6/17/15 V6i24 by South Florida Gay News

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June 17, 2015 // vol. 6 // issue 24

The Way We Were Stonewall 1969

Pride Stories

Gender Queer Music - 42

Page 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29, 40

Castillo Controversy - 18

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What to Eat on Wilton - 46, 48

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international

Magazine Sparks Outrage In Morocco

A Moroccan magazine, last week, published a cover story asking if it is appropriate to burn gays. The magazine, Maroc Hebdo, is published in French and distributed in Casablanca, sources tell SFGN. In last week’s issue, publishers decided to use an image of two young gay men at a swimming pool gazing into each other’s eyes with the headline asking, “Should We Burn Gays?” The magazine drew instant outrage from Moroccan activists and added to already tinder box conditions for gays

in the North African country. The Kingdom of Morocco, in recent weeks, has deported political activists as well as inspectors from Amnesty International. A constitutional monarchy led by King Mohammed VI, Morocco is considering decriminalizing homosexuality as two gay men currently stand trial for samesex sexual conduct and face a potential threeyear prison sentence. Mohammed VI, of the Alaouite family, has been on the throne in Rabat since 1999.

national

struggling through a backlash from the LGBT community after hosting a fundraising dinner for Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas. Adding injury to insult, Out NYC Hotel was recently hit with a workplace discrimination lawsuit by four former employees of a restaurant and bar inside the hotel.

local/state

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Scott Signs HIV Testing Bill

unaware of their status, Governor Scott’s actions to sign this bill into law takes public health policy to the next critical level in our fight against HIV/AIDS in Florida," said David M E M B aff E R airs at AIDs Poole, director of legislative Healthcare Foundation’s Southern Bureau.

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Florida Governor Rick Scott, in a flurry of bills signed into law last week in Tallahassee, signed HB 321 making HIV testing easier. The new law, health care advocates say, eliminates some of the paperwork required of Florida physicians and gives patients the option to opt-out of routine testing. "Given CDC reports that most new infections stem from persons

JUNE 17, 2015 • VOLUME 6 • ISSUE 24

2520 N. DIXIE HIGHWAY • WILTON MANORS, FL 33305

BRIAN MCNAUGHT • DANA RUDOLPH • WAYNE BESEN RIC REILY • STEVE SILER • BIL BROWNING TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Gay Hotelier Faces Hard Times The owner of the Out NYC Hotel was reportedly removed from a Fire Island gay bar last week amid growing tensions of his political activity. The New York Post is reporting Mati Weiderpass, owner of Out NYC Hotel, engaged in a heated argument with patrons at the Sip-nTwirl in Fire Island Pines and was consequently asked to leave the premises. Weiderpass is

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Cover: Pride Week is here for Wilton Manors!

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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Join Macy’s as we Celebrate Family + Friends + Love + Life + Equality + Respect We are proud to join the parade across America in honor of National Pride Month. We think it’s really something to celebrate. Plus, join us in supporting The Trevor Project this year! The Trevor Project provides life-saving crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

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news highlight

Gay Democrats Rally In Hollywood John McDonald

Gay Democrats arrived in full force Saturday at the Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood as the important pieces of the 2016 campaign are starting to assemble. The Florida Democratic Party’s LGBTA Caucus held its meeting Saturday morning inside a conference room on the third floor of the Diplomat. Terry Fleming, Caucus President, welcomed several elected officials, dignitaries and invited guests into the conference room. Some issued remarks. U.S. Congressman Patrick E. Murphy (FL18) spoke about the race for the U.S. Senate and his background growing up in the Florida Keys. “I’m a Conch,” Murphy said. “My parents always joked that I could swim before I could walk and I could fish before I could talk.” Murphy was introduced to Democrats by Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Dean J. Trantalis, who described the second-term Congressman as the “ally” in the LGBTA rainbow. Trantalis, a gay man who said Broward County has been a “beacon of shining light” for gays and lesbians, called

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Murphy a “fabulous” Congressman. As a certified public accountant, Murphy, 33, said he gets excited about numbers. “Apparently, there are no CPAs in the Senate right now so hopefully I’ll be the first,” said Murphy, drawing applause from the room. Also speaking at the meeting was Broward Sheriff Scott Israel and Equality Florida Public Policy Specialist Carlos Guillermo Smith. Smith, a gay Latino man, announced intentions to campaign for the Florida House of Representatives in District 49, formerly represented by another gay man, Joe Saunders. District 49 is in Central Florida.

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News Briefs

Photo: Facebook.

Compiled by Jillian Melero

#WickedPissed: Activists Disrupt Boston Pride

(EDGE) On Saturday, June 13, 2015 about a dozen LGBTQ activists of Color and allies participated in a sit-in to disrupt and shut down the 45th Annual Boston Pride Parade. The sit-in served to refocus attention on those most marginalized in the LGBTQ community, honor the lives of trans women of color, and raise awareness to the lack of representation and resources available to LGBTQ people of Color in Boston. The sit-in intentionally lasted for 11 minutes to symbolize the 11 lives of transgender individuals who have been murdered in the United States this year. A statement released around the time of the protest acknowledged the success of securing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts while also pointing out

the failure of the mainstream LGBTQ community to respond to the murders of transgender individuals of color. Using #WickedPissed (as opposed to Boston Pride's official hashtag #WickedProud), the group also created buzz on social media throughout the Boston Pride Parade on how the annual celebration is exclusionary to people of Color, transgender communities, low-income communities, and small non-profit organization. Others participated by contributing their own thoughts on how the Boston community excludes those most marginalized in the LGBTQ community and offering their suggestions on how the city can do better.

move forward, it included a strong, enforceable anti-slavery provision that was directed at Malaysia. The State Department, lists Malaysia as a Tier 3 human trafficking nation. The protesting organizations have asked to see an enforcement of human rights standards contained with the language of the document. The full editorial penned by Pride At Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, and NAMES Project Founder, Cleve Jones is available at (http://bit.ly/1FVT60h). An in-depth examination of TPP’s potentially damaging effects on the HIV/AIDS community can be found at (http:// bit.ly/1G8gYxP).

isher-Price and Proud Parenting Launch LGBT Program

Photo: Facebook.

At Work Leads LGBT Pride Response Against TPP

(Pride At Work) In June of last year, four national LGBT organizations — Pride At Work, the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and the National Center for Transgender Equality — co-signed a letter to President Obama demanding that Brunei and Malaysia be removed from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until their laws that target LGBT people and women were revoked. In February of this year, Pride at Work called upon the newly appointed Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons to address this issue as well. Substantive negotiations for TPP have been ongoing since 2010, yet Pride at Work points out that Brunei enacted a “stone the gays” law just last year. The classification of TPP as a top-secret document means that no one who has read the text is allowed to talk about the specifics in the language. According to the editorial, sources who have reviewed the document claim that they cannot find enforceable human rights standards in the more than 1,100 pages of the deal. When the Senate passed the Fast Track bill enabling TPP to

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(EDGE) Fisher-Price and Proud Parenting announced the launch of the Proud Parenting LGBT Family Photo Gallery, presented by Fisher-Price. The goal of the program is to increase the visibility of LGBT parents and to encourage interaction and support between LGBT parents, their friends and their allies. The Proud Parenting LGBT Family Photo Gallery is a curated photo collection of LGBT parents with their families. It provides an authentic look into the proud lives of these modern families. New families will be featured throughout the summer across the Proud Parenting digital media outlets and will be promoted on LGBT websites, social media and mobile apps. "We are excited to partner with Fisher-Price on the Proud Parenting LGBT Family Photo Gallery," said Jeff Bennett, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Proud Parenting. "With a longstanding history of diversity and inclusiveness, they are now leading the way for a new generation of families." LGBT parents represent an emerging market opportunity for family-friendly brands. An estimated 3 million LGBT Americans have had a child and as many as 6 million Americans have an LGBT parent. While same-sex marriage is not yet legal in all parts of the country, married LGBT couples comprise 50 percent of the Proud Parenting audience and 61 percent have two or more children in their household. "By partnering with Proud Parenting, Fisher-Price is using its strong family brand to help bring greater visibility to LGBT-

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headed families," said Gabriel Blau, Family Equality Council Executive Director. "We applaud their support of sharing our family stories with the nation."

Supreme Court Opens Mexico Doors to Gay Marriage Nationwide

(AP) Mexico's supreme court has ruled it is unconstitutional for Mexican states to bar same-sex marriages. But the court's ruling is considered a "jurisprudential thesis" and does not invalidate any state laws, meaning gay couples denied the right to wed would have to turn to the courts individually. Given the ruling, judges and courts would have to approve same-sex marriages. The high court ruled that any state law which considers the ultimate purpose of marriage to be "procreation, and or defines (marriage) as celebrated between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional." Gay marriage is legal in some parts of Mexico, including Mexico City and the northern state of Coahuila. The ruling was delivered June 3, but didn't become known until this week.

Photo: Wiki User Thelmadatter.

news briefs

Continued

arliament Pushes for Gay Marriage in Germany

Photo: Cezary Piwowarski.

(AP) The German Parliament's upper house is calling on the government to embrace fullfledged marriage for gay couples, an attempt to step up pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party. The upper house represents Germany's 16 state governments and has a left-wing majority - unlike the lower house. The resolution approved Friday doesn't force the government to take any action, as the state governments

stopped short of sending a draft law to the lower house for a possible vote. Same-sex couples in Germany have been able to enter civil unions that fall short of marriage since a center-left government introduced them in 2001. Merkel's conservatives are refusing to go further though their coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats, back gay marriage.

ylenol Celebrates the 'Modern Family' In Pro-Gay Ad Photo: Tylenol.

(CNN) Tylenol is pro-gay. That's the message, loud and clear, in the latest Tylenol ad. The 30-second commercial from Johnson & Johnson opens with the question "When were you first considered a family?" Then it depicts traditional, heterosexual couples and families. Then the ad asks the question, "When did you first fight to be considered a family?" This is followed by images of a lesbian couple at what appears to be a prom, a mixed race wedding, followed by a mixed race couple with a kid and then a couple with adopted kids of different races. The ad ends with an image of two gay men doting over a baby as the voiceover says, "Family isn't defined by who you love, but how."

Tylenol is promoting this "Modern Family"style ad through the hashtag #HowWeFamily. This isn't the first time that J&J has challenged traditional perceptions of the American family. In an ad last year, J&J juxtaposed the all-white family theme of Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving painting "Freedom from Want" against non-white families and same-sex parents. This sort of thing is unusual for large mainstream corporations, but not unprecedented. General Mills shook things up in 2013 with a Cheerios commercials depicting a mixed race family. But race was not the central theme of the ads. Rather, the ads depicted the mixed race family as completely normal, going about their daily routine.

olf Marches in First Philly Gay Pride Parade as Governor

Photo: Penn State.

(AP) Pennsylvania's transgender physician general says the state will pass nondiscrimination legislation during Gov. Tom Wolf's tenure. Wolf marched Sunday in his first Philadelphia PrideDay LGBT Parade as governor and tells The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/1MVTpOb)

he needs to do whatever he can to make sure the state is open and welcoming for all. The state senate last week confirmed Rachel Levine as the state's physician general. She's the first transgender person to be appointed to a governor's cabinet in Pennsylvania. soflagaynews //

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News Briefs Continued

Anti LGBT Measures Pass in North Carolina and Michigan (ACLU) North Carolina’s marriage refusal bill SB 2 and Michigan’s adoption refusal House Bills 4188, 4189, and 4190 – have made it out of state legislatures and are on the way to becoming law. The North Carolina bill would allow magistrates to refuse to perform marriages. Gov. Pat McCrory vetoed the legislation. But the Speaker of North Carolina’s House called for a vote and overrode the governor’s veto. In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder signed in legislation that will limit the pool of families

available to the state’s children. Michigan’s adoption refusal law now authorizes statepaid child placement agencies to turn away prospective foster or adoptive parents based on the religious beliefs of the agencies, regardless of their ability to care for a child. Legislatures in Texas, Alabama, and Florida rejected similar measures earlier this year. The ACLU is looking at options to challenge the laws, signed by Gov. Rick Snyder Thursday.

el-Aviv Pride has Record Turn Out

ept. of Defense includes Sexual Orientation in Non Discrimination D Policy

(CNN) -- The Department of Defense has updated the Military Equal Opportunity policy, so sexual orientation will for the first time be included and will ensure everyone -- no matter the race, religion, color, sex, age and national origin -be treated equally to maintain a more inclusive environment. "The Department of Defense has made a lasting commitment to living the values we defend -- to treating everyone equally --- because we need to be a meritocracy," Carter said during the LGBT Pride Month Ceremony at the Pentagon auditorium. "We need to focus relentlessly on our mission, which means the thing that matters most about a person is what they can contribute to national defense. This is a commitment we must continually renew." While Carter acknowledged the inclusivity of the military, he also said the DOD would provide benefits as well as recognize those who are same-sex spouses of military members. This September will mark the four-year anniversary of the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibited qualified gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly in the armed forces.

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(Tel-Aviv Global) The biggest-ever Tel Aviv Pride Festival took place over the last week with the participation of over 180,000 people from Israel and abroad. The parade, held under the theme "Tel Aviv Loves All Genders" marks the city’s commitment of support to the Transgender community, and was launched by the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mr. Ron Huldai, marking the peak of a week of events. "To the proud people of Tel Aviv, I am happy to stand before you and open this city's seventeenth Gay Pride Parade. We have been through a lot in the past seventeen years. We reached a different reality together in Tel Aviv and also throughout Israel. I want to say to all politicians that we have a lot of legislation to pass in order to promote and receive the LGBT community in Israel as a whole," Huldai said. Guest of honor, Conchita Wurst, performed “Rise Like a Phoenix” - her winning song from the Eurovision Contest 2014.

new religious objections law. Mayor Greg Ballard, who served as grand marshal of the Cadillac Barbie IN Pride Parade, joined his wife, Winnie, in waving from the back of a streetcar to thousands of cheering people who lined the downtown parade route. The Republican mayor was invited to serve as grand marshal after he spoke out against Indiana’s religious objections law, which critics called discriminatory against the LGBT community. Photo: Facebook.

housands Attend Indiana LGBT Pride

(AP) Tens of thousands of people converged Saturday on Indianapolis for an annual parade celebrating the LGBT community only months after a stinging debate over Indiana’s

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Photo: Tel Aviv. SouthFloridaGayNews

Tami Meyers, a 41-year-old nurse, traveled from Huntington in northern Indiana to see the parade with friends and cheer on parade participants, some of whom rode atop colorful floats, waving rainbow flags that are a symbol of LGBT pride. Among the many banners carried by those marching in the parade was one, which read “God Loves You. No Exceptions” and provoked cheers and whistles of support as it was carried along the parade route. Meyers, who is lesbian, said she was stunned when she heard about the religious objections law Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed in March. Although lawmakers eventually clarified that law after some companies banned travel to the state and some conventions threatened to cancel, she said the law had harmed Indiana’s image. If Indiana lawmakers fail next year to pass civil rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, Meyers said she and many others in the LGBT community may opt to move to more welcoming states.

news briefs

Continued

S Ambassador Praises Australian Gay Rights Progress

uly Fourth Events to Recall Bold 1965 Gay Rights Protest Photo: Tony Hisgett.

Photo: Facebook.

(AP) The U.S. ambassador to Australia told Australian marriage equality supporters on Monday that although their nation continues to ban same-sex marriage, it remains more progressive than his own in protecting the rights of gay employees and sportsmen. Ambassador John Berry, who married his male partner Curtis Lee in Washington in 2013, gave a luncheon speech at Parliament House, where lawmakers are bitterly divided over a draft bill that would allow gay marriage nationwide. The legislation is expected to go to a vote this year, with conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott opposed to it. Australian federal law prohibits

discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. But federal law also states that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, and that the relationships of same-sex couples married overseas cannot be legally recognized. Political momentum to change the law has grown since a recent referendum in which 62 percent of Irish voters called for their constitution to be changed to allow same-sex marriage. Opinion polls show that most Australians support gay marriage. Gay rights advocates say Australia is now the only Englishspeaking developed country to ban samesex marriage after the Irish vote.

(AP) On the Fourth of July 50 years ago, when homosexuality was considered a mental illness and a same-sex couple's public declaration of love put their lives and livelihoods at risk, about 40 people took a stand by staging a peaceful protest in front of Independence Hall. Philadelphia's Independence Day festivities this year will include the usual concert, fireworks, parade and public reading of the Declaration of Independence, but will also mark the city's important place in the history of America's gay rights movement with events billed as the 50th anniversary of the LGBT rights movement. While these weren't the first public protests for gay rights, nor were very large when compared with demonstrations that came later, many LGBT activists say they are worthy of being celebrated as stepping stones to 1969's Stonewall riots in New York City, a turning point in gay rights. "What they were potentially subjecting

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themselves to far outweighed the benefits," said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the nonprofit LGBT rights organization Equality Forum. "At the time, there were at most 200 people in the U.S. who identified as gay activists. Very few gay people were willing to rock the boat, because it could always get worse." Over the four years that followed the protest, a growing number of people took part in the "Annual Reminders" outside America's birthplace, where both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were debated and signed. Some of the planned events this Fourth include a ceremony in front of Independence Hall, parties and legal panels. There will also be a VIP lunch with Judy Shepard, the mother of slain gay man Matthew Shepard, and Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that struck down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act. Museums are also showing special exhibits.

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For your HIV viral load,

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• ATRIPLA® (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) has been proven TO LOWER VIRAL LOAD to undetectable* in approximately 8 out of 10 adult patients new to therapy through 48 weeks compared to approximately 7 out of 10 adult patients in the comparator group • ATRIPLA has been proven TO LOWER VIRAL LOAD to undetectable* in approximately 7 out of every 10 adult patients new to therapy through 3 years compared to approximately 6 out of 10 in the comparator group† • The most common (at least 5%) moderate to severe side effects in patients on ATRIPLA were diarrhea, nausea, tiredness, depression, dizziness, sinusitis, upper respiratory tract infections, rash, headache, trouble sleeping, anxiety, and common cold. Each of these was reported in less than 10% of patients

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INDICATION INDICATION and IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION for ATRIPLA® (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate [DF]) What is ATRIPLA? ATRIPLA is a prescription medication used alone as a complete regimen, or with other anti-HIV-1 medicines, to treat HIV-1 infection in adults and children at least 12 years old who weigh at least 40 kg (88 lbs). ATRIPLA does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS and you may continue to experience illnesses associated with HIV-1 infection, including opportunistic infections. See your healthcare provider regularly while taking ATRIPLA. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about ATRIPLA? ATRIPLA can cause serious side effects: • Some people who have taken medicine like ATRIPLA (which contains nucleoside analogs) have developed lactic acidosis (build up of an acid in the blood). Lactic acidosis can be a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you get the following signs or symptoms of lactic acidosis: - feel cold, especially in your - feel very weak or tired arms and legs - have unusual (not normal) - feel dizzy or lightheaded muscle pain - have a fast or irregular - have trouble breathing heartbeat - have stomach pain with nausea and vomiting

soflagaynews //

Call your healthcare provider right away if you get the following signs or symptoms of liver problems: - skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice) - urine turns dark - bowel movements (stools) turn light in color - don’t feel like eating food for several days or longer - feel sick to your stomach (nausea) - have lower stomach area (abdominal) pain • You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking nucleoside analog-containing medicines, like ATRIPLA, for a long time. • If you also have hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and you stop taking ATRIPLA, you may get a “flare-up” of your hepatitis. A “flare-up” is when the disease suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Patients with HBV who stop taking ATRIPLA need close medical follow-up for several months to check for hepatitis that could be getting worse. ATRIPLA is not approved for the treatment of HBV, so you need to discuss your HBV therapy with your healthcare provider. Who should not take ATRIPLA? You and your healthcare provider should decide if ATRIPLA is right for you. Do not take ATRIPLA if you are allergic to ATRIPLA or any of its ingredients.

*Undetectable was defined as a viral load of fewer than 400 copies/mL. † In this study, 511 adult patients new to therapy received either the meds in ATRIPLA each taken once daily or Combivir® (lamivudine/zidovudine) twice daily + SUSTIVA® (efavirenz) once daily. ‡ Symphony Health Solutions, Source® PHAST Prescription Monthly, equivalized counts, July 2006–July 4, 2014.

1014511603_0014503_DTC_GAVoice_10x10.5_Ad_v4_M.indd // 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

• Some people who have taken medicines like ATRIPLA (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) have developed serious liver problems (hepatotoxicity), with liver enlargement (hepatomegaly) and fat in the liver (steatosis). In some cases, these liver problems can lead to death.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking ATRIPLA? Tell your healthcare provider if you: • Are pregnant or planning to become pregnant: Women should not become pregnant while taking ATRIPLA and for 12 weeks after stopping ATRIPLA.

SouthFloridaGayNews

5/19/15 11:38 AM

With over 8 years of prescribing experience, ATRIPLA is the #1 prescribed one pill, once-daily HIV treatment‡ SELECTED IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION • Some people who have taken medicines like ATRIPLA have developed build up of lactic acid in the blood, which can be a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. • Some people who have taken medicines like ATRIPLA have developed serious liver problems, with liver enlargement and fat in the liver, which can lead to death. • If you also have hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and you stop taking ATRIPLA, your hepatitis may suddenly get worse. ATRIPLA is not approved for the treatment of HBV. Please see below for more information about these warnings, including signs and symptoms, and other Important Safety Information. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Ask your doctor about ATRIPLA today.

Serious birth defects have been seen in children of women treated during pregnancy with efavirenz, one of the medicines in ATRIPLA (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). Women must use a reliable form of barrier contraception, such as a condom or diaphragm, even if they also use other methods of birth control, while on ATRIPLA and for 12 weeks after stopping ATRIPLA. Women should not rely only on hormone-based birth control, such as pills, injections, or implants, because ATRIPLA may make these contraceptives ineffective. • Are breastfeeding: Women with HIV should not breastfeed because they can pass HIV and some of the medicines in ATRIPLA through their milk to the baby. It is not known if ATRIPLA could harm your baby. • Have kidney problems or are undergoing kidney dialysis treatment. • Have bone problems. • Have liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection. Your healthcare provider may want to do tests to check your liver while you take ATRIPLA or may switch you to another medicine. • Have ever had mental illness or are using drugs or alcohol • Have ever had seizures or are taking medicine for seizures. Seizures have occurred in patients taking efavirenz, a component of ATRIPLA, generally in those with a history of seizures. If you have ever had seizures, or take medicine for seizures, your healthcare provider may want to switch you to another medicine or monitor you.

Epzicom® (abacavir sulfate/lamivudine), STRIBILD® (elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir DF), Trizivir® (abacavir sulfate/lamivudine/zidovudine), TRUVADA® (emtricitabine/tenofovir DF), or VIREAD® (tenofovir DF), because they contain the same or similar active ingredients as ATRIPLA (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). ATRIPLA should not be used with SUSTIVA® (efavirenz) unless recommended by your healthcare provider. • Vfend® (voriconazole) should not be taken with ATRIPLA since it may lose its effect or may increase the chance of having side effects from ATRIPLA. • ATRIPLA should not be used with HEPSERA® (adefovir dipivoxil). These are not all the medicines that may cause problems if you take ATRIPLA. Tell your healthcare provider about all prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, or herbal supplements you are taking or plan to take. Important Safety Information is continued on the following page. Please see Patient Information on the following pages.

What important information should I know about taking other medicines with ATRIPLA? ATRIPLA may change the effect of other medicines, including the ones for HIV-1, and may cause serious side effects. Your healthcare provider may change your other medicines or change their doses. MEDICINES YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE WITH ATRIPLA • ATRIPLA should not be taken with: Combivir® (lamivudine/zidovudine), COMPLERA® (emtricitabine/rilpivirine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), EMTRIVA® (emtricitabine), Epivir® or Epivir-HBV® (lamivudine),

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POWER TO HELP YOU BE UNDETECTABLE

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ATRIPLA (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) Important Safety Information (continued)

Patient Information

ATR

ATRIPLA (uh TRIP luh) Tablets ®

What are the possible side effects of ATRIPLA? ATRIPLA may cause the following additional serious side effects: • Serious psychiatric problems. Severe depression, strange thoughts, or angry behavior have been reported by a small number of patients. Some patients have had thoughts of suicide, and a few have actually committed suicide. These problems may occur more often in patients who have had mental illness. • Kidney problems (including decline or failure of kidney function). If you have had kidney problems, or take other medicines that may cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider should do regular blood tests. Symptoms that may be related to kidney problems include a high volume of urine, thirst, muscle pain, and muscle weakness. • Other serious liver problems. Some patients have experienced serious liver problems, including liver failure resulting in transplantation or death. Most of these serious side effects occurred in patients with a chronic liver disease such as hepatitis infection, but there have also been a few reports in patients without any existing liver disease. • Changes in bone mineral density (thinning bones). Lab tests show changes in the bones of patients treated with tenofovir DF, a component of ATRIPLA. Some HIV patients treated with tenofovir DF developed thinning of the bones (osteopenia), which could lead to fractures. Also, bone pain and softening of the bone (which may lead to fractures) may occur as a consequence of kidney problems. If you have had bone problems in the past, your healthcare provider may want to do tests to check your bones or may prescribe medicines to help your bones.

