The Mirror v10iss3

Vol. 10 Issue 3 • July 2021 •

S O U T H

F L O R I D A

THEMIRRORMAG.COM

G A Y

N E W S

PRIDE! PRIDE!

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

(bik-TAR-vee)

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:  Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section.  Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that may have been hidden in your body. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY.  Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.  Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.  Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.  The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

 Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your

healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:  dofetilide  rifampin  any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you:  Have or have had any kidney or liver problems,

including hepatitis infection.  Have any other health problems.  Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby.

Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.  Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed.

Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:  Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-

counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

 BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other.

Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. 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.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION  This is only a brief summary of important information

about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.

 Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5  If you need help paying for your medicine,

visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, KEEP BEING YOU, and LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. Version date: February 2021 © 2021 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0467 06/21

REAL

BIKTARVY

PAT I E N T S

KEEP BEING YOU. Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

Watch their stories at BIKTARVY.com Featured patients compensated by Gilead.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and visit BIKTARVY.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PUBLISHER’S EDITORIAL Pride Means Never Having To Say You Are Sorry Page 10

GADGETS AirTag: Lose Your Knack For Losing Things Page 58

FEATURE Back On The Water: Cruises Return Page 18

CARS The McLaren GT Needs No Label Page 60

FILM An Interview With Gay Filmmaker Aaron Bear Page 22

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best Side Story: An Interview With Rita Moreno Page 62

FEATURE Speak OUT! Local LGBT Activists Mirror Their Thoughts On Life After The Pandemic Page 34 FEATURE The Pulse Of Our Lives Page 46 FEATURE South Florida Queer Asians Speak Out on Discrimination and Injustice Page 52

PRIDE Eyewitnesses Recount Horror at Pride Page 26 In the Face of Tragedy, Pride Continues Page 28 Pride Is Back! Plan Your Trips Now Page 50

Pictured right (and on the front cover) are two scenes from the second annual FLoatarama in Fort Lauderdale. Over 40 boats took over New River for the weekend-long event, which ended with the Sailor’s T-Dance at Sanctuary Church. Photo credit: Keans Llamera.

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A PUBLICATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA GAY NEWS JULY 2021 Vol 10 | Issue 3 2520 N. Dixie Highway | Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954.530.4970 Fax: 954.530.7943

PUBLISHER

NORM KENT norm.kent@sfgn.com

Associate Publisher/ JASON PARSLEY Executive Editor jason.parsley@sfgn.com

EDITORIAL Art Director BRENDON LIES artwork@sfgn.com Webmaster KIM SWAN Senior Features Reporter DAMON SCOTT A&E Editor J.W. ARNOLD Food Editor RICK KARLIN Special Columnist PIER ANGELO

SALES & MARKETING For ad placement in the Mirror Magazine, CONTACT 954-530-4970 Sales Manager JUSTIN WYSE justin@sfgn.com Senior Advertising Assoc. EDWIN NEIMANN edwin@sfgn.com Sales Consultants CHARLES REID TIM HART Printing PRINTER’S PRINTER National Advertising RIVENDELL MEDIA Accounting Services CG BOOKKEEPING Legal Counsel RUSSELL CORMICAN Thank you to our special guest columnists for this issue: Steve Rothaus | Gregg Shapiro | John Hayden | Everitt Rosen Cover: Joshua Pettus (front, red shirt), the founder of Boys With Boats, poses proudly with his husband Jeremy Pettus. Photo credit: Keans Llamera.

The Mirror is published bi-monthly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor are those of the writers. They do not represent the opinions of The Mirror or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation or gender identity of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations in The Mirror. SFGN contracts with independent entities for stock images. Furthermore the word “gay” in The Mirror should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material that appears in The Mirror, both online at www.themirrormag.com, and in our print edition, including articles used in conjunction with the Associated Press and our columnists, 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 of The Mirror, Norm Kent, at Norm@NormKent.com. The Mirror is published by the South Florida Gay News. It’s a private corporation, and reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs.

MIRROR Copyright © 2021, South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.

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PUBLISHER’S PLATFORM

The crowd enjoys one of just many shows at Stonewall Pride in Wilton Manors. Photo credit: J.R. Davis.

PRIDE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO

SAY YOU ARE SORRY O

ur world was beginning again.

On June 19, the South Florida LGBT community was relaunching its energy, its excitement, and its colors on Wilton Drive.

Up and down the street, in festive garb, with flags, with music, and Pride, we were good to go.

A parade. A festival. A party. And then life happened. An inadvertent tragedy. A terrible loss. Pain instead of joy.

Once again, all of us were reminded of how precarious life is. In a singular and inexplicable instant, the lives of many would change forever.

A week later in Surfside, we would see it again, with a catastrophic and an unimaginable incident that forever will be seared in our minds and hearts.

As news of the devastation in Surfside emerged, the human toll was beyond comprehension. SFGN published an ever so sad article revealing that a gay Argentinian couple that had just spent a year adopting a young child were amongst those lost in the condominium collapse.

Our community has lived with pain for decades, from disaster, disease, and discrimination. We have nevertheless emerged as a force for goodness, a voice for 10 | THE

| JULY 2021

equality, a part of our society, rather than apart from it.

We no longer let politicians belittle us, classmates to demean us, or laws to mistreat us. We have representatives in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., who fight for our rights.

The good you do will come back to you.

That is the meaning of Pride. Sometimes, it calls for parades, sometimes solemnity.

STILL TODAY, EVEN PROTESTS.

// Norm Kent Our battles continue still, with legislators wanting to turn back the clock, particularly in Florida. No, this we cannot allow. This we must fight.

When there is loss, we must say a prayer for those gone, but fight like hell for those living.

Challenges remain. Episodes like Pulse are a reminder there are those who still treat our community as a target.

To honor those who have passed, we must speak out for those still with us. We must find the passion and principles to continue to make a difference.

The good you do will come back to you.

That is the meaning of Pride. Sometimes, it calls for parades, sometimes solemnity. Still today, even protests.

Pride means never having to say you are sorry. You are who you are, and you are God’s special creation. We are all in this together, no matter what part of the LGBTQIA collective you fall within. We are partners with a special purpose and unified pride.

TURN THE PAGE TO CONTINUE READING. Turn the page to continue reading.

PUBLISHER’S PLATFORM CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Last month, a 28-year-old gay man named Carl Nassib made history. Unless you play fantasy football, you may not have ever heard of this defensive lineman with the Las Vegas Raiders. He did a little Instagram message saying, “Oh, by the way, I’m gay.”

But those few words sent a message to the world.

He made history as the first active NFL player to announce that he was gay. We all can’t make history, but we can all make a difference. That is what pride is all about — your ability to become who you are.

The easy-going way Nassib made the announcement really mattered a lot. It was — forgive me — straightforward and simple, the way it should be and will be when all of us realize we are cloth of the same fabric.

As gay Americans, we have to work for the day when being gay is unique, but not unusual, when it warrants a passing word instead of a public pronouncement. That day will come, when you are not coming out of a closet, but just pushing aside a curtain.

For many, it already has.

However, South Florida is not South Dakota. While we are celebrating on the shore, there are many still drowning in the ocean. Let’s not forget them.

The Trevor Project has not. It’s a non-profit organization created to support LGBT youth. I guess playing pro football has its benefits. The 28-year-old Nassib made a donation of $100,000 to the group on the day he came out.

Proving that our society today is different than it once was, the NFL and his teammates did not censure him. The league matched his donation and his teammates congratulated him. The world has changed. Being gay means being greater!

Pride flags fly en-masse above a police car on Wilton Drive. Credit: J.R. Davis.

As gay Americans, we have to work for the day when being gay is unique, but not unusual, when it warrants a passing word instead of a public pronouncement.

Carl Nassib. Photo via Instagram.

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You never know what lighting a single candle can do. There are many things we can do, too.

Our Fund has earned a place of trust and honor in our community.

The Pride Center at Equality Park has a multitude of programs that need your support and aid.

The AIDS Health Care Foundation has helped underwrite a host of nonprofits for years, particularly more so during the pandemic.

If you want your two cents to matter, think about SunServe, Care Resource, and Latinos Salud.

Before he lost his life in the accident at the Stonewall Pride Parade, Jim Fahy was a generous and popular volunteer at the Poverello Food Bank.

We have neighbors in need, pets requiring rescue, and hospitals that need volunteers. If you are not a group person, become a force of your own. Become your own Carl Nassib.

Don’t forget there is injustice still out there, from the churches that want to discriminate against you to the politicians who want to suppress your vote. Don’t stand for it. You have a voice. Use it.

When one part of our community is threatened, so are we all.

Discrimination and denial have been part of our lives, but to quote the Billy Joel song, “We are still standing.”

Be who you are, and in the time you are here, precious and precarious though it may be, let the world hear your song.

S O U T H

F L O R I D A

G A Y

N E W S

To those who support us... Thank you.

JUNE - JULY 2021 THE

ISLANDER A WILTON MANORS NEWSLETTER

THE NEWSLETTER YOU NEED NEED. WILTON MANORS NEWS...

RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX. From events to local announcements, fun facts and so much more, the Islander is everything you need to wake up ready for a beautiful day in the Island City.

visit sfgn.com/islanderwm to sign up!

14 | THE

| JULY 2021

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FEATURE

BACK ON THE WATER CRUISES RETURN // Rick Karlin

18 | THE

| JULY 2021

O

FEATURE

ne of the perks of living in South Florida has been the easy access to cruise ships and the ability to snap up last-minute deals. Gov. Ron DeSantis has put that in jeopardy by recently enacting legislation that bans businesses from requiring proof of vaccination in the state. Many cruise lines were ready to start up business but had planned on requiring passengers and employees to be vaccinated.

Norwegian Cruise Line, which is headquartered in Florida, was planning to launch ships to the Caribbean and Europe at limited capacity this summer. Frank Del Rio, chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line, said that because of DeSantis’ rule, the cruise line may skip over Florida ports altogether. “We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that. Everyone wants to operate out of Florida. It’s a very lucrative market.”

Several major cruise lines have already moved their ships to operate out of international ports. Norwegian has plans to sail out of Jamaica and the Dominican Republic starting in July.

Celebrity will sail from St. Maarten, and Royal Caribbean ships will depart out of the Bahamas and Bermuda.

I predict that DeSantis will back down, moving those ships out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami (not to mention all the other Florida ports) would mean a loss of millions of dollars of revenue.

Not just from the cruise lines but ancillary businesses such as hotels, and local restaurants and shops.

While bookings for this summer may be iffy (not that I’m ready to jump on a cruise ship anyway), by autumn everything should be straightened out and we most certainly will have reached herd immunity. Here are a few LGBT groups sailing on mainstream cruises, which are usually much cheaper than all-gay cruises. All are sailing from Fort Lauderdale or Miami, and some are still offering early booking discounts.

