Agenda 062316 issue 344

June 23, 2016

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June 23, 2016

WeStandWithOrlando www.pridecenterflorida.org June 23, 2016

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[ JUST ADAM

The week reflected back through fabulously funny eyes

WIPED CLEAN TO THE CORE. I bet you’re so used to them at this point in your life, the fact that the cartoon bears talking about swamp ass and dingle berries in the Charmin toilet paper ads don’t even phase you.

TOTALLY WEIRD AND BIZARRE QUESTION? I have to ask if I’m the only one, does anybody else ever get up in the middle the night and have a little snack, and then go back to sleep have the most horrible dreams?

GOLDEN GIRLS THEMED CAFÉ OPENING IN NYC. Attention gays in the tri-state area. Read this!!! Go there in mass crowds, make this business work. Do it for Blanche Devereaux goddamnit!!!

F*CK WATERBOARDING. If you want to torture a prisoner of war, just make them put on a freaking suit in June and have them walk around one of Florida’s lovely corporate office parks, they’ll give up any info you’re looking for!

WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN. Hitting new heights of homosexuality as I fly south on the Florida Turnpike, shrieking along with The Carpenters.

WITTY RANTS OF A TECHIE. P.S. With all these terrific posts, I think I broke the Internet or my computer, unlike Kim Kardashian, I didn’t have to rub my fat ass with baby lotion for attention!

AN ABSOLUTELY FABALOUS TIME. Yaaaaas... I’m not sure where it will be playing yet and I’m not great at organizing things, but I think it would be a terrific event if we were somehow able to rent out a theater in Fort Lauderdale or Miami. I could think of nothing more awesome than sitting amongst my friends that get this type of humor and have me a couple of amazing belly laughs.

BIRTHDAY HIGHLIGHTS. Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! Seeing all the wonderful posts really brightened my day! Now excuse me, I’m off to reserve my room at Shady Pines!

BACK TO REALITY. Jesus Christ! It just hit me that I’m older and gayer than a Judy Garland yeast infection!

Adam Cohen is South Florida’s favorite and most fabulous social commentator. He’s also single. Find him on Facbook to keep up with his hilarious take on the week’s headlines.

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...

Random thoughts from social media and beyond this week U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, “She was providing $1 million in assistance to first responders as well as federal emergency funds to cover family travel expenses, medical and mental health expenses and other costs related to the tragedy.”

Prince William appears in Attitude’s July issue, in a statement he said, “No one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason, and no one should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured in their lives. The young gay, lesbian and transgender individuals I met through Attitude are truly brave to speak out and to give hope to people who are going through terrible bullying right now. Their sense of strength and optimism should give us all encouragement to stand up to bullying wherever we see it.”

Tom Hiddleston strips down to his undies: “I’m here to tell you that my butt is not dangerous. And there are many, many more dangerous things that people are happy to broadcast.

I don’t know what that says about the world we line in, but it probably says something.”

Rupert Everett warns parents against making rash decisions about their child’s trans status: “I really wanted to be a girl. Thank God the world of now wasn’t then, because I’d be on hormones and I’d be a woman.

After I was 15 I never wanted to be a woman again.”

GAMES OF THRONES, fans are hopeful that a big romance could be on the cards for Greyjoy, after the character’s sizzling introduction to Mother of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

In the scene, the two prospective Queens flirt as they form an alliance, while discussing a rather vulgar marriage proposal from Greyjoy’s uncle.

a A Republican candidate for Congress in Florida has launched a contest on his Facebook campaign page to give away a semi-automatic rifle on Independence Day. Greg Evers announced, “A custom-built AR-15 rifle, “Homeland Defender” collector’s edition, will be given away to one randomly chosen person who has liked and shared my Facebook page or signed up on my campaign website. It is open only to adults in the district. The winner will be selected on July 4 and must pass all required background and security checks.”

June 23, 2016

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News Briefs Go to floridaagenda.com for other exclusive stories.

ORLANDO

Full Transcript of Killer’s 911 Call Released

ORLANDO—The full transcript of the Pulse Nightclub killer’s first 911 call to police has been officially released, including previously redacted statements pledging this allegiance to “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him on behalf of the Islamic State.”

Earlier in the day, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had released a version of the transcript that omitted the pledge of allegiance to ISIS. According to Attorney General Loretta Lynch that decision was made to remain “sensitive to the interests of the surviving victims, their families and the integrity of the ongoing investigation.”

The full transcript of the 911 call is below: (OD) Orlando Police Dispatcher (OM) Omar Mateen OD: Emergency 911, this is being recorded.

OM: In the name of God the Merciful, the beneficent [Arabic] OD: What?

OM: Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God [Arabic]. I wanna let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings.

OD: What’s your name?

OM: My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.

OD: Ok, What’s your name?

OM: I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.

OD: Alright, where are you at?

OM: In Orlando.

OD: Where in Orlando?

[End of call.] nn

After “Shattering Attack,” Justice Dept. Awards $1 Mil in Emergency Funds for Orlando

ORLANDO—No sooner did Florida impotent Republican governor send out a mass email complaining that the Federal government had denied the state’s request for emergency funding, than U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch exited a meeting with investigators with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and announced that the Department of Justice was awarding $1 million in emergency funding to assist Florida in covering the overtime for local and state responders.

“There is no doubt that this was a shattering attack – on our nation, on our people and on our most fundamental ideals,” she said. “But the message of Orlando, that I have seen today, and that the American people have seen in the wake of this horrific assault, is a message of determination to remove hatred and intolerance from our midst, to live our lives freely and without fear, and to stay true to the principles of liberty, justice and equality that define America at our best.” nn 6

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From Key West to Pensacola, Florida’s LGBT attitudes differ TALLAHASSEE-- (AP) - Florida’s Key West is one of the most gay-friendly places in the country. The Florida Panhandle--many locals call it the Redneck Riviera--is a different story.

The massacre of 49 people in a gay nightclub happened between these extremes, forcing many Floridians to reconsider their assumptions about the state’s evolving culture.

Key West has a gay police chief, a lesbian county mayor and was the nation’s first city to elect an openly gay mayor. It attracts 450,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender tourists a year. Bumper stickers reading “One Human Family” appear on all city vehicles, including police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.

“It’s a safe place; they know that they are free from judgment, free from hassle, free from physical violence,” said Guy Ross, who heads LGBT sales at the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. “We do not tolerate gay bashing down here. It just doesn’t happen.”

Drive 780 miles north and west to the gleaming, white-sand beaches of the Panhandle, and you’ll find “family friendly” towns that aren’t known for welcoming gays. After gay marriage became legal in Florida in 2014, the Santa Rosa County clerk stopped performing any wedding ceremonies - gay or straight - to avoid marrying same-sex couples. In Pensacola, a small LBGT community center called Equality House closed for lack of funds after less than three years.

The attack in central Florida on June 12--Latin Night at the Pulse Club in Orlando-has drawn an outpouring of solidarity, but also fear, particularly among people who saw the tourist mecca as a refuge from hatred. The shooting also created awkward moments for some of Florida’s Republican and conservative Christian leaders, who tried to show compassion even as they defended positions gays and lesbians find hurtful.

“There are two Floridas,” and between them there’s a “patchwork,” said Nadine Smith, CEO of the gay and transgender rights group Equality Florida.

Only 56 percent of the people in the nation’s third-most populous state live in communities that have enacted non-discrimination protections. The state provides “no protections whatsoever,” she said. Year after year, Florida’s Republican-led Legislature

has rejected legislation prohibiting discrimination for reasons of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“When I drive from where I live in the Tampa Bay area to my hometown in the Panhandle, I have to weave my way through places that have full protections for me and my family and places where they’re absolutely indifferent to the discrimination my community faces,” Smith said.

Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi came to Orlando and was put on the spot by CNN’s Anderson Cooper after she vowed to prosecute anyone who attacks the LGBT community. Cooper asked her to respond to the many gays and lesbians who call her a hypocrite because she spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars trying to uphold the state’s gay marriage ban.

In her defense, Bondi said she had an obligation to represent the will of the voters, and added that her own views are reflected by a photo of clasped, rainbow-colored hands that she posted--after the shooting--on her personal Facebook page.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who campaigned against adoptions by gays and lesbians in 2010, didn’t respond directly when asked if the attack made him rethink this position. Scott instead spoke of the need for love, even with “the gays.”

“These are individuals. Let’s love every one of them,” he said.

Down in Key West, Ross dismissed the governor’s statements as “crocodile tears.”

“Scott has no credibility in the LGBT community,” he said. The Florida Family Policy Council, which has campaigned against gay rights, issued a statement asking for prayers for the victim’s families after the attack. That didn’t mean much for Smith.

“It’s hard to accept them praying for us in tragedy when they prey on us when it comes to equality,” she said. “It is very clear who needs protecting in Florida.”

And just because they’re praying, it doesn’t mean their positions on opposing LGBT rights will change. They won’t, said the council’s president, John Stemberger.

Stemberger said it’s “shameless” for the LGBT community to use the attack to “try to leverage a political agenda,” and he doesn’t think changing Florida’s laws would have helped anyway. “It wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. Pulse would still have happened,” he said. nn

Anti-LGBT discrimination bill advances in PA Senate

New York

HARRISBURG, PA (AP) - Legislation to prohibit discrimination in employment and housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity is over a first hurdle in the Pennsylvania Senate. The Urban Affairs and Housing Committee vote Wednesday marks the farthest such anti-discrimination legislation has come in the chamber. It passed, 7-4, after proponents defeated an effort to add specific exemptions for religious organizations, 6-5. nn

Broadway for Orlando Raises Funds to Help Tragedy Victims

NEW YORK--SiriusXM Radio host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley, organized the Broadway community in the self-styled Broadway for Orlando to raise funds for the families of the victims of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy through “The Broadway community was so terribly shaken and devastated by the horrific tragedy in Orlando. Everyone wanted to do something as quickly as possible that would truly make a difference,” Rudetsky told People magazine. “On Monday, my husband James woke me up at 7:30 a.m. and suggested we rally our friends and colleagues to do a ‘We Are the World’-type recording and raise money for the victims and their families.

Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick, Michael Cerveris, Gloria Estefan, Sutton Foster, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Megan Hilty, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Jane Krakowski, Nathan Lane, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others, got together and recorded a cover of Burt Bacharach’s 1965 song “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the song, available for download at $1.99 on BroadwayRecords.com, will go to benefit the LGBT Center of Central Florida.

Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida to Host Mano a Mano

Justice Department: Nevada discriminates against HIV inmates

FORT LAUDERDALE--Mano a Mano, the fivemember openly gay vocal group from Cuba, will be hosted by the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida in a joint concert at 8 p.m., Saturday, July 23, in Fort Lauderdale’s Sunshine Cathedral. The classically trained Mano a Mano made history when it joined an ensemble from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington during the group’s visit to Cuba in 2015, representing the island country’s LGBT community. Tickets for Fraternidad!

A Concert of Music and Multicultural Harmony are available online at gmcsf.org, with prices ranging from $25 to $45. nn

RENO, NV (AP) - Nevada’s prisons are discriminating against inmates with HIV under illegal segregation policies that deny them access to work programs where other prisoners earn credits to reduce the length of their sentences, the U.S. Justice Department has concluded. Justice Department lawyers warned Nevada’s attorney general this week they may sue the state under the Disabilities Act if it doesn’t change the policies based largely on unfounded fears about the transmission of HIV. nn

Kentucky clerk Davis back in court

Alabama justice denies telling judges to block gay marriages

FRANKFORT, KY (AP) - A Kentucky clerk who spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to dismiss her appeals of a judge’s ruling because of a new state law that will take effect next month. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalized gay marriage last year. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A federal judge ordered her to issue the licenses, but she refused and went to jail. Davis appealed the decision, and a federal appeals court had scheduled arguments in the case next month. nn

Rebellious Democrats disrupt House: “No bill, no break”

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rebellious Democrats disrupted the House’s legislative work on Wednesday, staging a sit-in on the House floor and refusing to leave until they secured a vote on gun control measures. Exasperated Republicans were forced to recess while cutting off cameras that showed the protest. Nearly 100 Democrats led by Georgia Rep. John Lewis demanded a vote on measures to expand background checks and block gun purchases by some suspected terrorists.

“No bill, no break,” shouted Democrats, who demanded that Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., keep the House in session through its planned weeklong recess next week to debate and vote on gun legislation. Democrats accused Republicans of political cowardice by failing to schedule a vote. nn

MONTGOMERY, AL (AP) - Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is asking a state judicial panel to dismiss ethics charges against him, saying he never told probate judges to refuse marriage licenses to gay couples. Moore on Tuesday filed his response to accusations that he violated judicial ethics with a 2016 administrative order, six months after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage. His lawyers wrote that the order only noted correctly that a state court injunction to refuse same-sex marriage licenses had not been lifted. nn

Mueller becomes North Carolina GOP communications director

RALEIGH, NC (AP) - A spokeswoman for a socially conservative group that supports North Carolina’s new law limiting anti-discrimination regulations for LGBT people has become communications director for the state Republican Party. The party announced the hiring of Kami Mueller this week. She had been working for the North Carolina Values Coalition, which strongly backs House Bill 2. nn nnAssembled through Associated Press June 23, 2016

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COVER STORY

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THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

BY RICHARD HACK

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FRIENDLY FIRE QUESTIONED AS CAUSE OF SOME PULSE NIGHTCLUB DEATHS Orlando police and SWAT team are now in the cross-hairs of the FBI who is investigating the trajectory of the gunfire that killed 49 victims at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Evidence response technicians have remained at Pulse for days since the shoot to intricately map the crime scene and try to determine precisely how the bullets moved as they analyze the trajectory of the gunfire.

After US Attorney General Loretta Lynch attended meetings with Federal investigators, she announced that, “We don’t know right now the trajectory of all the bullets … and how all of the victims died,” she said. “We haven’t finished that assessment.”

SHOOTER AT CLUB EARLIER IN EVENING

APPLICATION TO CARRY A WEAPON FORGED

At the same meeting, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings revealed news that the shooter, Omar Mateen, had actually been at the club earlier in the evening only to return later to begin this massacre of the mostly Latino crowd. Demings was unable to say that he did not know details, such as when Mateen departed or when he returned.

In other shocking revelations, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said it had begun an internal investigation into irregularities in Omaar Mateen’s application to receive a license to carry a firearm as a security guard.

It is now alleged that G4S, the world’s largest security company, submitted a signed and notor-

ized form in 2007 claiming that Mateen has passed a psychological evaluation that found him to be “mentally and emotionally stable.”

The problem is that the psychologist listed on the form, Dr. Carol Nudelman, never interviewed Mateen. In fact, Dr. Nudelman had moved her entire practice out of Florida by September 6, 2007, the date that Mateen supposedly passed the test.

G4S says that it was a “clerical error” and the Mateen was supposedly tested on that date but by an unknown psychologist.

The company said Mateen passed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality InventoryII, a standard psychological test administered to prospective law enforcement officers.

On June 13, the Monday after the massacre, the Florida agency chief, Adam Putnam, held a news conference in Tallahassee, during which he informed reporters that Mateen had passed every legally required background check, including a psychological evaluation. The form was signed by a company manager, directly under the disclosure “This document is executed under oath. Falsification or misrepresentation subjects the person completing the document to criminal prosecution under section 837.06, Florida statutes.”

The form submitted by G4S allowed Mateen to obtain a temporary Class G license, one that is required for security guards to carry firearms. Mateen went on a shooting rampage June 12 at the gay nightclub Pulse, killing 49 people and wounding 53.

No one claims the license played any role in helping him commit the murders. Mateen obtained the weapons a few days before the massacres, buying them from a St. Lucie County gun shop, as could anyone with a clean criminal record.

Mateen came to G4S a few months after being dismissed

from the training program of the Florida Department of Corrections. His discharge came after he mentioned to a classmate that he might bring a gun to school. The classmate reported the remark on April 23, 2007, just aweek after the massacre at Virginia Tech, where a student shot 32 people to death and wounded 17.

WIFE MISSING Mateen’s 30-year-old wife, Noor Salman, has been allowed to flee the state; possibly the country. The subject of an on-going Grand Jury investigation concerning her involvement with the mass killer, Salman was recently added to Mateen’s life-insurance policy and given access to his bank accounts, CNN reported on Friday, citing unidentified lawenforcement sources.

Salman had been living with Mateen’s father, Seddique. On Wednesday, June 22, 2016, he told reporters outside of his Fort Pierce, Florida, that she was no longer there.

Public records list her most recent address — presumably where she lived with Mateen after they married in 2013 — as a 15-minute drive from his father’s home in Fort Pierce.

Under intense questioning, Seddique said that he would not reveal her whereabouts. nn

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SPECIAL FEATURE

#ORLANDOSTRONG

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Although the gofundme account is still growing daily, the 600 plus comments on the account are heartfelt. Here are just a few relecting how the tragedy has affected not only the Orlando victims but the world at large.

Letti Amador I am a victim of this horrific tragedy; thank god I was discharged with minor injuries.

Physically I’m ok but mentally and emotionally I’m a wreck.

Please pray for my friends.

Karen Pearsall Orange I’m donating because there are probably kids killed or hurt in this shooting who have no health insurance or have no family supporting them. My donation is given for my two gay sons who are lucky enough to have insurance, great jobs and supportive families.

Dan Atlas I am a survivor; I would like to thank everyone for all contributions. Such a sad day, as a survivor I will do everything and anything to help anyone involved. What happened in there is extremely hard to explain, the magnitude of loss in a horrid scene. Thank you and God bless.

Lakitra Justice My brother was one of the victims that lost his life in this horrific tragedy. He didn’t have life insurance and we are trying to find a way to pay for his funeral service. Please if any one will help my family out in any 10

June 23, 2016

GoFundMe account for Orlando massacre tops $5.9 million --a record

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It has been just over ten days since the massacre at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando left 49 dead, and 53 wounded. A GoFundMe account was set up by Equality Florida’s Ida Vishkaee Eskamani, Development Officer with the LGBT Advocacy group.

The fund has raised a record $5,900,000, and continues to grow helping to defray the funeral expenses of the victims and the medical expenses of the wounded. Please join the Florida Agenda’s writers, artists, photographers and sales force by adding your own donation to this sad but necessary campaign. To contribute, go to http://www. gofundme.com/PulseVictimsFund. nn

way with information or whatever they can donate. His name was Eddie Justice. Thank you!

Alan Consonne From France - We are standing with you Orlando! We are shocked and we are sharing your pain. Our thoughts to the victim’s family! No words can describe how painful this must be: we all are mourning with you! We are sending you all the strength we can from Europe.

With love love love, A French citizen.

Debbie Kuwanyauma Sanguedolce I can say with 1000% certainty, every single penny of the money donated here WILL go exactly where Equality Florida says it will!!! I live in Orlando, my 25-yr-old is in that downtown area of Orlando frequently {Thank God he is safe}. I also

know the cost of even a simple funeral. It’s not cheap. Medical bills for those without insurance, add up. Give, whatever you can, every little bit helps.

Make a difference today. My family mourns with the families of those whose lives were lost and pray for the wounded, all Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire Dept., the amazing people in the club who helped save lives, the doctors, nurses, all of the hospital employees working over 18 hours to save lives, we pray for each & every one of you. ALL LIVES MATTER! Angelica Caurapan Montero Probably no one will read his comment, I’m from Chile and I’m sending all my love and blessings to everyone who is affected in anyway from this.

All the support to the family, it’s extremely hard lost someone you love and now the only thing

#WEREMEMBER

than we can do for the people who died is fight for make a better world and create more conscience.

Toni Cooper 50 people have lost their lives. The average funeral cost is 7,000 to 10,000 dollars. This money will allow the families to put their loved ones to rest.

Thank you for starting this gofundme account.

Alexander Castro My cousin was a victim of this horrible situation and lost his life! I’m not popular and don’t have thousands of friends to share my story with but if anyone could make a donation or just share my link it would really mean a lot, thanks.

Randi Henderson All my love and support from Pensacola! Just sent a bag of O+ your way this morning and I’m recruiting as many people as I can to donate more blood. We are all Orlando right now. Gay, straight, whatever, we are all humans, and we are all family, period. We stand together.

Rick Styczynski Our $575 donation is from all our friends from Sharky’s Sports Bar in Kissimmee. We are Pulse. #OrlandoStrong Vanessa Gil It is a beautiful thing to see everyone from all over the world come together and donate on behalf of this tragedy, there is more good than there is Evil!!! This here is proof! nn

CELEBRATING IN COLOR

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2000 Oakland Park Blvd. Suite 106 | Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 Phone: 954-380-8563 | www.floridaagenda.com

Publisher: Maura Mumball Lane Editor-In-Chief: Richard Hack - richardhack@wirld.com Art Director: Kevin Broady

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AS I SEE IT

UNITED IN PRIDE AND TRAGEDY n Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride went off without a hitch last Saturday—or at least so it seemed to the 40,000 who poured onto Wilton Drive as if to prove they were standing tall and proud in the face of the Orlando massacre that was still fresh in the minds of all who attended.

