Mirror Summer 2015

Summer 2015 • Vol. 4 Issue 1

Love And Pride

THIS ISSUE'S SPECIAL SECTIONS: WEDDINGS AND CELEBRATIONS

PRIDE AT WORK FIGHTS FOR YOU THE LEGACY OF THE CAIRO 52 AMAZON EVE TALKS TO THE MIRROR themirrormag.com

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TABLE OF FEATURES

CONTENTS

SUMMER 2015 | VOL 4 | ISSUE 1 2520 N. Dixie Highway | Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954.530.4970 Fax: 954.530.7943

Publisher NORM KENT norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer PIER ANGELO GUIDUGLI

Pride at Work  10 The Cairo 52  12 Immigration Equality  14

SPECIAL SECTION: WEDDINGS Top Wedding Websites  16 Big Wedding; Small Bill  18 Top Honeymoon Spots  20 - 21 Juror's Verdict is Yes  23

SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE

Art Director BRENDON LIES artwork@sfgn.com Web Producer DENNIS JOZEFOWICZ dennis.jozefowicz@sfgn.com News Editor JOHN MCDONALD

jeanmichelmcdonald@gmail.com

Graphic Designer MARTIN GOULD Staff Photographer J.R. DAVIS

A&E Editor J.W. ARNOLD

Owning Our History  24 Bisexuals at Pride  26 Pride and Prejudice  30 Kissed at Pride  32 FEATURES

CORRESPONDENTS CHRISTIANA LILLY GARY M. KRAMER RICK KARLIN JILLIAN MELERO

FAITH CHELTENHAM DAVID-ELIJAH NAHMOD REBECCA JURO BELO CIPRIANI

SALES & MARKETING

Pride in Canada  34 - 35 Pride Across Florida  36 - 37 Curacao’s New Pride  38

Director of Sales MIKE TROTTIER & Marketing mike.trottier@sfgn.com Sales Manager JUSTIN WYSE justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Assoc. EDWIN NEIMANN edwin.neimann@sfgn.com

A&E

Advertising Sales Assoc. CINDY CURTIS cindy.curtis@sfgn.comm

Boystown  40 HBO’s Bessie  42

Distribution Services BRIAN SWINFORD J.R. DAVIS

INTERVIEW

Printing THE PRINTER’S PRINTER

Director Patrick McGuinn  44 Trans Actress Amazon Eve  46, 48 Photographer Christopher Turner  52 - 53 Cover: The Mirror is here to give you and your partner advice for the big day.

T

he Pride Special section covers everything from Canada Pride to 1970's activism.

Pages 22 - 36.

Miami Pride. Photo: J.R. Davis.

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EDITORIAL

Senior Correspondant TONY ADAMS

COLUMNS

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Associate Publisher JASON PARSLEY jason.parsley@sfgn.com

National Advertising RIVENDELL MEDIA 212-242-6863 sales@rivendellmedia.com Accounting Services CG BOOKKEEPING

The Mirror is published quarterly. 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 of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations in The Mirror. 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. Copyright © 2014,

South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.

Associated Press

Florida Press Association National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association

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[ NEWS ]

YOU CAN STILL GET FIRED

IN 29 STATES

FOR BEING LGBT

Pride at Work fights to protect employees CHRISTIANA LILLY

W

hen you pull up Google and type in “fired for being,” the first item that comes up is “gay.”

The numbers are sobering when it comes to discrimination of LGBT people in the workplace: in 29 states, including Florida, it is legal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation. In 32 states, including Florida, it is legal to fire someone based on their gender identity.

“People are always surprised when they hear that,” Jerame Davis said. “It seems antithetical to basic American values on the one hand, and on the other hand, people are surprised that it’s not already law.”

Davis is the executive director of Pride at Work, an advocacy group founded in 1994 and initially its goals were to fight against the passages of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in 1996. While labor activists tend to be supportive of the LGBT community, they were suddenly silent when then President Bill Clinton signed them into law.

“It was very strange to us that labor didn’t speak out,” Davis said.

The group falls under the constituency umbrella of The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which has other groups that work to protect African American, Latino, Asian, seniors, and women.

Even though an important part of DOMA

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has been struck down and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed in 2013, the fight for equality in the workplace still persists. Right now, Pride at Work is fighting on the battlefields of benefits and workplace discrimination, especially for transgender people. The group namely works side by side with labor unions to make things happen.

“The labor movement in general works toward better laws in America for workers so that contracts have some legal underpinning,” Davis said.

Part of the problem is that many people don’t want to talk about it -- they’re already ashamed they lost their job, and “in a way you’re coming out twice.” While working in Illinois, Davis said was fired because he was gay. When he fought the company, the parties settled and he had to sign a stringent nondisclosure agreement.

Many who oppose labor unions fear that inept employees are so protected by layers of laws that it makes them un-fireable. Davis said that there are more unjust firings, and the few bad apples can’t infringe on the rights of the majority. He also noted that employers still find ways of getting rid of employees.

“There are always going to be people who question the protections that other people have,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is there are far more people who are unjustly fired or never get the job in the first place because of discrimination than people who are abusing the system. We can’t

deny everybody protection because there are a few people who use it to their advantage.”

Pride at Work not only works to protect LGBT workers in the U.S., but abroad. One of its big projects right now is questioning members of the Trans Pacific Partnership. The trade deal consists of 12 countries, including the U.S., covering about 40 percent of the global economy. However, two members, Brunei and Malaysia, recently implemented phases of Sharia law that calls for the stoning to death of LGBT people and women who have sex outside of marriage.

Ironically, Gambia was thrown out of the partnership because LGBT people can be punished for their sexuality with prison time. Pride at Work is looking for answers of why Brunei and Malaysia are allowed to stay and wants the U.S. to put pressure on those countries.

“The idea that the U.S. would sign up and offer privileged trade partner status to countries that treat their LGBT citizens and women in this way is just beyond the pale,” Davis said. “We shouldn’t be lifting up countries that do this.”

This year, Pride at Work chose Florida for its convention, which is held every three years.

Discussions such as the trade agreement as well as elections and planning for the next three years will be integral parts of the convention. They will be meeting at Lake Buena Vista -- just outside of Orlando -- from August 26 to 29.

“Collective action is more impactful than an individual yelling at the wind,” Davis said.

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[NEWS]

The Cairo 52 14 Years Later – Its Impact and Legacy CHRISTIANA LILLY

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t was May 11, 2001, and the Queen Boat nightclub was floating down the Nile River in Egypt with a flurry of music, laughter, and partying. However, late into the night, things suddenly went very wrong.

Mazen, a man who was aboard the boat, told Oprah Winfrey in 2007 that men looked at him and the others and declared that they “looked like a gay.” Him and 51 other men were immediately arrested on the grounds of obscene behavior.

This case would get the world’s attention and the men would be known as the Cairo 52.

Hossein Alizadeh, the Middle East and North Africa program coordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), explained that in all of the Middle East, Turkey is the only country that has completely secular law. In Arabic nations there is no law against homosexuality, so when law enforcement wants to go after someone who “looks gay,” they charge them with morality crimes such as debauchery and prostitution.

“Homosexuality is considered to be extremely stigmatized, so when you talk about same-sex practices, it’s something that people feel very uncomfortable talking even about, let alone observing it or allowing it to happen,” Alizadeh said.

Formed in 1990, IGLHRC advocated for the Cairo 52, its first big case, and sent a member to Egypt to attend the trial and serve as a community liaison to educate locals about homosexuality and LGBT rights. It also served as an opportunity for the organization to show the lack of LGBT rights around the world, not just in the Middle East.

Mazen said in the Winfrey interview that once they were in jail, the men were beaten until they admitted they were gay. They were also told to pull down their pants so the police could see what color underwear they were wearing, according to the New York Times — apparently, colored underwear was a sign of homosexuality. Even though they were all wearing white underwear, the torture continued. They were stripped naked and told to go on their hands and knees so a doctor could perform anal probing to determine their sexual orientation, supposedly by finding traces of semen.

“It was horrible,” Mazen told Winfrey. “I didn’t have rights.”

Unfortunately, in the Middle East and other places around the world, anal probing is a common practice even though modern medicine has completely dismissed it. Also, homosexuality is seen as an illness and doctors will oftentimes prescribe medications or conduct electric shock therapy to “cure your homosexual tendencies,” Alizadeh said.

During the trials, the government gave the media the full names of the men being tried, their addresses, and photos to print. It’s also believed that not all 52 men actually came from the boat but some were arrested in the streets. Of the 52 arrested, 23 were found guilty of contempt of religion and immoral behavior, according to the BBC. Mazen, after two suicide attempts in jail, fled to

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Cairo, Egypt

Paris when he heard rumors they might be tried again -and he was right. In response to international outcry from the Queen Boat Trial, then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered a retrial in November 2001, according to the New York Times. Fifty men were retried -- those who were originally convicted were found guilty a second time and their sentences were made longer in March 2002.

That retrial was 13 years ago, and because of upheaval in the region, not much has improved.

“In Egypt, unfortunately, I can’t say there has been progress,” Alizadeh said. “Because of the Arab Spring, there has been unfortunately a few steps backwards in Egypt, and also the crackdown of the government. We had a series of unsuccessful attempts by the civil society to create a more secular, liberal society, and unfortunately those have failed.”

In December 2014, about two-dozen men were arrested at a bathhouse in Cairo and paraded half naked in front of television cameras on the way to jail. Since 2013, according to the Washington Post, more than 150 people have been arrested in Egypt in a similar fashion.

Earlier in 2014, four men were arrested for debauchery and prostitution after attending an all-male house party and were sentenced between eight and 12 years in prison.

In August 2012, 36 men were arrested from a gay movie theatre in Lebanon and subjected to anal probing. In August 2014, 27 men were arrested in a Turkish bathhouse in Lebanon, including the owner and some staff.

However, in the rest of the region there has been progress for LGBT rights, particularly in Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia. While the Middle East and North Africa aren’t the safest places in the world for LGBT people, the fact there are even conversations about homosexuality is a huge step.

“Back in the 2000s, we’re talking about an era that you didn’t even have a word to describe homosexuality.

In most Arabic documents at the time they used to refer to homosexuals as sodomites,” Alizdeh said. “Out of that fiasco, what came out was a greater understanding of the dangers that exist. There was a new discourse that happened that emphasized the importance of personal rights and personal space.”

