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NEWS national
Trump’s Interior Pick Has Dismal Record On LGBT Rights John McDonald
D
onald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Interior has not exactly endeared himself to the LGBT community. Ryan Zinke, a U.S. Congressman from Montana, was nominated by Trump on Thursday to lead the department responsible for preserving and protecting America’s natural resources and land. In his re-election campaign for the U.S. House, Zinke made a controversial comment during an October debate against challenger Denise Juneau, a lesbian. Responding to a question concerning how he would protect LGBT rights, Zinke said he didn’t mind “if you want to be a lesbian.” The answer produced boos from the audience but it was not clear if those boos were in response to Zinke accepting homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle or the implication that homosexuality is a choice. A former U.S. Navy Seal, Zinke, 55, grew up
in Montana, and is an avid outdoorsman. In the race for Montana’s lone seat in Congress, Zinke, a Republican, received 280,472 votes (56 percent) to 201,758 votes (41 percent) for Juneau, a Democrat. Zinke cited the Constitution’s freedom of expression and religion in answering the question on LGBT rights. “And so I do support you – if you want to be lesbian, you want to be Muslim, you want to be whatever,” he said. On the Human Rights Campaign’s most recent legislative scorecard Zinke received a 0 score.
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NEWS highlight
SouthFloridaGayNews.com
nasa raTeD BesT larGe aGency For lGBT employees John McDonald
December 21, 2016 • Volume 7 • Issue 51
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Publisher • Norm Kent Norm.Kent@sfgn.com
A
new report released by the Partnership for Public Service shows NASA to be the best place to work in the U.S. government for LGBT people. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) received the top score (76.8) among large agencies. The annual Best Places to Work survey is conducted by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that calculates responses from 407,789 federal workers. Following NASA as best places to work for LGBT people in large agencies are: Department of Transportation (69.0), Department of State (68.0), Department of Justice (66.9), Department of Health and Human Services (66.9), Department of Labor (66.1), Department of Commerce (65.8), Department of the Interior (65.1), Department of Agriculture (64.6), Social Security Administration (63.1), Department of the Air Force (62.7), Department of the Navy (58.9), Department of Veterans Affairs (56.4), Department of the Treasury (54.9), Office of
Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli
the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities (54.4), Department of the Army (51.3) and Department of Homeland Security (42.8). An index score is calculated using a proprietary weighted formula that looks at answers to three questions in the federal survey. The more the question predicts intent to remain the higher the weighting. The questions are: 1. I recommend my organization as a good place to work. 2. Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job? 3. Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your organization? The Federal Trade Commission, a midsize agency, received the survey’s top overall score (87.8) while the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) – a subcomponent of DHS -- came in at the bottom of the rankings (35.5).
Associate Publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com
Editorial
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BoDy FounD aT cVs In WIlTon manors Police Investigating
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olice found the body of a deceased male in a van at the CVS, located at Five Points, in Wilton Manors on Thursday. The name of the white male, who appears to be in his mid to late 40s, is being withheld by police until his family is notified. “It’s still an open investigation with the Sheriff’s Office,” said Wilton Manors Police Chief Paul O’Connell. Per an agreement between the city and BSO, all deaths within the city are investigated by BSO. “We’re all standing by until the medical examiner comes back with his final conclusion.”
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A HazMat unit was utilized on the scene but O’Connell said nothing was found. It was only because of the state of the van, which was sealed, which dictated that police use caution in case some kind of toxic or poisonous was present. “The vehicle was sealed in such a way that the red flags went up. There have been cases in the past where someone commits suicide . . . and rescuers are overcome [by the poisonous or toxic materials used],” said O’Connell. MEMBER
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Cover: Syrian girls walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in al-Shaar neighborhood, in the rebel-held side of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (IZEIN ALRIFAI/AFP/GImages)
NLGJA Journalist of the Year
South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. Copyright © 2016 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.
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Gov-elect: north carolina Will repeal lGBT law on Tuesday (AP) North Carolina legislators will repeal the contentious HB2 law that limited protections for LGBT people and led to an economic backlash, the state's incoming governor said Monday. Gov.-elect Roy Cooper made the announcement shortly after the Charlotte City Council voted to repeal its own local ordinance enacted in early 2016. It was that ordinance that Republicans blamed for the statewide law. "Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte's vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB 2 in full. I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full," the Democrat said in a statement. The repeal would be a remarkable sign of cooperation for the incoming governor and the GOP-controlled legislature. Just last week, lawmakers called a special session and stripped Cooper of some of his authority when he takes office next month.
POLITICAL
action on Health care could cost Trump planned parenthood
(AP) One of President-elect Donald Trump's first, and defining, acts next year could come on Republican legislation to cut off taxpayer money from Planned Parenthood. Trump sent mixed signals during the campaign about the 100-year-old organization, which provides birth control, abortions and various women's health services. He said "millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood," but he also endorsed efforts to defund it. Trump once described himself as "very pro-choice." Now he's in the anti-abortion camp. Still, the Republican has been steadfast in calling for repeal of President Barack Obama's health care law, and the GOP-led Congress is eager to comply. One of the first pieces of legislation will be a repeal measure that's paired with cutting off money for Planned Parenthood. While the GOP may delay the impact of scuttling the law for almost four years, denying Planned Parenthood roughly $400 million in Medicaid funds would take effect immediately. "We've already shown what we believe with respect to funding of Planned Parenthood," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters last month. "Our position has not changed." Legislation to both repeal the law and cut Planned Parenthood funds for services to low-
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Gov.-elect roy Cooper.
Spokesmen for Gov. Pat McCrory didn't immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment. Media representatives for the state's Republican legislative leaders also didn't immediately respond. The Charlotte council's move is contingent on North Carolina legislators fully repealing HB2 by Dec. 31. HB2 requires transgender people to use restrooms corresponding with the sex on their birth certificate in many public buildings. It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from statewide antidiscrimination protections. McCrory and lawmakers have defended the bathroom provisions as providing privacy and safety by keeping men out of women's restrooms. Opponents of the law call it discriminatory. Since HB2 passed in March, North Carolina has suffered a backlash that has included companies declining to expand in the state and cancellations of rock concerts. The NCAA and ACC have also moved college sports events out of the state.
income women moved through Congress along party lines last year. Obama vetoed it; Trump's win removes any obstacle. Cutting off Planned Parenthood from taxpayer money is a long-sought dream of social conservatives, but it's a loser in the minds of some GOP strategists. Planned Parenthood is loathed by anti-abortion activists who are the backbone of the GOP coalition. Polls, however, show that the group is favorably viewed by a sizable majority of Americans - 59 percent in a Gallup survey last year, including more than one-third of Republicans. "Defunding Planned Parenthood as one of their first acts in the New Year would be devastating for millions of families and a huge mistake by Republicans," said incoming Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
HEALTH
contracts approved with lGBTHealth rights language stripped
(AP) A stalemate over contracts to provide health insurance next year for 10,000 state employees, retirees and family members ended Thursday when Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration removed LGBT-rights protections from the deals. House lawmakers had stalled the contracts because they objected to including language from an executive order issued by the Democratic governor, saying Edwards had exceeded his authority. The order prohibited discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A judge declared the order unconstitutional Wednesday, so the Edwards administration stripped the LGBT-rights protection language from the contracts. The House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees then approved the reworked arrangements with insurance companies Vantage Health Plan and Peoples Health without objection Thursday.
Health plans in the Office of Group Benefits that cover thousands of people could have ended Jan. 1 without the contract approvals. The LGBT-rights order, issued by Edwards in April, has caused consternation with some Republican lawmakers who accused the governor of executive overreach. They noted that the Legislature has refused to enact such protections in law. Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit challenging Edwards' order as an unconstitutional breach of separation of powers. A state district judge in Baton Rouge agreed. Edwards said he intends to appeal the decision. But the governor's lawyer Matthew Block assured the Appropriations Committee that the administration won't try to add the antidiscrimination clause back to the insurance contracts if the appeal is successful. "We do not intend to come back and say we're going to amend every existing contract to require that language to be included," Block said. "We have other stuff to do." Other legal services contracts for state agencies and boards had been stalled by Landry's office because they contained the anti-discrimination language. The Edwards administration has indicated it will resubmit contracts without the LGBT-rights protections to comply with the judge's order while its appeal is pending.
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NEWS international
Too lITTle, Too laTe For aleppo's DeaD anD DIsplaceD
Photo Credit: Aleppo Media Center.
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
CNN
H
ow do you monitor a skeleton of a city bereft of its citizens, who have been bused out after seeing their homes bombed to pieces by barrel bombs from the Syrian regime and bunker busters from their Russian supporters? And what will be left to watch when — and if — the monitors ever arrive? In the best-case scenario, the United Nations observers in Aleppo may find out.
Starved into SubmiSSion, Stripped of medical SupplieS in hoSpitalS left without power, aneStheSia and, increaSingly, doctorS, who could Survive the bombardment of the Syrian regime and itS ruSSian air SupporterS? 8
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In a rather realistic one, the world will never know. At long last, the United Nations Security Council has been able to agree on something. That something is the monitoring of the evacuation of the children and parents, men and women left alive in Aleppo, after the siege of their city — starved on the ground, bombed from the sky and sealed in without any refuge or non-lethal path to escape — grew inhuman enough to prick the world's conscience and puncture its longstanding indifference to Syria's carnage. too GrotesQUe to IGnore The YouTube war finally became too grotesque to ignore. An overnight crisis, years in the making, finally grew impossible to overlook. The UN resolution called for "adequate, neutral monitoring and direct observation on evacuations" and demanded that all sides provide the monitors "with safe, immediate and unimpeded access."
But in reality, the French-backed resolution that finally won Russian and Chinese support says that those observers can only enter after they consult with "interested parties," a verbal umbrella which is likely to include a bevy of forces backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, from Iran to Russia. By the time these neutral observers do make it in, eastern Aleppo likely will be cleared of the parents who called the city home and found themselves forced to flee when they could no longer send their children to play on their own streets or attend the city's schools. Starved into submission, stripped of medical supplies in hospitals left without power, anesthesia and, increasingly, doctors, who could survive the bombardment of the Syrian regime and its Russian air supporters? They could bear no more. Who could? Even the remains of the fractured international community couldn't take its impotence being called so painfully and embarrassingly to account by the images coming out of Aleppo.
How many pictures of grieving parents reaching toward the sky and dust-covered babies bombed to the ground could the world stomach? syrIa Is the War that has rUn oUt oF adJeCtIVes Words long ago failed to describe its depravity -- or to rouse the international community to do anything other than look away and wait for it to end. UN officials themselves have called out their institution's ineffectiveness in the face of Aleppo's brutality. "Since September, the Security Council has failed to adopt three resolutions that could have enabled a humanitarian truce, evacuation of civilians and the entry of lifesaving aid," said Ban Ki-moon, who just stepped down from the UN helm. A UN release noted that on "8 October, Russia vetoed a resolution that would have called for an end to military flights over Aleppo; and on 5 December, a measure calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the beleaguered city failed to pass after
NEWS international “Shall we have lost all these lives to finally have people standing with us? It is too late, dear, but late is better than never.” - Khokoud Helmi
One of the founders of Syrian Underground
negative votes by both China and Russia. In all, Russia has vetoed six texts on the Syrian conflict, while China has vetoed five of those six." As he took leave of UN leadership last week, Ban said that "Aleppo is now a synonym for hell." He also noted: "We have collectively failed the people of Syria." He is right on both counts. Can the UN's next leader do any better? The question is whether his successor, Antonio Guterres, can do any better, given that the Syrian regime, along with Russia and Iran, have now shifted facts on the ground dramatically in their favor. And now, with Aleppo's fall, they have successfully implemented their starveversus-surrender strategy in Syria's major cities. Years ago, as the head of the UN's Refugee Agency, Guterres said he had run out of descriptors for Syria's civil war. Today he is the head of the United
Nations, facing the task of implementing this latest resolution. The UN Security Council's unanimity breakthrough is months, if not years, too late for this resolution to make a difference for the 4 million made refugees, the more than a quarter-million dead and the millions displaced inside the country, who have absolutely no place safe to turn and no place outside the nation's borders eager to offer them safety. Syrian activists and those inside the Obama administration who favored greater intervention in the conflict both tell me they fear the fate of those fleeing Aleppo to the town of Idlib, which is likely to be next in Assad's crosshairs. And they wonder how it took this much death to finally see Syria seize the global stage? "I never thought we would be forced to leave our homes," Khokoud Helmi, a founder of the Syrian underground newspaper Enab Baladi, told me. "Shall we have lost all these lives to finally have people standing with us? It is too late, dear, but late is better than never."