ALERT: Find out about medicines that should NOT be taken with ATRIPLA. Please also read the section “MEDICINES YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE WITH ATRIPLA.” Generic name: efavirenz, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (eh FAH vih renz, em tri SIT uh bean and te NOE’ fo veer dye soe PROX il FYOU mar ate) Read the Patient Information that comes with ATRIPLA before you start taking it and each time you get a refill since there may be new information. This information does not take the place of talking to your healthcare provider about your medical condition or treatment. You should stay under a healthcare provider’s care when taking ATRIPLA. Do not change or stop your medicine without first talking with your healthcare provider. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you have any questions about ATRIPLA. What is the most important information I should know about ATRIPLA?

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Some people who have taken medicine like ATRIPLA (which contains nucleoside analogs) have developed a serious condition called lactic acidosis (build up of an acid in the blood). Lactic acidosis can be a medical emergency and may need to be treated in the hospital. Call your healthcare provider right away if you get the following signs or symptoms of lactic acidosis:

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Common side effects: • Patients may have dizziness, headache, trouble sleeping, drowsiness, trouble concentrating, and/or unusual dreams during treatment with ATRIPLA. These side effects may be reduced if you take ATRIPLA at bedtime on an empty stomach; they tend to go away after taking ATRIPLA for a few weeks. Tell your healthcare provider right away if any of these side effects continue or if they bother you. These symptoms may be more severe if ATRIPLA is used with alcohol and/or mood-altering (street) drugs. • If you are dizzy, have trouble concentrating, and/or are drowsy, avoid activities that may be dangerous, such as driving or operating machinery. • Rash is a common side effect with ATRIPLA that usually goes away without any change in treatment. Rash may be serious in a small number of patients. Rash occurs more commonly in children and may be a serious problem. If a rash develops, call your healthcare provider right away. • Other common side effects include: tiredness, upset stomach, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea. Other possible side effects: • Changes in body fat have been seen in some people taking anti-HIV-1 medicines. Increase of fat in the upper back and neck, breasts, and around the trunk may happen. Loss of fat from the legs, arms, and face may also happen. The cause and long-term health effects of these changes in body fat are not known. • Skin discoloration (small spots or freckles) may also happen. • In some patients with advanced HIV infection (AIDS), signs and symptoms of inflammation from previous infections may occur soon after anti-HIV treatment is started. If you notice any symptoms of infection, contact your healthcare provider right away.

•

You have stomach pain with nausea and vomiting.

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You have a fast or irregular heartbeat.

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Some people who have taken medicines like ATRIPLA have developed serious liver problems called hepatotoxicity, with liver enlargement (hepatomegaly) and fat in the liver (steatosis). Call your healthcare provider right away if you get the following signs or symptoms of liver problems:

•

Have eve

•

Your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice).

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Your urine turns dark.

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Your bowel movements (stools) turn light in color.

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You don’t feel like eating food for several days or longer.

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You have lower stomach area (abdominal) pain.

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You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking nucleoside analog-containing medicines, like ATRIPLA, for a long time.

•

If you also have hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and you stop taking ATRIPLA, you may get a “flare-up” of your hepatitis. A “flare-up” is when the disease suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Patients with HBV who stop taking ATRIPLA need close medical follow-up for several months, including medical exams and blood tests to check for hepatitis that could be getting worse. ATRIPLA is not approved for the treatment of HBV, so you must discuss your HBV therapy with your healthcare provider.

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• Additional side effects are inflammation of the pancreas, allergic reaction (including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat), shortness of breath, pain, stomach pain, weakness, and indigestion.

What is ATRIPLA?

This is not a complete list of side effects. Tell your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you notice any side effects while taking ATRIPLA. You should take ATRIPLA once daily on an empty stomach. Taking ATRIPLA at bedtime may make some side effects less bothersome. Please see Full Prescribing Information, including “What is the most important information I should know about ATRIPLA” in the Patient Information section. Please see Patient Information on adjacent and following pages.

© 2015 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. ATRIPLA is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb & Gilead Sciences, LLC. SUSTIVA is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. 697US1500145-03-01 04/15

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ATRIPLA contains 3 medicines, SUSTIVA (efavirenz), EMTRIVA (emtricitabine) and VIREAD® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate also called tenofovir DF) combined in one pill. EMTRIVA and VIREAD are HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus) nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and SUSTIVA is an HIV-1 non-nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). VIREAD and EMTRIVA are the components of TRUVADA®. ATRIPLA can be used alone as a complete regimen, or in combination with other anti-HIV-1 medicines to treat people with HIV-1 infection. ATRIPLA is for adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 40 kg (at least 88 lbs). ATRIPLA is not recommended for children younger than 12 years of age. ATRIPLA has not been studied in adults over 65 years of age. HIV infection destroys CD4+ T cells, which are important to the immune system. The immune system helps fight infection. After a large number of T cells are destroyed, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) develops. ATRIPLA helps block HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, a viral chemical in your body (enzyme) that is needed for HIV-1 to multiply. ATRIPLA lowers the amount of HIV-1 in the blood (viral load). ATRIPLA may also help to increase the number of T cells

SouthFloridaGayNews

Tell your health

5/19/15 11:38 AM

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(CD4+ cells), allowing your immune system to improve. Lowering the amount of HIV-1 in the blood lowers the chance of death or infections that happen when your immune system is weak (opportunistic infections).

ATRIPLA® (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) •

Does ATRIPLA cure HIV-1 or AIDS? ATRIPLA does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS and you may continue to experience illnesses associated with HIV-1 infection, including opportunistic infections. You should remain under the care of a doctor when using ATRIPLA.

•

Who should not take ATRIPLA? Together with your healthcare provider, you need to decide whether ATRIPLA is right for you. Do not take ATRIPLA if you are allergic to ATRIPLA or any of its ingredients. The active ingredients of ATRIPLA are efavirenz, emtricitabine, and tenofovir DF. See the end of this leaflet for a complete list of ingredients. What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking ATRIPLA? Tell your healthcare provider if you: •

Are pregnant or planning to become pregnant (see “What should I avoid while taking ATRIPLA?”).

•

Are breastfeeding (see “What should I avoid while taking ATRIPLA?”).

•

Have kidney problems or are undergoing kidney dialysis treatment.

•

Have bone problems.

•

Have liver problems, including hepatitis B virus infection. Your healthcare provider may want to do tests to check your liver while you take ATRIPLA or may switch you to another medicine.

•

Have ever had mental illness or are using drugs or alcohol.

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Have ever had seizures or are taking medicine for seizures.

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ATRIPLA also should not be used with Combivir (lamivudine/zidovudine), COMPLERA®, EMTRIVA, Epivir, Epivir-HBV (lamivudine), Epzicom (abacavir sulfate/lamivudine), STRIBILD®, Trizivir (abacavir sulfate/lamivudine/ zidovudine), TRUVADA, or VIREAD. ATRIPLA also should not be used with SUSTIVA unless recommended by your healthcare provider.

•

Vfend (voriconazole) should not be taken with ATRIPLA since it may lose its effect or may increase the chance of having side effects from ATRIPLA.

•

ATRIPLA should not be used with HEPSERA® (adefovir dipivoxil).

It is also important to tell your healthcare provider if you are taking any of the following: •

Fortovase, Invirase (saquinavir), Biaxin (clarithromycin), Noxafil (posaconazole), Sporanox (itraconazole), or Victrelis (boceprevir); these medicines may need to be replaced with another medicine when taken with ATRIPLA.

•

Calcium channel blockers such as Cardizem or Tiazac (diltiazem), Covera HS or Isoptin (verapamil) and others; Crixivan (indinavir), Selzentry (maraviroc); the immunosuppressant medicines cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune, and others), Prograf (tacrolimus), or Rapamune (sirolimus); Methadone; Mycobutin (rifabutin); Rifampin; cholesterol-lowering medicines such as Lipitor (atorvastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin sodium), and Zocor (simvastatin); or the anti-depressant medications bupropion (Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR, Wellbutrin XL, and Zyban) or Zoloft (sertraline); dose changes may be needed when these drugs are taken with ATRIPLA.

•

Videx, Videx EC (didanosine); tenofovir DF (a component of ATRIPLA) may increase the amount of didanosine in your blood, which could result in more side effects. You may need to be monitored more carefully if you are taking ATRIPLA and didanosine together. Also, the dose of didanosine may need to be changed.

14511603_0014503_DTC_GAVoice_10x10.5_Ad_v4_M.indd 4

Medicine for seizures [for example, Dilantin (phenytoin), Tegretol (carbamazepine), or phenobarbital]; your healthcare provider may want to switch you to another medicine or check drug levels in your blood from time to time.

Take the exact amount of ATRIPLA your healthcare provider prescribes. Never change the dose on your own. Do not stop this medicine unless your healthcare provider tells you to stop.

•

You should take ATRIPLA on an empty stomach.

•

Swallow ATRIPLA with water.

•

Taking ATRIPLA at bedtime may make some side effects less bothersome.

•

Do not miss a dose of ATRIPLA. If you forget to take ATRIPLA, take the missed dose right away, unless it is almost time for your next dose. Do not double the next dose. Carry on with your regular dosing schedule. If you need help in planning the best times to take your medicine, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.

•

If you believe you took more than the prescribed amount of ATRIPLA, contact your local poison control center or emergency room right away.

•

Tell your healthcare provider if you start any new medicine or change how you take old ones. Your doses may need adjustment.

•

When your ATRIPLA supply starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. This is very important because the amount of virus in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time. The virus may develop resistance to ATRIPLA and become harder to treat.

•

Your healthcare provider may want to do blood tests to check for certain side effects while you take ATRIPLA. Women should not become pregnant while taking ATRIPLA and for 12 weeks after stopping it. Serious birth defects have been seen in the babies of animals and women treated with efavirenz (a component of ATRIPLA) during pregnancy. It is not known whether efavirenz caused these defects. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you are pregnant. Also talk with your healthcare provider if you want to become pregnant.

•

Women should not rely only on hormone-based birth control, such as pills, injections, or implants, because ATRIPLA may make these contraceptives ineffective. Women must use a reliable form of barrier contraception, such as a condom or diaphragm, even if they also use other methods of birth control. Efavirenz, a component of ATRIPLA, may remain in your blood for a time after therapy is stopped. Therefore, you should continue to use contraceptive measures for 12 weeks after you stop taking ATRIPLA.

•

Do not breastfeed if you are taking ATRIPLA. Some of the medicines in ATRIPLA can be passed to your baby in your breast milk. We do not know whether it could harm your baby. Also, mothers with HIV-1 should not breastfeed because HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in the breast milk. Talk with your healthcare provider if you are breastfeeding. You should stop breastfeeding or may need to use a different medicine.

•

Taking ATRIPLA with alcohol or other medicines causing similar side effects as ATRIPLA, such as drowsiness, may increase those side effects.

•

Do not take any other medicines, including prescription and nonprescription medicines and herbal products, without checking with your healthcare provider.

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Keep a complete list of all the prescription and nonprescription medicines as well as any herbal remedies that you are taking, how much you take, and how often you take them. Make a new list when medicines or herbal remedies are added or stopped, or if the dose changes. Give copies of this list to all of your healthcare providers and pharmacists every time you visit your healthcare provider or fill a prescription. This will give your healthcare provider a complete picture of the medicines you use. Then he or she can decide the best approach for your situation.

MEDICINES YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE WITH ATRIPLA •

•

Reyataz (atazanavir sulfate), Prezista (darunavir) with Norvir (ritonavir), or Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir); these medicines may increase the amount of tenofovir DF (a component of ATRIPLA) in your blood, which could result in more side effects. Reyataz is not recommended with ATRIPLA. You may need to be monitored more carefully if you are taking ATRIPLA, Prezista, and Norvir together, or if you are taking ATRIPLA and Kaletra together. The dose of Kaletra should be increased when taken with efavirenz.

These are not all the medicines that may cause problems if you take ATRIPLA. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider about all medicines that you take.

What important information should I know about taking other medicines with ATRIPLA? ATRIPLA may change the effect of other medicines, including the ones for HIV-1, and may cause serious side effects. Your healthcare provider may change your other medicines or change their doses. Other medicines, including herbal products, may affect ATRIPLA. For this reason, it is very important to let all your healthcare providers and pharmacists know what medications, herbal supplements, or vitamins you are taking.

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5/19/15 11:38 AM

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

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Do not share personal items that can have blood or body fluids on them, like toothbrushes and razor blades.

•

Do not have any kind of sex without protection. Always practice safe sex by using a latex or polyurethane condom to lower the chance of sexual contact with semen, vaginal secretions, or blood.

•

Changes in body fat. Changes in body fat develop in some patients taking anti HIV-1 medicine. These changes may include an increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), in the breasts, and around the trunk. Loss of fat from the legs, arms, and face may also happen. The cause and long-term health effects of these fat changes are not known.

•

Skin discoloration (small spots or freckles) may also happen with ATRIPLA.

•

In some patients with advanced HIV infection (AIDS), signs and symptoms of inflammation from previous infections may occur soon after anti-HIV treatment is started. It is believed that these symptoms are due to an improvement in the body’s immune response, enabling the body to fight infections that may have been present with no obvious symptoms. If you notice any symptoms of infection, please inform your doctor immediately. Additional side effects are inflammation of the pancreas, allergic reaction (including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat), shortness of breath, pain, stomach pain, weakness and indigestion.

•

Lactic acidosis (buildup of an acid in the blood). Lactic acidosis can be a medical emergency and may need to be treated in the hospital. Call your healthcare provider right away if you get signs of lactic acidosis. (See “What is the most important information I should know about ATRIPLA?”)

•

Serious liver problems (hepatotoxicity), with liver enlargement (hepatomegaly) and fat in the liver (steatosis). Call your healthcare provider right away if you get any signs of liver problems. (See “What is the most important information I should know about ATRIPLA?”)

Tell your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you notice any side effects while taking ATRIPLA.

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What are the possible side effects of ATRIPLA?

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Avoid doing things that can spread HIV-1 to others.

ATRIPLA® (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate)

“Flare-ups” of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, in which the disease suddenly returns in a worse way than before, can occur if you have HBV and you stop taking ATRIPLA. Your healthcare provider will monitor your condition for several months after stopping ATRIPLA if you have both HIV-1 and HBV infection and may recommend treatment for your HBV. ATRIPLA is not approved for the treatment of hepatitis B virus infection. If you have advanced liver disease and stop treatment with ATRIPLA, the “flare-up” of hepatitis B may cause your liver function to decline.

Contact your healthcare provider before stopping ATRIPLA because of side effects or for any other reason.

Serious psychiatric problems. A small number of patients may experience severe depression, strange thoughts, or angry behavior while taking ATRIPLA. Some patients have thoughts of suicide and a few have actually committed suicide. These problems may occur more often in patients who have had mental illness. Contact your healthcare provider right away if you think you are having these psychiatric symptoms, so your healthcare provider can decide if you should continue to take ATRIPLA.

•

Keep ATRIPLA and all other medicines out of reach of children.

•

Store ATRIPLA at room temperature 77°F (25°C).

•

Keep ATRIPLA in its original container and keep the container tightly closed.

•

Do not keep medicine that is out of date or that you no longer need. If you throw any medicines away make sure that children will not find them.

Kidney problems (including decline or failure of kidney function). If you have had kidney problems in the past or take other medicines that can cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider should do regular blood tests to check your kidneys. Symptoms that may be related to kidney problems include a high volume of urine, thirst, muscle pain, and muscle weakness.

•

Other serious liver problems. Some patients have experienced serious liver problems including liver failure resulting in transplantation or death. Most of these serious side effects occurred in patients with a chronic liver disease such as hepatitis infection, but there have also been a few reports in patients without any existing liver disease.

•

Changes in bone mineral density (thinning bones). Laboratory tests show changes in the bones of patients treated with tenofovir DF, a component of ATRIPLA. Some HIV patients treated with tenofovir DF developed thinning of the bones (osteopenia) which could lead to fractures. If you have had bone problems in the past, your healthcare provider may need to do tests to check your bone mineral density or may prescribe medicines to help your bone mineral density. Additionally, bone pain and softening of the bone (which may contribute to fractures) may occur as a consequence of kidney problems.

Common side effects: Patients may have dizziness, headache, trouble sleeping, drowsiness, trouble concentrating, and/or unusual dreams during treatment with ATRIPLA. These side effects may be reduced if you take ATRIPLA at bedtime on an empty stomach. They also tend to go away after you have taken the medicine for a few weeks. If you have these common side effects, such as dizziness, it does not mean that you will also have serious psychiatric problems, such as severe depression, strange thoughts, or angry behavior. Tell your healthcare provider right away if any of these side effects continue or if they bother you. It is possible that these symptoms may be more severe if ATRIPLA is used with alcohol or mood altering (street) drugs. If you are dizzy, have trouble concentrating, or are drowsy, avoid activities that may be dangerous, such as driving or operating machinery.

This is not a complete list of side effects possible with ATRIPLA. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a more complete list of side effects of ATRIPLA and all the medicines you will take. How do I store ATRIPLA?

General information about ATRIPLA: Medicines are sometimes prescribed for conditions that are not mentioned in patient information leaflets. Do not use ATRIPLA for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give ATRIPLA to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them. This leaflet summarizes the most important information about ATRIPLA. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about ATRIPLA that is written for health professionals. Do not use ATRIPLA if the seal over bottle opening is broken or missing. What are the ingredients of ATRIPLA? Active Ingredients: efavirenz, emtricitabine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate Inactive Ingredients: croscarmellose sodium, hydroxypropyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium stearate, sodium lauryl sulfate. The film coating contains black iron oxide, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, red iron oxide, talc, and titanium dioxide. Revised: January 2015 ATRIPLA is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb & Gilead Sciences, LLC. COMPLERA, EMTRIVA, HEPSERA, STRIBILD, TRUVADA, and VIREAD are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. SUSTIVA is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company. Reyataz and Videx are trademarks of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Pravachol is a trademark of ER Squibb & Sons, LLC. Other brands listed are the trademarks of their respective owners. 21-937-GS-014 ATRC0079

697US1500055-03-01

Rash may be common. Rashes usually go away without any change in treatment. In a small number of patients, rash may be serious. If you develop a rash, call your healthcare provider right away. Rash may be a serious problem in some children. Tell your child’s healthcare provider right away if you notice rash or any other side effects while your child is taking ATRIPLA. Other common side effects include tiredness, upset stomach, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea.

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5/19/15 11:38 AM

news bites

Compiled by Jillian Melero

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Indian Ad Featuring Lesbian Couple Goes Viral First

India’s first advertisement featuring a lesbian couple has received more than 3 million views across social media in three weeks. The ad entitled “The Visit” was created for the “Bold is Beautiful” campaign by Anouk clothing brand, and promoted by Myntra Fashion, an online retailer. The three minute ad depicts the live-in couple nervously awaiting the arrival of one of the partner’s parents. While a story on Quartz (http://bit.ly/1C9rVhX) samples a response from lesbians in India questioning the representation of lesbian relationships in the media, the ad has been met with an overall positive response spurring the tag #AnoukBoldIsBeautiful.

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Sam Leaves CFL Camp for Personal Reasons Michael

(AP) Michael Sam has left the Montreal Alouettes training camp for personal reasons. The CFL team said the rookie defensive end has been given special permission to return home to Texas. "With all due respect for Michael Sam, the nature of this decision will remain confidential," said a team statement. "The Montreal Alouettes fully respect Michael Sam's decision and rally around him to offer him all time and support needed. The team has left the door open and Michael is welcome to come back whenever he feels ready." Sam's departure comes three weeks after he became the first openly gay player to sign in the CFL. Montreal plays its first preseason game Saturday night in Quebec City. He is part of a small group of professional athletes who have chosen to go public about their sexual orientation. Retired NBA player Jason Collins came out in April 2013, while Los Angeles Galaxy soccer star Robbie Rogers is the lone player to do so in Major League Soccer.

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bisexual

Former Liberal Democrat Minister Knighted by Queen Bisexual

Simon Hughes, Liberal Democratic politician and former Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties, was knighted during a ceremony in honor of the Queen’s Birthday, Pink News reports (http://bit.ly/1BfX1JQ). Prior to losing his seat last month to the Labor party’s Neil Coyle, Hughes was the UK’s most senior politician to come out as bisexual. Despite having a mixed record on equality issues, Hughes did ultimately vote in favor of same sex marriage, and has recently been spearheading Liberal Democratic efforts to clear the records of men convicted of historic gay offenses.

Sir Simon Hughes. Photo by Southbanksteve.

transgender

Files Trans Discrimination Lawsuit in VA ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Virginia filed a lawsuit against the Gloucester County School Board for passing a measure prohibiting transgender students from using restrooms consistent with their gender identities, Metro Weekly reports (http://bit.ly/1ff2vuq). The incident began when Gloucester high school student Gavin Grimm and Grimm’s mother notified school officials of Grimm’s male gender identity. Initially Grimm was allowed to use private staff facilities, until he requested use of public school facilities as not to isolate himself from fellow classmates. Grimm was then allowed to use the boys’ restroom facilities, a matter which went without incident for two months until conservative activists began protesting to the school board. The motion restricting restroom access to transgender students passed 6-1. The ACLU argues that the motion violates Title IX, a portion of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 that prohibits any form of discrimination on the basis of gender. soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

news election 2016

news local

Trantalis Fulfills Promise to Trans Community

White House Watch:

John Kasich

Christiana Lilly

John McDonald

We are getting to the end of our list here at SFGN’s White House Watch. Thus far we have written about 19 potential candidates who desire to become the next President of the United States. Ohio Governor John Richard Kasich makes it 20. Kasich, 63, has campaigned for the U.S. Presidency before – in the 2000 election, although he dropped out before the Iowa caucus and threw his support to George W. Bush. Ohio voters elected Kasich their Governor in 2010 during a national wave of Republican victories. “It’s time to put aside the petty differences that divide us and rediscover the values that we all share, which have made America great,” says Kasich in a video on the website of his political action committee, New Day for America. Kasich continues, “Values like personal responsibility, community, respect, courage, and, of course, faith. There is so much more that brings us together than that divides us.” Kasich’s resumé includes commentary work on the Fox News Channel and a management role in Lehman Brothers Investment Bank.

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The bank was part of the infamous financial collapse of Wall Street in 2008. The state of Ohio does not recognize samesex marriage. In 2004, Ohio enacted a statute to exclude same-sex couples from marriage or any legal status similar to marriage. Last month, Kasich told reporters in Columbus, Ohio, if the U.S. Supreme Court authorizes same-same marriage then Ohio would respect the law. He also stated he would attend a samesex wedding if invited by a friend. “It’s a time to celebrate,” he said. It should also be noted Ohio hosts the 2016 Republican National Convention. Read all of our White House Watch profiles at www.sfgn.com/whw.

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Photo: Facebook.

A questionable “crossdressing” section of Fort Lauderdale’s public indecency ordinance has been removed. The ordinance included wearing clothing of the opposite sex to “facilitate the commission of a crime or offense.” Transgender advocates were concerned that a transgender person could fall under this. “Wearing clothing of any gender is not a criminal act. The language in the ordinance is dangerous because it could be read as conflating wearing clothing of the ‘opposite sex’ with criminal intent,” Matt Wood, a staff attorney for the Transgender Law Center, told SFGN last May. Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Dean Trantalis, who is openly gay, brought the issue up with the city manager and the section of the ordinance was removed in September 2014, four months later. The revised ordinance passed 5-0.

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Dean Trantalis.

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Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

news national

Local Commissioner Mocks Caitlyn Jenner; Facebook Post Goes National Jason Parsley

People take sides in Castillo remarks

When Pembroke Pines City Commissioner Angelo Castillo posted on Facebook that he had made the decision to remain a man he probably didn’t realize his self-described satirical message mocking Caitlyn Jenner’s recent coming out would end up going viral. The story was covered by local news outlets, New Times, Sun Sentinel, WPLG Local 10 news, and even made the national news with the Advocate writing about it. In case you missed it here’s the post that started the controversy: “I have an announcement to make. After considerable thought, I’ve decided to remain a guy. Now, I know this deﬁes all conventional wisdom, trends and styles. Yet I’ve considered my decisions carefully and just feel it will be better for all concerned. In the days ahead, I ask for your help and support. Staying a guy is not an easy choice to make but in reaching this difﬁcult decision I hope you will all understand that I really think this is the best choice I can make for me. (satire added, no extra charge) Discuss.”