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Life in the Shadows Immigration Equality fights for undocumented LGBT people

Aaron C. Morris, legal director at Immigration Equality, with Ralston, a gay man from Jamaica and former client. (Photo Courtesy Immigration Equality)

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or Marco Quiroga, the issue of LGBT immigration is a personal experience.

Originally from Lima, Peru, his mother took him and his younger brother at the age of 3 to Orlando to escape an abusive relationship.

“From the age of 3, I’ve grown up undocumented,” he said. “At the same time, I had to struggle with the fact that I was gay and I had to hide myself from the only support system I had in this world.”

When he first came out in high school, he ran away from home and was homeless for a period of time. Today, he’s a college graduate and the national field officer at Immigration Equality, an opportunity "to give back to the movement that gave me safety and security.”

The agency got its started in 1994 as a humble cause by a group of New York activists armed with just an answering machine and other basic equipment. Now, it’s considered the national leader on LGBT immigration working on more than 500 cases and has expanded to Washington, D.C. Quiroga is still undocumented, but because of President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), he has been given a temporary reprieve. His younger brother, who is also gay, was deported back to Peru and Quiroga fears for his treatment there.

With more than 80 countries considering homosexuality a crime, as well as any other form of sexual and gender expression, many seek to flee to the U.S. to live a life of freedom and safety.

However, they can encounter issues like having their family recognized as a legitimate family unit, wind up in a detention center, or have trouble

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CHRISTIANA LILLY seeking asylum. Immigration Equality steps in with lawyers who will represent them for free and staffers who help them with the asylum process.

Because of its strict anti-gay laws as well as its proximity to the U.S., most of the clients Immigration Equality works with are from Jamaica. In fact, in a poll in late 2014 of more than 1,000 Jamaicans, 91 percent said they believed the island’s buggery law, which makes sodomy illegal, should stay on the books. Prior to President Barack Obama’s visit to the Caribbean island in April, a number of advocacy groups wrote a letter asking him to address the issue of LGBT hate laws there.

One of the major issues that LGBT immigrants coming to the U.S. encounter is not being aware of America’s asylum status.

Immigrants have one year to file for it, and Quiroga said about half the time people call them asking for help and their staff of lawyers can’t help because the deadline has passed.

“Their first instinct after hiding who they are and not trusting their government is not to run to the government,” he said. “The number one reason why LGBT immigrants don't apply for asylum is because they’re not aware that’s an opportunity available to them.”

Immigration Equality would like there to be no deadline to file for asylum and the group considers it to be one of their top priorities in advocacy.

According to Immigration Equality, there are more than 267,000 undocumented LGBT people in the country and not all of them qualify for asylum.

A second issue is overhauling the immigration detention system. For those who meet filing deadlines but are still undocumented, they are often sent to centers to be held until their paperwork is finalized.

“[It’s] inhumane, constant harassment,” Quiroga said. “[They’re] being placed in an environment that you fled from to begin with and face that same type of abuse and persecution on American soil.”

At these civil detention centers, they’re dressed like prisoners with orange jumpsuits and housed in units like a prison. According to a 2013 report by the Center for American Progress, there are more than 250 detention centers in the country holding 34,000 immigrants – the average stay for asylum seekers is 102 days – three times longer than average detainees.

“Complaints have documented LGBT detainees being called names such as ‘faggot’ by guards and being told to ‘walk like a man, not a gay man’ and ‘act male,’” according to the report.

For transgender women, the centers are especially dangerous because they are often housed with men, Quiroga said. Should they be assaulted, they’re placed in solitary confinement, supposedly for their own protection. Some are held for months at a time.

“If someone’s life is literally at risk, if they’re going to be deported back to a country where the government says we’re going to imprison these people or kill these people for who they are, there shouldn’t be a deadline on whether they’re going to be deported or not,” Quiroga said.

While President Obama might be considered the most LGBT friendly president -- even if he didn’t start that way, Quiroga points out that more than 2 million people have been deported under his administration.

“There’s an opportunity for the president to recognize that the nexus between LGBT rights and immigrant rights, especially when it comes to LGBT immigrants who are particularly vulnerable to this system. He can do more,” he said.

Marco Quiroga, national field officer at Immigration Equality, speaking about the life-saving asylum system and the unsafe conditions of immigration detention in front of the White House in September 2014. (Photo Courtesy Immigration Equality)

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Same Sex RICK KARLIN

Webbing

Top wedding Websites for same-sex couples

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ay couples have more gay wedding website options than ever before for fabulous tips and support to celebrate their matrimonial bliss in style.

Here’s our “Top 10 Wedding Websites for Gay Couples” list for gay wedding planning at its best!

From LGBT-friendly wedding vendor recommendations to planning a fun gay destination wedding, the websites below are great places to start. Featured here in no particular order, we’re confident this list will help gay couples create the wedding of their dreams.

TWOBRIDES.COM TWOGROOMS.COM GAYWEDDINGS.COM These are all derived from the same source and founded by a mother who had trouble finding vendors and products for her daughter’s same sex marriage more than a decade ago. The list of vendors and products is the same on all sites. The sites also offers a forum gay couples, as well as advice for supportive straight family and friends. “GayWeddings.com is dedicated to providing products, resources and information networking to same-sex couples who seek to affirm their life-long commitments to each other through commitment ceremonies, civil unions, domestic partnerships, civil marriage and other alternative weddings.”

E Q UA L L Y W E D . C O M This website claims to be “… the world's leading wedding and honeymoon magazine and digital resource for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied couples.” The lesbianowned on-line pub offers a suite of free wedding planning tools, including a guest list manager, a budget manager and an extensive interactive to-do list.

RAINBOWWEDDINGNETWORK.COM Launched in September 2000 as the first wedding gift registry in the world dedicated to gay & lesbian couples. Not only can you find local gay wedding vendors at the website, it also produces wedding expos for gay couples and offers a print magazine. Its mission is “… to serve as a bridge for gay and lesbian couples and their allies to access the resources they need to successfully plan their weddings, free from discrimination.” It claims that it has screened 5,000 businesses in its resource directory.

PURPLEUNIONS.COM Founded by a gay couple who legally married in 2008, it is a “Mom and Pop” style website that might be better for those who are overwhelmed by the vast array of choices and options on other sites. It is also a good source for up to date news about the legal fight for same sex marriage. Purple Unions is “… a place where gay and lesbian couples can find gay friendly wedding vendors to help them plan their perfect wedding day and donates a portion of the profits to groups fighting for gay marriage around the world.”

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How to Have a

Big Wedding RICK KARLIN

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f you want a wedding with a budget that rivals that of most third world countries, by all means go ahead. However, keep in mind that the cost of a wedding is in no way related to the success of the marriage (hello Kim Kardashian!). Holding a wedding that doesn’t break the bank doesn’t mean it has to look like you saved money. A few simple tricks will keep the budget down and the fun up.

Timing is Everything Avoid holding your wedding during the most popular months and times. During the winter many venues are cheaper. Friday nights are less popular for weddings, so you may be able to negotiate a lower rate. Hold a Sunday brunch, not only is the cost for food less, but your liquor bill will probably be lower.

Less Paper Mean Less Money By cutting out some of the outdated elements of invitations, you save money and help the environment. You still should send out an official invitation, not an email. However, it is perfectly acceptable to skip RSVP cards (saves money on postage, too). Set up a wedding web site (free on The Knot) and have people respond on-line. Do you really need ceremony programs and place cards? Use a seating chart if it’s a large wedding.

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Without Big Bills

Less Drinks Means Less Drunks Instead of an open bar, have a signature cocktail (mimosas?), or serve only wine and beer. Never ever have a cash bar. It’s tacky.

One Stop Shopping Have your ceremony and reception in the same venue, possibly a hotel ballroom. Many places will not charge a ceremony fee (like a house of worship would) and you save on the cost of limos between venues. Usually at a hotel, you have the ceremony in the banquet room and then move to an adjacent area for the receiving line and perhaps a cocktail hour. While you’re mingling with your guests, the hotel staff resets the room for the reception, using the same flowers as for the ceremony. Double the savings!

Season to Taste Choose flowers that are in season, which are much less expensive.

Icing on the Cake Instead of an expensive wedding cake, order a sheet cake to be sliced in the kitchen that is served to guests, while you have a smaller cake that is used for photos of you cutting the cake. Or,

choose cupcakes instead of a cake. Not only will it be cheaper than a large wedding cake, but many restaurants charge for cutting a wedding cake..

Hire A Wedding Planner Yes, they charge a sizable fee, but in the long run you may save money as they can traditionally get you discounts of up to 20 percent on catering, photography or floral design.

Here’s Where You Don’t Skimp Photography/Videography – Do you really want to take a chance that your nephew accidentally forgot to press record? Hire a professional. If you want to save money, book just a studio session instead, which is usually much cheaper.

Music – You need more than an iPod playlist.

It doesn’t have to be a full orchestra, but nothing beats live music. Try a string quartet, a klezmer band or a talented DJ.

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Top 5 Honeymoon Spots for

Same Sex Couples RICK KARLIN

G

ay and lesbian couples are looking for the same thing as any other honeymoon couple; a romantic get-away to celebrate their new life together (and having managed not to break up during the wedding planning).

Your interests will often determine the destination for your honeymoon sights. Outdoorsy couples may choose places where those activities are more plentiful. Culture-vultures will likely choose a large city.

Anyplace can be romantic if you match your interests to the locale. Contrary to what many think, the entire honeymoon is not spent in bed (or on the floor, in a tree or shower). If you're an adventurous couple, a less urban destination might be the best choice for you. If you're looking for romance, then a more remote, romantic beach destination might be best. Those who love the nightlife will want to pick a city with many clubs.

Of course, as same sex couples we have other considerations to take into account; not only how welcoming the locale may be, but how safe it is. That rules out North Africa, the Middle East, Russia and parts of the Caribbean. Not exactly hardships, since none of those, except the Caribbean, are known as idyllic honeymoon spots anyway. There are plenty of LGBT friendly Caribbean options, so Bermuda, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are no great loss.

While nearly any place can be paradise if you are in the right state of mind, the following options are certainly among the most popular spots, all you need to do is pick the one that fits your needs.

