarding before he could come out. in Germany in 1999, had He told his mother, giving kept his sexuality out of his her time to process the professional career due to information. According to fear of how friends, family Anderson, she ultimately and fans would react. expressed support: “I just “There’s a lot want you to be happy. I’m of homophobia in glad you can tell me that, skateboarding,” said Mike Mike Carroll and you don’t have to suffer Carroll, Co-Founder of and keep that in anymore.” Girl Skateboards. “There’s a lot of homophobia in Anderson never everything. It’s not just skateboarding. It’s anticipated coming out publicly on camera the world.” — he wanted to wait until his professional The retired skateboarder was constantly career was over before even thinking about made aware of homophobia while growing it. However, he wanted to ease the fears of up, causing him to grow more guarded about the younger generation coming out of the his sexuality. closet like him. “Hearing ‘faggot’ all the time made “A lot of these kids don’t have hope, are me think at a young age that it was really really scared to death,” he said. “To hear dangerous to talk about it,” he said. “I what I went through and to know that figured out how to balance it to where everything got better for me and I got a lot nobody questioned it and I was a big tough happier and felt more free and didn’t have skateboarder, of course they’re not going to all this shame buried inside my body. You question that. Nobody thought anything.” become a happier person. So to convey that Fortunately for Anderson, coming out to message was really important for me.” the people around him was not as dangerous Best of all, his friends and family agree on as he anticipated. his importance of coming out. “It’s about skateboarding,” said Jake “What a perfect person to represent the Phelps, Editor-In-Chief of Thrasher homosexual community in skateboarding,” Magazine. “Who gives a fuck if you’re gay.” said Brynes. “What a great role model.” Thrasher named Anderson “Skater of the

There’s a lot of homophobia in everything. It’s not just skateboarding.

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h i story m o nt h

SFGN

presents

History Month

Activists, Athletes and Authors Honored for

LGBT History Month

Activists highlighted this year are: Virginia Apuzzo Chaz Bono Jeanne Cordova Essex Hemphill Frances Kellor

Janet Mock Jean O’Leary Jose Antonio Vargas Bruce Voeller

Denise Royal Several of this year’s honorees made their mark in politics:

Diana Nyad

ctober is LGBT History Month. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that LGBT individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally. National Coming Out Day (October 11), as well as the first “March on Washington” in 1979, are commemorated in the LGBT community during LGBT History Month. For 31 days, 31 outstanding individuals are recognized for the contributions they made to LGBT history. This year that list includes amazing activists, athletes, political leaders, authors, entertainers, entrepreneurs, journalists, scientists and military leaders. “The criteria is LGBT living or deceased, national or international persons who have distinguished

themselves in their field of endeavor, national hero or made a major contribution to LGBT civil rights,” said Malcom Lazin, Executive Director of the Equality Forum. The Equality Forum compiled the list. The organization is a national and international LGBT civil rights organization with an educational focus. “The LGBT community is the only minority worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or religious institutions,” Lazin said. “LGBT icons teach us our history and highlight our important national and international contributions.” The 2016 icons include a former U.S. President, current Luxembourg head of state, Indian and Israeli gay pioneers, and pop stars, among others.

Ellen Page

Xavier Bettel Brian Bond James Buchanan (Yes, the 15th U.S. president) Andrew Tobias A few journalists are also singled out for their contributions:

Charles Blow Ashok Row Kavi Jim Kepner

A couple of this year’s honorees are honored for their athletic achievements. They include:

Sherri Murrell Diana Nyad

Entertainers from different areas of show business will also be featured:

Josephine Baker David Bowie Ellen Page

Artists from different genres include:

Lili Elbe Essex Hemphill Terrence McNally

Scientists featured on this year’s list are:

John Fryer Oliver Sacks Bruce Boeller

Other LGBT pioneers who will be honored are:

Lili Elbe 40

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James Buchanan

Jeanne Cordova

Charles Blow

Malcolm Forbes Kay Lahusen Tammy Smith James Obergefell

h i story mo nt h

SFGN To Participate In MultiNewspaper History Project SFGN Staff

ctober marks LGBT History Month, which started in 1994 by a Missouri high school teacher, Rodney Wilson. Wilson sought out other teachers and community leaders for his effort and they chose October because school was in session and it coincided with National Coming Out Day on October 11. Soon enough LGBT History Month was endorsed by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay ad Lesbian Task Force, and the National Education Association. In 2006 Equality Forum took over the responsibility for providing content, promotion and resources for the month, including the website LGBThistorymonth.com which features a different LGBT icon each day in October (see story on page 40). SFGN will be participating, along with two dozen other LGBT publications around

the country, in a special history project spearheaded by the Philadelphia Gay News throughout October. One of the special features includes an article on the intersection between the Black Panthers and gay rights movement and more. SFGN will contribute two pieces this year to the project – one of the infamous Johns Committee on page 42 and Cooper Donuts. Both were written by SFGN freelancer Christiana Lilly. “For many years the LGBT community didn’t know it’s own history. In many cases historians tried to censor those voices from the past,” said Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News. “We’ve attempted to examine and record our history so we as a people are no longer invisible from current events to history books. All segments of the population have a past, our’s has been invisible for to long.”

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Before Stonewall, There Was Cooper Donuts Christiana Lilly

t was a torrent of doughnuts and coffee that kicked off the LGBTrights movement. Sure, the Stonewall Riots of 1969 in New York City get all the glory, but ten years earlier there was a small, nearly forgotten uprising to which the movement’s roots can also be traced: Cooper Donuts in Los Angeles. Like their New York counterparts, the Los Angeles Police Department often targeted LGBT people through entrapment, intimidation, and violence. Police specifically targeted trans people, arresting those whose perceived gender did not match their driver’s license. Several gay bars, in an attempt to remain inconspicuous and avoid police raids, banned or discouraged transgender people from entering. However, Cooper’s Donuts, which opened in 1959 in the Skid Row neighborhood, was welcoming to the transgender community. The shop served policemen during the day and, as the patrols dwindled in the evening, opened its doors to trans people and those barred from other establishments. One evening, two police officers asked for ID cards from some customers at the shop — a typical way for them to harass LGBT people. Those who were picked out of the crowd, including John Rechy, an accomplished gay author who has written about the uprising, were “two hustlers, two queens and a young man just cruising.” Something snapped in one of them; enough was enough. He objected to the car

being packed with five people and fought back, leading the customers at the donut shop to flood into the streets, throwing coffee cups, trash, spoons, donuts, anything they could get their hands on. “[The officers] fled into their car,” Rechy writes, “called backups and soon the street was bustling with disobedience. Gay people danced about the cars.” The officers returned with reinforcements, Main Street was closed, and history was made. However, the importance of the Cooper’s Donuts uprising was not recognized until much later. Mark Thompson, a social historian who lived in the same neighborhood as Rechy, writes of the event’s importance: “I would not describe it as a riot but more like an isolated patch of local social unrest that had lasting repercussions. I think less in its day, more as a lesson for us today. L.A. is such a huge, sprawling city (even back then) so what happened in one district probably did not register elsewhere — especially when issues of class and race are factored in.” Not too much is known about the uprising at Cooper’s Donuts, and as time passes, fewer of the storytellers of the time are around to share their experiences. But it is important to remember that the fight for LGBT rights was not limited to one city and one event. The Cooper’s Donuts uprising, like the Compton Cafeteria riots, the Dewey’s sit-ins, and the Independence Hall protests, helped pave the way for Stonewall and for all the victories the community has seen since.