Castillo routinely ends his posts with “discuss.” Besides being a city commissioner he’s an employee of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. He also once ran Broward House as its executive director. There were those who came to his defense. One such person was local trans activist Nikki Adams, who happened to work under Castillo at the Broward House. Photo: Twitter.

“I read the post…and chuckled because I know you and your sense of humor. I also thought at the same time that you could get some heat for it. Apparently you have. My opinion is that society has become way too socially correct. Everyone has been forced to walk on eggshells and tip toe around controversial issues. It's become absurd! The ones who are attacking you have no idea who you are as a person. I do and I know how you treated me and everyone that walked through B H as workers or clients,” Adams wrote. “You have never been disrespectful and never made anyone feel inferior to you. Do I think you should apologize? No. It was a joke, nothing more. They are however forcing your hand to make a statement. If and when you do please feel free to let them know that your friend Nikki Adams stands ﬁrmly by your side! And, by the way, I think you're very courageous for remaining a man!"

Castillo later said of his posts “No subject or viewpoint is off limits and I encourage candor above all else. All points of view are welcomed.” Except the ones he doesn’t like apparently. The discussion that this post generated must have touched a nerve because at one point he told people to go “fuck themselves” if they didn’t like it. “I have a right to say what I wish in the manner that I choose for the purposes I select and in the way I think is right. Anybody that doesn’t like me doing that they can go fuck themselves. Is that clear enough?”

In yet another seemingly contradictory statement he said after the story went viral “Candor isn't for everybody especially not for the political correct crowd or the weak of spirit.” Castillo’s boss at the BSO didn’t seem amused by the post. "I just don't joke about religion or things that could be personally sensitive to people,'' Sheriff Scott Israel told the Sun Sentinel. "I don't find it funny. It's just not something I do. I don't condone it.'' This wasn’t the first post of Castillo’s that related to Jenner either. “Well, I’ll say this. She’s better looking than Rudy Giuliani,” he wrote. No “discuss” tag was added to that post. In several comments Castillo was adamant

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soflagaynews //

that his coming out as a man post wasn’t a joke. “I should add, my intent was satire. Not a joke,” he wrote. But this later exchange was presumably a joke when Ron Gunzburger, another employee of the Broward Sheriff’s Office, said “I was fine with you, Angelo, when you were going through your woman phase. Whatever makes you happy.” Castillo responded: “You promised never to tell.” Nikki Adams added: “Really people? Have we all lost every bit of sensibility that you can't get it was sarcasm to bring to light the people that actually do have a problem with Caitlyn's decision? I'm part of the trans community and I got the joke immediately as sarcasm at its ﬁnest,” she wrote. “To all of you that aren't trans, don't tell me what I should and should not be offended by and don't put yourself on a pedestal, spewing hatred at someone you don't know. I have worked with Angelo in the past and I can tell you ALL that he is a profound supporter of LGBTQ rights. I would venture to say he has done more than our so called activists have by putting his name and reputation on the line in many a political battle. To sum up my feelings on this matter, LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE!”

One local conservative website came to the defense of Castillo, who happens to be a Democrat. BizPacReview.com ran this headline “Bold Fla. politician demonstrates EXACTLY how to stand up to PC police.” One commenter added “Thank you Mr. Castillo. You have given me the courage to finally step up and say ‘I am a white, heterosexual male, with not one ounce of white guilt, and I intend to stay that way!’” In a letter to the editor to SFGN Castillo defended himself, and his posts, saying he was doing nothing more than using satire to bring attention to Caitlyn Jenner’s “courageous decision.” “My goal was to illustrate through satire… that we all have a right to choose what we consider best for ourselves so long as those choices don't infringe on the rights of others,” he said. “The goal was to generate light, not heat, understanding for Jenner's actions and certainly never to generate offense.” He stopped just short of an apology though. “So, of course I regret if anybody was unintentionally offended,” he said. (Castillo’s

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entire letter can be found on page 24). At one point one of Castillo’s Facebook friends attacked Jenner’s transition. “I ﬁnd it a serious act of cowardice to marry your THIRD wife and have children with her if you had these feelings and were already involved in some manner of "transitioning' at that time and…if you still have a penis, you are still a man...END OF DISCUSSION. Angelo...I support your manhood 100%!!!

Castillo’s response: “Many may find your comment very harsh. But I do think it legitimately opens an avenue of discussion that is valid. If you're a confused person on the question of identity, under what limits of motivation is it moral to enter into a marriage? That is a legitimate ethical and moral question.” Castillo didn’t address the second part of his friend’s post erasing Caitlyn’s transition to a woman. The Dolphin Democrats, Broward’s LGBT Democratic Club, blasted Castillo. “This is not satire, but instead offensively disparages transgender people. The Dolphin Democrats feel this is entirely inappropriate for any elected official who is also a Democrat, especially as it occurred during Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride month, celebrated in June,” the statement read. “Castillo brushes off criticism of his satire by telling people ‘if you find it inappropriate, if it offends you, defriend me’ which demonstrates his unwillingness to act responsibly as an elected official and propose solutions in the form of good public policy initiatives. Being transgender is not a proper subject for satire because of the hatred and intolerance faced by transgender people every day.”

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Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

news local

Wilton Manors Celebrates Pride

Stonewall festival offering entertainment on multiple stages Michael d’Oliveira Photo: Dennis Jozefowicz

of Wilton Drive and En Vogue has Northeast 21 Court. performed on many Parking is available prominent stages. at Northeast 8 Terrace Now, the R&B group and Northeast 26 will perform during 1:00 pm Crystal Waters Street, city hall, 2020 the Wilton Manors Wilton Drive; Fort Stonewall festival on 6:00pm Parade June 20. Lauderdale High 9:30 pm En Vogue Starting at about School, 1600 NE 4 9:30 p.m., the R&B Ave.; Iberia Bank, group will headline 2465 Wilton Drive; Stonewall’s entertainment lineup, performing municipal complex, 2100 Dixie Hwy. and on the Center Stage, located at Wilton Drive Richardson Park, 1937 Wilton Drive. The cost is and Northeast 6 Avenue across the street from $15. Special reserved parking is available at city the Shoppes of Wilton Manors. Rumors, The hall for $40. Special handicap parking will be at Manor and Progress Bar are also sponsoring the Iberia Bank, near Five Points. stages in front of their businesses. Drink tickets will be $4 per ticket. Beer, Onstage before En Vogue starting at 1 p.m. are water and soda are one ticket. Wine and mixed “Gypsy Woman” singer Crystal Waters, “Right drinks are two tickets. Food trucks and bar Back Where We Started From” singer Maxine stations will also be located at various points Nightingale, singer-songwriter Shemuwel, on Wilton Drive. Madonna impersonator Venus D’Lite and For those who don’t want to wait for singer-songwriter Pris Maverick. Stonewall, the Dixie Village People’s Pride Along with floats entered by local businesses Celebration will hold Dripping with Pride and organizations, the 6 p.m. parade will on Friday, June 19 from 6 to 9 p.m. Many of include Billy Bean as the grand marshal. Bean, the businesses in Antique Alley, just south who came out as gay in 1999, is a former Major of Five Points on Dixie Highway, will open League Baseball player and was chosen as their doors and offer art viewings and special MLB’s first Ambassador of Inclusion in 2014. entertainment. Participating businesses, which In addition to the parade entertainment, will display rainbow umbrellas outside their there will be over 100 vendors stretched across doors, are Tedds ART Works, Retro Video, two flea markets – north and south on Wilton Divine Concepts, Decor & Design Inc., Abyss Drive. A collection of antique cars will also be Theatre, It’s A Mid, Mod, Mad World, STUDIO on display. 2408, Art & Design Gallery, Sculpture by Sylvie The Kids Zone, with games and activities, and Studio 2101. will be at Jaycee Park, located at the corner

Stonewall Pride Saturday Highlghts

Visit WiltonManorsStonewall.com for more information. 20

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news national

The Fifth Annual Transgender Symposium

Part I of 3: Transgender people and HIV Sean McShee

Photo: Facebook.

Fort Lauderdale hosted the Fifth Annual Transgender Medical Symposium from May 14 to May 15, 2015. Jodi Reichman, Chair of the Symposium, estimated that about 275 people attended. A transman opened up the event. He spoke about the importance of humor in trans issues. He told about the times that he lost his falsie-penis in public. While serious, this symposium was not somber. Some people conflate gender identity and sexual orientation, but they differ. Transgender people can be of any sexual orientation. Gender identity, like sexual orientation, refers to an intra-psychic sense of self. Gender expression, like sexual behavior, refers to the behavior related to that sense of self. The term “cisgender” refers to those of us with gender identities consistent with our birth anatomy. For transmen, transwomen, and cisgender people, gender identity aligns with male/female categories. The gender identities of the gender non-conforming or genderqueer, however, do not align with those two categories. They reject that gender binary. The term “transgender” includes transmen, transwomen, and the gender non-conforming. While some transmen and transwomen surgically align their gender identity with their anatomy, not all do. Not all transmen and transwomen conform to traditional gender roles. Joanne Keatley, Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, spoke on HIV infection rates and transgender people. A Lancet article reported an HIV infection rate of around 20 percent among trans people in the U.S. A study of HIV viral load in San Francisco found a rate of HIV viral load among transgenders about 2.9 times that among non-transgenders. HIV viral load measures active HIV in the body. An undetectable viral load indicates good health. Transwomen

have much higher rates of HIV infection than do transmen. African American transwomen have the highest rates. Keatley reported that many factors contributed to high rates among transwomen, particularly employment discrimination leading to survival sex work. A second factor concerned a failure to design HIV prevention programs specifically for transwomen. She emphasized that access to female hormones would be a major incentive to stay in HIV treatment programs and clinical trials. She reported that PrEP results have been inconclusive among transwomen. Those inconclusive results may arise more from the few transwomen in this study rather than from anything to do with PrEP. She advocated designing a PrEP study specifically for transwomen. Keatley also suggested that differences between a surgically constructed vagina (a neo-vagina) and a biologically constructed vagina (a bio-vagina) might also contribute to these higher rates of HIV infection. A neo-vagina and a bio-vagina have different levels of elasticity, consist of different materials, and have different depths. Dr. Christian Salgado, a surgeon specializing in trans surgeries, reported that a neo-vagina averages about five inches deep, but a biovagina averages about seven and a half inches deep. This results in greater potential for tearing. Transwomen without trans surgery will have the same sexual options as gay and bi men, anal and oral intercourse. Jodi Reichman described the goal of the Symposium as becoming “the main educational conference for licensed professionals, providers, and students in the South.” This Symposium also offered a great deal for non-medical providers. This story forms Part 1 of a three part series. Part II will concern issues that transgenders face, and Part III will concern trans surgeries.

Another trans event in Fort Lauderdale The Twenty-Fifth Annual Southern Comfort Conference, will occur in Fort Lauderdale, September 29 through October 3, 2015. For more information visit SouthernComfortConference.org soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

opinion jesse’s journal

Good-bye To The Ole Swimming Hole

Voted No. 1 Dry Cleaners in South Florida

Jesse Monteagudo

Free Pick Up & Delivery (Home / Office)

One of the most famous works of American art is The Swimming Hole (1883), by the realist painter and photographer Thomas Eakins (18441916), now in the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Eakins, apparently a devoted skinny dipper, based his painting on a photo taken of himself and some of his young male art students bathing in the buff at Mill Creek near Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. (Eakins can be seen in the water on the lower right corner of his painting, admiring his companions.) The scholar Carla Williams, who wrote about Eakins for the GLBTQ.com encyclopedia of LGBT culture, calls The Swimming Hole “a prime example of homoeroticism in American art.” It is certainly the most notable piece of gayrotic American art before Paul Cadmus’s Shore Leave (1933). Eakins was obviously influenced by Walt Whitman, whose poetry he admired and who later became a close friend. Critics agree that Eakins got the idea for his Swimming Hole from the following lines in Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself”: “Twenty-eight young men bathe by the shore, Twenty-eight young men and all so friendly; … “The beards of the young men glisten’d with wet, it ran from their long hair, Little streams passed all over their bodies.” Though critics still argue about Eakins’s own sexual orientation, there is no doubt that he was a great admirer of the male art form. According to Eakins, a naked woman “is the most beautiful thing there is - except a naked man.” In his biography of Eakins, William Innes Homer wrote that “the example of Walt Whitman, who celebrated the joys of nudity in the open air, may well have influenced Eakins, and Whitman, in turn, would certainly have enjoyed this scene glorifying male companionship.” The Swimming Hole could serve as an illustration for Whitman’s poetry, which Penguin Books acknowledged when it used The Swimming Hole for the cover of its own edition of Whitman’s Complete Poems. The Swimming Hole would not be possible today. For one thing, Eakins would probably be arrested for “child pornography,” since some of his models are clearly under 18. Urban sprawl and suburban expansion have made it increasingly difficult to skinny dip on Mill Creek, though some of my Pennsylvania readers might correct me on that one. Even worse, the relative innocence of Eakins’s time has given way to a more “sophisticated“ world view where many equal nudism with sexuality and physical contact

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soflagaynews //

Thomas Eakins - Amon Carter Museum

The Swimming Hole is an 1884–85 painting by the American artist Thomas Eakins (1844–1916), is considered a masterpiece of American painting. between men with homosexuality. The youths whose grandparents swam and bathed nude alongside their naked fathers, brothers, uncles, male cousins, male chums or male teachers would now rather go dirty and smelly than take showers after sports or gym class; much less allow themselves to go naked in a public watering hole with other, equally naked, males.

The scholar Carla Williams, who wrote about Eakins for the GLBTQ. com encyclopedia of LGBT culture, calls The Swimming Hole “a prime example of homoeroticism in American art.” Throughout history, men and boys have swam, showered or bathed naked in the company of other males, and nobody thought the worse of it. This has nothing to do with homosexuality but with the fact that, until recently, most men and boys did not find it necessary to cover up in front of other boys and men. Nor was all-male nude bathing or swimming limited to public waterways. Until the middle of the last century, nude swimming was common in same-sex institutions like the YMCA, admittedly to the delight of generations of gay men. Naked

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men would horseplay, roughhouse and play grabass with one another without anyone thinking they were queer. Men and boys only wore bathing suits in public beaches, spas, and other places were girls and women were present. For their part, skinnydipping was never as popular with females, though here again a reader might be able to correct me. Whether or not men are more likely than women to go naked in public may be debated. I should point out, however, that in clothingoptional beaches men — gay, bisexual or heterosexual — are more likely than women to go the Full Monty. In Eakins’s time, men could be intimate with other men without raising the red flag of sexual deviation. Eakins himself only got in trouble with the morals police when he used a nude male model in a life drawing class in front of his female students. Not even the sternest puritan raised an eyebrow or complained when Eakins and his young male students frolicked naked in the waters of Mill Creek. Things have changed a lot during the last century, and not for the better. Though a few “swimming holes” - like Hippie Hollow near Austin, Texas - still exist, they are mostly used by naturists of all genders and by gay, bisexual or “bi-curious” men cruising for sex. The idyllic world that Thomas Eakins immortalized in The Swimming Hole no longer exists. And we are the worse for it.

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column publisher’s editorial

Sunshine Today and Stonewall Yesterday Norm Kent

norm.kent@sfgn.com

f you take part in the Stonewall Festival on Saturday in Wilton Manors, remember that what is today a parade was yesterday a protest; what is today a festival, was once a fight. Sunday, June 28, 2015 will mark the 46th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In 1969, in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, members of the gay community rallied in unison against a police raid at a bar named the ‘Stonewall Inn.’ We fought back. For once, we said no to bullying’s and beatings, abuse and ostracism. Decades later, we celebrate the day, but continue the fight. The difference today is that law enforcement no longer persecutes us. It protects us. Laws no longer discriminate against us. They ensure our rights are equal. In 1969, as man was landing on the moon for the first time, America was still only taking baby steps for LGBT rights. It was a different era. We may have had music and free love at Woodstock, but it celebrated heterosexual hedonism, not gay partners. Decades ago, gays were forced to live in the shadows. We were ostracized and outlawed. We were deviant. We were unfit. We were blackmailed. We were ‘cured’ with electro shock therapy. We were apart from the community, not a part of it. If a just man stands his ground, and there abides, eventually the whole world will come around to him. Today, we celebrate in the sunshine, not in the shade. We have lost many friends along the way. There have been too many suicides, too many overdoses, too many mental health issues, and far too many losses due to AIDS.

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There were jail sentences and electro shock As you watch the parade this weekend, walk shirtless treatments for sodomites. Today, there are down Wilton Drive, consume a drink here or there from Mack Mixers. We have overcome. Justice the local pub, don’t forget Leonard Matlovich or the has prevailed. Matthew Shepards and Harvey Milks of days past. You Today, there is a World AIDS Museum stand proudly today because of what they did for you and Stonewall Library in Wilton Manors. yesterday. There is a Pride Center at Equality Park Still, Stonewall is not just about our past. It is about and the Harvey Milk Foundation. We our future. We are male and female, and transgender. have SunServe, Out of the Closet, the But we are one, we are together, and we are united in our AIDS Health Care Foundation, Broward assertions of equality for all. This commitment should House and Care Resources all reaching override our differences. It should allow for diversity and out to our community. We have Seniors in discourse within our own circle. a Gay Environment and Pridelines Youth Stonewall is a celebration for everyone, not a distillery Services. We have gay choruses and softball promoting a new vodka, or a media company hosting leagues, swim teams and flag football. entertainment stages. No, that is not what we are about. We have each other’s backs. We are a community of many identities, but none more Gay pride marches are now held from Sydney, Australia important than your unique individuality. Shakespeare to South Florida, celebrations of a struggle we must still said it best, “This above all, to thine own self be true, and enthusiastically engage. As much as we can appreciate it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be equality at home, there is still hate abroad. In pockets of false to any man.” Eastern Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, there are injustices Be as you are and in the right place you will be. against the LGBT communities every day. In Wilton Manors, the mayor raises the gay flag at City Hall. There are still places like Russia where that same act could get you arrested, so let’s not assume that all is right with the world. We have made progress, but pushing forward is a slow procession. Thirty years ago, the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Twelve years ago, the Supreme Court repealed all sodomy laws. This year, they will repeal ‘defense of marriage’ acts that unconstitutionally inhibit gay and lesbian couples from marrying lawfully. These are things you can’t forget. A gay soldier, Leonard Matlovich, wrote on his tombstone “when I was in the Army, they gave me a medal for killing two men, but threw me out for loving one.” Photo: J.R. Davis.

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column off the wall

Pride and Prejudice Pier Angelo

s we get ready to set up our tents for another PrideFest we should take a moment to be grateful for how far we have come. Then we can start proudly “strutting our stuff ”: tattoos and earrings, biceps and pecs, drag and leather, tight shorts and cowboy boots, ‘gaybies’ in strollers, pets on leashes, colorful wife beater tank tops, the soundtrack courtesy of Lady Gaga.

We will hold hands and kiss our legal husbands and wives while walking through the booths of our community newspapers, bars, clubs, gay friendly establishments, gay businesses, civic associations, gay organizations, even the Log Cabin Republicans, all proudly flying the rainbow flag, basking in the Florida sunshine. Between a beer and a hot dog, a bag full of trinkets and a raffle, we will pat each others on the back and say: “Yes, there is nothing wrong with being fabulous.” If cigarette companies were allowed to promote their ‘fags' Virginia Slim would have a great booth emblazoned with their slogan from the 70's, "You Have Come a Long Way, Baby.” Even though our city inexplicably did not make, yet again, “The Advocate’s Top 15 Gayest Cities in America,” all things considered, we are fortunate to live in Greater Fort Lauderdale/ Wilton Manors. Yep, we are fabulous... but immensely jaded, bordering on uncaring. While we show off our Balenciaga belts we never think about how the other half still lives in the Bible Belt. In the Hinterlands and the Deep South, LGBT people of all ages, especially teenagers, are living a nightmare of fear and depression. Important protective factors such as family love, community support and safe schools are completely missing. Growing up is scary when there is nobody to relate to. Thus many contemplate suicide, as the only way out of pain. They are caught in a time warp of religious intolerance, alienation and disconnect, open discrimination and bigotry. They are made to believe that hell is waiting for all gays, that we deserve AIDS, that we are not fit to act as parents or even be upstanding productive citizens. Those repressed gays and lesbians, far removed from South Florida, and from the Top 15 Gayest Cities

in America, are living without foreseeable hope. With time they become captive slaves of their own self hate and low self-esteem. They are so used to disguising themselves to others that in the end they become disguised to themselves. On the other hand, out and proud gays are too complacent. We should be up in arms demanding comprehensive laws to protect all sections of societywith no exceptions. Our agenda should be setting the pace of social change by demanding a ban on all forms of discrimination, with true and enforced crack downs on hate crimes. Prevention programs for sexual minorities should be in place to tackle issues of stigma, labeling, bullying, plus safe and effective referrals. Many important battles have been won but the cultural war is far from over. Arkansas banned local governments from expanding anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, a move criticized even by retail giant Walmart who said the prohibition damaged the state's image. In Georgia, a bill called the ‘Religious Freedom' Bill would forbid the state government from infringing on a person's religious beliefs unless the government can prove it has a compelling interest. Some North Carolina lawmakers are convinced that court officials should be exempt from having to perform same-sex weddings or issue marriage licenses to gays because of the workers' religious beliefs. The utter stupidity of all these Religious Protection Bills, popping up nationwide, is that they would begin to unravel decades of civil rights achievements in this nation and ultimately they would begin to unravel protections for religious people themselves. The mumbo jumbo gets even more preposterous when one listens to Scott Lively, the antigay pastor who has been charged with committing crimes against humanity for his involvement with the soflagaynews //

passage of Uganda's "kill the gays" law. He is warning divine retribution not seen since the days of the Old Testament if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage this term. Citing scriptural "blood moons," set to take place in 2015, Lively said that the "official endorsement of 'gay marriage' by the only nation in the history of the world (other than ancient Israel) to be established on a Biblical foundation (blatantly untrue), is an act of defiance against God not seen since Noah's Flood." While there are many progressive Christians around the world with a true sense of compassion and moral integrity, the oppressive Bible thumpers of mid America are the product of outdated, suffocating, traditional Christian values that prefer ritual to reflection, obedience to individual discernment, meaningless confessions to genuine atonement. In its highest form, Christianity is a test of one’s mettle, a challenge to live in the image of Jesus, the incarnation of all virtues. In its lowest form, it’s a spiritual Walmart, where absolution comes cheap and the swallowing of a wafer, a Sunday service, or a candle and a prayer are all it takes to even things out with God. I'm not saying you should not enjoy the upcoming PrideFest, by all means dance your socks off, get moderately smashed, smoke a joint, come by SFGN's booth and win a prize, have fun, be yourself, be 'absolutely fabulous' but stop and think for a moment, get involved, make a difference in someone's life, and, if you are so inclined, say a little prayer for Pat Robertson, right wing Republicans, and all the other hate mongers. As the Dalai Lama said, when asked why he prayed for the Chinese invaders of Tibet, whose atrocities against his people can never be forgotten, "Oh, we must pray for them. Because they are the ones who need prayer most of all.”

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

feature

PBCHRC Awards First Social Justice Award

Young activist Ethan Kennedy ready to change the world Jillian Melero

17 year-old Ethan Kennedy receives a $500 scholarship for LGBT college-bound high school seniors who have demonstrated interest in advocacy on behalf of the LGBT community, given by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. Ethan Kennedy is 17-going-on-18. He just graduated from high school, and he’s looking forward to starting New College, his dream school, in the Fall. The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council recognized Ethan with the recently established Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Award. The award is an annual, $500 need-based scholarship for LGBT or allied, college-bound, Palm Beach County high school seniors who have demonstrated an interest in advocacy on behalf of the LGBT community. “Ethan exemplifies the new generation of LGBTQ activists, who will help bring our nation together on our issues which, unfortunately, divide America today,” said Dan Hall, for whom the award is named. Hall has served as the PBCHRC treasurer since 1990 and is the longest serving board member. Ethan found out about the scholarship through his youth group at Compass Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Lake Worth. Compass is also where Ethan first started to find his voice and discover his leadership abilities after visiting for counseling. “My mother had recently found out I was gay. I’d come out to several members of my family during this time, and I was having a very difficult time coping with things.” He credits the staff and community at Compass with helping him find his self-confidence, pride, passion for activism, and his desire to help others.

