3/6/19 SFGN V 10 i 10 by South Florida Gay News

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March 6, 2019 vol. 10 // issue 10

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Johns committee Florida politicians push state to formally apologize for its past gay persecutions pages 12, 18

x FTL Ordinance Debate • Page 3 MB TransCon • Page 6 PB Red Hat Brunch • Page 14 SouthFloridaGayNews

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Gay History Forum at Pride Center T

Wangberg is excited to announce his upcoming discussion on the gay history of South Florida in the 80s and 90s.

3 . 6.2019

Editorial

Correspondents

Dori Zinn • Donald Cavanaugh • Christiana Lilly • Denise Royal • David-Elijah Nahmod

Contributing Columnists

Dana Rudolph • Ric Reily • Terri Schlichenmeyer

Associate Photographers

The Round Table discussion at the Fort Lauderdale Prime Gentlemen meeting. Photo via ftlprimegentlemen.org.

Center at Equality Park, in Wilton Manors. This event is lead by erudite members, including Lou Wangberg, an officer of the group. Wangberg is excited to announce his upcoming discussion on the gay history of South Florida in the 80s and 90s. He has invited panelists including entertainers, bar owners, bartenders, and customers of the times. He even mentions inviting famous drag queens. It is meant to archive the era, and the group has invited the Stonewall Library to record the talk for its archives. There are few opportunities to learn what it was like to be LGBT prior to current liberties; this will be one of those opportunities. The 80s and 90s are an important timeMEMBER

frame in the history of LGBT men in South Florida. Decades ago, Florida consisted of closeted encounters and was subject to police raids. It was not until 1971 that the Florida Supreme Court struck down the consideration of homosexual acts as “crimes against nature” that were punishable as a felony. Wangberg states the tremendous change he has seen in a few short decades. He claims that in 1985, upon his arrival, Wilton Manors was not the abundant community it has now become. Wangberg wishes to discuss this tremendous change. Be sure to attend if you are in need of reminiscing or want to learn alongside great company.

This event is scheduled at 7 p.m. March 14, at the Pride Center, at 2040 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available at the Center.

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For ad placement in SFGN, contact 954-530-4970 Sales Manager • Justin Wyse Justin@sfgn.com Senior Advertising Associate • Edwin Neimann Edwin@sfgn.com Senior Advertising Associate • Clark Rogers Clark@sfgn.com Assistant to the Editor • Nick Adkins Distribution Services • Rocky Bowell, Lee Curtis Sales Consultant • Charles A. Reid National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 sales@rivendellmedia.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping Printing by Sun Coast Press

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Cover: The Johns Committee is a memory that still burns for many in the community. Read about it on Pages 12 and 18. Photo via adobe.

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David Douriez he Prime Gentlemen of Fort Lauderdale cater to the interests of gay seniors living in South Florida. The group, formerly known as the Fort Lauderdale Prime Times, originated in 2003, and now comprises over 600 members. The members are gay and bisexual men striving to live healthy lives by engaging in volunteerism, politics, sports, and entertainment. They meet regularly, enjoying the entertainment of guest speakers and potluck style meals. A perusal of their website: FTLprimegentlemen.org, includes a gallery of members from their hall of fame. With their combined age, the members’ biographies reflect the richness of their experiences and the hall of fame is a reminder of the difficulties of being queer in past decades. Their stories are gripping tales of hardship and the joyous overcoming of struggle. Within the organization, subgroups exist for various hobbies, including ballet and opera, weekly mixers at local bars, and even a Haulover beach group. The calendar posting on their website has events almost daily. One of their most popular events is the bimonthly history lesson at the Pride

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March 6, 2019 • Volume 10 • Issue 10

NLGJA Journalist of the Year South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. Copyright © 2019 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.

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NEWS local Fort Lauderdale. Mayor Dean Trantalis during Pride Fort Lauderdale. SFGN File Photo.

Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor and LGBT Chamber Back City Non-Discrimination Ordinance Jason Parsley

he vice mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Ben “We can never be over redundant in Sorensen, has told SFGN he is moving expressing the importance of fair treatment forward on a non-discrimination for all,” he said. “It’s important for us as a ordinance in the city that would cover LGBT city to reinforce the importance of this and people. to show our alignment with the broader SFGN reported last week that no progress county.” has been made on such an ordinance, Keith Blackburn, president of the Greater despite the uproar it caused a Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber year ago between then-mayoral of Commerce, believes the city candidate Dean Trantalis needs its own ordinance to and local LGBT rights activist show people from out of town Michael Rajner. its commitment to the LGBT Last week Rajner expressed community. his disappointment to SFGN Blackburn said when LGBT that no progress had been made, related groups are deciding despite so many local LGBT whether or not to choose Fort groups and others that were, Lauderdale, they often look at and still are in support. a city’s record on LGBT issues. Sorensen said he fully backs a He said many people abroad city level ordinance, and is now have never heard of Broward - Ben Sorensen working with the city manager County and so they wouldn’t Fort Lauderdale and city attorney on drafting a know to look up the county’s Vice Mayor proposal. record. “The equality and fair “When people are thinking treatment of all is a vital part of society of Chicago they’re not looking up Cook and as a city,” Sorensen said. “We need to County, they’re looking for Chicago,” he be a leading beacon of equality for all — said. from an operational standpoint, economic For Blackburn it just makes economic standpoint and integrity standpoint.” sense for the city to have its own ordinance. Last year Trantalis, Fort Lauderdale’s first “We work closely with the Convention gay mayor, argued that because the city and Visitors Bureau, our goal is to bring as is covered under Broward County’s non- many groups and events into the city and discrimination ordinance, there is no need area,” he said. for the city to have its own. Last week District 2 Commissioner Steve That argument doesn’t hold any weight Glassman, a gay man, also signaled his with Sorensen. support for a city level ordinance.

“The equality and fair treatment of all is a vital part of society and as a city.”

3.6.2019 •

NEWS state Volunteers with the onePULSE Foundation march in remembrance. PHoto via Pulse Orlando, Facebook.

Bill Filed to Fund ‘Pulse National Memorial and Museum’ Jason Parsley

bill (HB 3583) was filed in the Florida House to appropriate $2 million to fund the design and construction of a permanent memorial and museum dedicated to the Pulse massacre. Holly Rashein, a Republican representing Monroe County, was the initial sponsor. Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), a gay man, is a cosponsor. “The funds will be used to build a permanent memorial and museum honoring all affected by the June 12, 2016 tragedy at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando,” reads the appropriations project request form. “The activities and services include a memorial that is free and open to the public, that will serve as a place of hope and healing for the community that responded with love and courage to the

“The funds will be used to build a permanent memorial and museum honoring all affected by the June 12, 2016 tragedy at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.” - Project request form

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3 . 6.2019

second largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 911. The museum will provide an education center, along with artifacts that tell the story of Pulse, the [victims].” The money would go to the onePULSE Foundation, who would oversee the project. In October the foundation was awarded up to $10 million in hotel-tax revenues by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners to fund the memorial and museum. “The Tourism Development Tax funding is a significant step in fulfilling onePULSE’s mission to create a sanctuary of hope which honors all those affected by the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub,” reads a press releasing announcing the funding from the County. Former Mayor of Orange County Teresa Jacobs added in the release: “This will be a sacred space that will tell the story of Pulse and our 49 angels, while ensuring future generations learn from the detrimental impact of hate, bigotry, discrimination and intolerance. We will never forget the 49 angels we lost or the impact this tragedy had on everyone in our region, especially our LGBTQ, Latinx and Hispanic communities. This museum sends a clear message that hate will not win and love will always prevail.”

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NEWS miami-dade A panel at last year’s TransCon. Photo via Aqua Foundation for Women, Facebook.