“I admit I’m nervous,” said Victoria Blum, who had traveled from Chicago to be part of the experiBY ence. “I RICHARD see all these police, and HACK wonder if they know something we don’t. Like a threat, or an arrest. But it’s important for us to be seen, especially now.”

The parade began with 49 marchers, each holding individual signs with a name of a victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. As if in defiance, the solemn moment of silence was broken by applause as attendees cheered in victory as the marchers passed by.

As these things go, Wilton Manors, Florida, is still a small town, with a small town parade, and a small town community that joins together in times of strife.

It was what Victoria Blum needed. She had, after all, left 12

June 23, 2016

her hometown which was celebrating its own Pride the same weekend. The difference is that Chicago is a major city, with a major police presence that had been substantially beefed up for the occasion.

Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson made public his plans last week for more uniformed cops, plainclothes officers, a bike patrol and additional K-9 units that were placed stratigically throughout the two-day Pride Fest celebration in Boystown.

With memorial shrines on the street, the event was a wellorchestrated testament to the strength of the LGBT community who patiently waited at security checkpoints as security staff meticulously checked backpacks, one pocket at a time.

While hundreds of thousands participated in the street festival, there was only a single glaring note of violence: a transgender woman was stabbed near the parking lot of a 7-Eleven at the corner of Halsted and Belmont Streets, and was later taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center where she was reported in stable condition.

DJ Tek posted on Twitter: “It’s a zoo up here” he wrote.

“These gay kids are crazy. Pulling out knives…It’s 3:45 and this is happening now. I gotta go. People trying to jump on my bike. Trying to avoid the New York from coming out.”

In Denver, where 300,000 revelers flocked onto the street, the police presence was dwarfed

by private security. “We’re making security a top priority,” said organizer Debra Pollock, chief executive officer of the GLBT Community Center of Colorado, which is holding that city’s event.

Likewise in San Francisco, where over a million attended it annual Pride celebration.

The San Francisco police and the FBI met individually with bar owners and organizers to choreograph the security at the event.

George Ridgely, executive director of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee, said that his group entered the festival with a “heavy heart.”

“It is important that we all recognize not only of what we have achieved but also of what we have yet to accomplish,” Ridgely said.

The annual pride festival in New Orleans, which took place

last Saturday as well, opened with a prayer that plead for safety and peace, and a reading of the names of the 49 victims of the Pulse Nightclub massacre.

Yet not even the largest mass shooting in recent US history could quell the celebration as local DJs turned up the sound to get the party started. There were those in attendance that were old enough to remember the 1972 arson in the French Quarter that destroyed the Up Stairs lounge and killed 32 people, trapped by the flames and bars over the windows.

“We triumphed then and we’ll triumph now,” lamented Lamont Evan from Baton Rouge, one of the survivors of the blaze.

“It’s what we do; how we are.”

United in Pride and tragedy.

Richard Hack is the awardwinning author of 26 books, and the Vice President of Content for Multimedia Platforms’ publications.

“

It is important that we all recognize not only of what we have achieved but also of what we have yet to accomplish.”

OPINION DR. DURRELL’S SPIRITUAL PRESCRIPTIONS

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WE MUST STOP USING RELIGION TO JUSTIFY BIGOTRY

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Forty-nine innocent people were shot to death in a gay bar in Orlando recently. Fiftythree others were wounded. The LBGT community all over the world, and their friends, families, and allies were emotionally scarred.

Most people responded with horror, outrage, and compassion; but

By Rev. a few responded with Durrell hatred and almost satisfaction that same-gender Watkins loving people had been killed. They quoted bible verses to justify their hatred. That is a terrible misuse of the bible, and a terrible betrayal of human decency.

Even those of us who love sacred texts can

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ROBERT S. WEISS CEO

(and ought to) think critically about them rather than use them as an excuse to promote hatred and bigotry. For example, I am reminded of a story from the Christian scriptures (Book of Philemon): In the mid-first century of the Common Era there was a man named Onesimus. Onesimus lived in the Roman Empire which embraced the evil system of holding slaves. People could sell themselves (or their children) into slavery to pay debts. People conquered in battle could be enslaved. One could be born into slavery. In some cases, a slave could purchase freedom, but the institution of slavery was a fact of life in ancient Rome.

Onesimus was an escaped slave. He befriended the Apostle Paul, but Paul sent him back to his former captor, Philemon. Paul writes a letter to Philemon saying, “Welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me.”

He asks Philemon to receive Onesimus “as a brother” and to treat him well. He never condemns the institution of slavery, nor does he specifically ask Philemon to grant Onesimus legal freedom.

The letter shows Paul trying to advocate for Onesimus, but not doing quite enough. Paul tries to intervene on Onesimus’ behalf, but sends him back to someone who could ignore Paul’s pleas.

Paul doesn’t challenge the unjust system, nor does he help Onesimus escape the system. Disturbing.

We may never know why Paul made his decision to send Onesimus back.

Maybe he thought he was saving the runaway slave’s life by trying to remove the possibility of Onesimus being

Peter C. Frank Chief Financial Officer

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prosecuted for escaping. Maybe Paul didn’t question slavery (as it was ubiquitous in his world) and thought the best he could do was make things a bit easier for one enslaved person (if indeed Philemon honored Paul’s request to not punish Onesimus). It’s a hard passage for our 21st century minds which know without question that slavery is evil.

Oppression simply cannot be justified.

What this difficult and disturbing story shows us, however, is that something being enshrined in scripture doesn’t settle a matter.

By pretending that a phrase or story being in scripture makes it beyond question or analysis, people have used such passages to justify unspeakable acts of human cruelty in our history. The bible has been used to subjugate women, to marginalize same-gender loving people, to abuse children, to justify xenophobia, and yes, to enslave people. That can’t be a proper use of sacred texts.

Shame on anyone who responded to the human tragedy in Orlando by quoting ancient texts to suggest the slain were anything other than persons of sacred value!

Let us not be afraid to bring our own reasoning, our own questions, our own lived experience, our own humanness to the reading of scripture. A thing is not settled, simply because it is recorded in an ancient text. Some of us truly love scripture, but let us never use it as a weapon of oppression nor as an excuse to worship our own prejudices. nn Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins is the Senior Minister of the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.

What’s your opinion?

The Florida Agenda welcomes signed Letters to the Editor, up to 400 words in length, on topics of general interest to our readers. You may email submissions to Editor@mmplgbt.com. We welcome comments on our Facebook page also.

June 23, 2016

13

CAPITOL BEAT

For Trump’s Excesses, the GOP Can Blame the Media and Itself

n

So Donald Trump finally went too far. Again.

Shocking. As Sir John Gielgud said with perfectly acidic sarcasm in Arthur, “I’ll alert the media.”

Oh wait, it’s the media that has lapped up Trump’s every vituperative syllable for months, treating him as if he was either (a) a preposterous sideshow that they couldn’t resist covering ad nauseam or (b) a serious candidate who they couldn’t resist covering ad nauseam.

Now that Trump is the presumptive heir to the presidential throne (he is no republican with a small “r”), they are waking up to the fact that someone upon whom they have lavished saturated attention is a dangerously deranged egomaniac.

BY I’m only LINDA half joking PENTZ when I say thank goodness Trump is stripping major media outlets of access passes.

They have given him altogether too much attention already. (Yes, obviously it’s an ominous sign of disregard for the first amendment and the fourth estate.)

Meanwhile, the GOP continues to dance ever more frenzied versions of the masochism tango.

Almost moments after House Speaker, Paul Ryan — the one who did not want to be House Speaker — metamorphosed from the one who couldn’t endorse Trump to the one who did, he 14

June 23, 2016

and other Republicans were squirming in surprise and regret at Trump’s racist dissing of U.S. District Judge, Gonzalo Curiel.

The brouhaha over Curiel is telling because the case over which the judge will preside in November has Nothing To Do With The Election! It is a fraud case relating to Trump University. It is about Trump the businessman. Which is what his candidacy is also all about. It’s a giant branding exercise. How did the Republicans miss this memo?

The slurs against Curiel, like all Trump’s other racist, xenophobic and misogynist utterings, were just the warm-up act.

Things got orders of magnitude worse after the Orlando Pulse tragedy. Predictably worse, which makes it hard to know what is more abhorrent: Trump’s self-aggrandizing reaction or the fact that no matter how fascistic he gets, Republicans continue to shrug, open wide the gate and let him in.

It almost warms my heart to see the despicable Sen. Mitch McConnell wring his hands over the latest Trump excesses. Having thrown his support behind Trump, he is stunned to discover he is in league with Voldemort.

And so the panic is on. While some Republicans scramble to unendorse Trump, or huddle in one of Mitt Romney’s mansions to ponder their future, others plot to liberate delegates and anoint a new Messiah. A few, like Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, cling to delusional optimism. Corker speculated that Trump might still “pivot,” which he is about as

likely to do as pirouette.

Seriously, did the GOP honestly think that any of the sub-par candidates they threw out there to challenge Trump were likely to appeal to the conservative American voters whose agenda they had allowed the Tea Party to hijack and redefine unfettered?

The GOP faithful should have realized months ago that the vapid Marco Rubio, vacant Ben Carson and Dracula’s nephew, aka Ted Cruz, were never going to cut it. After Carly Fiorina sang that running-mate bus song, even Cruz ran for the exits.

As for Jeb! and John Kasich, most people would be hardpressed to come up with anything remarkable about either one. Even writing this, nothing springs to mind. There were some other candidates in there at some point too. Who were they again?

These non-entities were the inevitable spawn of an obstructionist and do-nothing Republican party, led by people like McConnell, that has log-jammed Congress for close to eight years.

There will be more excesses from Trump, just as surely, tragically, as there will be more mass shootings. Republicans are finally trying to do their own pivoting, away from Trump. But it’s probably far too late.nn

Linda Pentz is the Washington correspondent of the Florida Agenda.

She can be contacted at lindapentz@mmplgbt.com. Follow her on Twitter @CapitolAgenda

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FYI

I’M JUST SAYIN’ A Media Whore At Work Trump didn’t just spring from nowhere onto the media bandwagon.

He and his hair didn’t just become a viral Internet sensation. From the time 35 years ago when he made his debut in the New York tabloids, bragging about his real estate conquests, Trump has worked it.