10.5.2016 •

h i story m o nt h

The Johns Committee State Sanctioned Homophobia Before Anita there was Johns, an indepth look at Florida’s shameful past Christiana Lilly

“This was allowed to happen. This was a clear representation of mass thinking throughout this society during the ‘50s. Homosexuality in the 50s was really an aberration … We were considered really different and really sick, sick people. People need to know that this went on, that this happened.” 42

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or many people, their memories of their college years are filled with football games, parties, and cramming for exams. For others, it’s horrific flashbacks of being stalked on campus, hours of interrogation, and questioning if everyone they interacted with was an investigator. For students and teachers at some of the top universities in the state, this is a part of their history, the harassment of the Johns Committee. “While generally speaking we live in a society that’s accepting of people and their private lifestyles, the Johns Committee left us a legacy of intolerance,” said Jim Schnur, the special collections librarian at USF St. Petersburg. “It was just how abhorrent they were; how many lives they attempted to destroy.” It was 1956 when the state formed the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, or better known as the Johns Committee, as it was headed by Sen. Charley Johns, a Democrat from Starke, Fla. who had also served as governor for a yearand-a-half. The country was in the midst of the Red Scare, and the committee was out to find civil rights activists and integrationists, namely settings its sights on the NAACP. Soon, however, the committee decided to go after a target that wasn’t so strongly represented: LGBT people. Art Copleston was one of them. Growing up moving from city to city in Florida, he graduated high school in in 1950 and joined the Air Force. After serving nearly four years, he was able to use the GI Bill to attend the University of Florida, his first day of school on his 25th birthday in 1957. He had plans to study industrial management and move ahead in life. However, the Johns Committee would try its best to knock him down. Copleston was “a disastrous closet case” and only told a select few friends at his school that he was gay, knowing they were too. “I had no money and the family had no money and I had to get a source of income and I knew I was gay. I had to hide it because at the time, you didn’t dare mention that to anyone,” he said. During a summer semester, he was hanging out with some gay friends at a bar across the street, The Burger House, when a friend leaned in to whisper in his ear. “One of the gay guys whispered to me that

there was a guy sitting at the bar watching me,” he remembers. “My tipster said, I hear that there is some sort of a gay investigation going on by possibly the state officials and maybe this guy is from that group.” The man was John Tileston, a police officer with the university. The very next day, the same friend told him in the cafeteria that he had been pulled from class and interrogated. Being proudly out, he said he was excited to stand up to them. A few weeks later, when the fall semester started, it was Copleston’s turn. He was pulled out of class and met by officers in standard Johns Committee uniforms — light blue uniforms with a matching hat, a holster with a pistol, and knee-high, shiny black boots. Copleston was thrown in a squad car and taken into an interrogation room in the administration building with covered windows, a table with three wooden chairs, a light bulb dangling from the ceiling, and a tape recorder. This was years before Miranda rights, and he had no legal representation. For hours, Tileston questioned Copleston about his homosexuality and who he knew to be gay. He refused to give them the answers they wanted. After the interrogation, Copleston noticed that his mail was taking longer to get to him and discovered it was being intercepted by the committee. Later, he discovered his roommate was actually an informant planted by the Johns Committee — one night after a party he undressed in their dorm and touched himself, coming onto Copleston and asked if he had ever been with a man before. When asked about it later, he proudly admitted he was getting paid by the committee, which helped him with college tuition. “I never knew where one of the investigators was going to suddenly appear in my daily life. It could be in walking down a sidewalk, in a classroom, outside my dorm door, at any time in the day or night, I never knew when they were going to be there watching me,” he said. “That was, I think, one of the most debilitating things that came out of this whole thing for me. It was exhausting as well as terrifying.” Copleston said his friends didn’t socialize on campus, out of fear of being seen together. To keep any semblance of a social life, they would escape to Daytona Beach or Jacksonville for the

h i story m o nt h weekend. Even so, he was interrogated two or three more times, he said, including being pulled out of class while he was taking his accounting final exam. “It was the same crap every time,” he said. “I want people to know what happened.” Despite the fear and stress, Copleston graduated from the University of Florida with honors and a 3.8 GPA. He immediately left the state. It wasn’t just students who were targeted — it’s believed 15 professors at the university were also targeted, including Professor Sigismond Diettrich, who served as the esteemed chairman of the geography department. He was called to a hotel in Gainesville for an interrogation, where he discovered a colleague told the committee that Diettrich tapped his foot in the bathroom sometimes, and he believed it was to encourage sexual advances from men. After the interrogation, Diettrich was so embarrassed and ashamed that he took 85 aspirin pills and attempted to jump out the window of his office building. He didn’t go through with the suicide attempt, but resigned from the university. “I have lost all I had, all I lived for in my proud vanity,” he said, according to special collections librarian Schnur’s thesis. “If I’ll have to leave my beloved Florida … I shall go forth in humility.” The committee also set its sights beyond Gainesville, interrogating students and professors at Florida State University and University of South Florida. Ironically enough, it was the committee itself that would be its own downfall. In 1964, the committee published “Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida,” nicknamed “the purple pamphlet” for its coloring, with the intention of warning the public about the dangers of gay people. Instead, people were outraged with the content and photos of the pamphlet — photos of a man receiving fellatio in a bathroom stall, a man tied up with rope while wearing a g string, and a glossary of “homosexual terms and deviate acts” such as “fairy,” “butch,” “69,” “71,” and more. In the pamphlet, the committee claimed that 60,000 Floridians were “active homosexuals” with “an insatiable appetite for sexual activities and find special gratification in the recruitment to their ranks of youth.” Finally, the goal was to “keep their hands off our children.” Reacting to the public outcry that taxpayer money was used to create “state-sponsored pornography,” the committee was not given funding to continue its witch-hunt. “[Johns] asked fellow lawmakers to ‘close the office, lock up the records and save the taxpayers of Florida the remainder of the $155,000 appropriation,’” according to John Howard, author of “Carryin’ on in the Lesbian and Gay South. “Claiming that the FLIC operated exclusively under the ‘executive session’ provision of the 1885 constitution, the legislature sealed all public records of this agency from inspection until 31 December 2028.” For nearly three decades, the Johns Committee was buried in history, its reign of terror forgotten by Floridians, committee members’ names still remaining on some school buildings to this day. But in 1991, Schnur, the special collections librarian, would be instrumental in unearthing the truth. A graduate student at the time, he was coming

