local name global coverage October 31, 2018 vol. 9 // issue 44
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October 31, 2018 • Volume 9 • Issue 44
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Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli piero@sfgn.com Associate Publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com
Editorial
‘Trans People Deserve To Live’ Banner ‘Flies out’ at World Series
A
Jesse Monteagudo
Correspondents
Dori Zinn • Donald Cavanaugh • Christiana Lilly • Denise Royal • David-Elijah Nahmod Dana Rudolph • Ric Reily • Terri Schlichenmeyer
Associate Photographers
The demonstration was orchestrated by Trump announced that his administration the LA-based TransLatin@ Coalition, an is considering narrowing the legal definition advocacy group that works to protect the of gender, effectively excluding transgender trans Latinx community. and nonbinary people from The group’s president, civil rights protections “At every Bamby Salcedo, was there to guaranteed under law. help wave the banner. “Transgender people are step where the “I felt my heart was dropping frightened,” Legal Director for administration along with it,” Salcedo said. “I the Human Rights Campaign was kind of exploding because Sarah Warbelow said. “At every has had the of the adrenaline. You don’t step where the administration choice, they’ve know what’s going to happen has had the choice, they’ve with the police and security opted to turn their back on opted to turn and all of that.” transgender people.” their back on The banner was flown for With this World Series transgender a few minutes before security demonstration, Salcedo hopes personnel had it removed, to inspire and empower trans people.” escorting the activists from people and allies. - Sarah Warbelow the stadium. “I hope that this action will Legal Director, HRC The flag was not shown motivate members of the trans on Fox’s television broadcast community, our allies and our of the game according to reports, though comrades to really activate and to really images of the banner garnered attention on understand that we have power,” Salcedo social media. said. “We can demonstrate our power This demonstration came a week after anywhere and everywhere.” MEMBER
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Senior Features Correspondents
Contributing Columnists
Tucker Berardi pink, white and blue banner was unfurled from the crowd at Dodger Stadium during the World Series game between the LA Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox on Sunday that read “Transgender People Deserve To Live.”
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Cover: SFGN encourages all of our readers to vote on November 6. To see where your polling station is, visit www.vote.org/polling-place-locator.
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NEWS local
Castrataro Argues Client’s Discrimination Claim was Wrongly Denied Justin Musial, Nick Adkins
A
ttorney George Castrataro hosted a forum last week to brief the community on a case he had handled for a former Boyd Anderson High School teacher, Marc Fetzer. His client had unsuccessfully sued the school district for claims of allowing wrongful LGBT discrimination. Fetzer’s suit alleged that the school board did not adequately protect him from bullying and misconduct. At the forum, he explained his goal was to bring about change at the local level, in order for other LGBT people not to experience discrimination in the workplace. Fetzer urged participants to stay active, and “to know the importance of voting” in all local and national elections. Marc Fetzer’s first claims against the school board were made in 2014, when he filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. While those did not prevail, in June of 2016, he sued in Circuit Court, retaining George Castrataro’s firm as his counsel. In court, however, the School Board
George Castrataro Photo courtesy of Steven Shires.
claimed that the legislature and Florida state law does not recognize sexual orientation as a protected class. They won a pre trial motion known as “summary judgment,” which argued that Fetzer’s argument did not meet the legal threshold to proceed in court. Castrataro disagrees with the ruling, and he and his client are now considering appellate recourse. “Regretfully, the motion for summary judgment was granted, effectively ending the case with no argument as to the merits,” Castrataro acknowledged, adding instead that “We think that my client was wrongfully bullied and abused because of his LGBT status. We want the facts heard.”
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news international
By Cameren Boatner
Around the World
Exploring LGBT News Events Across the Globe
Europe
Asia
Anti-LGBT lawmaker tries to shut down Russian LGBT film festival
Malaysian official blames quake-tsunami on gays
Vitaly Milonov is known for Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda.” The latest event he deemed as a violation of the law was the opening night of Russia’s only LGBT film festival, called Side By Side. State Deputy Milonov, joined by six other men, attempted to shut down the festival last Wednesday, according to Fontanka news. “Dear citizens, you know yourselves that you are perverts; you need to disperse,” Milonov said in a video posted online. Milonov reportedly called the police about a “hostage crisis” inside the cinema, according to the festival’s organization, though he denies this was the case. When the police evacuated the place, the estimated 400 guests who bought tickets were barred from attending the
Vitaly Milonov.
screenings of the first night. The gay propaganda law, which Milonov said the festival broke, bans promoting LGBT values among minors, according to the Moscow Times. But minors weren’t allowed at the festival. Despite the rocky start, the festival continued as planned for the rest of the week.
Africa
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Palu, Malaysia. Photo via Caritas Internationalis, Flickr.
“Next time you hear a politician say that LGBT people are causing natural disaster[s], please remember that it’s because his career is about to be swallowed up by the earth,” Pang Khee Teik, a gay rights activist, told AFP.
South America
Kenya may decriminalize gay sex next year Kenyan citizens can be charged with up to 14 years in prison if they’re convicted of having consensual gay sex. But the law may be voted out on February 22, 2019 at the Kenya High Court in Nairobi. The law isn’t currently enforced, according to 76crimes, but activist groups are saying the law promotes discrimination and anti-LGBT attitudes in Kenyans. One of these organizations, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) is testing the constitutionality of this law. “These colonial legacy laws undermine LGBT people’s fundamental rights as enshrined in our Constitution and ostracize them from society, causing misery and isolation, and devastating their lives,” Njeri Gateru, executive
The growing influence of the gay community in Malaysia prompted opposition leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to blame a devastating earthquake and tsunami on them. The 7.5 magnitude quake had an estimated death toll of over 2,000 as of Oct. 22, according to the Globe Post. “In Palu, where there was recently an earthquake and tsunami, it was said that there were more than 1,000 [people] involved in such [LGBT] activities. As a result, the whole area was crushed. This is punishment from Allah,” Zahid Hamidi said on Tuesday, Oct. 23. LGBT activists have been criticizing Zahid Hamidi’s comments, especially since the former deputy premier was hit with a $26 million corruption suit last week, according to the Globe Post.
Nairobi, Kenya.
director of NGLHRC said in a press release. The NGLHRC also has a history of wins for the LGBT community, and helps aid in violation cases against LGBT people including murder, sexual assault and mob violence.
Anti-LGBT candidate wins Brazil’s presidential election Jair Bolsonaro is described as Brazil’s Donald Trump. He’s the new right-wing president that will crack down on crime and help create jobs. He also once said he’d rather have a dead son than a gay one. But 29 percent of gay voters still backed him, according to Bloomberg. They say it’s because they’re more afraid of his opposition. “I hope he will change Brazil and give us security, education and health,” Andre Barbosa, a gay accountant from Rio De Janeiro said. The previous leftwing party, the Working Party, was met with public disdain. Barbosa said “so far, they have only robbed our country.” Other groups who oppose the Working Party still voted for their
Jair Bolsonaro.
candidate, Fernando Haddad, because “we’ve never had a politician so openly anti-LGBT,” Luiz Mott, the founder of the Gay Group of Bahia, said.
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LGBTQIA bites
B
Bisexual
Youtuber Anna Akana accidentally comes out as queer at Streamy Awards Anna Akana, a YouTuber and actress, wasn’t expecting to win Best Actor in a Drama Series when she got drunk at the Streamy Awards and came out as queer during her acceptance speech. The 29-year-old has 2.4 million subscribers, and her Youtube Red show, Youth & Consequences, got her the award. As she walked on stage to give her speech, she didn’t mean to come out, according to Pink News. She admitted after the show that it came down to the alcohol. “I did not expect to win Best Actor in a Drama Series cause I’ve been nominated every year but never win— so I got very inebriated and came out as bisexual for the first time ever publicly,” she wrote on Facebook. Akana also explained the importance of voting and urged voters to get out to the polls on Nov. 6.
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Anna Akana.
I
By Cameren Boatner Intersex
Intersex people fear the redefinition of gender The Department of Health is considering redefining gender to male or female at the time of birth, according to The New York Times. But what about those born with both male and female sex characteristics? The report doesn’t mention anything about intersex people, and some individuals are afraid the Trump administration will erase their group, according to The Guardian. “Every single thing I fought for would be taken away from me. People with power and control are dictating and stigmatizing you with labels that aren’t true,” Anunnaki Ray Marquez, who was born intersex, told The Guardian. This would affect their ability to get correct documents. It could also encourage the genital surgeries that cause “physical and emotional scarring for decades.” The World Health Organization has formally condemned
unnecessary, non-consensual surgeries. “I was born with an intersex body, and it caused so much alarm and disgust that they tried to put me in one box, and it failed,” Sean Saifa Wall said. “Doctors are literally every day attempting to erase intersex bodies.”
LGBTQIA bites
T
Transgender
Caitlyn Jenner denounces Trump over his stance on transgender rights
Caitlyn Jenner.
Caitlyn Jenner, a longtime Republican and Trump supporter, is opposing the president over his position on transgender rights, according to The New York Times. The Department of Health is considering changing the meaning of gender to a biological condition determined by one’s sex organs at birth, according to the New York Times. Jenner then wrote a column in The Washington Post revoking her support for Trump and Republican politicians.
“The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president,” Jenner wrote. “He has made trans people into political pawns as he whips up animus against us in an attempt to energize the most right-wing segment of his party.” Jenner previously wrote that she saw hope for change in the Republican party’s stance on LGBT issues. Now, she said she “cannot support anyone who is working against our community.”
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10.31.2018 •
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NEWS health
October Report from SFAN Sean McShee This article discusses three meetings. First, it reports on the September 27 meeting of the HIV Planning Council (HIV-PC). Second, it discusses the October 5 Enhancing Prevention in Communities (EPIC) Conference. Third, it reports on the October 12 meeting of the South Florida AIDS Network (SFAN).
T
he Broward HIV Planning Council (HIVPC) oversees the Ryan White Care (RWC) Program of Broward (RWCBroward). The EPIC Conference focused on developments in bio-medical prevention of HIV. The South Florida AIDS Network (SFAN) advises the RWC program of the Florida Department of Health in Broward (RWC-FL DOH Broward). The HIV Planning Council Meeting RWC-Broward contracts with agencies to deliver services to people living with HIV. Twice a year RWC-Broward adjusts the amounts in these contracts. When an agency looks like it will not deliver all its contracted services, the HIV Planning Council will move some of its funds to other agencies. Agencies had requested $2 million in transfers, but only roughly $726,000 was available. At this meeting, the HIV-PC voted to move that $726,000 between agencies. Unlike previous years, almost all agencies were operating at or above capacity. According to Leonard Jones, RWC-Broward, this results from clients staying in care for longer periods of time. This may result, in part, from the success of the Test and Treat program. The EPIC Conference Treatment as Prevention refers to how an undetectable viral load impacts HIV transmission. It eliminates the possibility of the sexual transmission of HIV. At present, no one knows its effect on needle sharing or breast feeding. The phrase “Undetectable Equals Untransmissible” or U=U has begun to replace Treatment as Prevention. In 2017, the CDC, NIH, WHO, and Lancet, all announced
their public support for the U=U campaign. Two people spoke about U=U. Dr. Howard Grossman is the Medical Director for Midland Medical. Diane Jones is on the faculty of San Francisco AIDS Education and Training Center. Grossman and Jones stressed that this requires a change in how people talk about HIV risk. They also cautioned against an unintended consequence of the U=U campaign. It could stigmatize people with detectable viral loads. Sonia Boyne, University of Miami’s Comprehensive AIDS program, spoke about stigma. Boyne reported that HIV stigma has more of an impact on who drops out of care than who stays in care. Stigma can result in depression, a disinclination to disclose, and a lower quality of life. Boyne described three types of stigma. Internalized stigma refers to negative beliefs about the self that a person holds. Perceived stigma refers to actively held beliefs that cause someone to stigmatize someone else. Enacted stigma refers to behaviors based on perceived stigma. Enacted stigma consists of actions such as discrimination, criminalization, or harassment.
SFAN Meeting Wimsley Cruz, RWC-DOH Broward, reported that about one-third of all ADAP clients in Florida live in Broward. Among all Broward ADAP clients, 694 are eligible for the 90 day supply. Of these 694 people, slightly more than a third have already enrolled. Eligibility requires clients to meet three criteria. First clients would have to have picked up their meds 11 times out of the last 12 scheduled pick-ups. Second, clients would have to have at least one viral load test in the last 24 months. Third, all viral load tests would have to show less than 200 copies of HIV. People can apply for exceptions to these eligibility rules.
Next HIVPC meeting: Thursday October 25, at 9:30 a.m. at Broward Government Center, Room GC430, 115 S. Andrews Ave. Next SFAN Meeting: Tuesday, November 13, at 6:00 p.m., at Mills Pond Park, 2201 NW 9th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale. SFAN welcomes newcomers.
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NEWS local
Painter Teepop Showcases Controversial Issues
During WYE Art Exhibition Deon C. Jefferson
R
ecently in Fort Lauderdale, Niki Lopez along with 1310 Gallery hosted the “What’s Your Elephant?” Artist Talk/Open Mic. This is the tenth installment in the WYE series. Ever since the opening show in August, people from the community have been anxiously waiting for the artist talk. As guests walked around and viewed the art, they had the opportunity to take photos and fully dissect each individual piece. While the night got started, there were sounds of Fela Kuti and Erykah Badu gracefully oozing from the speakers. Along with the music guests were treated to adult beverages, cake, and delectable food from Taco Genius of Fort Lauderdale. “This year is probably the most artists I’ve had in the WYE exhibition, this time we had 18 artists,” shared Niki Lopez right before the artist talk portion of the night. “The theme is that it has to be an ‘elephant in the room’ topic, it can be personal, it can be some related to religion, or it can be political. A lot of shows you go to it’s mainly about the aesthetics of the arts, but this exhibition is meant for the artist to share this space and talk about their art.” WYE produced some amazing pieces that were thought provokingly brilliant yet inspirational. One piece in particular “Trading Places” sparked a lot of conversation. It was created by mixed media artist Adewale Adenle. “Trading Places” interrogates the subconscious effect and invasiveness of our affiliations to the political parties while elucidating the concerns of George Washington. The work of art depicts a donkey and an elephant looking out of a window. What makes this creation unique is his choice of medium. Adewale used oil and acrylic, in addition to using deconstructed wood layers.
Shortly after the artist talk was completed, the open mic session commenced. Creative Rebel Alana DaCosta from Kr8tive Uprising hosted. Those that attended were treated to several special performances from poets like Mark these Words and Ari Safari. Both poets delivered their poems with finesse and touched on themes of redemption, racial injustice, and self-love. Singing trio Wild Tree changed the whole vibe of the event with their original jam “A Woman’s Worth.” The crowd wasn’t the only one swaying to their music: famous reggae artist Annette Brisette also was seen dancing to their rich vocals and tight harmonies. One of the standout moments came when the Kr8tive Uprising performed a dance accompanied by dancers and drummers. DaCosta even flexed her impressive vocals during the soul stirring performance. Lesbian painter Teepop featured two pieces at the show. SFGN had the opportunity to chat with her during the exhibition. Hey Teepop, where are you from?
I was born in Pittsburgh, PA , currently living in North Miami, FL.
How long have you been an artist?
Ever since I was 5 years old, so for a very, very long time.
You mentioned during the artist talk that there are not a lot of places where you can showcase some of your more controversial pieces. Tell me a little about it. How did it feel to showcase your work for the “What’s Your Elephant” exhibition?
I loved showing in “What’s Your Elephant?” It was great to be a part of such a strong & thought-provoking exhibit. This art show allows for the “thinking artist” or the “political artist” to express themselves without censorship. I feel some of the more mainstream galleries at least in my opinion stifle creative thinking because they are really there to make money and not to get entangled in more thoughtprovoking artwork. It was my first time showing in “What’s Your Elephant?” and it was an honor to be on the roster.
What inspired your two pieces?
My two pieces that were recently on view at the “What’s Your Elephant?” art show were inspired by gun violence and the execution of black lives. It’s a mix of two things plaguing our country. One being black and having to always look over your shoulder. The second, gun violence and mass shootings. The innocence of innocent lives being taken by others. All lives matter, and most people don’t want to talk about it until after something happens.
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“I want to grow up” is inspired by my godson “RJ” who is only seven years old. He exudes such a loving, positive and empowering energy in this piece that it’s too sad to think that this little boy is unaware to himself that he is and could be a threat to someone just by being black.
“Assault on Innocence” was started four years ago as a protest support piece for Venezuela that then turned into an anti-gun violence piece. It’s been a “work in progress” over the last few years.
I started incorporating names of victims, countries, cities etc. who have been affected by gun violence. For example, I included all of the names of the victims from the Orlando Pulse shooting. That mass shooting hit home for me. Not that I personally knew any of the victims but being a part of the LGBTQ community myself it impacted me. My partner and I were at a Pride event in Fort Lauderdale that same exact night and when we got home and saw the news it shook us to our core cause all we could think of was, “what if, what if it happened where we were?” I also included all of the names from the most recent mass shooting at Parkland in the painting too. I hope by viewing this piece and taking in the magnitude of all the people who have been killed we try not to be so numb and matter of fact about it. You have to really look at this painting in every section, every corner, to see all that I included and feel it wholeheartedly. For more information on how you can participate in the next “What’s your Elephant” exhibition, visit Nikiartstudio.com/whats-your-elephant.
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NEWS elections SFGN Staff
November 6
election viewing guide Don't miss a minute of what matters
Lisa Keen
Keen News Service
A
re you dreading election night? Have you heard that Republicans will likely keep the Senate majority and that Democrats may not take the House after all?