Maysaloon crossing Dec. 8, where citizens are evacuating E. Aleppo. Photo Credit: CNN/ Fred Pleitgen.
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NEWS national
Photo: Facebook.
neW sHorT FIlm HIGHlIGHTs HIV crImInalIZaTIon John McDonald
“N
o one should ever knowingly put another person at risk of harm, but the ability to disclose is not quite as simple as that,” said Sean Strub, President of the Sero Project, an advocacy group fighting for decriminalization of HIV/AIDS. In a newly released film, the group explains the difficulties HIV positive people face with dating and relationships. More than 30 states, including Florida, have HIV-specific laws that criminalize behavior of people living with HIV. “HIV Criminalization: Masking Fear and Discrimination” is an 11-minute film containing stories from HIV positive people who have endured prison and prosecution. “HIV criminalization feels very much like unfinished business for me as an HIV advocate,” said Mark S. King, one of the film’s producers. “How in the world
can we turn our backs on those who face jail time because they live in a society in which they are so feared and stigmatized that they find it difficult to disclose their HIV positive status to their partner.” “With HIV we can prosecute it or prevent it – you can’t do both,” said Strub. The film makes the case that HIV criminalization laws were passed during the late 1980s and early 1990s when contracting the virus was near fatal. With advances in modern medicine, HIV positive people are living longer and can achieve undetectable status. Criminalization of HIV, health care workers admit, is also a major barrier in preventing people from being tested. “Never before in the history of our law have we punished somebody because they carry a virus,” said Cecilia Chung, a Sero Project board of directors member from San Francisco.
to see the film, visit www.seroproject.com
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LgBtQia bites
l
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lesbian
TeGan anD sara To play aT Gay & lesBIan marDI Gras In syDney
Compiled by Jillian Melero Bisexual
BIseXual aDulT FIlm acTor, aleXanDer GusTaVo DIes aT 33
tegan and sara. TeganAndSara.com
(SFGN) Canadian music duo, identical twins, and LGBT right advocates Tegan and Sara will perform at the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival, in Sydney Australia March 4, 2017, BuzzFeed reports. The sisters, who are both lesbians, have been open about their stance on LGBT rights throughout their careers. Following the release of their eighth studio album “Love you to Death” in June, Sara Quin told Billboard, “Not to take away how amazing the Supreme Court ruling was for same-sex marriage in the United States [in June 2015],
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but one of the things Tegan and I talk about a lot is internationally,” said Sara, who was born in Calgary but now lives in Los Angeles. “We spend a lot of time in countries where we’re not just talking about marriage; we’re talking about health care; we’re talking about security; we’re talking about adoption rights, hospital rights; these things, they need to be legislated. They have to be protected by the government. And this just shows that there are still so many things that can be done to protect people -- not just gay people, but people.”
alexander Gustavo.
(SFGN) Alexander Gustavo, 33, an adult film actor featured by studios including Men, Kink, Hot House, Pride Studios, and NextDoor, was found dead in his Las Vegas Nevada apartment by costar and roommate Jaxton Wheeler, reports Str8UpGayPorn. Gustavo died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. “I’ve never seen something like that in person before,” Wheeler tells Str8UpGayPorn. “I’ve lost friends, but for it
to be my best friend; he was like my brother. We really enjoyed working together…he looked out for me and I looked out for him. To know that he didn’t say one thing to me, didn’t reach out, [and] to find him with his girlfriend and her son following right behind me. It just keeps playing over and over in my head.” Gustavo began his adult film career in 2012, filming gay, straight, and bisexual scenes and identified as bisexual.
LgBtQia bites
T
continued Transgender
naTIonal GeoGrapHIc FeaTures Trans GIrl on coVer oF GenDer specIal Issue (SFGN) Avery Jackson, a nine-year-old girl from Kansas City is the first transperson to be featured on the cover of National Geographic. The January issue is headed “Gender Revolution” and will be available Dec. 27. The cover photo, taken by Robin Hammond, is captioned by a quote from Avery, “The best thing about being a girl is, now I don’t have to pretend to be a boy.” National Geographic has received a great deal of attention on the issue since the release of the cover on social media, prompting Editorin-Chief Susan Goldberg to respond with this editorial, “The portraits of all the children are beautiful. We
especially loved the portrait of Avery— strong and proud. We thought that, in a glance, she summed up the concept of ‘Gender Revolution.’ Like her, all of us carry labels applied by others. The complimentary ones— ‘generous,’ ‘funny,’ ‘smart’—are worn with pride. The harsh ones can be lifelong burdens, indictments we try desperately to outrun. The most enduring label, and arguably the most influential, is the first one most of us got: ‘It’s a boy!’ or ‘It’s a girl!’ Though Sigmund Freud used the word ‘anatomy’ in his famous axiom, in essence he meant that gender is destiny. Today that and other beliefs about gender are shifting rapidly and radically. That’s why we’re exploring the subject this month, looking at it through the lens of science, social systems, and civilizations throughout history.”
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Convictions
Publisher's Editorial
There is no Christmas in Aleppo Norm Kent
Maysaloon crossing Dec. 8, where citizens are evacuating E. Aleppo. Photo Credit: CNN/ Fred Pleitgen.
norm.kent@sfgn.com
“Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.” - John Donne
I
get it. no less vile than the Germans in Eastern Essentially, we are a local gay Europe during WWII. newspaper. So here I am, sitting at a small desk in We can cover the Pet Project’s benefit for a little office in Wilton Manors, Florida, abused animals at Hunter’s nightclub, or cluttered with posters of Woodstock, John promote the Pride Center’s annual charity Lennon, Harvey Milk, and sports stars I toy drive. We may illuminate a prominent admire, from Sandy Koufax to Muhammad LGBT leader who has achieved national Ali. I am reminded of my alma mater’s success, or expose a scandalous crook newspaper, the Hofstra Chronicle, and its trying to run a stock fraud scheme in a local Biblical slogan, that it’s duty is “to comfort condo. the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” Occasionally, though, we must do Therefore, today, to the citizens of more. We recognize who stands out for Aleppo, to the hundreds of thousands of us nationally, and we have done that each decent human beings who flee their homes December with our person of the year, on a run to nowhere, I am here to say, “I am whether it was Peter Thiel in 2016, or sorry.” Hillary Clinton in 2011. I am sorry that I could do nothing for When a national or international you but recognize the tragedy and loss you issue presents itself, whether it was the have faced and are facing. I am sorry that Charlie Hebdo attacks on I have lived in a world journalists in Paris, or the that has tolerated these Pulse Nightclub massacre atrocities so often and in The bombs in Orlando, we try to rise so many places, from Idi have reigned to the occasion. We push to Amin’s Uganda to Hitler’s death and give notice to the outrage Germany — and long that is universal. destruction, before that. Today, as the Publisher In its 7,000 years of and have left of a newspaper which has existence, the people of nothing for the Aleppo have been fought become, page-wise at least, Syrian regime the largest gay American over by Babylonians, paper printed weekly in Greeks and Romans, all to seize, except our country, I feel obligated kingdoms and empires of shattered to steer us to the genocide a past gone by. All I know dreams and in Syria, to the destruction is the present I see on the devastated of an ancient Syrian city news, and it is frightening, which once housed 2 horrible, and so painful to buildings. million people, as recently watch, from the mothers as a decade ago. holding their slaughtered I don’t understand the war. I can’t sons, to the refugees carrying their very understand the slaughter. There is nothing lives on a backpack through a desert. rational about Vladimir Putin and Russia As Reuters wrote this week, only partnering with Iran and Syria’s leader, one thing appears certain, that “a city Screw-him Assad, to mindlessly murder which started the century as a relatively thousands of citizens, reigning terror on its cosmopolitan metropolis and destination people, destroying hospitals and humanity for Western tourists has been reduced to so senselessly. They are not taking out rubble.” ‘rebels.’ They are committing war crimes It appears the final stages are now upon
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us. The bombs have reigned death and destruction, and have left nothing for the Syrian regime to seize, except shattered dreams and devastated buildings. What have they won? It’s not like there are people who can rush back and return to their homes, jobs, schools, or community; not like there will be electricity, commerce, and industry. I wish this were all not so. I wish the west or America could have done more than given a halfhearted response to this crisis. But Western civilization has its own limitations. We simply cannot be the police of the world. Americans have learned this, all too personally and painfully, from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. We did not rescue Iraq, save Afghanistan or bring peace to Libya. Hey, we are lucky to bring it to the south side of Chicago. We can try our best to be a beacon for what others should aspire to become, but America cannot establish a military beachhead on every foreign shore. So, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a joyful Kwanzaa, everyone. My staff and I here at SFGN wish you and your
friends and families the best this holiday season. Join with me in saying as a community to the migrants in Europe and the misery in Aleppo that you too are sorry we must see this inhumanity and suffering unfold every evening on our newscasts. Join with me in praying that one day a future generation will one day bring peace to the Earth and provide good will to all mankind. Join with me in hoping that one day the world of Aleppo’s will not be part of our world anymore. Yes, we are just one small newspaper in one small city in one region of the southeast U.S. But as the John Donne quote at the top of this story notes, we are all brothers and sisters on this globe together, subject to Fate, and the fortune of elements often beyond our control. However, as we celebrate these holidays, even in this small hamlet, let the future record we did not ignore the horror story that is Aleppo. Let posterity know we saw wrong and tried to right it; terror and tried to tame it; evil and spoke out against it.
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Guest column
ConviCtions
FIVe reasons ‘HIV unDeTecTaBle’ musT eQual ‘unTransmITTaBle’ Mark S. King
“We are not dirty, we are not a threat, and we are not disease vectors. In fact, we are the solution. People living with HIV who achieve viral suppression, who become undetectable, are the solution to the end of new HIV infections in the United States… When we look back 20 years from now we’re going to judge ourselves in terms of how well we responded to this opportunity.” — dr. rich Wolitski, person living with HiV and acting director for the Office for HiV/aidS and infectious disease policy at the u.S. department of Health and Human Services
W
hen dr. Wolitski delivered his speech at the closing plenary of the 2016 united States Conference on aidS (uSCa), he received a standing ovation. He was referring to this year’s newest findings of HptN 052 and the partNEr study, which showed that people living with HiV who are undetectable are not transmitting the virus to their negative partners. How wonderful that something many of us have assumed for years has been proven to be true. So now we can spread the news and encourage people with HiV to seek treatment and stick with it. and hey, there’s nothing like a little intercourse a la natural with your partner to reward yourself for being undetectable, am i right? Not so fast. there is some strong resistance to a message that equates undetectable to un-transmittable, and it’s not coming from where you might think. here are five reasons why this breakthrough message matters.
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1.
the sCIenCe Is solId. The PARTNER Study has recorded 58,000 acts of penetrative sex without condoms between 1,000 positive/negative couples, in which the HIV positive partner had an undetectable viral load. There were no infections between the couples. Not a single one. The same results were reported in the HPTN 052 study and the empirical evidence to date. As Dr. Wolitiski said in his USCA speech, “this is a game-changing moment in the history of the HIV epidemic.” Resistance to the conclusion that undetectable people pose no risk of infection has been either a matter of scientific data scrutiny or a fear that people may not actually be undetectable when they think they are. Let’s break that down. A review of the argument against saying “zero risk” is enough to make you cross-eyed. It is based on the premise that nothing, really, is without risk. Detractors of the non-infectious message will calmly explain the perils of placing any risk at zero and then hypnotize you with statistical origami. Suffice it to say that proving zero risk is statistically impossible. You risked electrocution by turning on your device to read this article. There will always be somebody who claims a terminally unique HIV infection, even if the precise circumstances of their claim may be murky. Weird things happen. People who drink alcohol sometimes spontaneously combust. It happens a couple times a
year. But you don’t see warning labels about it slapped on every bottle of Wild Turkey by overzealous worrywarts. And yes, there is the possibility that someone might develop a viral load if they are not adherent to treatment and then transmit the virus. But the message here is that people who are undetectable cannot transmit HIV. If you stay on treatment and are undetectable you will not transmit HIV. Can we please celebrate this simple fact without remote qualifiers? It is also important to note that a Canadian consensus statement concluded that any “viral blips” or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were “not significant” to HIV transmission when someone is undetectable.