FOR ROMANTICS Paris The city of romance is one of those spots that looks and feels exactly as you pictured it. If you think Parisians take food and wine seriously, you should see how they are about romance. If it’s culture you’re after there’s plenty of that. There’s a thriving nightlife if you are so inclined, and if you’re not, there are charming bistros and picturesque streets to roam. It’s also a shopping paradise.

The main gay area in Paris is the southwest section of the neighborhood known as Le Marais. Although it is easily reachable from just about anywhere in Paris, with its three Metro stations, you might want to stay in the area. The best place to start is to search the comprehensive list of gay and gay-friendly hotels listed on www.ParisMarais.com, While Paris is not a cheap city, you can economize on simple pleasures; pick up a bottle of wine, some cheese and bread for a picnic lunch and splurge on dinner, or hit the higher priced restaurants for lunch and dine at inexpensive neighborhood bistros at night, such as Pain Vin Fromage (3 Rue Geoffroy l'Angevin, 01 42 74 07 52). At Monjul (28, rue des Blancs Manteaux) each dish arrives looking like a work of art, and a prix fixe three-course dinner can be had at a very reasonable price (around 29€ or $35, and that includes tip!)

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FOR SUN WORSHIPPERS Caribbean

FOR CULTURE VULTURES New York City

Many Caribbean islands are LGBT friendly, such as Puerto Rico and Aruba, and given their proximity to South Florida, an inexpensive and convenient option for a honeymoon. Puerto Rico’s Waldorf Astoria-El Conquistador Resort, (ElconResort.com, 787-863-1000), features a honeymoon package which includes; a champagne and chocolate covered strawberry welcome, daily breakfast at Las Brisas Restaurant, an intimate dinner for two at Chops Steakhouse and a 50-minute spa session. Nightly rates start at $199.

Aruba’s Westin Resort & Casino (WestinAruba.com, 866-716-8108) offers a Romance Package starting at $629. The package includes a champagne greeting, daily breakfast buffet, lunch at the Terrace, a choice of four restaurants for dinner, all-inclusive beverages and of course, a room or suite.

Although not technically in the Caribbean, Key West has that same feel. Add in the advantage that you can drive there in a few hours, and it makes for a convenient honeymoon escape. The three hotels that make up the Southernmost Resorts (SouthernMostResorts.com, 800354-4455) vary from a large hotel to a B&B. It offers a honeymoon package which includes; champagne & strawberries upon arrival, two signature bath robes and rose petals strewn on your bed.

Grab a few shows, visit some museums, check out the city’s hottest restaurants and of course, there’s the shopping. Take a romantic carriage ride with your loved one in Central Park, ride a ferry for spectacular views; there’s no limit to the romance and culture in the city that never sleeps. Located in the heart of the theater district, the New York Marriott Marquis (1535 Broadway, 800-843-4898, marriott. com/hotels/travel/nycmq) is also near Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall and Fifth Avenue.

Its “Romantic Getaway” includes; champagne and strawberries with chocolate sauce waiting in your room, a three-course dinner for two at New York's only revolving restaurant with skyline views, The View, and a daily breakfast buffet for two for $399 - $659 per night. Use promotional code LVU. For something a little kinkier, The Kimpton Eventi in Chelsea (851 Avenue of the Americas, eventihotel. com, 866-996-8396) offers a “50 Shades of Grey” inspired package which includes; a deluxe suite with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot upon arrival, an amenity kit including a satin bondage kit, paddle, spanking powder and a necktie, a basket of aphrodisiac-inspired items (Mast Brothers Chocolates, bananas, avocado and chocolate covered strawberries), a 50 minute couples massage, $200 credit to La Perla or Agent Provacateur and two tickets to the Museum of Sex. The package starts at $659/night, book using the code GREY.

FOR PARTY ANIMALS Las Vegas Folks tend to think of Las Vegas for bachelor or bachelorette parties, but if you and your intended like to hit dance clubs, shows, gourmet restaurants and casinos, it could be perfect for you. In Vegas it is very easy to get your marriage license and ceremony all in one day, making it a one-stop wedding/honeymoon destination. Most of the major resorts are LGBT friendly and the city’s tourism department has been making a case for Vegas as a same-sex wedding and honeymoon destination.

Traditionally Vegas’ LGBT nightlife has been on Paradise Rd. in an area affectionately called the "Fruit Loop". The Wynn (3131 South Las Vegas Blvd., 702-7707000, wynnlasvegas.com) is so LGBT welcoming that all hotels have a Pride Concierge program (702-770-LGBT).

FOR GOURMANDS San Francisco/ Napa Valley Napa Valley and Sonoma don’t have much of an LGBT party scene, but that’s not what you’re there for, is it? You’re there for the food and wine experience.

For nightlife, head to San Francisco. It is the perfect honeymoon getaway if you want it to be just the two of you. Out In The Vineyard (707-495-9732 OutInTheVineyard.com) offers three and six day tours and its signature event, Big Gay Train takes participants to four LGBT-owned vineyards. The Fig Cafe and Wine Bar (13690 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen, 707-938-2130, thefigcafe.com) is a wonderfully laid back café and they’ll serve some of the grape you’ve bought during vineyard tours without a corkage fee. Girl and the Fig (110 W. Spain St., Sonoma, 707-938-3634, thegirlandthefig.com) – do we see a theme here? – is a little more upscale.

Churchill Manor (485 Brown St., Napa, 800-799-7733, churchillmanor.com) offers a honeymoon package priced from $750 to $1,200 per couple. The package includes; two nights lodging, champagne, souvenir flutes, Napa Valley sparkling wine, chocolate dipped strawberries, fresh flowers and a couple’s massage.

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[S

PECIAL

SECTION : WEDDINGS

]

Marriage Equality I Juror’s Verdict is for NORM KENT

have never seen so many people this happy in a jury room, but that is where close to 100 same-sex couples and 300 people gathered at midnight on Tuesday morning in the Broward County Courthouse. We were not alone. Across the state, at varying hours of the day, clerks were issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

You can't appreciate where you are in life without remembering where you have been. Florida is the state that gave birth to Anita Bryant in 1978.

Florida is the state that voted to ban same sex marriage less than ten years ago. Florida is a state where both the Governor and its Attorney General still oppose us, and went to court to stop us less than ten days ago. This time, equality and justice were on our side.

There are groups still opposing us, with names like the Florida Family Council. Watching their spokespersons make their case on TV, you almost have to scoff. They have become so historically irrelevant they are laughable. Even Jeb Bush, as he prepares for a presidential run, is changing his tune. He is smart enough to know his past opposition to same sex couples is a shackle to his future goals.

However, Florida still has a ways to go, doesn’t it? Clerks in Duval, Clay, Baker and other counties have stopped performing courthouse weddings, all citing conservative values and opposition to gay marriage as part of the reason why. The only way clerks could avoid officiating gay marriage ceremonies is if they stop performing courthouse weddings all together.

While those clerks may seem far away even right here in Fort Lauderdale, our own Mayor Jack Seiler opposed the city’s resolution supporting marriage equality just a few months ago. We must be ever vigilant.

It’s so sad. It is 2015. They are living in a Sadie Hawkins world still celebrating Anita Bryant Day. That is too bad for them, but worse for their kids. Someday they will get over it. Someday we shall overcome. But that means we still have work to do.

To those that are late in joining us in our battle for equality, we should simply say 'welcome to the party. Nice to have you here.' We can be proud this day has come, prouder still that so many have journeyed so far to see it through. Out from the shadows, the love that once dared not speak its name now has a state license and social acceptance. If only we had a governor getting inaugurated today who could tell his clerks to obey the law instead of avoid it. If only we had an attorney general that sued for us instead of against us.

Nevertheless, we owe thanks and gratitude to those who put themselves in the front lines, went to court, and challenged the status quo. In the beginning days of the battle for marriage equality, even a host of LGBT leaders were timid, warning foolishly that we were 'moving too fast.' No, today's message is a reminder that it is never too soon to fight for your rights. In fact, the best way to protect your rights is to use them.

In Broward, as gay couples married in a jury room we all normally want to escape from, Sheriff Scott Israel took the stage. The chief law enforcement official in the county, he congratulated not only all the couples joining in matrimony, but a host of his own gay deputies tying the knot themselves.

He hugged them, smiled with them, and congratulated them. "The police in our agency are your partners," he said. He gets it. There is a new world out there. Hopefully, we will never forget what the old one was like.

One of the women marrying her partner in Broward County yesterday was a local attorney, Robin L. Bodiford. A native Floridian and 1988 graduate of the University of Southern California Law School, she was the co-author of the Broward County Domestic Partnership ordinance, a lesbian civil rights pioneer for this community. Still practicing law in greater Fort Lauderdale, her achievements in excellence over a lifetime make her a person to applaud and celebrate today.

Every community has had its share of heroes. In Dade County, there was a woman named Ruth Shack who pushed equal rights for gays and lesbians in the 1970’s. In Palm Beach, there have attorneys like Rand Hoch fighting for decades. In Broward, Jamie Bloodworth, who passed away ten years ago this month, would be smiling with her partner Beverly Cothern today.

In each community, we have had men and women leading and attempting to make a difference in all our lives. Yesterday, as clerks from Key West to Kissimmee issued same sex marriage licenses, we all had a reason to celebrate and appreciate what those who came before us have done.

This article was originally published on January 7th, 2015.

Mark Martin (left), Regional Director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation with his husband Rob Angle.

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[ SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE ]

OWNING OUR HISTORY Trans history matters and we need to record it REBECCA JURO

R

ecently, I was having a conversation with another trans woman and she referred to me as a “trans elder.” At first, it kind of freaked me out.

I’m only 52 so to me an “elder” is someone who’s at minimum collecting Social Security, more likely into their 70’s or 80’s. When I thought about it, though, I realized that it’s probably accurate.

The trans community, at least in the form it exists today, really only fully came into being with the advent of the Internet. From chat rooms and email lists to Internet radio shows and blogs, and now LGBT and mainstream media, the trans community has evolved from being a relatively small and scattered collection of people who chose to come out at a time when doing so could cost you dearly, to a visible, vibrant, diverse, and rapidly growing segment of the LGBT community.

The first wave of modern trans community activist leaders were people who were active in the early-to-mid 1990’s such as Riki Wilchins, Nancy Nangeroni, Jamison Green, Leslie Feinberg, and Gwen Smith. Many of these pioneers became not only some of the trans community’s first activists, but also our first media creators, authoring groundbreaking books on trans people, issues, and cultural identity as well as creating broadcast radio shows, commentary, and the first online social spaces for the nascent trans community.

