local name, global coverage
December 24, 2014 // vol. 5 // issue 52
MAN OF THE
YEAR
SFGN HONORS ROBERT BOO WITH ‘ACHIEVEMENT IN EXCELLENCE’ AWARD Page 20-21
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SFGN WINNER of 5 SPJ AWARDS Florida Pro 2014 & 2 FLORIDA PRESS CLUB Awards
STORIES ON SFGN.COM Last week’s hottest items couldn’t wait to be printed... Compiled by John McDonald
U.S. Announces Protections for Transgender Workers In a landmark decision affecting the nation’s transgender population and federal, state and local governments, America’s top lawman announced federal prosecutors would now take the position in litigation that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes protections against discrimination based on gender identity. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s office noted this is a reversal of previous policy
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at the Department of Justice. Previously, the prohibition against discrimination based on sex excluded any consideration based on how a person presents or identifies their gender. “This important shift will ensure that the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are extended to those who suffer discrimination based on gender identity, including transgender status,” Holder said in a statement.
Democrats Push To Lift Gay Blood Ban
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Senator Tammy Baldwin
U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin, Elizabeth Warren, and Tom Harkin, U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley, and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee – all Democrats – are the sponsoring signatories on a letter signed by 80 Democratic members of Congress calling for the full repeal of the ban on gay men
donating blood. The letter, addressed to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell states they are “steadfastly committed to ending the outdated MSM blood donation policy and moving forward with securing the nation’s blood supply in a scientifically sound manner.”
Broward Judge Grants First Florida Divorce MEMBER
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The first formal divorce for a gay couple in Florida history was granted Dec. 15 by a Broward County judge who used the case to join other judges in declaring the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Circuit Judge Dale Cohen dissolved the marriage of Heather
Brassner and Megan Lade in a brief hearing. They were united in a 2002 civil union in Vermont, but Brassner was unable to obtain a divorce in Florida for MEMBER five years since their relationship ended.
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Associated Press
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DECEMBER 24, 2014 • VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 52 2520 N. DIXIE HIGHWAY • WILTON MANORS, FL 33305 PHONE: 954-530-4970 FAX: 954-530-7943
PUBLISHER • NORM KENT NORM.KENT@SFGN.COM
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Correspondents
ANDREA RICHARD • DONALD CAVANAUGH CHRISTIANA LILLY • DENISE ROYAL • SEAN MCSHEE DORI ZINN • GARY KRAMER • DAVID-ELIJAH NAHMOD
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Cover: Robert Boo, chosen as Local Hero of the Year by SFGN. Submitted Photo.
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 © 2014 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.
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News Briefs Compiled by John McDonald
Jewish Congregations Reaching Out To Gays
Jane Tausig and her partner were Conservative Jews who came out late in life. But back then, in 2000, the movement had not yet caught up with them. Conservative Judaism was still in the midst of a divisive debate over the ordination of openly gay clergy. Tausig, a psychotherapist, and her partner decided to search for a place where they felt at home. They landed at Congregation Kol Ami, becoming the first openly gay couple to join -- and marry -at the Philadelphia’s Elkins Park synagogue. They felt welcome but believed that true inclusion takes more than the open hearts of fellow congregants. It takes practice. So Tausig, 60, set out to help her congregation
“Under the law, citizens of Alabama can still be fired based on their sexual orientation,” Cook said in October. “We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it and we can create a different future.”
Photo: Apple, CNN
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gypt Sends 26 Men to Trial for Homosexuality
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pple CEO Donating To Southern States
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company, is donating money to help fund a gay rights initiative in his native Alabama and two other Southern states, organizers said Thursday. The amount of Cook’s contribution to the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign wasn’t disclosed, but the advocacy organization called it “substantial.” Organizers said it would help fund a three-year, $8.5 million campaign launched in April in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. Called Project One America, the goal of the public relations effort is to build acceptance for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in the states. The campaign includes advertising on TV and elsewhere, direct-mail fliers and staff members hired in each state. “We hope Tim Cook’s substantial personal investment inspires others to support this vital and historic project,” Jason Rahlan, a spokesman for Human Rights Campaign, said in an email. Human Rights Campaign announced the contribution in a blog post by President Chad Griffin, and Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet confirmed the donation. “It’s a personal donation from Tim,” she said. Cook, who grew up in south Alabama near the Gulf Coast and attended Auburn University, made headlines in October by coming out as gay. His announcement came just days after Cook encouraged Alabama to be more accepting of gay rights during a speech in Montgomery. Speaking at the state Capitol during his induction into a state hall of fame, Cook said Alabama was too slow to change during the civil rights movement and was still dragging its feet on LGBT rights.
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Egyptian prosecutors swiftly referred 26 men to trial last week on charges connected to their suspected homosexuality after they were arrested in a much publicized raid on a Cairo bathhouse, an official said. The official from the prosecutors’ office said the trial will begin Sunday, only two weeks after the raid. It is an unusually quick referral in a case that has captured public attention. Some cases can take more than a year to be referred to trial in Egypt’s backlogged judicial system. Scenes of half-naked men covering their faces and being taken by policemen out of the bathhouse on Dec. 7 were filmed by a private TV channel and later aired amid criticism from activists. The raid is part of an ongoing crackdown on gay men and comes after an Egyptian court last month convicted eight men on charges of “inciting debauchery” following their appearance in an alleged same-sex wedding party on a Nile boat, sentencing each to three years imprisonment. Egyptian law doesn’t explicitly prohibit same-sex relations. So the defendants are tried for “debauchery” — a charge normally reserved for prostitution and homosexuality cases. Five defendants — the owner of the bathhouse and four staff members — will be tried for facilitating debauchery in exchange for money. The prosecution official said the investigation revealed that the owner and his staff have run the bathhouse, or “hammam,” as a place for “parties of debauchery, orgies among male homosexuals in exchange for money.” He said they used social media to arrange for such events. The 21 others are charged with practicing debauchery and “indecent public acts,” the official said. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. Homosexuality is a social taboo in Egypt, a conservative, Muslim-majority country with a sizable Christian minority. Same-sex marriage is unheard of. Only in recent years have
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and other Jewish organizations become more inclusive at a time of increasing acceptance of the gay community. She organized an observance of National Coming Out Day in October, and earlier this month helped host a seminar, “Kindness Counts: Welcome and Inclusion of LGBTQ Jews and Their Loved Ones Into the Mishkan.” It is a process that congregations and other Jewish organizations are embracing as increasing numbers of LGBTQ Jews consider joining mainstream synagogues that demonstrate an openness to inclusion, said Phoenix Schneider, LGBTQ program manager at Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia.
movies and fiction included gay characters. The crackdown on homosexuals, and also recently on atheists, goes hand in hand with a wider campaign against all forms of dissent and diversity in a country gripped by rising nationalism and jingoistic sentiments. Photo: au.org
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at Robertson: Gays Will Die Out
If you ever wondered what significance the “700” in the “700 Club” was, we’ve got your answer. It’s Pat Robertson’s possible SAT score - combined. In a move best described as “spelunking into his unfathomable cave of stupid” Wednesday, televangelist Pat Robertson asserted that gays and lesbians would eventually become extinct because they can’t reproduce, Right Wing Watch reports. During Wednesday’s broadcast of Christian Broadcasting Network’s “700 Club,” host Pat Robertson, took a question from a viewer who was frustrated that her ultra conservative church wouldn’t allow her to date. Robertson offered solace to the viewer by telling her that the no-dating policy would cause her church to “die out” ... just like gay people. “You know, those who are homosexual will die out because they don’t reproduce,” he said. “You know, you have to have heterosexual sex to reproduce. Same thing with that church, it’s doomed, it’s going to die out because it’s the most nonsensical thing I’ve heard in a long time.” The most nonsensical thing he’s heard in a long time? Talk about meta. Robertson’s advice to the viewer was to “get out of that church” and “shake off the dust and run.” Presumably, this is what Robertson did in Biology class.
news bites
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by John McDonald
Come and join us to celebrate the holy feast of Christmas.
international
abloid Outs French Far Right Leader
The British tabloid magazine, Closer, published photos revealing one of France’s leading political figures to be a homosexual. Florian Philippot, vice president of the far right party, Front National, was on holiday with his boyfriend in Vienna, when paparazzi captured images of the two. Closer, which publishes in English and French, published the photos with a tongue and cheek headline, “At last a real weekend away from Paris.” The Front National party has not been supportive of LGBT rights in France. Its leader, Marine Le Pen, denounced the outing as an invasion of privacy and said the party is suing the magazine.
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All are welcomed.
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Christmas concert 8:15 p.m.
SAF Secretary Supports Lifting Transgender Ban
Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, said she supports lifting the military’s ban on transgender service members. “From my point of view, anyone capable of accomplishing the job should be able to serve,” James told USA Today. The American Military Partners Association estimates there are currently more than 15,500 transgender service members serving in silence. The organization, which represents partners, spouses and family of LGBT service members, is urging the U.S. Department of Defense to update and modernize its regulations regarding transgender service. Gay men and women have been permitted to serve openly since 2011.
Christmas Eve Service 9:00 p.m.
St. Ambrose Episcopal Church welcomes you. Deborah Lee James, U.S. Air Force
state
Bay Opens Tampa Welcome Center
LGBT
The Tampa Bay LGBT community celebrated the opening of a new welcome center last week. The center, billed as the second of its kind in Florida (Miami Beach being the other) is located in the historic Grand Central district of downtown St. Petersburg (2227 Central Ave.) St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman was on hand for the center’s ribbon cutting. In addition to being a safe place for LGBT people to meet, the center provides valuable information regarding HIV services, employment opportunities and networking groups for the four county area of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando. For more information, call 727-3213854.
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2250 SW 31st Ave Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
metrotampabay.org
local
roward Schools Creating Employee Support Group
A school district initiative is creating a nurturing support group for LGBT employees in Broward County. The Gay, Lesbian, Ally School Employee Network (GLASEN) is forming with the intent to provide professional and leadership development, community outreach and a safe environment for Broward educators and employees who identify as LGBT. “We want people to be comfortable with who they are,” said Steve Frazier, principal of Silver Trail Middle School and one of the chief organizers of GLASEN. Broward County Public Schools is the county’s largest employer and the sixth largest public schools system in the U.S. For more information, call Frazier at 754-323-4300.
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news local
The Year in Review LGBT Rights in Palm Beach
Rand Hoch
As the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council’s 26th year draws to a close, the Board of Directors and I want to wish all of our supporters and allies a happy and healthy 2015. Since 1988, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has worked diligently with public officials to successfully enact more than 75 local laws and policies that provide equal protection and benefits to Palm Beach County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Palm Beach County is now one of the best places in the world for LGBT people to live, study, work, socialize and retire. PBCHRC’s accomplishments over the past year include the following:
December 2014
The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners voted to sign on to all of the marriage equality amicus briefs filed — and to be filed — by the cities of Miami Beach and Orlando.
November 2014
The West Palm Beach City Commission voted unanimously to sign on to all of the marriage equality amicus briefs filed — and to be filed — by the cities of Miami Beach and Orlando. The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners voted to sign on to the marriage equality amicus brief filed by the cities of Miami Beach and Orlando in Shaw v. Shaw.
October 2014
The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to implement a policy providing that the County will not do business with, or appropriate funds to, any public or private organization which practices discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability or genetic information. PBCHRC President Rand Hoch and Vice Chair Jess Blackman presented a seminar on discrimination at the “Out of the Closet and In Your Office” legal education conference sponsored by the Florida Association of LGBT Lawyer and Allies. PBCHRC co-sponsored the conference. The Town of Lake Park updated its Equal Employment Policy to prohibit discrimination based on “gender identity or expression.”
September 2014
PBCHRC Vice Chair Jess Blackman and Litigation Chair Trent Steele were elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of LGBT Lawyer and Allies.
August 2014
On August 18, the West Palm Beach City Commission unanimously approved an equal benefits ordinance to require city contractors to provide the same family benefits to employees’ same-sex spouses and (both same- and opposite-sex) domestic partners as the contractors offer to employees’ legally recognized (i.e., opposite-sex) spouses. Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Diana Lewis rules that Florida’s ban on samesex marriage is unconstitutional, making her the fourth Florida judge to reach that conclusion.
June 2014
PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch and PBCHRC Treasurer Dan Hall attend the LGBT Pride Month Reception at the White House with the President and First Lady. Palm Beach County School Superintendent E. Wayne Gent implements an initiative placing gender studies contacts in every school to provide support for LGBT students.
May 2014
PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch addresses the American Bar Association conference on diversity issues.
March 2014
Palm Beach Gardens residents Sloan Grimsley and Joyce Albu, along with seven other Florida same-sex married couples, sued the state in federal court for recognition of their out-of-state marriages. The Lake Worth City Commission voted unanimously to establish a domestic partnership registry.