BEARS AT SEA The HalloweenieBearCruise sails on the Norwegian JOY, from Miami, with stops at Roatán Bay Islands, Harvest Caye Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. The group’s special events include a nightly hot tub takeover (yum bear soup!), karaoke, private shore excursions, specialty entertainment, and the Halloweenie party.

Prices range from $1,300 for an interior cabin to $1,600 for a mini-suite. Prices include a premium beverage package, a $50 shore excursion credit (per port per cabin), all taxes, fees, including gratuities on beverage package and dining package, a 250-minute internet package, and dining at two specialty restaurants.

For more information check out bearcruise. com, or call 866-541-2187.

EXTEND THAT THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY Pied Piper’s Post-Thanksgiving Cruise week-long cruise is especially popular with South Florida folks (ask for the Florida discount). This year it takes place from Nov. 27 to Dec. 4, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas. With stops at the Caribbean islands of Antigua and St. Thomas and Coco Cay. Special entertainment and activities include private first-run movie showings, a costume theme party, a private beach party in one of the tropical cruise ports, nightly cocktail gatherings, an interactive Game Show, a “Dancing with the Stars” event, welcome aboard party, and singles mixers!

Cruise fares range from $720 for an inside cabin to $992 for an ocean-view balcony stateroom. For more information call 800-8747312 or go to piedpipertravel.com.

BOOGIE NIGHTS (AND DAYS)

The Allure of the Sea. Photo via Travel by MIM, Facebook.

GREY AND GAY Now in its 18th year, Travel by MIM’s 12-day cruise is designed for the mature male and his admirers. They’re not excluding women and they’ve had women join them in previous years. This cruise will bring together younger and older men (and women) for amazing camaraderie and friendship. For some this cruise has become an annual get-together. Sailing aboard the Celebrity Equinox, the group has private gay mixers as well as nightly gettogethers in the lounges. Each night you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy dinner with your fellow cruise mates.

Included in the southern Caribbean cruise are a welcome aboard cocktail party, private dining room tables for members of the group, pre-dinner cocktail parties, tour escort, organized activities during days at sea, optional private group shore excursions, the classic beverage package, gratuities, and Wifi.

Prices range from $1,750 for an inside cabin to $3,500 for a veranda stateroom.

Call 954-735-8108 or contact gay-travel-by-mim.com.

While technically not a gay cruise, you can be sure our community will be well-represented on the Ultimate Disco Cruise, which returns Feb. 26 through March 3. Sailing the Caribbean on the Celebrity Summit. The third incarnation of this popular cruise features more than 40 live performances from some of your favorite disco legends to keep you groovin’ all day and all night long.

Among the performers on this year’s cruise are KC and The Sunshine Band, Kool & The Gang, The Spinners, Rose Royce, The Ohio Players, Exposé, Evelyn “Champagne” King, A Taste of Honey, Thelma Houston, Peaches & Herb, The Hues Corporation, Bee Gees Gold, Boogie Wonder Band and the ultimate Donna Summer tribute performed by Rainere Martin. The music starts late morning poolside and continues until the wee hours of the morning. And it’s all hosted by none other than Deney Terrio (the former host of Dance Fever).

The musicians don’t just perform on stage, they take part in Q&A sessions, panel discussions, and game shows and dine right beside you in the casual dining rooms. There are theme nights and costume parties, trivia contests, dance competitions, karaoke, and pool-side dance lessons. All this while visiting the exotic ports of Cozumel and Costa Maya.

Prices range from $1,449 for an interior stateroom to $2,299 for a Concierge class veranda room to $7,599 for the penthouse suite.

Pack your platform shoes and your passport and book your space now at ultimatediscocruise.com or call 844-296-3472.

Left page: photo via Adobe.

JULY 2021 | THE

| 19

Why we

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Village...

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Westlake Priority Depositors David Bose andDepositors Jay Shah Westlake Priority David Bose and Jay Shah

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It will include two brand new buildings It will brand new buildings with 150include upscaletwo apartment homes, two with 150 upscale apartment homes, two farm-to-table restaurants, bar, and a farm-to-table restaurants, bar, and a Performing Arts Center.

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JohnVillage Knox Village is committed to compliance all federal, state local housinglaws. laws.ItItisisour ourpolicy policy to to offer senior John Knox is committed to compliance with with all federal, state andand local fairfair housing senior living livingtotothose thosethat thatqualify qualify tocolor, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, familial status,ororhandicap. handicap.The Theemployees employees of withoutwithout regard regard to race, national origin, religion, sex,sex, sexual orientation, familial status, of John JohnKnox KnoxVillage Villagehave havea legal a legal obligation to treat each individual in a consistent and equally fair manner.

In order to assist you with your decision on your new home, we are providing a list obligation to treat each individual in a consistent and equally fair manner. In order to assist you with your decision on your new home, we are providing a list of guidelines used to qualify residents for tenancy in community. our community.

Please note that this ourcurrent currentrental/ownership rental/ownership criteria; these of guidelines used to qualify residents for tenancy in our Please note that this is is our criteria;nothing nothingcontained containedinin these requirements shall constitute a guarantee or representation by John Knox Village that all residents and occupants currently residing at the community have requirements shall constitute a guarantee or representation by John Knox Village that all residents and occupants currently residing at the community have met these requirements. There may be residents and occupants that have resided the community prior to these requirements going into effect. Additionally, met these requirements. There may be residents and occupants that have resided the community prior to these requirements going into effect. Additionally, our ability to verify whether these requirements have been met is limited to the information we receive from various credit and screening services used. our ability to verify whether these requirements have been met is limited to the information we receive from various credit and screening services used.

MASKS ARE COMING OFF

TIME TO

SHOW YOUR

SMILE

AGAIN!

FILM

UNSUNG STORY AN INTERVIEW WITH GAY FILMMAKER AARON BEAR // Gregg Shapiro

D

uring the COVID-19 pandemic, the term “unsung hero” was tossed around a lot as average, yet extraordinary, people struggled to find alternative means of survival because the government failed to protect them. To a whole generation of gay men, this experience had an eerily familiar feeling.

If the late Ric Weiland (1953-2006), a true unsung hero if ever there was one, was still alive he would most likely agree. Weiland, a gay man who co-founded Microsoft along with Bill Gates and Paul Allen, still found a way to make a lasting impact on causes near dear to him, including HIV/AIDS research and marriage equality, by leaving significant financial endowments to various LGBT organizations. With his informative documentary “Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story” (World of Wonder), gay filmmaker Aaron Bear illuminates Weiland’s story, shining a well-deserved spotlight on a man who deserves the attention and accolades. Bear was kind enough to answer a few questions before the premiere of the doc.  Pictured: Aaron Bear. Photo via MountainFilm.org.

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FILM GREGG SHAPIRO: FOR SOME PEOPLE, RIC WEILAND’S NAME ISN’T AS FAMILIAR AS HIS MICROSOFT COHORTS BILL GATES AND PAUL ALLEN. WOULD YOU SAY THAT WAS WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO TELLING HIS STORY IN “YES I AM: THE RIC WEILAND STORY”?

AARON BEAR: Much of Ric’s life was unknown and that was on purpose and of his own choosing. He wanted to be someone behind the scenes making things happen. Being a filmmaker and someone who works behind the camera, I could relate to how Ric felt. The deeper I dug into his life, it became clear that his life has paralleled a lot of my own. The film also touches on the subject of mental health and taking care of yourself.

While making this film, I turned to working on my own mental health for the first time ever. I felt and continue to feel deeply connected to him on so many levels.

GS: HOW MUCH OF YOUR AWARENESS OF RIC WAS DERIVED FROM YOU BEING A GAY MAN LIVING IN SEATTLE? AB: Seattle is undoubtedly a special place, but in regards to my awareness of Ric, I had only read headlines about him upon his passing in 2006. Years later, I was approached at the Seattle International Film Festival by Ric’s friend Michael Failla about perhaps making a film about his life. It wasn’t until I was deep into the research of this film that I realized what a significant impact he had on Seattle, marriage equality, AIDS/ HIV research and the list goes on. Ric has inspired me to be a better human being.

GS: RIC’S LONG-LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS TO LGBT PHILANTHROPY ARE TRULY REVOLUTIONARY AND CENTRAL TO HIS STORY. ONE OF THE DOC INTERVIEW SUBJECTS SAYS THAT RIC WAS “SO BRILLIANT WITH CODE, HE WOULD WRITE MORE, SO HE COULD MAKE MORE MONEY, SO HE COULD GIVE IT AWAY.” HOW DO YOU THINK RIC WOULD FEEL ABOUT THE ONGOING IMPACT OF HIS ENDOWMENTS? AB: Ric’s accomplishments are unsurpassed and that is putting it mildly. Seriously, Google his name, and it’s astonishing of his achievements and nobody knows who he was. Ric would feel quietly delighted of his impact from his ongoing endowments.

GS: THE DOC IS FULL OF FASCINATING INTERVIEW SUBJECTS, MANY OF WHOM WERE FRIENDS OF RIC’S INCLUDING BILL GATES AND LGBT ACTIVIST URVASHI VAID. WHEN YOU APPROACHED PEOPLE ABOUT BEING INTERVIEWED FOR THE DOC, DID YOU MEET ANY RESISTANCE, OR WAS EVERYONE WILLING TO SING RIC’S PRAISES BEFORE THE CAMERA? AB: Everyone wanted to be a part of singing Ric’s praises.

From Bill Gates to Urvashi. Zachary Quinto’s involvement came later after I contacted him and expressed what an impact Ric has had on me while making this film. The only unfortunate and sad turn of events was that I never got to interview Paul Allen. We had a filming date and he passed two weeks before that date. Paul and Ric were incredibly close, and I wish I would have been able to show the brotherly type of love they had for each other. Fenton (Bailey) and Randy (Barbato) at World Of Wonder were heroes of mine since high school, so working with those two was a dream come true. I really did have the gay dream team working on this film with me.

GS: YOU MENTIONED OUT ACTOR ZACHARY QUINTO WHO PROVIDES THE VOICEOVERS DURING THE PARTS OF THE DOC IN WHICH WE ARE GIVEN ACCESS TO SOME OF RIC’S JOURNAL ENTRIES. WHAT WAS IT ABOUT ZACHARY THAT MADE HIM RIGHT FOR THAT?

AB: After findings Ric’s diaries, I knew I wanted an out gay actor to read as Ric’s voice. Someone who had seen some life, met some resistance along the way and knew the tone of Ric’s voice. I made a short list and Zach was someone I’ve always been drawn to. In all of my dreams, I never would have thought he would say yes. Zach had the tone nailed from the beginning and was such a gentleman to work with.