up with a thesis on Florida history when he came across the Johns Committee. He requested records on the committee, but discovered that the 30,000 pages of records were sealed until 2027 due to an archaic amendment in Florida’s 1885 constitution. “Long story short, after some battles that took place where a lot of us were very involved, the records were finally opened in July of 1993,” Schnur said. “They were heavily redacted and they damaged the original documents, they mutilated the original documents. My thesis came out in 1995 and I wrote basically the first institutional history of the Johns Committee.” “We have a lot of great records about the Sons of the Confederacy, but we don’t have very much on the LGBTQ experience.” Poring over the documents, Schnur read transcripts of interviews, with investigators asking students and teachers “intimate, humiliating questions.” He said the investigators were especially interested when they were interrogating someone about lesbian relationships. However, they didn’t seem concerned when straight men admitted to having thoughts of pedophilia or had touched young children. “Instead of making a copy and making up the copy but preserving the originals, they destroyed them. Why did the state of Florida do that? The state of Florida was put into a tough predicament because they had destroyed people’s lives,” Schnur said. “There were lots of lists of names.” In 1995, Schnur completed his thesis. Four years later, Allyson Beutke DeVito was a student at the University of Florida and was assigned a documentary project. Her professor encouraged her to research Virgil Hawkins, the first African American to be admitted to the university’s law school after a Supreme Court battle; he withdrew his application exchange for a court order to desegregate the university’s colleges. As Beutke DeVito looked into Hawkins’ history, she discovered he was forced to travel to Miami and wait for hours in a hot, humid basement to be questioned by the Johns Committee. One thing led to another, and she discovered Florida’s dirty secret, starting with its hunt for African Americans, and later, LGBT people. While compiling data, she came across Schnur’s Master’s thesis. Over the next year, she produced “Behind Closed Doors.” In her documentary, she interviews those who were terrorized by the committee, and also attempts to reach out to those in the committee itself. Beutke DeVito reached out to Johns’ son, who kept postponing the interview until finally canceling. She also discovered communication between the university’s president J. Wayne Reitz, and Johns during the witch-hunt — Reitz happily allowed Johns on campus. Today, the student union is named after Reitz. “We would eat lunch at the Reitz Union,” she said of her days as a student. “You realize all the things that kind of happened during that time period. It was definitely not something that I had expected to find when I first read about Virgil Hawkins.” In 2011, another documentary was made on the Johns Committee, this time at the University

In the pamphlet, the committee claimed that 60,000 Floridians were “active homosexuals” with “an insatiable appetite for sexual activities and find special gratification in the recruitment to their ranks of youth.” Finally, the goal was to “keep their hands off our children.”

of Central Florida. After the attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people, the film was revived and broadcast on more than 100 PBS stations across the country. Today, Copleston lives in Palm Springs, Calif. and volunteers for the Democratic Party. He has done a few speaking engagements about the Johns Committee, and most of the audience’s reaction is surprise that it happened. “This was allowed to happen. This was a clear representation of mass thinking throughout this society during the ‘50s. Homosexuality in the ‘50s was really an aberration … We were

considered really different and really sick, sick people. People need to know that this went on, that this happened.” It’s been so buried, in fact, that the University of Florida’s alumni magazine named Johns to its list of distinguished alumni in 2005 (he was quickly removed when the Alumni Association was told of his legacy). “It definitely has taught me to know your history, to question the past, to look at things with a critical eye,” said Beutke DeVito, who is now a faculty lecturer at the University of Kentucky.

10.5.2016 •

community announcement

Chamber Chat

Winning Friends & Influencing People Jorge Richa

e are constantly in networking mode, no matter where we are. When we visit our favorite coffee shop and while waiting in line we start a conversation with the person next to us; we are networking. When we blog on a topic of interest and engage in a virtual dialogue with others; we are networking. When we are at a social gathering and everyone is asking each other for their name, where they are from, and what they do for a living; we are networking. No matter where we go, an opportunity to network is always available. While there is no right or wrong way to network, the experts at Dale Carnegie Training, a Corporate Partner of the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC), agree that the key to good networking has a lot to do with winning friends and influencing people. To accomplish this they share the following principles that we should follow in our dialogue with others. 1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain 2. Give honest, sincere appreciation 3. Arouse in the other person an eager want 4. Become genuinely interested in other people 5. Smile 6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language

7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. 8. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest 9. Make the other person feel important — and do it sincerely. Following the above principles will for sure help you become a friendlier person and great at networking. I invite you to put these into practice by attending the upcoming Chamber’s Networking event; Spotlight Mega-Mixer @ Turnberry Isle Miami (1999 West Country Club Drive, Aventura) on Oct. 20 from 6 p.m. — 9 p.m. Mingle and network with over 150 Chamber members, guests, visitors, and the community at large. Cocktails courtesy of BACARDI including their GREY GOOSE vodka. Complimentary food will be provided courtesy of Turnberry Isle Miami. Leverage of the “Business Cards Bulletin Board” and members of the Chamber’s “Membership Committee” who will be present to answer inquiries and make introductions / connections. Your admission includes the sampling of some of the Spa services and offerings as well as the participation of a drawing for great prizes provided by Chamber members; Apeiro Restaurant, Mina’s Mediterraneo, 11th Street Dinner, Whithall & Shon, MiFo LGBT Film Festival, Smith & Wollensky, Perry Ellis, Turnberry Isle Miami, and The Westin Colonnade, among others!

For any inquiries or interest in joining the MDGLCC as well as RSVP’ing for the above mentioned events, please visit GayBizMiami.com or reach us at info@gaybizmiami.com. 305-673-4440

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10.5.2016 â&#x20AC;¢

lifestyle fashion

Photo: Facebook

Bear Necessities

Bear World Magazine does Fashion Week Deon C. Jefferson

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ach year major designer companies and fashion houses come together to celebrate their respected fashion weeks. Most of the events cater to petite women, due to the recent explosion of plus size super model Ashley Graham, other companies have decided to follow suit. The LGBT community commemorated the launch of its first ever Bear Summer Fashion Week, thanks to Bear World Magazine. “We woke up one day and thought, “you know what would be cool? A fashion week for bears!” No really, we did,” explained Robin Gray, Editor of Bear World Magazine. Gray was very passionate about his feelings toward society and the body image stereotypes. “You know for too long bigger guys have had to tolerate ill-fitting clothes to try and look semi-fashionable, or in the cases of some brands we were sized out all together, they don’t want us in their clothes! The idea that only thin people are attractive is hideous and a terrible thing to promote.” This year’s fashion week featured a photo shoot at The Paul Hotel in New York. The shoot showcased plus sized models wearing brands that cater to the larger man. Some of the vendors included in the shoot were Tanks & Tee’s by The 3 Bears, underwear by BearSkn in addition to lube from Kamikaze Angel. PlayBear Magazine provided swimwear along with a selection of unique jewelry. The photos were taken by legendary photographer InkedKenny, who is no stranger to Bear World Magazine. InkedKenny flawlessly captured

the bear aesthetic, his creative eye produced shots that were sexy, rugged and masculine. Bear World Magazine is a prestigious gay magazine geared toward the bear community. While bears can come in many shapes and sizes with varying degrees of hairiness, they typically are larger guys with at least a moderate amount of fur. When it came to promotion for the fashion week, all media outlets were utilized. Promotion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were used to tease the event, mainly because of the all-digital fashion week. News about the fashion week has been spread across the U.S. and worldwide. Conducting a digital fashion week is not an easy task. It actually took a good six months to plan. Along with searching for quality products, finding models and securing an amazing backdrop, they had to deal with the availability of Kenny, who is very sought after. “I would like to think of us as trendsetters,” explained Gray. “There are already plenty of brands starting to come forward and offer their products in bigger sizes but it will take a huge shift in thinking to get these bigger sizes and bigger models on a mainstream runway any time soon. But if we have played a little part in making that shift, then I am very proud of that.” Planning has already begun for a followup fall fashion week. If you are a fan of plaid, woodlands, beards, wet dogs, foliage or whisky, you may want to stay tuned for the next explosive fashion week in the fall.

Exp. 10/31/16

Visit BearWorldMagazine.com for information on the magazine.