January 2014
The Clerk & Comptroller for Palm Beach County implemented a tax equity reimbursement policy to reimburse employees insuring their domestic partners for the full amount of the additional federal income taxes which are assessed on employees whose domestic partners receive health insurance through their employers. soflagaynews //
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news national amfAR Dollars Infuse AIDS Studies It’s going to give $2.6 million to three research groups across the world
Sasha Razumikhin
The Foundation for AIDS Research is throwing money at more research into “the impact of innovative HIV service delivery models.” The new funds, part of amfAR’s GMT Initiative are focused on models in low- and middle-income countries. The $2.6 million amfAR’s putting into this research will hopefully help with still negative statistics regarding HIV transmission among GMTs. In an effort to address the unrelenting disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM)
and transgender individuals—collectively known as “GMT” — amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, has awarded substantial new research grants to study the impact of innovative HIV service delivery models for GMT in low- and middle-income countries. “Gay men and other MSM are estimated to be 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population,” reads a release from amfAR, “while transgender women are 49 times more likely to be living with the virus.” The three studies are being conducted at:
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland), where according to amfAR:
Dr. Chris Beyrer of Johns Hopkins University will lead a team of researchers and community-based service providers (in collaboration with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance Myanmar) in evaluating the effectiveness of promising interventions for GMT in Myanmar, where increased HIV testing and treatment opportunities are becoming available. The researchers will assess the effectiveness of HIV self-testing done in the privacy of one’s home, point-of-care CD4 testing, and the use of “peer navigators” familiar with the local health system to help those newly diagnosed gain access to HIV treatment and care. Asociación Civil Impacta Salud y Educació (Lima, Peru), where according to amfAR:
Dr. Javier Lama of Asociación Civil Impacta Salud y Educación and his team aim to improve the continuum of care among transgender women by using an innovative model that integrates HIV prevention and treatment services with transgender-affirming medical care. Working in collaboration with the Boston-based Fenway Institute and two community GMT organizations, IMPACTA and EPICENTRO, Lama and his team will integrate routine cross-sex hormone therapy into HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevention, testing and treatment services, and will implement health services and peer case management for 200 transgender women. Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre (Bangkok, Thailand), where according to amfAR:
Dr. Nittaya Phanuphak and her team at the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre aim to show how innovative technologies such as GMT-targeted websites using online counseling and support can be utilized to increase rates of HIV testing and referrals to prevention and treatment programs. Working in collaboration with Adam’s Love, a web-based health platform for GMT individuals, and two community-based organizations (Service Workers in Group/SWING and The Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand), the team will compare the effectiveness of online services and support interventions with traditional clinic-based HIV services, and a hybrid model that combines elements of both strategies. So this newest donation is certainly international and far reaching. Over the three years of the funds’ disbursement, amfAR hopes to see “three major studies aimed at determining the most effective ways of identifying those who are HIV positive, putting them on treatment, and ensuring that they remain on treatment so that their virus is fully suppressed.” “Research has shown that targeted
interventions such as early diagnosis of HIV and suppression of viral load are critical to changing the course of the epidemic among GMT,” said Kevin Robert Frost, amfAR’s chief executive officer. “Through implementation science research, we want to determine conclusively which interventions work best for different populations so that these strategies can be put into practice, scaled up, replicated, and start to make a real impact.”
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Monthly News From the South Florida AIDS Network Sean McShee The South Florida AIDS Network (SFAN) functions as the networking/advisory body for the Ryan White Care (RWC), Part B grant in Broward County. Its monthly meetings are open to the public. The main topic in this meeting continued to be the transition of some people from public programs such as Ryan White Care (RWC) and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) to public/private programs such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans. In addition Pam Fillmore discussed the Medical Monitoring Project. Janet Vargas, Florida Department of Health, reported that ADAP and the AIDS Institute had approved particular ACA programs for ADAP participation. This approval removes the last barrier to the voluntary transition of about 1,100 ADAP and RWC clients to ACA marketplace programs. People have to be very careful in selecting a plan. If someone selects a non-approved plan, ADAP/ RWC will not be able to pay for it. ADAP/RWC will pay the premiums, deductibles and copays, but only for these ADAP approved ACA plans. Key criteria for their approval include low cost for copays, premiums and deductibles, and high access to key HIV pharmaceuticals. As insurers offer different plans in different counties, the plans approved for ADAP will also differ by county. See the text box “ADAP approved Marketplace plans” for the approved plans for Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties. According to Vargas, people transitioning should speak with their case manager and an ACA Navigator before selecting a plan. They should not rush into this very complex issue. Pam Fillmore (HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Section, Florida Department of Health) discussed the Medical Monitoring Project (MMP). This program provides much of what we know about people with HIV in the medical systems for the years 2007 through 2011. As the MMP collects data at the state level and combines it at the national level, the MMP can produce reports at both levels. The MMP obtains information through interviewing individuals and analyzing their medical records. All cooperation in this process is voluntary. For their time, each participant receives a $50 gift card. Participants provide the following types
of information in these interviews: 1) patient demographics: 2) sexual history, 3) drug use history; 4) medications and adherence to medication schedules; 6) access to services; 7) supplemental tests; 8) depression assessment; and 9) Ob/Gyn services for female patients. Medical record analysis provides the following types of information: 1) patient demographics; 2) date of HIV diagnosis; 3) Health insurance information; 4) immunizations; 5) anti-retroviral information; 6) other medications; 7) lab tests; 8) referrals; and 9) procedures. Analyzing this process can identify unmet needs and monitor how the HIV infected use services. It can also identify differences in care between groups. Data from this project has contributed to 30 HIV/AIDS peer-reviewed research papers, and many more presentations. For a list of studies using data from the MMP, visit http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/systems/ mmp/resources.html Some of the more interesting findings from this project are displayed in the chart “Findings from the MMP about Florida HIV Patients.” For more info on the MMP visit www.cdc.gov/ hiv/statistics/systems/mmp Ariana Lint reported on the Transgender (TG) Program at SunServe. Their TG case management program serves more HIV uninfected people than HIV infected people. The TG program refers the uninfected to CareResource and the infected to AIDS Healthcare Foundation. This program has three support groups for transgender issues: genderbenders, significant others of transgenders, and, in January, a Spanish speaking TG group.
Next SFAN Meeting: Friday, January 9 at 10:00 a.m., at the Holy Cross Healthplex, 1000 NE 56th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334. Newcomers are encouraged to attend. soflagaynews //
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news national Our Very Own LGBT Healthcare Bill of Rights
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YOU ARE DISCHARGED DUE TO DISCRIMINATION LEARN MORE AT H EALT HCARE B ILL O F R IG HTS . ORG
Christiana Lilly
either way. LGBT HealthLink is also working with doctors and hospitals on how to Your personal life and relationships affect your health more present themselves as an TO and BE TREATED WITH you realize, so yourRIGHT doctor other providers need t LGBT friendlythan atmosphere. The organization EQUALITY AND RESPECT created a poster, which can be ordered for free, know your story. reading “Health Starts Here For Everyone: This You deserve to be treated with respect office is proud to be LGBT-welcoming and and made to feel welcome no matter who you are. inclusive.” We should all feel safe talking about sexual partners, se You have a right our to not be denied service “We have indeed come a long way from or given inferior service. the days when life partners were treated as lives, sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity. complete strangers, even being kept from their RIGHT TO AFFIRMATION OF YOUR dying partner’s bedside either by estranged TRUE GENDER IDENTITY family members or homophobic hospital administrators,” Winfield said. RIGHT TO HELP DESIGNATING WHO The healthcare bill of rights, which is listed WILL MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU on the group’s site, can be printed out so one has it on them at all times. RIGHT TO VISITATION BY ANYONE “Flash it when you go to the doctor’s office, YOU CHOOSE have it in your pocket in case you ever have to go to the hospital. This kind of information can RIGHT TO YOUR PRIVACY help avoid worse case scenarios, which are too common in this country,” Scout said. RIGHT TO PROTECTIONS IF
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You deserve to be treated with respect and made to feel welcome no matter who you are. You have a right to not be denied service or given inferior service.
Friday, 12/12 — Wednesday, 12/31
RIGHT TO AFFIRMATION OF YOUR TRUE GENDER IDENTITY
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The Bill of Rights can be found online at LGBTCenters.org in the condensed walletsized version and the full version.
RIGHT TO PROTECTIONS IF YOU ARE DISCHARGED DUE TO DISCRIMINATION
mental health problems, and skipping cancer screenings, perhaps because many expect poor treatment by doctors and hospitals and do not pursue healthcare. “We’re never going to break that chain unless we actually get the care and feel safer being in care,” Scout said. A transgender man with three children, Scout said that not only does he research whether a doctor is trans friendly, but that his family’s doctors are as well. Recently, he had to switch psychiatrists for his son and had negative results. “He basically treated me like I was a zoo animal,” he said of the doctor. “He would stop my son’s psychiatric treatment so that the two of them could discuss me and my transition process, which just to be clear, had nothing to do with my son’s issues.” “Here I am paying and needing this guy to stabilize my son and instead I hear again and again how his sessions with him seemed to be talking about me being transgender.” Scout said that research can include seeing if the office has pro-LGBT signs or flags, LGBT questions on the intake questionnaire, or simply asking if the office has experience with LGBT patients -- the reaction can be very telling
LEARN MORE AT H EALT HCARE B ILL O F R IG HTS . ORG
In its 20th year, a national organization created an LGBT Healthcare Bill of Rights for a further understanding of both patients and their providers. LGBT HealthLink, under the CenterLink umbrella, released the bill of rights after Obamacare opened up its second sign up period. It is supported by 52 partners around the country, including Florida’s very own Equality Florida. “Today, no matter if you’re in Maine, Miami, or Mississippi, you have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, to receive equal and unbiased medical care, and to choose who is allowed to visit you and who will makes decisions for you if you no longer can,” said Brian Winfield, the managing director of finance and administration at Equality Florida, as well as the co-chair of LGBT HealthLink’s steering committee. Scout, the director of LGBT HealthLink, has been traveling the country conducting trainings with healthcare providers on LGBT rights. This was the motivation behind creating the Healthcare Bill of Rights, but even more so the fact that many LGBT people don’t know their own rights. LGBT people have higher rates of smoking,
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news local Equality Florida’s Top Stories of 2014 SFGN Staff
Chaos and Confusion in the Clerks’ Offices. What Will They Do? Jason Parsley
1. Moving Closer to Marriage Equality 35 states now have same-sex marriage, and five Florida judges have declared Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. 2. Greater Protections For the LGBT Community As more municipalities throughout Florida have enacted legislation adding protections for LGBT residents and employees, 50 percent of the state now have gender identity protections, and 53 percent are covered by sexual orientation protections (Source: LGBTmaps.org) 3. Growing Support From the Business Community 2014 marked a sharp increase in the number of companies supporting the Florida Competitive Workforce Act and the launch of Florida Business Coalition for Competitive Workforce, expanding the number of Florida’s largest employers supporting FCWA. There is also increased bipartisan support for FCWA, with
10 republicans signing on in the 2014 legislative session and a lead republican sponsor heading into the 2015 legislative session. 4. Protections at the Federal level Specifically, President Obama’s executive order, mandating LGBT protections for federal contract employees. This is the first time since the 1970s that the federal government has expanded the definition of protected groups for federal contractors. One-quarter of the American workforce works for a company that seeks out federal contracts. 5. Trans Visibility With increased awareness and protections based on gender identity and expression, and Equality Florida’s launch of TransAction Florida. This is evidenced by the cover stories on Laverne Cox and Janet Mock, the groundbreaking TV series Transparent and our own Jazz Jennings making national headlines and being named one of Time Magazine’s most influential teens of 2014.
When the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request to extend the stay banning gay marriage supporters rejoiced. But as expected Bondi immediately appealed to the Supreme Court where they too rejected Bondi’s argument. “Regardless of the ruling it has always been our goal to have uniformity throughout Florida until the final resolution of the numerous challenges to the voter-approved constitutional amendment on marriage,” Bondi wrote in a prepared statement. “Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has now spoken, and the stay will end on Jan. 5.” But even with a ruling from the Supreme Court chaos and confusion still reigns throughout the state and so far no clerk has definitively said they will issue marriage licenses to gay couples on January 6. That’s because lawyers for the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers association sent out a memo to county clerks warning them to not issue marriage licenses because if they did so they could be subject to prosecution. They believe the same-sex marriage ruling only applies to Washington County in the panhandle so, therefore once the stay is lifted, only that county may issue marriage licenses to gay couples. The ACLU has a different opinion. “That’s where we just differ in our interpretation of the law. It’s our position that when a federal judge declares a law unconstitutional, all public officials whether or not they are named in the case are required to stop enforcing the law,” ACLU of Florida spokesman Baylor Johnson told The News Service of Florida. At least one state prosecutor has already weighed in on the confusion saying he will not prosecute any clerks for giving marriages licenses to gay couples. “We will not prosecute same-sex couples who express their lifelong commitment to one another through marriage, or the clerks of court who take part in the process,” said Dave Aronberg, State Attorney, 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County. “We also do not prosecute unmarried heterosexual couples who cohabitate in violation of Florida law (See Section 798.02 of the Florida Statutes).” Even with that protection Palm Beach County Clerk Sharon Bock still has not made a decision yet on what her office will do. “We are waiting for clarification from the federal judge as to whether the lifting of the stay on January 6 is going to affect all Clerks, only the Washington County Clerk or only the parties in that particular lawsuit,” she said. “While other Florida lawsuits are working their way through our state court system, there have been no definitive decisions on the Clerks’ ability to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Our office will
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issue same-sex marriage licenses as soon as we are legally authorized by the courts to do so.” Rand Hoch, a retired judge and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, is challenging the clerks to go against their attorney’s advice and begin issuing marriage licenses anyway. “PBCHRC is calling for a little ‘civil disobedience,’ in the spirit of our nation. PBCHRC hopes that Sharon Bock — and other clerks around the state — will disregard the advice of the Clerks’ association and promptly start issuing marriage licenses as soon as the stay if lifted,” Hoch said. “I really can not see that state of Florida filing charges against Clerks who follow the United States Constitution as determined by the federal courts.” Ron Saunders, the attorney for the Monroe County clerk’s office, is advising his clerk to adhere to the memo and wait it out. Saunders said Monroe County is unique in this fight because a state judge in that county has also ruled the ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional. “We’re not disputing the fact,” he said, adding, “we were a reluctant defendant in that case.” Even after the Supreme Court agreed to lift the stay he still was not prepared to give his clerk the go ahead to start issuing marriage licenses. He said he understands there are different interpretations of the ruling such as from the ACLU but added, “the ACLU is not our counsel.” Saunders is hoping there will be some additional clarification before January 5. Harvey Ruvin, Miami-Dade County’s Clerk, had some harsh words for any clerk that chooses to not issue these licenses out of fear of prosecution. “If fear of prosecution was any Clerk’s sole reason for not issuing the licenses, I would regard that as rather shallow and gutless,” he said. However he went on to say that it is not the role of clerk’s office to advocate anybody’s views and opinions or interpret the law. “Our role is to be that one elected office; having custody of the Public’s Information Asset Base, which our citizens need to be able to rely on our impartiality, neutrality and evenhandedness, even when we may have strongly held personal opinions,” Ruvin said. “Should…Clerks wish to break with that doctrine with regard to issuing marriage licenses, than how can the public continue rely on our not interjecting our personal views in the exercising of our many other critical ministerial responsibilities?” As for Bondi, Hoch believes she is out of options. He does agree with her on one point though. “I agree with Palm Bondi we need uniformity,” he said. “And there would be if she stopped all of the appeals. It’s up to her.”