And by “it,” I mean the media. He made himself available to almost any reporter who called, accepting almost any TV booking, happily posing in staged photographs, filing attention-getting lawsuits, performing cameo turns in movies and on sitcoms, turning the media into his own magic mirror. He then sealed his place in the television pantheon with 14 seasons of The Apprentice, his reality show, the boardroom god who tested people and fired the ones who made him angry.

Trump has also played himself in the movies and on TV and was a frequent guest on late-night shows, wrestling shows, beauty pageants, which he owned, award shows, celebrity roasts, including himself, game shows and competing reality TV shows If this makes the media complicit in Trump’s rise, so be it. But the media didn’t create the Trump political phenomenon. The real origin is that Trump artfully created the media that in turn created Trump the presidential candidate.

There’s something truly original in all of this. Trump may yet turn out to be a fairly conventional American politician when it comes to his policy views, but he’s already proved revolutionary in his ability to create—and then manipulate—the media platforms.

His breakthrough idea was to cash in on his four decades of media exposure with a political message that uniquely combined victimhood, bragging and patriotic grand standing. When it comes to politics, it’s the message—not the medium—that matters most in pushing a candidate to the top. But you can’t deliver the message unless you have the media at your disposal, which he does. nn --Kevin Broady

June 23, 2016

15

CREEP OF THE WEEK

Tim Wildmon

BY D’ANNE WITOWSKI

n

Happy Pride Month, everybody! Or as rightwingers like to call it, End Times.

As you may know, President Obama has once again issued an official proclamation that June is Pride Month and that for 30 glorious days all flags shall be rainbow, all marriages shall be gay, and only transgender people will be allowed to use public restrooms.

Alas, not everybody’s happy about that. Take American Family Association President Tim Wildmon, for example.

He’s, like, totally grossed out by Obama’s support for LGBT people. So grossed out, in fact, that he and a couple of his buddies, AFA Public Policy Analyst Abe Hamilton III and AFA Executive Vice-President Ed Vitagliano, filmed a little gripe fest video.

The video’s shot in what appears to be the AFA break room. It’s especially cute that the video identifies the subjects as Abe, Tim and Ed, as if they’re just three regular Joes shooting the sh*t in their polo shirts and Dockers next to an enormous coffee grinder that looks like it was stolen from a Trader Joe’s.

“Well, it’s June. So it’s LGBT Pride Month all over America, maybe all over the world, I’m not sure,” Wildmon begins the conversation.

Hamilton, standing to the left and holding a copy

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of what is presumed to be Obama’s Proclamation declaring June LGBT Pride Month, points out that Obama has been throwing June LGBT wolves ever since 2009.

Vitagliano then chimes in that this whole thing is “pure politics.”

“In this proclamation the president states ... that you should not be fired for who you are or who you love,” Vitagliano says. “I would like to see the president also add, ‘You also should not be fired for what you believe.’ Because the only ones I know that are getting fired in this country in 2016 are Christians because they oppose that proclamation and the ideas behind it.”

Exactly. Christians can hardly hold a job at all in America.

It’s an epidemic. Why can’t we return to the kinder, gentler days when people could tell gays to go straight to Hell out of sincerely held religious beliefs? North Carolina knows what I’m talkin’ about.

“You know one of the real ironies of this proclamation is the president here cites the need for more funding for HIV/AIDS,” Wildmon says.

“But, unlike Michelle Obama, who advocates that children stay off the sodas, he doesn’t advocate behavior change.

When it comes to homosexual behavior effecting your health, why doesn’t he say, ‘Stop doing what you’re doing and you won’t get AIDS?’”

I think we all know that “doing what you’re doing” means anal sex, which Wildmon, who apparently didn’t get the memo that HIV/AIDS isn’t something only homos get, and his friends are obsessed with talking about.

Also, I must’ve missed the part of the proclamation that says, “Everybody bear back without condoms, woo hoo!”

Last time I checked, the president appointed the head of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Tom Frieden, in 2009. The CDC website has a very comprehensive section about HIV/AIDS including a Risk Reduction Tool that allows users to investigate the risks of various sex acts whether their partner is HIV+ or HIV- and whether a condom is being used.

The site minces no words in a section for men who have sex with men: “Anal sex is the riskiest type of sex for getting or transmitting HIV.” The CDC is hardly advocating unsafe sex.

That said, I have a feeling that Wildmon and his pals are not aware of the CDC site. If they were they’d be complaining that Obama’s promoting sexual debauchery simply by acknowledging that there exist men who have sex with men.

No doubt any tax payer money being spent on keeping homos from dying goes against their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” nn

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[

OPINION

WHO IS?

Tim Wildmon Tim Wildmon is the son of former Methodist minister Donald Wildmon, who left the ministry to form the National Federation for Decency in 1977. In 1988, after changing his group’s name to the American Family Association, Donald Wildmon expanded its scope far beyond its original focus on fighting pornography and profanity in television and movies. AFA was rebranded as a group that aimed to promote “traditional moral values” with a major focus on fighting what it calls “the homosexual agenda.”

Tim Wildmon graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in journalism, wrote two humor books, served on the Lee County, Miss., Republican executive committee, and dabbled in local political campaigns. Today, Wildmon writes a bi-weekly column from his religious-right perspective, but he has devoted most of his professional life to building AFA, making it one of the most powerful religious-right groups in the U.S. Before becoming president, he ran the “news” division of AFA, formerly called AgapePress, which merged with American Family Radio News to create OneNewsNow.com in 2007. The site is a flagrant propaganda outlet that depicts reality through the prism of bias and conspiracy-mongering. Some exemplary headlines: “Illegal alien children to spread infectious diseases,” “Global warming hoax,” “Homosexual rights trump foreign policy in Obama White House.” nn --- Kevin Broady

June 23, 2016

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June 23, 2016

Fort Lauderdale Front Runners

BY MAURA MUMBALL LANE

T

he Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade was two hours long. Who knew we had a marching band and who knew we had a running team? Proudly sporting their new bright yellow team sponsored t-shirts, the Fort Lauderdale Front Runners encouraged everyone to join this healthy LGBT social group.

The Fort Lauderdale Front Runners have been around since 1989.

Now they are regrouping and ready to build up membership and activities for the 2016/2017 running season. Running season in South Florida is year round.

The town of Weston has an annual 4th of July run and there is a King of the Hill in Davie early September. Options in the summer are slim due to the heat.

The real season kicks off in early September and runs to Memorial Day. The Fort Lauderdale Front Runners have a goal of adding runners (men and women) and

BY JESSE DURKO

newbie runners to the team so that when season starts the group is full, has mentors and coaches and a strong and involved membership.

Belonging to a running club is easy. Equipment is just a pair of running shoes, shorts and a shirt.

What you need is open mind to try something new!

The Front Runners weekly event is on Wednesday nights in Holiday Park, 1200 G Martin Harold Drive (Near the Gymnasium) They start at 7 pm.

You have the option of a 3 mile walk, a 4 mile run or a 6 mile run. The team also meets Sunday at 6 pm in the same location and heads out to dinner after the run. If you like an early run join the team on the second and fourth Saturdays in front of Alibi on Wilton Drive at 7:30 am. If you join now, you’ll be ready for the Fort Lauderdale A-1-A Half marathon February 17, 2017. For more information, go to www. frontrunnersfortlauderdale.org or call 954-247-8642. nn June 23, 2016

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June 23, 2016

Crimestoppers

REWARD $3,000 HIT AND RUN That occured between June 9 and June 10 in the 2700 block of NE 6 Ave, Wilton Manors, Florida. The victim was run over and killed by an unidentified vehicle traveling northbound on NE 6 Ave. The victim was last seen in the Wilton Manors area on the evening of June 9.

RAYMOND KING PHOTO OF THE VICTIM

ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE IDENITY OR LOCATION OF THE SUSPECT(S) IS ASKED TO CALL CRIME STOPPERS. IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ACCIDENT, PLEASE CALL DETECTIVE MICHAEL WILEY AT 954-321-4841.

954-493-TIPS (8477) 866-493-TIPS (TOLL FREE) www.browardcrimestoppers.org

June 23, 2016

21

DOCUMENTARY

n n n n n BY RICHARD HACK

New PBS Documentary exposes Florida’s Purple Pamphlet past

n

It was in January 1964 when the Florida legislature published what was then the most homoerotic piece of homophobic propaganda.

Titled Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida, the publication was given away free by the legislature to “every individual concerned with the moral climate of the state.”

Nicknamed the Purple Pamphet for its lavender cover featuring two men kissing in a tight embrace, the publication was the result of a witch hunt that began in the mid-50s and continued for decades. It was part of the findings of the Johns Committee, so named for Charley Eugene Johns, the governor of Florida from 1953-1955. A Baptist, Johns formed the Florida Legislative Investigative Committee which started looking for homosexuals in the state’s schools and universities after his son said that he witnessed effeminate teachers at his college.

The committee’s original mandate was to “investigate all organizations whose principles or activities include a course of conduct on the part of any person or group which could constitute violence, or a violation of the laws of the state, or would be inimical to the well-being and

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orderly pursuit of their personal and business activities by the majority of the citizens of this state.” Loose translations: go ferret out gays.

Over the course of the years that followed, as many as 200 gays from state-funded universities and colleges were summarily fired without due process of law.

Their dismissals were based on hours-long interviews that mixed innuendo and bigotry in equal amounts. At the same time, the Committee forced scared gays to give up the names of their friends and colleagues, making the McCarthy Era look tame by comparison.

Thursday evening on WJCT at 10 pm, the Emmy award winning documentary “The Committee,” based on the booklet and the witch hunt will air in a specially edited version.

“Even though I’m from Florida, I didn’t know that this had happened until a colleague in our history department told me about it,” says co-director Dr. Lisa Mills, a University of Central Florida associate film professor.

The final product was assembled by students in the Burnett Honors

Pages from the Purple Pamphlet and Pamphlet Cover

Charley Eugene Johns, the governor of Florida from 1953-1955

The Johns Committee

College at the UCF. “All they wanted to know were the names of people,” says the Rev. Ruth Jensen-Forbell, who was, at the time, a 19-year-old Florida State University student.

She was forced to endure 17 hours of interrogation by the committee.

Interviewed by Florida Politics, Jensen-Forbell said, “They kept asking me, ‘Did you have relationships with other women?

Did you see anybody doing this or that?’ And they were pretty graphic in what they said. It was almost like there was a deliberate attempt to keep me longer and longer, so I’d be more tired. And I just kept saying ‘no’ because I hadn’t done anything. But I was afraid of everything. Who I talked to, what would happen next. I ended up not going to classes, dropping out, getting an incomplete, and I was put on academic

probation. Because they said you can’t be a lesbian and attend a state college.”