For those still recovering from the shock that Republican Donald Trump won the electoral college — and, thus, the White House — in 2016, the prospect of watching mid-term election returns Tuesday night might not conjure a notion for champagne. There’s a lot on the line Tuesday: control of the U.S. House and Senate, a significant potential to increase the numbers of LGBT in Congress, and, of course, the fate of American democracy, to name a few. But you’re a concerned citizen, you feel compelled to pay attention as the nation teeters between two very different outcomes. Chances are, shortly after 8 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. PDT), you’ll know which party will lead the Senate for the next two years. That’s because Democrats must keep their seats in Florida (Bill Nelson), Indiana (Joe Donnelly), and Missouri (Claire McCaskill) to have any chance of holding the majority. As of last week’s polls, all three had only tiny (within the margin-of-error) leads over their Republican challengers. Nate Silver’s website fivethirtyeight.com gives Republicans an 82 percent chance of retaining power. At best for Democrats, RealClearPolitics.com sees the potential for a 50-50 seat tie. The U.S. House looks a little more promising for Democrats. Fivethirtyeight. com says Democrats have a 84 percent
chance of winning the House majority. A Cook Political report last week also gave Democrats a chance of winning the majority. But numerous media and polls in recent days suggest President Trump’s campaign to turn out his supporters has been cutting into Democratic leads. In the end, it’s about voter turnout and not polls. Polls are not always accurate, and the list of examples started long before Hillary Clinton. Polls around LGBT issues and candidates have been even more unreliable. But the latter has also been changing, too, as public opinion around LGBT people has steadily grown more accepting since 2000. With all those caveats, there is considerable suspense for LGBT people, specifically, Tuesday night. Polls show voters are likely to elect an openly gay man as governor for Colorado and that a lesbian has a good chance of becoming attorney general in Michigan. In Massachusetts, polls suggest voters are likely to reject the first statewide anti-LGBT ballot measure. And polling looks good for counting the number of openly LGBT members of Congress for the next session to climb from seven to 10. The following is an hour-by-hour guide to the most important races to watch for the LGBT community (all times are EDT):
Democrats must keep their seats in
Florida
Indiana (Joe Donnelly), and Missouri (Claire McCaskill) to have any (Bill Nelson),
chance of holding the majority.
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Andrew Gillum.
7 p.m.:
8 p.m. Eastern:
Vermont: Christine Halquist is the Democratic candidate for governor and, if successful, will become the first transgender person to be elected governor of any state. Fivethirtyeight shows her double-digits behind incumbent Republican Governor Phil Scott.
Massachusetts: Question 3 represents the first time a state has been asked to vote on a law that currently prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. Polls predict voters will say “Yes,” keep the law. But in addition to the tendency of respondents being reluctant to tell a pollster about any position they may hold that seems prejudiced, there has been some apparent confusion about the ballot measure itself. While the latest poll showed 74 percent in favor of keeping the law, about 25 percent of those people also said transgender people should be restricted to bathrooms based on their genitals at birth.
Indiana: Incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly
needs to win to give Democrats any chance of taking the majority back. If he loses, the Senate will almost certainly be controlled by Republicans again. As of last week, he appeared to have a margin-of-error lead over his Republican challenger Mike Braun. While Donnelly has been a strong supporter of LGBT equality, Braun, as state legislator, voted for anti-LGBT measures.
7:30 Eastern: Ohio:
Openly gay challenger Rick Neal is running for a U.S. House seat for the 15th district in the Columbus area. Polls suggested he was not likely to unseat the incumbent. The Columbus Dispatch endorsed the incumbent, after mentioning that Neal, a former Peace Corps volunteer, would likely be a “sympathetic voice for refugee resettlement” and had worked on marriage equality.
West Virginia:
How well Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is important for Democrats, but it could also be seen as a measure of how voters feel about his vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In 2012, he won with 60.6 percent of the vote.
Massachusetts: Openly gay Attorney General Maura Healey is expected to cruise to re-election to that statewide office. She’s been a popular, high profile official, frequently leading lawsuits to challenge actions taken by the Trump administration. As a newcomer, in 2014, she won with 62 percent of the vote. The results November 6 could be a good indicator of her prospects to run for governor in 2022. Florida: It’s important that incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson retain his seat. He’s in a tough race with incumbent Governor Rick Scott for the position and this race’s outcome is another that will likely determine the party balance of the U.S. Senate. Nelson earned a 94 on his voting record from the Human Rights Campaign. Equality Florida says Governor Rick Scott’s staff promised, after the Pulse nightclub shooting, to issue an executive order to protect LGBT state employees. He still hasn’t.
NEWS elections Tammy Baldwin.
Missouri:
It’s important for incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill to retain her seat if Democrats have any hope to grab the majority in the Senate. The polls are extremely tight. In the candidates’ last debate, October 25, a member of the audience asked what they would do to make sure LGBT people are not discriminated against. McCaskill said nobody should be discriminated against because of who they love and that she was “embarrassed that Missouri still has a law” that would enable an employer to fire someone for being gay. Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley’s gave a Trump-like “I’m for everybody” type response, carefully worded so as not to use the words gay or LGBT. “All folks” should have constitutional rights protected, he said. Then he added that he believes “religious believers should have their rights to their free expression of worship.” After Hawley finished, McCaskill asked him directly whether he’d be for changing Missouri law to protect LGBT employees. He didn’t look at her or respond.
Tennessee: There’s a U.S. Senate seat open here due to the retirement of Republican Bob Corker and a tight race between Democratic former Governor Phil Bredesen and Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn. Blackburn has a margin-of-error lead in the polls. Tennessee is Trump territory and Blackburn is an unabashed Trump supporter. Blackburn’s Human Rights Campaign Congressional voting record has been a consistent zero. When the Tennessean newspaper asked both candidates whether businesses should be able to deny serving same-sex couples, Blackburn said, “People of faith should be free to practice their beliefs as guaranteed by our Constitution,” adding, “They should never be punished for their beliefs” and that she would “work to ensure our religious beliefs are protected.” Bredesen said, “No, and I think most business owners feel the same. I agree with Justice Kennedy …that ‘disputes must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs, and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market.” Phil Bredesen.
Texas: Democrats are hoping new comer Beto
O’Rourke can unseat incumbent U. S. Senator Ted Cruz. The latest polls showed Cruz hanging on with a narrow lead, but FiveThirtyEight.com says data show O’Rourke could pull this off. This would be a tremendous relief for the LGBT community. Cruz has a zero record of voting in the interests of the LGBT community and supported numerous anti-LGBT efforts.
Minnesota: This is Angie Craig’s second
9 p.m. Eastern: Wisconsin: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin,
a Democrat, initially looked to be in a tough race for re-election. Right-wing conservative donors poured thousands of dollars into the campaigns of her Republican opponents early on. They were hopeful, given Wisconsin’s surprise vote for Trump in 2016. But Baldwin has always been popular in Wisconsin, and she quickly outraised the right-wing donors who were trying to unseat her. As of last week, she had a 10-point lead over her Republican challenger. It will be interesting to see what Baldwin’s likely margin of victory will be this year. In 2012, she won the open seat with 50.3 percent of the vote, compared to Republican Tommy Thompson’s 47 percent.
Colorado: U.S. Rep. Jared Polis is the Democratic candidate for governor and, if successful, could become the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor of any state. In the last two weeks, polls have shown Polis with a seven-to 11-point lead. Media in the state say Polis’ being gay hasn’t really been made an issue in the campaign, though the Republican Governors’ Association recently aired an ad, saying “Polis wants to turn Colorado into Radicalifornia,” a term which seems to echo “San Francisco Democrat.”
bid for a U.S. House seat in Minnesota’s Second Congressional district. Polls show her with a sixpoint lead. And on October 25, the Minneapolis StarTribune endorsed her, saying, “Craig maintains a reasonableness and a respectful, intelligent, no-drama approach that could help turn the temperature down in a Congress beset by heated rhetoric and gamesmanship.” She narrowly lost two years ago to current Rep. Jason Lewis, who’s voting record on LGBT issues hasn’t risen from zero.
Michigan:
Democratic Attorney and Wayne County prosecutor Dana Nessel is hoping to win the attorney general seat for Michigan. The Detroit Free Press endorsed her, saying, “no one running for attorney general demonstrates a more sophisticated understanding of that office’s potential and limitations.” The Detroit News endorsed the Republican, saying, “The AG shouldn’t use the office to press a personal agenda or to delve into national political and social activism. That was an apparent reference to Nessels’ high profile work on behalf of the LGBT community, including a lawsuit that challenged the state’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples. Sharice Davids.
Texas: Openly lesbian Democratic candidate
Lupe Valdez is fighting a 19-point deficit in her bid to oust Republican incumbent Greg Abbott. Given that Abbott’s campaign has vastly outspent Valdez and that he is the Republican candidate in a strongly Republican state, the outcome was probably predictable since the start. But Valdez, the first openly lesbian sheriff of a major city (Dallas) in the nation, suffered some embarrassment when the Houston GLBT Caucus endorsed her primary opponent, and the state’s largest police group endorsed Abbott.
Texas:
Three openly gay candidates are running for U.S. House seats: Gina Ortiz Jones (23rd district), Lorie Burch (3rd), Eric Holguin (27th). Polls last week showed all three trailing significantly. Jones probably has the best chance. She’s gotten tremendous support from the national Democratic Party and, among registered voters, the latest poll showed her trailing by only four points, within the five-point margin-of-error. (But among likely voters, she’s behind 15.) Burch is 20 points behind her in district; Holguin is 27 points behind.
10 p.m. Eastern: Nevada: The U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Dean Heller appears vulnerable, and Democrats need to win this one to take the majority. Polls showed Democratic U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen with a margin-of-error edge going into election day. In the House, Rosen has a 100 percent pro-LGBT score with the Human Rights Campaign. Heller’s Human Rights Campaign score is zero. Montana:
Another critical U.S. Senate race is between Democratic incumbent Jon Tester and Republican challenger Matt Rosendale. Tester had a six-point lead going into election day. Tester’s Human Rights Campaign score is 88.
11 p.m.: Arizona:
U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate Democrat, has a chance to become the first openly bisexual person to be elected to the U.S. Senate and the second openly LGBT person to do so (Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was the first). At one point, polls showed her with a strong lead, especially given that Arizona is a heavily Republican state. But the latest polls show less than a one-point difference between her and pro-Trump rival Martha McSally. Importantly, on October 23, the state’s biggest newspaper, the Arizona Republic, endorsed Sinema –its first Democratic endorsement in almost two decades. Sinema’s victory is critical to any chance Democrats have of winning a majority in the Senate.
Oregon:
Openly bisexual Governor Kate Brown had anywhere from an eight-point lead to a virtual tie just prior to the election. Some polls now suggest it’s a much tighter race. Brown was the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor of any state, winning a 2016 special election after assuming office the year before upon resignation of the incumbent. Her challenger is a pro-same-sex marriage Republican State Rep. Knute Buehler.
California 25th:
Bisexual Democrat Katie Hill has waged a very strong campaign to unseat Republican Congressman Steve Knight, whose voting record on LGBT issues has earned him only a 43 from the Human Rights Campaign. At deadline, two polls showed Hill with a tiny lead, one showed Knight with a tiny lead. RealClearPolitics called it a toss up.
North Kansas: First-time candidate Sharice Davids, a Democrat, was polling nine points ahead of Republican incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder last week. If elected, she’ll be the first lesbian elected in Kansas and the first Native American. It was those distinctions that drew considerable media attention to her race in Kansas’ Third Congressional District after a local GOP official said Republicans on election day would send the “radical socialist kick boxing lesbian Indian … back packing to the reservation.” In the ensuing uproar, he resigned. Yoder’s Human Rights Campaign score is zero.
Dakota: Democratic U.S. Senate incumbent Heidi Heitkamp is in trouble. Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer is expected to unseat her. The Human Rights Campaign scores Heitkamp’s record on LGBT issues at 82, Cramer at zero. But Cramer has a four-point lead on Heitkamp going into voting. Heidi Heitkamp.
10.31.2018 •
15
NEWS elections SFGN Staff
Election Guide 2018 SFGN has compiled the endorsements from the three largest LGBT rights groups in South Florida – SAVE, Equality Florida and Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
STATE RACES
SEAN SHAW (EqFL, PBCHRC, SAVE) Ellen Baker (PBCHRC)
Governor Andrew Gillum – EqFL, PBCHRC, SAVE
Attorney General Sean Shaw – EqFL, PBCHRC, SAVE
Amendment 4 YES, Restore the right to vote for people with prior felony convictions – EqFL, PBCHRC, SAVE
Amendment 6 NO, changes to the state’s law regarding the rights of crime victims – SAVE
Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Ring – PBCHRC, SAVE
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 120) Holly Rashein – SAVE, EqFl
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 118) Robert Asencio – SAVE, EqFl
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 116) James Harden – SAVE
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 115)
Nicole “Nikki” Fried – PBCHRC, SAVE
Jeffrey Solomon – SAVE, EqFl
Florida Senate (Dist. 30)
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 114)
Florida Senate (Dist. 40) Annette Taddeo
JEREMY RING (PBCHRC, SAVE)
James Bonfiglio – PBCHRC, EqFL
Commissioner of Agriculture
Bobby Powell – PBCHRC, EqFL
ANDREW GILLUM (EqFL, PBCHRC, SAVE)
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 89)
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 82) Edward O’Connor – PBCHRC
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 85) Ellen Baker – PBCHRC
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 86) Matt Willhite – PBCHRC, EqFL
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 87) David Silvers – PBCHRC, EqFL
Javier Fernandez – SAVE, EqFl
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 113) Michael Grieco – SAVE, EqFl
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 112) Nicholas Duran – SAVE, EqFl
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 108) Dotie Joseph – SAVE, EqFl
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 105) Javier Estevev – SAVE
Florida House of Representatives (Dist. 103) Cindy Polo – SAVE
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NEWS elections
BROWARD
Judge Group 3
Wilton Manors Mayor
Judge Group 3
Justin Flippen – SAVE, EqFL
Wilton Manors Commission
Kevin Emas – SAVE
Gary Resnick (SAVE)
Ivan Fernandez – SAVE
Judge Group 3
Gary Resnick – SAVE
Norma S. Lindsey – SAVE
Wilton Manors Commission
Judge Group 3
Scott Newton– SAVE, EqFL
JUSTIN FLIPPEN (SAVE, EqFL)
SCOTT NEWTON (SAVE, EqFL)
Robert Luck – SAVE
PALM BEACH
Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation (Group 1) Michelle Sylvester – PBCHRC
Circuit Court Judge (Group 18) Marybel Reinoso Coleman – PBCHRC
Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation (Group 5)
Circuit Court Judge (Group 25)
Eva Webb – PBCHRC
Michael McAuliffe – PBCHRC
Board of Supervisors of the Northern PBC Improvement District (Seat 2)
County Commissioner (Dist. 2) MARYBEL REINOSO COLEMAN (PBCHRC) MICHAEL MCAULIFFE (PBCHRC)
Gregg Weiss – PBCHRC, EqFL
Jim Gibbs – PBCHRC
County Commissioner (Dist. 4) Robert S. Weinroth – PBCHRC, EqFL
County Court Judge (Group 4) Ashley Zuckerman – PBCHRC
MIAMI-DADE Judge Group 14 Renee Gordon – SAVE
Judge Group 46 Maria Weeks – SAVE
Judge Group 9 Corey Cawthon – SAVE
Mayor Cutler Bay Javier Giraud – SAVE
Cutler Bay Group 3 Roger Coriat – SAVE
North Bay Village Mayor
North Bay Village Harbor Island Marvin Wilmoth – SAVE
North Bay Village At-Large Julianna Strout – SAVE
Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham – SAVE
Palmetto Bay Group 1 Anthony Gorman – SAVE
Pinecrest Council Seat 4 Katie Abbott – SAVE
Pinecrest Council Seat 4 James Field – SAVE
COREY CAWTHON (SAVE) RENEE GORDON (SAVE) MARIA WEEKS (SAVE)
Brent Latham – SAVE
10.31.2018 •
17
Convictions
Guest Column
Vote YES On Amendment 4
The amendment is long overdue. In 1974, Florida lawmakers passed a bill to restore the right to vote. The state Supreme Court struck it down. Scott Greenberg
O
n the ballot this November, Amendment 4 restores the right to vote to more than 1.5 million people in Florida with a felony conviction. One in ten people in the state are currently and permanently barred from voting because of a criminal record. If passed, the measure would be a civil rights triumph, particularly for the LGBT community. Mass incarceration disproportionately harms queer individuals, who are three times more likely to be imprisoned than heterosexual people. Every day, LGBT people, particularly transgender individuals, are jailed for sex work when they can find no other Mass employment. Queer youth are forced from incarceration home and arrested for sleeping in the street. The sweep is extraordinary. At some disproportionately point in their lives, half of homeless people are incarcerated and 70 percent of lowharms queer income LGBT people are homeless. individuals, who It inordinately impacts queer people of color. One in five black citizens in Florida are three times can’t vote and, like in other states, the state’s disenfranchisement is wrought and more likely to be rooted in Jim Crow-era voter suppression. imprisoned than governor and a clemency board where In 1868, Florida adopted a constitution around 3,000 people had their rights disenfranchising those convicted of heterosexual restored under Gov. Rick Scott in his felonies, with one delegate saying the two terms. Under Gov. Charlie Crist, constitution prevented Florida from being people. who served one term, 155,000 did. “niggerized.” The state also enacted Black Still, today’s political landscape Codes, levying draconian penalties for looks promising for the referendum, which excludes minor crimes like vagrancy and petty theft. It’s still part and parcel of Florida penal code. Trace those convicted of murder or a sex offense. Two polls drug possession, for example, is a felony in the state. put support at more than 70 percent, with 60 percent of Republicans in favor in one. Its backing is bipartisan, Sleeping on public property is a crime too. Only two other states, Iowa and Kentucky, with conservative Evangelical groups, Democrats and permanently disenfranchise those convicted of the Kochs’ political network behind it. Gubernatorial felonies. It’s the ugliest of politics – of racism and candidate Andrew Gillum is in support while Trumpvindictiveness, for votes counted and culled. A backed Ron DeSantis opposes it. The amendment is long overdue. In 1974, Florida federal judge recently declared Florida’s process of reenfranchisement unconstitutional, calling it arbitrary lawmakers passed a bill to restore the right to vote. The and discriminatory. An applicant must go before the state Supreme Court effectively struck it down.