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AHF Continues Anti-PrEP Rhetoric With New Ad Are they fighting a losing battle?
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referring to HIV prevention. Justin now considers himself a “reformed bug chaser.” “I want to take care of myself now. Using PrEP isn’t for me to be a whore. It’s one of the valuable options out there to protect myself from HIV,” he said. But added, “I am still going to bareback.” He’s only been on the once a day blue pill for a couple of months. He admits that the first month he missed four to five of his doses. But said he was going to work on better adherence in the future by using sticky notes and setting alarms on his phone to remind him. SFGN caught up with him a month later when he said he had only missed one to two doses the second month. It’s the adherence part that the AIDS Health Care Foundation has used repeatedly to attack PrEP as a bad alternative to condom use. In the past four months AHF has released at least three campaigns attacking PrEP and the drug used for it — Truvada. The first ad was titled “PrEP Facts,” the second “CDC: What if you’re wrong on PrEP?” and most recently “What consensus on PrEP?” But even with those seemingly antiPrEP campaigns, President of AHF Michael Weinstein insists “we were never against PrEP. We have just been against it being used for a community wide public health intervention.” Others though would strongly disagree. “They’re backing off their earlier absolutism. In one press release it said ‘if we’re wrong we’ll happily admit that.’ I find that interesting,” said Todd Heywood, a veteran journalist who reports on HIV policy issues for many publications. “AHF is certainly changing the tenor of the debate. A debate it created by misinforming people about the studies. And now he is somewhat acknowledging that PrEP works.” Local PrEP advocate Robert Shore, of Wilton Manors, also sees a subtle evolving change in AHF’s positions. “I personally find it telling that AHF is offering a ‘give’ now. In that, rather than remaining blatantly bent on PrEP being ‘wrong’ from a public health standpoint,” he said. “They are now willing to admit they might have been wrong if it turns out that PrEP is good public health policy and does actually
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I can’t really give you a logical reason why. I just wanted to get it and get it done and over with,” he said. “I was talking to a guy online who told me had HIV. I know this sounds horrible but I was kind of turned on by it. He said ‘If you’re going to bareback you’re eventually going to get it.’ And so that’s when I started to try.” After a couple of friends found out about his behavior and berated him for it, their opinions eventually struck a chord with him and he started to feel ashamed of his behavior. But just because he started to have a change of heart didn’t mean he was going to start wearing condoms. “I’ve never been one to wear a condom. I never liked them. They’re uncomfortable,” he said. For some unexplainable reason the “condom talk” never resonated with Justin no matter how many times, or people, told him he should use one. And that’s when he found out about pre exposure prophylaxis, more commonly known as PrEP when
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Eric Paul Leue, Mr. LA Leather 2014 and the Director of Sexual Health and Education at Kink.com
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or two years Justin* was known as a bug chaser — someone who intentionally tried to get infected with HIV. He figured he was going to get it anyway, since he never wore condoms, and was a bottom. During that time period the 23-year-old that lives in Chicago met several positive men who were more than willing to infect him. They didn’t succeed. “I spent a good couple of years bug chasing.
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show inroads into decreasing HIV rates.” But as Weinstein noted above, he nor AHF, has ever been against PrEP. “We want people to read what we have to say and make their own decisions,” he said.
A Tale of Two Studies
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Jason Parsley
Each side of the PrEP argument uses the original PrEP study, iPrEX, to bolster their side. AHF uses the whole study that includes even those people who rarely took the pill. The other side likes to exclude those people. In randomized controlled clinical trials there are different ways to analyze the results. The gold standard, and what is most cited in medical journals, is the “Intent-to-treat” method, which looks at how well a drug works among everyone assigned to take it — even those who did not use it regularly, stopped early due to side effects, or for other reasons. Another method is known as “as-treated” or “per-protocol” results, which only includes the subset of participants who actually took the drug as directed. Usually the as-treated results will make a treatment look more effective. For instance, if a drug had strong side effects it may be effective, but not practical if too many people can’t take the drug or refuse to take it. When looking at all of the participants in the Truvada study HIV infections were reduced by about 44 percent. But if you only look at the people whose blood had detectable amounts of the drug in their system Truvada was 92 percent effective. Looking even closer at the results show that those who became infected while on the drug, exhibited lower levels of the drug in their system, than those who did not become infected. While each side has their own opinions, one fact is clear: the more a person adheres to the once a day regimen the more effective it is. When SFGN asked Weinstein if he agrees with the 92 percent efficacy rate for those who take the pill daily, he said he does. Nevertheless Weinstein continued to point out that it was about adherence — not efficacy. “The reality is people don’t take it the way they should,” he said. “People who are at most risk are not going to take it, or not take it every single day.” And then Weinstein used himself as an
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To PrEP Or Not To PrEP The Centers for Disease Control is not telling all men who have sex with men (MSM) to go on PrEP. They are, however, recommending it for people who are negative and are at substantial risk for HIV including:
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Anyone who is in an ongoing relationship with a partner who has HIV
Anyone who is not in a mutually monogamous relationship with a partner
Gay or bisexual men who have had anal sex without a condom or been diagnosed with an STD in the past six months
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Heterosexuals who do not regularly use condoms during sex with partners of unknown HIV status who are at substantial risk of HIV infection (e.g., people who inject drugs or have bisexual male partners)
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People who inject drugs
The CDC estimates that about 500,000 people meet the criteria above. Weinstein told SFGN PrEP may be good for some populations in the gay community such as serodiscordent (mixed status) couples or sex workers. But the leader of AHF is standing by his statements to the Associated Press earlier this year where he said “If something comes along
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example of someone that probably would not take PrEP on a daily basis. “I am a terrible patient. I am an upper middle class person who lives a somewhat conservative lifestyle,” he said. “I don’t remember to do things. That’s just human nature.” He points to the study saying it showed that the younger the person was the more unlikely they were to take the pill regularly. But proponents of PrEP all agree that adherence is a problem. Their solution though is education and promoting adherence rather than discounting the drug. “I would still like to see AHF turn their powerful marketing machinery into a tool to promote PrEP and teach, as they do through condom campaigns, the public how to be compliant with PrEP,” said local PrEP advocate Robert Shore of Wilton Manors. Weinstein believes it’s irresponsible to tout the results of the iPrEx study without including all of the participants. “There has been a very careless discussion about it,” he said. A later study once again bolstered both sides of the debate. The study followed many of the participants of the original iPrEx study after it ended and offered to continue to give them Truvada. That study showed that those who took Truvada four or more days a week could be 100 percent protected. But daily adherence to the drug, which is what is recommended, was abysmal coming in only at 12 percent. And only 33 percent of the people were taking the pill four or more days a week. But the above study also showed that those at the highest risk for contracting HIV were the ones most likely to opt to take PrEP. Eightyone percent of the enrolled participants who chose to take Truvada reported intercourse
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“A large percentage of people taking it are using it as a party drug to have unprotected sex. There’s an element of people that is using it in combination with meth and other drugs as well as Viagra ... there is grave potential to doing harm, in pushing PrEP.” Michael Weinstein, President of AHF that’s better than condoms, I’m all for it, but Truvada is not that. Let’s be honest: It’s a party drug.” The party drug label caused a stir in the gay community with people accusing Weinstein of sex shaming. And as Heywood noted above it appears he is backing away from his “absolutism” but not by much. He told SFGN he still stands by the party drug label but added “not 100 percent of the people taking it is using it for that purpose, but a large percentage of people taking it are using it as a party drug to have unprotected sex. There’s an element of people that is using it in combination with meth and other drugs as well as Viagra. People taking Truvada are not using condoms by and large.” Weinstein goes on to warn “there is grave potential to doing harm, in pushing PrEP.” He added that AHF isn’t afraid of going against the grain and this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve ruffled feathers with their positions. “Over the last 28 years we’ve been the lone voice on many issues,” he said. Some of those issues include harm reduction in barebacking (“pulling out”) and serosorting (only having sex with someone of the same status.) “Those didn’t work out,” he said. Weinstein also attacks the maker of Truvada, Gilead. “Gilead stands to make 5 billion dollars if 500,000 people take this,” he said. “They’re using tons of money to promote this through other organizations.” The PrEP revolution may be too far along though for AHF to stop it at this point. Despite their continued opposition some communities around the country, like San Francisco, are starting to embrace PrEP as a new tool in their HIV prevention efforts. “PrEP is a central part of our HIV prevention efforts in San Francisco,” said Scott Wiener, a member of the San Fran Board of Supervisors. “It’s a part of our goal of continuing to reduce infection rates. There are various components of that, frequent testing, getting people into treatments quickly, suppressing their viral load and also encouraging them to use condoms and consider whether PrEP is right for them.” Wiener made headlines earlier this year by coming out publicly as a user of Truvada for PrEP. This month PrEP also makes its way to
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Hornet, a gay dating and hook up app. From the onset Hornet’s founders were strong supporters of HIV prevention including a ‘Know Your Status’ feature in their app. This month they’re giving users more nuanced options in regards to one’s HIV status by letting them disclose whether they are on PrEP, or are positive and have undetectable viral loads. “Some people take a puritanical view around any kind of sexual health harm reduction measure. They stigmatize those measures and portray people who are using as reckless,” Wiener said. “They want to tell people ‘if you only have sex the way we tell you to it will solve the problem.’ We’ve seen this before with birth control and the HPV vaccine.”
The Condom Culture Both sides though do agree on a few points, such as, condom messaging has been ineffective, with Weinstein believing there is an attack on the condom culture in the U.S. But he admits that this “attack” started long before the rise of PrEP. “Part of the reason is that we’re a victim of our own success,” he said. “Treatment has improved so much that people are less scared of HIV. The younger generation hasn’t lived through the worse of it.” Justin is a part of that younger generation. Before he started bug chasing he said he did his homework about HIV and the long-term consequences. And at the time he didn’t care. “When the point came when I got it I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting in to,” he said. “It sounds crazy.” When SFGN questioned whether condom messaging is effective, or still works, especially in South Florida, which has been labeled as the epicenter of new HIV infections Weinstein shot back “what condom messaging? I don’t see it anywhere.” He continued: “Prevention efforts have really declined over the last 10 years. That’s part of the reason we’re pushing so hard on the prevention front. Such as starting the Impulse group. Spending money on advertising. South Florida is ground zero.” And that’s why Weinstein is confident they’ve already made an impact in one of the nation’s hardest hit counties in regards to new HIV infections. “I think that we are in the process right now of bending the curve in Broward. We’ve seen
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feature a change. We’ve tripled the number of people being screened for HIV and STDs in Broward,” he said. “We are reinventing prevention in Broward. HIV prevention has failed. If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.” Weinstein looks to other Western nations like Netherlands, England, and Germany, countries he believes have done a better job. He also points to developing nations like Botswana, Senegal and Cambodia where HIV prevention is working. Condom usage in HIV prevention is still AHF’s primary goal. They recently caused a furor in Fort Lauderdale with a racy billboard showing an unrolled condom with the words “Why Worry,” and pointing to their website UseACondom.com. When asked about the statistic that shows only one in six men who have sex with men use condoms 100 percent of the time he said “There is a group of people that don’t have sex, people in mutually monogamous relationships. They don’t need to use condoms.” Weinstein insists that condom usage will go down if PrEP continues to rise. But as noted above condom usage isn’t so good right now. In fact according to the latest study twothirds of men reported using condoms 100 percent of the time for at least one six month slot. That’s the good news. The bad news is only 16.4 percent reported using them in every six-month slot. Another surprising fact from the study is that condoms were only effective 70 percent of the time in men who had anal sex with men and claimed they used condoms 100 percent of the time. That means three out of 10 men having anal sex will acquire HIV using condoms 100 percent of the time. Of course, there may be other factors involved in transmission such as incorrectly using the condom. Any study of condom usage requires participants to remember accurately and be truthful. So any study that relies on selfreporting could end up being very wrong. But PrEP, on the other hand, does not just rely on self-reporting. The participant’s blood is analyzed to discern the level of the drug in their system making these studies far more accurate and reliable.