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During his sophomore year at Oxbridge, he founded the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, initially a group of 10 people, which has now grown to more than 40. He also spearheaded the school’s participation in National Day of Silence. Although the event failed to get approval last year, this year the GSA garnered pledges from 93 students, in a school of 550. Some of Ethan’s biggest reassurances came from his time at Creating Change 2014, the country’s largest gathering of LGBT activists organizers and leaders. Ethan says that while it was his first time in a room full of prominent voices and figures in the equality movement, it was also one of the few times he’d looked around the room and felt like he belonged. “I got to listen to iconic figures like Laverne Cox and Rea Carey,” he said. “Then when I attended some of the seminars they hosted…I found myself being treated with equal respect as any adult participant.” Now, on his way to New College to study Political Science and Gender Studies, Ethan’s got a long list of issues, projects, and plans he wants to tackle over the next four years addressing everything from LGBT homelessness, trans health care and medical coverage, to queer representation in the media and then some. There’s no shortage of causes, and while Ethan recognizes that the task is daunting, he remains cautiously optimistic.

column transforming gender

Broken Walls Rebecca Juro

rjuroshow@gmail.com

I thought I’d beaten it. I thought I’d won. I thought I’d left that place behind long ago. I was wrong. I’ve been on injectable estrogen for about 15 months now. I started on the shots the moment I could afford them and I’ve been on them for so long now, it’s become my natural state. It’s how my body feels right to me. After all this time, I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without it. That is, until it happened. I’d recently begun self-injecting and was advised to order estradiol with a cottonseed oil base because it’s thinner and easier to use. As a newbie at this, that made sense to me and so I ordered it that way from the mail-order compounding pharmacy I use. The first time I injected myself with the cottonseed estradiol I got a half-dollar sized painful red welt at the injection site. Still new at this, I assumed I’d done something wrong and injured myself with bad injection technique. When I self-injected again two weeks later, I was much more careful and the same thing happened. I called my doctor’s office and was told to stop using the cottonseed estro and instead order a new supply of the standard castor oil mix which I’d been using previously. This took longer than I’d hoped. The due date for my next shot came and went, and my emotional stability and control began to erode. By five days after my due date, I was a mess. My emotions were all over the place. I was swinging from sadness to anger to depression and all points in between, sometimes even hour to hour. It was also the day I went to check on my mother and found her breathing like a blast furnace and foaming at the mouth. I called 911. The EMTs and the cops came, stabilized her, and took her to the hospital. They took good care of mom in the emergency room, but she was still in an altered state and no one knew what was wrong with her. I’d have been stressed out and scared on the best of days, but this was not the best of days for me. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to hold myself together as I watched the doctors, nurses, and technicians working on mom. The stress was taking its toll.

Leaving my brother and sister-in-law to watch over Mom, I went outside for a cigarette. I felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown. I couldn’t deal with it and I just wanted the pain to stop. All of it. Everything. I just wanted it to go away. I wanted to go away. I was scared. Scared for mom, and scared for myself. Despite the hurricane of depression I was going through at that moment, somehow I intellectually understood that the last time I was in this place was just before I tried to drive a van off of a bridge in 1997. I knew I needed help and quickly. I called a friend, a trans woman who has not only been through hell herself, but who gets me. I knew I could tell her anything and she’d let me lean on her as long as I needed to. I was a wreck. At one point, I talked about taking my own life. She talked me through the worst of it and let me dump on her in a way I couldn’t have with almost anyone else. It’s not hard for me to believe that she may have saved my life. Left to my own devices, I’m not entirely sure what I would have done. It terrifies me that after 18 years of living fulltime as a woman, losing control of my emotions due to an estrogen low can cause me to become borderline suicidal, particularly because I’ll be going through this again next month. My gender confirmation surgery will be in the middle of July, and I can’t take any more estrogen until afterward to protect myself against its blood thinning side effects. I came close to taking my own life this week, much closer than I’m comfortable with, and all it took was five days without estrogen. I hadn’t believed such a thing was possible for a very long time, but I know better now. What’s more, I know I’ll be facing the same situation in a few weeks. I’m fortunate beyond measure. If and when it happens again, I know who to call. I have a shoulder to cry on, someone to lean on, someone who’s been there and knows the way out. Not everyone has that. That’s why TransLifeline exists and why it’s needed. Even suicide hotline operators need a little help themselves sometimes.

Rebecca Juro is a nationally-published freelance journalist and radio talk show host who is the Media Correspondent for The Advocate website. Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Washington Blade, Gay City News, the Albany Times Union, and The Advocate magazine, among others. Rebecca lives in central New Jersey and shares her life with a somewhat antisocial cat. Email: rjuroshow@gmail.com Twitter: @beckyjuro soflagaynews //

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column by the bi

The Case for Bisexuals at Pride Faith Cheltenham

NYC’S Bi Request marching in NYC Pride, 2008.

Photo Credit: New York Area Bisexual Network (NYABN).

n 2015, the city of Boston, Massachusetts, will have two bisexual marshals for its LGBT Pride march. Boston’s choice of grand marshal marks one of the first times a bisexual community advocate has been chosen to marshal an LGBT Pride Parade in the U.S. Ellyn Ruthstrom, former President of the Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) and executive director of SpeakOUT, will join Woody Glen, BRC co-founder as parade marshals. “It will be such an honor to ride with Woody through the streets of Boston — wearing tiaras, of course — with the 45-foot bi pride flag and dozens of bi community members behind us,” Ruthstrom says. “We might be riding in the car, but Woody and I are representing so many other bisexual people who have struggled and fought for our place within the movement.” Bisexual activist Brenda Howard is known as the “Mother of Pride” for her work in coordinating the first LGBT Pride events in 1969, held in New York to commemorate the Stonewall riots. Yet many bisexual people routinely feel erased during LGBT Pride, or in some cases feel unsafe at LGBT Pride events. Last year, the Empathize This project published a web comic titled “Prejudice at Pride” sharing the story of a UK woman who experienced verbal and physical abuse at Pride because she is Black and bisexual. Her experience isn’t unique, and may explain why studies show bisexual people have the lowest level of affiliation with the LGBT community. Dan Savage once said, “Biphobia will continue to thrive so long as the majority of bisexuals remain closeted. That's just a fact.” The reality is we’re not closeted to the extent that Savage claims, otherwise the LGBT ecosystem that includes Pride marches, LGBT centers and LGBT serving organizations would cease to exist. Projects like “It Gets Better,” cofounded by Savage to save LGBT youth from suicide, depend on bisexual data to validate their need. It’s about numbers, pure and simple. Exhibit A: The bisexual population represents 40-51 percent of the entire LGBT community.

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Los Angeles Bi Task Force marching in LA Pride, 2011. Photo Credit: Los Angeles Bi Task Force.

Exhibit B: The policy areas that affect bisexuals MORE than their lesbian, gay, heterosexual, and in some cases, non-bisexual transgender peers include suicide, anxiety, PTSD, cancer, heart disease, rape, stalking, sexual violence other than rape, intimate partner violence, alcohol, tobacco and substance use, poverty, workplace discrimination, bullying, and HIV/AIDS. Despite claims that most bisexuals are closeted, we constantly show up in data. We don’t hide from our disparities either, much to the chagrin of those who would “normalize” the experience of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people into a respectability devoid of personal reality. Bisexuals are not trying to be just like everyone else, most of us have already tried that. Bi people stand out in the history of the LGBT movement for our bravery, and for stubbornly going out on a limb to save lives, no matter the consequence. Whether its bisexual politico Emily Dievendorf launching a petition to boycott Mitchfest’s transgender exclusionary practices in 2014 or bi icon Dr. David Lourea creating safe sex workshops for gay and bisexual men facing an AIDS epidemic in 1984, bisexuals don’t hide from the work. Bisexuals should not have to justify their right to pride, but we often do. Despite being ready to celebrate our identity, we often arrive at LGBT Pride celebrations to invalidation, outright hostility and a distinct lack of warmth. At LGBT Pride, bisexuals often feel like a side dish, best served coldly or not at all. Whether it’s a bisexually erasive exhibit on LGBT history at Milwaukee Pride or tweets from Atlanta Pride saying “gay pride, a dyke march, and a trans march -- something for everybody," bisexuals are left out. Bi people in Portland report feeling relief when “no one laughs or throws insults” as they march in Pride Portland. Meanwhile Brian Aden from Nebraska says, “while at Pride event last year I prominently wore my ‘Bi Pride’ button and the bisexual colors. I had several people comment how unusual it was for someone to exhibit pride at being bisexual.” And yet our pride remains.

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Pride in a bisexual culture almost 50 years deep, so rich with diversity that we commonly use brand extensions like bi+ and bi* to indicate the wealth within. Whether its comedy festivals, art festivals and art installations, filmmakers, politicians, writers, bloggers, or people of color collectives, our community has a unique voice and shared experience deeply empowered by a consistent, driving need to welcome difference and champion diversity. Bi friends and bisexual networks helped create a world where same sex marriage might be possible in 50 states, and a society where a transgender icon like Laverne Cox could get tastefully nude in Allure magazine. I’m talking about bisexuals like Dr. Alan Rockway who in 1977 coauthored the nation’s first gay anti-discrimination law in Florida and launched a Florida orange juice boycott to defend it. Or Lou Reed who penned 1972’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” a song that featured real life narratives of trans people. Bisexuals like Reed are often bridges to different communities whether it’s cisgender and transgender or gay and straight. Hiding in plain sight, our data, lives and creative light continue to build the LGBT community, brick by bisexual brick. We’ll keep showing up, so this Pride season please recognize bi people with the pride they deserve. Validate different sex couples by asking if they’re bi, instead of assuming that the stroller counts them out. Celebrate signs of bi+ culture like our buttons, t-shirts, or purple hair – we wear them to be identified with pride.

Originally from San Luis Obispo, California, Faith Cheltenham is the current President of BiNet USA, a national non-profit advocacy organization for bi people. Faith’s been an LGBT activist for 15 years and is also an accomplished writer, poet, and stand-up comic. Faith is mom to two-year-old Storm, step-mom to six-yearold Cadence, and wife to Matt in a very modern family in Los Angeles.

column mombian

Pride Ponderings Dana Rudolph

Pride is a funny concept, with both positive and negative connotations. It goeth before a fall. It makes a combustible pairing with prejudice. The Marines, though few, lay claim to it. Pride can be overweening. It can blind us to the needs of others. But it can also remind us of what is important in life: our children, our families, our identities. Personally, I’m proud I can make it through a work day, arrive home in time for my son’s school bus, pry him away from video games and on to homework, throw in a load of laundry (including the dress shirt said son needs for his band concert and that has somehow ended up in a heap on his closet floor), do a few more hours of work myself, and get dinner on the table for the family. You know: getting through an average day like many parents. Still, even though it’s routine, we shouldn’t take it for granted. What better time than Pride (which begins right between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day) to be proud of our domestic and parental accomplishments as well as our LGBT identities? What better time than the end of the school year, too, to remind us to be proud of our children, not just for their academic accomplishments, but also for navigating the sometimes tricky social waterways of school, friendships, and extracurricular activities? I am proud of my son all the time, but find that June, with its sense of another year completed, is a good time to reflect on that pride. I hope my pride conveys simply that I am happy for him whenever he perseveres or feels, himself, a sense of accomplishment. Pride can, however, segue into pushiness, with parents driving their kids to excel—in school, in sports, in music or other arts—in a stressful, unhealthy way. As LGBT parents, we also have to curb our pride before it makes us pressure our kids to be perfect models of healthy, well-adjusted children who don’t reflect badly upon LGBT parents. That’s unrealistic and unnecessary. Looking to the wider world, will our Pride go before a fall when the Supreme Court rules on marriage equality this month? No. I am cautiously optimistic that the court will do the right thing. Even if they don’t, I think the trend of public opinion is such that it is only a matter of time before we have marriage equality one way (judicial ruling) or another (legislative action). And if they do rule in favor of equality, I am hopeful that enough LGBT advocates realize that marriage is not everything, that we still have goals yet to be gained like equal parental

recognition, employment nondiscrimination, and transgender equality. We can be proud of our progress and still know there is more to do. Now that I’ve written that paragraph, I hesitate, suddenly not all that confident of the outcome. The court could decide that same-sex couples in any part of the U.S. can marry; it could take an intermediate position that says states must at a minimum recognize marriages of same-sex couples performed elsewhere; or it could say we have no guaranteed rights to either. Which brings us to pride in our country. Will I still be proud to be American if our Supreme Court rules against equality? Yes. I won’t be proud of the justices who chose to do so, but I will still be proud to be part of a nation that has people in it like James Obergefell, the lead plaintiff, fighting to be on the death certificate of his spouse, who died from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). I will be proud of plaintiffs April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, who first went to court not to marry, but to secure adoption rights to their children. I will be proud of the many other plaintiff couples, mostly parents, who have dealt not only with the hassle of a court case, but the inevitable media intrusion upon their lives that such a high-profile case brings with it. I will also be proud that our country has progressed to the point of debating a right like marriage, rather than the legality of simply being LGBT. I will be proud that our State Department has been working to expand basic human rights in countries where it is still a crime to exist as an LGBT person. I will be proud of all the progress we have made here at home, sometimes one family at a time, to secure our bonds and provide our children with protection and stability. I will be proud of each and every LGBT person, their children, and allies who have spoken out during their everyday lives, at soccer games and grocery shopping, to be visible or correct a misconception about LGBT people. I will remain proud of my son, growing up to be a responsible citizen of this country and learning that while change may be slow, it can and does happen by the effort of the people. Democracy, like pride, has its good sides and its weaker moments. Maybe I’m just fundamentally an optimist, though, because I do believe in the end, we’re better with them than without. That moral arc of the universe keeps on bending—and this month, it looks like a rainbow. Happy Pride to you and your families!

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Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian (mombian.com), a GLAAD Media Award-winning blog and resource directory for LGBTQ parents. soflagaynews //

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opinion letters to the editor

Reader Blasts Grindr Over Fake Profiles Jason, So, last August when I got a $100 iTunes card for paying full price for a new phone after my old one was stolen, I used $60 of that to purchase a yearlong subscription to Grindr Plus so that I can use search filters and block as many people as I want. Recently, there has been a flood of fake profiles obviously operated by braindead pieces of shit who are phishing for phone numbers. I’ve been diligently reporting each phisher to Grindr (not that they’re paying me to do so), but apparently one of them made it past my keen skills of perception and got my number and has sold it to some company that calls itself SSI and says that it’s from Ogden, Utah, and says that they do surveys. Surveys, my ass! I have since blocked their number, which is (385)-207-7137, and threatened to report them to the Attorney General of California. However, I know that won’t slow them down one bit, as a simple Google search for their number brought up a whole website devoted to complaining about them. I honestly don’t care about whatever illegal scam they’re trying to pull on unsuspecting victims. But I do have a serious beef with how

Grindr handles the complaints when they are raised by paying customers about how lousy their app is at sorting out the phishing scams from real profiles. They basically just told me that it’s my responsibility to report suspicious activity to them when I see it, which I already do. But lately I’m reporting dozens of fakes a day to them and I ask, what am I paying them for if I have to do this? Seriously! I frankly don’t understand why on earth anyone would pay to use it and I’m never doing it again. They should be paying me for all the work I’m putting in reporting fakes to them. What a bunch of idiots!” Best regards, Jeromy Carpenter

Photo Credit: Flickr

Commissioner Castillo Blasts SFGN My Facebook page has essentially become a blog intended for adults who choose to join it and share my interest in public policy. There, we engage in candid, free, unrestricted speech about cutting edge issues in public policy. Sometimes our honest discussions can become salty, even blunt but always in a good way. America needs candid conversation especially given how lousy a job our newspapers do. It’s gotten to where reading one is hardly worth the effort anymore. Now to be very clearly, I did NOT mock Caitlyn Jenner -- that would be a lie. Rather, I used SATIRE in response to certain negative comments I’ve read on Facebook about Caitlyn’s courageous decision. In fact, I specifically said the comment was satire in bold letters. My goal was to illustrate through satire (lots and lots of people got this point, by the way) that we all have a right to choose what we consider best for ourselves so long as those choices don’t infringe on the rights of others. The goal was to generate light, not heat, understanding for Jenner’s actions and certainly never to generate offense. So, of course I regret if anybody was unintentionally offended. So. If you agree with that this kind of discourse is important in our society feel free to check it out yourselves. Send me a Facebook friend request and we will include you in our discussions. But let’s not misstate facts. Countless times, I stated that Jenner’s courageous decision should be respected as a question of personal human rights. Let me also say that for over two decades in Florida, I’ve made important contributions to the LGBT community in Broward County. It’s not like I’m some unknown person within the LGBT community so I was disappointed to see SFGN print this story without so much as a phone call to inquire what I was up to. But hey, if my minor notoriety here helps folks get any closer to appreciating the importance of free speech and unrestricted human and civil rights for everybody, it’s worth it. I wish each of you only good fortune as you continue making the best choices you can for yourselves and those you love. Discuss. Angelo Castillo Pembroke Pines City Commissioner

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stonewall gallery national museum & archives

wilton manors

showcases LGBT birthdays in

JUNE

Alla Nazimova (1879-1945), a prominent Russian stage actress, moved in 1905 to New York City, where she conquered Broadway with her performances in such Ibsen plays as Hedda Gabler. Her first silent film was War Brides (1916). In 1921 she starred in Camille. One of the most populars stars of the time, she was also Metro’s highest paid actress. She also produced many of her films, including A Doll’s House (1922) and Oscar Wilde’s Salomé (1923), a financial failure. Her career waned, but she took small roles, such as Tyrone Power’s mother in Blood and Sand (1941). Her last films were cameos in The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Since You Went Away, both made in 1944. From 1921 to 1925, Nazimova was “married” to actor Charles Bryant, a gay actor. She is given credit for coining the phrase “sewing circles” to describe circumspect gatherings of Hollywood lesbians and bisexual women. Nazimova had relationships with writer Mercedes de Acosta, film director Dorothy Arzner, actress Eva Le Gallienne and Dolly Wilde, niece of Oscar. Nazimova lived with Glesca Marshall from 1929 until her death at age 66 of a coronary thrombosis.

1Canadian folk singer/songwriter Ferron (born Debby Foisy 1952)

2 Author of twelve novels Reginald Turner (1869-1938)

Ohio politician Nickie J. Antonio (1955) Activist Candace Gingrich-Jones (1966) Bravo television executive/host Andy Cohen (1968) Actor (Prison Break) Wentworth Miller (1972) Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto (1977)

Actress Alla Nazimova (1879-1945) Male physique painter George Quaintance (1902-1957) Architecture critic Henry-Russell Hitchcok (1903-87) Performer Josephine Baker (1906-75) Explorer Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003) Poet (Howl) Allen Ginsberg (1926-97) Sci-fi writer Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999) Newsman Anderson Cooper (1967)

Suspense writer Val McDermid (1955) Actor/singer Sam Harris (1961)

5 Economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)

Novelist (Manservant and Maidservant) Ivy ComptonBurnett (1884-1969) Anthropologist Ruth Benedict (1887-1948) Poet Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) Director (Tom Jones) Tony Richardson (1928-91) Philosopher/author Hélène Cixous (1937) Financial advisor Susan “Suze” Orman (1951) Actor (My Two Dads) Chad Allen (1974)

Visit Stonewall National Museum & Archives Gallery at 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.

Alla Nazimova as Salomé 1 Novelist Violet Martin (1862-1915) 6Author (Death in Venice) Thomas Mann (1875-1955) 1Murderer Richard Loeb (1905-36)

Harlem Renaissance hostess A’Lelia Walker (1885-1931) Author Édouard Roditi (1910-92) German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger (1942) Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman (1950) Actor/playwright (Torch Song Trilogy, Hairspray, book for musical Kinky Boots) Harvey Fierstein (1954) Comic Sandra Bernhard (1955) Porn writer/director J. C. Adams (1970) Mean Girls actor Jonathan Bennett (1981)

7Writer (Eva Trout) Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973)

Crime fiction writer George Baxt (1923-2003) Novelist (Totempole) Sanford Friedman (1928-2010) Country singer Wilma Burgess (1939-2003) Author Allan Gurganus (1947)

12 Artist Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929)

Novelist (Nightwood) Djuna Barnes (1892-1982) Dressmaker to English queens Norman Hartnell (1901-79) Bisexual author Brigid Brophy (1929-95) Actors Jim Nabors (1930) and Scott Thompson (1959)

Bisexual actor Errol Flynn (1909-59) Author (Just As I Am) E. Lynn Harris (1956-2009)

Actress (Born Yesterday) Judy Holliday (1921-65) Writer (Loving Her) Ann Allen Shockley (1927) Actress (Family Ties) Meredith Baxter (1947)

22Tenor Peter Pears (1910-86)

Fashion designer Bill Blass (1922-2002) Bronski Beat lead singer Jimmy Somerville (1961) Actor (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) Jai Rodriguez (1979)

23 Sex researcher Alfred C. Kinsey (1894-1956)

Poet (Magic Words) Edward Field (1924) Film director (Howards End ) James Ivory (1928)

13 Comedian (Bewitched) Paul Lynde (1926-1982)

French novelist Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-87) Photographer Angus McBean (1904-90) Episcopal priest/author Malcolm Boyd (1923-2015) Desert Hearts director Donna Deitch (1945) Doctor/AIDS journalist Peter Jepson-Young (1957-92) GLAD Civil Rights Project Director Mary Bonauto (1961), who argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28, 2015, on behalf of same-sex marriage equality

14 Singer/songwriter “Boy” George O’Dowd (1961) 25 Author (The Normal Heart) Larry Kramer (1935) 15 Author (The Front Runner) Patricia Nell Warren (1936) Porn actor Al Parker (1952-92)

Songwriter (Anything Goes; Kiss Me, Kate, “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”) Cole Porter (1891-1964) Mystery writer Jean M. Redmann (1955)

17Writer/photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964)

to win an Academy Award (Gone with the Wind) Playwright (The Winslow Boy) Terence Rattigan (1911-77) Children’s book illustrator/writer (Where the Wild Things Are) Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) Screenwriter (Milk) Dustin Lance Black (1974)

18 Painter Agnes Goodsir (1864-1939)

9 Painter Ethel Walker (1861-1951)

10 Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952), first African-American

Illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher (1939)

Actor (The Phantom of the Opera) Simon Callow (1949) Actor (How I Met Your Mother) Neil Patrick Harris (1973)

Computer scientist/cryptanalyst Alan Turing (1912-54) Murderer of Joe Orton, Kenneth Halliwell (1926-67) Author (Equal Affections) David Leavitt (1961)

Singer/songwriter (“Faith”) George Michael (1963)

Transgender activist Lou Sullivan (1951-91) British singer Joe McElderry (1991)

Artist/writer Branwell Brontë (1817-48) Singer Lance Loud (1951-2001) of An American Family Writer Stephen McCauley (1955) Actor (Will & Grace) Sean Hayes (1970)

Finnish-Swedish film director Mauritz Stiller (1883-1928) Singer (“Copacabana”) Barry Manilow (1943) Cricketer Steven Davies (1986)

(1935-2007) Politician Jim Kolbe (1942) Football player David Kopay (1942)

16 Colombian author Jaime Manrique (1949)

Three-time Tony winner director Jack O’Brien (1939)

19England’s King James I (1566-1625)

28 Are You Being Served? actor John Inman

29 Writer/photographer Charles Clegg (1916-79), co-owner with his lover Lucius Beebe of the newspaper Territorial Enterprise, which once employed Mark Twain

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column guest

Sean Strub’s ‘Body Counts’ Author and AIDS activist talks about his book detailing history of early HIV epidemic

Mark S. King Before my interview with activist Sean Strub, author of “Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival,” let me share a revealing story. It was late 2011 and my life was in shambles. The breakup of a long term relationship had sent me into a spiral, followed closely by a devastating drug addiction relapse. I had weathered the fallout and taken refuge at my mother’s home in Louisiana. And then came a phone call from Sean Strub, founder of POZ Magazine and lifelong advocate for those of us living with HIV. We were acquainted but not yet close friends and the request he made during the call surprised me. Would I be willing, he wondered, to come visit him for a few weeks and help get his new HIV anti-criminalization effort, The Sero Project, off the ground? Sean had read a blog posting I had written about my breakup and relapse, and must have known I wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders. I was a recovering addict with a trail of wreckage in my recent past, and yet he wanted me to come work with him. Like, in his home. Within days I drove 1,400 miles to his Pennsylvania town. I managed to get some work done but mostly I piddled around his home office, getting my bearings again while we traded war stories and gossip from across our desks. Sean was passionate about every topic and a great teacher on contemporary HIV advocacy issues. Before long, the real purpose of Sean’s long

distance invitation became clear to me. He didn’t really need much help, but he knew that I did. He saw someone with potential who would benefit from a little mentorship, encouragement, and a friend. And God, he was right. Our time together strengthened and refocused me. Since then, I have heard many stories about Sean Strub taking people under his wing and helping to lift them up to a better place. My admiration makes it nearly impossible to objectively review his remarkable memoir, “Body Counts.” I am an unapologetic fan and grateful friend. That being said, you must finish reading this article and go directly to Amazon and buy his book. “Body Counts” is one of the most wide-ranging and well written remembrances to come out of the AIDS crisis. It seamlessly combines the social, political, and sexual landscape of Sean’s journey. It moved me to tears more than once, and taught me a lot about what happened behind the scenes during the dawn of the century’s greatest public health crisis. All that, and there’s a ton of great celebrity stories about people like John and Yoko (Sean was there the night Lennon was shot), Andy Warhol, and a host of colorful others. Sean agreed to a conversation to discuss everything from his memoir to body image, sexual abuse, the legacy of AIDS, and the state of the HIV community today. Here is that conversation:

“Body Counts” is such a marvelous achievement, Sean. So much history here, personal and otherwise, and witnessed from such close proximity. Thanks for not holding back the juicy stuff about politicians and celebrities!