TransCon 2019 This Weekend Learn more about the trans/non-binary community at this year’s event

Denise Royal

QUA Foundation’s TransCon is a two-day conference for the South Florida transgender and non-binary community. The event takes place March 9 and 10 at Barry University in Miami. There’s still time to sign up for this free conference. This year’s event has a variety of programs and spaces for everyone — the trans/nonbinary community, those who serve the community, those who simply want to learn (or learn more), and those who are already allies/supporters of the trans community. “Especially in the current political climate, TransCon is an immeasurably valuable space for not only the trans and non-binary community, but also those who

love and support us,” said LJ Woolston, 2019 TransCon Programming Committee co-chair. “Year after year, attendees share that they’ve left the event with increased knowledge and resources, meaningful connections, and a deeper awareness of themselves. TransCon is always a powerful reminder of just how vast, vibrant, and resilient the trans community of South Florida is.” This year, the first day will be called ‘Trans Con U,” and will offer workshops, and other activities focused entirely on career/ employment building (resume development, interview skills, entrepreneurship, makeup/ dress, etc). The workshops on day two will span all other topics.

Here’s a breakdown of workshops: Saturday Afternoon (2-5 p.m.): FREE Name Change Clinic with local attorneys (real, live, on-site assistance, helping you to understand and start the name change filing process) Saturday Evening (7 p.m.): TransCon Kickoff Party/Social Sunday (9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.): Youth Chill Space, hosted by Alliance for GLBTQ Youth (for youth 24 and under only) Sunday Lunchtime (12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.): Look for affinity “roundtables” at lunch to make some new friends and/or enjoy some rich discussion Sunday Afternoon (4:40 p.m.): SOUL Sisters Leadership Collective Affinity Healing Circles (back again this year by popular demand!) Sunday Evening (6:30 p.m.): Our first ever TransCon “Wine Down.” Spanish interpretation and limited ASL interpretation will be available for workshops. The conference includes free breakfast and lunch on both days. There will also be raffles and giveaways throughout the weekend.

For additional information/tickets to workshops, visit bit.ly/TransCon-RSVP. 6

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NEWS local

Diversity Honors to Recognize SAVE’s Tony Lima Jason Parsley

ony Lima, executive director of SAVE, will be honored by the upcoming Diversity Honors taking place 7 p.m. Saturday, March 30 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Diversity Honors is an annual collaboration between the Pride Center in Wilton Manors and the Harvey Milk Foundation. “I’m very humbled and honored by the Pride Center and Harvey Milk Foundation for celebrating my leadership and work in the community,” Lima said. “These are two organizations I respect very much. I think it’s important to recognize those of us who are working on behalf of equality and those of us making sure we all can all live prosperous and full lives as LGBTQ people.” No other honorees have been announced yet via Diversity Honors’ website. This year’s emcee will be Jamie Guirola, a general assignment reporter for NBC 6.

Tomy Lima. Photo via Tony Lima.

Some of last year’s honorees included Dolores Huerta, a leader of the Latino, Labor and Women’s Civil Rights Movement; Dean Trantalis, Fort Lauderdale mayor and LGBTQ advocate; the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Gay-Straight Alliance; and David Richardson, a former Florida State representative.

Tickets are $250. Visit DiversityHonors.goodmanpr.com for more information.

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NEWS state

Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. Photo via Equality Florida, Facebook.