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Weinstein Under Fire One of Weinstein’s biggest opponents over the last year has been Eric Paul Leue, Mr. LA Leather 2014 and the Director of Sexual Health and Education at Kink.com. Early in 2014 AHF recruited the 28-year-old to participate in an HIV awareness campaign targeting the leather community. But after Weinstein began his attacks on PrEP, the relationship quickly soured, with Leue going so far as to start a petition calling for his removal as head of AHF. PrEP isn’t the only issue that Leue is pissed off at AHF about either. Leue also strongly disagrees with the organization’s aggressive push to ban condomless porn in California. AHF supported a measure voters approved in Los Angeles County this year through a ballot initiative, Measure B. The porn industry sued unsuccessfully. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ban in December. “This is just fear mongering. AHF is the Baptist Church of HIV prevention,” Leue said. “This is just the same repetitive messaging since the 80s. I’m 28. I’ve lost six people in my life to HIV. I believe that people have the right to make informed choices. It’s shameful for AHF to push out misinformation.” Leue, who is HIV negative, has been in three long-term relationships with positive guys. “I knew my statistics and my risk very well,” he said. “I knew their viral loads, their doctors. We still used condoms, but I wasn’t afraid — they were afraid of infecting me.” Today Leue is on PrEP. Leue and other proponents of PrEP point out that if you do miss your once a day pill you’re still protected, whereas with condoms, you’re only protected if you use them 100 percent of the time. Weinstein defends himself saying “Part of our work is speaking truth to our own tribe. It’s not always a popular thing to do but it is necessary and important. Irresponsible elements in the gay community shouldn’t be the ones making health policy.”
sexually” and “I think it’s the wrong way to address HIV prevention.” SFGN contacted Strub, who said he had no idea he was being used in AHF’s ad. He also said the first quote wasn’t about PrEP per se but more about all of the “treatment as prevention” methods including treating people whose CD4 cell counts are above 500. Today doctors recommend HIV patients start medication right away versus waiting until their CD4 cell counts drop below a certain number. As for the second quote he had this to say. “There is definitely a role for PrEP in HIV prevention — which I’ve recognized since I first started speaking out on this topic — but that role is one determined by individuals in consultation with their clinicians and should not arise from a population-based public health recommendation,” he said. “I disagree with some of the rhetoric that has emanated from AHF and their representatives, particularly the sex negativity of some of it, but overall they are raising a number of important points that have been inadequately addressed by the public health establishment and others who seem to see PrEP as a panacea and a much larger part of HIV prevention than others view it. The PrEP discourse in the U.S. has too often boiled down to whether one is for it or against it and it just isn’t that simple.”
A close friend of Strub’s and long time HIV activist, Peter Staley, admonished AHF’s new ad posting on Facebook “A new low. Weinstein has selectively quoted (stripping out larger context which often says the opposite) the following individuals in his latest anti-PrEP ads. Some might be fine with the inclusions. Most will likely feel used and abused.” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who was also quoted in the ad, joked, “I am too busy implementing PrEP in NYC to worry about quotes taken out of context.” While AHF’s latest ad spotlights a list of statements that on the surface seem to either oppose PrEP, or question it, there is a growing number HIV organizations who are openly supporting PrEP and the CDC’s new guidelines. More than 115 HIV organizations have now publicly endorsed their decision including at least one local organization, Latinos Salud in Wilton Manors. Syphilis and Gonorrhea and Chlamydia… Oh My! Proponents and opponents of PrEP both agree that Truvada will not stop the transmission of syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. But supporters of PrEP believe it is disingenuous to constantly talk about the two issues together.
What Consensus on PrEP? In AHF’s latest campaign “What consensus on PrEP?” they have a list of 22 quotes disputing the efficacy of PrEP. The quotes come from a wide range of people from professionals like Gail Wyatt, associate director of UCLA AIDS Institute; activists like Larry Kramer; and even actor Zachary Quinto. One of the people AHF quotes is Sean Strub, founder of POZ magazine. In the ad he says “treatment as prevention is highly effective at preventing HIV transmission, but it isn’t going to protect you from syphilis, the meningitis thingy that’s now so scary or lots of other nasty pathogens that are transmitted soflagaynews //
“Some people take a puritanical view around any kind of sexual health harm reduction measure. They stigmatize those measures and portray people who are using as reckless,” Wiener said. “They want to tell people ‘if you only have sex the way we tell you to it will solve the problem.’ We’ve seen this before with birth control and the HPV vaccine.”
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Scott Wiener, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
“Truvada doesn’t protect you from syphilis,” Weinstein said. When SFGN pointed out that syphilis can also be passed along by just skin-to-skin contact Weinstein responded, “[condoms are] 70 percent effective against syphilis. And 98 percent effective against gonorrhea and chlamydia.” Weinstein said there’s a major increase in syphilis cases, especially in South Florida, and he’s alarmed that those cases will increase if PrEP usage gains more traction. On AHF’s website the main story is “Syphilis Explosion” with the image of a volcano in the background. The press release describes a 10 percent increase from 2012 to 2013 in Syphilis cases Weinstein admitted though the increase in syphilis cases started before PrEP was a factor. In the press releases he uses the opportunity to once again attack condomless sex saying, “While many may be hoping to soon write the obituary of the condom and welcome a new era of condomless sex, the fact remains that there are no pills that can be taken to prevent gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and other harmful STDs. As these latest numbers from the CDC clearly show, condoms still matter.” Leue pushes back against AHF’s latest syphilis warnings. “Now a 10 percent increase in 2013 is called an explosion?” he questioned. “At about 18,000 cases per year, a 10 percent increase is hardly an explosion.” Weinstein and AHF have also blasted the CDC for changing its terminology in regards to having sex without a condom. In the past that was referred to “unprotected sex.” This year the CDC changed it to “condomless sex,” which they believe is a better and more accurate term to describe sex without condoms. “The whole concept of ‘safe sex’ is based on HIV not all STDs,” Robert Shore said. “So claiming that ‘condomless sex’ is ‘protected’ with Truvada is just fine since PrEP has been shown to be effective when taken as directed, just like condoms have been effective at preventing HIV.” HIV organizations across the country, including Latinos Salud, signed a letter earlier this year urging the CDC to stop using the term “unprotected sex.” “The menu of HIV risk-reduction options now includes other options besides only condoms,” said Stephen Fallon, executive director of Latinos Salud. The CDC’s decision was in the works before a lot of information on PrEP was even a factor. “The increasing levels of STIs started long before the PrEP revolution. And that’s an early indicator of condom usage drop off,” Heywood said. “I would much rather get syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia than HIV. HIV may be treatable but it’s going to have a substantial impact on my body and how it works.” *Justin asked that SFGN not use his last name for this story.
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SFGN Honors Robert Boo With it’s “Achievement in Excellence” Award for 2014 Norm Kent
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s we did in years past, SFGN commemorates the year’s end with our annual regional Achievements in Excellence Awards, celebrating individuals who have distinguished themselves by hard work and honest effort, lending credibility and commitment not only to their cause, but to our entire community. For the year 2014, SFGN’s first Achievement Award is present to the Executive Director of the Pride Center at Equality Park, Robert Boo. As we learned when selecting candidates for this year’s ‘OUT 50’ list our community has a plethora of individuals who deserve recognition and acclamation for enhancing the quality of LGBT life in South Florida. Few are as omnipresent and outstanding as Robert Boo. Colleagues and friends affectionately know him as simply ‘Boo’, a man who grew up simply in a rural northern Indiana town known more for corn and soybean farmers than an LGBT community. When he became the ED for the Pride Center two years ago, SFGN’s senior features correspondent, Tony Adams, profiled Boo. He was spot on when he wrote that Boo had a personality that was “buoyant and light-hearted…. with a casual and confident manner that is a refreshing surprise.” Boo simply exudes an infectious energy and enthusiasm, which has been the inspiration for the Pride Center’s emerging stature and success. Boo brought a career of institutional management to the table when he first became the center’s director of development for five years. With professional experiences in Chicago, San Diego, Miami Beach, and New Orleans, he had a cross-section of geographical experiences to pull from. South Florida won him over. But now he has won us over, with a talent for transforming himself and those around him. While Boo shares the success with others, the five-acre campus that houses the Pride Center is there in no small part due to his vision and leadership. As the Executive Director, Boo has become the point man for increased programming, incredible diversity, and expansion of its multiple outreach initiatives. He has gone from nutritional corporate management to nurturing LGBT community building. He is saving lives instead of corporations. Under his auspices and tenure, the Pride Center is becoming a national model for twenty-first century growth.
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As Director of Development for five years from 2006-2010, Boo tripled the number of major donors in the Founders Circle, helped quadruple the annual operating budget and launched a multi-million dollar capital campaign- which led to the purchase of its campus with 30,000 square feet of office space and the renovation of its main building. With more and more corporate sponsors from the straight community realizing the value of LGBT revenues, Boo today reaches outside our limited circles, hosting monthly mixers at improbable locales, such as Bayview Cadillac or Mayor’s Jewelers. Boo understands that gay men and women want style as well as substance. The Pride Center offers a mixture of class as well as conscience. Ten years ago, the agency had five full time employees and a budget of $350,000. In 2014, the annual operating budget of the center passed $2.6 million. There are now 42 employees. Boo expects still more, noting Wilton Manors is one of the nation’s leading venues for same-sex couples. Honored last year by Lambda Legal for his lifetime commitment to equality, the 54-year-old Boo has been volunteering since the early 1980’s when he lived in Chicago and devoted time to an AIDS hotline and crisis center. He carries that social sensitivity with him today, trimming down an amazing 75 pounds last year to ride the SMART Ride with the Pride Center team in 2013, making another curtain call just a month ago. Boo can also be seen pitching the Pride Center as a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Business Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Fort Lauderdale. He has spoken out at city commission meetings in numerous venues, and publishes a column in the Center’s quarterly ‘Voice’ Magazine. He is simply everywhere, speaking out and proud as a credible, conscientious voice for the LGBT community. Boo said satirically in an article, “I am not only the CEO of the Pride Center, I am also a client.” We all are in some way. From memorial
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services to community forums, programming marriage equality or meth addiction, the Pride Center hosted over 2,500 group meetings last year. Overall, the Center’s programs and services drew some 25,000 South Florida residents and visitors to the center, with outreach initiatives directly affecting an additional 30,000. The Center’s offerings include couples counseling, family planning and parenting workshops, fitness classes, health fairs, a monthly community flea market, social groups, and support groups for substance abuse recovery, bereavement, and even overeating. There is also a free computer center that serves several thousand people annually. Under Boo’s tenure, programs for women, seniors, and partners have expanded exponentially.
Kris Fegenbush
With 5,000 persons tested last year for HIV, AIDS prevention is a cornerstone of the Pride Center’s new legacy. The center conducts a variety of educational initiatives for high-risk negative individuals, including additional support, linkage and care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Prevention staff currently works in ‘The LIFE Program,’ CHOICES, CouplesSpeak, ARTAS, and VOICES. There is condom distribution, anti-stigma campaigns, a drop-in center, peer education training, and buddies/peer mentor program for newly diagnosed individuals, alongside holistic health coaching. The list goes on. Over 350 people, from the judiciary to law enforcement, attended a meth seminar last month. Of course, not every program is a result of Boo’s singular initiatives. But as a leader, he has motivated the community. As the executive director, he has shepherded and managed the agency with pride and professionalism rather than controversy or incident. He has sourced new revenue streams and made the Pride Center campus the hub of LGBTQ activity in Broward County, cleaning it up aesthetically and driving it professionally- not bad for a guy who was part of a high school senior class of 45.
As a Broadway aficionado, he knows a little bit about the stage. The Purdue graduate is using the savvy he gained as a management professional in private industry to drive the Pride Center’s services to the entire community. Boo’s vision for the Pride Center is still barely accomplished. Engineered in phases and tempered by budget limitations, he still sees a courtyard and plaza with benches, sculptures, and additional lighting, a pedestrian walkway along the hidden 150 stretch of waterfront. Already, it has gradually cultivated its outdoor space for live performances, movie showings, rallies, and flea markets. With Boo at the helm, there is confidence more is to come. Whether it is the popular Camp for Health offering massage and holistic care on its campus, or a non-profit initiating a healthcare navigator program, the Center, under Boo’s leadership, has become an inclusive and nurturing environment for the LGBTQ community, a lot more than just an auditorium to hold a meeting. For all these reasons, his efforts and energy make Robert Boo the winner of SFGN’s Achievement in Excellence Award for 2014.
“I know the Robert Boo everyone sees--the infectious laugh, the beanstalk stature, the incisive mind, the quick wit, the consistent drive, the laser focus...and the gaudy cuff links. But behind the scenes, he’s the real deal. I see the generosity, patience, compassion, vision, ethics, and dedication that he practices daily when he doesn’t know that anyone is watching. I see the grueling hours he keeps because of his commitment to excellence. I experience his listening ear and hard-earned wisdom. I see him juggle so much, every day, and do it all with a smile. It’s rare to have a boss in the nonprofit world who is mind-bogglingly excellent with the business details and is so skilled and effective with people. He’s beloved by many for a reason--he shows so much love to others. He does it with sparkle, charm and flair. And he’s a beast on a bike. I mean it. Don’t try to keep up with him. He’ll leave you panting in a puddle of sweat.” — Kris Fegenbush I
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SouthFloridaGayNews // SFGN.com // 12.24.2014 //
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feature
And the Person of the Year Is...