The film features interviews with another victim of the committee, Chuck Woods, and an interrogator, John Tileston Sr., a retired member of the University of Florida Police Department.

Today Jensen-Forbell is senior pastor of a mostly LGBT congregation at First Coast Metropolitan Community Church in St. Augustine. Near the film’s end, she is depicted conducting a same-sex wedding in Jacksonville in the wake of the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

Even though decades have past since the Johns Committee was officially put out of business, it still remains legal for any member of the LGBT community to be fired from their work or denied housing because of their sexual identity. nn

June 23, 2016

23

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SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOS DENNIS DEAN

WILTON MANORS STONEWALL FESTIVAL AND PARADE

THIRSTY FOR MORE? OF COURSE YOU ARE. CHECK OUT ALL OF THE PHOTOS YOU CAN HANDLE AT FLORIDAAGENDA.COM! June 23, 2016

25

SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOS MICHAEL DAVIS

WILTON MANORS STONEWALL FESTIVAL AND PARADE

THIRSTY FOR MORE? OF COURSE YOU ARE. CHECK OUT ALL OF THE PHOTOS YOU CAN HANDLE AT FLORIDAAGENDA.COM! 26

June 23, 2016

June 23, 2016

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THE TROPICAL GARDENER

ROYAL POINCIANA The showiest of all trees grown in South Florida is the Royal Poinciana. It is native to Madagascar and is also known as The Red Flame tree and sometimes called the Flamboyant Tree.

The tree may be too large for many small gardens as it is best grown as a single specimen tree. It is at its most imposing when grown where there are no other trees within 30 feet. The tree canopy is impressive having a unique wide shape umbrella crown....definitely a show stopper!

The flowers appear to be an intense orange-red in color, however, upon close inspection, there is a white petal that appears to be folded up. Some botanists seem to think that the white petal may serve as a nectar guide for pollinators as the unfolding of the white petal coincides with the ripening of the pollen.

Later in the summer, the long seed pods form after the flowers have been pollinated and the leaves have fallen (since the trees are deciduous). Do not worry.....the seeds do not germinate quickly and become a nuisance germinating throughout the garden (seeds often take years to

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germinate). In early summer, the flowers appear to be on bare branches, however the beautiful compound lacey foliage adds a beautiful contrast to the flowers.

Trees do exceptionally well in zone 10 that primarily includes the counties of Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe. Trees should be planted in full sun in well drained soil.

The root system is somewhat superficial and not deep rooted in nature. Therefore, it is not wise to plant with nearby plants because the roots of the Poinciana will compete for water and nutrients.

Watering should be done routinely until trees are well established. Fertilizing three times a year (spring, summer and fall) will encourage good growth.

You can learn more about this tree and other gardening questions by attending The Equality Park Garden Club which meets at The Pride Center every third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 PM. The Pride Center is located at 2040 North Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors. – Chuck Nicholls, Master Gardener

By Chuck Nicholls Master Gardener

THE SECRET RECIPE

MANGO BREAD

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outh Florida Mango season is here!

Take a walk and you just might find a juicy treat on your stroll. The South Florida mango trees come in many varieties. These delicious and healthy treats are also great additions to recipes. You can substitute mango with most recipes that call for sautéed or baked apples.

This week’s Secret Recipe comes from our spiritual advisor Rev. Joel Slotnik.

Ingredients: 2 cups whole-wheat flour 2 tsp. Baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla 1 ½ cups sugar (1 cup raw sugar) ¾ cups of oil 2 cups mango puree 3 eggs * ½ cup raisins (1 cup raisins if not using nuts) *½ cup nuts *optional

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a spoon.

Pour into 2 small bread pans that are well greased. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Bake 1 hour at 350.

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SUMMER BINGE WATCHING

n n n n n BY MAURA MUMBALL LANE

W

hen the Tony Awards are over and the blockbuster summer movies start to show up, you know it’s time to put your summer binging list together.

Olivia Pope and Madame Secretary are on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, RuPaul has hung up her heels for the season, and the SNL team is on the road promoting Ghostbusters. Summer is here and regular TV is for crap.

Summer binging is when you indulge in episodic excess. When you say “just one more” at 1am, watching with one eye open, a marathon, an addiction. A 2014 Netflix study found that 73% of subscribers watch

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2- 6 episodes at one sitting.

The debate is lively about whether binge-watching is bad for your health. Anything worth doing in excess is usually not a smart idea.

Holed up for hours-on-end devouring a series is not what we are suggesting.

The healthy binge is the planned replacement of cheap summer network TV with a spellbinding drama, quirky sitcom, or foreign reality show.

This summer binge column is a healthy enabler, it will offer up series reviews, streaming hardware, recommended subscription services and hidden gems you’ll never find in the “recommended for you” listing.

SERIES/ NETFLIX ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK SEASON 4

On the day after Stonewall, my work pal Kevin Hopper wished me “an Orange Sunday with a hint of black.” The ladies of Lichfield Women’s prison are back. Season 4 has the penitentiary on corporate lockdown with new rules, a big bear head of the guards, courses in how to be on a chain gang and new inmates including one that is cross between Martha Stewart and Paula Deen.

This dark comedy is best when it gives us the back story on how the ladies got there. The cast becomes more diverse this year and for sure you can find someone whose story you can relate to.

As Kate Mulgrew (Red) said on The View, “It’s a serious show about a serious subject with a sardonic undertone.”

ENTERTAINMENT AMAZON PRIME/PBS

MASTERPIECE THEATER MR. SELFRIDGE

S

elfridges is the landmark London Oxford Street department store opened in 1909 by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The series takes us back to the early 1900s and the brilliance of changes in lifestyle from the introduction of ready-to-wear to home appliances to make up. Jeremy Piven is such a pleasure to watch as the big idea American founder in a world of British business etiquette. His family relationships unfold in a predictable way but if you like period pieces, this will envelop

you. The costumes are stunning and the set design of the store makes you want to spend hours riding the elevator and browsing.

Outrageous women’s hats with plumes and elaborate embroidery. Men’s suits so sharp you can hear the collars snap. Words like haberdashery and proper fitting and delightful are in every episode. Even the dowdy are stunning. You’ll be astounded by the importance of print media for advertising and be inspired by Harry’s visionary leadership.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES HBO NOW

Y

ou don’t have to have cable to get HBO. The HBO Now services offers all the series from Bill Maher to Game of Thrones on one $14.99 subscription service. The HBO Now App is available on Smart TVs and though many streaming hardware devices. HBO Now also includes the library of old series including the Emmy award win-

ning Curb Your Enthusiasm and Sex In The City. The difference between HBO Now and HBO Go is that HBO Now is not a part of your cable packaging. HBO Now is an independent streaming service. As you are evaluating your choices and you are cutting the cord on cable packaging, HBO Now might be something for you consider.

HARDWARE ROKU

A

Roku streaming stick is about the size of a jump drive. This device, when inserted into your HDMI connection on your TV allows you stream a multitude of subscription services. Because Roku doesn’t have allegiance to Apple or Google you can pull most of the services through one device.

Movie services like Fandango are also available and get many first run movies for inexpensive rental fees. You can also use Roku for

HBO Now and Showtime services that you don’t run through your cable subscription. An easy menu screen and wireless remote move you from service to service on a super simple home screen. What you will need is wireless connection and your login for your subscription services. If you have those on hand and your smart phone, you’ll find Roku one of the easiest set ups on the market. The Roku stick is $49.00. www.roku.com.

June 23, 2016

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DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD

n n n n n BY ROMEO SAN VICENTE

Romeo San Vicente has style, grace, and gives good face.

ANIKA NONI ROSE

PRESENTS SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

T

he odds were always stacked against Shirley Chisholm. She was a woman and she was black, which means that the corridors of political power were not built or maintained for her. But in 1968, she became the first black, female member of Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she was the first major-party black candidate for President, though she did not receive her party’s nomination. She was, in short, a political hero who broke down doors and championed LGBT rights well before it was considered politically

HOWARD’S END, THE EXTENDED REMIX

T

he only thing better than a period film about British aristocrats and their existential troubles is a period miniseries about the same thing.

Here’s why: it is much, much longer. That means more costumes, more sumptuous locations, more sly sabotage from servants, and – most importantly – more sighs, stares and muted longing.

The grand papa (say it like paPAH, please) of this genre may be Brideshead Revisited, but for our money Howard’s End is the most satisfying. Complex, satisfying 32

June 23, 2016

and tragic, the 1992 film adaptation is one to revisit whenever one has time in between the pressing tasks of the ruling class. So it is a great pleasure to learn that E.M. Forster’s story of three families – two of means, one not – will become a new BBC miniseries directed by Hettie Macdonald (Beautiful Thing, Fortitude). Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me) is handling screenwriting duties, and production begins this summer. Do be attentive to its air date, which will probably take place in 2017.

prudent to do so. And now, Tony Award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and The Frog, Dreamgirls) will produce and star in a film about Chisholm’s life, appropriately titled Chisholm. The production team is in place, but that’s all we know about casting right now, and no word on when we’ll all get to lay eyes on it. In the meantime, you can do your homework with director Shola Lynch’s 2004 documentary, Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed, and catch up on the facts of this remarkable woman’s life and career. Chisholm died in Ormond Beach, Florida at the age of 80 in 2004.

ENTERTAINMENT JEWEL’S CATCH ONE kept the beat alive

T

CHAZ BONO GETS DIRTY

ruth be told, we missed Chaz Bono’s two-episode arc on The Bold and The Beautiful, but we’re glad he did it.

We were, frankly, unaware of his sporadic visits to the world of acting. But if the upcoming July 12th release of the film Dirty is any indication of his intentions, we’ll start paying more attention. The gritty crime thriller is from first-time director Daniel Ringey, and concerns a couple of “dirty” cops who lose their stolen stash of drugs and money to some even more unsa-

vory crime-people. Roger Guenveur Smith (Chi-Raq, the upcoming The Birth of A Nation) and Paul Elia (Lady Dynamite) play the cops in question, and Bono stars as someone known as “Jerry the Hoarder,” which sounds delightfully seedy. The film is being delivered directly to streaming services (a smart weapon of choice for indie film these days) and on its release day, the cast will be live-Tweeting a Q&A at 7 pm ET, using the hashtag #dirtythemovie. And listen, gay dudes, keep the questions about Mom to a minimum.