Equality Florida Sounds Alarm Over Preemption Bill Jason Parsley

quality Florida, the only statewide recommendation in one of the three LGBT rights group, is sounding an committees it was referred to. alarm over HB 3, which could threaten According to the Florida Watchdog local LGBT rights protections if passed. supporters of the bill include the Florida “So House Bill three is a sweeping Retail Federation, the Associated Industries preemption of local government regulations. of Florida and the Florida Chamber Basically, anything that touches business, of Commerce. Meanwhile the Florida occupation, paid employment, and the sale Association of Counties, the Florida League of goods or services. So that’s a very of Cities and many labor unions, wide scope,” said Jon Harris environmental organizations Maurer, Equality Florida’s and civil-rights groups public policy director. oppose it. “There are a number of “We do think the bill concerns that Equality is a high level priority Florida has for the bill, and will attract a lot but specifically on its of support,” Maurer potential impact for said. “It’s also moving LGBTQ equality. We through the process have concerns that very quickly.” Rand Hoch, the legislation would - Jon Harris Maurer president of the Palm threaten human rights Public Policy Director, Beach County Human ordinances, conversion Equality Florida Rights Council, is confident therapy bills, and equal the bill will not pass. benefits ordinances. Currently “Preemption bills like HB 3 60 percent of Floridians are covered keep getting reintroduced in the Florida by non-discrimination ordinances.” The bill would prohibit local governments Legislature with little chance of becoming from imposing and adopting new regulations law,” he said. “Fortunately, lobbyists for counties, cities and many other interests are on businesses. Maurer also noted that the low number working hard to make sure the bill does not the bill was given means it’s a priority in the reach the governor’s desk.” But if it does pass Hoch summed up the house. This bill, like many similar ones over bill’s effect on the LGBT rights movement in the years, has little chance of passing. two words. “We’re screwed.” But it’s already been given a favorable

“Currently 60 percent of Floridians are covered by non-discrimination ordinances.”

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COMMUNITY press release

APR LAUNCHES FURRY FUN FESTIVAL Archie. Photo via Abandoned Pet Rescue, Facebook.

ort Lauderdale’s no-kill animal shelter Abandoned Pet Rescue will be holding its first ever Furry Fun Festival on Sunday, March 10, 2019 from noon to 4 p.m. The event will take place on the grounds of the Sanctuary Church at 1400 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. The event will include animal adoption opportunities (come meet our array of dogs and cats), an amazing concert, “Animal Rescue Rocks” featuring Jimi Fiano, Steve Argy, Kilmo from Kilmo and the Killers and more. Artist experiences will include a battle between painters in an on-the-spot live painting competition plus a chance for everyone to try “pouring,” a new collaborative painting technique. There will also be a childrens area featuring the children’s painting booth, a bounce house, and the color cubes jungle gym. Artisans, crafters, jewelers and vendors will show off their wares while you and your pet can be captured on digital at the APR Pet Photo Booth. Register your loved ones for the Fun Dog Show with categories like cutest

pup and dog/owner who most resemble each other, plus of course some of South Florida’s most interesting doggie fashions on the runway. Great food, the tastiest brews, and the sweetest treats will all be on hand at the APR Kitchen on site. Bring your pup, your appetite and your blanket, sit on the lawn, enjoy the music and roam this runway for an afternoon of fun. ADMISSION IS FREE. PARKING IS FREE and widely available.

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3.6.2019 •

NEWS state

The Capitol of Florida in Tallahassee. Photo via the City of Tallahassee, Facebook.

HIV Modernization Bill Moves Forward In Florida House Jason Parsley

n HIV modernization bill, the HIV Five Republicans and five Democrats Prevention Justice Act (HB 79), voted for the bill. cleared its first hurdle, passing 10-3 The current law does not take into in the Florida House’s Criminal Justice account whether a person actually Subcommittee. transmitted HIV. Nor does it matter if a “We’re really excited by the bipartisan condom was used, or if the person with HIV momentum that we’ve seen for this HIV is on treatment and undetectable. modernization legislation,” said Jon Harris “This bill would help modernize Florida’s Maurer, Equality Florida’s HIV laws that were written public policy director. “This is in the mid 80s at the height long overdue and it’s exciting of the HIV epidemic and “it’s exciting to to see this being addressed as haven’t been updated to see this being a criminal justice reform issue align with current science on addressed as a and a public health issue.” treatment and prevention for HIV,” Maurer said. “I think criminal justice most strikingly is that the law reform issue and currently doesn’t account for whether in fact there is any a public health transmission of HIV. So under issue.” the current law a person could be incarcerated for up to 30 - Jon Harris Maurer years with a third degree Public Policy Director, felony, even though there is Equality Florida no transmission of HIV, and scientifically there is no risk of transmission.” The bill must also pass through the Appropriations Committee and Judiciary Committee. Senator Jason Pizzo (D - Miami) has filed Jon Harris Maurer. similar legislation (SB 846) in the Florida Photo via Equality Florida. Senate.