We asked you, our readers, to vote for SFGN’s person of the year and you chose Pope Francis as the clear winner. SFGN Staff
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// 12.24.2014 // SFGN.com //
soflagaynews //
SouthFloridaGayNews
Photo: Vatican TV
column publisher’s editorial
Norm Kent
norm.kent@sfgn.com
Viva Cuba Libre
In my mind, Phil Ochs was one of the greatest folk singers ever to play the American stage. In the 1960’s, his music and songwriting was as spectacular as Bob Dylan’s. Four decades after his passing, I still remember the magical lyrics from one of his songs: “You are living in the free world, and in the free world you must stay…” In 1972, President Richard Nixon went to China to open the door to diplomacy and trade. But four myopic and mindless decades later, only 90 miles from Key West, America has steadfastly stonewalled Cuba.
How stupid, how foolish, how moronic.
Cuba Libre’. The moment that many thought would never come has come. The Cold War is over. It has been for a while. Fidel Castro’s opponents, like himself, are octogenarians. It’s time for a thaw and the twenty-first century to take hold. It’s time to embrace, not exclude. Thousands of Cubans are already coming and going to and from the U.S. Do we still need to risk their lives and force them to come over on rescue boats? Does Cuba really need to be on a state terrorism list? Cubans are dancing at the Boardwalk, playing in a Marlins uniform, and running cafes on South Beach. Who are we kidding? Lying on the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor Park in Key West two weeks ago, I was there when seven or eight refugees landed on the shore in a boat not fit for a Wilton Manors canoe race, let alone a trans Atlantic journey. Freedom has its rewards. Citizens on the beach cheered them as they reached American shores. They became the lead story on local TV stations.
Gay Cubans aspire to American ideals, but gay lifestyles in Havana are no longer sacrosanct. Legally, homosexuality may remain an ‘ ideological deviation,’ but as we normalize our relationships with the Cuban people, nights on the island may take on a lot more color and vitality. Travel between Cuba and South Florida will be extensive. Havana will become a cultural center of nightlife and tourism again. Normalization works. Private enterprise is healthy, and Cuban cigars are good. It’s exciting, and not only for Cubans looking for American parts for their 1950’s Chevys. It would be nice to have a U.S. senator who understood that, but Marco Rubio is stuck in the past on Cuba, the way Mayor Jack Seiler of Fort Lauderdale is stuck in the past on gay marriage. They are chained by regressive ideologies they won’t liberate from their minds. It’s too bad. The future will pass them by. They are like English colonialists fighting India’s freedom. The reality is that the Cuban Revolution has achieved its aim and proved its point. The little country that could has survived as a free state for over half a century since the Bay of Pigs. They beat back the Yankee Goliath. Missiles are no longer pointed towards the U.S. Instead, we are pointing them at ourselves, living in the past that no longer is. American high school textbooks won’t show it, but our national policy has isolated us from the rest of the world, not the other way around. Latin America and the United Nations have recognized Cuba for decades. In fact, according to Tom Hayden, who heads the California based Peace and Justice Resource Center, Cuba remains in the upper tier of the United Nations Human Development Index because of its educational and health care achievements.
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Forget empanadas for a minute. Cuba has won renown for fighting apartheid in Angola and dispatching medical workers to contain the Ebola virus- and I don’t think any territorial governors in Havana locked up their nurses. Despite the American embargo, Cuba has found a place in the world community, just not in city halls in South Miami. The State of Florida and the USA has been held hostage by a bunch of local politicians for too damn long. I know it would piss off a lot of Cubans in Miami, but damn, I would invite Fidel Castro to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day in South Florida. It’s time to throw out only decades of unnecessary hate and futile hostility, time to welcome the Cubans as our brothers and sisters, letting their families unite.
SouthFloridaGayNews // SFGN.com // 12.24.2014 //
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column mombian
LGBTQ Parents and Our Children in 2014 Dana Rudolph
Did 2014 bring LGBTQ parents and our children closer to equality? Most visibly, it was the year that marriage equality spread to most of the U.S.—a great thing for many families, but certainly not all that happened. Marriage, of course, opened up legal and financial benefits, as well as a sense of fairness and inclusion, to tens of thousands of children being raised by samesex couples. It also brought with it an expansion of parenting rights in some states. In Virginia, for example, married same-sex couples may now do second-parent adoptions or jointly adopt. Utah and North Carolina will now issue amended birth certificates to same-sex couples wanting second-parent adoptions. We should remember, however, that marriage and parental rights are not identical. Different-sex parents do not need to be married in order to be recognized as legal parents, and neither should same-sex parents. The Idaho Supreme Court recognized this in February, before marriage equality became legal there in October, when it ruled that a person can petition for a secondparent adoption even if the two adults are not married. Parents gave back to the marriage equality struggle, too. Many of the plaintiffs in the marriage equality cases were parents, and most of the judges in those cases weighed the interests of children very heavily. Many cited a passage from the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2013 Windsor decision noting that marriage inequality “humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples” and “makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.” The 7th Circuit’s Richard Posner focused clearly on this angle, writing that while the cases were formally about discrimination, “at a deeper level … they are about the welfare of American children.” He then gave us the snarkiest statement from any marriage case this year, “The only rationale that the
states put forth with any conviction—that same-sex couples and their children don’t need marriage because same-sex couples can’t produce children, intended or unintended—is so full of holes that it cannot be taken seriously…. Heterosexuals get drunk and pregnant, producing unwanted children; their reward is to be allowed to marry. Homosexual couples do not produce unwanted children; their reward is to be denied the right to marry. Go figure.” The most personal passage in a 2014 marriage ruling, however, came from U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane in Oregon, himself a gay dad. He wrote: “I believe that if we can look for a moment past gender and sexuality, we can see in these plaintiffs nothing more or less than our own families. Families who we would expect our Constitution to protect, if not exalt, in equal measure. With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather, we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community.” He then offered this inspiration: “Where will this all lead? I know that many suggest we are going down a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries. To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other … and rise.” Marriage aside, we should not forget other types of cases that impacted our families. The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled in July, for example, in the case of a biological mother trying to deny parental rights to a former partner—a type of case we have seen too many of over the years. The court ruled that a non-biological mother is the legal parent of her daughter, and has the right to seek custody after a breakup. All was not progress, however. A lesbian teacher at an all-girls Catholic school in Michigan said she was fired in
August when the school cited a policy permitting firing over “lifestyle or actions directly contradictory to the Catholic faith.” School administrators were concerned that her pregnancy through assisted reproduction was “nontraditional,” she said. Ironic for a church founded on a nontraditional pregnancy. And in a puzzling decision, Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court Judge Margarita López Torres ruled in January that a married two-mom couple were already both legal parents to their child, so the non-biological mother could not do a second-parent adoption. Second-parent adoptions, however, are recommended by most LGBTQ family law experts even for married couples, since they give a non-biological parent and child a more secure legal connection in jurisdictions that don’t recognize the parents’ marriage. This year was also good for mainstream visibility. Iconic brands Coca-Cola and Chevrolet featured gay dads in television commercials during the Olympics. Honey Maid (Nabisco), Marriott, Starbucks, Target, and General Mills Canada also ran commercials or online video campaigns featuring same-sex parents. On the screen, the Amazon Web series Transparent gave us the story of an older parent coming out as transgender—and has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards. ABC comedy Modern Family continues to show us gay dads as part of a wider network of extended family. And ABC Family’s The Fosters remains a compelling drama about a two-mom family with appeal to both parents and teens. All in all, then, it was a pretty good year for both LGBTQ family rights and visibility, though weighted towards the same-sex parents among us. It sets the stage for an even more impressive 2015.
Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian (mombian.com), a GLAAD Media Award-winning blog and resource directory for LGBT parents.
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// 12.24.2014 // SFGN.com //
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SouthFloridaGayNews
column reily report
Politics Minus Education Becomes Religion Ric Reily Critical thinking has gone missing from our political culture, politicians and policy makers. There was once a time in American society when political views could be discussed in a civil manner and perhaps a mind or two changed along the way. Politics and religion are two third rails of conversation, avoided at all cost. Bring in the state of education for the perfect trifecta. There is a cost to avoiding political discussion and that cost is the loss of a viable political structure occupied by educated minds capable of discussing and creating effective direction. As long as we refuse to truly educate, vs. teach for tests, our pool of critical thinkers will continue shrinking. I have sometimes begun a simple conversation about religion, or a conversation has led to religion. The discussion can be lively and even humorous until the point is reached where the basis of belief is faith or biblical. That point is the one where the conversant believes a specific point and they can not or will not say why. They can’t say because their belief is just that, a belief based on faith. Faith by its definition requires belief without data to back it up. A critical thinker can not end a train of thought at faith, a critical thinker has to get to the base idea driving thought and at that point affirm the base idea or change it. Faith disallows this required step of rational thought. Often the product of a failing education system is faith; faith in political leaders, ideology or religious dogma.
There once was a time when Americans critically considered up critical thinking for their politics. Today many won’t. Oddly, a burgeoning group of faith. Keeping religion and these faith based believers are young gay men. More and more young gay men view politics from an unfettered faraway point. politics separated has They don’t bother to delve into the real issues driving their been a long time goal and lives, more comfortable in assuming beliefs that require no battle for us as a nation, one consideration, exploration or defense. This approach bumps that we appear to be losing. Separation of the two is a clear right up against religious belief. Perhaps the reasoning here is simple. Perhaps young gay distinction that has allowed us as men today come from a different mindset. The road has been a society to enjoy fruits of existence envied by much of the leveled for them, the heavy lifting of acquiring civil rights is world. Education truly is the basis of a successful democratic yielding acceptance and many come out earlier to accepting society and where our education system declines in quality, families. Role models exist in the media, family and friends. In access and usefulness our society is destined to follow. their eyes there is no longer a LGBT battle to be fought. They There are many religion dominated societies around the don’t find the necessity to be vigilant; they can be comfortable world, most of which are failing catastrophically. There are in the knowledge that they are safe from discrimination, many educated societies around the world, most of which are violence and hate. Only they aren’t. succeeding at escalating levels. There are stagnant societies Even as our human rights are finally becoming a reality, around the world going nowhere as politics, religion and homophobia will long remain a real threat, especially as education fight a battle for supremacy. education continues to fail, politicians continue to obfuscate The United States has joined the latter and worst yet is real solutions to problems and people continue to place faith assisted by the unanalyzed beliefs of young gays. in religions rather than in Ric Reily is the author of two books, Money Is The Root Of All - Skip The Debt Habit, themselves. Gays have not and Gregory’s Hero; his firm CFO On Call provides small business finance and operations yet earned the luxury of consulting. Ric is married to John, his partner of 26 years, and lives in South Florida with complacency. Gays have not their Havanese dog, Buckley. You can reach Ric at ricreily@gmail.com yet earned the right to give
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column jesse’s journal
The Task Force: More than Weddings Jesse Monteagudo
In a recent column I followed the progress of marriage equality and noted the widespread belief that, once marriage equality is achieved, we will no longer need to fight for our rights as LGBT people. This might be true for those of us who are white, affluent, cisgender, adults, physically and mentally able, and in a stable marital relationship. For the rest of us, however, our work is still cut out for us. Nor am I encouraged by the recent activities of so many LGBT rights groups, both local and national, that seem to spend their time holding expensive galas and winning statements from Hollywood celebrities and big city mayors in favor of same-sex marriage. Fortunately, our oldest national rights organization continues to agree with me that there is more to our liberation than the rights to get married, have children, or serve in the military. The National LGBTQ Task Force began its storied career in 1973 as the National Gay Task Force. Early leaders included Doctors Frank Kameny, Howard Brown and Bruce Voeller, along with Martin Duberman, Barbara Gittings, Ron Gold and Nathalie Rockhill. Among its early achievements, in 1973, was convincing the American Pychiatrist Association to drop its classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder. The Task Force became the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in 1985 and the National LGBTQ Task Force this year. The Task Force’s tagline is “Be You” and its vision “is a society that values and respects the diversity of human expression and identify and achieves freedom and equity for all.” “We are seeing a real palpable hunger in LGBTQ people’s hearts not just to be out, but to bring their entire selves to every aspect of their lives: to ‘Be You’ without fear, without persecution, without discrimination,” said Rea Carey, the Task Force’s Executive
Key West Couple Slides By Pam Bondi To Score A Marriage Equality Homer Tony Adams
Director, in a press release announcing the name change. “And there is a deep desire for more change, to look beyond marriage equality, with millions of us still facing formidable barriers in every aspect of our lives; at school, in housing, employment, in health care, in our faith congregations, in retirement and in basic human rights.” In a recent mailing, Carey reminded us that “ours must not be a movement for marriage rights alone, but rather a quest for dignity and equality in all aspects of our lives, cradle to grave. . . Marriage is not the singular solution to the discrimination, violence and bigotry LGBTQ people have faced for centuries,” she added. “The LGBTQ community still faces employment discrimination, homelessness and the inability to adopt children who need loving homes. And immigration, housing and health care are also all LGBTQ issues. We need to keep them visible.” The mailing included a petition to the United States Senate, asking that body to outlaw discrimination in the workplace, allow transgender individuals to serve openly in the military, stop the bullying of LGBTQ children and teens in our schools and pass immigration reform that includes asylum for those who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Though I was a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force years ago, I let my membership lapse due to financial and other matters. The Task Force’s recent changes convinced me to renew my membership. I believe its goals make it a more worthwhile organization than the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, or other, more assimilationist, groups. For more information about the National LGBTQ Task Force, its goals and programs, visit the Task Force’s web site at www.TheTaskForce.org.