2.
MaJor health exPerts are on board (bUt not all CoMMUnIty leaders). Public health leaders, from the New York Department of Health to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have embraced these findings and its meaning to people with HIV, while community advocates and organizations have been reluctant to get on board, citing a theoretical risk of infection. Or maybe they consider changing their fact sheets and web sites an enormous bother. The Prevention Action Campaign and their seminal message “U=U” (undetectable equals un-transmittable) was founded on the energetic efforts of a man named Bruce Richman. He entered the HIV advocacy scene a few years ago, seemingly out of nowhere, carrying aloft the banner of un-detectability. Richman gathered
Guest column
ConviCtions signatures of health experts the world over for a consensus statement about the research, while cajoling every U.S. HIV organization in sight to adopt language that removes the stigma of infectiousness from people who are undetectable. My review of the web sites and statements from major HIV organizations includes no strong language about undetectable people not transmitting HIV. Worse, some exaggerate the risk from those who are undetectable. How could such a new research breakthrough be met with such ignorance and apathy by our own leaders? I will defer shaming anyone by name while they take a little time to update their official language. (Notable exceptions to this sad rule include work going on in the United Kingdom and France that flatly states that undetectable means non-infectious.) This skepticism from our own community reduces people with HIV, again, to a problem that must be managed. It suggests that those of us who have achieved un-detectability don’t have the judgment to keep taking our medications or to see our physician regularly to be sure our treatment plan is still effective. It keeps us in the role of untrustworthy victims unable to make decisions that will keep the rest of you safe from us. What infuriating, stigmatizing nonsense.
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thIs Is aboUt hIV. only hIV. Auxiliary issues often creep into this debate that may be well-meaning but only muddy the waters, such as the fear that promoting the message of non-infectiousness will lead to more sexually transmitted infections (STIs) because of the freedom it allows (see also: critics of PrEP, the birth control pill, and any other vehicle that might lead to unbridled sexual pleasure). Rates of STIs — which were on the rise before the advent of PrEP or news from the PARTNER Study — are deeply concerning but ultimately tangential. We are in desperate need of comprehensive sexual health programs, to be sure, but in this instance I feel compelled to “kill the alligator closest to the boat.” This is about being HIV undetectable, not syphilis impermeable. Being undetectable will not prevent other infections or address promiscuity or remove stubborn stains. Advocates are also sensitive to the continued compartmentalization of our community,
between those who are positive or not, who is on PrEP or not, and now, between those with HIV who are able to achieve viral suppression and those who cannot, despite their best efforts. I sympathize with this new divide among HIV positive people but believe the greater good – removing shame and stigma from those who are not capable of transmitting – shouldn’t be downplayed. All HIV positive people of good will can and should celebrate this development, regardless of their own viral load.
editorial cartoon
By andy marlette
4.
thIs Is a MaJor VICtory For hIV CrIMInalIZatIon reForM. Terribly important work is being done to repeal and reform HIV criminalization laws that prosecute people with HIV for not disclosing their status to a sexual partner. Our lead defense is often that the defendant never posed a risk to their partner in the first place, due to their use of protection or the fact the defendant was undetectable and therefore rendered harmless. Imagine the glee with which prosecutors might punch holes in this defense, based on statistical mumbo-jumbo saying “zero risk” is impossible and using it to explain to a jury that Joe Positive did, in fact, pose a risk to his sexual partner and should be jailed for it. Put that doubt into the heads of a jury, and another person with HIV gets a 30-year sentence for daring to have sex at all.
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thIs ProFoUndly ChanGes hoW PeoPle WIth hIV VIeW theMselVes. Internalizing the fact that I cannot transmit HIV to anyone has had an effect on me that is difficult to describe. I can only liken it to the day the Supreme Court voted for marriage equality. Intellectually, I knew I was a gay man and a worthy human being. But on the day of the court’s decision I walked through the streets of my neighborhood with my head held higher. Something had changed. I felt whole. In my thirty-five years living with HIV, I have never felt exactly that way. I deserve to. And so do millions of other people with HIV. Of all the arguments to adopt the message that undetectable people cannot transmit HIV, that enhanced feeling of self-worth may be the most important reason of them all.
Mark S. King writes the award-winning blog, Myfabulousdisease.com.
FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES? CALL JEFF DEAN DEFENSE ATTORNEY
DUI Domestic Violence Sex Offenses Drug Charges Miami Office: (305) 777-3595 1200 Brickell Avenue, Suite 1950, Miami, FL 33131 Fort Lauderdale Office: (954) 204-3633 110 SE 6th Street, Suite 1700, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 12.21.2016 •
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letters to the editor
ConviCtions
reaDers BlasT sFGn oVer person oF THe year pIck Peter Thiel is a Gay Uncle Tom
I
nteresting how your coverage on Republicans has changed from demonizing Trump and his supporters, until he was elected president by electoral votes but not by the majority of Americans who voted, to putting a Republican Gay Uncle Tom on the front page of your paper and labeling him your person of the year. When the Black community was rising up and asking for a place at the table that wasn’t at the back of the bus, they labeled members of their community who accepted their second class citizenship and kowtowed to the ruling majority whites as Uncle Toms. It looks like we have plenty of our own Uncle Toms in the Gay community who want to try keep us in our place, which used to be behind bars in jails or mental institutions for dancing together or associating with one another in public. Yes, why care about who uses the bathrooms or being told to sit in the back of the bus or to not sit at the lunch counter etc., etc., when we need to focus on working to make rich Americans like Peter Thiel even richer. What do you think the Democrats who read your paper should call you now that the wind has changed and being a Gay Uncle Tom like Peter Thiel to be in on the money seems to be your newspaper’s new agenda as the way to go now that Trump has been elected President? Rarely has there ever been anything ever in the history of the Republican Party, except Lincoln freeing the slaves to encourage the desertion of slaves in Confederate troops the Union was fighting, in the Republican platform about humanity as it’s always about the money to them, which includes how to set up government to exploit the poor and working classes to make more money for themselves, how to set up tax laws
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to not have to pay their fair share of taxes that support the U.S. military that has historically been used to protect their business ventures on foreign soil, and how to politically crush anyone who attempts to level the playing field for the have-nots if they attempt to be part of the American Dream. Most polite people will probably just refer to you as a fair weather friend for supporting the Democrats when it looked like they were winning but then turned to attacking them after their loss. This reminds me of stories I read of a small number of Jews in Hitler’s Germany working hand in hand with the Nazi’s once they were voted into power while incorrectly thinking this would serve to protect their own lives before they too ended up being railroaded off to concentration camps, so after you put Uncle Tom Thiel on your cover as person of the year, less than polite people may be referring to you by using names other than Fair Weather Friend since we haven’t yet come to that point where the majority of Americans are going to roll over peacefully and let the Republicans take away what’s left of what the Republicans haven’t already attempted to take from hard working Americans because of the archaic Electoral College system that awarded the first place prize to the second place winner of the majority of votes placed by Americans for the second time in recent history to the favor of Republicans who got us into two foreign wars and perpetuated the near collapse of the American economy.
This Is Treason!
M
r. Kent, This is your magazine and you have the right to honor whoever you want but nevertheless, you have honored a man who helped to elect Donald Trump and countless other Republicans across the country at every level of government. Trump isn't even yet in office and Republicans have already begun to talk about rolling back rights for LGBT and other minorities. They are talking about ending both social security and Medicare as we know it. They want to repeal Obamacare right away. Some conservatives have even called for the CDC to end funding of HIV/ AIDS programs because "no male should ever have anal sex with another male." Thiel supports the same man who is supported by anti-Semites, the KKK, and other white supremacy groups. By supporting a Republican, any Republican, you are committing treason against your community here in South Florida and against our LGBT tribe of people everywhere. Furthermore, your editorials supported Florida's medical marijuana initiative. Do you think Republicans are going to support marijuana legalization across the country or will they be succumb to pressure by their religious right base? Chris gardner
Sincerely, richard Claycomb
ConviCtions
T
letters to the editor
Norm Kent is a Traitor
his should be the end of Norm Kent and his Johnny come lately rag in a real progressive gay community. HotSpots should pick up the pace and leave this old rich white gay man in the rear view mirror of South Florida’s memory. The Pride community organizers should cut themselves loose from the tentacles of his grasp. May I personally say “Fuck You and Your Rag Norm.” May many more repeat “Fuck You and Your Rag Norm” for your siding
with a man who help elected Trump by speaking at the convention of an antigay rights party - as detailed in the 2016 GOP platform. Your true colors are on display. I will not be picking it up - and in the event I happen to see a business advertising in it - I will avoid them. I hope the bars and restaurants of the drive hit you in the wallet for this traitorous act. glenn
Mr. Kent Shame On You
T
his started out as a rather lengthy dissertation and analysis on your selection of Peter Thiel as SFGN Person of the Year, but in keeping with the nonsensical tweeting of the President-elect and others in his cabinet, including those who tweet out fake news like a general very close to him and his son, I have decided anyone who attempts to normalize Donald Trump and those around him, including Peter Thiel, doesn't deserve so much of my time. You see, I will be 60 years old in 2017 and I have seen many of the wars gay people have fought in the 70's and 80's and up until now, and to parade Peter Thiel around as if he is some sort of hero causes me both alarm and confusion and disappointment in SFGN. I have always been taught, and it has proven itself to be true all my years, that you are known by the company you keep. And when that company you keep is antiscience, anti-knowledge, anti-education, pro-white supremacy, pro-Nazi, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-minorities, pro-voter suppression, anti-choice (do I need to go on? you get the picture), and yes, anti-gay, that tells me all I need to know about you. You yourself point out that Peter Thiel has tossed his lot in with such people, as has Donald Trump. Peter Thiel is but one voice to be drowned out by many racists, homophobes, etc who have already demonstrated the influence they have on Donald Trump's tweets and speeches and proposed policies. You place the nation's hopes on your "hope" that Thiel will have some sort influence to impart "some" wisdom and guidance. Uh huh. Peter Thiel was trotted out to give some sort of fake semblance that Trump is inclusive, much like putting that one black face in the crowd right behind Trump while speaking at his rallies, only to find out later that that person had no fucking clue about how they were being used. The only inclusivity Thiel adds to Trump is one of being a member of the white
billionaire's boys club that now makes up 95% of Trump's cabinet. So much for "draining the swamp" and power to the working class. I did not hear Peter Thiel denounce all the hate and bigotry around Trump. Maybe he did, but that lone voice of "hope" you tout is surely being drowned out by the hate-filled throngs around Trump and out here in the rest of the country. Those are the voices you hear most, and those are the ones that have Trump's ear. You celebrate some of the accomplishments of Peter Thiel, and perhaps he should get that credit. But to me, and millions more of us gay folks, you discredit those things when you throw yourself in with a man who just got elected by appealing to the worse in our country, to the fears and prejudices of others in order to get elected. To Peter Thiel I say once again, you are known by the company you keep. To you, Mr. Kent, I say shame on you and the SFGN for attempting to normalize people and events by celebrating a gay man who has taken his billions of dollars and decided he wanted to sit at the table with such awful, and yes Hillary, deplorable people who are attempting to make this country a miserable place for many of our friends and family members. Because as Mr. Thiel knows, his billions automatically gives him easy access to healthcare and the other benefits of being rich and powerful that even his own gay brethren are about to either have challenged, reduced and out right taken away...if we are to believe the President-elect and those around him. I say it again, this was a shameful selection for Person of the Year and I am a totally appalled at the supposed logic behind it. I will now be more likely to pass by the copies laying out for me to pick up and take into my home. Stewart Lowery Coral Springs, fL 12.21.2016 •
21
fEaturE legal
lake WorTH Bans conVersIon THerapy
Photo: Facebook.