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NEWS state

The front cover of an anti-gay booklet compiled by the Johns Committee.

Will Florida Apologize for the ‘Johns Committee’? The infamous legislative body targeted the LGBT community from 1956-1965

Jason Parsley

tate Rep. Evan Jenne remembers growing up hearing about Florida’s infamous “Johns Committee” from his father, then a state senator. “My father would point to me and say, ‘This is exactly how you do not treat people if you are a member of the government – elected or unelected,’” Jenne recalls. The Florida Legislative Investigation Committee lasted from 1956 to 1965. Initially it was launched to slow down segregation, but over the years it refocused its efforts on outing LGBT educators and students in state funded universities. Later it even moved to investigate high schools. The committee For a detailed was informally named the Johns Committee, after look at the State Senator Charley committee see Eugene Johns, who was page 18. its first chairman. The actions of the Johns Committee have haunted Jenne for all of these years. Now he believes it’s time to officially apologize. “I am at the tail end of my legislative career, and I just decided if I was ever going to do it, it needed to be right now,” he said. So he filed a resolution (HCR 893) that “offers formal & heartfelt apology to those whose lives, well-being, & livelihoods were damaged or destroyed by activities & public pronouncements of those who served on committee.” Jenne, (D-Dania Beach), has spent most of the last year researching the committee in order to make the case for an apology. He enlisted Sen. Lauren Book (D-Plantation) to

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file a companion resolution in the Senate. “We’re never going to be able to give back the lives that were destroyed, people committed suicide over the actions of this committee,” Jenne said. Because the committee fell under the purview of the State Legislature Jenne feels a personal responsibility to apologize for the committee’s actions. “I’m a member of the legislature and this falls squarely on the legislature shoulders. This is one of, if not the darkest moments in our history. In this case the outcome for the legislature was a disgrace and a track record that is one of pure demonization,” he said. So for him the first step of reconciliation is an apology. “I think it’s good for society.” When Jenne approached Sen. Book about this resolution she didn’t hesitate to jump on board. “I was shocked and appalled,” she said. “These people had to endure some truly horrific experiences. This was a true and total witch-hunt. This was absolutely an overreach of power. Our government allowed this to occur at the tax payer’s expense for 9 years.” This wouldn’t be the first time the state of Florida has apologized for past wrongs. Two years ago the legislature issued a “heartfelt apology” to the four black men, known as the Groveland Four, who were wrongly accused of raping a Lake County woman in 1949. In 2008 they passed a resolution expressing regret for the involuntary servitude of Africans. “I am proud to shine a light on this and seek an apology,” Book said.