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and journalist. He has been an active member of South Florida’s LGBT community for more than four decades and has served in various community organizations.
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lifestyle money
// 12.24.2014 // SFGN.com //
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Photo by Tony Adams Key West bartenders Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones stopped by Island House Gay Hotel and Resort to talk about how their lives have changed since April when they became one of the first couples to step up to the plate and take a swing at Florida’s unjust marriage ban. Two hours after our interview came the wonderful announcement that the United States Supreme Court had denied Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s petition to stay a lower court ruling of July 17 in favor of marriage equality in Florida. Island House, Aqua Nightclub and 801 Bourbon Bar (the two bars where the men are employed) erupted in celebration with the sudden realization that Huntsman and Jones are now sliding into home plate. On January 6th they will receive their marriage license from the same clerk who denied it in April and may become the first same-sex couple to marry in Monroe County. Huntsman says, “Amy Heavilin is the clerk who denied us the license, but she also thanked us for bringing the issue to the point of decision. She is actually on our side and her office is already preparing the adjustments to the language on the license and the application. She will keep the office open past midnight on January 5, so at 12:01 a.m. we can be first in line.” (SFGN interviewed Monroe County’s general counsel who said no definitive decision has been made yet in regards to the county issuing marriage licenses on January 6.) Florida has a mandatory three-day wait between obtaining a marriage license and becoming married. This may be waived if the couple takes an approved pre-marital course. Huntsman says, “We took the course with Steve Torrence, pastor of the MCC church in Key West, and he is going to be our officiant. We got the certificate needed for the waiver. We keep it with us at all times.” They had indeed brought it with them to Island House and displayed it proudly. Jones says, “We’re just two blue collar
SouthFloridaGayNews
working guys who wanted our right to marry and to have the protections of legal marriage. It won’t change the way we live, but it will help us if something bad were to happen to us.” The men met on June 10, 2003, during Key West Gay Pride. Huntsman, 44, is a year older than Jones. Both men enjoy the support and admiration of their families. They were grand marshals of this year’s annual Key West Fantasy Fest parade, borne atop a thirty-foot wedding cake float. Huntsman says, “We began to toy with the idea of demanding a marriage license after the success of the gay adoption rights contest in Florida. We couldn’t understand why in Key West of all places marriage equality was not being fought for. We are not professional activists but we have the support of close friends and the great lady lawyers of the local firm, Restivo, Reilly & Vigil-Fariñas. It took a few months to draft our approach but then we just jumped into it. We were never approached by any gay advocacy groups at the time, and we felt a little bit shunned by some people who had their own timelines and strategies.” Both men are quick to add that they currently appreciate the support of Equality Florida and welcomed its request to become part of their case. It is currently unclear as to whether marriage equality will be legal throughout all of Florida on January 6, or only in the successfully petitioning counties. Huntsman says, “We are hoping that everything is worked out by then. Even our attorney, Bernadette Restivo, says that the process is like eating spaghetti with a knife.” Although the men plan to become legally married on January 6, they are also planning a spiritual ceremony to be held (on the anniversary of the July 17 ruling) at the Hemingway House in Key West with a reception at the garden bar of Bourbon Street Pub where they first set eyes on each other.
lifestyle cars
Driven — 2015 Dodge Charger
Steve Siler
If you like body hair (this includes you, ladies), the redesigned 2015 Dodge Charger may be right up your alley, or more aptly, right up your driveway. No, the car isn’t hairy — anywhere — though higher trims do wear lots of leather and metal cuffs in places you can’t see from the outside. But what an outside: with its stern, square-jawed new mug and big, strapping full-size sedan body, this is the kind of car only a carmaker as goddamn-‘Murican as Dodge could build. It’s also the consummate host, however, with a high level of refinement in its spacious interior and lots of available technology accessible via its ginormous, easy-to-use 8.4-inch touch screen interface. Genuine metal on the dashboard and padded surfaces everywhere give it an air of authenticity, too. And all color schemes are, like the exterior, eminently butch. It is one of the only cars in its price range to offer rear-wheel-drive (all-wheel drive is an option) which makes it more stable
2015 Dodge Charger Base Price: $28,990 — $63,290 Power: 3.0-liter V-6 (290 hp, 252 lb-ft of torque); 5.7-liter V-8 (370 hp, 395 lb-ft); 6.4-liter V-8 (485 hp, 475 lb-ft); 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 (707 hp, 650 lb-ft) Transmission: 8-speed automatic
than a lesbian marriage, yet the steering is as chatty as the hosts of “The View,” which is a good thing when you want to know what’s happening on the road beneath you. Under the long, phallic hood (which partially explains why I like this car so much) are a choice of engines; most will opt for the efficient, 300-hp V-6, but there are also three V-8s available, the brawniest of which—the 707-hp “Hellcat” V-8—makes it the most powerful sedan in the world. Eat that, Germany! Anyway, having driven them all, I can tell you that the $29K V-6 model is fine (you’re gonna want to add some options to be comfortable) but the V-8s are better, with the sweetest spot perhaps being the $48,380 Charger SRT 392 model with 485 hp that looks like the $63,290 Hellcat and is nearly as fast, but leaves some $15K in the glove box. In any case, cars don’t get any more macho and American than the Charger, and I love it. Fuel Economy, city/hwy mpg (EPA est): 19/31 (V-6); 16/25 (5.7); 18/24; 15/25 (6.4); 13/22 (Hellcat) OR YOU COULD BUY: Chevy SS Ford Taurus Chrysler 300
Renowned automotive journalist Steve Siler pioneered automotive writing for the GLBT community in 1998 and currently contributes auto news and reviews to Car and Driver Magazine, Yahoo Autos, The New York Daily News, Autoblog, Details, and many more. You can follow his adventures on Twitter/Instagram: @silerroad. soflagaynews //
SouthFloridaGayNews // SFGN.com // 12.24.2014 //
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presents LGBT december birthdays
Visit the Stonewall National Museum & Archives Gallery 2157 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors to learn more about our gay heritage and those who paved the way—through activism, sacrifice and courage—to give us a better and freer life.
“I wore makeup at a time when even on women eye shadow was sinful. Many a young girl in those days had to leave home and go on the streets simply in order to wear nail polish.”
1Student Matthew Shepard (1976-98) 2 Fashion designer Gianni Versace (1946-97)
Basketball center Jason Collins (1978), first male professional athlete in a major U.S. team sport to come out
3 Painters Frederick Leighton (1830-96) and
Patrick Angus (1953-92) Coming Out Under Fire author Allan Bérubé (1946)
4
Writer Cornell Woolrich (1903-68) Historian A.L. Rowse (1903-97) Game show set designer Ed Flesh (1931-2012) Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer A. Scott Berg (1949) Novelist Samuel Butler (1835-1902)
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Poet Christina Rosetti (1830-94) Singer “Little” Richard Penniman (1932)
6 Writers Osbert Sitwell (1892-1969) and
Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978)
13 Psychiatrist Richard Isay (1934-2011)
Sailor Allen R. Schindler Jr. (1969-92), murder victim of gay bashing
14 Prince Paul of Greece (1901-64) Writer Hervé Guibert (1955-91)
15W. Dorr Legg (1904-94), co-founder of One
magazine and the Republican Log Cabin Club Poet Muriel Rukeyser (1913-80) Transgender activist Judith “Jack” Halberstam (1961)
16 Novelist George Santayana (1863-1952) Anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-78) Playwright Noël Coward (1899-1973) Writer Barbara Smith (1946).
7Author Willa Cather (1873-1947) 8 Writer Norman Douglas (1868-1952)
17Artist Paul Cadmus (1904-99)
9 Art Historian Johann J. Winckelmann (1717-68)
18 Author H.H. Munro “Saki” (1890-1916) 19 Photojournalist Gisèle Freund (1908-2000)
Founder of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Leroy “Roy” F. Aarons (1933-2004)
Writer Lucius Beebe (1902-66)
10Poet Emily Dickinson (1830-86) Singer Raven Symoné (1985)
11 Author John Preston (1945-94) Actor Jean Marais (1913-98)
12 Broadway producer Margo Jones (1911-55)
Drag queen who ran for San Francisco mayor José Sarria (1923-2013) Transgender murder victim Brandon Teena (1972-93)
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“I never came out because I was never in.”
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“As I stood pressed “Homosexual against the railings of persons should some dim London square make no effort with a stranger’s hand at to try and join my throat or my crotch or society. They both, another member of should stay right the gang would whisper, ‘But he’s where they are an artist. I seen him in Chelsea.’ and give their Immediately the grip on my name and serial person would loosen and, in a number and wait shaken voice, my aggressor for society to would say, ‘I didn’t know.’” form itself around
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them. Because it certainly will.”
Editor Kevin Killian (1952) First openly gay African-American to be nominated for an Oscar (for directing Precious) Lee Daniels (1959) Dancer/choreographer Robert Joffrey (1930-88) First openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show writer Bob Smith (1968) Singer Ricky Martin (1971)
25 Raconteur Quentin Crisp (1908-99) 26 Poet Thomas Gray (1716-71) Writer David Sedaris (1956)
Writers John Kennedy O’Toole (1936-69) and Bertha Harris (1937) Filmmaker Greg Araki (1959) Actor Sarah Paulson (1974)
Writers José Lezama Lima (1910-76), Jean Genet (1910-86), Michelangelo Signorile (1960) and writer/filmmaker Cyril Collard (1957-93)
27Actors Marlene Dietrich (1901-92) and Wilson Cruz (1973)
28 Filmmaker F.W. Murnau (1888-1931) Writer Manuel Puig (1932-90) Filmmaker Katarzyna Adamik (1972)
29 Transgender musician Billy Tipton (1914-89) Writer Paul Rudnick (1957)
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Artist Beauford Delaney (1901-79) Writers Paul Bowles (1910-99), Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and L. P. Hartley (1895-1972)
20 Decorator Elsie de Wolfe (1865-50) 21Conductor/composer Michael Tilson Thomas (1944) 31Costume designer Orry-Kelly (1897-1964) 22Bent playwright Martin Sherman (1938) Actor Joe Dallesandro (1948)
Architect Frank Israel (1945-96)
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Composer Jennifer Higdon (1962)
SouthFloridaGayNews
©2014 BY CHARLES L. ROSS + STONEWALL NATIONAL MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
lifestyle
JR Davis
HOT SPOTS H O L I D AY PA R T Y
Our Fund also recently celebrated an annual get together
Take a look at their sucess
soflagaynews //
SouthFloridaGayNews // SFGN.com // 12.24.2014 //
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lifestyle books “Male Sex Work and Society,” edited by Victor Minichiello and John Scott Terri Schlichenmeyer
$50.00 paperback / $120.00 hardcover, higher in Canada 512 pages c.2014, Harrington Park Press Money does strange things to a fellow. It can lead to greed, dishonesty, mistrust, even murder. It changes friendships and families. Money puts people on a shelf and it puts food in a man’s stomach, which is what you needed back when you did what you did. You’re not proud of it – or maybe you are since, according to the authors of “Male Sex Work and Society,” edited by Victor Minichiello and John Scott, sex for money has gained social acceptance. When most people think of sex workers, female prostitutes come to mind. There is evidence, however, that The World’s Oldest Profession may have had practitioners of both sexes all along. It’s a widely accepted fact that ancient Greek and Roman men took younger males as lovers, and acted somewhat as mentors. That was appropriate behavior – encouraged, even – as long as the older man didn’t “exploit” his younger friend. Slaves and former slaves, however, were a different matter: they “were forced to engage in survival sex,” usually for an insultingly low price. That was the case in 1607 when the Jamestown colonists tried to tough out their first winter: documents exist that mention exchanging certain favors for stolen biscuits. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, British male sex workers enjoyed tolerance – as long as they represented themselves as their true biological gender. Transgender people were arrested for cross-dressing. By the late 1800s, those attitudes changed, too. Both Europe and the United States saw a great number of biological males who dressed and worked as female prostitutes. Many worked in all-male brothels; some specialized in women as clients and others worked the streets.
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It’s believed that the preponderance of male sex workers by the 1960s were gay, although gay writers in those Stonewall years sometimes made issue of the sexual identification of clientele. Were customers of gay sex workers straight or gay themselves? The answer today, according to male escorts, is that a “significant percentage” of male customers are straight and “many” are married. Furthermore, modern male sex workers utilize paid advertising, which makes it easy for clients to consciously choose partners based on specific preferences. And now, as it was centuries ago, male sex workers most commonly said in a survey that they choose to sell sex for economic reasons. By its very nature, pleasure reading should be a pleasure. Alas, “Male Sex Work and Society” is not. But let me define that further: this is not a bad book – it’s just way more academic than I expected, more than a curl-up-by-thefireplace read should be. The essays here feel like college theses or doctoral dissertations; indeed, in their acknowledgments, Victor Minichiello and John Scott say how much they enjoyed working with contributing scholars. There’s a definite place for such erudite work, but it’s probably not by the easy chair. Overall, again, this isn’t a bad book. It’s good, but I think academes and social workers will get much more from it. For casual readers, “Male Sex Work and Society” is probably not worth the money.
lifestyle bata’s beats
Carols For A Cure Volume 16
AMERICAN TAX & INSUR ANCE “e safe return of your money is our top priority.”