GS: YOU ALSO INCORPORATE ANIMATION IN THE DOC. WHY DID YOU INCLUDE THAT VISUAL ELEMENT? AB: The animation was something I had in my brain and storyboarded from the get-go. Since there wasn’t a ton of material of Ric (no actual video interviews of him exist) I knew I was going to have to create some visuals that were compelling but also helped guide the story along. My associate producer introduced me to this incredible talent located here in Seattle named Neely Goniodsky. She understood the heart and heartache of Ric from our very first meeting.

GS: NEARLY 40 YEARS INTO THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC, THE SUBJECT CONTINUES TO BE PRESENTED ONSCREEN, NOT ONLY IN “YES I AM,” WHICH DEALS WITH RIC’S SEROCONVERSION, BUT ALSO IN RUSSELL T. DAVIES’ “IT’S A SIN.” CAN YOU PLEASE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF NOT FORGETTING THE ONGOING AIDS ALL THESE YEARS LATER? AB: The history of HIV/AIDS should never be forgotten.

Period. We have pills like Truvada that protect us these days, but history still remains and should be taught. I was able to show the film to a couple of late teens and early 20-somethings and they had no idea. This is an interesting question because showing this film to some of the older folks I knew said there was “too much” about it. So, I found a balance with how much history I put in there. That said, Ric’s contributions to (fighting) this disease were and continue to be paramount. He was giving money for research when nobody else was. Oh, and if you can follow the @theaidsmemorial on Instagram, it also provides a glimpse as to what it was truly like.

GS: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE BY INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF BOTH RIC WEILAND’S LIFE AND DEATH? AB: I hope “Yes I Am” helps inform people about Ric’s life and accomplishments, yes. But, I really hope that the viewer leaves with the essence of — death is not the end and your life achievements can make a serious impact on the entire world.

GS: YOUR NEXT PROJECT, THE TV SERIES “THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT,” IS THE SECOND UPCOMING RELEASE TO FEATURE THE TITLE OF A SONG BY THE SMITHS AS ITS NAME; THE FIRST BEING “SHOPLIFTERS OF THE WORLD.” CAN YOU PLEASE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF MORRISSEY AND THE SMITHS ON YOUR WORK AND LIFE? AB: Being a suburban gay teenager in the Midwest, preinternet, was an incredibly isolating and lonely experience.

Music back then was my absolute outlet and savior. I’m not sure how I would have survived that experience otherwise. The Smiths, more specifically Morrissey’s voice and lyrics, truly spoke to the isolation and longing of that era in a way nobody had before. The way he sang about alienation and wanting someone to, “Take me anywhere, I don’t care, I don’t care...” was anthemic in wanting to escape from the oppression I found myself in and how I was willing to do anything possible to find my tribe outside that world.

JULY 2021 | THE

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PRIDE

EYEWITNESSES RECOUNT

HORROR AT PRIDE CRASH KILLS ONE; INJURES THREE, AND STOPS PARADE // Jason Parsley

WHOOSH. That’s what Nicholas Coppola vividly remembers as the truck barreled past him, after striking three pedestrians, and then careening across the road into a plant nursery.

“I was rattled. I’m still reeling from it,” he said. “It was a very surreal moment.”

Him and his close friend Kevin Muth were on the passenger side of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s car as the tragic accident unfolded.

They were just a foot away as the out-of-control truck crossed the street.

“There was a thud of the driver hitting somebody.

Then I heard another thud, and a body flew up in the air.

There was never an attempt to break,” Muth said. “It was just a constant revving up of the engine, and the next thing you know, it crossed the street.”

For Coppola though he first heard the truck ram through the fence from the staging area in Fort Lauderdale High School’s parking lot.

THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED ABOUT 6:57 P.M. SATURDAY, JUNE 19 ON NORTHEAST 4TH AVENUE JUST ACROSS THE RAINBOW BRIDGE.

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Wilton Drive after the accident. Photo credit: Carina Mask.

“I actually felt the wind of the truck pass me,” he said.

The truck also narrowly missed Wasserman Schultz’s car as well.

Days later Muth and Coppola were still shaken up.

“It was frightening. I’ve been having lots of difficulty concentrating on stuff. I just keep replaying it, hearing it, the screams, and fear in everybody’s eyes,” Muth said.

“That thud was horrible. The worst part was seeing the bodies, hit and thrown, and fall into the ground.”

The accident occurred about 6:57 p.m. Saturday, June 19 on Northeast 4th Avenue just across the Rainbow Bridge. Both Muth and Coppola initially suspected the worst: someone had intentionally terrorized the LGBT community.

“At that moment, unfortunately, I really thought that was our worst nightmare come true,” Coppola said.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis jumped to that conclusion. Speaking to Local 10 News within 15 minutes of the incident, he declared, “This was a terrorist attack against the LGBT community. This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate. It was premeditated.”

The incident took place a week after the fifth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting. This also

Above: a press conference after the incident at Stonewall Pride. Credit: Carina Mask.

THIS YEAR THEY WERE GOING TO MARCH WITH CONGRESSMAN TED DEUTCH’S CONTINGENT. THEY HAD JUST GREETED WASSERMAN SCHULTZ WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. happened a week after the vandalism of a new LGBT crosswalk in Delray Beach where a 20-year-old man had used his truck to do a “burnout” over the artwork leaving two dark skid marks.

Other public officials, like Wilton Manors City Commissioner Chris Caputo, though weren’t so sure.

“From the beginning, everything I personally saw and heard led me to believe it was a horribly tragic accident and not a terrorist attack,” he said. “Out of an abundance of caution, and to allow for a proper investigation, the City of Wilton Manors exercised restraint in its communication.”

Meanwhile at the other end of the parade route in the heart of Wilton Manors few people knew what was happening except there was a delay of the parade.

“As we walked back, it seemed so many people were unaware of it, which I think was a good thing,” Coppola said. “It didn’t cause any kind of panic, which I was glad about. Because you know, with that kind of crowd, God forbid, something like that happens, it could just make a very bad situation that much worse.”

Muth and Coppola, who both live in Delray Beach, are veterans of Pride parades, marching in more than 15 of them through the years.

“I always felt safe,” Coppola said. “I mean even in New

York City with the crowds, I felt comfortable.”

This year they were going to march with Congressman Ted Deutch’s contingent. They had just greeted Wasserman Schultz when the accident occurred.

“Everybody was talking with Debbie,” Muth recalled.

James Fahy, 75, was the victim who was killed in the accident. Jerry Vroegh, 67, was injured and has since been discharged from Broward Health Medical Center. A third man, Gary Keating, 69, sustained minor injuries and was treated on site.

The driver of the white Dodge Ram is Fred Johnson, Jr. All four men are members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Fort Lauderdale and were participating in the parade.

“This was a horrible accident and I offer my sincere regrets to all those who were impacted by this tragic event,” Johnson, 77, said in a statement through the chorus. “I love my Chorus family and the community and would never do anything to intentionally harm anyone.

Please know that I hold my fellow Chorus member, Jim Fahy, in my heart forever and offer my condolences to his friends and family.”

Wilton Manors Police Chief Gary Blocker has also confirmed the incident was an accident even though the Fort Lauderdale Police Department continues to investigate.

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PRIDE

IN THE FACE OF TRAGEDY

PRIDE CONTINUES // John Hayden

THE RETURN OF STONEWALL PRIDE PARADE & STREET FESTIVAL WAS SPLIT IN TWO: BEFORE A TRAGIC ACCIDENT AND AFTER. But even in those frightening moments when fun turned into fear the community’s pride stayed strong.

The party started on schedule at 3 p.m. on June 19.

People started walking up one side of Wilton Drive and down the other. After missing last year due to the pandemic people were ready to be together and party.

Stages lined the drive with drag queens and singers pumping up Pride. In front of Hunter’s airbrush legend Avi Ram was body painting people. Down by SunServe’s building people sang karaoke while others tried to soak people in the dunk tank. At the BodyTek tent people posed at a photo booth.

According to organizers more than 40,000 attended the festival beating the 2019 event.

“It beat our expectations,” said Jeff Sterling, the festival’s CEO.

“A TRAGEDY CAN BE A UNITER. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THEM ALL TOO OFTEN. AND YET SUCH THINGS HAVE BROUGHT US TOGETHER IN SUPPORT OF ONE ANOTHER.” - Dr. Requel Lopes WORLD AIDS MUSEUM IN FORT LAUDERDALE

A pride flag flies at Stonewall Pride. Photo credit: J.R. Davis.

Meanwhile restaurants filled up with people looking for a little shade and a lot of refreshments. Many set up food and drink stations outside along The Drive so people could hydrate with their beverage of choice.

Considering this was the biggest in-person Pride in South Florida since the COVID crisis, everything was going as well as could be expected, if not better.

Then at 7 p.m., as the parade was supposed to step off, there was no parade. What appeared to be a BSO helicopter was tightly circling over the staging area. No announcement was made but word of a truck plowing through the staging area started to spread.

Rev. Durrell Watkins of Sunshine Cathedral was there when the confusion started. “Just then we hear this strange sound like a car accelerating and then we hear crashing noises we see a truck plowing through trees and plants, there was a nursery across the street.

Then we look down and see bodies that were struck. It was so fast and out of the blue, we’d seen it before we knew what we’d seen.”

It became apparent fairly quickly that this was an accident and not a coordinated attack on the event or the community and panic never gripped the crowd.

Watkins says what happened next was inspiring.

TURN THE PAGE TO CONTINUE READING.

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PRIDE CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE.

“It was sad but it also happened at home, it happened in the community, in the gayborhood with all of us together and the people, they didn’t disperse. They stayed. It was a fine example of community.”

Sterling released a statement the day next expressing the organization’s horror over the events that transpired.

“We are devastated by the tragic accident on June 19 at the start of the Stonewall Pride Parade at the Fort Lauderdale High School involving members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus,” he said. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased, the other individuals involved, and the Chorus family. As we await the result of the police investigation, we ask the community to come together and pay tribute to the life lost so tragically.”

At the other end of The Drive by The Manor thousands stayed packed in the streets, music thumped with deep bass, and Pride continued.

Dr. Requel Lopes of the World AIDS Museum in Fort Lauderdale was set to be Co-Grand Marshal of the parade, and told SFGN: “Even a few days later I can feel the weight of it. We have lost one of our own. We mourn together. We reflect together. My heart goes

REMEMBERING JAMES FAHY, VICTIM OF PARADE ACCIDENT The Stonewall Pride parade tragedy. Photo credit: Carina Mask.

// J.W. Arnold Friends and colleagues of James Fahy describe him as a kind, friendly man and a dedicated member of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus (FTLGMC).