I

f you’ve never been dancing in Los Angeles, and more to the point, if you are not a queer person of color, then there is little reason for you to know much about The Catch One. You may have heard that it was Madonna’s visits there in the 1980s that allegedly introduced her to voguing, but otherwise, the Los Angeles nightlife institution that hosted celebrities like Sandra Bernhard, Bonnie Pointer, Sharon Stone and Jenifer Lewis is probably not on your radar. This will change when you watch the utterly vital documentary, Jewel’s Catch One, from filmmaker C. Fitz. Full of interviews and archival mate-

rial, the film digs deep into the life of the club, and of its owner Jewel Thais-Williams, the black lesbian who started it in 1973, as a spot to dance in for people who’d been denied entrance to the whiter, straighter locations in her city. And though the club closed in 2015, Thais-Williams’ local legacy is still alive, and her influence is strongly felt: she started The Minority AIDS Project in the ’80s, took care of Los Angeles’ black gay community, created a non-profit health clinic, and, as the film shows, she’s not done yet. When your area LGBT film festival screens it, show up and get familiar with this vibrant queer figure.

June 23, 2016

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PUZZLE Orange Alert

Across

1. HHH, to Sappho 5 Military cross-dresser Jeanne ___ 9 Pick up 13 Marcel Duchamp’s style 14 Genesis brother 15 In the year, to Nero 16 Scores 17 What Brando was doing on the Bounty 19 She debuted as 51-Across recently at Shakespeare in the Park in New York 21 Former NFL player Tuaolo 22 In the zone 26 Mississippi Sissy author Kevin 29 Buff stuff 30 The Simpsons storekeeper 32 Readies for publication 33 Reaction of 51-Across to 19-Across, perhaps?

37 The Sound of Music name 39 Coming Out Under Fire, for short 40 Crude carriers 42 Matthew of Wyoming 48 Deep throat tissue 50 “Fiddle-___!” (Tara expression) 51 Orange candidate 54 Can you diagnose this? It isn’t hard 57 Narrow opening 58 Ancient Roman poet 59 Bi 60 Problem for skin 61 Sentence unit 62 Place for your drawers 63 Pops the question

For the solution to this puzzle go to: floridaagenda.com/puzzle 34

June 23, 2016

Down

1 “My Cup Runneth Over” singer 2 Thy Neighbor’s Wife author 3 Is nuts over 4 Well-endowed old goats?

5 Oral sex protectors 6 Go to the edge of 7 Like bell-bottom jeans 8 Paying customer 9 A rainbow flag symbolizes this 10 Folk singer DiFranco 11 Lodging place 12 Drink with fruitcake 18 Closer to Holly?

20 Batting coach Charlie 23 Latin poet 24 Eng. class about Wilde 25 Article of Frida 27 Mardi Gras mo., often 28 Moved one’s ass 31 Sources of anal probes?

33 David Hyde Pierce alma mater 34 Welcome indication 35 Force to leave 36 Rilke’s I 37 Vidal’s Visit ___ Small Planet 38 Unburden 41 Singer O’Connor 43 Summer hrs. in NY 44 Alexander conquered it 45 “Mature” viewers 46 Lee of The Long, Hot Summer 47 Low points 49 Activity of Isadora Duncan 52 Some watch faces 53 Pack with queens 54 Frigid 55 West of Hollywood 56 Mom-and-pop org.

June 23, 2016

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CELEBRITY FEATURE

n n n n n BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

ENTERTAINMENT

In Love With Mariah Carey

Visions of love, bravery and bad hair through the lens of a longtime ‘lamb

I

told my mom I interviewed Mariah Carey and she cried. “I know how much this means to you,” she said, verklempt.

She knows Mariah saved my life. I was 10 and confused and gay when I first heard her voice.

It was one of those meant-to-be moments: A friend eagerly, and thankfully, played me the cassette single of “Emotions.” That voice, all seven octaves, captivated me, changed me. Years later, when I heard the curly-haired, hand-wavey songstress singing pick-me-ups like “Hero,” “Make It Happen” and “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme),” I was lifted beyond those signature high notes.

In 1997, I was 15 and still confused, on the brink of selfdiscovery, without a role model. The 36

June 23, 2016

parallel wasn’t lost on me – Mariah was coming into her authentic self, channeling the artist she never could be on the triumphant confessional Butterfly, a metaphorical nod to the newfound freedom she was feeling after years of professional and personal captivity. The album, which turns 20 next year, ended on a deeply intimate note with “Outside,” where she referenced the inferior feelings she harbored as a biracial child.

As a gay adolescent internalizing the “feeling there’s no one completely the same,” as the song goes, my already-strong bond to the chart-topper, the diva, the survivor – my musical salvation, my “it gets better” – was strengthened. It was more than music. It is and has always been a palpable affinity to

Mariah’s courageous and encouraging life story.

The story of an emancipated 27-year-old woman asserting independence. The story of a brokenwinged 31-year-old woman who, a decade into her illustrious career, hit rock bottom, entered rehab for “exhaustion” and more than made it through the rain – four years later, in 2005, “We Belong Together,” the second single off The Emancipation of Mimi, held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks.

For Mariah’s ever-faithful “lambs” who, too, have experienced, or are still experiencing the outside, it’s her inspirational narrative they’ve clung to with undying devotion.

Nearly 25 years after first hearing her voice on cassette, my phone rings. It’s Mariah Carey, the sales-

crushing icon with a whopping 18 No. 1 singles, the five-time Grammy winner, my childhood lifeline, our ally. As we speak, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the roots of our connection, so I do. We also, of course, talk about Vegas, where she’s headlining The Colosseum at Caesars Palace with her hits show, Mariah #1 to Infinity, now armed with more “confidence,” she says, to go on vocal “tangents.” Naturally, her lingerie collection comes up.

Furthermore, Mariah elaborates on the “unconditional love” she’s experienced from the LGBT community, which she emphasized when GLAAD recently recognized her with an Ally Award for all the lives she’s changed. An honor she received, in part, and most admirably, by changing her own.

16.2M TWITTER FOLLOWERS

AZZOPARDI: You can’t see me right now but I’m bowing down.

CAREY: Awww! I’m bowing down right back.

AZZOPARDI: I’m going to start with the GLAAD Media Awards because what a big moment for me, too, as a gay man to finally see you honored for being an ally.

You acknowledged the “unconditional love” from the LGBTQ community, and it’s true: I’ve never had anything less than that for you. To be completely honest, you and your music were why I followed my dream of being a writer who one day wanted to interview you. And here we are.

Anyway, Lamb 4 Life right here; not even kidding.

CAREY: Oh, wow; that’s amazing!

L4L! Seriously – that’s such a great thing to hear; thank you for telling me that.

AZZOPARDI: What did you mean when you said you haven’t experienced much unconditional love outside of the gay community?

And why do you think the gay community in particular has stuck by you through thick and thin?

CAREY: What I was trying to express – and it was all so fast and it wasn’t the world’s greatest speech ’cause I just wanted to try and speak from my heart and, you know, sometimes there’s so much going on and it’s not the best representation of what I really wanted to say, which would’ve been simpler. Which is basically: Some of the songs that I have written, like I have a song called “Outside” that a lot of people from the gay community have always said they grew up listening to and were like, “That helped me come out to my family.” Different things.

And so, as a songwriter, I wrote

3.7M INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

that song about me feeling like an outsider, about being biracial and a lot of other things in my life. I like to leave it open so people can relate it to their own lives, and a lot of my fans tell me, “This song helped me get through having to talk about being gay with my family and with my friends,” and stuff like that. There are other songs, too, because I kind of come from that place of feeling different or not accepted, and so that’s what I meant.

AZZOPARDI: For me, as a teenager, “Outside” really resonated.

Those lyrics – “ambiguous, without a sense of belonging to touch” – are ingrained in my head, and they had a big influence on my own life. “Looking In” as

20,724M FACEBOOK LIKES

well. When were you first aware that you were kindred spirits with the gay community?

CAREY: The whole thing in terms of me feeling really comfortable around all different types of people, including different races, religions, gay, straight, whatever, started as a kid. Most kids that I grew up around had never even met anyone gay, but my mom was always very theatrical and she had a lot of gay friends, so I grew up with her two best friends who were guncles before people knew what that was. And yeah, they were great to me. They really treated me well as a little girl. Obviously gay marriage wasn’t, you know, like it is now – it wasn’t legal – so they weren’t married. But they lived together

WEBSITE MIRIAHCAREY .COM

and they were my example of a really great couple. They stayed together for as long as I knew them, and so to me, that was just normal. I wasn’t like, “Oh, wow, this is weird; my mom’s friend is gay.”

I guess I was just always comfortable because they were kind to me, and cool. And so then when I grew up I would always naturally gravitate toward the fun gay guy in school, you know what I mean? You know! It’s just like different moments. Even a friend of mine when I was growing up, her mom was in a relationship with another woman and they lived together and the whole thing, but she didn’t know – she didn’t understand it. But because I had such an open-minded mother who explained that kind of stuff to me, I wasn’t gonna out her mother to her. I was just like, “OK, fine.”

AZZOPARDI: You’ve been a lifeline for many of your LGBT fans, including myself, because you’ve showed us that even an outsider can find his or her place. When was the first time in your life you were exactly the person you wanted to be?

CAREY: Wow. The first time I can think of, and this is a great thing that actually incorporated work and fun and being free and music, was when I made the video for “Honey” (in 1997), and I went swimming in the shoes. It was just… I always wanted to have the freedom to be myself and I wasn’t in a situation where that was OK; I wasn’t allowed to because of that, uhh, first relationship (to ex-husband and then-Sony Music head Tommy Mottola). I had to overcome a lot to get through that, but that video – prior to that, I always had to June 23, 2016

37

settle for less than I wanted to be, and I wasn’t allowed to be who I was. And it really took a lot of courage. It wasn’t just like, “I’m gonna make a video.” It was, “I am moving on with my life, and I have to for my own self because I’m trapped in a situation.”

AZZOPARDI: I know what you’re saying – I’ve been there. I mean, I’ve not made a music video.

CAREY: (Laughs) Treat the music video as “I had a great time somewhere!” But it included me doing work and making a video, which for me, that’s not really work if it’s fun. And then also just all the elements that I love: the beach, the water, the freedom, the whole narrative of the thing. But yeah, it took a while to get there.

AZZOPARDI: You’re doing some of your earliest songs during your Vegas residency. How has your voice and your approach to singing these songs, some of which are over 20 years old, changed?

CAREY: You know what, certain days I’m like, “Oh, this is a really good day for me; I had a lot of vocal rest today and blah, blah, blah,” and some days for me I have to be a little bit more experimental and play around on stage because maybe it’s not as strong for that minute. Really, I just think I’ve become more confident and more experimental in a good way, if you know what I mean, in using different parts of my voice and things. I always did it, but I was more “stick to the script” and “don’t go off on a tangent.”