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If you are looking for something that celebrates talented artists and musicians while helping to find a cure for one of societies least favorite viruses -- look no further than Broadway’s, Carols For A Cure Volume 16. This is a 2 CD set with all of your favorite Holiday carols sung and performed by some of Broadway’s biggest stars. Featured on this exciting new edition is a recording of Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller and the cast of “Beautiful -- The Carole King Musical” written by Guy Chambers and Louise Goffin (who happens to be Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s daughter). Other notable additions : Twitter
Ryan Shaw. Photo
include Rema Webb plus the cast of “The Lion King” and Ryan Shaw (Stevie Wonder), with the cast members from “Motown: The Musical,” the cast of “Aladdin,” “Wicked,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cabaret.” All proceeds go to finding a cure for HIV/ AIDS, so you can feel great about giving back and doing something to help find a cure to this disease that has affected so many inside and outside our community. Please support this great cause. It will make you feel warm and fuzzy like after having a few Hot Toddys, but without the hangover. This CD exclusively benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Rema Web
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John Bata is from Denver, Colorado and a local resident of Fort Lauderdale since 2013. He is a published poet and music aficionado. He has been a DJ since 1992 in Washington DC, New York City, and Fort Lauderdale. Currently he DJ’s at Ramrod on Sundays. One of his passions is to spotlight the latest in indie and underground dance music. soflagaynews //
* R ATES EFFECTIVE 7/16/2014 SUBJECT TO CHANGE. SouthFloridaGayNews // SFGN.com // 12.24.2014 //
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lifestyle history
Image: Hallmark
HOMO HISTORY 101 CHRISTMAS EDITION
Pier Angelo
December 2013: Since the 1800’s the world has sang the lyric “Don we now our gay apparel in the song “Deck The Halls.” For the Christmas Season 2013 Hallmark changed the words of one of its holiday keepsake ornaments to “Don we now our FUN apparel.” Hallmark was stunned by the outpouring of criticism and apologized but continued selling the ornament. 14 December 2012: A gay couple sparked outrage for displaying a ‘homosexual nativity scene’ in their Colombian home. Andrés Vásquez and Felipe Cárdenas came under fire for their all-male manger - where the baby Jesus has two father Josephs and the Virgin Mary is nowhere to be seen. The country’s Catholic Church labeled the display, in the northern city of Cartagena, as ‘sacrilege.’ Gay rights campaigners say they did it to raise profile of plans to reform gay marriage law.
Hallmark changed the words to one of its holiday keepsake ornaments to “Don we now our FUN apparel,” and received an outpouring of criticism.
December 21, 2012: A church in New Zealand drew criticism by inferring that the son of God was homosexual. The church, St. Matthew-inthe-City in Auckland, described on their home page as a progressive Anglican church, posted the advertisement as a way to start a new debate. Their argument is that Jesus might have been gay- a dubious claim that has been met with stern opposition. The controversial poster reads “It’s Christmas. Time for Jesus to come out,” and includes a picture of a baby Jesus that has his head surrounded by a halo containing the colors of the rainbow.
There will be no Nativity Scene in Washington this year! This isn’t for any religious reason. They simply have not been able to find Three Wise Men in the Nation’s Capitol. A search for a Virgin continues. There was no problem, however, finding enough asses to fill the stable. If you want to learn more about your gay heritage and those who paved the way, through activism, sacrifice, courage and civil disobedience to give us a better and freer life you can visit The Stonewall Museum & Archives in Wilton Manors. We should all know who our gay heroes are and be thankful for what they did on our behalf.
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outeats
Special Advertising Section
I DON’T HAVE TIME TO COOK!
Busy this holiday season? Don’t have time to cook at home? Then check out one of our great restaurants that advertise to you throughout the year….
SFGN Staff
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Beefcakes 1721 North Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale 954-463-6969
J. Mark’s Restaurant 1245 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale www.JMarksRestaurant.com 954-390-0770 Naked Grape Wine & Tapas 2163 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors www.nakedgrapewinebar.com 954-563-5631 Santa Lucia Ristorante 2701 East Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale www.SantaLuciaRistorante.com 954-396-0930
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Come Enjoy Our Relaxed, Laid-Back Environment!
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Sheila’s Conch & Wings 3026 East Commercial Blvd, Fort Lauderdale 954-245-6154 The Floridian 1410 East Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale 954-463-4041
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F O R
T H E
J.W. Arnold
SFGNITES
jw@prdconline.com
THU FILM
W E E K
O F
D E C E M B E R
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W W W . S F G N . C O M
12/25
The disastrous North Korean hack of Sony Pictures’ servers may have stalled the release of “The Interview” in theaters today, but we all know you were planning to see “Into the Woods” anyway. In the meantime, the James Lapine/Stephen Sondheim all-star musical adaptation about the confluence of our most cherished fairy tales has been greatly anticipated and, so far, not disappointed the critics. We hear “Star Trek” hunk Chris Pine is the real breakout—he’s not only gorgeous, he can sing, too. Check local listings for theaters and show times.
FRI
THEATER
12/26
Get your holiday horror fix at Infinite Abyss’s new Wilton Manors theater, 2304 N. Dixie Highway, where they’re performing “The Krampus,” a live, immersive production that promises to scare the jingle bells right off of you! In Germanic folklore, the Krampus is Santa’s satanic sidekick—a demon beast with horns, hair and fangs who lashes naughty children with his long tongue and hauls the really bad ones down to the Underworld. This is one list NOT to be on! Tonight and Saturday, Dec. 27 at 8 and 10 p.m. Tickets are $20 at InfiniteAbyss.org.
SAT
DANCE
Credit: Shen Yun Performing Arts
12/27 SUN
Shen Yun Performing Arts, the first company to present classical Chinese dance and music on a global scale, returns to the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale, Friday, Dec. 26 – Sunday, Dec. 28. In a collection of breathtaking vignettes, audiences journey with the talented cast and musicians from ancient legends to contemporary tales of courage, from the highest heavens to the dusty plateaus of the Middle Kingdom. Shen Yun is traditional Chinese culture as it was meant to be experienced, with an unparalleled blend of energy, grace and originality. Tickets are $65155 at BrowardCenter.org.
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Yun Performing Arts, appearing at the Broward Center, Dec. 26 – 28, is a theatrical celebration of Chinese dance, music and culture. Shen
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THEATER
12/28 MON DANCE
A funny and captivating new musical revue, “Stars of David,” based on the best-selling book by Abigail Pogrebin, celebrates the lives of your favorite Jewish stars and public figures. Humorous and human songs shed light on Gloria Steinem, Aaron Sorkin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Norman Lear, Joan Rivers and many others, with original music by Broadway’s finest composers and lyricists. Catch this world premiere production at the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater through Jan. 4. The show will move to West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center, Feb. 17 – March 15. Tickets are $45 at BrowardCenter.org. soflagaynews //
12/29 TUE
Join Marie and her Nutcracker Prince as they travel through a winter wonderland of dancing snowflakes, sugar plum fairies, and an epic battle between heroic toy soldiers and mischievous mice when Miami City Ballet presents “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.” This beloved holiday tradition travels to the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Saturday, Dec. 27 – Tuesday, Dec. 30. Relive the magic of this timeless Christmas classic set to the music of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in this lavish production staged by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. Tickets start at $25 at MiamiCityBallet.org.
SouthFloridaGayNews
HOLIDAYS
12/30
Black Gay Pride South Florida presents the annual Kwanzaa celebration and leadership award ceremony tonight at 7 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. The public is invited to join in the traditional week-long holiday celebration of African-American family, community and culture that begins on Dec. 26 and concludes on Jan. 1. The event will also honor the Broward County school board member Rev. Dr. Rosalind Osgood and Christopher Bates for their leadership in the local community. For more information, go to PrideCenterFlorida.org or call 954-463-9005 ext. 205.
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a&e film
Brilliant Performances Bring Forgotten Hero to Fore J.W. Arnold
Credit: Black Bear Pictures
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the gay genius who deciphered the German enigma machine during World War II in “The Imitation Game,” opening Wednesday in theaters. Until last year, mathematician and cryptoanalyst Alan Turing was a nearly forgotten footnote in British — and LGBT — history. During World War II, Turing was the leader of the team that decrypted the German enigma machine and brought the war to a close an estimated two years early and saving 14 million lives. His “Turing machine” and the early algorithms he devised made him the father of modern computing. King George VI awarded him the Order of the British Empire, but his accomplishments were largely classified for nearly half a century. No matter, his reputation was tarnished just a few years later when he was convicted of homosexual acts, then a heinous crime, and subjected to chemical castration. Turing committed suicide by ingesting cyanide a year later in 1954, just days before his 42nd birthday. After an Internet campaign, Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized on behalf of the British government for his treatment and in 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted Turing a posthumous pardon. “The Imitation Game,” a feature film that got a local preview at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival this fall and opened last weekend in theaters across the country, is Turing’s story. Adapted from Andrew Hodges’ 1983 biography, “Alan Turing: The Enigma,” the film from director Morton Tyldem focuses on the war years and stars Benedict Cumberbatch in another brilliant performance as Turing. No doubt, the tedious work of Turing and his team was not sexy nor suspenseful, but the screenplay from Graham Moore goes further, offering insights into the
protagonist’s tortured childhood, the favorite victim of school bullies, and the death of his first boyhood crush. The frequent flashbacks break up the monotony of their code breaking attempts with vignettes that expose Turing’s inept social skills and inability to reconcile his brilliance with a mundane world. Cumberbatch is at his best after Turing cracks the German code. Suddenly, the enigmatic Turing is forced to make life and death decisions about which messages to alert the authorities, lest the enemy be tipped off to their discovery and years of work spoiled. He is convincingly forced to become a rogue savant, even sending the brother of one of his own coworkers to a watery grave in an impending U-boat attack on a supply convoy in the North Atlantic. At one point, Turing mistakes the zeal he and Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) share for the project for romantic love, only to painfully confess at his bachelor party that he has no interest in a sexual relationship. The wily British authorities already know he is gay and, in an expedient and highly manipulative move, resort to thinly veiled blackmail, in the hopes Turing will crack the code. The film is reminiscent of several similar biopics of misunderstood geniuses, from “A Beautiful Mind” to “The Social Network,” but avoids the usual clichés and obvious melodrama of those types of films. In addition to Cumberbatch’s top-flight performance, the production design of Maria Djurkovic and edgy score by Alexandre Desplant capture the harried, period setting and make the film one of the best of the year.
“The Imitation Game” opens Wednesday, Dec. 24 in theaters across South Florida. Check local listings for theaters and show times. 40
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Whether you’re a Florist, Wedding or Event Planner Hotel, Restaurant or a Do-it yourselfer, we have the Materials you need to make your event special. We carry a wide variety of vases, centerpieces, LED lighting and artificial flowers for your Wedding, Birthday, Quince, Mother’s Day, Valentines and Christmas. Like us in Facebook: celebrationsupplyinc. Our Web Site: celebrationsupplyco.com kiki@inmartrading.com
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Only tickets purchased through Stonewall Museum support the organization’s important mission to preserve and share LGBT history. soflagaynews //
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Datebook
Theater Christiana Lilly
Calendar@SFGN.com
Shen Yun
Dec. 26 to 28 at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth in Fort Lauderdale. An impressive performance celebrating ancient Chinese culture, from music to dancing and acrobatic feats. Tickets $65 to $205. Call 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter. org.
Winter Wonderettes
Through Dec. 28 at the Coral Springs Center for the Performing Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive in Coral Springs. When Santa comes up missing broward county at a holiday party, the Wonderettes must find him while singing holiday favorites with ‘60s * Salute to Vienna: New Year’s Concert flair. Tickets $59. Call 954-344-5999 or visit Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. at the Coral Springs Center for CoralSpringsCenterfortheArts.com the Performing Arts, 2855 Coral Springs Drive in Coral Springs. Per tradition, ring in the New Year palm beach county with Viennese music and dance from the KievAniko Ballet of Ukraine and champion ballroom dancers. Tickets $48.76 to $71.02. Call 954-344- * Built to Amaze! 5999 or visit CoralSpringsCenterfortheArts. Through Dec. 28 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, 650 Okeechobee Blvd. in com. West Palm Beach. The circus is back in town with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s * Little Piggies Jan 2 to 18, 2015 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler holiday-themed performance. Tickets $15 to Drive in Fort Lauderdale. When a family tries $72. Visit Ticketmaster.com or call 800-745to discuss their deceased uncle’s inheritance, 3000. tempers flare in this comedy. Tickets $25. Call * A Musical Midnight in Paris 954-678-1496 or visit ThePlayGroupLLC.com. Dec. 31 at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW Ninth St. in Delray Beach. Stars of David Through Jan. 4, 2015 at the Broward Center, Ring in the new year with performers such as 201 SW Fifth in Fort Lauderdale. A musical Liz Brady -- all shows are preceded by a oneperformance of Jewish identity of famous hour champagne, wine and cheese reception. Americans.Tickets $45. Call 954-462-0222 or Tickets $50 and $70. Call 561-272-1281, ext. 4 or visit DelrayBeachPlayhouse.com. visit BrowardCenter.org
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My Old Lady
Through Jan. 11, 2015 at Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St. in West Palm Beach. A man from New York inherits a Parisian apartment, and down on his luck, he’s forced to live with his tenants, and old woman and her daughter. Tickets $62. Call 561-514-4042, ext. 2 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! Call 561-243-7922 or visit DelrayArts.org.
miami-dade county
Miracle on South Division Street
Through Dec. 28 at the Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre, 280 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. The Nowak family is business as usual in Buffalo, NY until the family heirloom, a 20-foot shrine to Mary, causes the family to question their beliefs and all that they know. Tickets $15 to $53. Call 305-444-9293 or visit ActorsPlayhouse.org.