I, and others, who came out during the latter half of the decade were the second wave and we built upon the work of the first. We began organizing online in earnest, publishing columns and op-eds

in places where fellow trans people could find them. We created chat rooms and email lists where we could interact with each other. We lobbied Washington, state, and local governments. We spoke out against those who claimed to represent our interests but who had been discovered to actually be working against those interests. And we did almost all of it online.

For me, and for so many newly-out trans people, the Internet changed everything. The easy access to fellow trans people to interact with and relevant media to learn from literally changed my life and the lives of so many others. I became like a sponge, reading and listening to anything and everything trans–relevant I could find.

Interest became obsession, which eventually leveled out into commitment. I’d found a direction, a cause I believed in, and I let my passion guide me.

In 2002 I co-created and began co-hosting TransSister Radio with Marti Abernathey. Podcasting as we know it today didn’t really exist yet and we did our shows live, with no archive for on-demand listening. If you missed it, you missed it, just like broadcast radio.

It was an amazing, thrilling, scary, joyful time to be part of the trans community. It was during these years we built the foundations of the trans community we have today. Yet, there’s little written about that time, and often what little there is, gets it wrong or leaves out huge chunks of the story.

So much of our community’s history from this time is lost, or at least, not yet documented as well as it should be. I believe that this is a real problem

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

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for the trans community. In order to know where we’re going, we need to understand where we come from. Like every other minority group or social justice movement, those of us who lived it must teach our history to younger generations.

Trans people need to start owning our history, and we need to do it soon. One of the benefits of being a young community and movement is that most of our Founding Mothers and Fathers are still with us today to tell those stories, but we must start taking advantage of that while we still can.

On my Internet radio show, The Rebecca Juro Show, my co-host, Ethan St Pierre and I, both of us apparently qualified as trans elders, are going to start doing something about it. We’re going to be booking guests with an eye toward telling some of those stories and filling in some of those blanks in our documented history.

Trans history matters. It informs. It teaches. It’s our lives and our legacy to those who come after us.

Trans history must be preserved and protected, and it’s our responsibility as a community to see it done.

Rebecca Juro

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[ SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE ]

The Case for Bisexuals at Pride FAITH CHELTENHAM

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

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

I

n 2015, the city of Boston, Massachusetts, will have two bisexual marshals for its LGBT Pride march. Boston’s choice of grand marshal marks one of the first times a bisexual community advocate has been chosen to marshal an LGBT Pride Parade in the U.S. Ellyn Ruthstrom, former President of the Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) and executive director of SpeakOUT, will join Woody Glen, BRC co-founder as parade marshals.

“It will be such an honor to ride with Woody through the streets of Boston — wearing tiaras, of course — with the 45-foot bi pride flag and dozens of bi community members behind us,” Ruthstrom says. “We might be riding in the car, but Woody and I are representing so many other bisexual people who have struggled and fought for our place within the movement.”

Bisexual activist Brenda Howard is known as the “Mother of Pride” for her work in coordinating the first LGBT Pride events in 1969, held in New York to commemorate the Stonewall riots.

Yet many bisexual people routinely feel erased during LGBT Pride, or in some cases feel unsafe at LGBT Pride events.

Last year, the Empathize This project published a web comic titled “Prejudice at Pride” sharing the story of a UK woman who experienced verbal and physical abuse at Pride because she is Black and bisexual. Her experience isn’t unique, and may explain why studies show bisexual people have the lowest level of affiliation with the LGBT community.

Dan Savage once said, “Biphobia will continue to thrive so long as the majority of bisexuals remain closeted. That's just a fact.”

The reality is we’re not closeted to the extent that Savage claims, otherwise the LGBT ecosystem that includes Pride marches, LGBT centers and LGBT serving organizations would cease to exist. Projects like “It Gets Better,” co-founded by Savage to save LGBT youth from suicide, depend on bisexual data to validate their need. It’s about numbers, pure and simple.

Exhibit A: The bisexual population represents 40-51 percent of the entire LGBT community.

Exhibit B: The policy areas that affect bisexuals MORE than their lesbian, gay, heterosexual, and in some cases, non-bisexual transgender peers include suicide, anxiety, PTSD, cancer, heart disease, rape, stalking, sexual violence other than rape, intimate partner violence, alcohol, tobacco and substance use, poverty, workplace discrimination, bullying, and HIV/AIDS. Despite claims that most bisexuals are closeted,

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

we constantly show up in data. We don’t hide from our disparities either, much to the chagrin of those who would “normalize” the experience of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people into a respectability devoid of personal reality. Bisexuals are not trying to be just like everyone else, most of us have already tried that.

Bi people stand out in the history of the LGBT movement for our bravery, and for stubbornly going out on a limb to save lives, no matter the consequence. Whether its bisexual politico Emily Dievendorf launching a petition to boycott Mitchfest’s transgender exclusionary practices in 2014 or bi icon Dr. David Lourea creating safe sex workshops for gay and bisexual men facing an AIDS epidemic in 1984, bisexuals don’t hide from the work.

Bisexuals should not have to justify their right to pride, but we often do. Despite being ready to celebrate our identity, we often arrive at LGBT Pride celebrations to invalidation, outright hostility and a distinct lack of warmth. At LGBT Pride, bisexuals often feel like a side dish, best served coldly or not at all.

Whether it’s a bisexually erasive exhibit on LGBT history at Milwaukee Pride or tweets from Atlanta Pride saying “gay pride, a dyke march, and a trans march -- something for everybody," bisexuals are left out. Bi people in Portland report feeling relief when “no one laughs or throws insults” as they march in Pride Portland. Meanwhile Brian Aden from Nebraska says, “while at Pride event last year I prominently wore my ‘Bi Pride’ button and the bisexual colors. I had several people comment how unusual it was for someone to exhibit pride at being bisexual.”

And yet our pride remains.

Pride in a bisexual culture almost 50 years deep, so rich with diversity that we commonly use brand extensions like bi+ and bi* to indicate the wealth within. Whether its comedy festivals, art festivals and art installations, filmmakers, politicians, writers, bloggers, or people of color collectives, our community has a unique voice and shared experience deeply empowered by a consistent, driving need to welcome difference and champion diversity.

Bi friends and bisexual networks helped create a world where same sex marriage might be possible in 50 states, and a society where a transgender icon like Laverne Cox could get tastefully nude in Allure magazine. I’m talking about bisexuals like Dr. Alan Rockway who in 1977 co-authored the nation’s first gay anti-discrimination law in Florida and launched a Florida orange juice boycott to defend it. Or Lou Reed who penned 1972’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” a song that featured real life narratives of trans people.

Bisexuals like Reed are often bridges to different communities whether it’s cisgender and transgender or gay and straight. Hiding in plain sight, our data, lives and creative light continue to build the LGBT community, brick by bisexual brick. We’ll keep showing up, so this Pride season please recognize bi people with the pride they deserve. Validate different sex couples by asking if they’re bi, instead of assuming that the stroller counts them out. Celebrate signs of bi+ culture like our buttons, t-shirts, or purple hair – we wear them to be identified with pride.

Originally from San Luis Obispo, California, Faith Cheltenham is the current President of BiNet USA, a national non-profit advocacy organization for bi people.

Faith’s been an LGBT activist for 15 years and is also an accomplished writer, poet, and stand-up comic. Faith is mom to twoyear-old Storm, step-mom to six-year-old Cadence, and wife to Matt in a very modern family in Los Angeles.

Bay Area Bisexual Network (BABN) Chair Martin Rawlings-Fein marching in SF Pride with Juanita Carroll Young.Photo Credit: Juanita Carroll Young.

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[ SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE ]

Pride and Prejudice PIER ANGELO

A

Photo: J.R. Davis.

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

We will hold hands and kiss our legal husbands and wives while walking through the booths of our community newspapers, bars, clubs, gay friendly establishments, gay businesses, civic associations, gay organizations, even the Log Cabin Republicans, all proudly flying the rainbow flag, basking in the Florida sunshine.

Between a beer and a hot dog, a bag full of trinkets and a raffle, we will pat each others on the back and say: “Yes, there is nothing wrong with being fabulous.” If cigarette companies were allowed to promote their ‘fags' Virginia Slim would have a great booth emblazoned with their slogan from the 70's, "You Have Come a Long Way, Baby.” Even though our city inexplicably did not make, yet again, “The Advocate’s Top 15 Gayest Cities in America,” all things considered, we are fortunate to live in Greater Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors.

Yep, we are fabulous... but immensely jaded, bordering on uncaring.

While we show off our Balenciaga belts we never think about how the other half still lives in the Bible Belt. In the Hinterlands and the Deep South, LGBT people of all ages, especially teenagers, are living a nightmare of fear and depression. Important protective factors such as family love, community support and safe schools are completely missing. Growing up is scary when there is nobody to relate to. Thus many contemplate suicide, as the only way out of pain.

They are caught in a time warp of religious intolerance, alienation and disconnect, open discrimination and bigotry. They are made to believe that hell is waiting for all gays, that we deserve AIDS, that we are not fit to act as parents or even be upstanding productive citizens.

Those repressed gays and lesbians, far removed from South Florida, and from the Top 15 Gayest Cities in America, are living without foreseeable

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hope. With time they become captive slaves of their own self hate and low self-esteem. They are so used to disguise themselves to others that in the end they become disguised to themselves.

On the other hand, out and proud gays are too complacent. We should be up in arms demanding comprehensive laws to protect all sections of society- with no exceptions. Our agenda should be setting the pace of social change by demanding a ban on all forms of discrimination, with true and enforced crack downs on hate crimes. Prevention programs for sexual minorities should be in place to tackle issues of stigma, labeling, bullying, plus safe and effective referrals.

Many important battles have been won but the cultural war is far from over.

Arkansas banned local governments from expanding anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, a move criticized even by retail giant Walmart who said the prohibition damaged the state's image.

In Georgia, a bill called ‘Religious Freedom' Bill would forbid the state government from infringing on a person's religious beliefs unless the government can prove it has a compelling interest.