You know, I think that people kind of like the tangents that I have! (Laughs) Singing tangents.

Breaking a high heel on stage tangents; whatever the case may be.

AZZOPARDI: You in your lingerie-making-pizza tangents – all of it.

CAREY: (Laughs uproariously) It was real! That’s what I walk around in! I barely own any clothes!

All I have is friggin’ lingerie.

AZZOPARDI: How have you made yourself feel at home in Vegas?

CAREY: I just bought a lot of lingerie! (Laughs) AZZOPARDI: What do you think 1990 Mariah would think of 2016 Mariah?

CAREY: (Ponders; tongue sputters) Ah, I don’t knoooow! I was such a kid, just in over my head, but I knew that I was gonna do this for my life and soooo: I probably would’ve been like, “Who does your hair and makeup?” (Laughs) ’Cause they had me with some people who didn’t know what they were doing and I knew it wasn’t really good and I’d just be like, “Who does your lighting, hair and makeup?” is what I’d ask her.

AZZOPARDI: They liked to put you in a lot of black.

CAREY: They diiiiid. It was just like, ahhh, such a long story. You don’t even wanna know.

AZZOPARDI: We’ve seen a lot of greats pass away in the last several years: Prince, Whitney 38

June 23, 2016

“

My mom was always very theatrical and she had a lot of gay friends, so I grew up with her two best friends who were guncles before people knew what that was. And yeah, they were great to me. They really treated me well as a little girl”

and David Bowie. In what ways do their untimely deaths have you reflecting on your own legacy and what you want that to be?

CAREY: It’s really interesting: I loved Prince and I still do. I love his music, and I’ll always have it, and I grew up listening to Prince, ya know what I mean? I was lucky enough to get to know him, but before I knew him I was listening to his music as an adolescent, as a kid, so his passing was very… I really felt like he was one of those people who would be around for a really long time because he just was kind of ageless in a lot of ways.

But in terms of me reflecting on my legacy? I’m not at that place right now. I’m still very much doing fun, creative things that, you know, I don’t want to go into a long, drawn out thing about, but

a lot of different projects. Some movie things. I’m getting ready to go back in the studio really soon, and obviously I’m doing this residency in Vegas. It’s really fun, but I’m not trapped there. I can do other things. We just got back from the European tour, which was amazing audiences, and then we went to Africa, so it’s like, all that stuff is great.

But what do I think my legacy will be? It’s really hard for me to answer that. I just hope the fans who’ve been so supportive of me throughout my whole career will have my music and it’ll make a difference in people’s lives as you told me it did for you, which is amazing, because not everyone knows songs like “Outside” or “Looking In” or “Close My Eyes.”

AZZOPARDI: “I was a wayward child”… trust me, I know those words by heart.

CAREY: Trust me, I do too. “... with the weight of the world that I held deep inside.”

AZZOPARDI: Is the weight lifted?

CAREY: You know what – is the weight lifted? Ahhh, I think that it’s different now. It’s just different. ... I don’t want that to be misinterpreted; I don’t want you to misinterpret that. I just mean like, in a lot of ways there are other things that are the “weight of the world” to me. Like my life now, I have other responsibilities.

I was really writing that about the child version of me; I really did have the weight of the world on my shoulders as a kid, that’s how deep it felt for me.

AZZOPARDI: Thanks for clarifying so nobody takes that out of context.

CAREY: (Groans dramatically) I knooooow.

AZZOPARDI: Mariah, I so deeply appreciate this moment and it means more than you’ll ever know. I hope our paths will cross again at some point soon.

CAREY: I really thank you so much. I thank you for talking about the music. Really – I appreciate that. I adore you, daaahhhling!

Chris Azzopardi is the editor of Q Syndicate, and in love with Mariah Carey. Obviously, daaahhhling.

June 23, 2016

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T he Week nnightlife

ntheatre

n MILK SCREENING

n PARALLEL LIVES

n TASTE OF CHAOS TOUR

n BROOKDALE

THURSDAY 6/23 @ 8:00PM O Cinema Gus Van Sant’s Academy Award winning biopic of the great gay rights leader Harvey Milk works not only as an illuminating portrait of a heroic politician but also as a cautionary tale of how the evils of a homonegative culture can lead to tragedy, a theme echoing resoundingly throughout our culture as we deal with the effects of the Orlando massacre.

Tonight’s special screening is sponsored by an array of groups in South Florida, including MiFo LGBT Film Festival, O Cinema, Miami Jewish Film Festival, Aqua Foundation for Women, Reading Queer, and Pridelines. 100% of all funds collected will be donated to the Equality Florida Pulse Victims Fund. 8:00 p.m.

O Cinema. 500 71st St. Miami Beach. 33141.

FRIDAY 6/24 @ 6:30PM Bayfront Park Amphitheater Headliners for this annual tour include Taking Back Sunday and Dashboard Confessional. Indie pop rock group Taking Back Sunday is known for their mainstream album Louder Now, which spawned the hit single “MakeDamnSure.” Current members include Adam Lazzara, John Nolan, Eddie Reyes, Shaun Cooper, and Mark O’Connell. Boca native Chris Carrabba fronts alterna-emo group Dashboard Confessional who came to prominence with such rock hits as “Screaming Infidelities,” “Don’t Wait,” and “Vindicated.” 6:30 p.m. Bayfront Park Amphitheater.

301 N. Biscayne Blvd. Miami. 33132.

SKRILLEX

FRIDAY 6/24 @ 11:00PM Story Nightclub One of the biggest DJs working, Skrillex has shot up in popularity within the past five years. The multiple Grammy Award winner has collaborated with popular groups like Chance the Rapper, Kill the Noise, The Doors, Nero, Diplo, and Ellie Goulding. His influence ranges from Aphex Twin to Squarepusher, and his tours are known for being impressively designed with interestingly synchronized audio and visual displays. Some of his most popular songs include “Make It Bun Dem,” “First of the Year,” and “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” 11:00 p.m. Story Nightclub. 136 Collins Ave. Miami Beach. 33139.

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SATURDAY 6/25 @ 8:00PM Miami Theater Center Miami Theater Center’s SandBox Series features unique artists crafting special vignettes performed in a black-box theater and sponsored by a Knights Arts Challenge Grant. In tonight’s piece Brookdale

by Lazaro Godoy an innocent man’s journey home becomes a test of his sanity in a show which interweaves surrealism, imagination, and illusion into both video and live performance. Themes of injustice, entrapment, and intolerance are explored. 8:00 p.m.

Miami Theater Center. 9806 NE Second Ave. Miami Shores. 33138.

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SATURDAY 6/25 @ 8:00PM The Vanguard Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney’s Off-Broadway cult classic Parallel Lives is a series of sketches mostly taking aim at gender stereotypes in society through the ages. One of the pieces involves a drunk man named Hank who nightly makes the same marriage proposal to hopelessly romantic Karen Sue. Another shows two children trying to understand Scripture, while another finds two elderly women signing up for women’s studies classes at a local college. Casey Dressler and Elena Maria Garcia take on the tough assignment of performing all these different characters. 8:00 p.m.

The Vanguard. 1501 S. Andrews Ave. Fort Lauderdale.

33316.

BUCKCHERRY

SUNDAY 6/26 @ 7:00PM Pompano Beach Amphitheater American hard rock band Buckcherry received commercial and critical success with their 1999 self-titled debut album. Hit singles included “Lit Up,” “For the Movies,” “Dead Again,” and “Check Your Head.” The band is on tour for their newest titled Rock “N” Roll, which features the singles “Bring It on Back” and “The Feeling Never Dies.” 7:00 p.m. Pompano Beach Amphitheater.

1806 NE Sixth St. Pompano Beach. 33060.

nexhibits n THE CURE

MONDAY 6/27 @ 7:00PM Bayfront Park Amphitheater Goth and British punk-rock icons The Cure have been making people fall in love with their dark yet poppy sound since the 1970s. Robert Smith heads the quintet and, in his own right, has become a God to many of the goth fans in the world. The band has sold over 27 million albums throughout their career on the strength of groundbreaking singles “Just Like Heaven,” “Lovesong,” “Friday I’m in Love,” “Close to Me,” “Picture of You,” and, of course, “Boys Don’t Cry.” 7:00 p.m. Bayfront Park Amphitheater. 301 N. Biscayne Blvd. Miami.

33132.

n WWE RAW

d

nevents

By Patrick Robert

entertainment calendar

TUESDAY 6/28 @ 7:30PM American Airlines Arena The super testosterone filled world of scripted wrestling may not have seemed like an LGBT-friendly environment some thirty years ago when it debuted, but the WWE has come to be one of the most LGBT-friendly “sports.” They even have a notable, openly gay wrestler named Darren Young. Tonight in Miami, the wrestlers battle live. Famous performers like John Cena, Kalisto, Sheamus, Rusev, and the Miz will all be in attendance, smashing chairs over each other’s backs and pile driving opponents. 7:30 p.m. American Airlines Arena. 601 Biscayne Blvd. Miami. 33132.

n

STEELY DAN AND STEVEN WINWOOD

WEDNESDAY 6/29 @ 7:00PM Perfect Vodka Amphitheater Walter Becker and Donald Fagen’s classic band is hard to categorize: throughout their forty-plus year career they have created jazz rock, funk, R&B, and pop music. Some of their most popular singles include “Reelin’ in the Years,” “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number,” and “My Old School.” They are joined by Steve Winwood who has fronted such popular groups as Traffic and Blind Faith. His solo singles include “Higher Love” and “Roll with It.” 7:00 p.m. Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre. 601-7 Sansburys Way. West Palm Beach. 33411.

June 23, 2016

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NEW LGBT BOOKS KEEP YOUR SUMMER READING LIST SIZZLING Summer is just starting to heat up – literally! – and it’s time to hit the beach. Throw down a towel, pop open the umbrella, and sink into the sand with these LGBT-themed recreational reads that’ll keep you entertained all season long.

BY MIKEY ROX

KNIT TIGHT

BY ANNABETH ALBERT

THE PINK MARINE

BY GREG COPE WHITE Gay Mormon Greg Cope White hilariously recounts the summer he haphazardly enlisted in the pre-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Marine Corps at age 18 and spent a summer in boot camp (because all he heard was “summer” and “camp” when his best friend proposed the idea), an experience that gave the author a sense of belonging and self-worth in the last place he ever expected it.