For better or worse, politicians and celebrities are intertwined with the history of the epidemic, in ways both bad and good. My perspective at times is unusual–like when I was running the “Senators Only” elevator in the U.S. Capitol–and I tried to present the humanity, good and bad, of those I write about. Also, in terms of the epidemic, it was a conscious decision and key strategy to exploit celebrities to gain attention and action in response to the epidemic. Elizabeth Taylor knew this better than anyone and she was amazing at getting others to join her in spending their celebrity capital on behalf of something important.

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And you’re our tour guide through those years. I think your criticism of President Bill Clinton’s AIDS response might be surprising to people. Aren’t we supposed to love him?

Others have suggested that Clinton’s post-presidency focus on the global epidemic is an effort to atone for his failing in this regard during his presidency. When salon.com published an excerpt from “Body Counts” that was about the Clinton Administration, it generated a lot of nasty comments. It was the epidemic driving a generation of gay men out of the closet and into activism that ultimately was critical to electing Bill Clinton, yet as soon as he was elected it seems like the air was let out of our activist balloon. In some ways I think we–as a queer community–are more effective as outsiders, where we had to learn to survive, than we are as insiders, where we haven’t

SouthFloridaGayNews

been as welcome or skilled. When Clinton was elected, many of our leaders became insiders and didn’t take everyone with them. I’m glad you’re not letting people off the hook. Was it important for you to save our AIDS history from those who might revision it?

Initially the impetus for writing “Body Counts” came from the realization that, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer of us around from the early days who could tell what happened first-hand. It was also a way of validating my own life. I didn’t grow up wanting to be an AIDS activist; I had other plans, but in the early 80’s my life was hijacked by the epidemic. Writing “Body Counts” gave me some understanding of why I made the choices I made. But the more I dug into the history I also saw how those years have been

column guest

misrepresented or misunderstood, particularly the role of people with AIDS and HIV. Grassroots community efforts are often dismissed, minimized or ignored. Historical truth is always more complex than the simplified–and sometimes manipulated–version of popular history we are led to believe. The epidemic’s history has been, to an extent, commodified, rewritten to serve some agenda. I think it is important to have as many first-person accounts, especially from people with HIV who were on the frontlines, so our experiences get documented and preserved. And as time passes, there will be more archives available, with documents from those years that will tell an even fuller picture. As we get more perspective, the epidemic and our response to it, is understood in new ways and that’s a good thing. The ongoing theme to your AIDS work, in fact, has been a respect and focus on people living with the virus themselves. You carry that banner ﬁercely.

I don’t think the LGBT community, or people with HIV, have gotten the credit we deserve for what we did in those early years. How we came together to love and care for each other was something remarkable. We should the world our very best face and what we did then should be celebrated and recognized as a model, worthy of emulation in many kinds of situations. I also know that it was other people with HIV who comforted me, educated me and enabled me to survive.

Photos: Facebook.

time, but shame-shedding doesn’t happen in an instant, it is incremental and I suspect, for me, will be a lifelong process. I can’t imagine revisiting some of the trauma you describe in the book, such as childhood sexual abuse and a rape by a roommate. Was it brutal to write?

I wouldn’t call revisiting those memories brutal, but it was at times emotionally draining. Ultimately, it was healthy for me to process pain, hurt, guilt and shame that I had carried for years. You write that it took 20 years to recognize the rape for what it was. Do we have a problem as gay men seeing ourselves as victims of this sort of abuse?

When it happened I didn’t even think of the word rape as having any applicability to men. I was still so ashamed of my sexual desire and also conflicted about the degree of responsibility I bore for what happened. For many years I blocked out the sexual abuse and sexual violence I had experienced; it made me uncomfortable to think about because I didn’t think there was anything constructive I could do with those memories except feel bad about them. Now I can look back and see that while I may have been precocious in some ways, I was incredibly naive and vulnerable in other ways. In the process, I not only forgave those who hurt me but I ended up, quite unexpectedly, forgiving myself as well.

The book is a reclamation on your body — from shame about it, from infection, from the sexual abuse you suffered. Do you think it’s a common challenge for gay men to love their physical selves?

You were absolutely on death’s door for a few years, and squeaked through in time for new medications to save you. And you were outright deﬁant about showing the Karposi’s Sarcoma (KS) lesions that covered your body during that time.

The title, “Body Counts,” is an intentional double entendre, referring to the loss of life from the epidemic, of course, but also my personal lifelong struggle for control of my body. It has had many enemies: the Catholic church which taught me that they owned my body, sexual abusers who exploited me, a government that sought to control my sexual expression, HIV itself and even the drugs to treat HIV. It has gotten better over

I think if more of my identity and self-worth had been found in my body I might have been more likely to pursue cosmetic treatments for the KS. And the objectification of bodies is practically in the DNA of gay culture. Even as I began to accept my own body, it was within a context that clearly told me the body I had wasn’t a gay ideal. I’m skinny, have no chest and am not especially athletic.

On the other hand, not conforming to that ideal, not being as invested in it, made it perhaps a bit easier when my body become so obviously ravaged by AIDS and, especially, Kaposi’s Sarcoma. Less of my self-identity was in my body, so its decline didn’t degrade my self-worth as much as it might have for others. I didn’t treat the visible KS lesions because I knew there were no treatments that would slow their growth and I already spent too much time in doctor’s offices. That was almost unimaginable to many people who were horrified that I had visible lesions and took no steps to even disguise them with makeup. I make the mistake of assuming people know that AIDS advocacy changed the entire patient/physician dynamic, or that our response to what we endured will forever be remembered. Obviously that isn’t necessarily so, and why books like yours are important.

There is an understanding that AIDS has been different, in many ways, and has had a profound impact on the culture, society, the healthcare system, drug development and approval processes, even geopolitics. I don’t think it is widely understood how different the epidemic might have been

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had it not been for the self-empowerment movement, or how truly radical those early PWA pioneers were. While ACT UP has been an important part of my life and advocacy, so too has the advocacy that precedes ACT UP, that set the stage for our movement. That earliest history hasn’t been as well studied or understood and I tried to give some attention to those years in “Body Counts.” Randy Shilts’ “And the Band Played On” provide an important and detailed view of the early years from his vantage point in San Francisco; the story from those years in New York hasn’t been nearly as thoroughly explored. Also, “And the Band Played On” was written before ACT UP came on the scene. When you ﬁrst arrived at the ofﬁces of a coalition of people with AIDS, you write about having found a place you belonged, at last, even after having begun a business career and worked in politics. What about it struck you so deeply?

Total solidarity. I felt so welcome and safe that it enabled me to overcome the fear of stigma. That’s what I’ve tried to do for others ever since.

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column guest

Continued From Page 31

grieve them. But we filed away that pain, to process later. Now it is later. The explosion in cultural production in the last few years, the films you mention as well as books and exhibitions, is somewhat analogous to the cultural production following the Holocaust. Not so much in the 40’s and 50’s, but by the early 60’s it had started to grow dramatically. Yet 15 or 20 years past the worst of those days, the memories and words and testimonials start to come forth. But even “Dallas Buyers Club” and other works of art haven’t done well with their bottom line. We might be taking a look back, but it isn’t exactly a highly commercial enterprise, is it?

What are the greatest threats to people living with HIV today, or at least to the kind of empowerment groups for us that have been so important to you?

Lack of respect for the principle of patient autonomy. This is happening across the board, as public health becomes militarized, disease securitized and treatments more complex and costly. The concept of the physician as a healer, providing individualized treatment, has too often given way to the physician as an extension of and agent of the state and the pharmaceutical industry, treating populations instead of individuals. You are known to be skeptical of pharma and caution that medication side effects are too often ignored. Some people might ﬁnd that ironic, given that new medications saved your life. Is that fair?

I think skepticism about pharma, when it was pharmaceutical treatments that saved my life, isn’t ironic but common sense. Anti-retrovirals, like many medicines, are powerful treatments. Anything very powerful can be used in a negative or positive way; the more powerful the more important it is to be careful, cautious and skeptical. Skepticism saved my life. Had I not been so skeptical, I would have taken more treatments that, in hindsight, we now know would have hurt me more than helped me. I am alive because I was lucky or smart or

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skeptical enough to refuse pharmaceutical treatments at one point, when they were strongly recommended to me by the medical establishment, as well as because they were available to me and I took them at another point, when I needed them. The irony isn’t found in me. The irony is that a healthcare system that purports to heal and a scientific establishment that purports to be interested in discovery has so often refused to listen to or learn from those living with the disease. Had our voices been valued more highly, the epidemic would never have gotten as big as it has. I’m a little surprised that your book is the ﬁrst memoir by a major imprint about those early years in New York City and the early ACT UP era. What do you make of the recent interest on ﬁlm about AIDS in the 1980’s, such as “How to Survive a Plague” and “Dallas Buyers Club”?

Enough time has past since the worst years that those who survived can reflect with greater objectivity. Many survivors feel compelled to remember the dead and bear witness to what we experienced. That has become a sense of obligation, even a compulsion, for many of us, particularly as we age and realize there are fewer and fewer of us around to speak first-hand about those years. For many it is a delayed grieving; when friends were dying so fast and in such great numbers it wasn’t possible to fully soflagaynews //

No, it isn’t, to many people anything about AIDS is such a downer they aren’t interested. Many gay men have created lives that have protected them, emotionally, from the pain of the epidemic and they don’t want to be reminded of it. But I’m not sure we would be in any better position in terms of addressing the epidemic if the books and films about its earlier years were enormously profitable. There is an historical record that, in time, will be vastly more important than how many copies or tickets are sold today. “Body Counts” seemingly has everything, from Washington politics to brushes with celebrity to your own sex life, and the book had major endorsements. I will admit I thought it would be a bestseller, and rightfully so. Or at least it should have been.

I suspect every author wishes their book sold better and I’m no exception. But while I didn’t make the NY Times bestseller list, “Body Counts” has gotten excellent reviews — almost across the board — and hundreds of people who read it have contacted me with appreciative comments, which is cool. The publisher early on told me she expected the book to have a long sale and she has been proven correct. It is getting assigned in college coursework and continues to sell, even though it has been a

SouthFloridaGayNews

year since the original publication date. College kids are studying your book? That has to be gratifying, and it sounds like the perfect use for your account of this history.

Yeah, that’s cool, isn’t it? I spoke at a dozen colleges and universities last year and found student audiences to be engaged, stimulating and helpful for keeping my own thinking fresh. So what next for you? I know you’ve been doing a book tour and events.

I want to continue working to help people with HIV find greater agency and empowerment, particularly through support of and strengthening of networks of people with HIV. In time, I think the selfempowerment advocacy will start to blur the lines of specific distinctions between diseases and conditions; it will be about a broader movement to take back healthcare and choices about our health and bodies from the corporate grip that has been so damaging to the lives and health of many. I’m increasingly aware of the march of time. Is it too soon to ask how you want to be remembered?

There’s no question but that time becomes more precious as one ages and for those of us, like you and me, who have been lucky to survive when so many of our peers did not, it only makes that sense more intense. It is peculiar to think about how one would like to be remembered because, first of all, no one wants to be remembered for spending much time thinking about how they would like to be remembered. What is important is what I am doing today and if I’m doing that well, it won’t matter how I’m remembered. Mark S. King is an award winning columnist, author, blogger and AIDS advocate who has been involved in gay causes since the early 1980's.

Gazette

Volume 2 • Issue 12 June 17, 2015

Wilton Manors

Twice-Monthly Neighborhood Outlook

Page 1 New City Manager

Page 2 Bike Gangs Abound

Page 3 Real Estate Geek

Page 4 Gables Parking

Page 4 Stonewall Drama

Community

Wilton Manors The ______ City

City searches for tagline By Michael d’Oliveira

In an effort to better define and market the city, officials are in search of a tagline. To come up with one, Conceptual Communications, the city’s public relations firm, will be asking residents and nonresidents for their input. Laurie Menekou, president of Conceptual Communications, said residents can vote on the tagline multiple ways: the city’s e-news letter, social media, paper ballots, at city facilities and through the Town Crier. “We’re going to leverage all the city communication platforms and have people get involved,” Menekou said.

She said the key is to come up with a tagline that is not too broad and not too narrow. Once the voting is over focus groups will be formed to help pick a final tagline and the top two choices will be presented to the commission, which will make the final decision. “In 30 days we’ll have this done,” Menekou said. Mayor Gary Resnick said a tagline could benefit the city in multiple ways, including increased tourism and higher quality job applicants, but warned the choice needs to be made carefully. “We don’t want to dilute the brand.” WMG

Business

Commission Hires Henderson as New City Manager By Michael d’Oliveira

In an historic vote, commissioners chose unanimously to hire the city’s first female city manager. Assistant City Manager Leigh Ann Henderson was hired June 9 to replace outgoing City Manager Joseph Gallegos, who submitted his resignation earlier this year. Gallegos, who has served as city manager since 1999, will step down in October. Henderson, who has been assistant city manager since 2003, has been with the city since 1999 when she started as a part time employee with the Public Works Department. “I believe we’ve made some unique history tonight,” Commissioner Justin Flippen said. Mayor Gary Resnick said the city was going to be handed off to someone with “great skill and vision.” Resident Paul Kuta said choosing Henderson represents “continued professional stability in our city government.”

Henderson said she was honored to be chosen as the first woman to lead the city. “Women have traditionally been underrepresented but that’s shifting. Wilton Manors has a commitment to inclusivity and equality and the commission is just another example of that.” As for Henderson’s replacement, she said finding the next assistant city manager will be one her top priorities. “It’s going to be very important.” Henderson said the search for the next assistant manager would begin this week. The city commission chooses the city manager and city attorney but all other personnel decisions are left up to the city manager. When she becomes city manager, Henderson’s salary will be $162,000. Gallegos’ salary is $163,000. Her compensation also includes a $500 per month transportation allowance. WMG

Photo: WiltonManors.com

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Opinion

Motorcycle Gang Threatening Residents’ Safety Authorities ignoring complaints and concerns By Sal Torre

Gazette Wilton Manors

JUNE 17, 2015 • VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 12 2520 N. DIXIE HIGHWAY • WILTON MANORS, FL 33305 PHONE: 954-530-4970 FAX: 954-530-7943

PUBLISHER • NORM KENT NORM.KENT@SFGN.COM CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER • PIER ANGELO GUIDUGLI ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER / EXECUTIVE EDITOR • JASON PARSLEY JASON.PARSLEY@SFGN.COM

Editorial

ART DIRECTOR • BRENDON LIES ARTWORK@SFGN.COM ONLINE PRODUCER • DENNIS JOZEFOWICZ DENNIS.JOZEFOWICZ@SFGN.COM EDITORIAL ASSISTANT • JILLIAN MELERO JILLIANMELERO@GMAIL.COM NEWS EDITOR • MICHAEL D’OLIVEIRA

Correspondents

CHRISTIANA LILLY • DENISE ROYAL • NATALYA JONES • JOHN MCDONALD • JAMES OAKSUN

Staff Photographers

J.R. DAVIS • POMPANO BILL • STEVEN SHIRES

Sales & Marketing

DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING • MIKE TROTTIER MIKE.TROTTIER@SFGN.COM

On a beautiful Sunday morning in New York City back in 2013, a tragic series of events left an innocent family scarred for life, the young father severely beaten, a gang of motorcyclist rampaging through city streets, one motorcyclist run over by the fleeing family’s SUV, and the real chance that others could have lost their lives. This gang of ATV and motorcycle riders would regularly meet on a Sunday and drive recklessly along city roadways causing mayhem, accidents to other drivers and pedestrians, traffic snarls, and creating an environment for tragedy. Now a similar circumstance is happening right here in Wilton Manors practically every weekend, beginning in Fort Lauderdale and cutting right through Wilton Manors streets and neighborhoods. Despite continued complaints from residents, no one has been stopped, and the mayhem continues. Strangely enough, this mayhem takes place on Sundays, similar to the New York story. I wait to hear similar news one Sunday soon, that tragedy has occurred and that innocent bystanders have been seriously injured. Westside residents have been complaining for months about the regular Sunday occurrence along Powerline Road. One resident describes the mayhem as a bunch of outlaws riding illegal vehicles right through Wilton Manors, some crossing over into lanes of oncoming traffic and over medians. Last weekend, this gang of off-road vehicle drivers decided to terrorize Wilton Drive. Where does the lawlessness end? What is our Police Department doing to stop this madness before tragedy occurs? A recent press release from the WMPD states that the onduty police officer attempted a traffic stop of the 50 - 75 reckless riders, but was unable to pursue them after they failed to comply and pull over. Yes, you read that correctly! The officer could not chase these outlaws for recklessly driving illegal unlicensed vehicles along our roadways and

creating a dangerous public safety situation. How can this be? According to the WMPD, the police are not authorized to chase these lawbreakers unless their actions consist of a “forcible felony.” Thus, our police officer had to terminate any response action. A “forcible felony” entails a list of specific felony crimes, but also includes any felony that involves the threat of physical force or violence against any individual. Well, if such a large group of reckless riders doesn’t involve the threat of physical violence, I can’t imagine what does! If I were overtaken by this group, I certainly would feel threatened, afraid for my safety and that of my friends/family, my vehicle and my property! I guess we will have to wait for someone to be injured, some innocent resident attacked and beaten or run over before action can be taken against these thugs. So we wait for history to repeat itself. We wait for another beautiful Sunday when an innocent family’s life will be changed forever. Who will be the unlucky victims this time? I guess we can all stay off the roads on Sundays, hide in our homes, and let the lawlessness continue along our roadways and throughout our city. We can just hide behind our doors and wait for the sad news that some innocent family was injured in a vehicle accident or that a pedestrian was struck by an ATV motorist who lost control while popping a wheelie and driving into oncoming traffic. Obviously this is no way for a society to live. Our police department better have a plan of action in place to stop this soon. I hope they are working with Fort Lauderdale PD and Broward Sherriff’s Office to formulate a regional response to this cross-border menace. We cannot just sit and wait for some “forcible felony” to occur before they are stopped. Let us not wait until the blood of innocent victims stain our roadways before we see action taken to bring this lawlessness to an end. WMG

SALES MANAGER • JUSTIN WYSE JUSTIN.WYSE@SFGN.COM ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE • EDWIN NEIMANN EDWIN.NEIMANN@SFGN.COM ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE • CINDY CURTIS CINDY.CURTIS@SFGN.COM ACCOUNTING SERVICES BY CG BOOKKEEPING South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law ofﬁce, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs.

Associated Press

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SouthFloridaGayNews June 17, 2015

A Beautiful Day in the Gayborhood

Real Estate Geek

By James Oaksun

Our friends at Trulia (now part of the Zillow/Trulia dinosaur) recently issued a news release describing changes in “Gayborhood” real estate prices since 2012. Of local interest was their inclusion of Wilton Manors, which ranked us some distance down the list compared with other areas. Their basis of comparison was zip code, and they called zip code 33305 “Wilton Manors.” First, zip code 33305 isn't Wilton Manors. While a good chunk of Wilton Manors is included in 33305, most of that zip code is Fort Lauderdale, and includes parts of South Middle River, Middle River Terrace, Poinsettia Heights, Coral Ridge and even part of the beach! But consider the larger claim – that values in “Wilton Manors” are up 18 percent since 2012. Sure enough, when you consider all of the city of Wilton Manors, that's not right either! The median sale price of a single family home at the start of 2012 was $230,000. And what's the price today? $360,000! That's a 57-percent increase, not 18. Because valuations vary across Wilton Manors I also considered the three neighborhood associations. Valuations everywhere are up significantly since January of 2012.

The bottom of the market in the Island City was the second quarter of 2011. Those who had the foresight – or perhaps bravery – to buy properties here in that time frame made a great deal of money. But let's be conservative. Assume someone bought a typical home in the center of town in January 2012 and made a 30 percent down payment. Their total return on equity over three and a half years (before taxes and expenses) is 194 percent. That's 36 percent per year compounded. Compare that to the one percent per year you got by buying a certificate of deposit. While I commend Trulia for an interesting story idea, their general stab at this issue missed the ground level particulars in our community and perhaps others. Only a local market expert, or someone with a particular mindset and data access, can make a true assessment.

Photo: Facebook.

James Oaksun, Broward's Real Estate GeekSM, is a Realtor with the Wilton Manors office of RE/MAX Preferred. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a graduate of the Realtors Institute (GRI).