In a statement following the incident, FTLGMC President Justin Knight said Fahy was “a longtime, valued member of our Chorus family and he will be deeply missed.”

“I don’t want to use a cliché, but we’re all a family. It does apply in this instance,” said chorus member Tom Cusack.

Fahy, a second tenor, “was a quiet guy, always smiling. He loved Christmas music and especially the Christmas concert.”

Read more about the life of James Fahy on SFGN.com.

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out to all that were affected especially the members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus. Let’s hold them all in our thoughts and prayers. A tragedy can be a uniter. We have experienced them all too often. And yet such things have brought us together in support of one another. The day began with a celebration of unity and love.”

She continued: “The joint celebration of Juneteenth and Pride was evident of our community’s ability to come together, providing a message of hope, resilience and love as one community. Regardless of our differences, we celebrated powerfully. We must continue to celebrate life, the legacy of those lost, as we have done so many times in the past – Juneteenth, Stonewall Riot, AIDS Crisis. We always came together.

This is no different. It will take time. Be gentle with one another as each of us will mourn differently. We are One. We are Pride.”

In the aftermath many could be traumatized by the accident. SunServe is offering counseling saying “When traumatic events like this occur anxiety and depression can follow. If you or someone you know is dealing with a new or exacerbated mental health issue, please reach out to our mental health professionals.”

ADVERTISING

SHADES OF AIDS and MY SHADOW

Where do I begin? In the oceans of words generated regarding COVID 19, how can I find anything pertinent, new, interesting or informative to say to you? Perhaps words of comfort, understanding, advising patience? I would not presume to attempt that. Now that 2020 has faded into 2021 and we, all of us who are not living in a dystopian Trump cult fantasy, have been forced to face our mortality, gross injustice on a truly massive and unparalleled landscape - and I am not just talking about governmental failure to handle the COVID crisis here - loss, death, dying and suffering.

At first, in March 2020, we gay folk thought of AIDS in the 80s and 90s: “now YOU know how WE feel and felt in the middle of THAT debacle. In the spring, I recall articles that said, in essence, not it’s not like AIDS. And, it is not, because even though the scale of the current pandemic is so much larger in actual numbers, it is not nearly as deadly, or nearly as large - not even close to the percentage of the gay community whose collective and individual lives were shattered by a deadly disease that was officially ignored for years.

Try that injustice on for size. Yes, we have done, and for the rest of our lives, the taste of being expendable “others” will be bitter on our tongues and in our hearts.

My brother, Peter Bodiford, (say his name) died of the complications of AZT, haphazardly dispensed to the desperate untreatable victims of AIDS in the late 80s and early 90s.

A second year law student, Peter stubbornly resisted testing and had branched out from WeHo boy’s clubs to bear haunts, and he might have survived had he not developed Karposi’s Sarcoma, the purple bruising blooming on his creamy buff and unblemished 29 year old forearms in 1989. In the fall of 1990 he graduated from Loyola Law School.

In May of 1991, at a tony restaurant at the Beverly Center (Los Angeles), his beautiful face a shadow of itself, purple bruising spread across his nose and spotting his cheeks, the waiter mutely brought various dishes to tempt his palate, and he said to me, softly, “...Is he flirting with me, or does he just feel sorry for me?” By June 3rd, he was dead.

March through December, 2020. My marriage disintegrated, my long time and best

friend from the 80s in L.A., died, my friend and receptionist at my office died, my favorite first cousin and boy-pal of my youth died, my half sister died, my second cousin died, and my 20 year friend and landlord died. None of this a result of COVID-19. “The COVID” has found me working from home, and in a novel format.

The virus has, indirectly of course, given me new gay men friends with whom I shared the holidays, and inspired me to start drinking wine much earlier on most days (the first a boone the second a bit scary). None of 2020 has even touched the horror show of the 80s and early 90s that I have survived. Most of us gay folk in my generation can say the same.

Does that make us stronger? More resilient? Less afraid? Having seen the results of under-tested AZT, are we less eager for the promised vaccine? If so, you can’t tell it by me. I share with you my outraged letter to Sun Sentinel reporter on COVID vaccines, written the first day we over 65s could attempt to schedule our vaccination.

“Dear Ms. Goodman: Write a story about this: the “breaking story” you,(via the Sun Sentinel) told us (the public) only today 12/30/2020, (i heard late last night) that “we Broward residents” over 65 could call for appointments to be vaccinated. long story short: wrong numbers were published, and at the end of the day or actually by today at 2 pm, all the available appointments at the 3 parks listed on browardcovidvacine.com, had no availability throughout the entire year of 2021, (this site appeared to be down all day until - it was up - with no availability, and the appointment line finally rang through to a message that says no more availability check

back some time in the future (more or less).

Who, one might ask, made appointments on telephone calls that when they did go through, instead of a busy signal, disconnected the caller. No live answers as far as I could discern. I called all day (954) 759-7500 since 7:01 a.m. I also called the other Broward numbers included in your article. Cleveland Clinic made no reference to vaccines only tests, and calling the Broward County Health Department number (945) 467-4700 only misdirected me to yet another bogus number.

— I just wonder who got the appointments and how and when, can you find out? I call out fraud or worse.” (Underlining, all caps, red type omitted.)

Insert an “eyeroll” emoji here. I was outraged, indignant, angry, suspicious, accusatory, and so on. Not feeling resilient or wise or wary of the vaccine, I posted my outrage and and asked: “Who in Broward County succeeded in getting an appointment for the vaccine?” on Facebook, and with over 70 comments there may have been 2 who reported getting an appointment. Putting my current feelings in perspective by reflecting on the AIDS crisis, I have to say that there is certainly a level of comfort in the universal suffering of the greater community: WE have not been singled out for suffering or neglect - all of our citizens, except the politically priveleged, are equally dis-served by our underfunded health departments and disorganized governmental response, on all levels. I did get an appointment for a vaccination at www. Browardcovidvaccine. com, the key being checking the website every morning early, and if you get in and get

M.S.W., J.D.

thrown out, keep trying until the site tells you it is closed. Not “temporarily unavailable”, that just means a momentary clog: keep trying.

I got appointments for friends by using my phone, my ipad and my laptop simultaneously until I got through.

May the force be with us. I will add that as an estate planning attorney, I am surprised that more folks aren’t reaching

out to me to prepare their wills, trusts, and health surrogates. I am observing all COVID protocols, with remote consultations, and meeting only briefly for the requisite signing and notarizing. Please check out my website www.LAWROBIN.com, for not only my business info, but, many gay rights videos and articles from over the many years since Peter’s death from AIDS transformed me

into a gay rights advocate. The long term outcome of COVID-19 is unknowable, but, I think that we as gay folk survivors of AIDS are stronger and more resilient than we may know.

- Robin Bodiford

FEATURE

SPEAK

OUT LOCAL LGBT ACTIVISTS GIVE THE MIRROR THEIR THOUGHTS ON LIFE AFTER THE PANDEMIC //MI ROR Staff

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FEATURE

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2

HOW LGBT LIFE IN AMERICA WILL CHANGE POST PANDEMIC?

HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?

BRANDON WOLF, EQUALITY FLORIDA As with most communities, life will be forever altered for LGBT people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of our favorite bars and venues have shuttered.

Community centers are in need of financial support. And jobs that disproportionately represented LGBT people, like those in the service and hospitality industries, will come back slowly. It is going to take all of us working together to recover from this challenging period of time — but we can do it.

Like others, the pandemic isolated me from friends and family, uprooted my routines, and added complexities and stressors to things I had once taken for granted. The pandemic has been extremely challenging for all of us and I am ready for a bit of normalcy to return.

VICTOR WARREN, CHAIR OF SUNSERVE The biggest post pandemic change to the LGBTQ+ community will be how we all gather going forward.

While there are some people who are racing to go back to the way it was pre-pandemic, there are many others who feel it is safer to remain in small groups. The challenge is now how to make sure there is still a sense of community, and not leaving anyone out.

This will require a sizable shift in everything from social events, to how businesses engage with their consumers, to how non-profits fundraise and provide services.

Like so many others, the pandemic has personally affected my business. I work in the legal field, and my job needs for the courts to be open, with cases regularly moving through the system. The pandemic caused the courts to be closed for over a year, which caused my business to slow to a crawl. However, I am fortunate that we still have my husband’s income to see us through this. I have learned to just roll with the punches, and I remain optimistic as things are slowly beginning to pick up again.

DEAN TRANTALIS, MAYOR OF FORT LAUDERDALE Declined to comment. See editorial, “The Arrogance of Power” by Norm Kent on SFGN.com.

JULY 2021 | THE

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FEATURE

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2

HOW LGBT LIFE IN AMERICA WILL CHANGE POST PANDEMIC?

HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?

HERB SOSA, CEO OF UNITY COALITION Unquestionably, life for all global citizens has already changed for the foreseeable future – with more attention to personal space, projection of breath, cleanliness on public surfaces, etc … for our LGBTQ+ communities specifically, post pandemic life has already brought an initial awareness of germ transmissions, hygiene and limitations on public events, increase in social media interaction, and some very creative face coverings … but much of this will be short lived, as vaccinations, impatience and the need for human touch, increases.

Personally, the pandemic has brought back many stored away feelings of isolation, stigma and loss. Many elders in our community have lived many of the feelings and attitudes (from the AIDS epidemic), that the general public has now been introduced to with COVID. Mental health needs and the ongoing physical effects of COVID are yet to be determined, but if history has taught our community anything, it is not a question of if, but when these too will have to be dealt with.

ARIANNA LINT, CEO AND FOUNDER OF ARIANNA’S CENTER I think that the pandemic has given us the opportunity to reevaluate ourselves and our lives, and really consider what is important. It’s also given us the opportunity to support those in our community that have needed a helping hand. At Arianna’s Center, we retooled our work and offerings as an organization to be able to address the special needs that arose because of the pandemic, by offering stipends, meals and basically anything that was needed by our clients and their families. My hope is that we will be more unified as LGBTQ people, we will celebrate our pride without leaving our most marginalized behind, we will be grateful that we have survived the pandemic and the hardships it brought to our lives. We have learned to support each other and care more about each other.

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The pandemic affected every aspect of my life. The initial isolation was alarming because my work is based on being connected in person with our community. But we figured it out, we developed ways to stay in community here in Florida and in Puerto Rico, provide the life affirming services we provide and take our advocacy to the virtual space. We’ve thrived as an organization and thankfully have been the first point of support for many in our community.

I’ve been fortunate that I’ve stayed healthy and my team has stayed healthy and have been able to take care of ourselves and our families well.

I am full of gratitude, joy and compassion for being able to continue doing what I love and uplifting the lives of trans women of color and our entire trans family.

FEATURE

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2

HOW LGBT LIFE IN AMERICA WILL CHANGE POST PANDEMIC?

HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?

DAMIAN PARDO, CHAIR OF 4WARD MIAMI (GAY8 FESTIVAL)

I think most people will go back to the same routine but with some societal shifts that have been accelerated by the pandemic — maybe moving to a different city, remote working from home, personal hygiene and health. I think others will be changed at a deeper level by valuing relationships and themselves more and making choices toward self love and meaningfulness — dropping relationships with people, and activities that are now unfulfilling.

I have spent a lot of energy internally on evaluating and focusing on my present moment, which I realize more fully is all I really have. My attitudes toward work, friendships, community activities, romances and family have changed to focus on the quality of those relationships as those related to ME, my personal satisfaction, growth and happiness.

HUNTER O’HANIAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF STONEWALL MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES

I don’t think the pandemic affected gay people any differently than straight folks. It caused a high degree of isolation and made it difficult to socialize. That was rough on a lot of people. I am just happy that a social gay life is starting to re-emerge.

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This has been a wonderful period of personal and professional reflection. I have enjoyed the respite and learned a lot. I am ready to approach life with a new found energy and more moderate pace. I will challenge given norms in the future.

FEATURE

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2

HOW LGBT LIFE IN AMERICA WILL CHANGE POST PANDEMIC?

HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?

JULIE SEAVER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMPASS I have always worried about those around me and I think everyone has experienced more distress, loneliness and fatigue than before the pandemic. I am lucky and privileged in many ways, but as a mom, a daughter, and even a leader; the self-imposed weight of the world has never felt heavier.

These last four years with the previous administration and the anti-LGBT legislation that continues to come down the state and federal pipeline have exposed greater issues of inequality in health, wellness and economic opportunities.

Amplified by the pandemic, our community is feeling much more vulnerable than ever before.

I don’t really have the answer for that. I had hoped that postpandemic, our fellow humans would be kinder to each other, stand up for one another, offer grace and space to those who need it the most. I had hoped that someday this story would be known as “The Great Reset Button,” when people prioritized humanity and focused on what’s really important in their lives. And each day, I continue to hope for our trans and non-binary friends and family that someday, it will get better.

But I just read an article in SFGN, that nine trans and non-binary people have been killed just this past May alone. How do I tell our kids that it will actually get better?

I can tell you this, from speaking to our youth: these kids are losing hope.They are losing hope at home, they are losing hope when they scroll the news feeds, and they are losing hope in us.

We can’t get tired and give up on them. The generations before us didn’t give up on our future and we can’t give up on theirs.

DAVID JOBIN, CEO OF OUR FUND Maybe because of the trauma we suffer during our childhoods as bullied outsiders, LGBT folks seek joy from community at a higher level as adults. So our elasticity is already kicking in and you are seeing the LGBT community lead the way on returning to normalcy. While sometimes pushing the CDC guidelines a bit too much for comfort, Wilton Drive was bustling long before straight society.

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For me personally, I will be much less likely to take human interaction for granted. My downward gaze at my phone which was becoming too familiar is thankfully replaced by rapt attention to faces, smiles, eyes and expressions of others.

FEATURE

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2

HOW LGBT LIFE IN AMERICA WILL CHANGE POST PANDEMIC?

HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?

LEE RUBIN, SENIOR MANAGER, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AT CITRIX As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, it is distressing that 33 states have introduced more than 100 antitransgender bills across the country, But at the same time, public opinion supports LGBT rights at levels we have never seen before. Seventy-six percent of adults now favor laws that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. And, just one month after the inauguration, President Biden urged Congress to swiftly pass the Equality Act. So, even though we are currently experiencing the worst period of anti-LGBT legislation we have ever seen, I believe the silver-lining will be this over-reach will help us to secure long lasting equal rights for everyone in our community.

I’m very lucky because I am married to my best friend. I can’t imagine spending 24 hours a day, for the last 15 months, with anyone else. I am also lucky because I work for a company that has supported our employees in unprecedented ways.

I feel really grateful that Citrix allowed 100% of our employees to work from home. We were all given resources to set up home offices. As a company we gave a $9 million in corporate giving, focused on providing food, shelter, medical, and educational support to those in need in the communities in which we live and work. On top of this, I am so thankful that I work with people who gave an additional $1.5 million. So though, the pandemic has been unbelievably hard for so many people, I feel so lucky to have been supported in so many meaningful ways.

STEPHEN FALLON, CEO LATINOS SALUD I count myself fortunate not to have lost anyone in my immediate orbit to COVID-19. The impact has been almost exclusively on the work front: as a public health agency, we felt it was our responsibility to make sure that Latinos Salud stayed safely open, serving the community. We were the only non-profit in South Florida that stayed entirely open, for all screening services, whether by appointment or walk-in. Because community members were displaced while other agencies shuttered, both our numbers of tests conducted and numbers of new HIV and STD cases rose by 20% last year.

I think we’ve all been living “on guard” for so long now that simple things are going to be especially thrilling: that first group road trip, pool party, night at the theater, or large group dinner event.

We’ve seen after wars how seeing colors suddenly takes on a profound significance: the gray pallor of rubble replaced by shiny buildings and new grass. The “war” against COVID has not leveled buildings. Instead, we’ve all had our noses and mouths covered so much of the past year. If I were to hazard a guess post-COVID, I would say that awakening to the smells and smiles that those masks have blocked will be most memorable aspect of the post-pandemic world. And, assuming we’re brave enough to do it, boldly hugging our friends again.

42 | THE

| JUNE 2021

We’re honored that the community put its trust in us.

On a personal level, though, the year of heightened vigilance and a faster pace wore on all of us. We lost a few employees to stress, burn out, or family obligations. I’ve become aware of how many new people I used to meet in a year. Conversations brought new perspectives and anecdotes. That’s diminished while we all kept our distance. Something as simple as going to a movie together seems sepia-toned in memory, a wistful wish for a past that doesn’t exist anymore. Even as the pace of work at Latinos Salud has been stressful this past COVID year, I can’t imagine how lonely and unsettled others must have felt this past year who were not able to work, or only able to work alone on a Zoom line.

JULY 2021 | THE

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| 45

FEATURE

THE PULSE OF OUR LIVES Five years later, a community still mourns // Steve Rothaus SPECIAL TO THE MIRROR

Photo via the onePULSE Foundation, Facebook.

46 | THE

| JULY 2021

REMEMBERING PULSE |

FIVE YEARS LATER

I

n moments, the Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Orlando five years ago extinguished the lives of 49 young people, wounded 68 others and altered the destinies of many impacted by the early morning massacre.

An estimated 320 people, mostly Hispanic, were still at Pulse for its popular Saturday Latin Night when about 2 a.m. Sunday, June 12, 2016, a shooter from Port St. Lucie came in firing a Sig Sauer MCX rifle and a Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

“It took that man less than five minutes to kill all of them,” said Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan, a lesbian who has served the city since 2000. “That man had a weapon of war that did not belong in a nightclub – or on our city streets.”

After the rampage, police went into the nightclub, found Omar Mateen and fatally shot him eight times during a gun battle.

By 8 a.m., Sheehan was with law enforcement on Orange Avenue outside the Pulse crime scene.

“It was very difficult to make identifications. Unfortunately, many of them were undocumented,” she said. “And the gunman shot many of them in the face to make it harder to identify them.”

Many of the undocumented survivors feared what would happen if authorities found them, Sheehan said.

“There was this young man who came to me,” Sheehan said. “He said that his friend had been shot, that he was in his apartment.

I said, ‘Why is he in your apartment? You need to take him to the hospital.’” He said his friend is undocumented. I said, ‘Promise me you are going to take him to the hospital.

Immigration is not going to take him.’”

Even before Sheehan arrived on the scene, Terry DeCarlo of the local LGBT community center “was there on the street at 6 a.m.,” she said.

DeCarlo and his husband, Bill Huelsman, both longtime LGBT activists in South Florida, moved to Orlando in 2014 when Terry became executive director of The Center (now known as The LGBT+ Center Orlando). Less than two years later, DeCarlo and Huelsman had planned to move back to the Fort Lauderdale area after Terry accepted a position with AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Then Pulse.

In the hours, days and weeks after the massacre, DeCarlo became the international face and voice of Orlando’s devastated LGBT community.

“Those first 12 hours were so completely

unorganized, we just had people there, “Community of LGBT Centers,” is currently standing in the hot sun just hugging each participating in an FDA-funded study with other,” Huelsman recalls. “Terry and I stayed OneBlood (along with other national blood there almost three days. We made a run back centers Vitalant and American Red Cross), in to the center for the press conference. He the hope of completely eliminating the gay gave close to 200 interviews in those first ban, Boo said. days. I had two legal pads and a pen. I had his DeCarlo’s personal and work lives cellphone and my cellphone. Everybody just intersected so greatly after Pulse, he and wanted to freakin’ talk to him.”

Huelsman decided to pass on the AIDS The afternoon of the shooting, gay men Healthcare Foundation job and stay in in Orlando and across Florida Orlando. volunteered to donate blood “If it hadn’t been for The for the victims. Bloodmobiles Center being open – and the were dispatched to LGBT efforts of Terry – there would centers and vigils across have been a lot more trauma, the state. Then came the a lot more suicides,” Sheehan shocking realization that said. decades earlier – during the DeCarlo helped hundreds early days of the AIDS crisis of parents and other relatives – the U.S. Food and Drug find help to work through Administration had imposed their overwhelming grief, she lifetime bans on blood said. donations by men who had After the shooting, former sex with other men.

President Barack Obama “People were freaked out described The Center as about it,” Huelsman said.

“Ground Zero for community “The line was down the healing.” block and around the corner.

“Terry ended up leaving Hundreds and hundreds of the center. It was too much. people were on line. We saw a He needed to go somewhere couple who drove down from else, because it was Georgia to give blood. It was completely overwhelming,” what they could do to help.

Sheehan said. “He had a heart … People were trying to help attack. He was really working - Patty Sheehan their community and were his ass off and people were ORLANDO COMMISSIONER told they couldn’t.” trying to nitpick what he Six months after Pulse, was doing. That man was an the FDA relaxed its lifetime ban on gay men absolute hero.” donating blood – just barely. Beginning Huelsman said his husband had no regrets December 2016, gay men could donate if about leaving Central Florida. they hadn’t had sex with another man for 12 “He was very proud of himself, as he months. In April 2020 – during the height should have been,” Huelsman said. “We of the COVID-19 crisis – the FDA relaxed the moved back. The decision was we had to get policy again, now allowing blood donations out of Orlando. We lived it every day, mentalfrom gay men if they have not had sex with health wise. Even two years after, it was other men in the past 90 days. something that was constant. He was dealing “Our own community can’t donate the with survivors and the families that came in. blood that it desperately needs. That’s so It really took a toll on us. Not that we didn’t archaic. It’s 1980s thinking,” said Robert Boo, love everyone there, but there was a time a longtime friend and colleague of DeCarlo, when you just had to move on.” who is chief executive officer of the Pride Huelsman and DeCarlo, a onetime Center at Equality Park in Wilton Manors. development director of HIV-service CenterLink, the Fort Lauderdale-based center Broward House, returned to Wilton

“IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR THE CENTER BEING OPEN – AND THE EFFORTS OF TERRY – THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT MORE TRAUMA, A LOT MORE SUICIDES.”