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Photo: Facebook.

outeats Special Advertising Section

KJ’s BBQ Sports Bar Dori Zinn

J’s has only been open a month or so, but they’re already making an impact in their little Oakland Park neighborhood. KJ’s offers traditional bar favorites, like wings and burgers, but if you blink, you may miss the brisket. Call first, make sure they aren’t out yet. If you show up expecting it, you may very well be denied. If you have the luxury of getting the homemade brisket — like everything made at KJs — you have your choice of sides, like macaroni and cheese, baked beans, cornbread, and collard greens. If brisket isn’t available, it’s your really big loss, but you can get the ribs instead. But don’t overlook the rest of the meals. The chicken alfredo ($15) and the shrimp with rice ($15) are great options, too. The spicy shrimp, served on top of creamy rice and steamed broccoli, is deliciously filling without being too heavy. There’s definitely enough for lunch tomorrow. If you don’t want a whole dinner, try any of the baskets, like wings ($10), fried catfish ($7), or conch ($11). All baskets come with crispy fries. If you’re not looking for a meal, you can also get wings as an appetizer with any sauce you want, including the new spicy Hennessy — a sweet sauce with a little kick but not overbearing. If wings aren’t your thing, there’s also BBQ Southwest Nachos ($8) — chips topped with Colby and pepper Jack cheeses,

KJ’s BBQ Sports Bar 3301 NE 3rd AVE Oakland Park Blvd. Oakland Park, FL 33334

BBQ chicken, black beans and corn. For the handhelds, KJ’s also has a Cuban sandwich, a spare rib sandwich, and specialty burgers, like the Cowboy Jalapeno Burger: a half-pound burger topped with cheddar cheese, jalapenos, avocado and BBQ sauce. There’s daily lunch specials starting at $5.50. Along with that, with KJ’s opening up at 9 a.m. on the weekends, there’s breakfast specials including French toast, grits, and eggs. You can build your own breakfast with $1 breakfast items. But it’s not all about the food. KJ’s has a reason to visit every night of the week. On Wednesdays there’s Pride Day. On Thursday, it’s an homage to #throwbackthursday. On Saturday, it rotates between Reggae and Latin music. On Sundays and Mondays, it’s all about football. Come hang out for a DJ and drink specials all night long. Look out for more nightly specials, like a Ladies Night where ladies drink free all night long. There’s also plenty of drink specials other nights, too. Happy Hour starts at noon every day, and there are different drink specials every night from 5-9 p.m. With three different rooms, including a patio and game room, and nearly a dozen TVs, you can watch whatever you want, wherever you want. With great food, a welcoming atmosphere, and friendly staff, KJs is well on their way to being a community staple in Oakland Park.

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10.5.2016 •

lifestyle food Wok’s Bao

Submitted photos.

Lamb at Ethos Greek Bistro

Rick Karlin

East Meets West

wo new restaurants opened in the area within a few days of each other, representing two distinctly different cuisines; Wok on South Federal in Fort Lauderdale, bills itself as “A new breed of Pan-Asian street food,” while Ethos Bistro, in Wilton Manors offers modern Greek fare. Both are from successful restaurateurs; Ethos is a new outpost of an established Coconut Creek favorite, while Wok comes from Randy Wilcox, owner of New River Grill and Pizza, located right across the street from Wok. One would expect that Wilcox’s venture would be more polished, given his many years in the business, but Ethos opened with polish and finesse, while Wok’s staff was floundering in the weeds on a recent visit.

Wok 706 S. Federal Fort Lauderdale 954-618-7005 WokFTL.com Wok’s style is more casual to be sure, but when we arrived late on a Sunday night, and tried to sit at the only available table (one of five) we were told it was reserved for another party. The rest of my group was ready to leave, but I noticed a woman sitting alone at one table getting her check, so I called my group back. While we were waiting for her to vacate her table, another employee pointed to the table we were told was reserved and told us to sit there. And we sat there…for quite a while before anybody came to wait on us. When we did order, the server seemed to know nothing about many dishes on the menu, and even told us a vegetarian dish contained chicken. We had to send her back to the kitchen to double check, and of course, it didn’t have chicken. After we ordered, the food came out haphazardly; some received their entrees when others got their

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appetizers. When another server brought out some of our food, she knocked over a drink and never bothered to offer a replacement. Some of the food was nicely presented, other dishes just dumped into paper containers. To be fair, all of the food was delicious. KFC — Korean Fried Chicken thighs, from the small plates portion of the menu, were crispy and juicy, although the portion was a tad small for the $9 tab. My hubby, who used to live in a Vietnamese neighborhood, loves a good báhn mi sandwich and Wok’s is the best we’ve found in the area. A fresh, crunchy baguette is layered with spicy mayo, pickled vegetables, cucumbers, and a choice of Chinese BBQ pork or chicken, smoked brisket, panko crusted Spam or (his choice) crispy tofu, all reasonably priced from $9 to $11. Wok’s pho is also quite good, and presents a sizeable serving with a choice of protein; Korean braised brisket, roasted pork, tofu or mixed seafood, all served with rice noodles, onions, bean sprouts, scallions, mushrooms, jalapenos, basil and fresh lime. One of the more unusual dishes, and one well worth a try, is General Tso’s cauliflower, prepared

in the same style as the traditional Chinese chicken dish. Although why it costs the same as the same dish with meat is a mystery. The menu is vast, perhaps too much so for such a small space, which may account for the problems with the kitchen delivering the food effectively. Here are a couple of dozen small plates, baos and salads and equal number of soups, noodle and rice bowls and another dozen stir-fry entrees, plus a “build your own” concept. Given New River’s reputation for uneven service and food prep, this could be problematic. Wok’s menu and service model puts it in the same category as another Pan-Asian fast food spot just a few blocks up the street, Temple Street Eatery. If they want to compete, they’re going have to improve the service and food delivery significantly. Ethos Greek Bistro 2055 Wilton Dr. Wilton Manors 754-999-0034 EthosBistro.com Ethos Bistro had only been open a week when we stopped in on a Friday night and it was already working like a well-oiled machine. We hadn’t thought to make a reservation, and the place was packed, still our group of seven was seated within 15 minutes and our server arrived within minutes to greet us and take our drink order. Since we were a large group we decided to try one of Ethos’ many sampler platters. The Silver Sampler we opted for is $21 a person (minimum of two) and is a feast for the senses. We started with samples of four spreads; tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber), htipiti (creamy red pepper flavored feta), hummus and melitzanosalata (puree of roasted

eggplant and walnuts), each of which was perfectly prepared and served with pita bread. A large Greek salad topped by a huge wedge of feta arrived next. While it made for a dramatic presentation, it was awkward to serve, as it required us to break the cheese into portions for everyone at the table. A platter of stuffed grape leaves accompanied the dish. I’m not a fan of the dish, but I took a small bite and, as Maggie Smith said (in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”), “For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.” The mixed grill platter featured tender slices of gyro (ground beef and lamb cooked on a spit), chicken breast, pork tenderloin and kefte (ground beef and lamb patties). All were quite flavorful, but I found it all a bit on the dry side; a squeeze of lemon and some olive oil made it much more palatable. The dish was presented atop a bed of spinach rice and with boiled potatoes. The gold level sampler ($27 per person) also starts with the spread sampler but subs the Ethos salad (cabbage, apple, radish, walnuts and gorgonzola) and spinach pie for the grape leaves and Greek salad, and adds lamb chops to the meat platter. If you’re not a fan of such a “meatapalooza,” as one of my dining companions called it, you might want to opt for such specialties as seafood-orzo paella, chicken in a creamy artichoke sauce or grilled bronzini, a tasty Mediterranean fish also known as branzino in Italy. Dinner will run about $30 per person with a drink, lunch specials average around $10. The serving staff is friendly, flirty (those Greek boys know how to work a crowd), fun and efficient. It is certain to become one of Wilton Manors’ most popular dining destinations.