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Business

Community

Drama Engulfs Stonewall Gables Begins Enforcing Parking, Brings Out the Boot Two sponsors furious over City’s handling of this year’s event

By Michael d’Oliveira

A “battle” for 10 retail parking spaces at the Gables Wilton Park has its roots in the city’s decision not to require parking for Wilton Drive retail establishments. Randy Welker, economic development coordinator, said the city has been lax on requiring retail parking because it’s trying to encourage retailers to locate to Wilton Drive. It’s part of the effort to draw more people to the city’s most popular commercial area during the day. “We did this because [Wilton Drive] is a special area.” Welker added that there was plenty of parking right across the street in the city parking lot at Hagen Park. “We have a parking lot right there. You’re literally right across the street from a parking lot.” Although the city didn’t require the Gables, which has 145 residential units and 19,000 square feet of commercial space, to provide more parking for the businesses there, Tom Rossetti, owner of Rossetti Fine Art Gallery, said it’s ridiculous that the Gables hasn’t done so on its own. Most of the spaces, he said, are “hogged” by employees and that forces the business owners to compete with their own customers for a parking spot. He said he often has to park in a residential spot and wait for a retail one to open up. It’s not a problem before 6 p.m. but after that the Gables starts booting. “I’ve been booted twice behind my own gallery. If we’re renting, why can’t [the business owners] get a spot? We pay more than these [apartment] renters.” Infinty lounge customer Craig Hobberman said he’s very careful not to park in the wrong spot. “It gets very crowded.” At the entrance to the complex, a sign

By Michael d’Oliveira

warn visitors that unauthorized vehicles will be towed or booted. Inside the complex, 10 parking spots are designated specifically for retail customers and have corresponding signs. Two of those spots are for 15-minute parking only. But no signs exist designating spaces for residents only, leaving it unclear if customers can park there. In addition there are no signs inside the complex warning potential parkers that they may be towed or booted. John McDonald, a South Florida Gay News writer, said he was parked directly behind Infinity Lounge and had his car booted. Richard Wexler, owner of Richard’s Men’s Hair Shop, and Michael DaSilva, manager at Scarfone’s, said they understand why Gables’ management is exercising stricter control over the parking spaces. “How would you feel coming home and not having a parking space [because it’s taken up by a customer]? This is someone’s home,” said DaSilva, who added he thinks it’s pretty clear where customers are allowed to park. Up until recently, parking wasn’t strictly enforced. That’s possibly due to Gables only recently filling up most of its commercial space. Before, with few businesses bringing customers in to take spots, residents never had to worry about their spots being taken. This past spring though, said Gables resident Carl Cappuccio, parking started to become a problem. But, once residents started voicing concerns to management “the situation greatly improved,” Cappuccio said. “I and several residents are pleased with the ample parking.” Calls to Gables management were not returned in time for publication. WMG

Despite being $26,000 short of sponsorships for the June 20 Stonewall festival, two publishers accused Stonewall organizers of not asking them to help sponsor the event. At the June commission meeting, Peter Clark, publisher of Hot Spots, and Norm Kent, publisher of South Florida Gay News, said they were not given the opportunity to sponsor the stages available and the total sponsorship opportunity was capped at $25,000. “We just got screwed,” Kent said. “My sponsorships in a lot of cities is greater,” said Clark, who added that there’s not enough time for him to join now. “We’ve been blocked on all four stages.” They accused organizers of favoring Multimedia Platforms, which owns Guy Mag and The Agenda, by giving that publication stage sponsorships. Kent also criticized the choice of Billy Bean as grand marshal. Bean, a former Major League Baseball player, came out as gay in 1999 and was named as MLBs first Ambassador of Inclusion. He also serves as a national spokesperson of Multimedia Platforms. Kent, who calls Bean a friend, said it “looks insulting” to have a Multimedia Platforms representative serve as grand marshal. In an email, Kent brought up the ties of Jeff Sterling, executive director of the Stonewall event, to Multimedia. Sterling, who owns a small number of shares in Multimedia Platforms and who once leased office space to The Agenda, said no one received special treatment. “Everyone got the same sponsor book,” said Sterling, who added that no sponsorships were capped at $25,000. “We only control the center stage. Anyone can buy a stage. There are still two more stages not going up because no one bought them.” He added that it might look like Multimedia Platforms got special treatment but “they

were just shrewd. They worked faster than anybody else. We feel bad that there’s this perception but there’s no grand conspiracy.” Kent shot back. “That’s the problem. The contract wasn’t supposed to be awarded to someone being shrewd. The contract was to provide equal rights to all media entities, and this they did not do,” he said. Before the June 9 commission meeting, an email was sent out offering a $3,000 cosponsorship of the center stage. After the June 9 commission meeting, City Manager Joseph Gallegos, in an email to Kent, apologized “for not notifying you earlier of the opportunities for sponsorship of the subject event.” He also informed Kent that exclusive sponsorship of the parade, and with it the choice of parade marshal, had been offered to Clark. Other sponsorship opportunities were highlighted as well. But both offers were declined. UPDATE: It was learned just before press time that HotSpots will now sponsor the city parade with Clark stating he is “happy” that the community worked together during Pride week. WMG

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SouthFloridaGayNews June 17, 2015

DISTINCTIVE HOMES

Visit us online at

JOE-JIM.COM

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11,871 sf lot

Impact windows

Spacious Renovated Home ~ Over-sized Park Like Grounds ~ 2 Car Garage

Just Listed

11331 SW 1st Court, $1,199,999 5 bedrooms

Recently Repriced

Wilton Manors

Fort Lauderdale

Recently Repriced

RiverLandings1741.com

11331ShadyLane.com 1741 NE 4th Avenue, $304,900 40,388 sf lot

3 bedrooms

2.5 bathrooms

1,786 sf

Pet friendly

Stunning Rare Opportunity, Custom Built by Internationally known architect Daniel Adache End Unit Town Home ~ Gated Pool Community ~ 1 Car Garage

Fort Lauderdale Beach

Just Listed

3.5 bathrooms

2,680 sf

Just Listed

LaRive704.com 412 NW 20th Street, $469,000

715 Bayshore Drive #704, $950,000 3 bedrooms

Wilton Manors

Pet friendly

3 bedrooms

Contemporary Boutique Building, Large open ﬂoor plan, Lives like a home, Water views

Joe Ando & Jim Cunningham Realtor Associates | 954.839.8800 jando@onesothebysrealty.com jcunningham@onesothebysrealty.com

2 bathrooms

1,696 sf

412NW20St.com 7,997 sf lot

Water front pool home, Nicely update, Meticulously kept

401 E Las Olas Boulevard, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 ©MMXIV ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, licensed real estate broker. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a licensed trademark to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. The information contained herein is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Prices subject to change without notice.

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Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

lifestyle

Celebrate Pride With This GenderQueer Playlist

Nicole Wiesenthal

To kick-off LGBT Pride Month, Spotify, a music streaming platform, unveiled “the most streamed pride songs across pride themed playlists on the platform.” After analyzing tens of thousands of pride playlists, it compiled a list of 20 songs including Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow” and Britney Spears’ “Work Bitch.” Here at South Florida Gay News, we decided to create our own pride playlist focusing on gender queer artists who usually don’t get much mainstream attention. We welcome you to listen to the playlist, discover new artists and be proud of how beautiful and unique your community is. Happy Pride.

1. Who Am I to Feel So Free – JD Samson and Men JD Samson, known for being a musician, producer, songwriter and DJ, has been a member of the MEN and Le Tigre bands. She’s on this list because she has identified herself as genderqueer and a gender outlaw, according to Under the Radar. She’s a feminist and her music comes hand in hand with her gender identity.

2. Ocean Blue – Rae Spoon

5. Battle Cry – Angel Haze, ft. Sia Angel Haze, as they’re known under their stage name, identifies as agender. They’re a rapper and singer in the hiphop scene. Angel has appeared in many magazines and on many websites with their music growing in popularity every day, according to Buzzfeed.

6. Talkin’ About a Revolution – Justin Vivian Bond Justin Vivian is a cabaret performer who identifies using the pronouns “v/v’s.” V identifies out of the gender binary and is most famous for v’s character Kiki Durane, according to nonbinary.org.

7. I Was a Teenage Anarchist – Against Me! Against Me! Is featured on this list because the lead singer, Laura Jane Grace, is a transgender woman. The punk rock alternative band has had several songs featured on the Billboard 200. Their most recent album is called Transgender Dysphoria Blues, released in January, 2014, according to All Music.

Rae is a songwriter, film score composer, music producer, multi-instrumentalist and published author. Rae identifies using the pronouns “they/them/their” and has published books on their gender, according to their website.

10. Hope There’s Someone – Antony and The Johnsons Antony Hegarty, the lead for Antony and The Johnsons, identifies as transgender, though a feminist transgender. They said they leave it up to other’s to decide what pronouns to use for them, according to Flavor Wire. They’ve released several albums and won the Mercury Music Prize.

4. Secret Girl – Nikki Exotika This transgender woman is known as a success on her own, but has also created a transgender pop band called The Secret Girls. She said she wants to create a mainstream transgender group that the whole world will recognize because transgender models, actresses and book writers have already reached popularity, according to Queerty. Nikki Exotica. Photo: Facebook. soflagaynews //

Namoli Brennet is a gender-variant singer-songwriter whose songs focus on the human experience and her identity. She has been featured on NPR and PBS, according to her website.

Geo Wyeth is a transgender musician and performance artist whose songs are brooding and deep voice. He describes his work as queer because he is queer, according to the Huffington Post.

A well-known singer, actress and bisexual, Miley Cyrus has recently embraced LGBT activism, creating the Happy Hippie Foundation for vulnerable LGBT youth. She said in an interview that she didn’t identify with either gender. “I didn’t want to be a boy,” she said. “I kind of wanted to be nothing,” according to OUT.

// 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

8. Thorn in your Side – Namoli Brennet

9. Dead Key – Geo Wyeth

3. We Can’t Stop – Miley Cyrus

Angel Haze. Credit: Jørund Føreland Pedersen

SouthFloridaGayNews

You can listen to The Gender Queer Playlist on Spotify now. It’s important to recognize and support your fellow LGBT people. If you like the playlist, share it with your friends and family, and feel free to check out the music of any and all of these lovely artists. Playlist at: http://bit.ly/1SiPkXq

lifestyle cars

D R I V E N

2016

Ford F-150 Ecoboost Steve Siler

Can Ford Build a Hot Hauler? Truck yeah!

Gays and lesbians are a vastly divergent group, but we tend to agree on one thing: we love our full-size trucks. And not just because we need vehicles that project unbridled machismo, or compensate for a lack thereof. Seriously, whether you’re hauling junk out of your closet to Out of the Closet or pulling your boat to the lake, having a truck in the household just makes all sorts of things simpler. And never has it been easier to live with a truck than it is now. Trucks can now be equipped with the kinds of spoils that rival most BMWs, but no BMW can take a load in the back—sorry, had to—like one of these bad boys. And the best of the breed—sorry again—it can be argued, is the all-new Ford F-150. Square-jawed and handsome, the new F-150 feels fresh and modern inside and out, and comes in more flavors than there are colors in the rainbow, from bare bones work truck to the country-kitsch King Ranch. And while prices can creep into the $50Ks for the nicest of them, don’t think you have to spend a fortune to get into one. We recently tested a simple, denim blue 2WD XLT model with cloth seats and navigation that rang up a tab of under $40K, and it was perfectly sweet. And the F-150’s good looks are more than skin deep. Ford used aluminum for the body, which means it’s much lighter in weight, and handles and brakes far more responsively than before. Also, a turbo V-6 satisfies the previous requirement of V-8 power to get true truck work done when time comes to haul more than ass.

The only problem with owning a truck like this—besides keeping it fueled up, which isn’t always inexpensive—is the onslaught of fair-weather friends that suddenly pop up after they get kicked out of their boyfriend’s apartment for Grindr-ing in bed, or buy a couch at CB2. Then again, truck ownership is a good way to glean other sorts of favors from those same friends. Exactly what form those favors take is entirely up to you.

-150

2015 Ford F

Base Price: from $26,995 Power: 3.5-liter V-6 (283–365 hp,

255–420 lb-ft of torque); 5.0-liter V-8 (385 hp, 387 lb-ft of torque)

Transmission: 6-speed automatic Fuel Economy, city/hwy mpg (EPA est): varies

OR YOU COULD BUY:

Photos: Ford.

GMC Sierra Chevrolet Silverado Ram 1500

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 //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

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// 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

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c.2015, Beacon Press

The song went ‘round and ‘round in your head. Maybe that’s why it’s called “a round.” You know how it works: one group starts to sing and, when they get to a certain point, the next group begins anew and so on, until the endings lap like waves. But, as in the new book “Course Correction” by Ginny Gilder, the things we plan don’t always go merrily, merrily, merrily. The first time Ginny Gilder ever saw a rowing team in action; she was sixteen and didn’t quite know what she was seeing. Everything about that boat, its rowers, and the motion spoke of serenity and control – things Gilder lacked in her young life. She was “a goner.” Two years later, while enrolled at Yale, she finally got a chance to try the sport, though the women’s rowing coach strongly discouraged her. Gilder was physically shorter than is optimal for a rower and, because Title IX (ensuring an end to gender discrimination at federally funded institutions) had only recently passed, she’d never seriously engaged in sports before. She was out of shape and inexperienced, but determined. She started training, running, and practicing. Within six weeks, she was competing. “Everything hurt,” she says, “including my butt. My hands sported new blisters, my lungs felt like they had been rubbed with sandpaper... I had never felt happier.” For the rest of that year, Gilder threw herself into her newfound love, barely socializing except with teammates at workouts, training, and competitions. Rowing helped her focus and forget about the home life she’d escaped: her family’s wealth, her father’s infidelity, and her

SouthFloridaGayNews

mother’s mental health issues. Rowing helped hide her self-consciousness and lack of self-esteem. She saw her teammates swagger and confidence, and she saw two of them try out for the US Olympic team in Montreal. At least one teammate was gay and didn’t try to hide it; says Gilder, “I couldn’t imagine being that bold or comfortable…” Her self-doubts were exacerbated by family naysayers and by Gilder’s own inner critic – a voice she had to silence before she could excel at the sport she needed to her core. She also had to come to terms with all aspects of herself – including her sexuality. I’m very happy to say that “Course Correction,” while sometimes a little rough in a first-time-author way is, overall, a nice surprise. Between a breathless story of the making of an athlete, author Ginny Gilder writes of the past that caused her to lose faith in herself, even as she was gaining strength, physically and intellectually. That uncertainty of self – a big part of this book – led to many regrettable decisions, and is portrayed so well that it’s hard not to feel empathetic. That empathy only leads us to want more. Add in heart-pounding accounts of races and trials and you’ve got a nice memoir about a subject that’s largely unsung by an author to watch. And if that sounds like an ideal read to you, then try “Course Correction.” This book is but a dream.

soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

lifestyle food

Savor Our City Takes On Wilton Manors A

Rick Karlin

Humpy's Pizza

few months ago I took part in a culinary tour of Delray Beach, run by Denise Righetti, founder and CFO (Chief Foodie Officer) of Savor Our City. I was so impressed with her tour I suggested that she do one of Wilton Manors. After taking her on a tour of some of our town’s best restaurants and specialty food shops she decided that it was time for Wilton Manors to make its mark on the culinary scene. On Wednesday, July 1, I will lead the inaugural “Savor Our City – Wilton Manors” tour which will combine tastings from area restaurants with fun facts about the rich history of the “Island City.” The tour takes foodies behind the scenes into the hottest restaurants and specialty food shops, where they will sample signature bites.

Naked Grape

Out Of The Oven 13 Even Stonewall Gallery

JP's Chocolate Shoppe

Manors

I am very excited to announce that this first tour will include; Mind Your Manors, The Naked Grape, Humpy's Pizza, Out of the Oven, Thirteen and JP's Chocolates with restaurateurs, chefs and shop owners meeting with the group to introduce their businesses and menus. In between bites, I’ll be pointing out Wilton Manors landmark sites, such as the original city hall location, former chicken coops that are now quaint homes and even a former movie location as we review the town’s rich history, from its beginnings in the 1920s through its resurgence and revitalization in the 1980s up to its vibrant present. We’ll even get a tour of Stonewall National Museum and Archives Gallery on Wilton Drive. I am pleased to be working with Denise Righetti on this project. She has a reputation for creating unique foodie events in Boca Raton and Delray Beach even before creating Savor Our City. “Wilton Manors has such a diverse and vibrant dining scene" states Righetti. “We are planning to hold the tours the first Wednesday of each month, with a different line-up of restaurants each time. I am so pleased that Rick has agreed to head up our exploration of Wilton Manors. He combines nearly 40 years of experience writing about food and dining with extensive knowledge of the history of what makes Wilton Manors unique.” The first tour will take place on Wednesday, July 1st. The meeting location will be given at time of ticket purchase. Tickets for the tour are $65 per person, plus tax. Space on the tour is limited, for reservations, go to http:// SavorOurCity.com/Wilton-Manors or www.Facebook. com/SavorOurCity.

// 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

soflagaynews //

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Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

lifestyle food

Divine Dining Deals

Mojo's and Lips: Submitted photos. Southport Raw Bar and Tom Jenkins: Facebook.

Rick Karlin

ow that the snowbirds have flown the coop and the Spring Break crowd has left, the places that count on the support of tourists in high season are offering residents deep discounts. Of course, there are also those places that always offer deals on nights that might otherwise be slow. While many places claim to offer happy hour specials

Mojo 4140 N. Federal Hwy. Fort Lauderdale 954-568-4443 Mojoﬂ.com

At one of my favorite restaurants, the $20 three-course prix fixe, apps, entrees and dessert deal, as well as select martinis for $6 are usually available only on Tuesdays. However, from June through October, you can take advantage of

the deal Mondays and Wednesdays, as well. For those who dine early and want to order a la carte, if you’re seated before 6:30, they’ll give you a free soup or salad and dessert with any entrée every day but Sunday.

The restaurant offers specials every night, including Monday steak nights for $10.99, Thursday surf and turf for $14.99, and a New England clambake Saturdays. Additionally, the “Family Sampler” combo meal features enough

Morton’s the Steakhouse Fort Lauderdale 500 E. Broward Blvd Fort Lauderdale 954-467-9720

Lips 1421 E. Oakland Park Blvd. Fort Lauderdale 954-567-0987 LipsFLA.com

depending on the night. There’s also a $22 prix fixe brunch. Those prices include the show, but not tips for the girls. And you’d better tip, because otherwise...

Southport Raw Bar 1536 Cordova Rd., Fort Lauderdale 954-525-2526 SouthPortRawBar.com

Some of the specials available include dolphin fingers for $9.25, the gator burger for $4.95 and full pound-and-a-half of snow

5 6 7

Marti’s New River Bistro at the Broward Center 954.660.6333 BrowardCenter.org/Visit/Dining/Martis

2 The gals there will give you a special prix fixe (and that’s not a euphemism for a tuck), which usually includes Caesar salad, choice of entrees and dessert for anywhere from $19 to $25,

on “bar bites,” many times the prices for those items is exactly the same as it is on the dinner menu, or the serving size is reduced to compensate for the lower price. The following places all offer true bargains year-round, but often expand the scope of the discounts or time frame during the off-season, giving you even more incentive to check these real deals.

Tom Jenkins 1236 S. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale 954-522-5046 TomJenkinsBBQ.com

for six people; with a half rack of pork spare ribs, a half a chicken, one pound each of chopped pork and sliced beef, plus large orders of collard greens, mac and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw and six corn muffins.

// 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

soflagaynews //

Morton’s also woos the pre-theater set with a prixfixe menu and complimentary valet parking. The menu, priced at $52 per person, is available from 5:306:30 p.m. and includes a choice of Morton’s or Caesar salad, entrée, vegetable or potato and dessert. Entrée selections include filet mignon and lump crab cakes among other options. The food at the street-side café is better than it has to be (or what you might expect) although service is a bit haphazard. In addition to daily specials listed on the blackboard there are also theme nights. On Monday beef tacos are only a buck each, chicken wings are 50 cents each on Tuesday, on Wednesday all burgers are half price and on Thursday, it’s 2 for 1 dinners with a drink purchase.

Sizzling Summer Specials The places locals frequent may take a hit during the summer, but the restaurants and bars that rely on tourists really have to go the extra mile to bring in business during the off season. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitors Bureau offers a summer discount card valid May 1 to Oct. 1. Some of the discounts are only available during certain hours or on weekdays. Go to www.Sunny.org/Ways-ToPlay/Summer to print out coupons or have them mail you a special discount card. Check the website for specific details, but among the dining deals are:

crab legs and corn on the cob for $19.95. Download a coupon from the restaurant’s web site for more deals.

Beefcakes (at Boardwalk) 1721 N Andrews Ave. Fort Lauderdale 954-463-6969 BoardWalkBar.com

Next time you’re going to a show at The Broward Center, check out Marti’s pre-theater prix fixe. The $36 dinner includes a choice of soup, Greek salad or tomato and fresh mozzarella with aged balsamic syrup as an appetizer. The entrée options feature; lobster and shrimp mac and cheese, crispy chicken, Asian duck confit, grilled churrasco steak, veal Bolognese, pan-seared pork chop, or the catch of the day. Sweet endings include a choice of key lime pie, double chocolate cake or seasonal berries.

Cypress Nook Bavaria Haus 201 E McNab Rd., Pompano Beach 954-933-7311 CypressNook.com On Wed-Sat from 5-9 p.m. enjoy 2-for-1 appetizers or 2-for-1entrées with the purchase of two alcoholic beverages. Kilwin's Ice Cream 115 Commercial, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. 954-267-8991 Kilwins.com Buy 2 slices of hand paddled Mackinaw Island Fudge, and get one slice free every day from 11 a.m. until closing.

SouthFloridaGayNews

Le Bistro 4626 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale 954-946-9240 LebistroRestaurant.com Offers 2-for-1 appetizers, desserts, coffee and tea at the bar during happy hour. Rok:brgr 600 Silks Run, Hallandale Beach. 954-367-3970 RokBrgr.com The summer special includes a number of drinks and “signiﬁcantly” reduced prices on bar bites There’s also the regularly scheduled “Monday Burger Bash,” which gets you any burger for $10.

Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Night! EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT 2 for 1 dinners* and drink specials all night long *with drink purchase

$34.95 PRIX-FIXE THREE COURSE MENU ALL SUMMER (MON - SUN) Santa Lucia Ristorante 2701 E Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306

(954) 396-0930

SantaLuciaRistorante.com

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Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

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BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER SUNDAY BRUNCH 1140 SEABREEZE BLVD. FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33316 T: 954.727.7090 DOSCAMINOS.COM

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// SFGN.com //

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SouthFloridaGayNews

4/25/14

11:45 AM

lifestyle history

HOMO HISTORY 101 History was never as straight as we are told. Recording our history means reporting the truth. Pier Angelo

olm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet who focuses on homosexual identities. Photo: Facebook.

Milan Rozsa, (1988 -2014), leading

figure in Hungary’s LGBT equality movement made headlines in February 2014 when he climbed into the grounds of the Russian embassy in Budapest to protest Russia’s treatment of LGBTs. He died November 2014 after stepping in front of a train in an apparent suicide. In 2012 Stuart Milk of the Harvey Milk Foundation brought him to the U.S. to attend a White House reception hosted by President Obama. Rozsa’s own father also committed suicide a day after his son led the Budapest LGBT pride march in 2011 only a year after it had been banned by authorities over fears of violence against marchers.

Sir Hector MacDonald, (1853 –1903), was born in Dingwall, Scotland. Also known as Fighting Mac, he was a distinguished Victorian soldier. MacDonald left school before he was 15, enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders as a private at 17, and finished his career as a major general, "one of only a few British Army generals who rose from the ranks on his own merit and professionalism." He distinguished himself in action at Omdurman (1898), became a popular hero in Scotland and England, and was knighted for his service in the Second Boer War. Posted to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as Commander-in-Chief of British forces, he committed suicide in 1903 following accusations of homosexual activity with local boys. He remains a national hero in Scotland. A 100 foot high memorial was erected above Dingwall in 1907. Harrish Iyer, ( born 1979) Mumbaibased gay rights activist, was hit with a wave of criticism after his mother added a caste preference to his historic matrimonial advertisement. Iyer’s mother, Padma, placed India’s first ‘gay groom’ wanted ad on May 19 in Mid-Day newspaper after several other publications rejected her request. The ad, which sought an “animal-loving, vegetarian” groom, came under fire for stating a caste preference. Padma Iyer added "Iyer preferred," referring to an upper caste community of Brahmins. While a number of people praised

the ad as a positive move for LGBT rights in India, others questioned the mention of caste.

Colm Tóibín (born 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet. Tóibín is currently Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester. He was hailed as a champion of minorities as he collected the 2011 Irish PEN Award. In 2011, he was named one of Britain's Top 300 Intellectuals by The Observer. Tóibín's work explores several main lines: the depiction of Irish society, living abroad, the process of creativity and the preservation of a personal identity, focusing especially on homosexual identities, but also on identity when confronted with loss. In 2015, ahead of the Marriage Equality referendum, Tóibín delivered a talk titled "The Embrace of Love: Being Gay in Ireland Now" in Trinity Hall, featuring Roger Casement’s diaries, the work of Oscar Wilde, John Broderick, Kate O’Brien, and Senator David Norris’s 1980s High Court battles to make homosexuality legal in Ireland. Tim Gill (born 1953) is an American computer software entrepreneur and LGBT rights activist. After jobs at Hewlett-Packard and a consulting services firm, Gill started Quark, Inc. in 1981 with a $2,000 loan from his parents. Quark produced software for the graphics market and he became a multimillionaire. Gill's involvement in LGBT political action began in 1992, in response to the passage of Colorado Amendment 2 , which prevented non-discrimination ordinances in the state from protecting people based on sexual orientation. In 1994, he created the Gill Foundation, based in Denver, Colorado. One of its projects is the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado. His political endeavors, which are separate from his charitable foundation, are directed through the Gill Action Fund. Gill married his husband Scott Miller in Massachusetts in 2009.

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. soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

F O R

SFGNITES

T H E

J.W. Arnold

jw@prdconline.com

THU

NIGHTLIFE

W E E K

6/18

O F

J U N E

1 8

J U N E

2 3 ,

2 0 1 5

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

LGBT Luminary Couples who have been together 20 years or more are the subject of a new permanent exhibit opening Friday night at the Stonewall National Museum & Archives Wilton Manors Gallery.

Get a jump on the Pride weekend festivities tonight on Wilton Drive. Meet up with LGBT sports fans at Sidelines Sports Bar, 2031 Wilton Drive, or hang out with the ladies at 13 Even, 2037 Wilton Drive. Take in a Latin-themed Pride extravaganza at Village Pub, 2283 Wilton Drive. You could also partake of the legendary Long Island iced teas at Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar and then dance the night away at Hunter’s in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors. No matter your plans, get out there and celebrate.

FRI

EXHIBIT

6/19

To kick off Pride weekend, the Stonewall National Museum & Archives Wilton Manors gallery, 2157 Wilton Drive, will open a new permanent exhibit honoring Luminary Couples-- LGBT couples who have been together 20 or more years. An opening reception will be held tonight from 7 – 9 p.m. Many of the couples will again participate in the twilight parade on Saturday. The project led to the establishment of a social group for the couples. For more information, go to LuminaryCouples.org.