Tucker Berardi
t
he Lake Worth City Commission brought conversion therapy to the table at their Dec. 13 meeting, a vote that was possible thanks to the efforts of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) as well as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). The Commission, comprised of Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso, Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, Mayor Pam Triolo, and Commissioners Ryan Maier and Christopher McVoy, voted unanimously to ban the practice of conversion therapy on children throughout the city. “We’ve done what we can do to prevent this from happening to kids in our city,” Rand Hoch, retired president and founder of the PBCHRC said in an interview with SFGN. “And that’s the beauty of it.” The vote was the product of human rights organizations working with local politicians to shed light on the issue of conversion therapy, also known as sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE.) “The commissioners got applause for enacting [the ban],” Hoch said. “The citizens show up for other reasons, some of the citizens are gays and lesbians, but I’ve never been to a commission meeting where people have applauded for something like this.” The diverse group of commissioners — including a republican mayor and two openly gay commissioners — unanimously agreed on banning the practice due to the dangerous effects it can have of LGBT youth. “Conversion therapy is usually forced on minors by parents who find it impossible to accept the fact that their children identify as gay or lesbian,” said Attorney Trent
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Steele. Steele, who is a member of the PBCHRC Board of The ban applies only to state-licensed therapists, Directors. “This so-called ‘treatment’ is extremely harmful.” according to the press release. Unlicensed therapists who Psychologist Rachel Needle, who works with former practice under faith-based groups maintain their religious conversion therapy patients, was brought in to testify during freedom and are permitted to continue their practice a similar vote in the city of West Palm Beach. Needle testified without state recognition. The ban also only applies to that SOCE practices are dangerous and outdated. children; adults are still free to seek out conversion therapy. “Any effort to change sexual orientation — because it is not According to Scott McCoy, the Senior Policy Council for a disorder — is inherently invalid,” Needle said in a phone the Southern Poverty Law Center, the feedback for the ban call. “Studies have shown that any attempt to has been largely positive. change sexual orientation lead to a number of “[It is] gratifying to see everybody come mental health issues in a minor: shame, guilt, together in our super divided political depression, decreased self-esteem, self-hatred environment nowadays,” McCoy said in an and others. So, attempting to change sexual interview. “For the most part these bans have orientation or gender identification can have a been passing with broad support. The opposed devastating impact on minors.” tend to be the fringe, flat-earthers who cling to Groups like PBCHRC, in conjunction with the idea that homosexuality is a disease that the Southern Poverty Law Center and the needs to be cured.” National Center for Lesbian Rights, have “The city commission took a step in the right focused on banning these practices at the direction by approving this ordinance to ban local level in Florida. States such as Oregon, this harmful practice on minors,” McCoy said California, Vermont and others have banned in a press release. “The commission has sent a conversion therapy statewide. message to LGBTQ youth: ‘You are perfect the However, according to Hoch, proway you are and do not need to be ‘fixed.’” - rachel Needle LGBT legislation rarely finds its way out of The SPLC, NCLR and the Human Rights pSyCHOLOgiSt Tallahassee, where conservatives dominate Campaign (not affiliated with the PBCHRC) the legislature. have filed a federal consumer fraud complaint “The big problem we have here in Florida is that we can’t with the Federal Trade Commission with the hopes of get any pro-LGBT legislation out of Tallahassee,” Hoch said banning conversion therapy nationwide. over the phone. “There hasn’t been anything significant In Florida, state senator Jeff Clemens (D) introduced a bill since 1991. That’s why groups like SAVE and PBCHRC are to prohibit the statewide practice of conversion therapy in taking the initiative to do that at the state and county level.” 2016, but the Senate refused to take any action. Clemens “We need to build up momentum before we reach up to plans to reintroduce the bill in 2017. the county level,” he continued. “While we wait to see if Florida’s legislative leaders will So far in Florida, West Palm Beach, Miami, Wilton Manors, even schedule a hearing on Senator Clemen’s bill, the city Miami Beach, Bay Harbor Islands and North Bay Village have of Lake Worth will take action now to protect LGBT youth.” enacted similar bans on conversion therapy. Vice Mayor Amoroso said in a press release.
"any effort to change Sexual orientation — becauSe it iS not a diSorder — iS inherently invalid.”
WMG
Wilton Manors Gazette
Volume 3 • Issue 24 December 21, 2016
Community
Improvements in the Works for Dixie Highway Near Wilton Speed limit will be reduced; bike lanes added
Mayor Seiler, Vice Mayor trantalis, Commissioner roberts, and Commissioner rogers join residents of Middle river terrace for a ground breaking ceremony on the project. photo: facebook.
By Michael d’Oliveira When Colleen Lockwood moved to Fort Lauderdale from Wisconsin in 2007, she was an avid biker. “We rode bikes everywhere … there were all sorts of options.” But after one ride in Fort Lauderdale when she first arrived, she says her bicycle wheels haven’t touched South Florida asphalt since. That’s one of the reasons Lockwood, president of the Middle River Terrace Neighborhood Association, said she’s supporting the Dixie Highway Complete Streets Project to improve Dixie Highway in Fort Lauderdale from Northeast 13 Street to the Middle River south of Wilton Manors. “It’s terribly unsafe,” said Lockwood who cited the bicyclist who was killed on Dixie Highway in a hit-and-run incident in February. Fort Lauderdale officials held a groundbreaking for the project on Dec. 3. Construction is expected to begin in early 2017 and, barring any unforeseen delays, is expected to be completed in early 2018. Improvements include dedicated
bike lanes, enhanced lighting, new landscaping and shade trees, wider sidewalks, new monument signs, improved drainage, and new raised table intersections and crosswalks. Monique Damiano, public information specialist for Fort Lauderdale, said the raised table intersections will make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians crossing the road. A traffic circle will also be installed at Northeast 16 Court. No changes will be made to the width of the roadway but the speed limit will be reduced from 35 mph to 25. “For this project, it was determined that reducing the speed to 25 mph would be most appropriate given the curve in the roadway, along with the new traffic calming improvements, such as the raised intersections and the traffic circle,” wrote Damiano in an email. The estimated cost is $4.3 million – most of it from the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization and the U.S. Department of Transportation. In his State of the City Address
in October, Mayor Jack Seiler said road safety was very important to city officials. “The City Commission adopted Vision Zero Fort Lauderdale, a citywide community action plan that promotes safety on our streets through the five E’s – education, encouragement, engineering,
enforcement, and evaluation, all in an effort to ultimately achieve fatality-free roadways . . . Our efforts in transportation also include establishing an innovative program to develop comprehensive Neighborhood Mobility Master Plans to integrate traffic calming strategies to address speeding and safety issues for all transportation modes.” WMG
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December 21, 2016
12.21.2016 •
23
Opinion
Do they know it’s Christmas?
WMG DECEMBER 21, 2016 • VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 24 2520 N. DIXIE HIGHWAY • WILTON MANORS, FL 33305 PHONE: 954-530-4970 FAX: 954-530-7943
By Sal Torre
PUBLISHER • NORM KENT NORM.KENT@SFGN.COM "do they Know it's Christmas" album.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER • PIER ANGELO GUIDUGLI ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER / EXECUTIVE EDITOR • JASON PARSLEY JASON.PARSLEY@SFGN.COM ASSOCIATE EDITOR • JILLIAN MELERO JILLIANMELERO@GMAIL.COM
Editorial
ART DIRECTOR • BRENDON LIES ARTWORK@SFGN.COM DESIGNER • CHARLES PRATT WEB MASTER • BRITTANY FERRENDI WEBMASTER@SFGN.COM NEWS EDITOR • MICHAEL D’OLIVEIRA
Correspondents
NATALYA JONES • JOHN MCDONALD • JAMES OAKSUN
Just a few days before Christmas, the holiday music playing on the radio, and one song always makes me stop, think and appreciate how blessed I am. Looking back to 1984 when a group of artists came together and released the holiday song, “Do they know it’s Christmas?,” the world seemed to be focused on one humanitarian event. Dealing with the human tragedy of starvation throughout Ethiopia, people came together to offer hope and a helping hand. Today we seem overwhelmed with numerous tragedies throughout the world with little or no hope, never mind the ability to even comprehend the scope of human destruction. There is a world outside our Island City, and it’s a world of dread and fear. The headlines offer plenty of horrible news to take in during this season of joy and merriment. Throughout the Middle East, war and destruction have killed or displaced millions of men and women and plenty of children. The largest city in Syria, Aleppo, once a thriving city of two million people now lies in ruins with a human toll beyond imagination. Turkey moves closer to authoritarianism, deadly terrorist attacks occur daily, Egyptian Christians are targeted by Islamists, refugees are on the move throughout the region, and Iraq moves closer to disintegration. We can sit back and keep singing, thanking God that it’s them instead of us; but all this human destruction takes a toll on all of us. I am not sure where this whole balkanization of the Middle East is going to lead, but eventually we will all be called to answer for such human suffering. Looking out our windows here in Wilton Manors, to a land of plenty, we do not have to look that far in our own backyard to see many in need this holiday season. Local children still go to school each day hungry, others deal with the destruction of drugs and the growing opioid epidemic, homeless individuals gather at intersections and bus stops, and so many more people need help and assistance throughout Broward County. In this season of giving, we cannot solve all the world’s problems, but perhaps we can make a small difference by supporting local organizations and charities that make a huge difference in the lives of so many neighbors throughout our region. Take the time this holiday
season to bring some holiday joy to those in need. “In our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy, throw your arms around the world, it’s Christmas time.” Looking ahead to the New Year 2017, we can only hope that our new President and his group of merry men will have huge success in making America great again. It shouldn’t be too hard, since America is still a beacon of hope and stability in a troubled world. Optimistically, by this time next year President Trump will be placing many of his promised gifts under the Christmas trees of hardworking Americans. Let us hope he does not turn out to be the Grinch who stole Christmas for millions of families that believed in giving him a chance. Here in Wilton Manors, residents should expect to see our city move ahead on numerous projects vital to the future of our great city during 2017--issues like zoning changes along the Andrews Avenue and Oakland Park Boulevard corridor, road narrowing projects along Powerline Road and Wilton Drive, approval of the architectural game-changer residential development on NE 26th Street, and a continued robust local economy. These items do not happen on their own. We must work together to make sure that our city government and our elected officials continue moving these items forward. Many thanks to Vice Mayor Flippen for wanting to take quick action to ensure that the steps laid out in the Economic Development Strategic Plan get adopted by the City Commission. The matrix detailed within the plan, recently presented to the Commission, is a roadmap for city management to move some very important issues forward dealing with the economic vitality of our city. This topic will be something to watch after the holiday season is behind us. So in closing, as the song states, “It’s Christmas time, and there is no need to be afraid, we let in light and banish shade, and in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy ….” So let us spread that smile of joy, help a neighbor in need, and help make Wilton Manors the best it can be so that we can then help the world outside our windows …. ‘cause life is just better here. Happy Holidays Wilton Manors!! WMG
TAKE THE TIME THIS HOLIDAY SEASON TO BRING SOME HOLIDAY JOY TO THOSE IN NEED.
Staff Photographers
J.R. DAVIS • POMPANO BILL • STEVEN SHIRES
Sales & Marketing
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING • MIKE TROTTIER MIKE.TROTTIER@SFGN.COM SALES MANAGER • JUSTIN WYSE JUSTIN.WYSE@SFGN.COM ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE • EDWIN NEIMANN EDWIN.NEIMANN@SFGN.COM SALES ASSISTANT • TIM HIGGINS TIM.HIGGINS@SFGN.COM ACCOUNTING SERVICES BY CG BOOKKEEPING NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA 212-242-6863 SALES@RIVENDELLMEDIA.COM South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER
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December 21, 2016
Three Lessons From 2016
Real Estate Geek
By James Oaksun What would be the most appropriate adjectives to use to describe 2016? Would they include words like incredible, unbelievable, unusual, tragic? Maybe some of those, but how about also including hopeful? But more on that in a minute. It’s a good time to take stock and look back. A lot has happened. In the midst of it all, what are the three most important lessons we have learned in the real estate market this year?
1.
Certain neighborhoods, certain types of properties here have a tendency to overheat. News stories have abounded of oversupply in the upper end condo market, particularly in Miami but also to a lesser degree here in Broward. Prices have been dropping, and some projects have been canceled. Looking at my recently released Real Estate Yearbook for 2016, there are neighborhoods that have declined in value in the last year, even in the face of a general increase in the overall market.
2.