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Now it’s up to us, and a win is far from certain. A third poll conducted showed only 40 percent support, with 43 percent undecided, but did not explain what the measure stood for. To your Republican or Democratic friends, straight and gay, please vote yes on Amendment 4 gives the right to vote to more people than any one measure since women’s suffrage. It’s historic, transformative and common sense. Permanent exclusion from this pillar of civic life serves no one. Scott Greenberg is the executive director of the Freedom Fund, a non-governmental organization that works to eliminate the mass jailing of people, particularly LGBTQ individuals.
10.31.2018 •
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NEWS elections
Election Guide 2018 SFGN has decided to reprint the endorsements of the League of Women Voters to help our readers wade through the many amendments on this year’s ballot, some of which are very confusing. For more information, including which groups support and oppose these amendments, visit www.LWVFL.org/amendments.
From the League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters of Florida is non-partisan and does not endorse political candidates, but we do take positions on education, the environment, and voting rights. These and other issues are reflected in this year’s slate of constitutional amendments, which is why the League’s positions are reflected in the amendment summaries found in this voter guide. The League’s position is based not only on our existing position on issues but also on whether a proposal belongs in the state Constitution, which should be a framework for government operations. For example, the League does not believe that tax and spending issues belong in the Constitution. Those are decisions the Legislature should make. The Constitution should not be burdened with a litany of amendments that often are driven by politics rather than governance. There are, however, some issues important enough to merit constitutional status. Offshore drilling is one example. While the League does not believe that bans on tobacco smoking and vaping should have a home in the Constitution, the protection of Florida’s waters and shorelines from pollution should. Because the Constitution Revision Commission chose to bundle multiple and unrelated issues into single questions, such as a vaping ban with a drilling ban, the League is recommending a yes vote on Amendment 9. The League does not take lightly the responsibility of supporting or opposing constitutional amendments. Nor should voters. These are complex issues, further complicated by the CRC’s bundling of multiple questions. I urge voters to use this guide and other sources of information to get informed and to vote on Nov. 6. Patti Brigham President League of Women Voters of Florida
Photo via the League of Women Voters in Broward County, Facebook.
Amendment 1
Amendment 2
Amendment 3
Grants an additional $25,000 homestead exemption for homes valued over $125,000. Owners of homes worth more than $100,000 would also receive an increase in their exemption.
Makes permanent what currently is a temporary cap of 10 percent on annual property value increases for vacation homes, apartments and commercial property, effectively limiting increases on tax bills.
Requires approval of any new casino gambling through a citizen-initiative constitutional amendment, effectively barring the Legislature from making those gambling decisions by passing laws.
Oppose. The League has a position that “no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution.”
Oppose. The League has a position that “no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution.”
Support. It restricts casino gambling and allows Florida voters to make any decisions regarding increases of casino gambling, consistent with League position against gambling. This amendment is also supported by No Casinos, Inc. and Disney.
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NEWS elections Continued from page 14
Amendment 4
Amendment 7
Would restore the eligibility to vote to persons with felony convictions who have completed their sentences.
Creates a supermajority requirement for universities to impose new or increase existing student fees; enshrines in the Constitution guidelines for the State College System; mandates that employers or the state pay a death benefit to first responders and members of the military killed in the line of duty.
Support. The League was one of the sponsors of this initiative. Florida is one of only four states that permanently bars felons from voting after their sentences are completed. This restriction on voting is a vestige of Florida’s post-Civil War Constitution. Everyone deserves a second chance.
Amendment 5 Requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to approve any new or increased taxes or fees, rather than a simple majority. Oppose. This amendment does not include a provision that would allow for tax increases in times of emergencies (hurricane, floods, recession, etc.) and is an abrogation of the Legislature’s fiduciary responsibility to pass a reasonable budget.
Amendment 6 Vastly expands the scope of victims rights under the state Constitution; increases the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75; forces courts and judges to interpret laws and rules for themselves rather than rely on interpretations by government agencies. Oppose. Victims’ rights are already protected in the Constitution, and this amendment would eliminate an existing provision that victims’ rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the accused.
Oppose. We oppose a supermajority vote to increase fees or taxes. Family members of the military who die in the line of service are already compensated through the federal government.
Amendment 9 Prohibits oil drilling beneath waters controlled by Florida; prohibits the use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, at indoor workplaces. Support. Our concern for the environment overrides our concern about putting vaping in the Constitution. We also believe that if this amendment doesn’t pass, it sends a signal to the federal government that Florida does not care about off-shore drilling.
Amendment 10 Requires the Legislature to hold its session in early January on even-numbered years; creates an Office of Domestic Security and Counterterrorism within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; mandates the existence of a state Department of Veterans’ Affairs; forces all counties to elect a sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections and Clerk of Circuit Court. Oppose. This limits the voters in local communities from deciding on the election of county officers. It adds an unnecessary provision as the Constitution already has the power to set dates during even numbered years. FDLE is already the lead agency in coordinating efforts to prevent terrorism, and the Constitution already has authorized the Legislature to create a Department of Veteran Affairs. This amendment is clearly an effort to restrict the powers of local government.
Amendment 11 Repeals the state’s ability to prohibit noncitizens from buying, owning and selling property; deletes a provision that forces the state to prosecute criminal suspects under the law they were originally charged under, even if the Legislature changes that law; deletes obsolete language having to do with high-speed rail in Florida. No position. Although we think that removing obsolete language is a good thing, there is a lot of other obsolete language that is not being addressed. Although the first issue regarding the ability of non-citizens to purchase and sell property cannot be enforced, the provision that requires criminal suspects to be prosecuted for an obsolete law should be changed.
Amendment 12 Expands ethics rules for elected officials and government employees, notably by expanding from two to six years the time that many officials would have to wait before they could lobby state government. No position. Although there is need for lobbying reform, we felt that six years might be onerous, and this amendment does not address the real issue regarding lobbying, which is the impact of money in political campaigns.
Amendment 13 Bans wagering on any type of dog racing, notably greyhounds, as of Dec. 31, 2020, while continuing to allow dog tracks to continue offering other types of gambling, including poker rooms. Support. This is primarily a gambling issue, and the League has held a consistent position against gambling.
10.31.2018 •
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NEWS key west
Bear Weekend
Photo via islandhousekeywest.com.
Comes to Key West Nov. 8-11 John Porter
F
or award-winning party curator Shane Tate his second annual Key West Bear Weekend is all about body positivity. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 90 pounds or if you’re 300 pounds, you’re going to feel sexy, you’re going to have a good time and you’re going to be accepted exactly as you are,” Tate said. This will be Tate’s second iteration of KWBW. The event kicks off Nov. 8 and is co-produced with Bear World Magazine, which bills itself as the world’s leading gay lifestyle magazine for the bear community. KWBW began with a trial run in 2017, which saw more than 100 patrons descend on the island for a weekend of parties, fun and charity. This year organizers expect around 300 attendees – more than double last year’s attendance. Tate has cultivated a long career of community centric and inclusive events. In asking the secret to his success, Tate said he takes a local approach to curating parties for the LGBT community by analyzing the community and its needs to ensure the charitable component of Key West Bear Weekend speaks to the local community. The 2018 KWBW will also welcome the crowning of the first Mr. Key West Bear. Along with the crown, the winner will have a platform to raise contributions to local Key West charities. Serving fun with purpose has catapulted Tate’s parties to must attend status within the community. The “Bear” culture within the greater LGBT community was historically carved
out of an under-represented portion of the community, who felt they didn’t quite fit the perfect smooth muscular body type that has been pervasive in the community as the standard for acceptance for many years. Seeking a space within the community to be body positive expressive, gave way to the emergence of this safe community space of expression which is rooted in an all accepting, all inclusive approach to LGBT togetherness. When examining Shane Tate’s parties over his career, the connecting fiber in all of his events is a sense of inclusion, respect and moving the representation of the community forward. This year, KWBW will add new parties and events. Party-goers will find a social calendar for the weekend that is chock full of pool parties, art and shopping trips and dance parties, including the Bubble Bear Foam Party and the Butch Queen Drag Bar Crawl. Plus, new for 2018, the organizers are excited to welcome Joe Fiore’s legendary FURBALL party to Key West as their headline event featuring South Florida’s premier DJ Alex Ferbeyre on Saturday, Nov. 10. Attendees are encouraged to purchase an all-access pass for $65, which waives the cover charge for all official events over the weekend, gets the holder unlimited access to the Island House Resort, and also includes a number of exclusive discounts and offers at businesses around the island. Local residents of Key West will get a discounted pass for $50.
The 2018 KWBW will also welcome the crowning of the first Mr. Key West Bear.
Meat Happy Hour
When: Friday November 9 Where: Island House Key West 1129 Fleming Street
Description: Start the weekend right by meeting your furry friends for an all-male, clothing optional oasis. This MUST attend KWBW pass inclusive happy hour includes 2-4-1 on everything. Enjoy FREE gourmet appetizers passed around poolside.
More info: IslandHouseKeyWest.com
Bubble Bear Foam Party
When: Friday November 9 Where: Bourbon St. Pub Description: Pool and hot tub filled with
hot bubbly bears while live DJ’s and Go-Go bears entertain.
More info: Bourbonstpub.com/ upcomingevents.html
Visit KeyWestBearW eekend.com for mor e info and to purcha by Shane Tate and se a pass. Key Wes Bear World Magaz t Bear Weekend is co in e, and sponsored by Oil and The Leathe -presented Island House Resort, r Master Key West. The weekend of be Sc ru ff, 12 7 Tra vel, Gun ar celebration begi ns on Thursday, Nov through Sunday, N . 8 and runs ov. 11.
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Mr. Key West Bear Contest
When: Saturday November 10 Where: Back Bar 711 Duval Street Description: KWBW crowns its first Mr. Key West Bear.
More info: TheBackBarkeyWest.com
FURBALL powered by Scruff When: Saturday November 10 Where: Side Bar 504 Angela Street Description: KWBW Main Event
featuring Joe Fiore’s bear dance party featuring DJ Alex Ferbeyre.
More info: SideBarKeyWest.com
Butch Queen Bar Crawl
When: Sunday November 11 Where: Aqua Night Club 711 Duval St Description: Sissy that walk with bears dressed in their fiercest butch queen looks for an epic bar crawl.
More info: AquaKeyWest.com
YES, WE’RE OPEN NOW. COME DRINK + EAT + DANCE + PARTY WITH US. Open 4 p.m. daily
10.31.2018 •
23
NEWS key west Wisteria Island.
WILLS, TRUSTS, BANKRUPTCY LGBT PRE-WEDDING PLANNING AND FAMILY LAW
Gay Couple Attacked On Island Near Key West Doug Phillips Sun Sentinel
A
fter a day of snorkeling and walking on a small uninhabited island off Key West, two tourists were preparing to leave when they were attacked by a man and a woman shouting anti-gay slurs, according to investigators. The two men from West Hollywood, California, were visiting Wisteria Island — once known as Christmas Tree Island — on Saturday after piloting their large rental boat and its dinghy to the federally owned island located several hundred yards off the northwest corner of Key West. It was about 4:30 p.m. as they were preparing to take the dinghy back to the larger boat when they noticed a small skiff heading their way, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said. “Get the [expletive] off our island,” they heard the two people shouting along with other sexual slurs and curse words, deputies said. The people in the skiff would later be identified as Christopher Thomas John Yarema, 43, and Stephanie Lynn Burnham, 35, according to Adam Linhardt, spokesman for the sheriff’s office. “You have five seconds to get off, or I will kill you,” Burnham yelled, before smacking one of the two men in the face and then hitting him on the head with a boat oar,
the sheriff’s office said. The man was not seriously hurt. After the man pushed Burnham away, Yarema came at him with a knife, according to deputies, and said, “You knocked down my wife, I’m going to kill you.” As Yarema repeatedly came at the man with the four-inch-blade, the man’s partner pushed the dinghy between the two — causing Yarema to miss the visitor but slash the dinghy. Though it was leaking, the two men used the small, inflatable vessel to get away and go back to their boat where they radioed for help, the sheriff’s office said. An arrest report indicated Yarema and Burnham may have gotten upset because one of the two visitors was wearing a Speedo-type bathing suit, WPLG-Ch. 10 reported The men told deputies the attack began after one of the approaching assailants yelled “Hey, Mr. Speedo,” according to the station. Yarema, a fisherman and roofer, is charged with aggravated assault and causing property damage, arrest records show. Burnham, a Key West laborer, is charged with battery and causing property damage. The boat rental company told deputies the damage to the dinghy is estimated at between $2,000 and $5,000.
After the man pushed Burnham away, Yarema came at him with a knife, according to deputies.
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FAITH & PRIDE spirituality
SFGN joins with LGBT Americans everywhere in extending its
sympathies and love to all those lives taken away so suddenly last Saturday at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
United Church of Christ Fort Lauderdale 2501 NE 30th Street, Ft. Lauderdale (954)563-4271 - uccftl.org revpatrickrogers@gmail.com Service Times: Thursdays 10:30AM (Elliot Hall) & Sundays 10:30AM (Sanctuary)
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Divine Mercy Chapel 2749 NE 10th Ave Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-567-1930 - DivineMercy.church Service Time: Mass, Sunday 10:30am St. Nicholas Episcopal Church 1111 E. Sample Road, Pompano Beach (954)942-5887 - stnicholasfl.org office@stnicholasfl.org Service Times: Sundays 8:00AM & 10:30AM (9:30AM only from Memorial Day through Labor Day)
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Congregation Etz Chaim 2038 N. Dixie Hwy (Pride Center Building B), Wilton Manors 954-564-9232 - etzchaimflorida.org RabbiNoahKitty@etzchaimflorida.org Friday Night Shabbat Service 8pm Holy Angels Catholic Community 2917 NE 6th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-633-2987 - HolyAngelsFL.net Sunday Mass at 11AM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 1750 East Oakland Park Blvd, Ft. Lauderdale 954-563-5155 - saintmarksftl.com info@saintmarks.com Sundays: 8:00 a.m - HE Rite I, 10:00 a.m. - HE Rite II
FAITH & PRIDE spirituality Local Leaders Mourn Victims in Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Carina Mask Mayor Gary Resnick.
O
n Monday night the Congregation Rabbi Noah Kitty, the spiritual leader Etz Chaim in Wilton Manors held of Congregation Etz Chaim, “The most a vigil to honor the victims of the important thing that you can do for someone Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting. who has suffered a loss, especially a violent This weekend, eleven people were and unexpected loss, is to be there with slaughtered while they sat in Shul on them because there is an almost inescapable Shabbat. tendency when you’re a survivor of an act Local religious leaders, community that you feel as if you are alone, which is leaders and elected officials filled the worst feeling. In addition to the the space in Wilton Manors. loss and in addition to the terror, Approximately two hundred and to think that no one else people attended the vigil. understands. So thank you Wilton Manors Mayor for being here with us, and Gary Resnick, Reverend letting us know you care.” Dr. Durrell Watkins of This is the largest attack Sunshine Cathedral, Rabbi on the Jewish community Noah Kitty of Congregation on American soil. Etz Chaim, Pastor Leslie Watkins spoke first, “Our Rutland-Tipton of Church country is hurting itself, over Justin Flippen. of the Holy SpiritSong, Sheriff and over with hate and fear and Scott Israel and the CEO of the demonizing then dehumanizing Pride Center, Robert Boo all spoke. one community and then another. We are Besides the 11 killed, six others were hurting ourselves. Where has my country’s injured. The suspected gunman, a 46-year- hope gone?” old man of Baldwin, Pennsylvania, faces 29 He also added, “You have friends at the charges in total, which include 11 counts of Sunshine Cathedral, and we will stand with using a firearm to commit murder. you and we will stand for you. An attack on you, is an attack on our family, and we will respond accordingly — we will not retaliate, not armed with hate, but with courage and conviction and conscience and character. ” The hour long vigil was filled with fiery speeches from elected officials. Hymns and prayers from religious leaders filled the air as people tried to stifle their sobs.
Rabbi Noah Kitty.
To see many more photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook. 10.31.2018 •
27
Publisher's Editorial
Convictions
Hyping Hate Instead of Hope The Vile of Donald Trump Comes Back to Haunt Us This Tuesday, cast your ballots to make a difference.