SAT

COMEDY

6/20 SUN

Not heading to Wilton Manors for the Pride parade tonight? Then be sure to stop by The Cabaret South Beach, 233 12th St. in Miami Beach, for an evening with that out-andproud comedian and actor Leslie Jordan (“Will & Grace,” “Sordid Lives”). Jordan never disappoints with stories of his childhood in Chattanooga and subsequent Hollywood acting career. The performance will be repeated on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. Tickets are $40 – 50 with two drink minimum at TheCabaretSouthBeach.com.

Photo: SFGN.

// 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

MUSIC

6/21 MON

HISTORY

Enjoy the music of gay and bisexual composers at a special Arts at St. John’s concert this afternoon at 2 p.m. at St. John’s on the Lake, 4760 Pine Tree Drive in Miami Beach. The series’ new artistic director, Phil Bracken-Tripp will lead a discussion and performance on flute of works by Copland, Tchaikovsky, Higdon, Corigliano and Senay. He will be joined by pianist Juvenal Correa-Salas and tenor Scott BrackenTripp. General admission is $15. For more information, go to ArtsAtStJohns.com. soflagaynews //

6/22 TUE

The Fort Lauderdale Historical Society presents its first Summer Solstice History Cruise tonight at 6 p.m. Enjoy a sunset cruise aboard the luxury yacht Anticipation as “Governor Broward,” “Ivy Stranahan” and other local authorities share stories of the early days of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County. The cruise boards at New River Inn, 219 SW 2nd Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $20 for members and $35 for nonmembers by calling 954-463-4431. For more information, go to FLHC.com.

SouthFloridaGayNews

ART

6/23

In honor of International LGBTQ Pride Month, the auction house Christie’s is offering a special online sale of pop icon Andy Warhol’s works through June 25. The collection, “Andy’s Randy Summer,” includes 100 photographs, portraits, prints and drawings with a focus on the gay undertones that permeated so much of his work during the 1970s and early ‘80s. While the artwork isn’t cheap—starting bids are $1600—the complete collection can be viewed for free at Christies.com/Warhol.

soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

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Some might consider Javier Echenike to be royalty. He comes from a distinguished family in Spain where his father was one of the founding fathers of television and radio industry and his mother, an inspiring artist. His grandfather, Angel de Enchenique Pardo, served as Secretary General for the Pardo Museum in Madrid. From Spain via Argentina, Echenike has arrived in South Florida with a passion to create and a brand to back it up. The 44-year-old Echenike, a masculine man who is clearly on the rise in society, introduced his designs at the International Polo Tournament in Wellington, Fla. and Miami Beach Gay Pride. His logo, Echenike says, is registered in all fifty U.S. states. Doug Ames, of Fort Lauderdale, is one of Echenike’s biggest fans. Ames, a real estate agent, recently collaborated with Echenike on an Aston Martin tour of homes and says the designer’s skills are quite worldly. “He has a unique style because of his international background,” Ames said. That background includes a life in Argentina, an intriguing international romance and his fondness for the spiritual realm. During an interview with SFGN at his model home in Wilton Manors, Echenike talked about how events in his life inspired him to be an artist. “There is beauty in everything,” Echenike said. He is wearing a deep blue collared shortsleeve shirt with a large orange oval insignia on the chest. This is his brand symbol. “Since I was a child I have been drawing eyes and oval forms,” he says in a thick Spanish accent. Echenike says the eyes have a feline factor to them. At his custom made home, cats roam

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freely around the pool. Inside, a living room table features magazines of Echenike-directed photo shoots and designs. Understanding clients, Echenike says, is an important part of his work. To create there must first be comfort. “He’s very fresh and current,” Ames remarked. “There’s also this gregarious aura about him.” Echenike credits this aura to a fourweek course on the topic of forgiveness. He expressed gratitude for the “Bridges of Wellness” program he attends regularly in Wilton Manors, where he participates in yoga exercises and learns Reiki sharing. “I started practicing yoga nine years ago when I lived in Buenos Aires and since then I have not stopped, it is essential to keep physically and mentally balanced,” he said. “It is a philiosophy of life, a healing therapy.” Echenike said Reiki, a stress reduction technique derived from the Japanese culture, has given him new direction in life. “It helps me focus on my life and unlock the chakras, the energy centers of our body,” he said. “I feel much more vital and focused.” Echenike is very focused on establishing his brand in South Florida while being true to himself and his roots. His mother is a painter and piano teacher in Madrid, the capital city of Spain. His father, deceased. “It was a conservative family,” Echenike said. “Not easy at all.” Easy meaning that Echenike knew he was gay, but could never tell his father. His mother knows and while her first reaction to the news was one of disapproval, she has grown, Echenike said, to love him more. “You are the one create me,” he asked his mother. “How do you not like me?”

a&e theatre

'The Book of Liz' is a Real Cheese Ball Comedy J.W. Arnold

Photo Credit: Nicole Stodard.

Christina Groom, left, and Elena Maria Garcia perform in Thinking Cap Theatre’s production of David and Amy Sedaris’ “The Book of Liz” at The Vanguard in Fort Lauderdale. Amy and David Sedaris are both successful authors, humorists and playwrights in their own rights, but when they team up, the results are truly hilarious. Such is the case with their 2001 play, “The Book of Liz,” currently playing at The Vanguard in Fort Lauderdale. Set in an isolated, Amish-like community know as the Squeamish, “The Book of Liz” blatantly pokes fun at religion, societal mores and 12-step programs. Not to be confused with the controversial, potty-mouthed musical, “The Book of Mormon” from the creators of “South Park,” this play is still more than a bit racy, with plenty of heart. Sister Elizabeth Dunderstalk (Christina Groom) is the creator of the community’s delicious—and commercially successful— traditional and smoky cheese balls, a delectable and distinctive combination of cheese and flavorful herbs. When Rev. Tollhouse (Matt Stabile), the community’s spiritual leader, becomes concerned with outside influences on Sister Elizabeth, he orders her to turn over the secret cheese ball recipes to the pompous Brother Nathaniel Brightbee (Scott Douglas Wilson). Dejected, Sister Elizabeth runs away from the community only to encounter a peanut suit-wearing Ukrainian immigrant with a Cockney accent (she was taught English by a former chimney sweep) and later take a job at a campy Pilgrim-themed restaurant, “Plymouth Crock,” that will remind audiences of a 17th century version of Cracker Barrel. Oh, and did I mention the restaurant manager (Stabile) is a highly-committed, gay 12-stepper? Along the way, she discovers “Liz.” Only the Sedaris siblings could concoct such an oddball collection of characters and the key to the success of any production of “The Book

of Liz” is an incredibly flexible cast of four who can change character—and costumes—in the blink of an eye. Elena Maria Garcia (Ms. Foxley, Oksana and others), in particular, is one of the most talented character actresses in South Florida. She nails every one of her characters from the busybody Sister Constance Butterworth to the “worldly” Ms. Foxley, the delivery person who initially opened Liz’s eyes. Groom is charming as the naïve Sister Elizabeth, but brings depth to the character as, with knowledge and experience, she comes to understand both the pitfalls and opportunities that come with living among the Squeamish. Stabile and Wilson both nail their pious and inherently sexist religious men, as well as their own coterie of characters. Under Mark Duncan’s quick-paced, but thoughtful direction, the cast prevents the play from devolving into an extended “Saturday Night Live” skit, and instead offers a satirical look at blind faith and the many forms its takes. The Vanguard Sanctuary for the Arts, a converted church on South Andrews Avenue across from Broward Health Medical Center, is the newest venue for Nicole Stodard’s Thinking Cap Theatre and has been beautifully renovated and outfitted for intimate theater. David Hart’s sound design and lighting from Calypso Hernandez accentuate the production, as do the quick-change costumes from Stodard and Casey Dressler. The minimalist set by Alyiece Moretto features flats painted with colorful quilt and folk art images pulled from the script. As the Broward LGBT community celebrates its pride this weekend, “The Book of Liz” offers profound lessons about identity that should not be missed.

“The Book of Liz” by Amy and David Sedaris is presented by Thinking Cap Theatre, at The Vanguard, 1501 S. Andrews Ave. in Fort Lauderdale, Thursday – Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. through June 28. Tickets are $35 at ThinkingCapTheatre.com. soflagaynews //

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a&e film

Michelle Hendley

Trans actress stars in new romantic comedy David-Elijah Nahmod

Submitted Photos.

Hendley (left) with onscreen boyfriend Michael Welch. There was a happy ending for Ricky and Robby (Michelle Hendley, Michael Welch) in Eric Schaeffer's new film "Boy Meets Girl." The film, now out on DVD, stars Hendley as a fledgling fashion designer who falls in love with her childhood best friend. Hendley and her character are transgender. Welch and his character are cisgender (non transgender). "It's a positive story about a trans character who's not a prostitute," Hendley tells SFGN. "My cis friends can relate to it." The actress, who makes her film debut in "Boy Meets Girl," calls the attention she's receiving "new and exciting." "I'm trying to take it all in," she said. A move to New York City is now in the works. "I can learn quite a bit in New York," she said. "There's a tight knit group of actors and directors I can network with." Like many others transgender people, Hendley notes that most trans roles have been played by cisgender actors. "We've seen a lot of great work from cis actors, which helps to spread awareness," she observed. But she'd like to see more trans actors getting those roles. "Until I see more true representation there's a lot more work to be done," she said. The actress, who has not yet had bottom surgery, courageously did a full frontal nude scene in "Boy Meets Girl." "My only hesitation was that I wanted to be sure this wasn't going to be exploitative and fetishize me," she said. "But after I talked to Eric Schaeffer I ran to the gym and worked out." The scene in question comes late in the film. Robby, realizes that he loves Ricky,

finds her swimming in the local lake. His love is tested when he sees her fully nude for the first time. Love wins out. Hendley said that she had a fairly easy time of it with her family. "When I came out as gay, they asked me if I was sure I wasn't a girl," she recalled. When she came out as trans it was a natural transition. Though she prefers not to reveal her prior name, she offered some insight into how she chose her current one. "My name was my identity, so I kept it close to my original name," she explained. Hendley promises SFGN readers that she's in the game for the long haul. "Keep an eye out for me, because I intend to take the world by storm," she said. "I would love to play a cis girl. I want to play roles that don't specify gender."

Look for "Boy Meets Girl" on DVD. 56

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a&e tv

Soap Casts Trans Actor in Trans Role David-Elijah Nahmod

Photo Credit: Monty Brinton for CBS

Scott Turner Schoﬁeld (left) on “The Bold & the Beautiful.” “The Bold and the Beautiful” raised many eyebrows a few months back when it was revealed that gorgeous fashion model Maya Avant (Karla Mosley) was a transgender woman. Though many in the trans community gave the storyline — and Mosley’s portrayal — high marks for its honesty and sensitivity, some, including the actress herself, had wanted to see a trans actress portray the role. But transgender viewers would soon get their wish. The long running soap opera has just cast actor Scott Turner Schofield as Nick, an old friend and mentor to Maya. Nick is a trans man. So is Schofield. “Nick is a good friend who shows up after not having heard from Maya for awhile,” Schofield explained to SFGN. “He helps her see the truth about herself.” Schofield, who is currently airing on the show revealed that his character is recurring, and that he is not under contract. “I hope there are enough episodes for people to see who Nick really is,” he said. “That would really be something.” He would like Nick to be a fully developed character, complete with the shades of gray. “Every trans person is a hero, but we are not perfect,” he observed. “What are Nick’s issues? What makes him tick?” The actor hopes that Nick and Maya will open people’s hearts. “The Bold and the Beautiful” is seen around the world, including in the ultra-

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conservative Middle East. “Violence against trans people is part of daily life,” Schofield noted. “To get a dream acting job where they talk about trans lives so correctly, well, I couldn’t be more thrilled. The storyline is causing viewers to think.” Schofield opened up about his coming out experience. “I knew I was a boy when I was three,” he recalled. “When I was 11 my best friend said that they didn’t know what was going to happen to me if I didn’t stop doing boy things.” It was when he met a trans man in his twenties that Turner realized there were others like him. His family, he says, is supportive. “Once my family realized that I was showing my true authenticity, once they realized that I haven’t changed, they were fine,” he said. He hopes that the visibility he and others trans celebrities are achieving will improve the lives of trans people everywhere. In addition to the escalating violence being perpetrated against trans women of color, transgender people face unemployment levels that are higher than 50 percent. Schofield is the first trans actor to be cast on a daytime drama. “It’s ridiculous that in 2015 I’m the first,” he says. “Give us a job.” The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS and weeknights on Pop TV.

Out Now! PICK UP YOUR COPY ON A STAND NEAR YOU!

THEMIRRORMAG.COM

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a&e tv

A New Queen is Crowned Violet Chachki wins RuPaul’s Drag Race

Michael Cook

Photo: Facebook.

Now that your “Drag Race” journey is ﬁnally over, are there any misconceptions that your entire experience cleared up for you?

From the moment she hit the workroom on this season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Violet Chachki was a force to be reckoned with. From strutting down the runway with accessories like an oxygen tank (complete with face mask) to having the smallest waist seen on that runway, it’s no surprise to anyone that she snatched this season’s title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar.” Violet sat down with SFGN the day after the crowning to chat about what it feels like to have come out on top, what the whole “Drag Race” experience has taught her, and her immense love for burlesque queen Dita Von Teese.

Violet, congratulations on your huge win! Thank you so much! It honestly hasn’t hit me yet, I think it will hit when I see my Mom and Dad and they’re proud of me. It really feels like a dream that I’m going to wake up from any second.

When you heard RuPaul announce your name, what was your initial reaction? Complete shock. I was sitting between Pearl and Ginger (Minj) and I looked at both of them. There are literally no words. My friends were sobbing and it’s completely surreal. I don’t think I said anything, but I just remember looking around at everyone.

Did you think you would snag the crown at the end? I definitely wanted to win. I told myself “you got this, you’re doing great” the whole time we were filming. I think this was the closest it has ever been though. All three of us were so deserving and it was really split and could have gone to any one of us. During filming, I really wanted to win, and watching it back you really have no idea who’s going to win. The whole tag line this year was “You Have No Idea” and it could not have been more appropriate.

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I went into it saying I was going to go there, be fierce, do my art, pack my outfits and just do it. You get there though, and it’s so much more than that. There are so many pieces that fit into the puzzle of creating a reality TV show. It’s literally the most physically, emotionally and creatively exhausting experience I have ever gone through in my life. You don't realize going into it, you think you are going to start your “glamorous life” but I was miserable for the better portion of it. You’re doing this for fourteen hours a day and the majority of that is filming, and it’s not as glamourous as it looks. It’s the most trying experience I have ever been through.

People could say that you were a bit “bitchy” and can come across as harsh. Do you think your edit was fair this season? Oh definitely. I actually think I got one of the more fair edits of the girls from my season. There are a couple instances where I think things were a little bit heightened, but what they do is they take an experience that was a little dramatic and they make it more dramatic. If it was bitchy, they make it bitchier. If it was funny, they make it even funnier. They just amp it up to a point where it’s almost offensive, you know?

So you’re famous “I Hate Michelle Visage” line was slightly enhanced? No, I didn’t even hate her that day and I was over it the next episode [laughs]!

What kind of growth do you think Violet has gone through as a result of this experience? I definitely am aware of how I communicate. I’m a very particular person with how I work and how things are going. There is so much growth with me internally, how I feel about life, things in general, my perception. I now see how show business works, professionalism, creative inspirations, everything. I have gone through a ton of changes.

You now have a whole year to take this platform as “America’s Next Drag Superstar” and really make something of it. What are your plans?

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I really would absolutely love to design a collection. I actually dropped out of fashion school to do drag full time. That’s where my character comes from. I just started collecting beautiful clothing. That’s what I want to bring it back to and really bring it full circle. I also have an EP coming out that’s also going to be amazing. It’s really rewarding to be able to create content and have it fully realized, RuPaul has all this content that she has produced, and it’s fully realized. I definitely want that for myself as well.

“Bettie” is the ﬁrst track off of the EP. The video is a big juxtaposition and has a great darkness to it. I love that video! That contrast is exactly what I was going for. It was designed to show that contrast of presentation vs. reality, which has a lot to do with drag if you think about it.

The video was along the lines of if Dita Von Teese and Marilyn Manson had a child during their marriage, it would have been you. I wish they would have had a child! Dita actually tweeted me today and right after the win. She’s one of my biggest role models, I actually look up to Dita Von Teese so much. She started off doing her own hair and makeup styling and I really respect that. I feel that she is one of the only real celebrities left, she never had a team of people behind her trying to push her to do something. She is a self made woman and a self made celebrity, and I feel that’s what drag queens are. We birthed this child and we nurture it and try to give it success. I really respect her. It was amazing to have her acknowledge me and she is so inspirational to me. I hope she knows that.

The season has been an amazing and life changing experience for you. If you had to sum it up in one word, what do you think it would be? I think it would be drive. I’m a fast learner and I’ve only been doing drag professionally for three years and it is the most rewarding experience I’ve ever gone through. I actually started watching the show during Season Three, and then went back and watched the first two seasons. The show has gotten to a point where queens like Sasha Belle grew up on the show. “Drag Race” has been on the air longer than I’ve been doing drag, and here I am winning the competition! It definitely feels like it was meant to be.

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Datebook

Theater Christiana Lilly

Calendar@SFGN.com

Top

Picks

Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight June 12 and 13 at 8 p.m. at Main Street Playhouse, 6766 Main St. in Miami Lakes. In the middle of sex, someone yells out a racial slur, leading to a conference call between three couples: a gay psychologist and his older lover, a couple constantly fighting, and a vixen and her hitman boyfriend. Tickets $10. Call 305-558-3737 or visit MainStreetPlayers.com.

Mario Cantone: On the Way to Broadway

June 13 at 8 p.m. at Parker Playhouse, 707 NE Eighth St. in Fort Lauderdale. The “Sex and the City” and “Laugh Whore” star brings the laughs to the stage in this one-man show. Tickets $28 to $98. Call 954-462-0222 or visit ParkerPlayhouse.com.

Bill Maher

June 13 at 8 p.m. at the Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. The television host mixes raunchy humor and politics for a noholds-barred show. Tickets $35 and up. Call 561-832-7469 or visit Kravis.org.

broward county

Daniel’s Husband

Through June 28 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive in Fort Lauderdale. Mitchell doesn’t believe in gay marriage, but his partner Daniel dreams of walking down the aisle. When something catastrophic happens to them, they learn the consequences of not being legally married in this society. Tickets $30. 954-519-253 or IslandCityStage.org.

palm beach county * Joyce Moreno

June 13 at 8 p.m. at ArtsGarage, 180 NE First St. in Delray Beach. A pioneer of the first-person feminine voice, Moreno is a four-time Latin Grammy nominated artist and has written more than 400 recorded songs. Tickets $25 to $45. Call 561-450-6357 or visit ArtsGarage.org.

* Lana Del Rey

June 16 at Coral Sky Amphitheatre (formerly Cruzan), 601-7 Sansburys Way in West Palm Beach. Del Rey’s haunting voice has taken tracks “Young and Beautiful,” “Summertime Sadness” and other songs to soar on the Billboard. Tickets $40 and up. Call 561-7958883 or visit CruzanAmphitheatre.net.

* Into the Woods

June 18 to 28 at the Delray Beach Center for the Arts, 51 N. Swinton Ave. in Delray Beach. A musical melding together multiple fairy tales where your favorite characters will cross paths in the woods. Tickets $20 to $25. Call 561-2437922 or visit DelrayArts.org

miami-dade county Jenny in Love: Tribute to the Stars

June 11 at 8 p.m. at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St. in Aventura. Jenny Love is joined on stage with violinist Pedro Alfonso to perform hits by Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Peggy Lee, Shirley Bassey & Bette, and more. Tickets $45 to $50. Call 305-466-8002 or visit AventuraCenter.org.

* Flo’Pocalyse: RiseOfThePoet

* Amy & Freddy

* Candlebox & Saliva w/Jason K & Signal Fire

* Willy Chirino: The Miami Sound

June 12 at at the Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. QUICKThePoet hosts this evening of spoken word poets from around the country. Tickets $25.50 -$45.50. 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.

June 13 at 8:30 p.m. at Revolution Live, 100 Nugent Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. A night of rock music benefitting the Peanut Butter & Jelly Project, a nonprofit working to end homelessness. Tickets $35 to $50. Call 954449-1025 or visit JoinTheRevolution.net.

* Caribbean Jazz Matazz 2015

June 14 at Broward Center, 201 SW Fifth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale. Jazz, reggae, and calypso music featuring Myrna Hague, A.J. Brown, and Eugene Grey. Tickets $40 to $60. Call 954-462-0222 or visit BrowardCenter.org.

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June 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. at The Cabaret South Beach, 233 12th St. in Miami Beach. The Chicago duo perform a cabaret with comedy and music. Tickets $20. www. tickets.reactionshows.com. Facebook.com/ TheCarbaretSouthBeach. June 13 at 8 p.m. at the Arsht Center, in Miami. The master of “the Miami sound,” Chirino spearheaded the new sound of traditional Cuban music with rock, jazz, Brazilian, and 70’s Caribbean sounds Tickets $55 to $150. Call 305-949-6722 or visit ArshtCenter.org.

* The War on Drugs

June 16 at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach. The indie rock band released their latest album, “Lost in the Dream” in 2014. Tickets $27.50. Call 305-673-7300 or visit FillmoreMB.com. soflagaynews //

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coffee table

Bare Strength Michael Stokes

s a photography major in the late 1980s, my professor taught me Ansel Adam’s zone system, and with painstaking precision he showed how Edward Weston’s seashells and artichoke hearts maintain detail in both highlight and shadow. I found these subjects boring, and in spite of my good grades, my professor seemed disappointed with my work. Always he was more enthusiastic about what the student at the enlarger next to me was creating. I dropped out of the photography program and didn’t pick up a camera until ﬁfteen years later. My passion for photographic images resurfaced when I took time off my job as a real estate agent and

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started collecting and selling vintage photographs. I ﬁrst became fascinated with the oldest photos known — and perhaps because of the rarity or taboo, male nudes became an interest of mine. Studying turn of the century photography, I noticed a niche group of artists, Eakins, Galdi, and Von Gloeden, all specializing in the male form. Moving forward to the 1920s, I explored German naturism in photography, a celebration of both the male and female nude in public and private settings. Unfortunately, in some countries, from the time photography was invented and up until the 1950s, many photographers served jail time for producing and distributing male nude photos.

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coffee table

The 1940s were an interesting time for male figure study as a group of New York fashion photographers shot women’s fashion as a day job and in their free time photographed male nudes, most of which would remain private, unpublished and unknown for many years. The 1950s were an era of bodybuilders and kitsch, and along with the help of postal inspectors, the FBI involved itself in destroying and suppressing male nude imagery. The controversy of the male nude in photographs continued forward, and as late as 1990, lawsuits were still being brought against people exhibiting the genre, one example being obscenity charges brought against The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati for hosting a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit. Even today, photographers are periodically banned from Facebook for posting male nudes while rules — or at least the implementation of rules — for the female equivalent are not as enforced. For example, my photo of Alex Minsky, which Jay Leno showed on The Tonight Show, was removed from Facebook and I was banned for 30 days. My image of a priest holding his shirt open was removed from Facebook, and I was again locked out of my account. Many of my Facebook followers were furious and many retaliated against Facebook by reporting similar images but in the female form. I recall one female image reported: a woman’s bare butt, so close up it filled the camera frame. Facebook would not remove it, but Facebook removed Alex Minsky, nude from the side, butt and genitals covered. Besides the obvious fear of homosexuality, what is it about the male nude that infuriates and angers people who otherwise are fine with the female nude?

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coffee table

Continued from page 65 Now I draw inspiration from our predecessors, and when my model asks me what he should wear, I say, “As little as possible.” I direct him to a bottle of oil, toss him a sailor cap, or hand him a police shirt found at the swap meet. If those don’t work, a discus bought on eBay not only implies “athlete” but also can be used to block out genitals making it supposedly safe for Facebook. Better yet, if the model has a motorcycle, then I am happy to wheel it into the studio or even place it on a white comforter.

Book Info: Name: Bare Strength by Michael Stokes Pages: 128 Size: 26 x 34 cm / 10.25 x 13.5 inch Format: Hardcover with dust jaket, Color: full color ISBN: 9783867877688 Published: November 2014 List Price: $89.99 (Amazon, $64.64; Barnes & Nobles, $78.99) 66

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A d v e r t i s e i n A m e r i c A’ s p r e m i e r L G B t p u B L i c At i o n s t o d Ay !