PAMM Outdoor Music Series
Third Thursdays at the Perez Art Museum Miami, 101 W. Flagler St. in Miami. Come out for live music from DJs and musicians by the bay. Drink specials available. Free with museum admission. Call 305-375-3000 or visit PAMM.org.
The Big Show
Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. at Just the Funny Theater, 3119 Coral Way in Miami. A collection of comedy mixing the likes of improvisation and * Broadway: Alive & Kicking! sketches. Tickets $12. Call 305-693-8669 or visit Jan. 2 and 3, 2015 at 8 p.m. at the Aventura Arts & JustTheFunny.com Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St. in Aventura. A musical ensemble will have you rolling in the aisles with their impressions of Broadway’s best shows. Tickets $39.50. Call 305-466-8002 or visit AventuraCenter.org.
* Amaluna
Through Jan. 25 at Sun Life Stadium, 347 Don Shula Drive in Miami Gardens. Cirque du Soleil does it again with a mesmerizing performance of an island of women whose lives are disrupted when a group of sailors are shipwrecked onto Amaluna. Tickets $75 to $445. Visit CirqueDuSoleil.com.
SouthFloridaGayNews
CirqueDuSoleil AMALUNA With a mesmerizing production, is performing Through Jan. 25 at Sun Life Stadium, 347 Don Shula Drive in Miami Gardens.
* Denotes New Listing
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Datebook
Community Christiana Lilly Calendar@SFGN.com
broward county 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
Delorey and Francisco Sheuat showcase artwork inspired by flamingoes. Call 703-269-8244 or visit Facebook.com/TeddsARTWorks.
Life Coaching
Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Latinos Salud Clubhouse, 2300 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. Get one-on-one life coaching from certified CRCS coaches. Free. Call 954-765-6239 or visit LatinosSalud.org.
Introduction to Modern Buddhism
Mondays 6 to 6:30 p.m. at the Drolma Kadampa Buddhist Center, 140 W. Prospect Road in Fort Lauderdale. Join a guided meditation and instruction with Western Buddhist teacher, Jay Radin. Free. Visit MeditationinFortLauderdale. com.
Man2Man Discussion
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
Mondays 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. A weekly informal discussion group among gay men of all backgrounds. Contact John Beuscher at 954-3194292 or email johnnybushwick@aol.com
GayWrites
Toastmasters
Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. at the Stonewall Library, 1300 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Come join us and write your memoir, poem, blog, novel or short story. Free. Email garri1@earthlink.net
SunServe Youth Group
Tuesdays and Thursdays in Fort Lauderdale, Southwest Ranches, Coral Springs and Hollywood. A support group and night of fun for LGBT youth 13 to 21. Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com for dates and times.
Survivor Support
First and third Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Broward Health Imperial Point Hospital cafeteria, 6401 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Find support from counselors and peers who have lost loved ones to suicide. Call the Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention at 954-3840344 or visit FISPOnline.org
* Kwanzaa Celebration and Leadership Award Ceremony
Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Black Gay Pride South Florida hosts this celebration and honoring of the Dr. Rev. Rosalind Osgood and Christopher Bates. Call 954-463-9005, ext. 205.
* New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball
Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the W Fort Lauderdale, 401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Bring your best mask to celebrate the New Year beachside with open bar, live music, party favors, and of course, a champagne toast at midnight. Tickets $125. Visit FLLNightLife.com.
Fantasy of Lights
Through Jan. 3, 2015 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Tradewinds Park, 3600 W. Sample Road in Coconut Creek. The park comes alight with Christmas- and holiday-themed displays for the community to drive through and enjoy. Tickets $14 per car. Call 954-357-9970 or visit HolidayLightsDriveThru. com.
A Flamboyance of Flamingos
Through Jan. 7, 2015 at Tedds ART Works, 2422 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Artists Diane
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Mondays 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Learn the art of public speaking with positive reinforcement and encouragement from your peers. Call Ted Verdone at 954-566-2074 or email tedverdone@comcast. net.
Come on GET HAPPY!
Mondays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at SunServe North, 2312 Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. It’s hard to keep a smile on your face sometimes, this group works on emotional balance and stability. Call 954-764-5150 or visit SunServe.org.
L.I.F.E. Project
Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Get the tools you need to treat your HIV positive diagnosis and live a full, productive life. Free. Call 954-4639005 or visit PrideCenterFlorida.org.
Tuesday Night Eatin’ Meeting
Tuesdays 8 to 9 p.m. at the Alternative MC Clubhouse, 4322 NE Fifth Ave. in Oakland Park. Fun and fellowship with plenty of food to go around. Visit AlternativeMC.com/events/floridaevents. Personal Best: Overcoming Labels to Find the Real Me Overcome the label of HIV/AIDS with different discussion topics every week, such as body image, disclosure, self esteem and more. Call 954-6301655 or visit S-Men.org.
American Sign Language 2
Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the Pride South Florida office, 4233 NE Sixth Ave. in Oakland Park. $30 donation to Pride South Florida and Florida Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf. Enroll to bbmpride@gmail.com.
Lyrics Lab
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. at Bailey Contemporary Arts, 41 NE First St. in Pompano Beach. Bring your poetry, lyrics, songs and beats to share with other artists, fit with live music. Cost $10. Email info@ bacapompano.org or visit BaCaPompano.org.
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Farmers Market
Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. at Whole Foods, 14956 Pines Blvd. in Pembroke Pines. Local vendors will be selling locally grown produce, homemade products, and other unique yummies at the west end of the parking lot every Thursday. Call 954392-3500.
palm beach county * Cabernet Cabaret
Dec. 31 at 9 p.m. at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 709 Lake Ave. in Lake Worth. Dance your way into the New Year with performances by Cabernet Cabaret, then toast at midnight. Wear a costume, there will be prizes! Tickets $25. Call 561-586-6410 or visit LakeWorthPlayhouse.org.
Christmas Eve Services
Dec. 24 at 10:30 p.m. at MCC Palm Beaches, 4857 Northlake Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens. The Rev. Dr. Lea Brown will be preaching “The Most Transformational Prayer of All.” Free. Call 561-7755900 or visit mccpalmbeach.org.
Coming Into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Conde Nast
Through Feb. 15, 2015 at the Norton Museum of Art, 1451 S. Olive Ave. in West Palm Beach. From the publishing house that prints famed magazines Vogue, Glamour, W, and Vanity Fair are 150 images from 80 of the world’s best fashion photographers. Admission $12. Call 561-832-5196 or visit Norton. org.
Afterlife: Tombs and Treasures of Ancient Egypt
Through April 18, 2015 at South Florida Science Museum, 4801 Dreher Trail North in West Palm Beach. Explore the world of the afterlife with a screening of “The Mummy,” activities, a mummy wrapping contest, and more. Tickets $20. Call 561832-1988 or visit SFScienceCenter.org.
Peer Navigation
Third Thursdays from 5 to 6 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. Meet others who are HIV positive for discussion topics and meet new friends. Free. Contact Danielle@ compassglcc.com.
BBAD Open Mic Night
Third Thursdays from 7 to 10 p.m. at the ActivistArtistA Gallery, 404-422 W. Industrial Ave.
SouthFloridaGayNews
in Boynton Beach. With beer and wine in hand, check out some of the area’s best musical talent. $5 sign up fee. Call 786-521-1199.
PBC Gender Support
First and third Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. A support group for transgender individuals of all ages. Contact Heather Wright at A1AHeather@ aol.com.
Allied Nations
Wednesdays and Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. Social groups and programming for LGBT people 18 and younger. Free. Email youth@ compassglcc.com.
Antiques Festival
First weekend of the month at the South Florida Fairgrounds, 9067 Southern Blvd. in West Palm Beach. A monthly antiques market. Tickets $7 to $25. Visit WPBAF.com.
STD Testing and Flu Vaccinations
First Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. The Department of Health comes monthly. Call 561533-9699 or visit CompassGLCC.com.
miami-dade county Community Yoga Series
Third Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m. at jugofresh Wynwood Walls, 222 NW 26th St. in Miami. Yoga instructor Dawn B. Feinberg leads a monthly yoga class in the middle of Miami’s art district. Mats are available, but yogis are encouraged to bring their own. Free. Call 786-472-2552.
Miami Log Cabin Republicans
Fourth Wednesdays at 7:15 p.m. at Casa Larios, 7705 W. Flagler St. in Miami. Meet with other like-minded people and hear from speakers in the community. Visit LogCabin.org/chapter/floridamiami.
Sex Talk
Second and fourth Thursdays at Pridelines, 9525 NE Second Ave. #401 in Miami Shores. Conduct outreach events, record video messages, participate in a series of performances, and organize special events with a purpose. Free. Visit Pridelines.org.
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SFGN Classified$ To place a Classified Ad, call Cindy Curtis at 954.530.4970 or visit SFGN.com
assisstance
business opportuniy
home & garden
licensed massage
INCREDIBLY AWESOME BODYWORK IN WPB In-calls at a private studio 15 minutes west of PBIA. Intuitive, experienced licensed massage therapist offers affordable rates 7 days, early to late. ASK ABOUT WEEKLY SPECIALS!Calls only 561-2548065 for the very best massage experience you can get HANDS DOWN! #MA51008
LOUNGE/BAR: The Copa in Ocala, Marion County, on busy 301/441 highway. 6,000 sq. ft, 3/4 of an acre, dance floor, circular bay, separate summer bar, formerly restaurant, $449,000 Monsees Realty 352-591-1513
catering NEW ENGLAND CATERING SERVICES Catering for all occasions: personal, corporate, social events. 20 years plus experience. Providing everything from SOUP to NUTS. Your menu, my creation, EVERYBODY MATTERS. Call Dave @954-806-7743 or email ctonlyme068@yahoo. com
cleaning services
attorneys
CLEAN IT RIGHT! The best cleaning for your buck. 1BD $60, 2BD $70, 3BD $80 and up. Excellent rates & references. 10 years in business. Serving Broward, North MiamiDade & S. Palm Beach. Call Manny 954-560-4443
help wanted ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ft. Lauderdale business since 1956 seeking professional, experienced & honest Adm Asst. Bookkeeping background helpful. E-mail: kj1@ bellsouth.net
MASSAGE BY DENNIS $50/90 MIN (DELRAY BEACH) I give a fantastic Swedish massage for $50/90 min, out calls higher. 20 years experience, all clients are welcome including seniors, as human beings we all need to be touched in a therapeutic, loving, and nurturing way. I do body work without the attitude. Please call me at 561-502-2628.
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home & garden
professional services
T AND G PAINTING: Interior and exterior. Can’t beat our combination of great rates, friendliness, reliability,neatness. No job too small. Call Tom @754-551-6065 or Gregg @cell-617-306-5694or @home-954-870-5972
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COACH BILL FOR LIFE Holistic Health, Wellness & Spiritual Coach
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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
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Serving Broward Since 1999
Call for a free estimate: 954-367-7007 Web: www.skimmerspools.com Email: skimmerspoolservice@gmail.com soflagaynews //
EXPERIENCED HANDYMAN: Reliable, reasonable, experienced in most aspects of home repair and maintenance including electrical, plumbing, pressure cleaning, no job too small. Joe 954-224-4049
Place an ad in SFGN’s Classifieds
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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
licensed massage
AFFORDABLE AWESOME MASSAGE BY JIM Offering Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports and LomiLomi Massage for Men; in a very comfortable, relaxed and Private Massage Studio, NOW conveniently located in Wilton Manors on NE 26th Street, with plenty of free parking. Same Day appointments are welcome; please call Jim, 954-600-5843 email: info@massagebyjim.com or visit my website for testimonials, rates and more. GREAT OPENING SPECIAL NOW AVAILABLE! www.massagebyjim.com Licensed and Certified MM22293
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THIRD GENERATION PAINTING: Quality work by an experienced, reliable professional. Fully insured, free estimates, excellent references. Painting, plastering, wallpaper removal, color coordinating and more. Call Steve at 954-804-6026 or email twilopainter@aol.com
pets/supplies
piano lessons 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.
Cindy Curtis at
tax prep HAROLD J BLOTCHER,EA - Tax Preparation and Representation for Individuals and Small Business. Help with Same Sex Marriage Issues. Call 781-3635519 or 561-429-3592 or visit our website at www.haroldjblotchertaxes.com
real estate LARGE FURNISHED 2/2 CONDO ON INTERCOASTAL - 1st Flr, corner unit, very private. Completely renovated, S/S, granite, tile, impact windows. 2 spaces in garage. Boating, pets OK. Asking $369k. Call 941-286-6146
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rentals WILTON STATION - BEAUTIFUL 2 BR 2 1/2 BA townhouse for rent in Wilton Station. Granite, stainless, newly repainted, plus all of the great amenities: pool, gym, parking, security, etc. $2100/month.Call Ken for details at 239-450-4667
spiritual
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Tropic Isle
A Waterfront Community
For Sale This is one of the original vintage homes in Tropic Isle waterfront community. It’s a beautiful place to live and a solid investment.
For Property, call:
561-265-4909
A Charming 3/2+ split plan nestled on a cul de sac among million dollar homes. Just a few houses from the intracoastal. You can walk to the beach. And dock a 90ft yacht. It Features a generous lot for expansion. Redesign to make it your dream home or enjoy it as is. Location, Location, Location $755,000: 561-265-4909
property mgt
weddings
Professional
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Serving the LGBT Community
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pdpHomeWatch@gmail.com
www.pdpHomeWatch.com
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