Norm Kent
norm.kent@sfgn.com
T
here is a sign on the door of the South Florida Gay News. It reads, “Due to recent security concerns, the front door of our office may be locked. Please knock for entry.” The president of the United States put it there. For three years, first as a candidate, and now as a conspirator, Donald Trump has been railing against a free press. The ignorant chants of the hate-filled tweeter in chief have come home to roost. Last week, a mad bomber sent lethal devices to CNN. If threats on the press and former presidents were not enough, last Saturday a different raging lunatic shot and murdered eleven congregants gathered for prayer at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh. Rose Mallinger, 97, lived through a world terrorized by Hitler’s Germany. She could not, however, survive Trump’s America. The president of the United States did not do the shooting. He did not pull the trigger. He did not buy the guns. But he has incited the violence and created the climate for haters like the maniac who shot up the synagogue and the moron who sent bombs to democratic politicians. For nearly two years, Trump’s toxic words from have bred poisonous seeds. They have now sown lethal consequences. He had been asking for the media to be lynched. It is no surprise his followers now carry the ropes. On the night of the Pittsburgh massacre, the man residing in the Oval Office could have published somber and sobering words to our nation. No chance. What did the president do? He turned to Twitter, posting about managerial pitching changes in the World Series. Really. The man is just blind. There is a time and
place for everything. This was not the time for a tweet about baseball. A president can be inspirational and a leader. Donald Trump does not so qualify. Trump spins the truth upside down. While he whines about how unfair the world is to him, let’s not hold a pity party. Let’s throw him an impeachment ceremony instead. How often and how much does he lie and flat out put a sinister spin on everything? My grandmother used to say “half a truth is a whole lie.” Donald Dearest is a pie and a half. If you were an immigrant seeking freedom and asylum in America, you have now become a member of an invading, alien force. However, if you were a Nazi marching in Charlottesville wearing brown shirts, there were “good people” on your side. If you were a woman standing up to sexual abuse, you really liked it when guys reached for your “pussy.”After all, “you wanted it” all the time. However, if you were a White House staffer accused of sexually battering your wife, you were a “team player,” unjustly accused. The president hated to see you go. If you are the respected mayor and minority gubernatorial candidate seeking equal justice for all, in Trump’s world, you have now become a “stone cold thief” who is “monkeying” up our society. However, if you were a sheriff convicted and sentenced of denying equal rights to your county’s citizens and defying a federal court, you can win a presidential salute and pardon. If you are a transgender person seeking equal rights in the military, you are subverting the armed forces, and throwing our budgets out of whack.
Trump may not believe in climate change, but he has created an ecosystem of toxic algae emanating from the Oval Office.
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Editorial By Mike Luckovich However, if you are a Congressman who whacks a reporter at a political rally, you are Trump’s kind of guy. He will endorse you AND pay your legal fees. If you are a football player who takes a knee during the national anthem to assert your civil rights as an American, you should be ‘fired’ and kicked out of the NFL. However, if you are a draft-dodger who used “bone spurs” as a medical excuse to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War, you can still get elected president and make believe you support veterans. If you are a woman who questions the credentials of a presidential nominee to the Supreme Court, you are a liar defaming a good man’s name. However, if you are a Saudi Arabian prince allowing journalists to be slaughtered in your embassy, your denials seem “credible.” The list of presidential lies flies faster than the truth can catch up with them. Trump may not believe in climate change, but he has created an ecosystem of toxic algae emanating from the Oval Office. As you vote next week, send the White House a Blue Message. Once the party that bragged of “personal responsibility,” today
Republicans represent a party with no spine. Vote as if your freedom depended on it, because it does. You probably don’t even realize how many immigrant children at the border are still without their parents. They can’t vote. Be their voice. You probably don’t even realize that the bump stock provision banning certain types of assault weapons never got through Congress. The young children slaughtered in Parkland can’t ever vote again. Be their voice. You probably do not realize how many transgender persons have had their careers in the Armed Forces jeopardized by the latest Trump initiatives rolling back their protections. Be their voice. You probably don’t realize how many mothers cannot take care of their children without the support of Obamacare and a health insurance system that protects them instead of forgetting them. Be their voice. It’s possible to seek a newer world. We can have a president who ascends to grace again. We can have a debate that talks of hope and prosperity instead of hate and persecution. Cast your ballots to make a difference.
First they came for the Mexicans, and I didn’t speak up
because i wasn’t mexican.
Then they came for the immigrants, and I didn’t speak up
because i wasn’t an immigrant.
Then they came for Muslims, and I didn’t speak up
because i wasn’t muslim.
Then they came for transgender people, but I didn’t speak up
because i wasn’t transgender.
when will
you speak up?
10.31.2018 •
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Convictions
Off The Wall
FLOATING TURDS The deep sewer
Pier Angelo
Illustration by DonkeyHotey, Flickr.
A
merican politicians crave ignorance, poverty, inequality, division, hypocrisy, chaos, boogie men, lies, crime, war — to stay alive and fester. They are creatures from a science fiction movie. Irresponsibility and total disregard for the good of the country is the norm in a game where the word bipartisan has become anathema. Obstructionism is the rule. Paralyzing the government is the favorite sport of the elected gasbags. The word “do jour” is negate instead of negotiate. Too many times I feel we are ruled by thieves and liars. It is as if the last remaining vestiges of restraint and shame have been overcome and it is no longer necessary, on the part of the political elite, to pretend that they are anything less than what they are: power hungry, self-centered, monochromatic, greedy, narcissistic bastards. They all have black belts in shifting blame or responsibility. Their ego-cancer makes them unaware of the mounting disgust the population at large feels at the way we are ruled. It doesn’t even matter at this point if the people have voted for or against any politicians they now despise. There is very little hope for change. Although they often talk and promise a better world, especially on the campaign trail, not one of them gives evidence of having any desire to change this rotten system because it works so well to the real purpose of maintaining power for themselves, and the benefits that come with it. The people be damned. Keep them sick and poor. They are easier to control. The members of this caste are predators who use charm, money, intimidation, religion and fear to manipulate others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. We routinely elect barbarians who take what they want and do as they please without guilt or remorse. We should start blaming ourselves for accepting the status quo because we elect these sociopaths and pay their salaries. Unless you have a permanent lapse of reason you have to admit that those who represent you belong in a three-ring circus, or preferably in a loony bin.
It’s all a facade, a big fraud perpetrated against the American people, a far too real and tragic reality show.
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I am exhausted by how stupid everyone is getting. More to the point: you know they didn’t get up there by themselves, they don’t belong up there, they don’t know what to do while they are up there. They are elevated beyond their ability to function. Civility, class, style, have gone by the wayside, hysteria has taken over, elected politicians resort to innuendos, sneers, manipulation, misrepresentation, greed, and unsubstantiated attacks of the opposite side just because it is the opposite side. There is no more “right” or “wrong,” just blind partisanship. The fight today is not between liberal and conservative ideology but between proudly ignorant,
reckless and incompetent indecency and those of us who oppose it. I fear that the rules our nation so successfully followed for more than 200 years were designed for another time, a different breed of human beings. It’s all a facade, a big fraud perpetrated against the American people, a far too real and tragic reality show. The modus operandi is to talk about God, family and guns, preferably with southern accents, while robbing us blind and destroying what little is left of our democracy. Placing hopes and dreams in the hands of certified liars is never a good idea. They claim they love America, but clearly they don’t love Americans.
WMG Volume 5 • Issue 20 October 31, 2018
Wilton Manors Gazette Facebook.com/groups/WMGazette
community
Taste of the Island To Bring Flavor From Around The World to Wilton Manors By Sallie James Organizers are hoping that more Foodies, get ready! The 13th annual Wilton Manors Taste of the Island kicks regional advertising — made possible off on Nov. 5 with offerings from more by sponsorships from Greico Ford of than 35 local restaurants, breweries and Fort Lauderdale and Grieco Chevrolet of eateries from South Florida’s Tri-County Fort Lauderdale — will give the event an even broader reach, said Jeffrey Sterling, region. Festival-goers can sample everything president of Wilton Manors Taste of the from homemade fudge and spicy Indian Island. “Because of their curry to Peruvian ceviche support, the Taste of and Greek gyros in the the Island is able to charming Richardson Proceeds will increase the level of their Historic Park and Nature benefit the Wilton advertising to include Preserve. iHeart Radio. We are Proceeds will benefit the Manors Historical hoping this will promote Wilton Manors Historical Society, the the event to a larger Society, the Wilton audience and also attract Wilton Manors Manors Development new restaurants that Alliance, the Kiwanis Club Development have not previously even of Wilton Manors and Alliance, the involved so next year will the city’s Leisure Services be even bigger,” Sterling Department. Cost is $35 Kiwanis Club of said. per ticket. Wilton Manors Board member Mary Last year, the event Ulm predicts cooler raised about $12,000 and the city’s weather, a historic for the charities and Leisure Services location and a wide organizers are hoping to variety of food vendors exceed that amount this Department. will boost turnout this year. year. Ulm is also president The event has grown to 35+ vendors and will include numerous of the Wilton Manors Historical Society. “We certainly have an excellent lineup opportunities to sample beers and enjoy mixed drinks. Wilton Manors Taste of of restaurants and libations to offer,” the Island attracted about 500 people in Ulm said, said, noting that restaurants 2017 and has become a destination for will be serving food from eight different countries, the largest number since the many food lovers.
A previous gathering of Taste of the Island. Photo via Taste of the Island, Facebook.
event was started. The historic Richardson Park is a draw in itself, she added. “I think what I love about it most is seeing the park lit up at night, with lights strung throughout the park. We really use the outdoor space to good effect. We have a deejay there and it’s just good to see people
having a good time enjoying the music and enjoying the park under the trees.” Enjoy the food and drinks and soak up the beauty of Richardson Park, but also come to support the local charities, she said. “We depend on this event for a good boost Continued on page 5
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10.31.2018 •
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Opinion
Keeping Life Better Here By Sal Torre
WMG October 31, 2018 • Volume 5 • Issue 20 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
Photo via the City of Wilton Manors, Facebook.
Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com Copyeditor • Kerri Covington
Editorial
Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com News Editor • Sallie James
Correspondents
Sal Torre • James Oaksun
Staff Photographers
J.R. Davis • Pompano Bill • Steven Shires
A milestone has just been passed here in Wilton Manors. This event snuck by us very quietly and without much fanfare. Dazed over by the daily onslaught of election news, most residents remain confused and unaware of this historic event here in our city. This past City Commission meeting was the last meeting before Election Day. Our present Mayor, Gary Resnick, has served this city as Mayor for the last 10 years but is not seeking reelection. After Election Day, the torch of new leadership will be passed to a new Mayor, a new leader, a new advocate and hopefully some much needed new direction. That is the only thing residents can be certain of when election results start rolling in. Our Mayor might not be going too far. Gary Resnick is stepping down as our Mayor but is in a tight race for one of the two City Commissioner seats up for election. So, residents of our Island City might just wake up Wednesday morning after Election Day with our own version of musical chairs. Same faces, just different positions, the status quo, nothing new, business as usual, dupes to a game of five-card monte reshuffled to yield the same result. Or, perhaps by the hard work of many mystical faeries rumored to be running amok here in our Island City, especially during this week celebrating All Hollow’s Eve, a magical spell hopefully has been cast to blast our city with a gust of change blowing in new leadership, not only for Mayor, but also for City Commission. The election of two city Commissioners offer us a very clear choice. Will it be more of the status quo or a new direction? Will our leadership continue replaying the same song and dance from the past ten years or develop new strategies to move our city forward into the next decade? I have some serious concerns over the possible results of this election, both locally and statewide. The races for our next Governor and our next United States Senator are also very tight. We must take responsibility for the radical shift right in this new world Reality TV show. We must stop confusing real issues with fake news, mudslinging, and pessimistic fantasies about going back in time. The reality of the future is here right now for us to decide which path to take. Within the borders of this special place we call the Island City, the best choice is one of new leadership, of a new voice, and for a fresh perspective over the business as usual government body we have had in place for over the last ten years.
Change is not the demon that the pessimists want us to believe. Change is what makes us a better society. Change brings about social justice, equality, and new technology that improves people’s lives. Change is not the scary monster lurking in the dark; rather, it is our only hope for a new tomorrow. Embracing that change and shaping it to fit our unique needs is what will define the Island City moving ahead. As we cruise around our city, we are reminded of a few failures from over the past ten years. One major example is the former church property on NE 26th Street. This could have been a fantastic new residential complex, but it remains a decaying vacant reminder of what could have been. Another is the longawaited changes in Land Use and Zoning along the Andrews Ave/ Oakland Park Corridor, stalled in city government because of lack of leadership on the dais. The outdated zoning in place along this corridor is why we see a continuation of empty buildings, religious writings on sides of buildings, tired old strip malls, and under-utilized properties. Some people want to keep it that way, but the future of our Island City depends on a vibrant mixed-use corridor along Andrews Avenue and Oakland Park Blvd. Much needed redevelopment will better serve the surrounding communities and bring an increased tax base to our city. As we welcome in our new Mayor after Election Day, hopefully we will get some relief from all the proclamations consuming so much time at the last few City Commission meetings. Understanding that the Mayor sets the Agenda and can offer proclamations honoring residents and organizations, one wonders whether Mayor Resnick was trying to squeeze in all the people he forgot over the last ten years. It is not my intent to belittle in any way the honors bestowed on selected residents by our Mayor. All are truly deserving and worthy, and we thank them for their continued service to our community. However, spending over an hour on proclamations might be just a bit too much, especially when official city business might be of slightly more importance during Commission meetings. For the next week, the one action that you can take to make life just better here in our Island City is to cast your ballot in this election. Get out and vote!! WMG
Change is not the demon that the pessimists want us to believe. Change is what makes us a better society.
Sales & Marketing For ad placement in the Wilton Manors Gazette, contact 954-530-4970
Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Clark Rogers clark.rogers@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER
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Copyright © 2018 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.
Wilton Manors City Hall. Photo via the City of Wilton Manors, Facebook.
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October 31, 2018
On Broken Windows and Amendment Two
Real Estate
By James Oaksun Sometimes, it is amazing what you can learn by spending time on Facebook. Once you wade through pet photos, and the political ravings of that guy from high school who thinks Olive Garden is fine Italian dining, you find a discussion that helps solve a vexing riddle. It starts with a broken window. There was a 19th-century French lawyer and economist named Bastiat. He observed that when someone threw a rock and broke a window, the townspeople would rejoice because the person with the broken window would need to pay for a new pane of glass – thus putting money into the local economy. But Bastiat (rightly) asked, what happens if the person with the broken window, wanted to buy a new plow, or suit of clothes? They would not be able to do that, because they had to get a new window! In economic actions, there is an effect you can see, and an effect you do not see. Which brings us back to Amendment Two. I kept thinking to myself: Why is it that two powerful statewide lobbies – the Association
of Realtors, and the Chamber of Commerce – are spending untold millions of dollars to pass this amendment? Where is the largest benefit going to go? And I got my answer from Facebook – in a discussion thread with a couple people I know reasonably well, and a few I don’t. (The magic of social media, when it works right.) Amendment Two continues a 10-percent annual cap, forever, on increases in the assessed value of commercial and investment property, and on homes that do not have a homestead exemption. Thus it offers direct protection to those who currently own such properties (and, to a lesser extent, to renters). That’s the benefit we see. However, per Bastiat, a new owner of such a property will be competitively disadvantaged in two ways. First, their property will be taxed immediately at essentially market (non-capped) value. Yes, this occurs currently on new purchases. But when current owners have their taxes capped, the gap between assessed value on currentlyowned versus newly-owned property will widen.
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And there is a second, perhaps more important, benefit to current owners regarding rents they can charge. New owners, who are taxed at a higher assessed value, will have to charge higher rents to cover their tax. Ultimately, current owners would be able easily to increase the rents they charge – to match market conditions, etc. But – and here’s the kicker – the current owners still will be paying a lower total tax than new owners, because their tax still will be based on the capped value. So their rent increase? Pure profit! In other words, for current owners of commercial and investment property, Amendment Two could create a financial
October 31, 2018
bonanza. Prospective future owners of such properties will bear the hidden future costs, and renters will also face future costs. The voters will decide whether this is an appropriate public policy position. Actions taken in haste – whether by powerful special interests, or voters – are usually repented at leisure. WMG James Oaksun, Florida’s Real Estate Geek(SM), is Broker-Owner 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).
10.31.2018 •
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Three Years of Wellness By Carina Mask
Photos
David Douglas Spa's three-Year anniversary in Wilton Manors was celebrated on Oct. 22. The business is admired for their wellness solutions such as MASSAGEs, SKIN CARE and HAIR REMOVAL.
To see more photos and news from WMG, join us at Facebook.com/groups/ WMGazette
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BUSINESS
Taste of the Island (Continued)
TasTe of The Island 11
Continued from page 1
for what we are able to do. It is hard for small charities to raise a lot of money,” Ulm said. Funds for the Leisure Services Department go towards children’s programs, Ulm added. “I have been involved for about five years now and I really enjoy it,” Sterling said. “We hope over next several years we will actually be able to double the number of restaurants.” Tickets are available at City Hall, 2020 Wilton Drive; the Richard C. Sullivan Public Library, 500 NE 26 St.; Sterling Accounting, 2435 N. Dixie Highway; and online, at http://bit.ly/TasteoftheIsland18. WMG
Presenting Sponsors
If You Go:
Taste of the Island When: Nov. 5, 6 p.m. Price: $35/ticket Information: 754.551.5611 tasteoftheisland.org
Where: Richardson Historic Park and Nature Preserve, 1937 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305
Monday, November 5, 2018 • 6pm Entry Gate Closes at 8pm
Richardson Historic Park & Nature Preserve 1937 Wilton Drive • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Limited FREE Parking & Shuttle at Hagen Park and Wilton Manors Library
Life’s Just Better Here
For Tickets Online: www.tasteoftheisland.org
SponSorS
LOCAL NAME. GLOBAL COVERAGE.