Eventually, you will reach a point where you can only sell a dollar for a dollar. You can’t sell it for $1.25. You can’t even sell it for $1.25 to someone from Russia, China, Brazil, DC or San Francisco. You can look back 45 years in the Broward real estate market and see that the long-term rate of price appreciation here has
been just slightly more than the rate of consumer price inflation. That makes real estate a good stable long-term investment. That also means the 1999-2006 experience was an aberration. It also means the 2011-2016 experience is something of an aberration. No one has a crystal ball and the future may not necessarily be like the past. But double-digit annual returns are not likely in the next few years. If we have a cooling in the global economy, particularly in any sort of trade war or “Buy American” movement, foreign capital movements that have supported South Florida real estate prices in recent years may lessen or even cease. And “Blue State” money may decide to be choosier politically, if not economically.
3.
You don’t always get to call the game. Sometimes, someone else calls the game, and you have to adapt. When I play bridge, I enjoy playing hands at “No Trump.” But I don’t always win the bidding so I don’t always get to make the decision. And so it goes in life. Most of the time we have to adapt ourselves to circumstances that are not to our choosing, even not to our liking. And how do we do this? First, we take a deep breath and we make a clear-headed assessment of the situation in all its facets – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. All four are always present, perhaps in different quantities and forms. But
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December 21, 2016
they are always here. So I close with a word about hope, as I began. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty around. Maybe you feel it. Certainly you know people in the community who do, or among your friends and family. I see it and feel it every day in my real estate practice, and personally. I work and live right here, among the readership of this column. But the way I look at it is, every day that begins, has a degree of promise. The odds may be long, but they are not impossible. If anything can happen, that includes the prospect of something good occurring. Paying attention, being aware, speaking out, working together as a community, is more important than ever to building value here in South Florida – in real estate and in our daily lives. WMG James Oaksun, Broward's Real Estate Geek(SM), is BrokerOwner of New Realty Concepts in Oakland Park. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).
12.21.2016 •
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Community
Community
Police Survey Vote Delayed Again By Michael d’Oliveira
Consultant Hired to Provide Security Assessment By Michael d’Oliveira To better secure city personnel and facilities, Wilton manors officials have hired Burns & McDonnell, a Fort Lauderdale security firm, to provide consulting services for security risk assessment. As part of its contract with the city, Burns & McDonnell will develop a master security plan for all public facilities, identify funding sources needed for security upgrades, and educate city employees and the public on the plan created. The cost is $24,844. “Burns & McDonnell will be providing security risk assessments that are both operationally accurate and actionable to meet established levels of security protections within financial constraints. Their overall goal of this project is to reduce the likelihood or severity of security-related incidents at specified City properties using available budget. More finite goals include maintaining publicly available areas, improving security interoperability, maintaining facility aesthetics, and improving operational effectiveness of technical and physical security,” read a document from Chief Paul O'Connell to the commission. WMG
A vote on a police perception survey was delayed again and has been rescheduled. The survey, which was suggested as a way to determine what public opinion of the Wilton Manors Police Department is, was delayed. The Community Affairs Advisory Board [CAAB] came up with the idea to do the survey as a way to avoid potential trouble experienced by some other police departments. But now, CAAB is divided on whether or not to proceed. Some members now think the survey is unnecessary. But CAAB delayed a vote until the next meeting when all the members are present. WMG
the next CaaB meeting is Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. in the commission chambers.
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Business
Still No Decision on Neon Signs Vote delayed
By Michael d’Oliveira A vote on proposed regulations for neon signs has been delayed. The issue came up earlier this year and members of the city staff and police department said they would review the city’s regulations on neon signs. But commissioners want some questions answered and the proposed regulations reviewed more before they will take a vote to approve. The proposal was tabled at the Dec. 13 commission meeting. If approved as is, the proposed regulations would lift the ban on neon signs as a type of sign that is prohibited. Despite the current ban, business owners already use neon signs as advertising but city officials have not enforced the regulations. In the past, commissioners have cited wanting to be business friendly as a reason for not strictly enforcing city regulations. Under the proposed rules, neon signs could not be bigger than four square feet and no less than 10 feet apart. But
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commissioners were worried that could allow business owners with large buildings to put up more neon signs than city officials want to see. “I don’t want [lots of different signs advertising multiple items] and everything else,” said Commissioner Tom Green. He estimated that some businesses could put up six to eight signs if they wanted. That’s just not something that’s going to improve Wilton Manors.” Mayor Gary Resnick said he wanted city staff to be clear on the new regulations because they would have to be the ones who enforce them. WMG
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City
Community
WDID Board Looking to Keep Wilton Drive Clean
Around Town Check out what’s happening
By Michael d’Oliveira
Music at Mickel Concert Series Wilton Manors has announced its Music at Mickel Concert Series. It takes place on the third Friday of every month from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., except March, at Mickel Park. There will be live music, food trucks, and a cash bar. Call 954-390-2100 for more information.
Jan. 20 – Jam Port Authority performing rock, funk and jazz music. Feb. 17 – Grindstone performing acoustic rock and alternative music. March 24 – Life Line, A Tribute to Heart April 21 – The Planets, performing rock n’ roll alternative music. WMG
Friends of the Library Book Tent Event The Friends of the Wilton Manors Library will host its Book Tent Event at Hagen Park from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14. There will be a large variety of fiction and nonfiction books and videos for adults and children available for small donations. All proceeds go to support the Richard C. Sullivan Public Library. Donations received are an important source of revenue, allowing the Friends to underwrite the cost of library programming, the purchase of audio and video materials, and the acquisition of computers and other equipment. For more information, call 954-390-2195. WMG
Business
By Michael d’Oliveira After spending about $5,000 to power wash Wilton Drive, the Wilton Drive Improvement District Board [WDID] isn’t done. Doug Blevins, chair of WDID, said the board is looking to hire a company to remove bottles, bags, cigarettes and other trash from the street twice a week. The WDID was created by the city commission, and approved by the majority of property owners, as a special taxing district in order to raise money specifically to fund improvements to the street. Property owners on the street are taxed more but the money can only be used for Wilton Drive. It’s estimated that $100,000 per year will be raised over the next 10 years. Blevins said the goal is to spend most of the money to augment what is being spent by the Broward MPO to make Wilton Drive a two-lane road. But while the MPO is funding the construction costs of altering the road, the city is responsible for paying
for a lot of the landscaping or any other amenities it might want. Tax money from the WDID will be used to help fund those extras but that money probably won’t be spent for at least one to two years. Meanwhile, Blevins said the board wants to do something to improve Wilton Drive. “We want the business to know there’s something tangible we’re doing in the interim. Something impactful.” WMG the public is invited to attend all Wdid meetings. the next one is scheduled for Jan. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers.
$10,000 Approved for Business Enhancement New program encourages storefront make overs By Michael d’Oliveira Business owners looking to improve the outside of their storefronts might be able to get Wilton Manors to pay for up to $1,000 of the cost. That money is available through the city’s 20162017 Business Enhancement Grant Program. If approved by officials, business owners can have 50 percent of the improvements, up to $1,000 reimbursed by the city. Eligible projects include permanent signage, exterior painting, lighting, awnings and items that fall under the city’s Green Building Program. In writing about the program in a document presented to the city commission, Pamela Landi, assistant city manager, said that the objective of the grant program is to encourage private investment of commercial parcels, encourage the appearance of
the streetscape along the major corridors, reduce vacancies in storefronts, and provide an incentive to improve commercial properties. “[We want to] create an environment that encourages business and economic growth in the city while maintaining its small town sensibility.” A previous city grant program helped fund the mural that was painted on the property of Wilton Discount Liquor and the mural helped enhance the mosaic located in Jaycee Park, which is in front of the store. Applications must be submitted Aug. 1 and approved projects must be completed by Sept. 30. Applicants with outstanding liens, fines, or taxes will be denied.
WMG
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LifEStyLE photos
holIday hanGoVer December 18th at Rumor's Bar and Grill held its second annual Santa's Sip and Strut ―a holiday inspired bar crawl down Wilton Drive. Carina Mask
to see many more photos, visit sFGn.com on Facebook.
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sports soccer
Three Gay Soccer Players May Publicly Come Out Brittany Ferrendi
W
e may soon have more supporters said they had no issue with LGBT representation in the a gay player." professional soccer community. She added: “So, in terms of the Three soccer players are in talks environment of somebody coming out, about coming out publicly as gay. actually, today, now, [there] has probably They are conferring with The Football never been a better time to come out.” Association in England about safety and In October, Chairman Greg Clarke support. claimed openly LGBT players would face Lawmaker and member of the Culture “significant abuse.” Crouch shot back, Media & Sports select committee John stating that Clarke’s assertion is “the Nicholson asked Sports complete opposite of the Minister Tracey Crouch kind of support that a about the players, player needs.” "Nine out of wondering how they According to Pink 10 people could feel safe in publicly News, player Justin proclaiming their sexual Fashanu was the first would not be identity, according to England soccer player to bothered." The Telegraph. come out as gay in 1990. “There are these Earlier this year, - Tracey Crouch research points out openly lesbian soccer Sports Minister there,” Crouch replied. player Megan Rapinoe “Nine out of 10 people was prevented from would not be bothered; the Radio Five kneeling during the National Anthem. poll of 4,000 people across England, She wished to kneel in solidarity with Wales and Scotland said that most San Francisco Quarterback Colin fans would be comfortable with their Kaepernick in protest for racial injustice. club signing a gay player; 82 percent of
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fEaturE national
all surVIVors proJecT sHeDs lIGHT on male seXual aBuse
Tucker Berardi
I
n situations of armed conflict, many foreign soldiers are instructed to use sexual abuse as a weapon to demoralize victims and establish dominance. Women are the predominant targets for these attacks, but there is an increased pattern of male victimization that humanitarian groups are not recognizing. “At all levels there is a resistance at organizations to help these people,” Andrew Park, Director of Internal Programs at the Williams Institute said in an interview with SFGN. “They want to care for women as survivors, but they feel uncomfortable giving the same attention to men.”
“boyS and men are typically excluded in termS of humanitarian reSponSe, mainly becauSe the iSSue iS highly Stigmatized and SurvivorS don’t come forward.” - Charu Hogg prOJECt fOuNdEr & dirECtOr
The Williams Institute is aiming to bring attention to the male victims that are affected every day through exposure to violent conflicts and refugee displacement. The study, titled “The All Survivors Project,” recognizes the lack of targeted services for male victims, and stresses that the victimization of males through sexual violence may have disruptive long-term impacts if left unaddressed. “The main beneficiaries of this project are men and boys who have been victims of sexual and gender based violence in situations of armed conflict and displacement,” Charu Hogg, the project’s founder and director said in a phone call. “Boys and men are typically excluded in terms of humanitarian response, mainly because the issue is highly stigmatized and survivors don’t come forward,” Hogg continued. “They are not recognized as victims of sexual violence. Health care and psychosocial health services that are available to women have not been made available to them.” Hogg and other researchers believe that the lack of documentation on the sexual violence toward male victims in these situations is the reason why many humanitarian relief programs have not offered services to these men. Record of the severity, patterns of abuse and the scale of these attacks will be a major focus of this study.
Geographically, the study will include the areas of conflict in Africa and Asia, from Shri Lanka to Central Africa. “The goal is to interview 800 survivors over the course of three years,” Park said. “We plan to have meetings with rescue groups and advocates along the way so that this information gets into the right hands.” The information will be presented in a series of national situational analysis reports, which focus on sexual and genderbased violence against both men and boys, according to a press release. The reports will provide recommendations to improve the procedures in place for responding to the physical and psychosocial needs of the victims, as well as establishing procedures in organizations where they are absent. According to Hogg, male victimization takes many different forms depending on the nature of the conflict, and she has had experiences with a number of these disputes. For example, in 2015 soldiers in Central Africa were caught in a sexual abuse scandal in which they offered young boys in displacement camps food in exchange for sexual favors. Hogg also did research in Afghanistan, in which young boys (referred to as “boys without beards” in the context of Afghani society) are abducted by warlords, businessmen, and people of power to serve
several purposes that are frequently sexual in nature. “There is a huge level of stigmatization,” Hogg said. “This concept of victimhood is limited to females and a binary discourse has developed in which males are nearly always regarded as perpetrators. We do not yet know the patterns, severity or scale of these problems.” “Ideas about gender and masculinity play a major role in sexual violence against men and boys,” Lara Stemple, the Director of the Health and Human rights Law Project at UCLA said in a press release. “Sexual violence against men and boys is also fueled by homophobic norms which see samesex victimization as the ultimate way to humiliate victims in situations of conflict.” There is little previous research on the sexual assault of male victims, and this is the first time that the use of homophobia as a weapon is being studied, according to Park. “There is a huge discomfort talking about assault on men, and even greater discomfort talking about gay assault on men,” Park said. “This project is part of a larger effort to get policy makers to give attention to men as victims, and homophobia as a dangerous effect of that.” The All Survivors Project will have staff in Los Angeles and London, and the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) will be facilitating researchers in other countries.