HERE COMES THE SUN

BY NICOLE DENNIS-BENN

Heralded as one of the best books of the summer by Marie Claire, Redbook, Elle magazine, Publishers Weekly, and the New York Times, Dennis-Benn’s debut novel exposes the dark corners of womanhood set against the sun-drenched resorts of Jamaica as Margot, taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, commits her life to ensuring that her younger sister Thandi doesn’t suffer the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot is forced to confront the many burdens she bears, including her fight for financial independence and her forbidden love for another woman.

HEART IN CHAINS

BY ELODIE PARKES Relationship-weary Conner, scorned and single, escapes to Indonesia to put the past behind him.

Mysterious Jay Levesque holds secrets of his own as he tries to put a lifetime of dangerous liaisons to rest.

Alas, neither of their hesitations are a match for the romance of the exotic island or its erotic summer nights.

BOY ERASED

BY GARRARD CONLEY As the LGBT community continues to struggle with religious acceptance in a post-Orlando world, Conley’s memoir about being outed and forced to make a life-changing decision – agree to conversion therapy or be disowned – is even more poignant and important. Heartbreaking and courageous, Boy Erased will simultaneously enrage you and make your count your blessings.

The fourth installment in Albert’s Portland Heat series, which received the April 2016 Seal of Excellence by RT Book Reviews, Knit Tight gets tangled up in the would-be affections of Brady and Evren – a well-liked local barista and charming out-of-towner, respectively – as Brady tries to get the handsome stranger out of the friend zone and into frothier territory.

I AM WOMAN: SURVIVING THE PAST, THE PRESENT & THE FUTURE

BY DALIAH HUSU

SOUTH FLORIDA AUTHOR

Still having trouble making heads or tails of the “T” in LGBT? You’re not alone. Many of our lesbian, gay and bi brothers and sisters struggle with what it means to be transgender – and how to appropriately address, recognize, and appreciate transgender people – but Husu’s honest and emotionally charged memoir shines a flickering light on her stigmatized world of self-hatred, dependency on men, drug abuse, sex work, and what it’s like to be a not-so-privileged trans woman in America. You can’t understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked in their shoes, as they say, and it’s time to take the first step.

JURY OF ONE

BY CHARLIE COCHRANE

A murder in nearby Abbotson thrusts inspector Robin Bright into yet another intricate web of crimes, but there’s something more curious about this case: An old crush of Robin’s lover Adam pops up in the murder investigation, ultimately jeopardizing the happy couple’s relationship in this homo whodunit. Jury of One is the second book of the Lindenshaw Mysteries series.

THE SCHEME OF THINGS

BY TIM PARKS

Henry Dodge does his best to hide what makes him different from the other boys – like his bourgeoning lust for his brother’s best friend Danny – by escaping into the TV, movies and music of the 1980s. As such, his affinity for nighttime soap operas leads him to devise a plan to follow Danny to Los Angeles, unchartered territory for the teen, which has secrets of its own.

HIATUS

BY L.A. WITT

Gay throuples get their own comeuppance in an all-too-familiar tale of three boyfriends trying to make a ménage à trios work over the long term. But just when it seems like it couldn’t be more idyllic, the trio face a roadblock on the path to triangular happiness when the original couple starts to question their love for one another but each still holds a torch for their rock-star third wheel.

Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBT lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. He splits his time between homes in New York City and the Jersey Shore with his dog Jaxon. Connect with Mikey on Twitter @mikeyrox.

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HEALTHWISE

Nitric Oxide and Your Body n Since the awarding of the Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998 for research on nitric oxide, the study of the effects of this valuable gas on the human body have been numerous.

Protecting Your Heart Perhaps the most powerful effects of nitric oxide on the body occur in the cardiovascular system. Nitric oxide has been shown to affect numerous aspects of the system, including blood flow, blood pressure, and vasodilation.

In fact, nitric oxide is the strongest vasodilator in the coronary arteries. Low levels of nitric oxide are in the etiology of numerous cardiovascular diseases.

By Vascular dementia Dr. Ferdinand patients have been shown Cabrera to experience improved brain function when given doses of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide has also been shown to reverse ischemia in cardiac disease as well as kidney disease. Other cardiovascular issues—or issues in other systems that have a root cause in cardiovascular disease—nitric oxide may be used to improve the bad effects of high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Nitric Oxide in Other Bodily Arenas Nitric oxide is an important player in nearly every system of our bodies. Nitric oxide can improve sexual function in men having trouble achieving erections, as it is essential in the dilation of blood vessels that cause erections in both men and women. PD5 inhibitors (such as a certain blue pill) cannot function without a sufficient level of nitric oxide in the blood stream. Some 50% of men who are prescribed PD5 inhibitors report no change in their symptoms due to the lack of enough nitric oxide to provide a substrate for the PD5

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inhibitor. Nitric oxide offers men who cannot achieve an erection by taking PD5 inhibitors alone an increased chance at satisfaction.

Our immune system also plays a key role for nitric oxide. Upon detection of an infection, inducible nitric oxide synthase triggers the release of over ten thousand times the normal level of nitric oxide in that area. This overabundance of chemical then binds to certain centers in the pathogenic cells and shuts down their cellular respiration. Nitric oxide directly combats bacteria, viruses, fungi, and even parasites in this way.

Nitric oxide affects our bodies’ mitochondrial cells, too. Under the effects of nitric oxide, mitochondria use oxygen more efficiently, and the body increases their production levels. This increases our bodies’ anaerobic threshold (the level of exercise at which lactic acid builds up faster than it can be cleared), and is one of the major reasons that nitric oxide has recently been touted as a sports performance enhancer.

Numerous other effects of nitric oxide have been theorized. Some of these include: an increase in gastric motility, improved senses (smell in particular), improved memory, regulated behavior, increased quality of sleep, and the ability to fight certain forms of cancer.

Fighting Aging In fact, nitric oxide affects enough various parts of the body that it noticeably reduces the effects of aging. The effects of aging on all of the body’s blood vessels can be reduced by the correct balance of nitric oxide levels.

It is believed that a person’s nitric oxide level lowers by 10-12% for each decade of life. This is a major factor in the slower recovery time for the elderly from all injury and disease. nitric oxide is an important signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system, and one of its functions is to signal stem cells to repair diseased or damaged

tissues. Thus, pairing the effects of nitric oxide with stem cell therapy can ensure the stem cells function as intended.

Nitric oxide has been shown to have neuroprotective effects against some mental diseases—most notably Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

Take Advantage Of Nitric Oxide One excellent product that can increase your nitric oxide is Neo40 Professional.

Neo40 Professional is the most recent product of the team at Neogenis Labs, a leader in modern nitric oxide research. With seven patents and six clinical studies already completed (and more being conducted now) Neo40 Professional is a trustworthy, effective product for medical nitric oxide needs.

If you would like to find out more about the Neo40 Professional product or nitric oxide, contact Dr. Ferdinand Cabrera at (954) 561-3175. nn

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FURNITURE

HEALTH

Sterling Tax & Accounting 2435 N Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-667-9829 / sterlingandhart.com

PET AND HOUSESITTING Paulette’s Pet and Housesitting Caring Professional Excellent References 954-821-9682 / paulettechernoff@aol.com

ATTORNEYS REAL ESTATE

Dean Trantalis Attorney 2255 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-2226 / trantalislaw.com

Ocean Therapy Center 2530 NE 15th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-351-2299/oceantherapycenter.com

CHURCH / SPIRITUAL

INCOME TAX Best Books and Taxes 2201 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-565-1041 / bestbooksandtaxes.com

FOOD / GROCERY Diana’s 12001 Avalon Lake Drive Orlando, FL 32828 407-207-0205 / dianasbakeryandcafe.com

HEALTH

Center for Spiritual Living 1550 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-566-2868 / cslftl.com Holy Angels Catholic Community 2917 NE 6th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-633-2987 / holyangelsfl.org Etz Chaim 2038 N Dixie Hwy Pride Ctr Bldg B Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-564-9232 / etzchaimflorida.org

EVENTS Source Events 605 Lincoln Road, #410 Miami Beach, FL 33139 305-672-9779 / sourceevents.com

FITNESS Pump’n Inc Tom Bonanti 1271 NE 9th Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-557-1119 / pumpnincgym.com 46

June 23, 2016

Robert Geary MacKilligan on Las Olas Boulevard Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 954-234-8759 / rgmsell@aol.com Joe Grano Realtor 1881 NE 26th Street, Suite 212 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-931-0031 / joegrano.com

INSURANCE Dunham Fort Lauderdale 2601 E Oakland Park Blvd, Suite 303 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-564-7772 / dunhamins.com We Insure 1975 E Sunrise Blvd, Suite 602 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-903-7519 / weinsurefl.com

Proudly serving the LGBT community since 2002

1400 E Oakland Pk Blvd Ste 201B Oakland Park FL 33334

MASSAGE SPA 11 Lic#MA75718 2000 E Oakland Park Blvd, Suite 103 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33306 954-945-5133 / spa11massage.com

MUSIC Sell Us Your Records!

We Buy Collections.

5130 N. Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale 954-671-9482 / wegotthebeats.biz

OPTICAL

Island City Eyecare 2301 Wilton Drive, Suite C1 Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-764-6906 / visionsource-ice.com

ORGANIZATIONS

The Pride Center 2040 N Dixie Hwy Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-463-9005 / pridecenterflorida.com Out of the Closet 2097 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors, FL 33305 954-358-5580 / outofthecloset.org

WOLFE REAL ESTATE GROUP

Directly Across from LIPS Call us today!

954. 839. 8330

WolfeRealEstateGroup.com

UPHOLSTERY

WWW.LEATHERWERKS.COM

LEATHER

AND SO MUCH MORE!

Copyright © 2016 The Werks Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.Werks, LeatherWerks, PaddleWerks, Lifestyle Club and BootWerks are Registered Trademarks of The Werks Company, LLC

June 23, 2016

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KOIPOMPANOBEACH.COM

LUXURY VILLAS/OCEAN ACCESS

SALES: 954-547-8700

FROM THE $400’s LIFE ON THE WATER BEGINS NOW!

Artist Conceptual Rendering

east

west &

Artist Conceptual Rendering

STRATAPLANTATION.COM

2–3 BEDROOM TOWNHOMES

INFO@STRATAPLANTATION.COM

FROM THE $200’s

Exclusive Sales & Marketing by

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June 23, 2016

Developed by Oral representations cannot be relied upon as correctly stating the representations of the developer, for correct representations, make reference to this brochure and to the documents required by section 718.503, Florida statutes, to be furnished by a developer to a buyer or lessee.

Obtain the property report required by federal law and read it before signing anything. No federal agency has judged the merits of value, if any, of this property.