Some North Carolina lawmakers are convinced that court officials should be exempt from having to perform same-sex weddings or issue marriage licenses to gays because of the workers' religious beliefs. The utter stupidity of all these Religious Protection Bills, popping up nationwide, is that they would begin to unravel decades of civil rights achievements in this nation and ultimately they would begin to unravel protections for religious people themselves. The mumbo jumbo gets even more preposterous when one listens to Scott Lively, the anti-gay pastor who has been charged with committing crimes against humanity

for his involvement with the passage of Uganda's "kill the gays" law. He is warning divine retribution not seen since the days of the Old Testament if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of samesex marriage this term. Citing scriptural "blood moons," set to take place in 2015, Lively said that the "official endorsement of 'gay marriage' by the only nation in the history of the world (other than ancient Israel) to be established on a Biblical foundation (blatantly untrue), is an act of defiance against God not seen since Noah's Flood."

While there are many progressive Christians around the world with a true sense of compassion and moral integrity, the oppressive Bible thumpers of mid America are the product of outdated, suffocating, traditional Christian values that prefer ritual to reflection, obedience to individual discernment, meaningless confessions to genuine atonement.

In its highest form, Christianity is a test of one’s mettle, a challenge to live in the image of Jesus, the incarnation of all virtues. In its lowest form, it’s a spiritual Walmart, where absolution comes cheap and the swallowing of a wafer, a Sunday service, or a candle and a prayer are all it takes to even things out with God. I'm not saying you should not enjoy the upcoming PrideFest, by all means dance your socks off, get moderately smashed, smoke a joint, come by SFGN's booth and win a prize, have fun, be yourself, be 'absolutely fabulous' but stop and think for a moment, get involved, make a difference in someone's life, and, if you are so inclined, say a little prayer for Pat Robertson, right wing Republicans, and all the other hate mongers.

As the Dalai Lama said, when asked why he prayed for the Chinese invaders of Tibet, whose atrocities against his people can never be forgotten, "Oh, we must pray for them. Because they are the ones who need prayer most of all.”

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KISSED AT PRIDE BELO CIPRIANI

T

he first time I saw two men kissing was on the 6 o’clock news. I was 9 years old, a fourth grader, and couldn’t take my eyes off of the bearded men. Wide-eyed and speechless, I looked toward both sides of the living room, hoping someone in my family would give me some clarification. My older sister was on the phone, completely engrossed in her teenage banter, while my little sister worked intensely on her pony puzzle.

The men on the screen broke away from each other and then began to answer the newswoman’s questions.

“So how long have you two been together and what brought you to San Francisco Pride?” asked the pinched and pale reporter.

“We just met,” announced one of the guys in a British accent.

Wanting some answers, I crossed the living room and stepped into the kitchen.

My mom was pulling the garlic bread out of the oven when I began to tell her about the two men, who had just met, and were kissing like men and women did in the movies.

My mom set the hot bread on the yellow-tiled counter, her expression joyous.

“Sometimes,” she started to say, “men kiss men and women kiss women and there’s nothing wrong with that. Sadly though, not all countries allow men to kiss men or women to kiss women. So, they come to San Francisco to be free... That’s what ‘pride’ means -- it means freedom.”

Since that day, I looked at the Pride events as a parade for freedom. And as I got older and began to date men, I always thought about those two bearded guys on the evening news -- especially

since I, too, hoped to have a little freedom to kiss a stranger during Pride.

But for good or for ill, I always had a boyfriend around the Pride festivities and it wasn’t until I was blind that I attended San Francisco Pride as a single dude.

As I stood on Market Street with my white cane, listening to the parade go by, I wondered if I would meet a guy. Nestled amongst a boisterous group of lesbians, I reflected on how hard it is to meet people in public when you can’t see. Suddenly, I felt a hand tug at my arm.

“Belo,” my friend Heather called, “there’s this guy I want you to meet. He’s hot!”

We pushed passed the crowd and then I felt a rough hand squeeze my hand. He then grabbed my fingers and ran them down his chiseled chest and spoke to me in Portuguese.

His name was Rafael and he was visiting from the Azores. I could tell by his voice that he was happy to be in San Francisco -- away from his island.

“We don’t have Pride in the Azores,” he shared, squeezing my hand some more.

It was tough to imagine a place without Pride in 2009. Then, all of a sudden, I sensed his body draw closer and his lips press against mine. For a few seconds, it seemed as though the entire street quieted down and only he and I existed.

He pulled away and got my number. We did the polite thing and promised to call, knowing full well neither one of us would. Heather spoke into my ear and told me that when I kissed the guy, a local TV crew recorded the make-out session. I couldn’t help but laugh. As I rejoined our other friends, I thought back to the bearded guys and realized I had become them.

Belo Cipriani is the Writer-in-Residence at Holy Names University, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the “Get to Work” columnist for SFGate.com, and the author of Blind: A Memoir. Learn more at BeloCipriani.com.

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[ SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE ]

Pride in Canada From coast to coast six festivals you can’t miss

I

DANIELA COSTA

propose a trip. Pride season in Canada. A coast-to-coast adventure that will put you at the center of Canada’s best Pride festivals. Francophone fun, cowboy culture, maritime madness and so much more. You’ll never see Canada the same way again.

Here are six “can’t-miss” Canadian Pride festivals.

1

Edmonton Pride When: June 5 to June 14

We start out in Western Canada and in what’s largely considered the country’s most conservative province – Alberta. Not to worry, however, because Edmonton has had plenty of time to get used to Pride, as the city’s first celebrations took place in 1980. This year’s parade is on June 6.

This upcoming Pride marks a return to the festival’s roots. It will move from the city’s downtown to Whyte Avenue indefinitely, this being where the festival started 35 years ago.

If you’re wondering, you’ll hardly be the only out-of-towner attending. Last year close to 20 per cent of those surveyed indicated they travelled more than 31 miles to attend.

Edmonton Pride is a great opportunity to take in Canadian musical, dancing and performance arts acts, as festival organizers are committed to only hiring Canadian artists. The festival hosts nearly 50 events and welcomes over 35,000 visitors.

It’s the perfect little warm up for the next stop – Toronto Pride.

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Toronto Pride When: June 19 to June 28

Last year the eyes of the world were on Toronto as it hosted the first World Pride in North America. Over two million people attended and the resulting economic impact totaled $719 million (CAD). By comparison, in 2013 Toronto Pride saw crowds of over 1.2 million people and brought in $286 million. This year’s parade is on June 28.

Toronto Pride has taken place in various forms since the ‘70s. As an annual event it began in 1981. Toronto’s first Pride Committee came about in 1986 and City Council proclaimed Pride Day for the first time in 1991, with momentum building tremendously ever since.

In 2001, Canada’s largest national newspaper The Globe and Mail reported that the parade had become "a Canadian institution."

Besides the parade, highlights include the Dyke March, the Trans Pride March and Blockorama, an event that celebrates black queer and trans pride. Big name musical acts, performance arts shows and outdoor dance parties have also come to define Toronto Pride.

If there’s one Canadian Pride festival you have to attend, it’s Toronto Pride.

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Halifax Pride When: July 16 to July 26

Next we travel east to Atlantic Canada and, more precisely, to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax Pride is the biggest festival of its kind in the region. This year’s parade is on July 25.

Over 120,000 people attend Halifax Pride every summer. It’s quite the bump up from the original 75 or so folks who attended the city’s first Pride march in 1987. Then, the march was a protest over a lack of legal protection from discrimination and the real threat of homophobic violence. A handful of participants even wore paper bags over their heads out of fear. Now, the festival is a celebration.

Last year’s parade was the biggest yet, taking over an hour to finish and including more than 100 floats.

Highlights this year are the “Dykes vs. Divas” softball game and the “Queer Acts Theatre” performances. In addition to the summer festivities, Halifax Pride also hosts three fundraising events – the Fancy Gay Dress Party in April, the OutBid Auction in May and OutWining in June.

Don’t get too settled – you’re about to trek all the way across the country to Vancouver!

4

Vancouver Pride When: July 25 to August 2

We’re upping the ante again with a much bigger Pride celebration in Vancouver. If you’re staying until the end of Halifax Pride, don’t be too concerned about the dates – while Vancouver Pride’s “Run & Walk” and “Picnic in the Park” events happen on July 25, this year’s parade is only on August 2.

The first Vancouver Pride parade took place in 1978 and today the festival boasts crowds of more than 650,000 people.

With those numbers, it’s no surprise that the City of Vancouver granted official civic status to the Pride Parade in 2013.

There are about 150 parade entries, including floats, marching groups, costumed dancers and more. It’s a spectacle that runs along a three-hour route, culminating in a finish at the Sunset Beach Festival site. The beach festival brings you live music, an awesome beer garden and a Pride Market featuring over 100 local vendors and community organizations.

Vancouver Pride is taking on a particularly political tone this year. The 2015 parade theme and campaign will raise awareness and promote equal rights for transgender and gender-variant individuals.

So come on out and show your support.

5

Montréal Pride/Fierté Montreal When: August 10 to August 16

It’s time for festival fun en français. No, you don’t actually have to brush up on your French – most Montrealers speak English as well. Last year, approximately 300,000 people participated in Pride festivities, making it the most successful to date. This year’s parade is on August 16.

The history behind Montréal Pride is long and complicated. Some consider 1979 the year the first official Pride occurred, as this was when a group of about 50 people came together to commemorate New York City's 1969 Stonewall Riots. Still others claim it was only in 1984 that the first truly organized parade took place. After there was no parade in 1992, the Divers/Cité parade formed. Pride happened under this banner until 2006, after which Célébrations LGBTA Montréal took over. This is why under the Montréal Pride name, 2015 is only the 9th edition of the event.

Whatever anniversary you celebrate, a fun time is guaranteed.

Last year’s Pride featured more than 80 shows and the parade itself had about 2,000 marchers, 100 groups and 15 floats.

Now it’s time to say “au revoir” to Montreal and “bonjour” to Ottawa.

6

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2

5

3

Ottawa Pride/Capital Pride When: August 14 to August 23

What a fitting end to your trip – Pride in the nation’s capital.

Again, don’t mind the dates too much. Ottawa is a short distance away from Montreal and you’ll have more than enough time to make it there for Pride weekend. This year’s parade is on August 23.

Capital Pride drew in an estimated 110,000 people last year, its most successful turnout ever. Over 2,000 individuals took part in the parade, which has traditionally been the largest in Ottawa.

The first Ottawa Pride was not a parade, but a picnic held in 1986 that about 50 people attended. It was only in 1989 that Ottawa held its first Pride parade. It grew fast, with the number of participants jumping from 300 in 1989 to 30,000 in 1998.