SOUTHFLORIDAGAYNEWS.COM
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history month national
Our history Matters • See more articles from this month at SFGN.com/2018Historymonth
SanFran Creates
Trans Cultural District Plans for the district though are moving forward slowly Alex Madison t’s been a little over a year since San Francisco designated the nation’s first transgender cultural district in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood. But efforts to establish the historical area have been delayed by a longer-than-expected community planning process. Organizers and co-founders behind the district say the lag is largely due to financial constraints, the time it takes to collect community feedback, and finding consensus among all parties involved. “The funding, resources, solidifying collaboration with community members and with developers who want to support the district, getting a community space, all those things have taken a lot longer than anticipated,” said Aria Sa’id, former program manager at St. James Infirmary, one of the initial groups involved in the district’s creation. Sa’id, a trans woman, now works for the city’s Human Rights Commission. The resolution that created Compton’s Transgender Cultural District, as it’s formally known, was introduced by District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim and passed in June 2017. Its purpose is to preserve and honor the history of the trans community in the Tenderloin. The cultural district spans six blocks of the lower Tenderloin, which encompasses parts of the Sixth Street Corridor and Market Street. The city has recognized four other protected cultural districts: Japantown Cultural Heritage District established in 2013, the Calle 24 Latino Cultural and SOMA Pilipinas districts instituted in 2014, and the Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District formally recognized in May. The city is working on
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a sixth, focused on LGBT heritage, in the Castro. Leaders of various LGBT organizations that helped found the district have established the Cultural District Coalition. The group has been gathering ideas from community members The cultural and floating ideas of what they’d like to see in terms of district spans implementation. Founding six blocks leaders include: Brian $100,000 grant that Basinger, executive director the Mayor’s Office of of the lower of the Q Foundation; Janetta Housing and Community Tenderloin, Johnson, executive director Development dedicated which of TGI Justice Project; and for the implementation Sa’id and Stephany Ashley, of the cultural district. encompasses the former executive director If awarded, the money parts of the of St. James Infirmary. would be distributed in Honey Mahogany, a black October. Sixth Street trans woman, has been Next on Mahogany’s list Corridor heading the implementation is decorating the district and Market process of the district in with murals, flags, and consultation with TGI Justice plaques. Street. Project for the past year. She Last year, TGI Justice has held numerous public Project was awarded meetings to collect feedback and ideas for the $125,000, also from the Mayor’s Office of district, negotiated with housing developers Housing and Community Development, for to ensure the transgender district is included place making. The money has not been spent in their plans, and is currently working on yet, however, because Mahogany wants to securing funding. ensure the community has full input on the “We’ve had a lot of community meetings matter and that takes time, she said. The and talks that center around establishing money will rollover for use in the next fiscal priorities for the district and working on a year. strategic plan, getting community input as Ideas to what’s important to them – what they’d like to see,” Mahogany, 34, said in a recent The ideas for the district range from interview with the Bay Area Reporter. ensuring equal employment opportunities for Her number one priority in the next trans individuals to establishing a community few weeks is submitting a proposal for a center. But the biggest concern Mahogany has
heard is the need for additional affordable housing. “Finding affordable housing that feels safe to our community is really important,” Mahogany said. “It’s the number one issue for the community. The vast turnover of affordable units into luxury condos and market-rate units has resulted in the eradication of housing specifically for the most vulnerable, low-income population.” She said during the community gatherings, people have expressed a desire for more singleroom-occupancy units, rental subsidies, and low-income housing. Sa’id added that those involved in the implementation process, although in its infancy stage, are “working on finding property and rental subsidies. It’s one of their biggest priorities.” Recently, Mahogany worked with developer Star City, which hopes to receive its final building permit in about a month to begin construction at an existing building at 229 Ellis Street. Mohammed Sakrani, product officer at Star City, said supporting the cultural district is important to the urban development company. “We know it’s important to maintain the diversity of the Tenderloin and have it continue to be a place for the trans community
history month national to repair itself and build up a voice,” Sakrani said. The 55-unit residential space will hire three full-time employees from the trans community who will undergo job training. The positions will be in building operations, resident experience, and maintenance. Star City will also offer free rent to a trans business owner for the only retail space located on the ground floor of the building. An LGBT-oriented display will also reside in the ground floor lobby to honor and inform the public about the transgender history of the Tenderloin. Sakrani plans to commission a trans artist for any artwork included in it. Lastly, the developer will donate $80,000 to the coalition for the implementation of the district once building permits are approved. The building will offer group housing with units that have private bathrooms and bedrooms, but shared kitchen and common spaces. Rents are expected to start at $1,700. The creation of affordable housing is just one of many priorities for the implementation of the district. Johnson, a 54-year-old black trans woman, said TGI Justice Project is currently looking for a new, larger location in the district that would also serve as a community center for trans folks. The agency is looking for a space with at least 3,500 square feet, half of which would be dedicated to the community center to serve as a safe space for trans people to gather, connect to resources, and hold events. The location would also offer all the programs of TGI Justice Project, a nonprofit that works to end human rights abuses against transgender women of color, in and outside of prison. The re-emergence of trans nightlife is also something Johnson would like to see for the district. “My broader vision, overall, for the district is for it to be filled with art, street vendors, see people doing music, create gardens and bring in a lot of positive affirmations and images of
the trans community,” Johnson said. Another top focus among the Compton’s district supporters is developing economic opportunities for trans folks to help prevent the further displacement of the community from the Tenderloin. “We want to give trans women of color access and opportunity to any job within the district,” said Johnson, adding that the community center would offer job-training programs. Mahogany wants to see a “diverse economic” environment created to empower trans people, which includes an increase in trans-owned businesses. Sa’id would like to see trans artists commissioned for public art projects in the area. At the community meetings, people have expressed other ideas, Sa’id said, such as trans-owned hair salons, coffee shops, and cannabis stores.
x
Birth of the district The resolution that designated Compton’s Transgender Cultural District describes various historical events that involve the trans community, specifically the Compton’s Cafeteria riots that took place in August 1966, which the district is named after. The riots happened at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a 24-hour eatery that had operated at 101 Taylor Street. It was one of the earliest examples of transgender pushback against police repression. While the exact date is lost to history, the riots took place three years before the more famous Stonewall uprising in New York City, which is considered by
It was one of the earliest examples of transgender pushback against police repression.
Honey Mahogany, head the Cultural District Coalition, leads a community meeting at the city’s Mayor’s Office of Transgender Initiatives for feedback on the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District. Photo Courtesy of the Cultural District Coalition.
many to be the beginning of the modern LGBT civil rights movement. The resolution also describes the continued discrimination trans people face in San Francisco and the importance of preserving trans culture in the Tenderloin. “Many [queer] persons, specifically transgender and gender-variant individuals, faced and continue to face discrimination in accessing housing, and the Tenderloin was and is a refuge,” states the resolution. It also emphasizes that a large portion of San Francisco’s homeless population resides in the Tenderloin. According to the 2015 San Francisco Homeless Point-In-Time Count Report and Survey, 29 percent of the people found living on the city’s streets that year identified as transgender, gender-variant, intersex, lesbian, gay, or bisexual. As previously noted by the B.A.R., Supervisor Kim’s resolution is the result of a deal she helped broker between local developer Group I and LGBT activists who had appealed the planning commission’s decision in late 2016 to allow the developer’s massive in-fill project at 950‐974 Market Street to move forward. The
buildings were once home to several gay bars and a shoe store that helped facilitate gay and transgender prostitution and hustling in the area. The Q Foundation, on behalf of a number of LGBT activists, filed the appeal to call for greater scrutiny of the proposed development’s environmental impacts, including if demolition of the existing structures would hinder forming the transgender historical district in the area. Group I and the Q Foundation reached an agreement last year in which Group I agreed to support the cultural district in different aspects of its construction. Group I agreed to allow local historians to document the site, which was razed this summer. The company also agreed to pay $300,000 to the city toward the creation of the transgender historic district. As outlined in the deal, one-third of the money is to be used by the planning department to support the creation of the Compton’s district. Those involved with the cultural district are glad that it’s becoming a reality, even if not as quickly as they had hoped. “The creation of the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District has undone some of the damage done to the trans community,” Mahogany said. “It’s a really powerful symbol that is incredibly important in San Francisco, as the city is changing so rapidly.”
Alex Madison (a.madison@ebar.com) is an assistant editor at the Bay Area Reporter. 10.31.2018 •
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history month national
Frances Kellor and the
Birth of Multiculturalism Victoria A. Brownworth ew topics in American politics Growing up in Coldwater, Kellor was under President Trump elicit more known as a tomboy who could whittle and controversy than immigration. shoot as well as any boy. She also excelled The same was true in early 20th century at sports. As an adult, Kellor had a strong America when waves of immigrants flooded interest in promoting sports for women as a Ellis Island, causing fears that the country means of getting women out of the confines would become “overrun with foreigners,” and “drudgery” of both housework and as Henry Cabot Lodge wrote in 1891. With factory work and building camaraderie and open borders, 30 million Europeans moved friendships outside the often restrictive to the U.S. between 1850 and 1913. By 1920, environment of the home. While at Cornell, about 15 percent of the U.S. population was Kellor founded the women’s rowing club foreign-born – much as it is in 2018. – despite threat of expulsion for daring to It was into this milieu of a burgeoning assert women deserved their own sports immigrant population, as well as the teams like the men had. Great Migration of freed black slaves, Education changed Kellor’s life, vaulting that Frances Kellor defined herself as one her from poverty to an illustrious career of the most important and radical social with achievements that would alter reformists of her time. Kellor’s progressive American society. Her two benefactors, political and social stance was dominated the philanthropists Mary and Frances by her belief that society had to be a true Eddy, paid for her to attend Cornell law melting pot – a term she disliked – and school. In 1897 she graduated with a law not just a poetic metaphor of one. She is degree. Kellor was only the third woman to credited with creating the concept, if not achieve that goal at Cornell. In 1900, there the term, of multiculturalism. were 85,338 female college students in the A staunch suffragist, she believed no U.S. and just 5,237 earned their bachelor’s social advancement could reasonably degrees – Kellor was among them. occur in the U.S. without From Cornell, Kellor women having full advanced via a scholarship enfranchisement. Kellor to the newly founded In 1897 she felt the same about the University of Chicago, to roles of black women and be among the first women graduated men, as well as immigrants graduate students. Cornell with a law in American society. had piqued her interest degree. Kellor Without full assimilation in criminology and the was only the into mainstream white writing she had done for third woman male society, she insisted, the Coldwater paper had to achieve there would forever be a focused on social issues, that goal at level of marginalization including crime. Kellor that would sustain and had written provocatively Cornell. maintain a tiered caste of a sleepy rural America system that would disallow unaware of how Negroes women, persons of color and immigrants were and immigrants from achieving their goals being railroaded into prisons purely and rising in any field of endeavor. because of their race, ethnicity or even Kellor herself, born in Columbus, Ohio lack of English- language skills. in 1873, was raised by a single mother after The University of Chicago opened up her father abandoned her, her mother and Kellor’s world vastly – and introduced her older sister before she turned two. The three to other reformist-minded women. From moved to Coldwater, Michigan, a liberal there Kellor’s career propelled forward bastion that had been a seat of abolition and with it her increasingly more crucial and a stop on the Underground Railroad. work as she connected with lesbian social
F
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Francis Keller.
reformers in Chicago, notably Jane Addams and Mary Rozet Smith, and in New York, where in 1903 she met Mary Dreier, a philanthropist, suffragist and campaigner for unionization of women workers. The connection between the two women was described by others as passionate and consuming. Early in their relationship, Kellor wrote to Dreier, “The colors and sunlight make me hungry for you.” Later she would write that being with Dreier made her “love burns thru beautiful nights you dear sweetheart.” In 1905 the two moved in together, living as a couple until Kellor’s death in 1952. Dreier lived alone until her death in 1963. The two are buried together in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Kellor was known for her tailored look and briskly authoritative presentations. She may not appear a butch lesbian by today’s standards, but she was likely known outside her lesbian reformist circles as a lesbian – not just a “spinster.” Within her lesbian circles, she was known for being
rowdy and boisterous and deeply loving of the much more restrained Dreier. The two were among many dynamic and deeply politically committed lesbian couples whose social reformist work radically altered American society in the years before the Civil War through World War II. The couplings of lesbian activists in this late 19th and early 20th century period supported and created some of the most significant social reform movements in American history. There were those lesbians who fought for the abolition of slavery and suffrage for women and “Negroes,” like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt and Anna Dickinson. Those who founded social work and the settlement movement like Jane Addams, Ellen Gates Starr and Mary Rozet Smith. Healthcare for immigrants and factory workers was the key focus of lesbian physicians Dr. Emily Blackwell, Dr. Elizabeth Cushier and Dr. Alice Hamilton. Reform of child labor, as well as creation of a public health approach to pediatric medicine was built by Dr. Ethel
history month national Collins Dunham and Dr. Martha May Eliot, as well as Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, who received written support from her novelist partner, Ida Wylie. In this era of radical foment, Frances Kellor was in her own category. At the University of Chicago Kellor wrote papers on sociology – her field of study – and criminology. She also authored a scholarly treatise on Athletic Games in the Education of Women. In 1901 Kellor published her first book, “Experimental Sociology, Descriptive and Analytical: Delinquents,” which was widely quoted and whose theories that criminality was not innate angered many. Propelled by her tangential excursions into Jane Addams’ Settlement movement in Chicago and deeply concerned by the marginalization of women of color and working-class and poor women, especially immigrants, Kellor focused her attention on accessing equality for these women. Kellor’s writings on black women and men contravened the sociological perspective at the time that black criminality was a factor of biology and race. Kellor was certain it was directly related to poverty and racism and lack of access to a living wage. With regard to black freed women, she wrote about how black women were still being sold as slaves and how sex, crime and race were linked incorrectly. Kellor was particularly focused on the destitution, abuse and racism that faced Negro women as they migrated from the Reconstructionist South to northern cities. This work would lead her to become a cofounder of the National Urban League, now known as the Urban League. Kellor’s 1904 book “Out of Work: A Study of Employment Agencies” was the result of undercover work with Negro and immigrant women domestics. A groundbreaking investigation and sociological study of the victimization of black Southern women – many freed slaves or daughters of slaves – and immigrant women by northern employment programs and hiring practices, the book revealed the level of penury imposed on these women and the ways in which they were Keller with Marg and Mary Dreier.
manipulated by work and wages. Combined with her earlier writing, Out of Work defined Kellor as an expert sociologist who also took risks male sociologists did not – and that she was willing to refute decadesheld beliefs about “lower class” and nonwhite workers, insisting that environment, not biology, formed adults. Kellor’s career is robust and stunningly full of dynamic and influential work. She became a well-known social worker, with ties to New York’s Summer School of Philanthropy and the Henry Street Settlement. By 1904, Kellor directed the new Inter-Municipal Committee on Household Research, which investigated child labor, tenement conditions, and corrupt Frances Kellor and Mary Dreier seated in an early automobile resembling the Model T. employment agencies. In 1906 Kellor, spurred by her anger at the incarceration of black women for what she saw as purely 1910 through 1913. She became managing Service, a network through which to spread racial reasons, created the National League director of the North American Civic Progressive ideas.” League for Immigrants and a member of The two world wars intensified for the Protection of Colored Women. In 1908, Governor Charles Evans Hughes the Progressive National Committee. She xenophobia in the U.S. In 1914, Kellor began appointed Kellor secretary of the New also oversaw the American Association directing the National Americanization York State Immigration Commission, and of Foreign Language Newspapers. These Committee (NAC), viewed as the most then head of the Bureau of Industries and positions were all groundbreaking, glass- pivotal link to assimilating immigrants in the country. Writing for the NAC in Immigration. Her national status as an ceiling-smashing jobs for a woman. At this juncture, Kellor was driven by 1916, just prior to the U.S. entering World immigration expert – one of the only in the country – got the attention of President her belief that America could be all things War I, Kellor suggested Americanization to all people through Americanization. programs would solidify both worker Theodore Roosevelt. Her sociological studies efficiency and essential pre-war patriotism. Roosevelt had formed a of women and racial and Acutely aware of the number of worker group – the “Female Brain With regard ethnic minorities led her accidents from Dr. Alice Hamilton and other Trust” – which included to black freed to believe that assimilation lesbian reformers focused on workplace fellow lesbian reformers created equality. safety, Kellor asserted that teaching English Jane Addams and Florence women, she She wrote, “There to workers would reduce the number of Kelley as well as Kellor’s wrote about how is no science of race accidents and injuries as well as lessen partner’s sister, Margaret black women assimilation. No nation the xenophobia toward “foreign” and Dreier Robins. were still being has had a sufficiently free immigrant workers. Ultimately, she argued At the Theodore sold as slaves opportunity with many Americanization would “unite foreignRoosevelt Center there and how sex, diverse races to establish born and native alike in enthusiastic loyalty are letters on file from its enduring principles and to our national ideals of liberty and justice.” Roosevelt to Kellor. One crime and race certain procedure. America Though in 2018 Kellor could be apologizes for appearing were linked has this opportunity in perceived as forcing assimilation on ethnic to be glib about the cause incorrectly. her thirty-five different communities and communities of color, at of women’s suffrage, races speaking fifty-four the time she was promoting this goal – and which he asserted had his full support. In another letter, Roosevelt languages, of whom 13,000,000 are foreign- asserting that black Americans were not enlists his “dear friend” to help fight against born. One third of her total population innately criminals and ethnic minorities the constant and expanding problem has its roots in other soils and in diverse were fully capable of being American of manipulative employment agencies cultures. She has the laboratory for the citizens – it was a wildly radical view to misleading immigrants and employers experiment in her wide expanse of territory, suggest that persons of color were in fact much of it still unsettled; in the elasticity of equal in all ways to whites, save for their abusing immigrant workers. Roosevelt was the first to incorporate her institutions; and in the still formative access to social and economic connections. Her role as a leader in the Americanization women’s suffrage in his party’s platform – state of her cultural life.” It was a radical concept – that there was movement was to posit that women, people largely at Kellor’s behest. Roosevelt insisted he had “always favored women’s suffrage, room for everyone and that differences were of color and immigrants were all as deeply but only tepidly, until my association with beneficial to the whole in this most diverse patriotic and vital to American society as women like Jane Addams and Frances country on earth. The Theodore Roosevelt white men. Kellor’s resume is a compendium of Kellor changed me into a zealous instead of Center notes that “In 1912, Kellor, Addams, Kelley, and Margaret Dreier Robins wrote work that linked feminism, anti-racism and lukewarm adherent of the cause.” By 1909 Kellor was the highest placed the social justice planks for Roosevelt’s anti-xenophobia reforms. She was both woman in New York, as secretary Progressive presidential platform. Kellor intersectionalist and multiculturalist before and treasurer of the New York State also helped prepare campaign statements either of those sociological theories existed, Immigration Commission and chief and recruited other social reformers to join and so much of the work she was doing investigator for the Bureau of Industries the Progressives. In 1913, she and Roosevelt a century ago and more remains just as and Immigration of New York State from established the Progressive National necessary and vital now as it was then.