10.5.2016 â&#x20AC;¢

F O R

T H E

SFGNITES

W E E K

O F

J.W. Arnold

jw@prdconline.com

THU

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W W W . S F G N . C O M

PHOTO FEATURE

nightlife The Village Pub, 2283 Wilton Drive, celebrates its anniversary with a long weekend of special entertainment: Tonight at 10 p.m., join Renica for “The Dirty Game Show.” On Friday at 10 p.m., Marti Gould Cummings takes the stage, followed by the musical duo Amy & Freddy on Saturday at 8 p.m. Sing “Happy Birthday” on Sunday with a cake cutting at 5:30 p.m. and then the genderbending “Turnabout” on Monday at 8 p.m. Info at VillagePubWM.com.

FRI

10/7

theater It’s been 20 years since Jonathan Larsen’s “Rent” changed the landscape of American theater. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning rock musical about young artists struggling to survive in lower Manhattan during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis continues to inspire audiences. Don’t miss this special anniversary tour at the Broward Center, opening tonight and playing through Sunday. Tickets at BrowardCenter.org.

Saturday

10/8

music

The Pride Wind Ensemble, the region’s LGBT and allied concert band, takes the stage for its fall concert, “The Elements.” Artistic director Dan Bassett will lead the 60-piece ensemble in a program explores earth, air, water and fire. The ensemble never disappoints, offering dynamic multimedia presentations to accompany the musical performances. Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $30 at Broward Center.org. Photo Credit: Facebook.

SAT

10/8 SUN

10/9 MON

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festival

film

television

theater

Admit it—everything tastes better with bacon. This afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m., celebrate the pig at Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale’s Bacon Bash. This edible ode to all things bacon will be held at Esplanade Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Sample porky bites from some of the region’s favorite eateries, sip craft beers and don’t forget to vote for your favorites, including “Most Creative Use of Bacon.” For more information, go to GoRiverwalk.com.

The MiFo LGBT Film Festival opened Friday night and runs through Oct. 16 at locations across Fort Lauderdale. Tonight at 7:30 p.m., head downtown to Cinema Paradiso, 503 SE 6th St., for “Do You Take This Man,” a comedic drama about the marriage of a seemingly mismatched couple, one in his 30s and the other in his 40s. Tickets are $13. For a complete festival schedule featuring more than 50 films from a dozen countries, go to MiFoFilm.com.

The CW finally launches its fall television season tonight and comic book lovers can rejoice. Kryptonite - and disappointing ratings - couldn’t stop “Supergirl,” which makes the move from ABC and kicks off the DC superhero line-up tonight at 8 p.m., followed by “The Flash” on Tuesday, “Arrow” on Wednesday and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” on Thursday. For more information, go to CWTV.com. Check local listings for channels and show times.

The Broadway in Miami season kicks off tonight at the Arsht Center in Miami with “The Illusionists,” a mind-blowing magic show featuring the amazing talents of seven spectacular performers. Direct from Broadway, “The Illusionists” dazzle audiences with a powerful mix of outrageous and astonishing. Performances Tuesday - Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 7 p.m. through Oct. 16 Tickets start at $27 at ArshtCenter.org.

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10.5.2016 â&#x20AC;¢

A&E film

Second Weekend of Film Festival Offers More Diverse Line-Up J.W. Arnold

The documentary “Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride” tells the incredible story of a local transgender woman. Submitted photo.

he 2016 MiFo LGBT Film Festival opens this weekend and features more than 50 features, documentaries and short films. The opening night gala will be held on Friday, Oct. 7 at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale and includes a screening of “Strike a Pose,” a new documentary that revisits the lives of the seven dancers who performed with Madonna on her controversial 1990 “Truth or Dare” tour and subsequently became gay role models in a 1991 film. Over the two-week festival, screenings will be presented at the Classic Gateway Theatre, 1820 E. Sunrise Blvd., and Cinema Paradiso, 503 SE 6th Street, both in Fort Lauderdale. Other special events include a culinarythemed evening on Monday, Oct. 10 at the Gallery of Amazing Things, 481 S. Federal Hwy. in Dania Beach, with a screening of the comedy, “The Happys,” and a closing night party on Sunday, Oct. 16 at C&I Studios, 541 NW 1st Ave. Tickets for individual screenings are $11 — 14 and special event admission varies by venue. Tickets, a complete schedule and more information can be found at MiFoFilm.com. Capsule reviews of select films from the first weekend were published in last week’s issue. Here are some of the highlights of the second week of the festival, including a more diverse line-up featuring several powerful lesbian and transgender films:

THURSDAY, OCT. 13 “King Cobra” Centerpiece Film Cinema Paradiso Fort Lauderdale, 7 p.m. Justin Kelly, dir. USA, 2016, 92 min. This ripped-from-the-headlines drama covers the early rise of gay porn headliner Sean Paul Lockhart a.k.a. Brent Corrigan, before his falling out with the producer who made him famous. When Sean decides he’d be better off a free agent, a cash-strapped pair of rival producers aim to cash in by any means possible and an all-out porn turf war ensues.

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SFGN: Despite repeated requests, the film’s distributor didn’t provide SFGN with an advance screener. The trailer is hot and the film does boast an all-star cast including James Franco, Christian Slater and Molly Ringwald. Unfortunately, we’re not much help here. Take your chances at the box office.

FRIDAY, OCT. 14 “Heartland” Classic Gateway Theatre, 7 p.m. Maura Anderson, dir. USA, 2016, 96 min. Lauren, dealing with the loss of a close friend, returns home just in time to meet her brother’s low-carb, big-city girlfriend, Carrie. As Carrie tries to make sense of rural

Oklahoma, Lauren works to seduce her into dropping her aloof superiority and opening her heart to small-town life. That is when something new blossoms. SFGN: This touching film is the closest thing you’ll get to the typical gay film festival “coming out” movie. Velinda Spencer gives a fantastic performance as Carrie and Laura Spencer (Emily, “Big Bang Theory” lends some star power. Beth Grant (Sissy, “Sordid Lives”) also gets real in this film.

SATURDAY, OCT. 15 “Jewel’s Catch One” Classic Gateway Theatre, 3 p.m. C. Fitz, dir. USA, 2016, 85 min.

Overcoming the odds (black, female, poor and lesbian) Jewel Thais-Williams helped changed laws, save lives and influence communities across Los Angeles by opening Catch One, one of the original safe spaces for LGBT people of color and a place of refuge for those ostracized during the AIDS crisis. SFGN: We’ve made so much progress over the past couple of years, but it’s important to never forget our shared history. For four decades, this club was an important landmark for L.A.’s LGBT community. One of the strongest documentaries of the festival. “Laurence” Cinema Paradiso Fort Lauderdale, 5 p.m. Stephan Kellam and Richard D. Endacott, dir. USA, 2016, 100 min.