JULY JULY 2021 2021 || THE THE

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FEATURE

REMEMBERING PULSE |

Manors in 2018. Terry then became a manager in Broward County’s government communications department.

On June 12, 2019, he posted on Facebook: “Please hold your loved ones a little closer today as we commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre and remember the 49 lives that were taken from us that morning.”

Weeks after that post, doctors discovered DeCarlo had a fast-growing cancerous tumor in the roof of his mouth. He underwent major surgery and endured chemotherapy and radiation.

Throughout the fall and early winter, he continued to attend South Florida LGBT events, wearing face masks and, sometimes, glittery eye patches.

DeCarlo died January 27, 2020, of face and head cancer. The New York Times deemed his death so significant, it published a full obituary: “Terry DeCarlo, Gay Leader in the Wake of a Shooting, Dies at 57.”

“After he passed away, I got thousands and thousands of messages from around the world,” said Huelsman, his husband of 22 years. “They were all singing his praises, saying they don’t know what they would have done without him. From Australia, from China. From people who passed through Orlando and had met him.

“He had no regrets. That last day, when I was lying in bed with him, I said, ‘Remember all you have done. I can take care of myself.

Always remember what you did for everyone else.’”

For more than a year – until a gunman on October 1, 2017, killed 60 people and wounded 411 in Las Vegas – the Pulse nightclub tragedy was our nation’s worst mass shooting in history.

“Pulse was not just the deadliest attack on LGBT people, but the deadliest attack [at the time] on U.S. soil since 9/11,” said Brandon Wolf, who escaped the packed nightclub with dozens of others, but lost two of his best friends, Christopher Andrew “Drew” Leinonen and Juan Ramon Guerrero, in the shooting rampage.

“Drew was the first person who taught me to love myself,” said Wolf, 32. “He was a mental-health professional. He had a master’s degree in clinical psychology. He was an intellectual. He was politically fiery. He was a nerd. And he was genuinely the most loving and caring person I ever met.”

At the time of his death, Leinonen, 32, worked with outpatients for a health services company. Guerrero, his 22-year-old boyfriend, was “goofy” and “had a giggle that 48 | THE

| JULY 2021

FIVE YEARS LATER

was unmistakable,” Wolf said.

“What was fascinating about Juan was how similar his energy was to Drew,” he said.

“We were the three musketeers. We were out every week, somewhere. We traveled a lot together. We went on road trips, frequently.”

Leinonen and Wolf lived two doors from each other in the same apartment complex.

“That was one of the hardest parts about living there. Walking past his door, waiting for the day when he would be peeking out the window again. It’s very real and raw still.

Those are the parts the world doesn’t see. The crying. The messy parts. The painful parts.”

The night of the shooting, Wolf worked as Starbucks store manager in Orlando. Soon after, the coffee company promoted him to district manager for Tallahassee and Panama City. He left a few years later to fulfill a promise he made to his late friend Leinonen.

“About six days after the shooting, we had a funeral service for him. His mother asked me to be a pallbearer. And I struggled to push the casket down the aisle because I didn’t want to let go of Drew before I found the right words to say goodbye.

“We got to the front of the church and I looked down at the box. I told him I would never stop fighting for a world that he would be proud of. For a world that never forgets him,” Wolf said. “So as hard as some days are, I have to do this work in this way to make good on that promise.”

Leinonen in 2002 started the first gaystraight alliance at Seminole High School on Florida’s Gulf Coast. To honor him, Wolf and other friends co-founded The Dru Project, which seeks to empower LGBT youth and prepare them to be successful leaders.

“To date, we have given away over $75,000 in college scholarships, $15,000 in minigrants for gay-straight alliances and out-ofwork drag entertainers, and published one of the most comprehensive GSA guides in the country, which will be translated to Spanish over the coming months,” according to the nonprofit’s website.

Wolf – now a national gun safety advocate and Equality Florida’s media relations manager – refuses to define himself as a victim. “No. I call myself a survivor – in all the ways that that means.”

Journalist Steve Rothaus covered LGBT issues for 22 years at the Miami Herald.

Terry DeCarlo, the late executive director of The Center during the crisis. Photo via onePULSE Foundation, Facebook.

PRIDE

PRIDE IS

BACK! PLAN YOUR TRIPS NOW // Everitt Rosen

PRIDE MAY BE OVER IN WILTON MANORS BUT THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF PLACES TO SHOW OFF YOUR PRIDE IN THE FALL, SO MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND START PLANNING NOW. x

Photo via Adobe.

50 | THE

| JUNE 2021

PRIDE CHARLOTTE PRIDE SEASON AUGUST-NOVEMBER Charlotte Pride’s yearly events will be held in person this year.

Charlotte Pride’s crew has been hard at work since the beginning of 2021, transforming its regular week of activities into Pride Season 2021. Charlotte Pride is excited to announce it will extend its customary weeklong Pride celebrations into a complete Pride Season, which will stretch from August through November.

Charlotte Pride is Queen City’s method of commemorating, empowering, and uplifting.

Learn more about Charlotte Pride at charlottepride.org.

7TH ANNUAL MANATEE PRIDE FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 18 The 7th annual Manatee Pride Festival will be held at downtown Bradenton Riverwalk Sept. 18 from noon to 5 p.m. Manatee Pride 2021 will have live performers and renowned bands along with great food, beer, refreshments, health checks and more.

All proceeds will benefit ALSO YOUTH, a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy, leadership, support, and outreach for LGBT youth in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. This organization is dedicated to supporting, affirming, encouraging, enabling and empowering all LGBT youth.

Visit alsoyouth.org to learn more.

MIAMI BEACH GAY PRIDE FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 10-19 This year’s theme is “Out of This World” and will take place along the sand of South Beach along with a parade down Ocean Drive, in the city’s Art Deco neighborhood on Sunday morning.

Each day offers new and exciting events. There is a list of popular weekly events and parties that will help you make the most of your time in Miami during the Pride festival on the website.

It will include a two-day festival and parade that features special events, family-friendly community activations, social mixers and world-class entertainment.

Plan your trip or learn more at miamibeachpride.com.

SPACE COAST PRIDE FESTIVAL & PARADE SEPTEMBER 25 The 2021 Space Coast Pride Festival & Parade will take place on Sept. 25 in Historic Downtown Melbourne.

The events of this festival will kick off with a Rainbow Run 5K on Sept. 24 and will conclude with Pridefest and

Parade on Saturday, Sept. 25.

This festival will feature a main stage with all-day entertainment, over 160 vendors, and food trucks and vendors.

falls on the same day as the Come OUT St. Pete events and celebration.

Learn more about the event at comeoutstpete.org.

Visit spacecoastpride.org to learn more.

FANTASY FEST KEY WEST SOUTH FLORIDA AFRO PRIDE PARADE & MUSIC FESTIVAL OCTOBER Afro Pride Parade & Music Festival is an annual International Pride held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida cultivated for the Black and Brown LGBT community and authenticated by the Black and Brown LGBT community and allies.

The Afro Pride festival provides a culturally educated platform and a safe space for LGBT people of color to celebrate shared cultural norms, feel powerful, included, and a sense of unity and solidarity while raising awareness about inequities and social injustices.

The Afro Pride Festival will not only be a showcase of wonderful and remarkable cultural and performing arts abilities, but it will also be a celebration of AfricanAmerican culture.

Learn more about the festival by visiting sfloafropridefederation.org.

COME OUT WITH PRIDE ORLANDO OCTOBER 9 Come Out With Pride is excited to announce that an in-person Pride will be held in Lake Eola Park on Saturday, October 9. They are optimistic that it will be able to have a safe celebration for everyone who chooses to join since many in the LGBT community have already been completely vaccinated or will be soon.

The National Trans Visibility March will take place directly before this year’s Most Colorful Parade. Over 5,000 trans and non-binary people, as well as allies, are expected to walk the streets of Downtown Orlando.

Learn more about Come Out With Pride Orlando at comeoutwithpride.org.

COME OUT ST. PETE OCTOBER 16 In mid-October, the Come OUT St. Pete series of events in St. Petersburg and Gulfport will honor the area’s booming LGBT population “coming out of the closet and into the world.”

Come OUT St. Pete promotes community understanding and acceptance of all sexual orientations and gender identities by hosting a variety of events and activities that promote equality for everyone.

The planning for this year’s series of activities in St. Petersburg to commemorate National Coming Out Day Oct. 11, as well as the area’s developing LGBT population, is well underway. National Coming Out Day

OCTOBER 22-31 Fantasy Fest Key West comes close to one of the country’s most spectacular LGBT events. Fantasy Fest, both renowned and notorious, is not to be missed.

The theme for this year’s festival is “The Roaring 2020s,” and it spans 10 days of costumes, parades, libations, and exuberance over the island of Key West.

This adult event, which is not suitable for children, is one not to be missed.

Learn more at fantasyfest.com.

NAPLES PRIDE NOVEMBER 20 The 4th Annual Naples Pride Fest will be held in Cambier Park in Naples, Florida on Saturday, Nov. 20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Naples Pride supports equality for everyone, celebrates diversity and harmony, and educates the community about LGBT concerns.

This all-inclusive, family-friendly, and open-tothe-public event will feature performers, presenters, musicians, vendors, exhibitors, children’s activities, food, and beverages for a day of fun and celebration in the name of equality. The event will be emceed by MC Liquid and will include music by DJ Kooshie, a fan favorite.

Naples Pride’s continued initiatives will be supported by a $5 registration payment and cash earned at the event, as well as contributions from sponsors.

Learn more at naplespride.org.

GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE PRIDE NOVEMBER 20-21 Fort Lauderdale has confirmed that the 2021 Pride Festival will be held on the beach on Nov. 20-21. The theme for Pride Fort Lauderdale 2021 will be “Glitter and Gratitude,” according to the announcement of the return of the event.

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will host the Pride Runway Fashion Show on Nov. 18, which will feature designs by Bravo’s Project Runway alumni as well as local designers.