To the surprise of many, however, Capital Pride declared bankruptcy in late December. A new advisory committee has been set up for this year’s festival and the Bank St. Business Improvement Area (which operates in the city’s gay village) will manage its finances. This means 2015 is a transition year that will largely determine the future of Ottawa’s Pride festival.

But for you, it’ll be all about the fun, fun, fun!

So there you have it, Pride Canuck-style. Consider yourself officially invited for some good ol’ gay Canadian entertainment.

SPRING 2015  THE

35

[ SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE ]

Pride for Miles in The

JILLIAN MELERO

Sunshine State O

rlando has one of the largest, but could St. Pete have it beat? Take a look at how Florida’s Pride events measure up against one another.

Florida’s varied and expanding Pride events showcase the range, diversity, and growth found within its LGBT community. While some organizers and events offer a long standing history of LGBT activism and community involvement others will be creating new inroads among LGBT businesses and entrepreneurs while promoting Florida as a new gay wedding and family travel destination.

The Mirror highlights some of Florida’s biggest and up and coming LGBT Pride celebrations, broken down by region and by date.

Southwest Florida Name: Manatee Gay Pride Date: March 19 2016 Location: Bradenton, Manatee County Website/Contact Info: ManateePride.com

Southeast Florida Key West Pride Wednesday - Sunday, June 10 – 14 KeyWestPride.org

Key West Pride is organized by the Key West Business Guild (KWBG,) a nonprofit that helps promote Key West to LGBTA travelers nationally and internationally. The Guild estimated their work helps to attract about 250,000 LGBTA travelers to Key West each year. The 2015 full schedule of events is still in the works.

Stonewall Pride, Wilton Manors Saturday, June 20 WiltonManorsStonewall.com

Formerly known as Stonewall Summer Pride, this year’s Stonewall Pride will be organized by the Island City Foundation, a division of Wilton Manors Entertainment Group. The Summer

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 SPRING 2015

Pride Twilight Parade will ride at dusk, and the Pride Street Festival will take place Saturday from noon till 11 p.m. Wilton Drive will be closed from Five Points to NE 20th Street for both events.

Saturday’s festival entertainment will play out across three stages and will include performances from Sheila E. Besides the food trucks and drink tents, arts and crafts vendors and a Kids Zone will also be featured.

Fort Lauderdale Pride Saturday & Sunday, Oct 10 – 11 PrideFortLauderdale.org

Organized by Pride South Florida, Fort Lauderdale Pride will take place at Holiday Park and the War Memorial Auditorium, 800 NE 8th Street. The theme, ‘We’re Coming Out,’ is in recognition of National Coming Out Day on Oct 11. The festival also coincides with the Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

The outdoor area will include more than 150 vendors and food areas with frozen cocktails, beer, a dance tent, the Miss Pride South Florida – Plus Contest and more attractions to be announced.

This will be Pride South Florida’s 38th annual event, and the 4th held at the auditorium.

Partnered to host Fort Lauderdale Pride are the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau and the AIDS Health Care Foundation.

The Aids memorial quilt will also be on display.

Pridefest of Lake Worth and the Palm Beaches March 2016 CompassGLCC.com/pf.html

The 22nd annual Pridefest of Lake Worth and the Palm Beaches’ theme was “We Are

#Winning.” The two-day event took place in the newly renovated Bryant Park. Along with the addition to the park came the newly added Kids’ Zone, in keeping with the festival’s family-friendly appeal.

Entertainment included appearances by Michaela Paige of The Voice, Lillie McCloud of The X Factor, and drag performers Melissa St. John, Ricky Rollick, Velvet Lenore, and K-Otic Force.

Sunday’s “We’ve Got Spirit” parade featured more than 50 LGBT and allied groups, charities, organizations, and local sponsors in their favorite champion sports gear, celebrating a victorious year for the LGBT community.

The 2014 Pridefest drew its largest crowd yet of 22,000 attendees. Organizers Compass GLCC, hoped to bring in 25,000 this year. Compass’ programs focus on HIV prevention, awareness, testing, and care, and also youth outreach.

Miami Beach Gay Pride April 16, 2016 (tentative date) MiamiBeachGayPride.com

Miami Beach just wrapped up its seventh annual gay pride. The two day celebration featured a beach party, festival, a 5k pride run, and parade along Ocean Drive and in Lummus Park. Mario Lopez served as Grand Marshal. Saturday saw an early start, kicking things off with a 9 a.m. 5k run along a three mile trail through South Beach.

While still young, the pride festival drew more than 100,000 visitors in 2014. 2015 is expected to bring in more than 125,000 and more than 125 LGBT friendly businesses.

Miami Beach Gay Pride was originally established by former Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower, as an initiative of the Miami Beach Gay

By Date Listing courtesy of GayPrideCalendar.com JUNE June 10 – 14 Key West Pride

Photo: J.R. Davis.

Business Development Council. The event is also supported by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners and Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority.

Central Florida Treasure Coast Pride, Port St. Lucie* April 2016 PrideOfTheTreasureCoast.org/ pridefest-2015

The Port St. Lucie Civic Center on the corner of US1 and Walton Road will played host to the 11th annual Treasure Coast Pride on Sunday April 26 from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Performances included DJ Joshua Atom, Jennell Eve and Random Play, Dominique Taylor, Mr. Unlimited FMI Shook ByNature, Organized Khaos, Buddy Love, Alyssa Monroe and others.

Organizations who have previously benefitted from Pride of the Treasure Coast’s fundraising efforts include PFLAG of Vero Beach, People Care Center, Treasure Coast PFLAG, Council on Aging of St. Lucie, Project Response, Camp Heartland, Harvest Food & Outreach Center, SafeSpace, and ONE Treasure Coast.

St. Pete Pride Wednesday – Sunday, June 24 - 28 StPetePride.com

St. Pete starts off its Pride celebration with the Stonewall Reception, 7 – 9 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts. Friday the 26th will feature the “27/82” benefit concert, presented by St. Pete and Sarasota Pride. Saturday’s LGBT Pride Parade will travel along Central Ave. from 5:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday’s Pride Festival will take place from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. also along Central Ave. Proceeds will go to the St. Pete Pride Community Grants Program, benefitting Tampa Bay area nonprofit groups. Organizers expect to have more than 300 exhibitors, and more than 20,000 visitors to Sunday’s Festival.

Space Coast Pride, Saturday September 26 Melbourne FL Website/Contact Info: SpaceCoastPride.org

Come Out With Pride (COWP), Orlando Saturday, October 10 ComeOutWithPride.com/#

Also aligned with National Coming Out Day is Come Out With Pride Orlando. The festival includes over 150 multiple full bars and beer tents, entertainment on the main stage and live music throughout Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando.

The festival begins at noon, with a parade at 4 p.m. and a fireworks show in the evening.

COWP’s 2014 pride fest saw attendance at 150,000, making it the largest LGBT pride event in its tenth year raising more than $10,000for organizations including The Barber Fund, Zebra Coalition, Hope & Help, Libby’s Legacy, Sounds of Freedom Marching Band & Color guard, The Harvey Milk Foundation, Proud Veterans of America, Christ Church Unity’s wellness event, Pride 4 tots and Nathaniel’s Hope.

Come Out With Pride Inc. was founded as part of the Metropolitan Business Association and the Central Florida LGBT chamber of commerce.

Northwest Florida Tallahassee Pridefest April 18, 2015 / 2016 TBA Tallahassee (Leon County, NW) Pridefest.FamilyTreeCenter.org

June 20 Stonewall Pride, Wilton Manors Festival & Parade* June 24 – 28 St. Pete Pride*

SEPTEMBER Sep. 26 Space Coast Pride, Melbourne

OCTOBER Oct. 3 & 4 Jacksonville Pride Oct. 10 – 11 Fort Lauderdale Pride* Oct. 10 Orlando Pride*

MARCH March 2016 Manatee Gay Pride March 26, 2016 Tampa Pride March, 2016 Pridefest of Lake Worth and the Palm Beaches

Sexacola Pride May 21 – 24/ 2016 TBA Pensacola (Escambia County, NW district, end of panhandle nearing AL) SexacolaBeach.com

Northeast Florida

APRIL April 8 - 10, 2016 Miami Beach Gay Pride April 2016 Tallahassee Pridefest April 2016 Treasure Coast Pride, Port St. Lucie*

Jacksonville Pride Oct 3 - 4 Jacksonville, FL (Duval County – NE) RiverCityPride.com

MAY May 2016 Sexacola Pride

SPRING 2015  THE

37

[ SPECIAL SECTION: PRIDE ]

Pride in the Caribbean Curaçao is fast becoming the gay friendliest island

M

ost of the Caribbean is known for it’s hostile climate toward the LGBT community, but there is one rare gem of gay friendliness — Curaçao.

The country boasts 17 members of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, more than any other island in the sea, has hosted a handful of LGBT themed events and has had its own gay themed website, GayCuracao.com, since 2004.

And now the island is gearing up for its third annual Pride Week taking place Sept. 29 to Oct. 4.

Events include a dinner and cabaret show, a white party and a sea parade. Floris Suite Hotel will again be the host hotel for the event.

“The Curaçao Tourist Board has made continual strides to put this small, yet bustling island in the Dutch Caribbean on the map to be all-welcoming to travelers with its ‘Live and Let Live’ philosophy,

the 2004 launch of GayCuracao.com and a variety of pride events throughout the year,” said Aime O'keefe, account coordinator for Diamond Public Relations.

Curaçao is located just two-and-a-half hours from South Florida by plane. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are a part of what is known as the Lesser Antilles. Collectively those three are known as the ABC islands, which are all located off of the coast of Venezuela.

The island is also one of three countries in the Caribbean that are a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The other two include Aruba and Sint Maarten.

Aruba has long been a popular Southern Caribbean tourist destination. But its sister island, Curaça, has long gone unnoticed to the masses.

“We're very proud of how Curaçao has flourished over the past few years as a hub for LGBT travelers.

JASON PARSLEY

We have long embraced the island's 'Live and Let Live' philosophy to accept travelers of all races, orientations, and religions, and the LGBT community is extremely active with organizing a consistent variety of exciting events throughout the year,” said Alyson Marks, senior account executive for Diamond Public Relations. “Since the first Pride in 2013, the festival has grown from just a local party to one of the most anticipated parties on the island, attracting international visitors from across the world, who not only have the opportunity to celebrate Pride but can enjoy our diverse culture, beaches, cuisine, and more while on island."