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history month books
Author Talks New Book About
Overlooked LGBT Tragedy ‘The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation’
Author Robert Fieseler.
Larry Nichols
uthor Robert Fieseler’s new book, “Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation” dives deep into the events leading up to and the aftermath of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire, a tragic and unsolved arson that claimed the lives of thirty-one men and one woman on June 24, 1973, the largest mass murder of gays until the Pulse Nightclub Shooting 2016. The tragedy went largely ignored until the mid-2000’s for reasons the book explores in great detail. PGN spoke to Fieseler about the insights about the era he was able to uncover in the writing and documentation of this important piece of LGBT history.
A
Why did a tragedy of the scale of The Up Stairs Lounge Fire go forgotten and unrecognized for what it was for so long? The Up Stairs Lounge fire was swept under the rug during its era, which was 1973, primarily due to straight constituencies and then closeted gay constituencies in New Orleans being uninterested in any kind of mass reporting of a large-scale tragedy involving gay men. This was a period of time when homosexuality was almost a taboo topic in the New Orleans media and the national mainstream media. It would really raise eyebrows if you were to report anything involving the homosexual community that wasn’t about arrests or anything of the like. It was the deadliest fire in New Orleans history, 32 deaths. It was initially presumed to be an amazing story. It was front page news for a few days. Then when it became clear who has burned and the nature of the location that had burned, that these were homosexuals that burned in a homosexual bar, then the stories dried up. It was a time period where people weren’t quite ready to discuss anything on the level of a gay tragedy.
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What do you think the younger generation can take away from reading this book? The dominant social institution governing LGBT life was the closet. It would be difficult to understand that the closet succeeded in shunting something under the rug so successfully from the context of a society where the closet still ruled. Whereas in the 21st century you can go to the decriminalization of sodomy laws, it started to speak more to an open society that was increasingly curious about the mysterious deadly event that occurred in New Orleans. New Orleans has a wonderful storytelling culture and New Orleans is fascinated with stories about itself. There were always these rumors about it but it wasn’t until the 21st century that serious scholarship started to be published about it. From there it started to build on itself. There were news articles and books and documentaries. It’s a shocking and tragic event in its own right. We’re 15 years removed from Laurence V. Texas in 2003, when the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws and decriminalized homosexuality, people are more interested in looking at the cause of the social institution and the Up Stairs Lounge Fire is a really powerful way to
look at the what the closet was in American society and how it governed lives. Do you think that people will see any parallels to New Orleans circa 1973 and America in 2018? This alternate gay tragedy which occurred in the past seemed to give the Pulse Nightclub shooting some kind of context. It really did succeed in a surprising way to bring this decades-old history to the forefront. In a strange way the Up Stairs Lounge Fire was seen as an antecedent or some kind of parallel event. They’re not exact mirrors of each other. They share some similarities and they diverge greatly in others. Those two events seem to comment on each other, especially in the eyes of the public, especially in the eyes of the public in the days and weeks that followed Pulse. What inspired you to write a book about this forgotten piece of history?
I’m a subculture reporter usually. I cover marginalized groups and overlooked people that make the world better for themselves. I’ve covered the subculture of canner in New York. I’ve covered ghost hunters and their long campaign of their attempts to reach some sort of legitimacy in their craft. I’m a queer person and I’m fascinated by human right and civil rights. I was looking for years for a subject in gay rights that has all the levels of complexity where I could delve into the dynamics of the closet of the times. That’s what drew me to the Up Stairs Lounge Fire. It is a crime that continues to be unsolved. I wanted to try and tell a story that helped me understand and to help LGBTQ youth and allies to understand what it was like to live in those times where you had to hide yourself on a practical daily basis. What it was like to makeshift live without undue strain in a very oppressive world, and this was a story that took me down those dark avenues.
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the National Drive Electric Week Car Show. Nissan Leaf was the main sponsor and over 40 electric cars were on display. Attendees took the cars for demo rides and kids enjoyed jugglers, face painting and other kids’ entertainment. If you are looking for a fun event to start the weekend wind down on a Friday night, First Friday Piano Bar is the place for you. Starting at 7pm (with live music from 8pm – 11pm) on the first Friday of each month, the event is the perfect place to start the weekend. Enjoy an evening out with friends or loved ones or mingle, network and even dance around to the live music. If you are hungry grab a snack from the vegan kitchen. Yes, Yello also has a large kitchen and all the delicious snacks they make (try their BBQ cauliflower or spring rolls) are vegan. They even have vegan beer and wine! And for the chef in you, Yello offers vegan cooking classes. With the holidays coming up sign up for the Holiday Sweet Treat class and learn how to make the yummiest sweet treats using 100% vegan ingredients. Or follow through on your New Year’s resolution to get healthy and attend a Third Thursday Cooking Series class that will start up again in January.
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history month national
50 Years On, Busting the
Myths of Stonewall Judy Garland’s death did not have anything to do with the riots Mark Segal
E
ach of us who were at Stonewall has a different view of the event. They run the gamut from it being a rebellion, a riot, a revolution, or simply a night of the queens having fun and taking over their home, Christopher Street. There are many other versions espoused by people who were there, historical scholars, journalists, and people who like to make things up. Let’s parse out the facts and inconsistences of all of these views. First: who was there?
because of the funeral of Judy Garland wasn’t at Stonewall. That myth is an insult It amazed me, as I was on my book tour, to all that did participate. And it should how many people came up to me and said be obvious, since we were in the counter “you remember me from Stonewall” and culture of the 1960’s, not the ‘40s. Garland wanted me to confirm to their friends that might have been the music of some 40 they were indeed there. This has been a and 50 year olds who might have been in contentious issue to the point that now the bar, but those people were privileged thousands of people claim to have been enough to run away. present. To each I said, “It To those of us who stayed, was a riot. You can’t take Garland was not on our attendance at a riot.” mind. It’s a stereotypical Something But there are ways to at slur that was started by a was said to least make assumptions on straight white man writing the police, who was there. The best about the event a week accounts are from those later in the Village Voice. they said who, out of the ashes of None of those who have something Stonewall, created Gay credible claim to being there back and Liberation Front. Many of think Garland was a factor. then people us GLF members are still So if you’re writing about around. Stonewall was not started Stonewall and continue the just one night. Those who myth, check your delusion hurling were there know of the in the mirror. That includes objects other three nights as well. Charles Kaiser who, while towards the Those nights helped form being interviewed by The bar. GLF. GLF and Stonewall Washington Post about his are connected at the hip. book “The Gay Metropolis,” Writings on Stonewall was quoted as saying he published by our own community during thought “the prospect that a funeral the time period are more accurate, since service for Garland held on the first night mainstream media largely ignored it or was of the riots on the city’s Upper East Side biased. A good place to start is Donn Teal’s inspired a grieving gay fandom to stand up “The Gay Militants,” published by Stein to police bullies.” No. and Day in 1971. Many of those at Stonewall contributed to Donn’s work. Second: who threw the first rock? Here’s my simple rule: anyone who propagates the myth that we were angry Again this was a riot, not an organized
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demonstration. People gathered in a semi circle around the front doors and across the street as police were letting people out. Something was said to the police, they said something back and then people started hurling objects towards the bar. Stones, empty cans. The reality is no one actually knows who threw first, or even what they threw. Those of us who were at Stonewall all have different accounts, based on our own memories of that night, about what we did. It wasn’t a precision march. Each person had a different experience. Some gathered at the door as people were let out, some ran up and down the streets letting others know what was happening and others
wrote on the walls and streets “tomorrow night Stonewall,” to help organize the rallies in the days after. To me, all the accounts of my brothers and sisters of GLF are correct since each account is their own personal memory and their different views on what created the riot. Everyone in GLF has a different perspective and I accept each person. Historians must take all of them in consideration in writing about that historic night, and thus far most of the work compiled has not done that well. The two best known that come to mind are David Carter’s “Stonewall,” which is more detailed and researched than anything that came before but written during a time of competing and conflicting views. Carter
history month state
“GLF was a phenomenon with autonomous chapters sprouting up all over the nation and the world. GLF created the movement we have today. More importantly, GLF created the LGBT Community where there was no community before.”
- Mark Segal had to sift through the noise, he persevered, and his book can and should be used as a starting place to be built on. I personally hope he continues to research and others continue to forward him material. For my part I’ve recently sent him information on one of the bouncers/doorman who married a friend of mine and who still lives in NYC. I trust his research and hope he’ll chat with others that he did not have time for in his first edition. The other well-known Stonewall book, by Martin Duberman, focuses on just six people, overdramatizes the drama within the community, and is fueled by his personal, privileged agenda. As to the recent Gus Van Sant film, “Stonewall,” that was a complete disappointment. There is no actual video footage from that first Stonewall night, and the photos you’ve seen are from the other nights. Cell phones were not invented as yet. Everything you’ve seen in the film is a (largely incorrect) re-creation built upon the director’s image, not ours. Several of us who were at Stonewall offered to help give the filmmakers detail and context, but none of us were asked to do so. Moving on, exactly how many people were at Stonewall? It went on for many hours. Some people were there the entire time; others came later. Even more were just passing by. Was it 50 or 200? We all have different views. My personal thought is less than a hundred from noting the numbers of people on the street. The participants were scattered with the exception of those around the front door, which might make people think there were more people than there actually were. Everything I’ve said thus far is from my own memory and from reading wellsourced materials. But here is what is absolutely known: from Stonewall came Gay Liberation Front. Without Gay Liberation Front, Stonewall would be as remembered as the Dewey’s sit-in or the Compton’s riot, both of which happened before Stonewall, but which the general public knows little about. GLF, which had many of those who stood tall that first night
at Stonewall and who helped organize the following three nights, made that first night historic by realizing that it was the catalyst for change that our community needed. Some might say that Gay Liberation Front, born from the ashes of Stonewall, might be more important than Stonewall itself. Many people in New York in June 1969 were fed up with the antiquated tactics of prior movements such as asking for “homosexual equality,” as it was called by members of the Mattachine Society. Before Stonewall, several of the early GLF founders including Martha Shelley and Marty Robinson were attempting to create a new movement. Others like Sylvia Rivera also wanted a new movement, but few people at that time from those earlier organizations wanted to be associated with her. GLF was created and Sylvia was welcomed gladly, the first trans person to be a member of a gay organization and GLF changed our community in other drastic ways. GLF helped us decide that we had the sole right to define ourselves rather than live by society’s definition. We were out loud and in your face. Rather than beg for our rights, we demanded them. Then we did something even more revolutionary. We created a community where there was none before. Before GLF, the only place LGBT people met were small organizations in large cities, private parties, a few illegal gay bars, and cruising places. One month after Stonewall, GLF had its first demonstration. We took over Christopher Street and told the police it was our home, our community, the very first gayborhood. We invited what today would be called the trans community, including Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, to join our ranks. They created “Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries,” STAR. Some of us created Gay Youth, the nation’s first organization for LGBT youth. We held public dances, public meetings. We went on TV and Radio shows, we printed and distributed publications and medical and legal alerts. We even created the first LGBT Community Center. If all of that was not enough in that first year,
many of us joined with Craig Rodwell and helped form “The Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March,” which was the first Gay Pride Parade. How dramatic was this? Before GLF, the nation had only around 100 openly gay people who would speak on behalf of our community or show up at a demonstration. In fact, there was only one demonstration a year. One. That was in Philadelphia each July 4th in front of Independence Hall from 1965-69. That national demonstration never drew more than a hundred participants. One year after the creation of GLF, there were anywhere between 5,000 and 15,000 people at that first Gay Pride. The FBI report states 3,000, The New York Times states 5,000. Those of us who were there think it was more. But even going from the NYT numbers, from one hundred to thousands in just one year is an incredible shift. GLF was a phenomenon with autonomous chapters sprouting up all over the nation and the world. GLF created the movement
we have today. More importantly, GLF created the LGBT Community where there was no community before. There are other lessons that could be learned from GLF. Today’s LGBT organizations struggle with what they assume to be the difficulties of the intersection of social justice movements working together. GLF joined with other movements and supported them regularly. Likewise, GLF welcomed diversity. Here is one last point, one that is personal and stated with a sense of pride. GLF was by far the most dysfunctional LGBT organization that has ever existed to this day, and that was part of its magic. So much arguing, so much yelling, so much disagreement. But how else could it have fought off the oppression of 2,000 years and produced the first real out, proud, and in-your-face generation? How else could it have inspired people to come out when it was illegal to be openly gay? Stonewall created GLF, but it was GLF that changed the world.
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history month Jesse’s Journal
Gay South Florida in 1979 Jesse Monteagudo
n its June 14, 1979 issue the Advocate (then a tabloid) published three articles by its house reporters about “The Florida Triangle.” Joe Baker wrote about “Fort Lauderdale: Gay Enclave on the Condo Coast.” Lenny Giteck wrote about “Miami: Dade, But Not Dead” and Robert I. McQueen wrote about “Key West: Verdant and Violent - A Troubled Paradise.”
I
The articles detailed the condition of Tuesday Night Group (a.k.a. “Closet each community, listed local bars and other Clusters”) united middle class professionals gathering places, and featured photos of and business leaders on behalf of a love those few gays or lesbians then willing to that still dared not speak its name. appear in a national queer paper, including According to Lenny Giteck, Miami never Staci Aker, Harry Losleben, Pat Tong, recovered from its 1977 debacle. “Despite Stephen Jerome and Jesse Monteagudo. brave claims that [Anita Bryant] was ‘the 1979 was a year of transition, for myself best thing that ever happened to gay and for South Florida’s LGBT community. people,’ many of those who took their first Though I already moved to Fort Lauderdale, venturesome steps out of the closet during to live with my thenthe Dade County campaign partner, I was still on the have retreated deep into board of the Dade County its recesses. Much of the Coalition for Human Rights gay community appears in 1979, led by Club Baths demoralized and quiescent, mogul Jack Campbell. and what promised to The DCCHR had declined become a lively gay political since its golden age, when scene in South Florida has it tried in vain to defend lost a great deal of verve Dade County’s “human and nerve.” In 1979 most rights” ordinance (1977). LGBT people stayed in their Attempting to reach out to respective closets, trusting the bar crowd, the Coalition that Miami’s “don’t ask, held some of its meetings don’t tell” environment in local watering holes, would keep them safe. “Gays including the notorious here are more concerned Mine Shaft. with going to the bars and In 1979 the DCCHR led worrying about where their South Florida’s involvement next Quaalude will come in the first March on from than in doing anything - Lenny Gitech Washington for Lesbian political,” attorney Stephen and Gay Rights (October 14); Jerome told Giteck. “There organized Miami’s own Gay Pride March must be at least 150,000 gay people in (June 24); and published The Weekly News Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, yet the Broward Bulletin (TWN) I was involved in all three County Coalition in Fort Lauderdale is endeavors; as a participant, organizer and lucky if it gets 15 people at a meeting.” contributor, respectively. Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale held on to Both Pride South Florida and TWN its reputation as the city “Where the Boys later became independent entities and Are.” According to Joe Baker, who was long survived the group that created kinder to its subject than his fellow reporter them. Meanwhile, the future pointed to Giteck, in 1975, “Fort Lauderdale had only 7 Fort Lauderdale, where the semi-closeted gay bars, 1 gay bath, 3 gay restaurants and 1
"What promised to become a lively gay political scene in South Florida has lost a great deal of verve - and nerve."
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gay hotel. Today [1979] there are 18 bars and discos, 9 restaurants, 8 hotels and motels and 3 baths catering to the homosexual community. It is a “B” city: bars, beaches, boys, broads, beer, boobs, bronze bodies, baths and boogying.” Baker’s article listed Broward County’s gay commercial outlets, including the then-famous Marlin Beach Hotel and a variety of gay pubs and discos, all now gone: The Copa, 13 Buttons, Lefty’s Bar, The Grotto, Tacky’s, the Everglades, Zelda’s Disco, The Tunnel and the lesbian bar Top’s. Another visitor to South Florida was novelist Edmund White, who wrote about his experiences in “States of Desire: Travels in Gay America” (1980). Having enjoyed New York City’s exciting social and cultural life for years, White could not appreciate
South Florida’s more laid-back and closeted lifestyle. According to White, “Fort Lauderdale is a short, angry strip along the ocean, crawling with teens drugged or drunk or both. The two most common ages are sixteen and sixty - the latter buys the former. ... In Fort Lauderdale many gays make the assumption that all older men want adolescents and are willing to pay for them.” White later admitted that “I have not, of course, described Fort Lauderdale as it must seem to those gay men who live there; they, like people everywhere, lead varied lives not subject to generalization. But I have tried to single out the one feature that most strikes the tourist - that, indeed, exists for the tourist [hustlers].” So it was in 1979 South Florida. But not to worry. The best was yet to come.