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LifEStyLE food
Submitted photos.
Broadway dancers Charlie Williams and Adam Perry.
Sunset Bar.
Well-Strung photo by John Barrois.
Rick Karlin
i
cruIsInG on pIeD pIper’s posTTHanksGIVInG cruIse
’ve always looked at those pictures from the all-gay cruises and thought, “I wish they had these when I was younger.” The ads are all filled with guys with perfect bodies, perfect abs, perfect pecs, and perfect, unlined faces and, let’s just say I’m not any of those. Now, I know that advertisements always feature young and good looking people and that there would likely be some older, average-looking guys like me on those trips, but I didn’t want to invest that much time and money to find out I was in the middle of a floating circuit party. However, a number of friends went on the Pied Piper post-Thanksgiving cruise and had a wonderful time, and not one of them would be considered young (except maybe at Tropics on Friday night.) I liked the fact that Pied Piper doesn’t take over an entire ship, but, rather, creates a group tour with specialized entertainment and excursions. Its tours also tend to be a bit more reasonably priced than all-gay ships, so I decided to take a chance. The fact that I had a number of friends on the same cruise and there were early sign-up incentives clinched the deal. A shared room with a veranda was only $750. We could have saved another hundred if we didn’t mind an inside cabin, but I wanted the ability to sit outside with my morning coffee, so the veranda cabin it was. We were told that by booking early we could pick three out of four incentives; a $300 on-board credit, all gratuities included, unlimited drink package or unlimited Internet access. The drink package was a
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no-brainer, the only thing I didn’t care about was Internet access - I wanted to unplug during my get-away. By the time the cruise came around, somehow it ended up that we were only entitled to two of the four options, and the $300 credit was shared by the cabin, so we took that and the drink package. Pied Piper was good about communicating and giving updates and I was invited to join a Facebook page devoted to the group and got to know the personality of some of my fellow travelers that way. saIl aWay We sailed out of Miami on the Celebrity Reflection on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. No sooner were we underway than there was a get acquainted party for the Pied Piper group. I discovered that many groups of friends make that tour an annual event, so there were a lot of returnees. The party was held on the pool deck from 7:308:30, with an open bar and a couple of very sexy dancing boys. I felt sorry for the lads, no one was tipping them, and so I dropped a few bills in their waistbands to “prime the pump” so to speak. They danced their little sailor suits off, but still no tips. The dancers, Adam Perry and Charlie Williams, both Broadway performers, would be involved in a number of events on the ship. As we later chatted over cocktails in the aft bar they informed me that they didn’t expect tips, because no one carries cash on the ship. They appreciated my gesture and introduced me to four of their friends in the bar, all incredibly good looking. It turns out
the other four friends were the members of the classical string quartet, Well Strung, the featured entertainment for their Pied Piper group. My first night on deck I was under the stars surrounded by stars. I hoped it was a good omen. sUnday FUnday Our first day at sea was spent lounging around the pool and sipping tropical cocktails (again, thankful for that drink package), interrupted only by a brief break for lunch. By the way, you hear a great deal about how wonderful the food is on a cruise ship. Those comments are made by people who mistake quantity for quality. The food in the buffet/café was certainly adequate and the dishes in the main dining room were occasionally wonderful (best duck pate I’ve ever had). They tried for elegance, but just missed, the dining room chairs were threadbare and the tablecloth filled with snags. I suspect the people who rave about the food and ambiance are those for whom a night at Olive Garden is a big deal. There were also a number of upscale dining opportunities (at an additional cost), but I wasn’t there for the food. Even though I’m happily married, I attended the Pied Piper singles mixer, just in the interest of reporting the story. One of the ice-breakers involved dividing into groups for a scavenger hunt, with the targets of the hunt being the members of the group.
One of the “objects” we had to find was a member of our group with at least three piercings! You get to know folks quickly when you have to find out who’s wearing briefs, who opted for boxers and who went commando! There was a separate mixer for women, but I was busy hanging out with my new besties, Edmund, Christopher, Daniel and Trevor, aka Well Strung. And yes, I am shamelessly name-dropping. After a late dinner with my Fort Lauderdale friends, we all went up to the pool deck for an outdoor dance party. Not even halfway through the cruise I knew that my concerns about being too old or not attractive enough proved to be baseless. Everyone was there to have a good time. The men ranged in age from late twenties to nineties and from jaw-dropping handsome to average guys, to, well let’s just say they had nice personalities. There were also a few dozen lesbian couples on the ship, all of whom were personable and ready to party with the boys, as well as on their own. I was also pleasantly surprised to find a number of straight folks in the Pied Piper group. Some were straight women friends of guys on the cruise; one came with his mother, another with his sister. There was even a married couple who have been on the Pied Piper post-Thanksgiving cruise for six years in a row with their gay neighbors/best friends.
next time: island-hopping
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J.W. Arnold
jw@prdconline.com
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CABARET Eric Yves Garcia and Carole J. Bufford star as Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney in “Bing & Rosie” tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Together, they salute two of America’s most beloved performers of the Big Band Era. Crosby garnered more hits than The Beatles and Elvis combined, while Clooney was one of the greatest “girl singers” of her time. Tickets are $35 at Kravis.org.
FRI
12/23
FILM Take a break from all the Christmas craziness. Make it a movie date night at the local Cineplex. If you didn’t get tickets to the opening weekend of “Star Wars: Rogue One,” that’s always an option. Or, check out “Sing,” the animated feature about animals competing in a reality singing competition. Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane and Scarlett Johansson star. Check local listings.
Tuesday 12/27
THEATER
The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “An American in Paris,” opens tonight at the Arsht Center in Miami and runs through Jan. 1. The dance spectacular tells the story of an American soldier who meets a mysterious French girl while on leave in the Eternal City. Don’t miss Christopher Wheeldon’s incredible choreography, set to George and Ira Gershwin’s timeless musical score. Tickets at ArshtCenter.org. Photo Credit: Submitted photo.
SAT
12/24 SUN
12/25 MON
12/26 TUE
12/27
NIGHTLIFE
HOLIDAY
COMEDY
THEATER
If you’re not going to be on your knees at midnight mass, spend Christmas Eve with Santa at The Manor, 2345 Wilton Drive, in Wilton Manors. DJ Sushiman will be in the booth and Santa Claus will be passing out free membership cards for discounted admission. Later, hop on Santa’s lap for a picture. Chances are you’ll get your stocking stuffed, too, if you’re lucky. More information at TheManorComplex.com.
Merry Christmas! After partaking in all the holiday rituals and a big Christmas dinner with the family, you’re really going to need a drink! Fortunately, just like Wal-Mart, the many bars and clubs along Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors never close for the holidays. There will be plenty of Christmas cheer at the clubs and bars, so plan to dance those extra calories away at one of the many retro tea dances.
Forget the partridge in a pear tree! Give your true love tickets to “A Drag Queen Christmas,” tonight at 8 p.m. at the Parker Playhouse, 707 NE 8th St. in Fort Lauderdale. This holiday special features Season 8 contestants from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” including Bob the Drag Queen, Naomi Smalls, Thorgy Thor, Chi Chi DeVayne, Roxxxy Andrews and more. Tickets start at $22.79 at ParkerPlayhouse.com.
The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “An American in Paris,” opens tonight at the Arsht Center in Miami and runs through Jan. 1. The dance spectacular tells the story of an American soldier who meets a mysterious French girl while on leave in the Eternal City. Don’t miss Christopher Wheeldon’s incredible choreography, set to George and Ira Gershwin’s timeless musical score. Tickets at ArshtCenter.org.
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a&E theater Mr. Microcosmos and Mini lili are two of the characters in Cirque du soleil’s “Kurios,” currently playing at hard rock stadium. Submitted photo.
TWo sHoWs oFFer Welcome DIsTracTIon From HolIDays J.W. Arnold
C
hristmas is almost upon us. The malls and big box stores are packed with harried shoppers and Federal Highway and Biscayne Boulevard are congested parking lots at most hours of the day. If you’re looking for an escape, two shows currently playing in South Florida offer a welcome distraction from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season: Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities,” running through Jan. 29 in the signature blue and yellow Grand Chapiteau across from Hard Rock Stadium, offers a journey into a Gothic, steampunk inspired world inhabited by colorful tinkerers. All the usual acts are there—the Asian contortionists and chiseled aerialists— but the intrigue of the show comes with the characters who appear in between, the creations of Michel Laprise. The audience is introduced to The Seeker, master of the house, “a humanist as ingenuous as his is ingenious,” as the press kit says, who “believes in an invisible world where the craziest ideas and grandest dreams await.” There’s Mr. Microcosmos, a half-human, half-bulbous automaton whose steel belly is the home to Mini Lili, who represents his unconscious mind. And then there’s Nico the Accordion Man, enough explanation given, and Klara, the Telegraph of the Invisible who apparently receives alpha waves by tilting her hoop skirt in various directions. The Curiosistanians are the residents of this imaginary country, who serve as clowns throughout the performance. It’s an astonishing vision, even if I’m still digesting the “plot” a week later. And, in the end, I can tell you the hard-bodied aerialists
left the strongest impression for obvious reasons. For a more conventional escape, “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” currently playing at the Broward Center, offers a delightful take on the beloved fairy tale. While Richard Rodgers’ tuneful score has withstood the tests of time, Oscar Hammerstein II’s script got a modern overhaul in 2013 by Douglas Carter Beane that seems even more powerful given the current political climate in this country. The biggest laughs come early in the show when “Ella” (Tatyana Lubov) encounters Prince “Topher” (handsome Hayden Stanes) in the woods and comments, “That was a world leader? He appears to have a heart, mind and a soul.” In addition to the needling subplot about social justice, all the requisite elements are still there—the fairy godmother, pumpkin coach, glass slipper—but the real stars of the show are the beautiful Tony Award-winning costumes by William Ivey Long. Don’t blink or you’re likely to miss a spectacular transformation. Magic, indeed. A close second place would be awarded to the set design by Anna Louizos, masterfully lit by Kenneth Posner. Again, if you blink, you might miss a quick change. Among the standouts in the cast are Leslie Jackson as the fairy godmother and the hefty Joanna Johnson, who steals the show with “Stepsister’s Lament.” Whether you opt for the fantastic or the traditional, both shows are ready to transport you to a happier place until Christmas comes.
“Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities” runs through Jan. 29 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Tickets start at $39 at CirqueDuSoleil.com. “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” runs through Dec. 25 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets start at $35 at BrowardCenter.org.
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a&E music
THey’re a lITTle BIT Queer. anDFive a openly WHole loT counTry. gay country artists Indiana Queen.
Brittany Ferrendi
Submitted photo.
M
any tend to believe the country music genre is filled with majorly conservative fans with little wiggle room for LgBt acceptance, making it difficult for country musicians to come out of the closet. However, these five artists pushed past these stereotypes to become open about their sexuality without fear of backlash against their music. IndIana QUeen’s KeVIn thornton Indiana Queen released an album Nov. 15, which included a song about what it is like to be a gay music artist in Nashville, Tennessee from the perspective of lead singer Kevin Thornton. The song, titled “Nashville Don’t Give a Damn,” premiered with a music video. “I have no interest in pretending to be someone else. I don’t care if Nashville isn’t ready for it.” Thornton said, according to the band’s website. “The album is folk country, but let’s be serious there is nothing traditional about Indiana Queen.” The new album was recorded on a vintage Tascam 246 four track tape machine in Nashville. Check out the music video at bit.ly/2gjcLSu.
ty herndon
piece of the puzzle to be authentic,” he said at the time. “Lies eat away at whatever you do, especially your relationship. So, now we’re pretty solid.” Chely WrIGht One of the first well-known country artists to come out was Chely Wright, who revealed her sexuality in 2010. “I actually decided to come out of the closet in 2007,” Wright told Billboard in an interview. “It took me three years to get everything together the way that I wanted it. I did start to imagine that I could have a full, balanced, and normal life. Had you told me in 2006 where I would be in 2016, I would not have believed you, but I did have plans to have the life that I wanted to.” Her album, “I Am the Rain,” released this year and was shaped in part by her coming out story. Slate reports the album’s opening song, “Inside,” is a lullaby she wrote for herself as she prepared to come out publicly. Wright married Sony Music’s director of marketing, Lauren Blitzer, in 2011. They have twin boys together.