A&E film After a weekend visit to a beach cottage with his boyfriend, photographer Carver Mendez comes to fear that he has inadvertently summoned the spirit of Laurence Hunt, a World War II veteran who died mysteriously at that same cottage, 70 years ago. When his boyfriend begins to suffer from increasingly severe headaches, Carver concludes they are the result of the spirit’s malevolent influence. Together, they must confront the spirit. SFGN: This is an ambitious effort with a solid plot, but, let’s be honest, gay horror flicks are a genre still to be mastered. The production values are strong, along with the acting. Thank goodness the film manages to avoid crossing the line into camp. “Political Animals” Classic Gateway Theatre, 5:15 p.m. Jonah Markowitz and Tracy Wares, dir. USA, 2016, 87 min. This documentary tells the story of the civil rights struggle of this century — the gay rights movement - through the eyes of four elected women, often left out of gay histories until now. These fierce, committed lesbians took the fight for the causes most personal to them and their communities off the streets and into the halls of government. SFGN: Another strong documentary - if a bit melodramatic — reminds audiences of more recent history. At times, the film feels like a campaign commercial, so if you are heading to the cinema to escape the barrage of political ads on TV, you’re out of luck. “Girl Gets Girl” Classic Gateway Theatre, 7:30 p.m. Sonia Sebastian, dir. Spain, 2015, English and Spanish (with English subtitles), 88 min. Inés lives a charmed life chasing the American dream in Miami with her beautiful girlfriend. But Inés’ whole world is turned upside-down when she misses a work deadline while chasing other women and her girlfriend leaves. Without a job, money, or girlfriend, Inés decides it´s time to get back home to Madrid.

SFGN: Based on a successful Spanish web series, this comedy offers a light respite from an otherwise heavy festival schedule on Saturday. The animated opening credits and lilting theme set the tone for this festival entry from across the Atlantic. SUNDAY, OCT. 16 “Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride” Classic Gateway Theatre, 5:15 p.m. Robin Symon, dir. USA, 2016, 75 min. During a nasty divorce, Butch, the 67-year-old Jewish, macho and homophobic owner of a South Florida auto-wrecking company, hides from the law….as a woman, setting off a twisting tale of discovery. Naming herself after her two idols, Gloria Estefan and Gloria Steinem, she decides to remodel herself in much the same way Butch once lovingly restored his old cars. SFGN: Want to learn about the real transgender experience? Don’t waste your time with reruns of “I am Cait.” This documentary about a colorful local woman has both the heart and truth Caitlyn Jenner has been desperately seeking. “Pushing Dead” Closing Night Film Cinema Paradiso Fort Lauderdale, 7:30 p.m. Tom E. Brown, dir. USA, 2016, 108 min. HIV-positive writer and bouncer Dan Schauble struggles to refill his drug prescriptions after a bureaucratic snafu drops him from his health plan. Schauble quietly panics that any disruption to his pharmaceutical regimen can have disastrous consequences as he navigates the labyrinthine world of modern healthcare. SFGN: Living with HIV/AIDS is no laughing matter, but this wry, smart comedy still manages to poke fun at the inconveniences of a “chronic” condition. “Pushing Dead” is one of the strongest features of the festival and should resonate with South Florida audiences, especially the large poz community.

Outside the Classic Gateway Theater, where several of the films will be debuted. Photo Credit: Facebook.

10.5.2016 •

A&E theater

Island City Stage Presents ‘Muscle Bears the Musical’ J. W. Arnold

outh Florida theater audiences are best acquainted with playwright Michael Aman’s serious side: Two years ago, Island City Stage, the LGBT-centric company based in Wilton Manors offered the world premiere of Aman’s “Poz,” a dark comedy about a young man with leukemia who contemplates infecting himself with HIV in order to qualify for health insurance. Last season, the company presented the world premiere of “Feeding the Bear,” the story of a gay man struggling with body dysmorphia who must cope with his aging father’s dementia. This play was heavily influenced by Aman’s relationship with his own father’s deteriorating health. On Oct. 16, audiences will get a sneakpeek at Aman’s latest work, “Muscle Bears the Musical,” a drastic departure from the weighty, thoughtful subjects of those previous productions. “It’s just silly fun,” admitted Aman during a telephone interview from his New York home. He also confessed that musicals have always been his first love. He penned his first as a young man in the 1990s, but realized that if he hoped to have his works eventually staged, he would need to focus on plays. The idea for “Muscle Bears” was brought to him less than a year ago. Through his husband, Michael Bush, Aman met composer Matt Doer. Unlike many projects that may take years to come together and not make it to a stage, the musical seemed to “fall into place,” he said. The protagonist is a young cub who becomes frustrated with the dating scene. He is lampooned and bullied by other men on dating apps for his stocky build and body hair. Just when he is about to shave his body or give up all hope of love, a “furry bear daddy” appears and introduces him to the bear community. That moment is the inspiration for one of Aman’s favorite musical numbers, “Gillette.” At the end of the first act, the audience will be polled to determine which of the cub’s suitors will get a date in the second act. Aman and Doer had to write four different endings to prepare for whatever preference the audience might render. Musically, Doer’s score is rhythmic and

Playwright Michael Aman’s latest work, “Muscle Bears the Musical,” will be performed in a staged reading at Island City Stage on Oct. 16. Submitted photo.

tuneful, reminiscent of the music LGBT might hear in their favorite clubs. The show ends with an ensemble number that Aman said sounds like a gay men’s chorus. Several of the songs can be previewed on Kickstarter.com. Keeping the economics of a successful musical in mind, Aman kept the cast, sets and props to a minimum. Even though actors will be performing on book, the reading will be very close to the experience of a full production. Aman’s husband is also directing the reading. “We have to be very careful of getting into that reading trap,” Aman explained. “Some plays get stuck and never make it out of readings and onto the stage.” Stage play readings have become extremely popular in South Florida in recent years. Several works featured at the Jan McArt New Play Reading Series at Lynn University in Boca Raton have been produced by regional companies. The South Florida Theatre League also offers a weekly series throughout the summer months at theaters across the region. The reading will allow Aman and Doer to evaluate the effectiveness of the book and music and make those necessary tweaks before shopping the musical to other theater companies; however, he’d be pleased if Island City Stage added the show to a future season.

Island City Stage presents a staged reading of Michael Aman’s “Muscle Bears the Musical” on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Abyss Theatre, 2304 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Tickets are limited and cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit the company’s operating fund. For more information, go to IslandCityStage.org.

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PAID content

Am I Too Old… To Move My Teeth?

m I too late for a beautiful straight smile? There is no such thing as ‘too old’ for straight teeth, since braces can be used to move healthy teeth at any age. And as a result, since a large number of adults have some form of orthodontic problem, more and more adults are become orthodontic patients these days. Although childhood is the ideal time to make changes in the positioning of the teeth, more adults are opting for orthodontic treatment and coming away with excellent results. The American Association of Orthodontists notes that one in five orthodontic patients is over age 18. A healthy straight smile can boost your self-esteem, and enhance social and career opportunities. Even better, are the health benefits that straightening misaligned teeth can bring such as make chewing more comfortable, make cleanings easier, and aid in the prevention of tooth decay and gum disease. Teeth that don’t come together properly when you close your jaws is known as a malocclusion, or improper bite and can cause both chewing and swallowing issues. Poor tooth alignment can also put excessive stress on your chewing muscles and cause you facial pain. How do I know if I’m a good candidate for orthodontic treatment? Candidacy will be based on your general health, your current state of periodontal health, and the type of problem you want to fix. Since gum disease can lead to the loss of the supporting bone around the teeth, this becomes an important consideration because of how orthodontic procedures work with gently moving teeth within the supporting bone. Unfortunately, orthodontic treatments can aggravate the disease and even make it worse. Bone loss does not impede orthodontic treatment, but it is vital that any present periodontal disease be addressed before treatment starts. How do treatments work? With orthodontics, tension and pressure are applied to slowly and gently move teeth to their new location.