This will be the island’s third Pride festival, but they’ve also hosted other LGBT themed events such as last year’s Exotica Festival and the first ever Southern Caribbean Pride Festival.

Just this year the country won the International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Board’s “Destination Pioneer” award.

“Curaçao has created several LGBT marketing campaigns and continues to make strides in equality for the gay community in an effort to become one of the most welcoming destinations for LGBT travelers in the Caribbean – a region that often makes headlines for homophobia.”

Miami’s Tiffany Fantasia hosted last year’s drag shows during Pride week.

“I had an amazing time hosting the drag shows at Curaçao pride! It's so amazing to see an already diverse country celebrate their LGBT community,” Fantasia said. “The LGBT community [on the island] is more than a community, they're a family!

They truly look out for one another and if you come to the island, they treat you like family too.”

Visit GayCuracao.com, CuracaoPride.com, and FlorisSuiteHotel.com for more information on the island and its upcoming events.

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39

[B

]

BOYSTOWN OOKS

Online Gay Serial Announces Season Three DAVID-ELIJAH NAHMOD

Boystown, the Chicago "gayborhoood" is "a sexy, fun and wild ride," according to author Jake Biondi.

The openly gay writer, who grew up in a Chicago suburb, has called Boystown home for the past twenty years. The wild ride he refers to could apply not only to the 'hood, but to the serialized stories he writes about it.

Biondi launched Boystown in June 2013 as an online serial. Each monthly chapter is written in short story form and ends in a cliffhanger. He tells The Mirror that he counts author Charles Dickens (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist), who's stories were first published in a similar format, among his influences.

He also draws inspiration from grandly decadent television shows such as “Dynasty,” “Dallas,” “Knots Landing” and “Revenge.”

"Boystown deals with a variety of issues," Biondi said. "From sexuality to families to relationships to substance abuse. Relationships are at the core of Boystown."

He says that his characters fall in and out of love with a great deal of panache and drama. "It wouldn't be any fun if the relationships were all normal and functional," the author points out. "There are plenty of twists and turns in all the characters' lives to keep readers engaged and entertained."

Biondi wants to assure Mirror readers that his Chicago-centric stories will appeal to SoFla readers.

"Boystown appeals to everyone, no matter where they live," he said. "What attracts people to the books are the characters and the struggles they cope with.

They are much like people we all know and interact with on a daily basis — the plotlines are fast paced."

He says that though most of his characters are gay, there are a few straight characters, and bisexual characters. Plans are underway to incorporate lesbian and transgender characters into the sudsy mix.

"These are characters people can connect with regardless of their sexual orientation," he promises.

Boystown has become so popular as an online series, Biondi has released collections of his installments in book form. Boystown Seasons 1 and 2 have been in print for more than a year. Season 3 has just been published. All three books are available on Amazon, where reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. There's been talk of adapting the series for television.

"Two television producers have come forward and said that they'd like to work with me," Biondi said. "I'm confident we'll be able to bring the series to television in the near future."

Visit the Boystown site for more info: JakeBiondi.com

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[FILM]

HBO'S DAVID-ELIJAH NAHMOD

BESSIE B

essie Smith (1894-1937) was a hard drinking, hard loving singer/songwriter who became a musical superstar during the 1920s. She was a sold out concert act who played to white and black audiences alike, and was also a best selling recording artist.

Smith didn't just sing the blues — she felt them.

The blues is a musical genre, which originated in the African American communities of the Deep South towards the end of the 19th century. A fusion of traditional African music and American folk tunes, the blues were an expression of the anguish and pain of a people who lived hard lives in a country, which despised them.

The blues became a staple of African American culture at a time when discrimination was legal.

Bessie Smith, along with her mentor Ma Rainey (1886-1939) were the undisputed standard bearers of the blues.

Queen Latifah stars as Smith in HBO's “Bessie,” while Oscar winner Mo'nique steals a few scenes as Ma Rainey. Latifah also serves as the film's executive producer.

Largely void of special effects, Bessie is a character driven study of a real life human being.

The script, co-authored by director Dee Rees and acclaimed playwright Horton Foote, examines the life of Smith and allows the audience to peek inside the lives of those around her. The characters are fully fleshed out —viewers will see who they really were and will understand their motivations.

Latifah is sensational as a woman who took no prisoners. Smith fearlessly stands up to her abusive sister, to a man who tries to force himself on her and to a KKK group, which tries to interrupt one of her concerts. When she sings, she takes her audience on a journey inside her sometimes tortured soul. It's a mesmerizing roller coaster

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Film does not shy away from bisexuality

ride that tells the story of Smith's life while also explaining the origins of the blues.

Latifah dives into the role with gusto, singing her heart out, expressing her rage and passionately loving men and women alike — the film does not shy away from Smith's bisexuality or away from her voracious sexual appetite. She was a woman who owned her sexuality.

Mo'nique nearly manages to steal the film away from the star. She's equally intense as the butt kicking Ma Rainey, who mentors Smith, then flies into a fit of rage when Smith becomes the bigger star. And yet when Smith is at her lowest ebb years later, it's Rainey who takes her in.

Mo'nique is particularly memorable when Ma Rainey is seen in concert. She struts her stuff across the stage, wearing a tight gown. As she sings she fans herself with a huge flock of feathers, shaking her butt in perfect unison with the music. It's a highly stylized performance, specific to a time and place long past. Mo'nique — and Latifah herself, recreate the era beautifully.

Latifah, who began her career as a rapper, has since branched out and made a name for herself as an interpreter of various musical styles. Her voice is strong, and she proves herself to be more than up to the challenge of recreating Bessie Smith's signature style.

The film is sumptuously produced. The lush production design, gorgeous period costumes and hairstyles will take viewers back to a time that is now nearly a century behind us. It's an unforgettable journey with an African American woman who told the world to kiss her ass at a time when "colored folks knew their place."

Bessie premiered on HBO in May — visit HBO.com for schedule details. It’s also available at HBO On Demand and online.

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43

[ FILM ]

Genre Crossing ‘I, Scorpio’

WILL GET THE BLOOD FLOWING The Mirror sits down with writer-director Patrick McGuinn

GARY M. KRAMER

T

he dreamy, hypnotic “I, Scorpio” is the latest sun and sex-drenched film by writer-director Patrick McGuinn, whose breakout hit was “Sun Kissed” (2006). Set in 1974 Arizona, this new, hour-long feature concerns Beau (Coleman Kent), a drug dealer who picks up Jesus (Christian Isaac Cruz) a hitchhiker. They drive off into the desert, and do some drugs. Later they hole up in a hotel near the U.S./Mexico border to have sex.

If it sounds like a porn film—and “I, Scorpio” is considerably erotic—McGuinn melds genres from road movies, to westerns to crime films. He also plays with cinematic conventions, using superimposed imagery, solarized frames, filters, pixilation, among other visual devices to give the film a trippy sensation. Moreover, “I, Scorpio” features a voiceover narration that recalls myths about altered time, as well as a scroll of text that discusses elements of spirituality. These elements add another dimension to the film. McGuinn spoke via Skype with The Mirror about making his entrancing “I, Scorpio.”

anticipated this would be a pastiche of some kind, knowing there would be the basic western genre. My original intention was to make a time travel story, but working as a one-man crew, I decided to simplify things, especially when working with limited tools.

You become very resourceful.

Your production company is called Willing Suspension films. Is that a clue to your work, which plays with time and narrative?

I’ll admit that my inspiration for this came early on—in my teen years—when I was watching, appropriately enough, a Russ Meyer film that had a trailer that spoke about free speech and first amendment rights in addition to ecological concerns.

Meanwhile, superimposed over it were shots of LA smog, airplanes taking off at LAX, and two women bouncing around together naked in Russ Meyer’s bed. This fascinated me. It was a tonguein-cheek soapbox statement, but the technique was challenging in a great way. I felt my mind was being used on different levels. I was watching these women romping together, but also there were quick cut visuals and you were reading this dense text that was thoughtfully conveyed. I'd always aspired to attempt that technique, but the right project had to come along, and this seemed to be the perfect one.

To me willing suspension was always about the literal term, “willing suspension of disbelief,” because my films have low-budget production values, and I thought people would have to accept that with my projects. I was also really drawn to fantasy, and you need to suspend your disbelief with that as well.

“I, Scorpio” is a road movie, a drug drama, an erotic romance and an art film. How did you come up with the story and why did you decide to mix all these genres?

Like “Sun Kissed,” I imagined this to be a fantasy, similar to that film, involving time travel and the sensuality of two men in the desert together. What I didn’t anticipate was the very sexual turn that that story took. That happened because we were working unscripted; I had only an outline for the film. I just went with it, and the story took shape in a kind of different genre than I expected. I was going more for a conventional crime noir with a little romance, but instead it became a soft-core epic.

I enjoy working in cross-genre storytelling. So I

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The film’s visuals are really impressive. Can you talk about the imagery in the film?

I thought the beauty of the desert was something to highlight as well as the beauty of the two lead men. I decided once I started editing that I needed to go forward with a bold visual sense and make it unlike anything I’ve ever done before from a visual effects standpoint. The result was arty, and even arcane—something a gallery audience might enjoy.

The voice over tells a different story than the one unfolding on-screen. I like how “I, Scorpio” forces viewers to pay attention to both narratives. Can you discuss this?

The film relies on the physical attraction of the actors to convey the romance. Can you talk about the casting of the actors?

This is a frequent question with my films.

How, why and at what point do actors agree to get naked in front of the camera, and how do they feel about it? I recruited two friends of friends, based in Tucson Arizona, who

always wanted to be in one of my films. There was a level of respect and trust with my two leads that I’d never had before, which was an utter delight. They’d never met before, but they had a common bond in knowing some of my past films. When they met and we talked about my outline for the film, there was an immediate chemistry and I was glad to see that because they looked great together.

There is a spiritual component to the film.

Can you discuss that aspect of “I, Scorpio”?

Twenty years ago I made a film called “Desert Spirits,” and I thought it was time to revisit some of the spiritual themes I explored in that film in a contemporary way as both a filmmaker and a person.