"my career really tooK off when i came out. when i Stopped hiding who i waS, i Started writing hitS."
Ty Herndon came out in Nov. 2012 to People Magazine, making his first public appearance with his boyfriend just three weeks later. “My mother probably knew I was gay before I did. I remember sitting down with her and having the conversation,” - Shane Mcanally bIlly GIlMan he told People. “She was more concerned about Just hours after Herndon me having a happy life. You have to be able to do that in your own skin, came out, country singer Billy Gilman took and [my family] has seen me struggle with that momentum and followed suit. He turned to YouTube to share his story. being gay my whole career.” “It’s taken me a good many weeks to Out in public with his partner for the first time, Herndon felt whole. “This was the last figure out how I was to approach this video,”
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he said. “But today, actually, a fellow country artist and friend made it easier for me to make this video, and I wanted my fans, who have stuck by me for many, many years, to know.” Shortly before he decided to come out, a reporter spotted him with his then-partner of five months and took a photo of them together. He then decided he would take control of his life by coming out on his own terms. “I’ve been an advocate for so many things in my life that I thought why not be an advocate for me and the cause that I believe in.” Watch his coming out video at bit.ly/2hKbuyV.
shane Mcanally Another Nashville gay country star, Shane McAnally’s career reached success after he revealed his sexuality to fans. “My career really took off when I came out. When I stopped hiding who I was, I
started writing hits,” he said, according to Gay Influence. He owes a lot of his success to being open about himself. He wanted to make it big in 2010 when he released a self-titled album, but it didn’t take off. Now, the singer, songwriter and record producer is grateful that he didn’t make it big from that album. “The truth is, I probably would be dead if I had become a star, because at that point I was so closeted and so afraid of people finding out I was gay. There was no telling what would have happened.” In 2014, the Academy of Country Music Awards awarded McAnally Songwriter of the Year and Album of the Year for “Same Trailer Different Park.” The Grammy Awards also named the album Best Country Album, and awarded his song “Merry Go Round” as Best Country Song. He married his partner Michael Baum in 2012. They have twins, Dylan and Dash McAnally Baum.
POZ CRUISE November 4- 11, 2017
Celebrity Summit
Rates begin at $649.00 per person
Our 13th Annual cruise will sail roundtrip from San Juan and visit St Croix, St Maarten, Dominica, Barbados & Grenada. This cruise attracts 250 - 300 men from all over the country.
FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Paul B. Stalbaum • Cruise Designs Travel 954-566-3377 | www.cruisedesignstravel.com paul@cruisedesignstravel.com Our low group rates are guaranteed. Please note that should the cost of fuel increase substantially, a surcharge could be added by the cruise line.
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Dec. 21 - Dec. 29
Datebook
Theater Christiana Lilly
Calendar@SFGN.com
top
picks
Bing & Rosie
Dec. 21 and 22 at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Eric Yves Garcia and Carole J. Bufford pay tribute to the musical partnership of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. Tickets $35. Call 561-832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
The Sarge Chanukah Chutzpah Tour
Dec. 22 to 23 at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St. in Aventura. Comedian Sarge returns for a night of laughter with his “Just for Chanukah” set. Tickets $39.50 to $44.50. Call 305-466-8002 or visit AventuraCenter.com.
A Drag Queen Christmas
Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. at Parker Playhouse, 707 NE Eighth St. in Fort Lauderdale. The contestants of “RuPaul’s Drag Show” perform alongside Bob the Drag Queen, Naomi Small, thorgy Thor, Chichi DeVayne, and more. Tickets $22.79 to $150. Call 954-462-0222 or visit ParkerPlayhouse.com.
* Denotes New Listing
broward county Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Through Dec. 25 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. The fairy tale goes to Broadway as Prince Charming searches for the owner of a glass slipper. Tickets $35 and up. Call 954-4620222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.
* AHF Presents: My Big Funny Peter in “Stuff Me for the Holidays”
Dec. 28 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Known as the only gay muscle bear comedian, Peter Bisuito puts on a show filled with laughs and music. Tickets $25 to $38. Call 954-4620222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.
The Santaland Diaries
Through Dec. 30 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale. David Sedaris’s oneman show looks at an out-of-work actor having to settle as an elf at Macy’s during the holiday season. Tickets $30. Call 954-678-1496 or visit EmpireStage.com
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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
Friday Night Sound Waves Music Series.
palm beach county * The All-New Catskills on Broadway
Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Broadway comedian Freddie Roman is joined by Elayne Boosler and Sarge for a rendition of Roman’s original “Catskills” performance. Tickets $15 and up. Call 561-832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
* Forbidden Broadway
Dec. 28 to 30 at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Miami City Ballet performs Balanchine’s rendition of the Christmas ballet classic, where Marie and the Nutcracker Prince go on an adventure with a host of characters. Tickets $25 and up. Call 561832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
* The Nutcracker
Dec. 28 to 30 at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. A parody of Broadway favorites, including “Wicked,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Book of Mormon,” and more. Tickets $39 and up. Call 561-832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.
Photo: Facebook.
Ballet performs Balanchine’s rendition of the Christmas classic. Tickets $35 to $99. Call 305949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.
and Carl Perkins got together for a recording session. Tickets $57. Call 305-444-4181 or visit ActorsPlayhouse.org.
* An American in Paris
Outdoor Music Series
Dec. 27 to Jan. 1, 2017 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. After World War II, an American soldier decides to rebuild his life in Paris and reconnect with a mysterious French ballerina. Tickets $29 to $150. Call 305-949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter. org.
Million Dollar Quartet
Through Jan. 1, 2017 at the Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. Enter Dec. 4, 1956, the day that Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis,
Third Thursdays at the Perez Art Museum Miami, 101 W. Flagler St. in Miami. Come out for live music from DJs and musicians by the bay. Drink specials available. Free with museum admission. Call 305-375-3000 or visit PAMM. org.
The Big Show
Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. at Just the Funny Theater, 3119 Coral Way in Miami. A collection of comedy mixing the likes of improvisation and sketches. Tickets $12. Call 305-693-8669 or visit JustTheFunny.com.
Tru
Through to Jan. 1, 2017 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre, 201 Clematis St. in West Palm Beach. Truman Capote has lost his high society friends who are offended by his latest novel, which they assume is about them, leading him to spend Christmas alone. Tickets $66. Call 561-514-4042 or visit PalmBeachDramaworks.org.
Free Friday Concerts
Fridays at 7:30 p.m. at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. Enjoy live music from the comfort of your picnic blanket or lawn chair every week, for free! Returns in October. Call 561-243-7922 or visit DelrayArts.org.
miami-dade county Matisyahu
Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach. Since he made his reggae rap debut with “King Without a Crown,” he has formed a band where no two performances are alike. Tickets $29.50 to $45. Call 305-673-7300 or visit FillmoreMB.com.
The Nutcracker
Through Dec. 24 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. The Miami City
#OrlandoUnited: Every week, SFGN will pay tribute to one member of our community who was lost in Orlando.
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Datebook
community Christiana Lilly Calendar@SFGN.com
top picKS
We Offered Them Caviar
Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Stonewall National Museum - Wilton Manors, 2157 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. David Leddick discusses his memoir of working as the creative director for Revlon. Suggested donation $5. Call 954-763-8565 or visit StonewallMuseum.org.
The United States of America Art Holiday Reception
Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. at The Box Gallery, 811 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach. Usher in the arrival of “The United States of American Art,” a collection of art by area artists. On display through Jan. 3, 2017. Free. Visit TheBoxGallery.info.
The Other Dimension
Through Jan. 22, 2017 at Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, 770 NE 125th St. in North Miami. Antuan Rodriguez’s exhibit is separated into seven rooms exploring five narratives of philosophical, scientific, and cultural themes. Tickets $5. Call 305-893-6211 or visit mocanomi.org.
* Denotes New Listing
broward Support ServiceS
GENDER BENDER YOUTH GROUP
Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at SunServe Campus, 1480 SW Ninth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. A group for LGBT youth 13 to 21 to discuss gender, gender expression, binary systems, friendship, family and whatever else comes up! Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com
PFLAG
Tuesdays in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs and Southwest Ranches. A support group for parents of LGBT youth 13 to 21. Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com for dates and locations.
SUNSERVE YOUTH GROUP
Tuesdays and Thursdays in Fort Lauderdale, Southwest Ranches, Coral Springs and Hollywood. A support group and night of fun for LGBT youth 13 to 21. Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com for dates and times.
SURVIVOR SUPPORT
First and third Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Broward Health Imperial Point Hospital cafeteria, 6401 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Find support from counselors and peers who have lost loved ones to suicide. Call the Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention at 954384-0344 or visit FISPOnline.org.
broward county Judy Shepherd Toy Drive 2016
Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Women With Pride are collecting toy donations to benefit Thurgood Marshall Elementary School. Call 954-4639005, ext. 108 or email WomenWithPride@ PrideCenterFlorida.org.
* Kwanzaa
Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. at Hunters Night Club, 223 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. Don your favorite African garb for a night of live music, spoken word, dancing, drinks, lighting of candles, and more. Free. Visit PrideCenterFlorida.org.
Symphony of Lights
Through Dec. 31 from 6 to 11 p.m. at Gulfstream Park, 901 S. Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach. Enjoy the magic of the holidays with the park’s 50-foot Christmas tree, holiday music, selfies with Santa and Mrs. Claus, a light show, and train rides for the little ones on Fridays and Saturdays. Free. Call 954-454-7000 or visit GulfstreamPark.com.
Holiday Lights Drive Thru
Through Jan. 2, 2017 at Tradewinds Park, 3600 W. Sample Road in Coconut Creek. In its 22nd year, drive your vehicle through the 3-mile
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display and experience a light show you have to see to believe. Tickets $15 per car. Visit HolidayLightsDriveThru.com.
Panthers in the Park Ice Skating Rink
Through Jan. 8, 2017 at Huizenga Park, 32 E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Cool down with ice skating, a 20-foot Christmas tree, and food and refreshments. Tickets $13 for 90-minutes; $1 goes to the Florida Panthers Foundation. Call 954-835-7825 or visit FloridaPanthers.com/ PanthersInThePark.
Text
Through Jan. 18, 2017 at the Broward College Central Campus Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, 3501 SW Davie Road in Davie. Artists John Chang, Robert Ladislas Derr, Tatana Kellner and Barbara Oettinger Searle create art using legible and obscured text. Call 954-201-6984 or email aclyman@broward.edu.
Belief + Doubt
Through Jan. 22, 2017 at the NSU Art Museum, One E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Contemporary art from more than 60 artists in the collection of Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz. Closed Mondays. Call 954-525-5500 or visit NSUArtMuseum.org.
Dec. 21 - Dec. 29 The Lure of Provincetown
Through Feb. 11, 2017 at the Stonewall National Museum - Wilton Manors, 2157 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. A popular vacation spot for the LGBT community, including “Dyke Drag Brunch,” the exhibit showcases photographs by Midge Battelle and Al Kaplan and paintings by Len Paoletti. Free. Call 954-763-8565 or visit Stonewall-Museum.org.
What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye’s America
Through Feb. 27, 2017 at the Miramar Cultural Center Arts Park, 2400 Civic Center Place in Miramar. An exploration of how the Motown pioneer influenced music and and society. Guests are invited to bring a photo of themselves from the ‘70s and a reflection of how life has changed since then for the “My 70s” portion of the exhibit. Call 954-602-4500 or visit MiramarCulturalCenter.org.
palm beach county Who is Joan Quinn? A Life in Portraits
Through Jan. 15, 2017 at the Cornell Art Museum at Old Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. A collection of works created over 50 years by contemporary artists celebrating the legacy of Joan Agajanian Quinn.