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The ‘pressure’ action causes a section of the bone adjacent to the root to resorb/dissolved by the body), and the other opposite ‘tension’ action is where the formation of new bone occurs, building up within the space left behind by the root, setting a new position. Make note to check with your doctor or dentist first, because there are some medical conditions, such as bleeding disorders, leukemia, uncontrolled diabetes or heart-valve disease, that may prevent you from getting orthodontic treatments. Some drug use for arthritis or osteoporosis can make treatment difficult and other medications can cause dry mouth making the movement uncomfortable. What are the considerations and the current options? Before starting treatment, you may need to see a periodontist or general dentist to ensure treatment is doable or not, if you’ve had bone loss or gum disease. Treatment varies from person to person, the process may take longer than that of a child, and it can last approximately two years. Also, since adult bones have stopped growing, some structural changes can’t be done without surgery. The orthodontic appliances have changed considerably over the years. There are now clear or colorless braces as an option to the standard metal ones, some are smaller and use fewer brackets and the wires are less noticeable and more effective than they used to be and some can even be placed on the tongue side of your teeth. A great adult-friendly option is the nearly invisible products such as Invisalign. This is a series of custommade clear, removable aligners that straighten teeth without the need of metal or wires. They can take a bit longer than metal braces but older patients seem to like them more because they can be taken out to eat or for special occasions and are not as noticeable. If a great smile is something you really want, whether your teeth have shifted over the years, you’ve become more cognizant of how they look, or there are medical reasons for seeking to straighten your teeth, schedule a consultation with Dr. Johnson at Premier Smile Center to discuss treatment options.

2717 E Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306

10.5.2016 •

oct 7 to oct 14

Datebook

Theater Christiana Lilly

Calendar@SFGN.com

Top

Picks

Rent - Season Option

Oct. 7 to 9 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. A year in the life of seven bohemians living in New York City. Tickets $35 and up. Call 954462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter. org.

Arsht Center 10th Birthday Party

Oct. 8 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Celebrate the 10th birthday of the center with 10 hours of free entertainment, culminating in a concert with the Spam AllStars, Tiempo Libre, and CeeLo Green. Concert is $10. Call 305-949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.

The Sensuous Senator

Oct. 8 to 23 at Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW Ninth St. in Delray Beach. A senator is running for president on the grounds of his morality — but when his wife goes out of town, he immediately calls for his mistress to come visit. Tickets $30. Call 561-272-1281, ext. 4 or visit DelrayBeachPlayhouse.com.

broward county Cock Tales: Shame on Me!

Oct. 6 to 30 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale. Debra Ehrhard tells the story of her encounters with the opposite sex. Tickets $20 to $35. Call 954-678-1496 or visit EmpireStage.com

* Sum 41

Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The punk rock band returns with Senses Fail and As It Is. Tickets $26.50 in advance, $28 the day of. Call 954-449-1025 or visit JoinTheRevolution.net.

* Symphony of the Americas: Celebrating Argentina’s 200th Anniversary

Oct. 11 at 7:45 p.m. at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The Italian and Hispanic Heritage Tribute perform music by Puccini, Ginastera, and Piazzolla. Tickets $50 to $75. Call 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter. org.

Friday Night Sound Waves Music Series

Fridays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Hub, Las Olas Boulevard and A1A in Fort Lauderdale. Enjoy live, outdoor music spanning genres and tributes every Friday evening through November. Free. Visit FridayNightSoundWaves.com

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Hand to God

* The Illusionists

PAMM Outdoor Music Series

Oct. 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. at Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach. In a two-night special, the breakout rapper got his start by producing his debut album during a 10-day suspension from school. Tickets $49.50 to $86.50. Call 305673-7300 or visit FillmoreMB.com. Oct. 11 to 16 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Seven of the best illusionists on one stage. Tickets $27 to $89. Call 305-949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.

Clybourne Park

Through Oct. 23 at Main Street Players, 6766 Main St. in Miami Lakes. The sequel to “A Raisin in the Sun,” a white couple sells their home to a black couple in 1959, causing tensions in the neighborhood. Now it’s 2009, and a white couple wants to move into the same home in the neighborhood undergoing gentrification. Tickets $20 to $25. Call 305558-3737 or visit MainStreetPlayers.com.

Through Oct. 30 at GableStage at the Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave. in Coral Gables. A student in a religious town in Texas finds his talents working with puppets, until one of them takes on an evil life of its own. Tickets $57 to $60. Call 305445-1119 or visit GableStage.org. 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 305-3753000 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.

palm beach county Urinetown the Musical

Oct. 6 to 23 at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. in Lake Worth. A city has been in a drought for 20 years, and private toilets have been banned. One man is fed up when the city starts charging its residents to use public amenities. Tickets $35 to $72. Call 561-5866410 or visit LakeWorthPlayhouse.org.

Free Friday Concerts

Fridays at 7:30 p.m. at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. Enjoy live music from the comfort of your picnic blanket or lawn chair every week, for free! Returns in October. Call 561-243-7922 or visit DelrayArts.org.

miami-dade county Why Not? With Richard Nixon

Through Oct. 9 at the Miami Theater Center, 9806 NE Second Ave. in Miami Shores. Richard Nixon hosts a late night club access radio show with his best friend and his daughter in this comedy. Tickets $15 to $30. Call 305-751-9550 or visit MTCMiami.org.

* Denotes New Listing 56

* Chance the Rapper

#OrlandoUnited: Every week, SFGN will pay tribute to one member of our community who was lost in Orlando.

10.5.2016 â&#x20AC;¢

Datebook

Community Christiana Lilly Calendar@SFGN.com

Top Picks

Positive Voices Matter

Oct. 6 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the World AIDS Museum, 1201 NE 26th St. #111 in Wilton Manors. Come together with the community to discuss access to HIV/AIDS care services over food and drinks. Guests can write down questions on pieces of paper to be answered by a panel of local providers. Free. Contact Shirley Scott, (FDOH-BC) at 954-467-4700, ext. 5647 or Shirley.Scott@flhealth.gov.

Seventh Annual Paws in the Park

Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Carlin Park’s Seabreeze Amphitheater, 400 S. SR A1A in Jupiter. A day filled with costume contests, a doggie fun zone, celebrity pet wash, pet psychic, photo booth, and more. Free. Visit FloridaPawsinthePark.com.

The National LGBTQ Task Force Gala - Miami

Oct. 8 from 6:30 p.m. to midnight at the Fountainebleau, 4441 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach. Formerly the Miami Recognition Dinner, com together for a special night to recognize local LGBT heroes and advocates over a sit-down dinner, silent auction, awards ceremony, and dancing. This year’s honorees are Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley (producers of Broadway for Orlando) and Steve Rothaus (Miami Herald staff writer). Tickets $450. Visit TheTaskForceGala.org.

broward county StoryCorps South Florida Historic Recordings

Oct. 6 from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. at Stonewall National Museum — Wilton Manors, 2157 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. All LGBT people are encouraged to take part in a 40-minute recorded interview to document the LGBT experience. Free. Contact Herb Sosa at herb@unitycoalition.org or Emery Grant at emery@stonewall-museum.org.

Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Network CLE Luncheon

Oct. 6 from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at Timpano Chophouse, 450 E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. The topic for this luncheon is the importance of behavioral health in the legal system, lead by Marshall Geisser, the

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* 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. CEO and co-founder of Recovery Unplugged. Cost $25 members, $30 nonmembers. Visit GLLN.org.

* Martinis for Mammograms

Oct. 6 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Himmarshee Public House, 201 SW Second St. in Fort Lauderdale. Don your pink for a night benefiting Glam-A-THON, with a silent auction, hair styling, chair massages, specialty cocktails, music, and more. Tickets $25. Call 954-616-5275 or visit http://bit.ly/2bSJpcR.