Stronger than ever spending in america’s LGBt media is at a record high of $381.4 million, up 18.2% from 2012. circulation and readership of LGBt media are also up a healthy 15.1%* now that’s just sUper!

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lifestyle photos

One Magical Weekend Gay Days, Orlando J.R. Davis

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Datebook

Community Christiana Lilly Calendar@SFGN.com

Top Picks

The Sapphire Gala

June 13 at 6 p.m. at 1 Hotel & Homes, 2377 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach. An evening honoring individuals and businesses that support the LGBT community in Miami. Tickets $200 and up. Visit GayBizGala.com.

What Now? Easy Steps for Estate, Insurance and Gift Planning

June 16 at 6 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. A continuing educational series on marriage equality, Andrew Jimenez, a lawyer, and Christopher Dunham, an insurance expert, will talk about estate, insurance, and gift planning. Free. RSVP to RSVP@pridecenter.org.

Japan’s Robot Kingdom

June 16 to Sept. 13 at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road in Delray Beach. A look at Japanese robotics from the last 50 years and its impact on pop culture and technology. Tickets $15 museum admission. Call 561-495-0233 or visit Morikami.org.

broward county * United and Proud Opening Reception

June 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors. Art by Arts United members will be on display. Donation $5 at the door, includes one drink. Contact Emilio Aponte-Sierra at 954-8305103 or visit PrideCenterFlorida.org.

* Archaeology and the New River

June 15 at 11 a.m. at Stranahan House, 335 S. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Dr. Michele Williams of the Florida Public Archaeology Network leads this month’s Stranahan Stories series with a history of the New River. Free. Call 954-524-4736 or visit StranahanHouse.org.

* Art of Food & Wine Series: California Dreamin’

June 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at NSU Art Museum, One E. Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Mark Doohan leads a tasting and pairing class with

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wines from Napa and Sonoma Valley. Tickets $40 general, $25 members. RSVP to 954262-0204 or MOAreservations@moafl.org.

* Stonewall Street Festival and Parade

June 20 from 1 to 11 p.m. along Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. The whole community is invited to descend on Wilton Drive for its annual celebration commemorating the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Food trucks, drink booths, and other vendors will line the streets and the parade starts at 6 p.m. Free. Visit WMEG.org.

* Star Light, Star Bright

Saturdays in June from dusk to midnight at Markham Park’s Fox Observatory, 16001 W. State Road 84 in Sunrise. Join the South Florida Amateur Astronomers Association to see the night sky in a whole new way. Park entry is $1.50. Visit SFAAA.com.

PFLAG

Tuesdays in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs and Southwest Ranches. A support group for parents of LGBT youth 13 to 21. Free. Visit SunServeYouth.com for dates and locations.

GayWrites

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

* The Morikami Menagerie: Creatures in Japanese Art

June 16 to Sept. 13 at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road in Delray Beach. Japanese folklore’s fantasy creatures -- dragons, lion-dogs and dragon-deer -- in art. Tickets $15 museum admission. Call 561-495-0233 or visit Morikami.org.

Eww! What’s Eating You?

Through Sept. 27 at the South Florida Science Center, 4801 Dreher Trail North in West Palm Beach. Explore the creepy crawlies of our planet that live off humans -- parasites! -- like tapeworms, fleas, lice, mosquitoes, and tick. Tickets $11 to 15. Call 561-832-1988 or visit SFScienceCenter.org.

1st/3rd Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m., Broward Health Imperial Point Hospital cafeteria, 6401 N. Federal Highway. Support from counselors and peers who have lost loved ones to suicide. Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention. 954384-0344 or FISPOnline.org.

Zumba Fitness

Toastmasters

Sober Sisters

Mondays 7-9 p.m. Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Highway, 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.

palm beach county * Sushi & Stroll Summer Walks

Second Fridays through Sept. 11 at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road in Delray Beach. An annual summer series, explore the gardens and museum for sushi, sake, and taiko drumming. Tickets $15 museum admission. Call 561-495-0233 or visit Morikami.org soflagaynews //

Mondays at 6 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. Certified Zumba instructor for an infusion of exercise and dance moves. $5 donation. Call 561-3241626 or visit CompassGLCC.com. Mondays at 6:15 p.m. at Lambda North, 18 S. J St. in Lake Worth. A support and discussion group for female recovering alcoholics. Visit LambdaNorth.net.

Out of the Closet, Into the Light

Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at MCC of the Palm Beaches, 4857 Northlake Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens. AA for the LGBT community. Free. Call 561-775-5900 or visit MCCPalmBeach.org.

Voices of Pride

Mondays at 7 p.m. at Compass GLCC, 201 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. Join the Gay Men’s Chorus as they practice every week. Free. Call 561-533-9699 or visit CompassGLCC.com.

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Out of the Closet NA Group

Mondays at 7 p.m. at Lambda North, 18 S. J St. in Lake Worth. A support and discussion group for LGBT recovering addicts. Visit LambdaNorth.net.

miami-dade county * Balancing Act: The History of High Heels

June 11 at 7 p.m. at Books & Books, 9700 Collins Ave. in Bal Harbour. An iconic part of fashion, a look at its 130-year history as men’s wear to women’s shoes. Free. RSVP to info@fashionprojectbhs.com or 786-2452200. Visit FashionProjectBHS.com.

The Sapphire Gala

Arsht Center Farmers Market

Mondays from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. Purchase fresh food from local farmers, including fruits, vegetables, meats, prepared foods, as well as chefs, live music, and cooking demonstrations. Free. Visit ArshtCenter.org/ en/Visit/Dining.

Rainbow Circle

Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. at the University of Miami Flipse Building #302, 5665 Ponce de Leon Drive in Coral Gables. An open discussion about coming out, relationships, peer pressure, bullying, depression and more. Free. Visit Pridelines.org.

* Denotes New Listing

porn pulse

Photo: Arthur. Adult-img.com.

Another Wentworth Associate Identiﬁed

Hunter Houston

Well, well, well. It appears Donald Burns’ list of escorts just keeps growing. The latest young stud to admit to working for the Palm Beach billionaire is Arthur, a Sean Cody model. Burns, a Republican political philanthropist, has accused Jarec Wentworth (aka Teoﬁl Brank) of extortion. An FBI report submitted as evidence in the case and obtained by the website str8upgayporn.com states Burns sought to hire 11 gay porn star escorts through Wentworth. Arthur, allegedly, is one of the 11. He performed a live webcam show last week under the name Ricky Decker in which he took questions regarding the case. The live streaming service was provided by Randy Blue. Decker revealed that the car in question in this sordid case is an Audi R8. Porn Pulse was able to find clips from a scene in which Arthur participates for the Sean Cody Studio. In the scene, Arthur bottoms for what sounds and looks like an Eastern European young man. The young man, with a hammer and sickle tattoo on his

right pectoral muscle, is well endowed and delivers quite a pounding to Arthur — in a gym, no less. Meanwhile, Levi Michaels (aka Rustin Charles) appears to have toned down his wild partying in South America. Michaels, an exclusive Cocky Boys model, tweeted a travel credit for the website Airbnb. On Twitter, Rustin Charles describes his current state of mind as masculine after hiking the Machu Picchu Trail in Peru and sleeping in tents. He used the hashtag #mascbro with his latest selfie on June 15.

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feature porn

Photo: BadBoysBootCamp.com.

THE SECRET LIFE OF SMALL TIME PORN Story by Ric Reily, with Jonathan R. Nicholes

Part 3 of columnist Ric Reily’s ﬁrst person series on the porn industry

Visit SFGN.com/PornSeries to view last week’s stories

MEET LUCAS GABRIEL — PORN ACTOR

ukas is a beautiful young man — a mix of a Caucasian and Native American mother, and African American father. His unblemished skin is the color of rich maple syrup darkened further on exposure to sun His eyes are a stunning green against bronze skin providing a gateway to a charming, intelligently funny, quick-witted mind ready to delve into any subject that arises. Lukas, whose porn name is Lucas Gabriel, stands tall, slender and straight casually attired. His is one of those presences that cause eyes to turn and follow. Lukas, 22, grew up one of four boys in London, Ohio. By eight years old he knew he was gay when he took a dare to kiss a boy at school. The kissed boy was startled, almost as much as Lukas was pleased. The kissed boy went home to alert Mom who alerted the school who alerted Lukas’ Mom, who ignored the incident for what it appeared a childhood prank. He became sexually active in his early teens after his parents divorced and a move from sleepy London to live with his father in the big city of Columbus. A self-kept journal served as Lukas’ outlet in the absence of a deep paternal or fraternal relationship. It also served as his outing, when at 14, a big brother found the journal and shared it with the family. Dad was accepting. Mom severely scolded him. For punishment she made Lukas read the bible. In addition she grounded him for the entire summer — or until he was no longer gay. His grounding ended when she kicked him out of the house at 15. Lukas lived in a group home for one year until extended family rescued him. It was after that that he lost his virginity on his sweet 16 birthday to a football player on the high school football field after the homecoming game. High school yielded good grades and found him living with an uncle and aunt. They cared enough to keep him focused and prepare him for his stint at the Ohio State University where he recently completed his third year studying architecture. Those three years have saddled him with $53,000 of student debt. While still in high school Lukas was contacted by Tom exploring his interest in doing risqué modeling. They spent three years periodically chatting about modeling prior to Lukas finally making his decision.

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With just a year more to go he left OSU accepting Tom's airline ticket and offer of housing, eventually planning to enroll in a Florida university to finish his architectural education. In Ohio he had a less than supportive family so giving up his life there for Florida came easily to Lukas. Without regret he would do the same thing again. The commitment to his decision, and his continuing comfort with it, arises from the support he has received from Tom, as well as, his other housemates. It also helped that he was able achieve his goals very quickly. One customer has been particularly valuable in helping him get on his feet in his newly chosen home. Lukas believes his initial success, and his ongoing escort business focus is unique. His personalized approach minimizes physical sex to the benefit of personal services. He believes it’s his willingness to engage customers on an intellectual and emotional level that sets him apart. With a knowing grin he suggests his morality gets in the way but won't doom his business. Focusing on escorting has worked well for him though he is OK with acting in porn shoots. Lukas prefers escorting to filming. Filming is chaotic, time consuming, lots of down time and waiting, and doesn't pay particularly well. Film has the added liability of remaining forever, while escorting is generally with people on the down low who don't want to be known. It’s easy to see Lukas as a businessman. He plans on escorting and doing some porn shoots for four months before getting a mainstream job. The plan includes keeping his best one or two customers even with that job. Lukas wants a life partner. But he knows it will be difficult to impossible to achieve that goal while he continues to escort. So that mainstream job becomes a critical part of his life plan. Several months have passed since my initial interview with Lukas. I recently had the pleasure of meeting him again. He was proud to announce his plans are on track, he no longer performs in gay porn shoots, has two regular escort customers, and recently started a full time job in the tourism industry.

feature porn

SHOOTING GAY PORN

ustin, whose porn name is Zakk Matthews, is restrained, naked, and flat on his back on the table. Each extremity points at a corner, wrapped in a wide black leather cuff connected to a turnbuckle linking a heavy chain that runs off the edge. Lukas, whose porn name is Lucas Gabriel, has done the deed, preparing Justin for a porn shoot featuring erotic tickling. The stage is set, lit from all sides with set lighting, the table holding Justin backed into a white painted corner. Three cameras run marked only by a silently blinking red indicator light on each. Tanner monitors the three cameras fixed on tripods at strategic points focusing on the scene. He has to be certain that each is recording and the video is of good quality. One needs an adjustment and he moves it a few inches to remove a shadow on the table. Tom Moran with Orlando Models sits on a chair watching but detached from the activity. He has filmed so many of the scenes he seems barely interested and I wonder if he will even remember filming the scene two weeks from now. Tanner’s call to the porn actors to go ahead brings Toms’ attention back to the set. Brian steps out the shadows stopping next to Justin on the table as Lukas assumes his position on the other side. Together they put both of their hands on Justin’s flat belly. Slowly, they caress him. Justin’s breath comes faster. He holds his belly rigid refusing to allow the sensations to reach his brain. The other two lift their palms leaving only their fingertips in contact with Justin. He begins to struggle as the fingertips probe his belly and around his waist. Wriggling against the restraints

yields little relief and again he tries to detach the tickling from reaching his brain. Lukas and Brian alternately lighten and deepen their touch, speed up and slow down their motions and move from belly to chest, legs and feet. Justin is in full flail now being relentlessly tickled by four hands attached to two naked male hunks. Not that Justin sees either of his tormentors as his eyes are crushed shut, his breath is roaring in and out and his body is spasmodically contorting bouncing from side to side head to toe straining his restraints. Chain rattling is drowned out by Justin’s cries, pleading for his tormentors to stop the torture. One does stop, only to begin stroking and massaging, bringing Justin closer and closer, as Lukas continues to tickle. As Justin tires the scene slows, a full on sex scene ensues. The three porn actors stretch out the scene to its prescribed length of twelve minutes and end it in true porn fashion. The money shots are captured. Lukas unbuckles Justin. Brian offers him a hand and with cocked elbow leans back to pull Justin to sitting. He swings his legs to the floor and stands. The three remain huddled together quickly moving from the completed scene to chattering about an escort customer Lukas has later. Tanner takes down the cameras packing them each carefully into carry cases. He dismantles lighting and collects power cables. The restraints need to be collected. Tom sits as before on his chair, happy the work is done. Getting three gay porn actors to the same place at the same time is a good start. Getting excellent quality, fully engaged acting on video is his business.

Series continues next week with part four. For the whole series, check out SFGN.com/PornSeries. soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

SFGN Classified$ air conditioning FAST A/C REPAIRS - Licensed and insured, CAC057837. A & H A/C.954-392-1301. We focus on repairs, not selling you any new equipment. 24 Hour Service. Evening Appointments Available.

To place a Classified Ad, call Cindy Curtis at 954.530.4970 or email at cindy.curtis@sfgn.com

home care

MASTER HYPNOTHERAPIST AND LIFE COACH

entertainment/dj's

LIVE JAZZ FOR YOUR NEXT PARTY OR SPECIAL EVENT - Have your next special occasion be extra special with live jazz. Jazz vocalist with over 30 years experience performing in South Florida. Can work as a duo, trio or more. No tapes or tracks. I work with South Florida's ﬁnest jazz musicians to make your special affair one to remember. Reasonable rates. Call Cindy at 954-298-8158 www.myspace.com/ cindycurtisandcompany

Coach Bill For Life

WWW.COACHBILLFORLIFE.COM

954.641.8315

licensed massage

CITY OF WILTON MANORS-PROGRAM & FACILITY SUPERVISOR - Professional position coordinates City recreation programs and manages and promotes City-owned rental facilities. Supervises assigned staff and contracted instructors. Employee exercises independence and initiative and prepares and monitors division budget. Visit www.wiltonmanors.com and follow CAREERS link for full position description and application information.

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

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

Serving Broward Since 1999

Call for a free estimate: 954-367-7007 Web: www.skimmerspools.com Email: skimmerspoolservice@gmail.com

licensed massage

PERSONAL ASSISTANT AVAILABLE - Excellent organizational skills. computer knowledge and abilities, hospital liaison/medical designate experience. Extensive service industry background. Part-time preferred. Stay independant Serving Seniors and others from Palm Beaches to Ft. Lauderdale. Call Patrick 954-973-3074.

plumber

AAA BLOUNT PLUMBING Kitchen & Bathroom remodeling, sewers, plugged drains, new construction and underground leaks. Over 30 years of experience. 24 HR Service. Call Dan 954-782-7988 Lic# CFCO22525

PARIS AUTO REPAIR Honest, Genuine Auto Maintenance and Repair

health & body

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some restrictions apply

professional services personal concierge

LOOKING FOR FULL TIME FLORAL DESIGNER - Looking for a creative head ﬂoral designer,with experience with bridal consulting/ event work. Must have reliable transportation, cell phone and be capable to lift heavy loads and climb ladders. References and a portfolio required. Need to start immediately. Compensation to match experience. Call Lynette at 561-338-5355 or by email at nyﬂoraldesign@aol.com.

FREE!

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

CLERICAL - Full time position, drug testing required for clerical assistant in professional ofﬁce to do insurance renewals, data input, and more. $10.50 an hour, respond with resume to norm. kent@sfgn.com.

954.530.4970

Mention this ad and receive your ﬁrst month

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.

employment - full time

Place an ad in SFGN’s Classiﬁeds

POOL SERVICE

ADDICTIONS • SMOKING • WEIGHT LOSS • INSOMNIA • STRESS REDUCTION • ROAD RAGE • ANGER MANAGEMENT • PAST LIFE ANALYSIS • RELATIONSHIP COACHING

LIVE JAZZ FOR YOUR NEXT PARTY OR SPECIAL EVENT - Have your next special occassion be extra special with live jazz. Jazz vocalist with over 30 years experience performing in South Florida.No tapes or tracks.I work with South Florida's ﬁnest jazz musicians to make your special affair one to remember. Reasonable rates. Call Cindy at 954-298-8158 www.myspace.com/cindycurtisandcompany.

PHYSICAL THERAPY & OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY - Physical Therapy & Occupational Therapy services to help eliminate pain, increase strength and mobility. Personalized programs to attain success to overcome your difﬁculties. In home or clinic can be arranged. Call 954-564-5510

home & garden

home health care HOME HEALTH CARE AID NEEDED -PRIVATE RESIDENCE PT OR FT - Patient is an octogenarian suffering with mild dementia. Care is provided in a beautiful downtown residence. Must have clean driving record and pass background check. This is a DFWP. Excellent salary and beneﬁts. Send resume w/cover letter.Include salary requirements and availability to: PO BOX 2213, Ft.Lauderdale, Fl. 33303-2213 soflagaynews //

Complete in-house service Foreign & domestic including classic cars Same location since 1985 ONLY 4 BLOCKS from FAU main campus

10% OFF COUPON JUST MENTION THIS AD

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PARIS AUTO REPAIR 1801 NW 1st Ct Boca Raton, FL 33432

561-395-7765 Ask for John (“Curly”)

moving LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE - Icon Moving, your local licensed and insured moving company! Here to help with your moving needs,www. iconmoving.com for a free estimate! Can also do overseas 561-338-3157 $50 off when you mention ad!

music 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.

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.

painting

GREGG'S PAINTING - Interior/exterior,great rates, friendliness, reliability, neatness. No job too small. Call Gregg at 617-306-5694 or 954-8705972 ANY TYPE OF JOB - Interior,exterior. Caulking,patching. References available. Low rates. And I'm cute!!! Call Bruce at 954-604-4219

pressure cleaning

ANY JOB YOU NAME IT - Roofs, pool areas, driveways. References available. Low rates and I'm cute!!!Call Bruce at 954-604-4219

psychic

PSYCHIC READINGS BY RACHEL - What does the future hold for you? Specializing in reuniting lovers & helping you make better decisions for your future. Find your soulmate.Chakra balancing, crystal cleansing, palm & tarot card. Call for appt.:954-9004711.www.psychicreadingsbyrachel.com

professional services

APPRAISAL SERVICES - Appraisal services for art, furniture,antiques, household contents,etc. for insurance purposes,estates,donation and valuation for sale.Auction advisory service also available. Reasonable rates, professional service. Call 917826-5819 or email Joe@rothwarren.com

pets/supplies

rentals vacation rentals

2 BD/1 BA FT. LAUDERDALE - Perfect rental house close to Wilton Manors;5 blocks west of the Boardwalk Bar; All amenities; salt water private pool. Laundry. Can sleep 6. For details check out www.vrbo/663110 or call Eli at 515-238-6023

rentals furnished housing

*PERFECT LOCATION RENTALS* 4 WEEK + SPECIAL FROM $395/WEEK - Intimate 7 unit Liberty Garden Suites offering all the comforts of home. Beautifully Furnished & Full Equipped Studio & One BR Apts. with Full Kitchens, in lush tropical resort setting. 5 Min south of Airport in Dania Beach. Central to Haulover Nude Beach & Wilton Manors. Incl. WI-Fi, laundry, private parking, utilities, cable, tel. Gay Owned & Operated. Longer term Monthly rates available for 3 months + Stays. Pets Always Welcome. Celebrating Our 18th Year. Call Joe or Jack at 954-927-0090 or visit www.LibertySuites.com

rentals wilton manors

rentals - other broward county OFFICE SPACE TO SHARE - Looking for Psychiatrist,Nurse Practitioner, or psychologist to share ofﬁce space;referrals provided;reasonable rent; great location-two blocks from Las Olas.Call: 954-768-0434 ext. 11400.

rentals - wanted

LOOKING FOR UNFURNISHED EFFICIENCY Single Gay male, 60+, Looking For an unfurnished efﬁciency or studio apartment Close proximity to Wilton Manors or surrounding area. A/C, private entrance. No Pets. I have excellent references. Call Doug 954.261.9073 or Email dtrncon@aol.com.

real estate agents

FLORIDA'S TOP GAY REALTORS - Instant FREE Access to Florida and the Nation's Top Gay Realtors. Free Buyers Representation! On-line: www.GayRealEstate.com or Toll Free 1-888-420MOVE (6683)

2 BD/1 1/2 BATH TOWNHOME WILTON MANORS - Within walking distance to 5 Points. Granite countertops, ss appliances, central a/c, assigned parking. Onsite laundry. Large dog friendly; $1400 per month; I have other units for sale also. Call Carmen at Landrich Realty (954) 394-5378 or email carmenrents@gmail.com. VILLA MANORS CONDO 2BD/1BA - This townhouse has it all, nice kitchen neutral colors, patio off master, walk to Wilton Drive. Tile throughout, laminate flooring in bedrooms. 2 miles to the beach, great walking neighborhood, pet friendly about 10 minutes to I-95 or Las Olas. three story building with unique setup. Your 1st floor is the 2nd floor of the building the master patio is on the 3rd floor. Small pets ok. This is a no smoking unit. $1,300/mo. First, Last & Security. $125 application fee. Credit and background check. Call 954-627-1222 ext. 901 iHome Florida Real Estate. MANOR GROVE 1BD/1BA - Remodeled gem unit with 24x24 limestone floors. Led lights, kitchen with Granite counter top and back splash, snack/bar table, modern design bath, Elfa walking closet, new A/C. Community with swimming pool and Bar-B-Q. Pool table and great community room where you can program your private events. No pets. $1,150/mo. First, Last & Security. $150 application fee. Credit and background check. Call 954-627-1222 ext. 901 iHome Florida Real Estate

real estate for sale 2 BR 2 BA REMODELED CONDO - Tile ﬂoors, kitchen has granite, stainless upgraded appliances, & cherry cabinets. Amenities include: secure building; elevator; laundry rooms; pool,clubhouse and ample parking. In Wilton Manors, near shopping, restaurants and nightlife. Condo ﬁnancials good with fully funded reserves. Price $190k. Call 318-461-1634.

rentals MIKE THE RENTAL GUY NE Lauderdale/Wilton Manors/Oakland/Victoria Park-1/1 from $885 2/1 from $1090. Credit & Income Requirements-Pets okay with restrictions. Call for Details Mike 561703-5533

rentals - oakland park

real estate - broward county 2 BD/2 BA CONDO WILTON MANORS - For sale. Must see this wonderful spacious unit.Phase IV.Al clubhouse amenities. Call Paolo Crepaldi, 954-5579998, Keyes Real Estate PCrepaldi123@gmail.com. VICTORIA PARK 1 BR/1 BA - Beautiful updated 1 BR/1 BA with private fenced patio;small complex; gorgeous open beamed ceilings;tile ﬂoor; next to Holiday Park tennis courts;W/D; small dog ok; $925/ month; 954-729-1936.

THE COURTS AT OAKLAND PARK 1BD/1BA - Totally remodeled in gated community. Stainless steel appliances, centrally located hear mall, public transportation, and I95. Condo features pool, tennis court, and playground. $825/month. First, Last, & Security. $100 application fee. Credit and background check. Call 954-627-1222 ext. 901 iHome Florida Real Estate. PALM ISLE 2BD/2BA - Kitchen renovated, new A/C unit, beautiful walking paths and trails within the community. Elevator available. Laundry on site, assigned parking, pool, tennis, clubhouse, exercise room. Minutes from beach, highway, shops and restaurants. $1,200/mo. First, Last & Security. $100 application fee. Credit and background check. Call 954-627-1222 ext. 901 iHome Florida Real Estate. soflagaynews //

Sou thFloridaGayNews // SF GN.com // 6.17.2015 / /

WE FOCUS ON HIV TO HELP YOU FOCUS ON

TODAY

Ask your doctor if a medicine made by Gilead is right for you.

// 6.17.2015 // SFGN.com //

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SouthFloridaGayNews 3/25/15 3:57 PM