Pride 2021 will feature a street procession on A1A, three stages of entertainment, 150 vendors, headline performers, and sunset concerts. Pride 2021 will also feature an Afro Pride stage for performances throughout the weekend, thanks to a collaboration with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE PRIDE AT PRIDEFORTLAUDERDALE.ORG. JULY 2021 | THE

| 51

FEATURE

#STOPASIANHATE SOUTH FLORIDA QUEER ASIANS SPEAK OUT ON DISCRIMINATION AND INJUSTICE

// Steve Rothaus SPECIAL TO THE MIRROR

52 | THE

| JUNE 2021

FEATURE

O

f the more than 4.6 million people who live in MiamiDade and Broward counties, less than 120,000 identify as Asian, according to the U.S. Census.

So few Pacific Islanders live in the Miami area, the Census doesn’t register an actual number, just “a value greater than zero.”

And according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, only 2.8% of AAPI (Asian-American/Pacific Islander) adults identify as LGBT. “The Asian community in South Florida already is small enough. Now you add LGBTQ on top of that — it feels very, very isolating and it’s hard sometimes to talk about some of the issues we go through,” said Dr. S. Kimberly Liu, a queer Miami acupuncturist and co-founder of NAAAP Pride, a sub-group of the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

The U.S. government recognizes May as had to be cautious about her appearance. “I Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. couldn’t wear too masculine clothes because Among the most pressing issues faced today by in Spanish they call it marimacha, ‘tomboy,’ I AAPI people: the well-reported uptick in hate guess.” (The online Urban Dictionary defines and violence against Asian Americans during marimacha as “Mexican slang for lesbian/ the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization dyke. Considered offensive.”)

Stop AAPI Hate recently reported “2,808 first“You don’t want to stand out as a tomboy hand accounts” of violence in 47 states and because you will be discriminated against,” the District of Columbia from March 19 and Liu said. “People can hit you in the street and December 30, 2020. throw things at you just because you don’t Liu said she could be one of look feminine enough.” those victims, attacked in her In 2007, she worked at a “THE AAPI car near Coral Gables lunchtime Pompano Beach substance COMMUNITY KNEW abuse clinic. last Nov. 3 — Election Day. “I was driving home from “I was a counselor. I was THIS WAS COMING work around 1, 2 o’clock in the verbally attacked for looking WAY BEFORE afternoon,” she recalled. “I got Asian,” she said. “One of the blocked off in an intersection THE REST OF THE clients asked where I was from, by two big trucks with huge was Korean, and wanted COUNTRY REALLY ifto Iknow Trump/Pence 2020 signs, the if I would provide STARTED TO SEE flags and whatnot. The people sexual massage or whatnot. came out and started banging inappropriate. I was THE SIGNS OF ANTI- Completely on my window, yelling at me, there as a counselor and when I AAPI VIOLENCE.” telling me to go back to China, responded, ‘I’m your counselor, to take the virus back with me.” this is not what we’re here for’ - Kenrick Ross Liu was born 34 years ago in — very calmly — the person EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE the Dominican Republic and is just exploded. Started insulting NATIONAL QUEER ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER ALLIANCE of Taiwanese-Japanese-Africanme, saying I was a whore and (NQAPIA) Russian descent. She has lived I should just go back to Korea, in 10 different countries and even though I said I’m not from moved to South Florida in 2008.

Korea.”

“I’ve never been attacked like this in the Liu continued: “When I tried to report it U.S. I was so shook up,” she said. “I told my to my supervisor, they kind of wrote it off. boss about it and he got me pepper spray. He They said, ‘Well nothing happened, it was was concerned I was being targeted because just verbal, the guy probably was on drugs, so I was one of the few Asian doctors in the don’t worry about it.’” neighborhood.”

Last year, Liu said, she and her wife were Liu, the daughter of diplomats, went to abused in a Miami Beach nightclub. medical school in Taiwan and earned degrees “My wife is from Venezuela. We were out in psychology and pre-med in Hawaii. She in a club and we just got harassed,” Liu said. finished medical school in Dominican “We were not in a queer or gay club. We got Republic. In the U.S., she is a “doctor of harassed for not wanting to dance with men.

Oriental medicine.”

And when my wife said I’m here with my wife, In the Dominican Republic, Liu said she some guys just lost it and started yelling at TURN THE PAGE TO CONTINUE READING.

“... I HAVE NEVER BEEN YELLED AT FOR BEING QUEER OVERSEAS, EVEN AFTER I WAS OUT. BUT TO HAVE THAT HAPPEN HERE IN SOUTH BEACH, IT BLOWS MY MIND.” - Dr. S. Kimberly Liu QUEER MIAMI ACUPUNCTURIST AND CO-FOUNDER OF NAAAP PRIDE

[pictured above]

FEATURE us. Taking pictures. Said we are going to Hell.

We had to call security and have those people thrown out.”

Liu continued: “That was a very scary thing to go through, because I have never been yelled at for being queer overseas, even after I was out. But to have that happen here in South Beach, it blows my mind.”

Kenrick Ross, executive director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) based in New York, said the recent “surge in anti-Asian violence” began years before COVID-19.

“Four years ago, we saw the violence of the Muslim ban, which impacted many of the communities that NQAPIA serves. Not just from a policy level, but literally we have people in our community that are more cut off from family, from loved ones, because of the ban,” said Ross, who was born in Guyana and raised in the New York City area.

“This continued with the rhetoric. The AAPI community knew this was coming way before the rest of the country really started to see the signs of anti-AAPI violence,” he said.

“We had organizations including NQAPIA calling out the fact that this rhetoric was happening 14 months ago, around Wuhan and China, and the more despicable names not just President Trump was using, but many people in his circle were using. That leads to actual instances of violence and hate.”

Ross, whose alliance represents about 60 grassroots organizations, believes “LGBTQ folks of color have borne the heaviest brunt in the pandemic.”

He became NQAPIA director in February, weeks before the March 16 mass shootings in the Atlanta area that left eight people dead,

Kenrick Ross, executive director of the NQAPIA. Courtesy photo.

54 | THE

| JUNE 2021

New York-based civil-rights attorney and educator Glenn Magpantay co-founded NQAPIA in 2005.

Courtesy photo.

including six Asian women.

“On any given day since the massacre in Atlanta happened, in my position at NQAPIA, I am thinking, I’m talking, strategizing around the surge in anti-Asian violence,” Ross said. “But I’m also thinking about this surge in anti-trans legislation that is like wildfire happening across the country.”

New York-based civil-rights attorney and educator Glenn Magpantay, who co-founded NQAPIA in 2005, said “gay Asians live at the intersection of a dual identity.”

“The haters — the people who are harassing us, people who yell at us for being coronavirus carriers — they don’t discriminate on whether you’re gay Asian, a trans Asian, a Korean Asian,” said Magpantay, who preceded Ross as NQAPIA executive director. “It doesn’t matter to them. You just look foreign. You look like you have the COVID virus.”

In addition, he said, “Our identities as queer Asians have been flattened by the media. How many of [these hate-crime victims] were gay, queer and trans?”

Even within queer communities, AAPI people are marginalized, he said.

“If you ask me, where do Asian Americans fit in the LGBT community at large, I would say, sadly, at the peripherals,” Magpantay said. “There are very few LGBT organizations who actually are putting out civil-rights issues that affect our community as part of their public policy agenda.”

Immigration reform tops that list. “It’s all about the Equality Act and I agree. We will benefit from the Equality Act, too,” he said.

“But so what if you can keep your job but you can still be deported?”

Florida is a glaring example, Magpantay said, of how queer AAPI people are “often overlooked.”

“Most of the Asians in Florida are focused in the South Florida/Miami area and Orlando/Central Florida. And yet there is no viable or existing queer Asian group in Miami. There is one in Orlando that just started and they’re struggling.”

Kyle Maharlika, who was born in North Miami Beach and now lives in Fort Lauderdale, in 2018 launched a group called Miami Queer & Asian. He pulled the plug a year later.

“I disbanded it primarily because I was struggling with building up the community.

Not that queer Asian people don’t exist,” said Maharlika, 28, ecosystem manager for a South Florida-based technology and innovation company.

Maharlika said he had reached out to several South Florida LGBT organization leaders hoping to build Miami Q&A membership.

“I just contacted all of them and asked, like, ‘Hey, just share this and if anyone wants to join, have them come.’ So the first meeting, I think it was like six people or something like that,” he said. “I can’t

TURN THE PAGE TO CONTINUE READING.

FEATURE

“THERE’S A SAYING IN THE ASIAN COMMUNITY: ‘THE NAIL THAT STICKS OUT GETS HAMMERED DOWN,’ SO YOU DON’T WANT TO BE DIFFERENT.” - Kyle Maharlika ACTIVIST

continue to corral people, one by one. I even dinner with my sister’s husband’s family. (My considered going out into the nightclub sister’s husband is Taiwanese so his whole scene and trying to find Asian people. The family is Taiwanese and we’re at his house.) lack of cohesion around the community is I don’t talk about my relationship. I don’t say, part of the difficulty of South Florida.”

‘My boyfriend is a Black man, we’re dating In 2017, Maharlika was chosen to be part and we have the best relationship ever.’ I of Maven Leadership Collective’s inaugural can’t even say those things and I can’t come training group. Maven is a South Florida out to them because it’s so awkward. You “ideas lab” that “invests in talented queer don’t want them to think you’re sticking out and trans people of color and allies to build or just trying to be different for no reason.” more resilient communities that thrive in Maharlika said being Asian in the queer transition, crisis, and tragedy,” according to community is “really, really weird.” its website.

“As a gay man, which is my specific “I had never been centered as a queer experience, I just had a lot of trouble,” he person of color before,” said. “I didn’t have trouble Maharlika recalls. “It was making friends. But you just refreshing and eye opening feel so unattractive because to have a leadership collective nobody thinks that an Asian highlight that my possibilities man is attractive. Within the for my life were endless and gay community, especially that my perspective as a queer with men, I think there’s this person of color were actually idea of like — you’ve heard a gift to offer the world.” people say it before — ‘If I Maharlika and his family wanted to date a girl, I would are typically South Florida: date a girl.’”

“My mom is Japanese Maharlika said: “I’ve had blood but she’s from Brazil. people say that to me before, She’s Japanese Brazilian that ‘I don’t like effeminate and she speaks Spanish guys’ because Asian-ness in and Portuguese, not really general is associated with - Kyle Maharlika Japanese. She’s more Latina. femininity. If you’re an Asian ACTIVIST And my dad is from the man and you’re trying to Philippines, and they met date, you have some trouble in Brazil and then moved to Miami. They with that. It definitely feels like racism but immigrated here in the ‘80s.” it’s very unstated. People won’t outright say, Maharlika said being a queer person for the most part, that they’re not into Asian among other Asians is “kind of weird.” men. Though some people do and that’s less “There’s a saying in the Asian community: acceptable now. But they will behave that ‘The nail that sticks out gets hammered way.” down,’ so you don’t want to be different.”