History of Girls’ Club

Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the NSU Art Museum, One E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Learn about the 10-year-old contemporary art space, founded by artist Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz. Free. Call 954-2620258 or visit NSUArtMuseum.org.

oct 7 to oct 14 Author Presentation: Stacy B. Davids

Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. at Stonewall National Museum — Wilton Manors, 2157 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. The author of the children’s book, “Annie’s Plaid Shirt,” about a little girl who doesn’t want to wear a dress to her uncle’s wedding. Free. Call 954-7638565 or visit Stonewall-Museum.org.

* Barktoberfest

Oct. 8 and 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Quiet Waters Park, 401 S. Powerline Road in Deerfield Beach. The festival will include splash time for the dogs, adoptions, face painting, a bounce house, and a costume contest. Park entry $1.50, $5 for 50 minutes of water playtime. Call 954-357-5100.

* Connect- ART

Oct. 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. at North Beach Village Design, 600 Breakers Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. A showcase of artwork by Shakira Williams, Penelope Fedor, Jose J. Pita, and Beto Sanchez. Plus, a performance by Katrina Iglesias of “The Voice.” Free. Call 954-565-5790 or visit bit.ly/ConnectArt.

PORN pulse

Trump Plays Tiny Role In Soft Porn Shoot

palm beach county The Thrill of the Vote: Episodes in Democracy

Through Nov. 30 in the FAU’s Theatre Lab Gallery in Parliament Hall, 777 Glades Road in Boca Raton. A exhibiting exploring voting rights over American history. Call 561-2976124 or visit FAUEvents.com.

miami-dade county * A Walk on the Wild Side with Ron Magill

Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Zoo Miami, 12400 SW 152 St. in Miami. Magill leads a discussion on the wonders of cheetahs and the conservation work to save them. Tickets $10. Call 305-2510400 or visit ZooMiami.org.

* Miami Broward Carnival

Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Miami Dade Fair Grounds, 10901 SW 24 St. in Miami. Enjoy carnival with live music, steel bands, food, dancing, and more. Tickets $30 and up. Visit MiamiBrowardCarnival. com.

Phoot: Playboy.

Hunter Houston

t seems Donald Trump has had a hand in just about everything. Porn included. Last week it was revealed by multiple news organizations of Trump’s participation in a “soft core” porn video produced by Playboy. Made in 1999, the video shows The Donald in his trademark business suit while popping a bottle of champagne in front of a limousine surrounded by Playboy playmates. “From the sun bleached beaches of California to the bustling streets of the Big Apple, we’ve scoured the country looking for the perfect Playmate to launch the new millennium,” says a narrator in the video. Joining Trump in the video are the Bernola Twins — Darlene and Carol. “Beauty is beauty and let’s see what happens with New York,” Trump says in the video. The New York Daily News seized on this discovery. The newspaper, long a thorn in the Republican presidential candidate’s

side, plastered the headline “Trump’s Porn Tape” on its cover over the weekend with the subhead: “Donald’s tiny part in Playboy video.” Darlene Bernola was not amused, tweeting on Sunday, “Now I have to explain to my daughter what @HillaryClinton definition of “porn” is.” Clearly remaining loyal to Trump, Darlene Bernola also tweeted, “The Clinton name has never been synonymous with morals, values, why start now. Good job empowering women @HillaryClinton.” As for Trump, the lone action he does in the video is pouring that bottle of bubbly over the Playboy logo on the limousine.

10.5.2016 •

Business Directory a&e Ft Lauderdale Gay Men's Chorus PO Box 9772, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33310-9772 954-832-0060 www.theftlgmc.org Andrews Living Arts Studio 23 NW 5th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954.530.1879 Classcreations.com

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florist

Coast Chiropractic Injury & Wellness Center 2608 NE 16th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954.463.3036 www.coast-chiropractic.com

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dental Oakland Park Dental 3047 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954.566.9812 Oaklandparkdental.com

health MASTER HYPNOTHERAPIST AND LIFE COACH

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cleaning EMERALD IRISH CLEANING Established for 30 years. 3 hours of cleaning for $60.00. Use time as you wish. English speaking *hand scrubbed floors* Cleaning supplies included. Service guaranteed 954-524-3161

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health

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Dr. Tory Sullivan 2500 N Federal Hwy #301, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954.533.1520 Torysullivanmd.com

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investments American Tax & Insurance 2929 E Comm. Blvd, 8th Floor Penthouse D, Fort Lauderdale, FL

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legal

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

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

professional services

Barton & Miller Cleaners 2600 N. Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-4314 Kalis-McIntee Funeral & Cremation Center

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Boutique Wine Shop & Wine Bar The Ultimate Wine Tasting Experience 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

real estate

Daoud’s Fine Jewelers 2473 E Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954.928.2437 Daouds.com

spirituality The Parish of Sts. Francis and Clare Where we welcome and appreciate diversity.

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OCTOBER 8TH

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RENTALS

Rand Hoch PBC Human Rights Council

When: The second Saturday of each month, 7:30 p.m. program or presenter, immediately following 6:00 p.m. Communion Service and 6:45 potluck supper provided by attendees

Also at this meeting we will provide A Last Chance

BEEFCAKES 1721 N Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 954.463.6969 boardwalkbar.com

Voter Registration 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church • 100 North Palmway • Lake Worth, FL 33460 FOR INFORMATION:

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

Peace Pipe 4800 N Dixie Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 954.267.9005 Facebook.com/peacepipefl

Mass Times: Saturday 5:00 PM Sunday 10:30 AM

•Individual •Small Business •Free Consultation

Storks Bakery 2505 NE 15th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.567.3220 Storksbakery.com

retail

www.integritypalmbeach.org or Joe@thegraphicissue.com

veterinarian

954.610.8816

Dr. Pierre B. Bland, DVM 1332 E. Commercial Blvd., Oakland Park, FL 33334 954-673-8579 Doctorblandvet.com 10.5.2016 •

Business Directory To place an ad in the Business Directory, call our sales team at 954.530.4970

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SFGN Classified$ To place a Classified Ad, call Tim Higgins at 954.530.4970 or email at Tim.Higgins@sfgn.com

cleaning services

EMERALD IRISH CLEANING - Established for 30 years. 3 hours of cleaning for $60.00. Use time as you wish. English speaking *handscrub floors* Cleaning supplies included. Service guaranteed 954-524-3161

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

handyman

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

employment full time

INSURANCE AGENCY IN WILTON MANORS - Insurance Agency in Wilton Manors looking for a Full-Time employee. Please send resume to: palmbeachinsurance3@gmail.com

painting

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

SFGN.com licensed massage 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

pool service 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.

Daniel Ross CPA, CFE Now Preparing 2015 Form 1040’s IRS Electronic Filing Available

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.

rentals fort lauderdale

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

CPA since 1987

2015 tax returns are DUE no later than October 17, 2017 CONVENIENTLY LOCATED

In The heart of Wilton Manors

Place an ad in SFGN’s Classifieds

954.530.4970

954.612.9922 danrosscpa@aol.com

• Logos • Advertisements • Book Covers • Social Media • Vector • Illustration

Excellence in aesthetics

For any visual task that needs a sly eye, Visit DogFoxDesign.com

help wanted

MASSAGE BY DENNIS - $50 per 90 min-Out calls higher. Swedish, Deep Tissue, All clients and Body types welcome, Reflexology and Feet. Couples Discounts. Delray Beach. 22 years experience. MA18563 Call Dennis 561-502-2628.

music lessons

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

sfgn.com 10.5.2016 •