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and journalist. He has been an active member of South Florida's LGBT community for more than four decades and has served in various community organizations.
Pictured at top: Ladies of Broward House. Image Credit: Stephen Lang, SRL Media Inc.
Business SPOtlight
Broward House
Celebrates 30 Years of Service in the Care and Prevention of HIV at the Riverside Hotel
O
n Sunday, October 7th Broward House supporters gathered at the Riverside Hotel for Brunch to honor 30 years of service in the care and prevention of HIV and to look forward to the future impact of their services. This event was made possible by sponsors SR Construction and PNC Bank. The morning started with a patio view overlooking Fort Lauderdale from the 8th floor of the Riverside Hotel reminding us of the community served. The program instilled a message of passion and care, highlighting the broad range of services offered by Broward House that have adapted to the changing needs of community. The morning was punctuated by David, John and Tony, who have walked through the doors of Broward House and now share how they found their value and path to healing. The energy created fed the drive of all in attendance to eliminate stigma and to be a catalyst so that everyone begins to believe they matter, they deserve care and the healthiest life is possible. Their words captured the power of Broward House: “Broward House gave me a chance to rediscover who I am as an individual. They provided pathways and connections to healing that I didn’t know existed.” - David B.
“I not only had a place of respite to heal, but to rediscover, redefine and refocus what is important to me.” - John M.
“When I walked through the doors of Broward House, I was broken. Broward House brought me back to life through their vision and my dedication. I now help others as an employee.” - Tony Duncan
The morning ended with Stacy Hyde, Broward House, CEO who shared, “Stigma is a barrier to realizing we matter. And recognizing our value is the cornerstone to healing. We can remove stigma by not only recognizing every individual has an innate value and letting them know. It seems in this time, in our country, we are inundated with messages of ‘less than’ and biases. We each need to hold on to the voices that told us we matter, remember the words that made a difference for us, and then instill the message to others. We don’t want fear and feeling undeserving to be a barrier. We can provide care. Broward House strives each day to be a sacred ground where everyone begins to believe they matter, that they deserve care, and a healthy life is possible. I challenge us all to remember the words that made a difference for us and then instill the message to others. We each matter. We each deserve the healthiest life possible.” If you would like to learn more and see care in action, attend a monthly tour of Broward House the 2nd Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. 1726 SE 3rd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316. For more info. visit: www.browardhouse.org, email development@browardhouse.org or call (954) 568-7373 x 1221.
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history month national
Tea Dances Make Come Back in
Cincinnati A brief history of the iconic LGBT cultural event Rebecca Huff gloomy, rainy Sunday in September couldn’t stop what was originally planned as an outdoor tea dance among the trees and fountains of Washington Park in Cincinnati. The gay tradition, revived last year in Ohio by a couple who lost their go-to bar, simply moved across the street and indoors. Even inside the majestic, century-old Memorial Hall, though, Cincinnati’s 2018 version of the tea dance is still far more out-in-the-open than events of old. The once- or twicemonthly dances rotate from location to location in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky, from hotel ballrooms to restaurant rooftops and theater lobbies to straight bars. They serve much the same purpose they did back in the day. “We created the tea dance to stay connected,” said Richard Cooke, who along with his husband, Marty Wagner, brought back the almost lost tradition in April 2017 after their own hangout, the Famous Neons Unplugged, closed for good in Cincinnati’s gay-friendly Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Cooke and Wagner did more than just stay connected with their own friends, though. They recreated a safe space for the LGBT community, both physically and in spirit, that has drawn both those who remember tea dances of old and those who came along far after their decline. “I love the diversity. It represents the vitality of the LGTBQ community here in Cincinnati,” Cooke said. “Everyone is welcomed.”
A
Richard Cooke. Photo credit: Richard Sanders of Rock Doc Photography.
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At least 300 people attended the Sept. 9 dance, the first of two scheduled that month. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., people of all ages were coming and going. An opposite-sex couple and two young girls were among the first on the dance floor. “It’s super inclusive, everyone is here to have a good time. There’s no negativity, no drama,” said Henri Maicki, who lives in Over-the-Rhine. “It brings in a really cool An Ohio couple has community that’s not out and about in Cincinnati.” revived the tradition of Sunday tea dances, Tea dances date back to a time when it was impossible to creating a safe space be out and about anywhere. for a new generation. “There was a time when you had to be secretive, where Photo credit: Richard Sanders you didn’t want your name associated with the word gay of Rock Doc Photography. or you would lose your job,” said Jim Gooding, who came down to Cincinnati for the Sept. 9 tea dance from Franklin, “I think that as queerness becomes more accepted by a town 40 miles to the north. Back in the 1950s and ’60s, local laws and government straight culture, we run the risk of assimilating in the same actions around the country effectively outlawed gay bars. way that other minority and marginal groups do,” he said. Owners risked losing their liquor licenses if they were “The pull of that kind of normalization is strong, but the caught selling alcohol to LGBT clientele. It was illegal to price of admission to heteronormative acceptance is often a dance with someone of the same sex. (It also was illegal to loss of the traditions that made our culture unique.” Tea dances back then weren’t as inclusive as the new wear clothing associated with the opposite gender.) series of events in Cincinnati. Jones attributes the division People adapted. When police would come into gay bars—it happened to living in different “spheres.” The dancing-apart trend regularly and in 1969 sparked the Stonewall uprising— happened, according to historians, when tea dances and gay bars became men-only spaces. same-sex couples would quickly “Social, political, intellectual and cultural rearrange. It eventually led to a new way lives overlapped only a little,” Jones said. of dancing that remains today; to avoid “Gay men’s and lesbian women’s cultures getting arrested, couples simply began came together in the 1980s during the AIDS dancing apart. crisis, when lesbian [and some straight] “A lot has changed,” Gooding said. women stepped up to do the work of caring Tea dances, which had been around for gay men who were sick.” since the 19th century in straight society, That’s also when tea dances began to were a perfect fit for the LGBT community fade away, a trend Jones suspects is in large of decades ago. They traditionally took part because of the AIDS epidemic and its place in the afternoon, when police impact on gay men. weren’t on the lookout. When the gay “With their deaths, so, too, died many social scene developed on Fire Island in subcultural practices,” he said. New York, the afternoon time allowed Technology and bars also were a factor people catch their ferries back to the city. - Matthew Jones in the demise of this almost extinct Tea dances eventually migrated to Assistant Professor at the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio celebration. Greenwich Village and began attracting “I think we need to work to maintain younger, less affluent gays. T-shirts and queer spaces and queer cultural traditions,” denim became the attire, and the events alternately became known as T dances. The idea of Sunday Jones said. “Without them, we lose an invaluable lifeline to social gatherings for LGBT people lives on with the idea of our own past and our own future.” But technology is part of its revival. Sunday Funday. “It rekindles the importance of meeting people face-toMatthew Jones, a visiting assistant professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Miami University in face,” said Ron Bails-Forbes of Cincinnati, who came to Oxford, Ohio, said the LGBT community should embrace the September dance. “There’s no substitute for personal contact.” its own identities and culture.
"I think we need to work to maintain queer spaces and queer cultural traditions."
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LIFESTYLE photos
Lauren Baer at roosters
On Saturday, Oct. 20, Lauren Baer, Distract 18, Candidate for Congress, got up close with the community at H.G. Roosters, who teamed up with the PBCHRC and Speaking up for America/Indivisible to host the event. Michael Cushman
To see many more photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook. 48
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10.31.2018 •
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LIFESTYLE photos
n i y t i l a u x e S e l Fema
e r u t l u c p o P
Our Fund and FAU host lectures on combatting female tropes Carina Mask
O
ur Fund partnered with Florida Atlantic University on its Howard Greenfield Memorial for the beginning of a lecture series in which a wide variety of topics will be covered by experts. On Wednesday, Oct. 17 at the Metro Lab in the FAU Tower in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, the first of the series, called, “CAMP! VAMP! TRAMP!” discussed how women’s sexuality is perceived in pop culture. Ghenete Wright Muir of, “Thou Art Woman!” was one of the presenting nonprofits that was in attendance. At the start of the event she spoke briefly about how the open mic and spoken word event came to fruition with the assistance of Our Fund. Ghenete then introduced local spoken word artist Ari Safari to kick off the night. “We have one of our performers with us,” said Muir. “She is [a] professional artist, you can find her performing everywhere now.” Performer Ari Safari has been very open about her battles with depression and attempted suicide, and hopes that speaking openly about the subject will empower women to talk openly. “I have been performing with ‘Thou Art Woman!’ Since 2015, and I have been sharing my journey about my mental health,” said Ari Safari. “I want to speak a little bit more about women of color and their [fight against] depression and suicide.”
Then the conversation shifted to the beginning of the lecture series as David Jorbin of Our Fund handed the microphone over to the assistant dean Barclay Barrios and Dr. Lauren Brown. “I teach women’s sexuality and gender studies, and what I find really great are the popular myths,” Brown began. “We thought it would be fun to take a look at these myths through popular movies. Of course, ‘Barbarella,’ the Grace Jone’s movie ‘Vamp,’ ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘The Little Mermaid.” Brown then added, “These films are classics, and also extremely queer!” Barrios and Brown began to explain how heteropatriachy, or heteronormivity, has been molded to all of us and is accepted as a “norm.” This socio-political system emphasizes that cisgender males have authority over cisgender women, and anything else that lies outside of the bell curve is considered to be deviant behavior. This system affirms the right of cisgender males to discriminate against the LGBT community. This type of thought was a reoccurring theme in many of the films that were touched upon this evening. Brown and Barrios concluded the lecture by explaining that the idea of female sexuality is often perceived as dangerous in pop culture, and that according to society, women should feel ashamed for wanting to openly express their sexuality.
David Jobin addresses the guests. Christopher Rudisill.
Ghenete Wright Muir introducing Ari Safari.
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To see many more photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook.
Business SPOtlight
Community outl
k
Grille ‘garden’ opens Jamie, a popular server at the Grille on Wilton Drive in the Manors, showcases the house salad, one of the many new popular dishes at their Garden Patio, which this week opened for lunch, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each afternoon. Modestly priced, the Garden’s menu provides a splendid array of crepes, tapas, panini sandwiches, and a variety of salads in a spacious, urban, cool, air-conditioned setting.
BROWARD CENTER AND SLOW BURN THEATRE COMPANY’S PRODUCTION OF
“Slow Burn Theatre Company has delivered a thoroughly enchanting evening”... Laura Hodos and Kimmi Johnson “burn with so much joyful exuberance and shine… their work must be visible from outer space.” —Florida Theater On Stage
NOW THROUGH NOVEMBER 4 Amaturo Theater
Follow us: BrowardCenter
TICKETS at BrowardCenter.org • Ticketmaster | 954.462.0222 Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office • Group Sales | 954.660.6307 10.31.2018 •
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lifestyle photos
senior LGBT
health expo
The 9th annual boomer/senior health expo was held on Oct. 20 at the Pride Center, bringing together the senior lgbt community for health screenings, education and a chance to connect with others in the senior lgbt community. J.R. Davis Bruce Williams.
To see many more event photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook. 52
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LIFESTYLE photos
Save Dade Halloween ball SAVE Dade held their 24th Annual Halloween Ball at the Olemberg Ballroom at the Temple of Beth Shmuel in Miami Beach on Oct. 26. The theme was a “dark and decadent disco fantasy.” Proceeds helped to raise funds for their organization. Carina Mask Tony Lima.
Guests dressed as The Village People.
Tiffany Fantasia.
10.31.2018 •
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lifestyle food
Rick Karlin
I
developed my love of soul food thanks to my former roommate Kelvin. I remember spending many holidays with Kelvin’s family. His mother, Essie, was open and loving and treated me like her fifth child! Rather than the bitter acrimony served up at my family’s holiday dinners, his family get togethers were always about love, acceptance and lots of good food. Nearly every dinner had at least three kinds of potatoes (mashed, sweet and au gratin) and, as if that alone wasn’t enough to make me happy, there were always a bunch of desserts to satisfy my sweet tooth. Soul foods’ origins date back to the days of slavery and the limited rations given to African slaves by their masters. Slaves were typically given a peck of cornmeal and a few pounds of pork per week, most of that from the less desirable cuts and offal (innards). The slaves also usually had only vegetables they had grown themselves and often did not have access to ovens, cooking food over open fire or on makeshift stoves. That’s why so many foods are stewed, braised and breaded with cornmeal and fried. Cornbread could easily be prepared in a skillet. Tough greens could be simmered all day while folks were working in the fields. Because it was illegal in many states for slaves to learn to read or write, soul food recipes and cooking techniques tended to be passed along orally, so family recipes were cherished. While many of the foods are not considered healthy by today’s standards, back then the high calories helped sustain those working in the field all day. Among some of the most beloved dishes are; biscuits, black-eyed peas and butter beans, fried catfish and chicken, chitlins, ham hocks and pigs’ feet, neckbones, succotash and yams. I’ll admit that I haven’t worked up the courage to eat chitlins (pig intestines) or pigs’ feet, but pile just about anything else on my plate and I’m a happy camper.
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Soul train
Here are some of my local southern favorites
od Betty’s Soul Fo Restaurant dale Lauder 601 NW 22nd Rd., Fort 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL 3331 954-583-9121 com bettyssoulfoodrestaurant.
While you may find a soul food restaurant or two in most major Northern cities, there are many more down here in Florida. One of the most established is Betty’s Soul Food Restaurant, founded 40 years ago by the restaurant’s owner and chef, Betty Taylor. Betty’s home state of Mississippi played a major role in her love of soul food. Wanting to share her love of home cooked, familyinspired meals, Betty opened her first restaurant at a young age. Betty’s is a staple of the community and, due to high demand for her authentic soul food, is open seven days a week, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Start out your meal with some fried chicken wings, ribs and fried chicken livers or gizzards. Those looking for something healthy can order a salad topped with baked chicken, grilled shrimp or tilapia, but that’s not why you’re here, so let’s move on to the real deal. Sandwich options include two fried chops, grilled hot sausage, meatloaf and fried chicken or fish, among others. Fries are an additional $3, but the portion is huge! For those with a big appetite, the large entrée portions also include a piece of corn bread and a choice of two sides from a menu that includes; veggies (collard greens, cabbage, black-eyed peas, corn, green lima beans, green beans, fried okra or tossed salad) and starches (baked mac and cheese, candied yams, potato salad, French fries). While there aren’t many dinner menu options for vegetarians, breakfast is served all day, or they may opt for the combo plate featuring any four sides for $8.99, but ask about those green veggies, most are cooked with meat. Entrée options, priced between $10 and $15 include; beef stew, ham hocks, fried turkey wings, barbecue ribs or chicken, smothered or fried wings, meatloaf, oxtails, pigs’ feet or tails, smothered or fried chops, stewed chicken, liver & onions, fried chicken
Betty’s Soul Food Restaurant. or sirloin steak. Fish and seafood selections include; shrimp, catfish, scallops, tilapia, grouper, snapper, trout or swai, all either baked, grilled or fried. Side dishes of yellow or white rice with or without pigeon peas are available, but the servings are so large you won’t need it. Besides, you’ll want to save room for desserts such as; cakes (red velvet Pineapple-coconut, old fashioned chocolate, caramel pound), pies and cobblers (sweet potato, peach, lemon cream) and, on weekends, banana pudding with vanilla wafers. Betty’s is by far the most popular and the star of the local soul food scene, but if it’s too crowded, you might try one of these other area eateries.
Hungry for more?
The Licking
2662 N. University Dr., Sunrise 954-530-4294 thelicking.com A regional chain with four locations in the Miami area in addition to the Sunrise location.
Magic Soul Food
2152 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Oakland Park 954-777-0011 and 11244 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines 954-507-7199 ordermagicsoulfood.com Both locations have received mixed reviews for food and service.
Visit SFGN.com/FOOD!
Rick Karlin is SFGN’s food editor. Visit SFGN.com/Food to read his previous reviews. Have a culinary tip to share? Email Rick at RickKarlinFL@gmail.com.
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SFGNITES
F O R T H E W E E K O F n o v e m b er 1 - n o v e m b er 6 , 2 0 1 8 • W W W . S F G N . C O M J.W. Arnold
We Will Rock You
jw@prdconline.com
THU
11/1
theater Alex More has a story to tell in “Buyer & Cellar,” opening this weekend at Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Hwy. in Wilton Manors. A struggling actor, he takes a job working in the Malibu basement of his idol, Barbra Streisand. One day, the lady herself comes downstairs to play. It feels like real bonding in the basement, but will their relationship ever make it upstairs? Tickets are $35 at IslandCityStage.org.
FRI
11/2
film “Boy Erased,” the moving story of a young gay man who is forced by his parents into conversion therapy, opens in theaters tonight. Based on Garrard Conley’s 2016 memoir, the film stars Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. Joel Edgerton directed the film, which was a hit on the LGBT film festival circuit and goes into wide release this weekend. Check local listings for theaters and show times.
x
Thursday
11/1
film
The Museum of Discovery and Science, 401 S.W. 2nd St. in Fort Lauderdale, and SunServe are hosting a special screening of the Freddy Mercury and Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the museum’s AutoNation IMAX Theater. The evening kicks off with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. followed by the film at 7:15 p.m. The exclusive event benefits LGBT youth programs at the museum and SunServe services in the local community. For more information, go to MODS. org/Bohemian-Rhapsody-VIP. Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox.