Maharlika said his appearance has at Maharlika continued: “Because queerness times put his safety at risk. is seen as different, right? Like you can’t “I’m the type of guy who likes to wear really talk about it with the groups that earrings, sometimes I’ll paint my nails. I you’re in. For example, if I’m at Thanksgiving used to have really, really long hair that

“THE LACK OF COHESION AROUND THE COMMUNITY IS PART OF THE DIFFICULTY OF SOUTH FLORIDA.”

Journalist Steve Rothaus covered LGBT issues for 22 years at the Miami Herald.

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| JUNE 2021

went down to my butt. I remember multiple instances where I’d be walking to work. I’d be walking around and someone would say — they think I don’t understand, right, because they think that I’m not Latino — but they would say ‘chino maricon,’ which means Chinese faggot.”

Maharlika continued: “They would say it out loud — actually loudly — because they think that I don’t understand what that means, but I speak Spanish and Portuguese.”

Recently, a man holding a Bible approached Maharlika and, “shoved his finger in my face and asked me why do I have to be such a faggot?”

After the Atlanta shootings, Maharlika said he “just kind of toned it back because I was afraid.”

He began carrying a taser, “tore off” his nail polish and cut his hair.

“One, I just needed a new haircut. But the other reason: It gets pretty tiring to be called a ‘chino maricon.’”

A Washington D.C. rally to stop Asian hate in late March of this year was just one of many across the nation. Photo credit: Victoria Pickering.

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GADGETS

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tastE. Feeling the hunger?

Read SFGN’s weekly food column for an exclusive bite on local bars, restaurants, and seasonal flavors.

TOP TECH / / Pier Angelo

AIRTAG LOSE YOUR KNACK FOR LOSING THINGS.

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irTag is a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff. Attach one to your keys, slip another in your backpack. And just like that, they’re on your radar in the Find My app, where you can also track down your Apple devices and keep up with friends and family.

Ping it. Find it.

Misplacing something like your wallet doesn’t have to be a big deal when it has AirTag attached. You can play a sound on the built-in speaker by going to the new Items tab in the Find My app, or say “Hey Siri, find my wallet.” If it’s hiding nearby — like under the couch or in the next room — just follow the sound and your search is over.

If your AirTag is nearby, your iPhone can lead you straight to it with precision finding. You‘ll see the distance to your AirTag and the direction to head in — all thanks to Ultra Wideband technology.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Your AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy. And itʼs efficient, so thereʼs no need to worry about battery life or data usage.

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| JUNE 2021

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CARS

THE

// Larry Printz

MCLAREN GT YOU DON’T NEED LABELS WITH THIS SCREAM MACHINE

All photos courtesy of McLaren.

60 | THE

| JULY 2021

CARS

2021 MCLAREN GT Do we really care about labels? What do they really tell us anyway? Let’s face it, you don’t need labels to tell a bear from a twink or a daddy from a queen.

BASE PRICE: $210,000 ENGINE: Twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 612/465

Yet the 2021 McLaren GT is hardly what you would EPA FUEL ECONOMY (CITY/HIGHWAY): expect from a GT, or Grand Tourer. It looks like a sports car, 15/22 mpg and indeed it is. It can attain a top speed of 203 mph speed effortlessly and quickly; 0-60 mph run of 3.1 seconds. But a true GT delivers a level of comfort and refinement for traveling at high speed over long distances, all the while providing cargo space that will carry more than a toothbrush and condoms. So, the GT has a 14.8 cubic-foot cargo area in the back, augmented by 5.3 cubic feet of storage up front, bringing the combined trunk space to 20.1 cubic feet. Of course, if you want to make the most of the available space, buy the available custom-fitted luggage. Oh, and keep in mind that the rear cargo area does warm up from the GT’s engine heat, so pack anything heat-sensitive up front. OK, so it’s no minivan (thank God). But it’s McLaren’s most practical car despite the presence of its dramatic doors that swing up and out of the way, ensuring you’ll always make a fabulously memorable entrance.

Like McLaren’s pure-bred sports cars, its GT has a monocoque carbon fiber structure that’s sheathed in aluminum for light weight. Its engine is behind the cockpit but ahead of the rear axle for optimal front-to-rear weight distribution.

We all like muscle, and this lad has it. Powering the McLaren GT is a new 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged McLaren V8 producing 612 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The driveline includes comfort, sport and track driving modes, but thankfully no Eco mode. Getting that power to the ground is an aluminum, double-wishbone suspension and twin-valve hydraulic dampers at all four corners, along with anti-roll bars front and rear. Steel brakes are standard, ceramics are optional. And check out the footwear: Pirelli P Zeros ¬– 20-inch up front, 21-inches in the rear.

Hit the ignition and the V8 awakens with a menacing growl and a throbbing vibration. Mash the throttle and the McLaren reveals itself to be an enthralling scream machine.

There’s no turbo lag, and the transmission dutifully delivers the proper gear, holding it as long as needed without upshifting unnecessarily. The GT’s hydraulic steering and brakes provide a direct responsive feel largely absent in modern sports cars. Its ride is clearly not that of a grand touring car, although it is for a McLaren. Still, its necksnapping speed, and snarling symphony will satisfy your soul as will its cabin, which is lined in sumptuous leather and knurled aluminum trim. A space artfully carved out for two, it’s indulgent yet restrained and reflective of McLaren’s racing and sports car roots.

So, is the 2021 McLaren GT atrue GT? Once you drive one, you won’t care. You’ll want one no matter what it’s called.

FUEL REQUIRED: 91 Octane LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT: 184.4/80.5/47.8 inches CARGO CAPACITY: 20.1 cubic feet

Larry Printz is an automotive journalist based in South Florida. He can be reached at TheDrivingPrintz@gmail.com.

JULY 2021 | THE

| 61

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

BEST SIDE STORY AN INTERVIEW WITH RITA MORENO // Gregg Shapiro

H

ow fortunate are we to be alive at the same time as Rita Moreno?

Groundbreaking actress, writer, activist, dancer, mother, singer, feminist, Latina and EGOT. The recipient of two Emmy Awards (for “The Rockford Files” and “The Muppet Show”), a Grammy Award (for “The Electric Company” cast album), an Oscar (“West Side Story”) and a Tony (“The Ritz”), Rita Moreno shows no signs of slowing down at 89. In December 2021, Moreno will be playing Valentina, a role written especially for her, in Steven Spielberg’s big-screen remake of “West Side Story.” If you can’t wait to see her until then, you are in luck. The documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It” (Roadside Attractions), is being released in June 2021. Revelatory and celebratory, “Just A Girl Who Decided to Go for It” features Rita Moreno front and center, telling her story as only she can. Rita was gracious enough to answer a few questions in advance of the release of the documentary.

GREGG SHAPIRO: RITA, IN 2011, YOUR BOOK “RITA MORENO: A MEMOIR” WAS PUBLISHED AND NOW, IN 2021, THE DOCUMENTARY “RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT” IS BEING RELEASED. DURING THE 10 YEARS IN BETWEEN, YOU HAVE CONTINUED TO BE A HARD-WORKING ACTOR — APPEARING IN MOVIES AS WELL AS SITCOMS SUCH AS “JANE THE VIRGIN,” “HAPPILY DIVORCED” AND, OF COURSE, NORMAN LEAR’S “ONE DAY AT A TIME.” WOULD IT BE FAIR TO SAY THAT THE DOCUMENTARY IS A KIND OF VISUAL EXTENSION AND UPDATE OF THE BOOK? RITA MORENO: Actually, it is a kind of visual extension, and definitely (an) update of the book. Except to say that there’s a lot more detail in this. It’s important to know, for the viewers, that I made a promise to myself, once I decided I was going to take part in the documentary, that I would be as truthful as I could possibly be.

I did not want to pull any punches whatsoever and I paid the price because [laughs] I was asked very serious and difficult questions. But you can be sure that everything I said in this wonderful documentary — by the way, I think it’s marvelous — is absolutely the truth.

GS: IN ADDITION TO BEING THE DIRECTOR OF THE DOCUMENTARY, MARIEM RIERA IS ALSO THE MOTHER OF MARCEL RUIZ, ONE OF YOUR “ONE DAY AT A TIME” CO-STARS. HOW DID EVERYONE INVOLVED KNOW THAT SHE WAS THE RIGHT PERSON TO HELM THE DOCUMENTARY PROJECT? RM: The reason Mariem was chosen as the director is really very simple. For one thing, on her behalf I’ll say this, she had been studying me for months doing the series “One Day at a Time,” so she got to know me very well, simply from observation. Of course, being the mother of the young man who plays my grandson helped a great deal because I had a great relationship with him. She decided one day when she heard that a documentary was going to be done about my life, she went to Brent Miller, one of our producers, and Norman Lear’s (producing) partner and said, “I would like to be considered.” They said, “Great. You know what to do.” So she made a whole, I don’t know what they call this in that business, but she made a whole kind of storyline of what she wanted to do. I think one of the things that really charmed them, as it did me, was the little 62 | THE

| JULY 2021

Rita Moreno. Photo via Facebook.

paper doll Rosita — me as a young girl. I just love that. I love that little Rosita and I love the conceit. I think they did, too. She also had some super ideas of how to make this very personal. That’s where, in a way, it differs from the book because it becomes a living thing, a document. I think she did a marvelous job! I really do. It’s gotten huge reviews and even Rotten Tomatoes gave it 100, and we know what that means to most people.

GS: “JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT” IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A JOURNEY: FROM PUERTO RICO TO NEW YORK TO HOLLYWOOD. FROM ACTRESS TO ACTIVIST, FROM LOVER TO WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WAS IN YOUR CONSTITUTION THAT HELPED YOU NAVIGATE THE JOURNEY, THROUGH BOTH GOOD AND BAD TIMES? RM: I had a remarkable mother. I’m sure everyone says that and, you know what, they’re probably right. What was special about my mother is that despite the difficulties of being in a brand-new country where nobody seems to speak Spanish, that she somehow navigated that journey and helped me through that journey, is simply amazing. My mom was a very brave woman. My mom was the kind of person who had several jobs at one time because she had left Puerto Rico, having divorced her husband, my father, and it was just her and me. She had a very strong constitution. I think I initially got that from her. I don’t know that it was something she so much taught me as something that I intuited, and I saw examples of. I’ve always been kind of strong in that sense. Very sensitive kid.

Cried easily. I still get very hurt. I still cry. But I’m able to somehow make my way around that and understand that, more often than not, good will come from bad. It’s something I know I got from my mom whether it’s genes or observation almost doesn’t matter.

To read the rest of this story, link to SFGN.com/kxd43 YOU CAN ALSO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER AND E-BLASTS AT SFGN.COM.

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