Suggested donation $5. Call 561-243-7922 or visit OldSchoolSquare.org.
Fifteen Minutes
Through Jan. 15, 2017 at the Cornell Art Museum at Old Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. Andy Warhol once said, “Everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” This exhibit examines the culture of celebrity. Suggested donation $5. Call 561-2437922 or visit OldSchoolSquare.org.
Transcendence
Meets at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. A closed transgender youth support group for teens ages 12 to 19. For more information, email youth@compassglcc.com.
Zumba Fitness
Mondays at 6 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. Get moving with a certificated Zumba instructor for an infusion of exercise and dance moves. Donation of $5 or more. Call 561-324-1626 or visit CompassGLCC.com.
Sober Sisters
Mondays at 6:15 p.m. at Lambda North, 18 S. J St. in Lake Worth. A support and discussion group for female recovering alcoholics. Visit LambdaNorth.net.
Out of the Closet, Into the Light
Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at MCC of the Palm Beaches, 4857 Northlake Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens. AA for the LGBT community. Free. Call 561-775-5900 or visit MCCPalmBeach.org.
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. Free. Visit ArshtCenter.org/en/Visit/Dining.
Yoga
Tuesdays from 6 to 7:15 p.m. at Jose Marti Park, 362 SW Fourth Ave. in Miami. Yogis 18 and older of all levels are invited to a practice lead by a certified instructor. Bring your own yoga mat, water, and towel. Free. Call 305-358-7550 or visit BayfrontParkMiami.com/Yoga.html.
HIV Support Group
Wednesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at South Beach AIDS Project, 1234 Washington Ave. Ste. 200 in Miami Beach. A support group for those who are HIV positive. Free. Call 305-535-4733, ext. 301 or email support@sobeaids.org.
Book Study
Wednesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Drolma Kadampa Buddhist Center, 1273 Coral Way in Miami. Buddhist monk, Gen Kelsang Nurbu, will lead classes on learning the foundations of Buddhism. Call 786-529-7137.
Yoga in the Garden
Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Drive in Miami Beach. Hit the mat for an indoor yoga practice overlooking the garden. Tickets $10 Wednesdays, $15 Saturdays. Call 305-6737256 or visit MBGarden.org.
key west Gay Key West Trolley Tours
Saturdays at 4 p.m. meeting at 628 Duval St. See the gay side of Key West on this trolley tour. Tickets $25. Call 800-535-7797 or visit GayKeyWestFL.com.
Hot Naked Hump Days
Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Island House, 1129 Fleming St. in Key West. Relax in the middle of the week with two-for-one drinks, free shots, videos and music, giveaways, and naked boys at the pool. Call 305-294-6284 or visit IslandHouseKeyWest.com
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Business Directory a&e FT LAUDERDALE GAY MEN'S CHORUS PO Box 9772, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33310-9772 954-832-0060 www.theftlgmc.org GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF SOUTH FLORIDA PO Box 39617, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33339 954-763-2266 Gaymenschorusofsouthflorida.org
chiropractic COAST CHIROPRACTIC INJURY & WELLNESS CENTER 2608 NE 16th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954.463.3036 www.coast-chiropractic.com
final arrangements
Have you made your wishes known? We’re here to help. 1-800-343-5400
www.levitt-weinstein.com
Pre-Arrangement Discounts For All Our LGBT Friends design How’s that business logo look? Get it redone in high resolution for only $50!*
Excellence in aesthetics
cleaning BARTON & MILLER CLEANERS 2600 N. Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-4314
For any visual task that needs a sly eye, Visit DogFoxDesign.com
*Price for high res flattened image. Vector and original files require an additional fee.
florist
dental
OAKLAND PARK DENTAL 3047 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954.566.9812 Oaklandparkdental.com ANDREWS DENTAL CARE 2654 N Andrews Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33311 954.567.3311 Andrewsdentalcare.com ISLAND CITY DENTAL 1700 NE 26th Street, Ste. 2, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954-564-7121 Islandcitydental.com
final arrangements KALIS-MCINTEE FUNERAL & CREMATION CENTER
2505 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-7621 Kalismcintee.com
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handyman MIAMI/BROWARD/PALM BEACH Paint/Caulk/Remove Grout/Yard Work Fix Drips & Switches/Debris removal Assembles Furniture & Appliances Repair or Fix Call "Avrom" Keith 786-227-9981
handyman
To place an ad in the Business Directory, call our sales team at 954.530.4970 framing
health
professional services
DR. TORY SULLIVAN 2500 N Federal Hwy #301, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954.533.1520 Torysullivanmd.com
AMERICAN TAX & INSURANCE
AMERICAN PAIN EXPERTS 6333 N. Federal Hwy, Ste. 250, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 954-678-1074 Americanpainexperts.com
LAW OFFICE OF GEORGE CASTRATARO 707 NE 3rd Ave #300, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954.573.1444 Lawgc.com
NATURA DERMATOLOGY 1120 Bayview Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 754.333.4886 naturadermatology.com
LAW OFFICE OF ROBIN BODIFORD 2550 N Federal Hwy #20, Fort Lauderdale, FL 954.630.2707 Lawrobin.com
MASTER HYPNOTHERAPIST AND LIFE COACH
pets
2929 E Comm. Blvd, 8th Floor Penthouse D, Fort Lauderdale, FL
954.302.3228 Americantaxandinsurance.com
professional services
ADDICTIONS • SMOKING • WEIGHT LOSS • INSOMNIA • STRESS REDUCTION • ROAD RAGE • ANGER MANAGEMENT • PAST LIFE ANALYSIS • RELATIONSHIP COACHING
LAW OFFICE OF GREGORY KABEL 1 East Broward Blvd #700, Fort Lauderdale, 33301 954.761.7770 gwkesq@bellsouth.net LAW OFFICE OF SELZER & WEISS 1515 NE 25th St, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.567.4444 Selzerandweiss.com
real estate
LAW OFFICE OF SHAWN NEWMAN 710 NE 26th St, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.563.9160 Shawnnewman.com
Coach Bill For Life
WWW.COACHBILLFORLIFE.COM
954.641.8315
sfgn.com Income Tax Preparation
IRIS SEYMOUR
•Individual •Small Business •Free Consultation
SALES
&
RENTALS
Doug Turner, Enrolled Agent Best Books and Taxes 2201 Wilton Drive bestbooksandtaxes.com
954-565-1041
Call today for appointment
954.610.8816
call us to reserve space!
Happy Holidays from our business to yours! Sincerely, SFGN
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Business Directory To place an ad in the Business Directory, call our sales team at 954.530.4970 restaurants STORKS BAKERY 2505 NE 15th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954.567.3220 Storksbakery.com BEEFCAKES 1721 N Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 954.463.6969 boardwalkbar.com J. MARK’S 1245 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 (954) 390-0770 Jmarksrestaurant.com
ERNIE'S B-B-Q 1843 S Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 954-523-8636
The Best Cellar
Boutique Wine Shop & Wine Bar The Ultimate Wine Tasting Experience
spirituality DR. PIERRE B. BLAND, DVM 1332 E. Commercial Blvd., Oakland Park, FL 33334 954-673-8579 Doctorblandvet.com
The Parish of Sts. Francis and Clare Where we welcome and appreciate diversity.
services
101 NE 3rd St Fort Lauderdale FL 33301 Mass Times: Saturday 5:00 PM Sunday 10:30 AM Ecumenical Catholic 954.731.8173
www.stsfrancisandclare.org Baptisms • Weddings • Memorial Services
technology
Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., at 8:00 p.m. ONLY $15 PER PERSON! 954-630-8020 1408 N.E. 26th St. Wilton Manors, FL 33334
retail PEACE PIPE 4800 N Dixie Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334 954.267.9005 Facebook.com/peacepipefl
recovery Licensed & Insured
954-725-3633
custom alarm contractors, Inc.
Est. 1989 “Experience Matters” Service after the sale! ▶ residential security ▶ commercial security ▶ closed circuit tV www.customalarmcontractors.com 50
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SFGN Classified$ To place a Classified Ad, call Tim Higgins at 954.530.4970 or email at Tim.Higgins@sfgn.com
cleaning EMERALD IRISH CLEANING - Established for 30 years. 3 hours of cleaning for $60.00. Use time as you wish. English speaking *hand scrubbed floors* Cleaning supplies included. Service guaranteed 954-524-3161
electrician
HARRY’S ELECTRIC RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL - Additions, renovations, service upgrades, breaker panels,FPL undergrounds, code violations, A/C wiring, ceiling fans, recessed, security & landscaping, lighting, pools, pumps, Jacuzzis, water heaters, FREE PHONE ESTIMATES 954-522-3357 Lic & Ins. www. harryelectrician.com
help wanted
health MANSCAPING SERVICES WE OFFER - Treat yourself to a Full Body Hair Removal, Shaving, Trimming, and Waxing. European Facial, Oxy Hydro Treatment. No Chemicals used.Looking Good & Feeling Good Call Ebi at 561-502-3217 or www.euromanscaping.com
sfgn.com
piano WANT TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO? Learn from an experienced teacher. All levels and ages welcome. Learn to play classical, popular, jazz, or show tunes. Visit www.edwinchad. com or call 954-826-9555 for more information.
licensed massage
ELECTRICIAN’S HELPER WANTED - Fort Lauderdale Electrician needs Full Time Electrician's Helper for Service and New Construction in the Fort Lauderdale area. Experienced or will train. You must be punctual and dependable. You will report to work near downtown Fort Lauderdale. If you are interested and feel you fit the job please send your resume detailing education, experience and contact information to LauderdaleElectric@gmail. com You must include your resume information to be considered; and your telephone number to be contacted.
AFFORDABLE AWESOME MASSAGE BY JIM Offering Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports and LomiLomi Massage for Men; in a very comfortable, relaxed and Private Massage Studio, NOW conveniently located in Wilton Manors on NE 26th Street, with plenty of free parking. Same Day appointments are welcome; please call Jim, 954-600-5843 email: info@ massagebyjim.com or visit my website for testimonials, rates and more. GREAT OPENING SPECIAL NOW AVAILABLE! www.massagebyjim.com Licensed and Certified MM22293
HUSBAND FOR RENT - Is he procrastinating home repairs? He says he will do it tomorrow?? After the football game?? We fit right in - in the house or the yard, small or big jobs: tile, dry wall, paint, plumbing, roof leaks, broken furniture, irrigation, fences, and more! It doesn't cost to hassle us to see the work - so why wait? Neat, clean work for a reasonable price. Call Haim at 954-398-3676, sidnalll@yahoo.com
VOICE LESSONS & MUSIC THEATRE COACHING - Over 30 years experience. Students have performed on (and off) Broadway, in National & International tours, recorded solo albums & placed in prestigious competitions. www.kreutzmusic.com 617-967-0575
music lessons
painting
GREGG'S PAINTING - I paint both interior and exterior. Great rates, free estimates. I am detailedoriented, friendly, reliable, punctual, and neat. No job too small. Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Call Gregg at 617-306-5694 or 954-870-5972 Email: gmanbenn44@gmail.com
pool service
COOL POOLS- RELIABLE POOL SERVICE Professional pool service.Covering Wilton Manors, Lighthouse Point, and eastside of Pompano Beach. 15 years experience. Licensed and insured.Free estimates. Call 954-235-0775.
public notice
PUBLIC NOTICE - Four Dog Cafe and Wine Bar, LLC intends on filing a fictitious name in Florida, primarily used in Broward County Business named BONA ITALIAN RESTAURANT. Contact 954-5619466 with any objections.
rentals fort lauderdale
PRIVATE COMPLEX FOR RENT - 1 Bed Apt, Must See, Private complex, Fully renovated, laundry, ask $1150. Progresso, 1214 NE 5th Terrace Fort Lauderdale, 33304 call 303-589-6210 PRIVATE COMPLEX FOR RENT - 2 Bed Apt, Must See, Private complex, Fully renovated, laundry, ask: $1350. Progresso, 1214 NE 5th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, 33304 Call 954-552-2831 MIKE THE RENTAL GUY - NE Lauderdale/Wilton Manors/Oakland Park-1/1 from $990, 2/1 from $1140. Victoria Park-1/1=$1090.00 cable included. Credit & Income Requirements-Pets okay with restrictions Call for Details Mike 561-703-5533 or miketherentalguy@aol.com 12.21.2016 •
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