SAT
11/3 SUN
11/4 MON
11/5 TUE
11/6
opera
theater
festival
theater
Florida Grand Opera opens its 2018-19 season with Giacomo Puccini’s “La Boheme,” tonight through Nov. 11 at the Arsht Center in Miami and Nov. 15 and 17 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. This lyrical romantic tragedy about young lovers in 19th century Paris has become a timeless classic and Puccini’s score continues to move audiences around the world. Tickets start at $21 at FGO.org.
See Amy Herzog’s comedy “4,000 Miles” at the Maplewood Playhouse at the Compass LGBT Community Center, 201 N. Dixie Hwy. in Lake Worth. After suffering a major loss while on a cross-country bike trip, 21-year-old Leo seeks solace from his feisty 91-year-old grandmother in the West Village. Performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 at MaplewoodPlayhouse.org.
Head down to Richardson Historic Park and Nature Preserve, 1937 Wilton Dr. in Wilton Manors, for the 13th annual Taste of the Island tonight at 6 p.m. Sample the wide variety of cuisines from dozens of local restaurants. Park at the City Hall/Hagen Park lot and take the free shuttle to the culinary event of the year in Wilton Manors. Proceeds benefit local chairties. Tickets are $35 at TasteOfTheIsland.org.
Turn back the clock! The Kravis Center in West Palm Beach opens its Broadway series with the 10th anniversary tour of the musical “Rock of Ages,” tonight through Sunday, Nov. 11. Featuring the heavy metal music of hit bands including Styx, Poison, Twisted Sister and Whitesnake, this show captures the iconic era that was the big bad 1980s on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Tickets start at $28 at Kravis.org.
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We’ve Got You
L E A R N M O R E A B O U T O U R A RT C L A S S E S A N D E V E NTS AT B a C A
pompanobeacharts.org | baileyarts.org | 41 NE 1st St.Pompano Beach, FL 33060 | 954.284.0141 10.31.2018 •
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A&E film
Gwilym Lee.
Joseph Mazzello.
Actors Speak Out About ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
“B
ohemian Rhapsody,” the longanticipated film about Freddie Mercury and Queen, opens nationwide in theaters this weekend. SFGN had the opportunity to sit down with three of the film’s stars, Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury), Joseph Mazzello (John Deacon) and Gwilym Lee (Brian May), to talk about the band, the film and yes, even those outrageous glam rock costumes: SFGN: You’re all young guys. What did you think about Queen and their music before you signed on for the film? RM: You can say that [we’re young], but I grew up and loved Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and was introduced to them by people in my life. Just because of our age, you don’t necessarily need to grow up listening to whatever is on the charts at the moment. We were definitely aware of Queen. Queen is a supergroup and the fact that they were able to do so well over two decades — and even to this day — says a lot. JM: When I was very young, I grew up with Nirvana and that whole [grunge] scene that took itself so seriously and was very, very “bad.” When I would listen to Queen, they seemed like they’re fun and purposely silly and something I didn’t have to take seriously. When I got to college, I realized these guys were geniuses, virtuosos. Their music crossed every genre. They’re four songwriters who have their own influences and, when they come together, it works in some crazy way. How lucky to then go from that journey to then play one of these guys and play the songs and learn everything about them. It was an awesome, awesome journey to this point. GL: That’s true, isn’t it? They have such an irreverence and joy for life and the whole glam thing, the costumes and the outsized personas. As a moody teenager, you react against it. But their style took such imagination and that’s what is such a great privilege with this film, to imagine what that journey must have been like for these incredibly talented musicians. SFGN: The costumes were certainly over the top…and those wigs! JM: It was nice of you, Rami, to lend all your clothes for the movie. GL: All that stuff is a helpful part of the process. When you’re wearing satin flares and high heel shoes, you have to rise to the level of those outfits. You can’t be shy and diminutive in those clothes. You have to raise your game.
Rami Malek.
J.W. Arnold
RM: I agree. I used that time in the fittings almost as rehearsal. That’s what Freddie would have done. He would have said, “I prefer the white satin pants over the black ones. These enhance the way my butt looks. I have long legs, I want to show off legs. I can do a ballet twirl in a ballet leotard or a unitard. Why don’t we put sequins on it?” Almost as if by osmosis, I started to appreciate the same things he would have. SFGN: How do you prepare for roles based on living people who are going to be watching the film? JM: You prepare intensely is the answer… being from New York, you start with this particular accent. YouTube has a wealth of information, actually. You can actually find a John Deacon cam that follows him through each concert. In some ways, that’s a challenge in itself to be true to the man you’re playing, but still take some liberties to fill in the gaps that you don’t know. GL: So many of the answers are there for you. Everyone knows how he looks and talks and holds himself, but our job as actors is to find the emotional side of it and tell that personal story. Brian [May] was very present for us all on set, especially the live musical performances, but when it came to the private, emotional scenes, he left it to us to tell that personal story. SFGN: In terms of Freddie as a flamboyant gay man who ultimately died of AIDS, what insights did you gain about him while working on the film? RM: I will say this — In order to find a way into a human being who is the closest thing that a lot of people can get to being God-like, you have to find the humanity in him. I looked at a young man whose name was not Freddie Mercury, but Farrokh Bulsara. A young man who was called “Bucky” as a kid because of his teeth. A young man who was struggling to discover his identity — not only as an immigrant child — but his sexual identity, as well. All of those things seemed to manifest themselves in an electric explosion on stage where all that conflict ceases to exist and becomes something magical. It’s the most liberating place he can be, on stage where nothing matters but him being his best self. That was where sexuality didn’t come to play… He was revolutionary in the way he let his essence speak for itself and that was all that mattered and all he wanted from anybody else.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, Nov. 2. Check local listings for theaters and show times. For more information, go to FoxMovies.com/Movies/Bohemian-Rhapsody.
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10.31.2018 •
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Datebook
Theater Tucker Berardi
Calendar@SFGN.com
Top
Picks
*Hedwig and the Angry Inch
November 8 to November 25 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave-nue, Fort Lauderdale. The cult classic won the 2014 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical Revival and has been labeled “the best rock musical ever!” by Rolling Stone magazine. Tickets $50 to $60. Visit Bro-wardCenter.org.
The Roaring Twenties
Sunday, November 4 at 4 p.m. at the Count and Countess de Hoernle International Center / Amarnick Goldstein Concert Hall at Lynn University in Boca Raton. Indulge in the deliciously diverse music of the 1920’s from around the globe. Tickets $10. Visit events.lynn.edu.
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
October 31 - November 6 broward county *Hedwig and the Angry Inch
November 8 to November 25 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave-nue, Fort Lauderdale. The cult classic won the 2014 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical Revival and has been labeled “the best rock musical ever!” by Rolling Stone magazine. Tickets $50 to $60. Visit BrowardCenter.org.
Freaky Friday
October 18 to November 4 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale. Disney’s Freaky Friday is a comedic musical based on the novel by Mary Rodgers and the Disney films that follows a mother and daughter who magically swap bodies for 24 chaotic hours. Tickets $47 to $60. Visit BrowardCenter.org.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
October 12 to November 4 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, 3800 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill. Based on the 1988 film of the same name, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels centers around two competing con men, living on the French Riviera. At first, the suave and experienced Lawrence Jameson takes the rookie con man, Freddy, under his wing. But soon Freddy is successful enough that he tries to compete directly with Lawrence. The competition comes to a peak when they agree that the first con man to extract $50,000 from the female heiress, Christine Colgate, wins and the other must leave town forever. Visit LPACFL.com
Pocket Change performs at Friday Night Sound Waves Music Series. Photo via Facebook.
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
palm beach county
The Roaring Twenties
Sunday, November 4 at 4 p.m. at the Count and Countess de Hoernle International Center / Amarnick Goldstein Concert Hall at Lynn University in Boca Raton. Indulge in the deliciously diverse music of the 1920’s from around the globe. Tickets $10. Visit events.lynn.edu.
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 Outdoor Music Series
Full Charge Bookkeeping Services
Third Thursdays at the Perez Art Museum Miami, 101 W. Flagler St. in Miami. Come out for live music from DJs and musicians by the bay. Drink specials available. Free with museum admission. Call 305-375-3000 or visit PAMM.org.
The Big Show
Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. at Just the Funny Theater, 3119 Coral Way in Miami. A collection of comedy mixing the likes of improvisation and sketches. Tickets $12. Call 305-693-8669 or visit JustThe-Funny.com.
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community announcement
Photo via MDGLCC, Facebook.
Chamber Chat
MDGLCC Receives Chamber Development Grant National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo give $10,000
Jonathan Lovitz NGLCC
T
he National LGBT Chamber of business community. We are proud to Commerce (NGLCC), the business voice acknowledge these thriving organizations of the LGBT community, recognized with these awards at our Conference, and excellence in local chambers on August 16 promote their achievements throughout the at the 2018 NGLCC International Business year.” & Leadership Conference in Philadelphia. “Our Chamber is honored to have been The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of awarded this grant as it will allow us to Commerce was proud to be honored with a continue our work and execute our ‘3E’s grant in the amount of $10,000 funded by the (Examine, Educate, Engage) Program.’ Wells Fargo Foundation and administered These funds will help us expand our reach by NGLCC. Grants are targeted towards by identifying local LGBTE’s businesses, programs that foster the development, show them the value and opportunities growth, and sustainability of of certification, and certify and certified LGBT Businesses retain them,” said Steve Enterprises® (LGBTBEs®). Adkins, MDGLCC’s “These funds will NGLCC Local Affiliate President & CEO. help us expand our Chambers applied Applications were reach by identifying local for available grants judged based on overall ranging from $1,000 chamber strength, LGBTE’s businesses, show them to $10,000 to support growth in members the value and opportunities of and expand upon the and community certification, and certify and success of an existing presence, engagement program benefiting with NGLCC and the retain them.” the NGLCC’s certified LGBT Supplier Diversity - Steve Adkins LGBTBEs. Initiative, the strength of MDGLCC President & CEO “As we celebrate our the program, and outlined largest and most expansive goals and metrics. NGLCC Conference yet, we “NGLCC local affiliate chambers are thrilled to celebrate the continued are the backbone of the LGBT business outstanding work accomplished by our equality movement,” said Chance Mitchell, growing network of local affiliate chambers,” NGLCC Co-Founder and CEO. “The said Justin Nelson, NGLCC Co-Founder chambers that we recognized at Conference & President. “Without the leadership and go above and beyond to guide and develop passion of these chambers, NGLCC would their local LGBT business communities.” not be able to effectively promote the LGBT
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Datebook
Community Tucker Berardi
Calendar@SFGN.com
Top Picks *The Men of Hollywood
November 3 to December 7 at the Claudia Castillo ART Studio, 2215 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors. Come see works by featured artist Adolfo Montalvo. Details at claudiacastilloARTstudio.com.
*Dia De Los Muertos
Saturday, November 3 at the HATCH building, 1121 Lucerne Avenue, Lake Worth. Come out for traditional foods, folkloric dances, parade, car show, arts and crafts and more! Visit lakewortharts.com/
*Coffee Clatch at Compass
First Monday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon at Compass, 201 N. Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth. A social group focusing on the mature LGBT+ community in Palm Beach County, providing a relaxed environment for meeting friends, discussing interesting topics, and engaging in community projects. Free to attend, email joekolb@compassglcc.com fir details.
October 31 november 6 Broward Support Services 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.
* Denotes New Listing
broward county *The Men of Hollywood
November 3 to December 7 at the Claudia Castillo ART Studio, 2215 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors. Come see works by featured artist Adolfo Montalvo. Details at claudiacastilloARTstudio.com.
*The Men of Hollywood Reception
Saturday, November 17 at 6 p.m. at the Claudia Castillo ART Studio, 2215 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors. Come enjoy the food, wine, art, music and more amidst artwork by Adolfo Montalvo. For more information, visit claudiacastilloARTstudio.com.
*Climate Change Workshop
Wednesday, November 28 at 6 p.m. at the Collins Community Center, 3900 NW 3rd Avenue, Oakland. With the increasing concerns of rising sea levels, extreme weathers, natural disasters and climate
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change, all community stakeholders are invited to collaborate and unveil potential efficiencies, together. Free to attend. Visit oaklandparkfl.gov or wiltonmanors.com
The Time of Trump
Monday, November 12 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the NSU Art Museum, 1 Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale. Our Fund Foundation hosts a panel and multimedia presentation will feature the frontline lawyers and staff who advance key priorities and active strategies to defend and advance the rights of LGBTQ people. Free to attend.
13th Annual Taste of the Island
Monday, November 5 at 6 p.m. at the Richardson Historic Park and Nature Preserve, 1937 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors. This culinary event in Wilton Manors will feature more than 30 restaurants, breweries and eateries from south Florida’s
October 31 - November 6 tri-county region. Tickets $35. Visit bit.ly/ TasteoftheIsland18.
Remember to React Art Exhibit
September 9 to November 18 at the NSU Art Museum, One East Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale. Representing various periods and developments in the history of art, Remember to React also traces the collection’s growth from its origins to today. Sections of the exhibition will change over the course of the year with installations of other core holdings, to reveal the nuances of the interrelated and reactive narratives among the works in the Museum’s unique collection.
South Florida Mustangs LGBTQ Square Dance Club
The South Florida Mustangs, the premier LGBTQ Square Dance Club, is starting a new class and want to teach you Square Dancing. It’s at the Island City Park Preserve, 823 NE 28th Street in Wilton Manor. Starting Nov. 8 at 8PM. For info, call Ken at 305-343-1710.
palm beach county *Dia De Los Muertos
Saturday, November 3 at the HATCH building, 1121 Lucerne Avenue, Lake Worth. Come out for traditional foods, folkloric dances, parade, car show, arts and crafts and more! Visit lakewortharts.com/
*Coffee Clatch at Compass
First Monday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon at Compass, 201 N. Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth. A social group focusing on the mature LGBT+ community in Palm Beach County, providing a relaxed environment for meeting friends, discussing interesting topics, and engaging in community projects. Free to attend, email joekolb@compassglcc.com fir details.
*Focus Celebration
November 25 - December 1 in downtown Lake Worth. Experience a week of multidisciplinary art displayed throughout the streets of Downtown Lake Worth to West Village. There will be live music, gallery openings, lectures and more. For more info, visit focusLW.com
Richard H. Black: Thinking Back
November 3-4 at the Keith C. And Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at
Lynn University in Boca Raton. 15 Broadway hits and counting… Blake reflects on his powerhouse career, from child actor— including Prince of Central Park produced by Jan McArt at the Belasco Theatre—to seasoned veteran. Tickets $50 to $70. Visit events.lynn.edu.
Hard Bodies: Contemporary Japanese Sculpture
September 29 to March 31 at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the thirty works by sixteen artists comprise the first-ever comprehensive exhibition of contemporary Japanese lacquer sculpture. They have all been drawn from the Clark Collections at Mia, the only collection in the world to feature this extraordinary new form. Tickets $9 to $15. Visit morikami.org.
Family Nights with Food Truck Invasion
Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Sunset Cove Amphitheater, 8802 Boynton Beach Blvd, Boynton Beach. The event features rotating entertainment activities and a large collection of Food Trucks on site! Admission is free.
miami-dade county Arsht Center Farmers Market
Mondays from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Purchase fresh food from local farmers, including fruits, vegetables, meats, prepared foods, as well as chefs, live music, and cooking demonstrations. Tickets $45 to $75. Free. Visit ArshtCenter.org/en/Visit/Dining.
key west Taco Brunch and All Day Happy Hour
Every Sunday (opening at 8 a.m.) at Mellow Cafe and Gastropub, 1605 N. Roosevelt Blvd, Key West. Spend the day drinking and downing tacos at this all-day happy hour, each week on Sun-day!
The Tea Dance After Party
Sundays from 7 p.m. until close at Mangoes, 700 Duval St. Upstairs Ricky Ricardo Room. Boogie the night away with a little help from delicious drinks, great music and free admission.
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Business Directory
attorney
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Law office of george castrataro 707 NE 3rd Ave #300, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954.573.1444 Lawgc.com
law office of Gregory Kabel 1 East Broward Blvd #700, Fort Lauderdale, 33301 954.761.7770 gwkesq@bellsouth.net
Law office of Robin bodiford 2550 N Federal Hwy #20, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954.630.2707 Lawrobin.com
law office of Shawn Newman 710 NE 26th St, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.563.9160 Shawnnewman.com
To place an ad in the Business Directory, call our sales team at 954.530.4970 automotive
Trantalis & Associates attorneys Dean J. Trantalis, Esq. 2301 Wilton Drive Suite C1-A, Wilton Manors, 33035 954.566.2226 TrantalisLaw.com
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SFGN Classified$ To place a Classified Ad, call us at 954.530.4970
automotive HEADLIGHT RESTORATION - Headlights dull, cloudy or yellow? We make them clear again! Mobile Service. Call Joe for FREE ESTIMATE 954-494-0366
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employment wanted SPECIAL HIRE NEEDED - Earn $45,000 per year. Experienced, self-motivated professional salesman needed. Work competitively in a highly flexible and relaxed LGBT-friendly environment. Fax resume to 954-530-7943.
employment positions wanted Caregiver AVAILABLE - Serving our gay community for over 10 years. Respectful and caring. Excellent letters of recommendation. Antonio 954-599-3265
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