In that film, I said that we experience pain in our bodies, which I call “meat-housings.” This is a riff I expanded into an erotic theme in this particular instance, because I thought the characters falling in love was a form of redemption for people who were losing hope in a dead-end profession: being a drug dealer. The desert to me is a truly spiritual place that opens up all kinds of questions of existence and I think that I’m at a point in my life where those questions are very welcome.

PATRICK MCGUNN. FACEBOOK.

SPRING 2015  THE

45

[ INTERVIEW ]

SHE’S BIG, SHE’S BOLD, SHE’S BEAUTIFUL,

SHE’S AMAZON EVE The Mirror gets personal with the trans ac actress CHRISTIANA LILLY

I

n the fourth season of the beloved “American Horror Story” series on FX, Erika Ervin joined the “Freak Show” cast and was nothing less than a show stopper. Set in Jupiter, Fla. in the 1950s, a circus filled with “freaks” is on its last legs and the neighboring community accuses the group of a series of murders. Ervin played the strong woman, Amazon Eve. “The narrative of our show is this is a family, the horror is what’s happening to us in this paradigm,” Ervin said.

Also known as Amazon Eve off screen, the nearly 7-foot-tall transsexual woman was a former paralegal turned wrestler and model and nailed the role originally slated for a man.

While she’s tight lipped about her future on “American Horror Story,” she did tell us that she was offered two auditions for two network television shows. Also, she’s working on a solo show to be accompanied by a book.

“The work is coming my way which is really nice,” she said. “I’m getting noticed all over the world.”

How did you come up with your stage name, Amazon Eve? Amazon Eve was a creation of a kind of contrivance of my first, middle, and last name. Everybody in my little freak show world of tall, strong, powerful women was either Amazon this or goddess that or the Mile High Mistress, Alexis Skye. There’s a lot of name play, Amazon Electra, that kind of stuff.

We run around the world, we wrestle men, we are strong women in the world of freak show genre or sideshow genre. We have our own little niche market. For me, Amazon Eve was just a name that sounded well together. I really started it off as kind of a desperate move because I was not making enough money to make ends meet and it propelled me to where I’m at today and I’m very pleased at the results.

PHOTOS BY JASMIN RODRIGUEZ.

Why did you make the transition from law to entertainment?

I wouldn’t call it a transition -- that was the problem. I couldn’t find work in a law office when I transitioned. I sent out about 1,000 resumes and made phone calls. It was around 2004, 2005, I was still working in some private practice as a consulting paralegal, but it was difficult and I couldn’t get any major firm work and you either starve or you look for work elsewhere.

The original role in “Freak Show” wasn’t Amazon Eve, tell us about that.

I told my manager to think outside the box, that finding roles for me are going to be a little tricky, so you might as well [try different] gender, creature, disability, it doesn't matter, just get me in there to get me to see casting directors. He brought [“Freak Show”] up to my attention. The part was originally written for Johnny Long in the Pants, a very tall man.

So I bound my breasts, slicked back my hair, no makeup, no jewelry, pretty nondescript blue jeans, tennis shoes, walked in there, and nailed it.

I was fully prepared to play this role as a male, but they let me do it as Amazon Eve, which is doubly validating.

What does it mean to you to play the character?

I felt very honored and very validated that I get a chance to work in a profession I’ve always wanted to work in. I thought I would never be able to do this. I somewhat became employed peripherally to the industry -- I worked in entertainment law at one point in my career. It’s interesting what happens when you don’t chase it, when you become authentic and you do your own creative, that it finds you. People who are excluded from life’s benefits don’t have to play by the rules, right? So I might as well think outside the box as per my instruction to my manager. So that’s when I got the part. I’m very pleased at the work I’ve done, I’m very proud of my body of work, and I’m very blessed to be working with some of the most talented people in this business.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

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[ INTERVIEW ]

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 46 American Horror Story has had LGBT themes from the very beginning. What does this say about the show?

They want to represent society, all of society, not just the homogenized pretty people, the carbon copy pretty faces, Manic Pixie Dream Girl. It’s a tough business and let’s just say Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk are different animals, so they get the big golden statue for diversity awareness. This has been a big year for diversity in television.

Did you see “Transparent” win the Golden Globe? I was pleased at that and it’s a really good time for LGBT people, especially transgender people in film and cinema.

I need to qualify that word “transgender.”

I say that because it’s shorthand. I identify as transsexual and really I’m not going to transition anymore, so I’m past that.

I am female, I identify as woman, but for shorthand reasons I use the word transgender. It’s a simple way of just kind of cutting to the chase. I play a cisgender woman, which you see the world didn’t come to an end, nothing fell apart, dogs and cats aren’t living together. Well, they do I guess. I’d like to get a pet soon.

Were you expecting so much love from fans?

I’m getting lots of love from the fans.

I’ve got a chance to come back from Austin signing autographs and nothing but love and acceptance and this is Texas, OK? I got to keep my ego in check. It’s honoring. It feels good to be validated. It’s not like theatre where you get that instant validation. I love to watch the episodes in a crowd because you get the applause if you’re in there and that feels really good.

What can young LGBT people learn from you? What would you say to them?

I’m going to give them the same advice my mother gave to me: you can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t let that world out there say you can’t. Omit the “I can’t” attitude and don’t be a victim. Don’t fall for that trap.

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[PROFILE ]

THE SEDUCTIVE PHOTOGRAPHER

CHRISTOPHER TONY ADAMS

T

he older a man gets, the more he appreciates the attentions of younger men (Eventually, what else is left?) so photographer Christopher Turner, who likes the silver in a man’s hair, is a distracting subject for an interview.

His smile is flirtatious as he studies every aspect of the daddy before him, venerating the visible details that might disclose accomplishment and experience. (Or is that just this old guy’s wishful thinking? He is very handsome.)

Turner, born in Florida and raised in a nomadic family (His father was a defense contractor) graduated high school in New Jersey and college in New York City. His complex relationship with the camera seems to be reaching a fine resolution in his recent work.

In a world drowning in digital imagery, only a few portrait photographers arrest the eye as does Christopher Turner. His lenses seem to stroke their subjects in a soothing way. His celebrity portraits of Olympia Dukakis, Alan Cumming, Russell Tovey

and Armistead Maupin who is his husband of eight years, have rapidly increased demand for his seductive approach to an assignment.

“When I do portrait photography, people tell me I am very good at getting them relaxed and I think it is because of my time as a massage therapist.

Celebrities, especially actors, are so used to being on stage. It’s hard to catch unguarded moments. When I set up for a shoot I often do a few self-pics to test the light,” Turner said. “ I don’t like having the camera pointed at me. I never felt like I was a good model. I forced myself into modeling because I was shy. My comfortable space is behind the camera. I start a session with conversation, trying to get the person to forget the lights and mechanicals. Then, I get very ‘click-happy,’ taking maybe 150 shots in 20 minutes.”

Turner’s disarming technique seems to work. Jon Allen, owner of Island House Key West Gay Hotel & Resort, recently sat for Turner.

“Working with Chris was a great experience.

He’s bright, funny and caring; a real pleasure to be with, which made the whole process of ‘stand right there – turn your head just a little more to the right – hold that pose’ much less stressful than it usually is,” Allen said. “And the results speak for

themselves. I had 137 of my Facebook friends ‘like’ those pictures right away. They called them ‘amazing’ and ‘beautiful’ and said that I am ‘looking good,’ which for an old guy like me is the best compliment of all.”

Forty-three year old Turner may still be described as a promising/fledgling photographer whose best work is yet to come if he doesn’t once again move into some other field of creative expression. He has, after all, had a variety of careers. Photography seems to be a natural step, building on his accomplishments as a student earning a graduate degree in spiritual psychology, as a fashion model living in London, Rome and Milan, and as a certified massage therapist in the Mission District of San Francisco for nine years.

Somehow Turner also had time to start, grow and sell successful ventures including DaddyHunt. com, PantheonMen.com and HotOlderMale. com, all dedicated to his deep admiration for men of a certain age. He met his husband Armistead Maupin via DaddyHunt, and he is proud that the site has delivered much more than hook-ups.

“I always felt that site was my baby. It wasn’t about hustlers looking for sugar daddies. It was a celebration of older gay men,” Turner said.

Olympia Dukakis

Armistead Maupin

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TURNER “All kinds of guys wrote to me about how they met their partners on the site. I built it up to about 200,000 members and sold it in 2009.”

While Turner’s interest in photography went from hobby to business via his porn production company, he quickly grew tired of shooting “product” and focused on artistic work that expressed his desire to show the beauty that is beneath the skin.

“It’s only taken off in the last couple of years. At this point, I don’t have much of a body of work. I’m thinking about doing a series of photos of elder gays that would show their strong leadership,” he said. “Also, I am playing around with a long exposure process. The result is somewhere between motion and still. It’s what the camera can see but we can’t.”

In addition to shooting within the walls of his 10’X35’ studio in a converted San Francisco canning factory, Turner works outdoors, creating dramatic landscapes that show his admiration for the black and white work of Ansel Adams.

“I like doing things that are moody, evocative and sexy.

At this point in my life, I am just going to follow my passion. Maybe there was a little panic and mid-life crisis that made me switch careers, and I have gone through great periods of my life when I feared death, but now, I’m where I should be,” he said. “I practice yoga and I meditate. I think just a little bit about death each day which is something the Dalai Lama recommends - but in a good way. I also work on my photography every day as a training discipline.”

Turner’s portrait subjects are not only older gay men.

He makes gorgeous pictures of women.

“When I practiced massage, my clientele was mostly gay men, but I always found it interesting to work on women,” he said. “I am a total Kinsey 6, so I was fascinated by women’s bodies. I think that shows in my photos of them.”

It would have been ridiculous not to ask Turner about his experience of shooting Russell Tovey, the sexy 33 yearold star of the HBO series “Looking” whose comments about masculinity have been controversial.

“Armistead and I met him at the Castro Street Fair, and ended up having dinner with him,” he said. “He said ‘I’ll sit for you.’ At first, it was a little difficult to get him into a good space. He is so disarmingly sweet and sexy.”

Turner concludes our interview saying with a twinkle in his eye, “I had a therapist once tell me that gay men are often and naturally attracted to their opposite. Younger to older, for instance.”

In a world where older gay men feel increasingly invisible and rudely ushered out of the realms of desirability, Christopher Turner is an oasis.

Check out his work at www.ChristopherTurner.com.

Russell Tovey

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