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Palm beach datebook Friday, March 8 5th Annual Red Hat Brunch Compass is hosting the 5th Annual Red Hat Brunch honoring National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). This year’s theme is “Nothing About Us Without Us.” This theme represents the importance of policy being reflective of the voices it affects, specifically those of women, who have often gone unheard in the battle against HIV/AIDS. For more information or to register contact Neka MacKaye at Neka@CompassGLCC.com Thursday, March 14 Fiesta on Flagler Enjoy Latin-inspired bites from your favorite local restaurants, festive live music and performances, sip tequila or traditional sangria and get ready for the pop up party of the season. Takes place on Flagler Drive in the South End of West Palm Beach. Event entrance will be on the North side of Flagler Drive and Russlyn Drive. Parking available at Lakeside Presbyterian Church. Tickets $75 in advance, $100 at the door. https://bit.ly/2GEXw7c Friday, March 22 2019 Equality Florida Palm Beach Gala 6-9 p.m. at the Culture Lab, 575 S Rosemary Ave, Palm Beach, FL 33401. More information: Ashley Capps at ashley@equalityflorida.org or 239-2454586 Saturday, March 23 Send in the Queens This annual Drag Show Fundraiser is back by popular demand for the 12th consecutive year! A high-end, high-energy drag concert that features a cast of dazzling drag divas. All proceeds will go to benefit the Playhouse. Featuring performances by Lupita Hollywood, Melissa St. John, Velvet Lenore, Vasti Montana, Dayzee DeLuxx, Reanna Patrone, Candy Cox, Raejean Cox and Pepper Monroe. Wednesday, March 27 Pride Business Alliance monthly social At the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, 6 – 8 p.m. Sat/sun, March 30-31 2019 Palm Beach Pride Join the LGBTQ community to celebrate Palm Beach Pride on March 30 & 31, 2019, noon to 6 p.m. both days in Bryant Park, downtown Lake Worth. Non-stop entertainment, delicious food, awesome merchants and local businesses and organizations, games & fun for all. Sunday Parade starts at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 31 in downtown Lake Worth along Lucerne & Lake Avenues.

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PA L M B E A C H

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The Red Hat Brunch Shines Spotlight on Women With HIV The annual event takes place at Compass March 10 Kristen Grau

Past guests at the Red Hat Brunch. Photo via Compass, Facebook.

early 30,000 men in the U.S. were diagnosed each year with HIV/AIDS from 2012-2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in those years, 6,000 women per year were also affected. Because more men than women are typically impacted by HIV, the female population gets overlooked. Compass will give the female minority visibility during its fifth annual Red Hat Brunch on March 10, which is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). This year’s event theme is “Nothing About Us Without Us,” which is a call for women with HIV to voice their concerns to those creating health legislation, said Compass’ Health Services Director Neka MacKay. “The voices of those living with HIV/ AIDS and their loved ones should be the voices driving the decisions on HIV/AIDS services,” MacKay said. CAN Community Health and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation are sponsoring the brunch at Compass from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees will have the chance to

“The voices of those living with HIV/AIDS and their loved ones should be the voices driving the decisions on HIV/ AIDS services.” - Neka MacKay

Compass’ Health Services Director

network, grab a gift tote, and watch a documentary called “Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS.” The film features female activists from across the globe, namely the U.S. and Africa. According to the film’s website, it “explores the unaddressed dynamics that keep women around the world at risk of HIV, while introducing the remarkable women who have the answers to ending this 30-year old pandemic.” Big Mama’s House of Sweets, a custom cheesecake bakery in Lake Worth, will be providing free brunch for attendees. Along with food and drinks, attendees will also be able to learn about local health resources. There will be several exhibiting at Compass throughout the day, including Planned Parenthood, Florida Department of Health, PBC HIV CARE Council, and more. NWGHAAD is sponsored by the U.S.

Department of Health’s Office on Women’s Health, with this year being the 14th anniversary. Like Compass, the Office of Women’s Health also declared a theme for every year’s NWGHAAD. This year’s national theme that Compass is taking a different spin on is “HIV Prevention Starts With Me,” which emphasizes individuals’ roles in ensuring a healthy community, according to the website. Compass, the LGBT community center of Palm Beach County, recognizes that the minority of women with HIV “definitely tends to get overlooked,” MacKay said, which is why they deliberately make the Red Hat Brunch a “big event” every year. “For this event,” she said, “we highlight the voices of women, which have often been unheard or written out of history in the battle against HIV/AIDS.” The event is free, but registration on Compass’ website is required.

PA L M B E A C H

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news

PBCHRC Reveals Endorsements in Municipal Elections PBCHRC The following candidates have been endorsed by The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance in their campaigns for election or reelection in the 2019 Municipal Elections:

Zachary Winograd

Boynton Beach Mayor Steven B. Grant Boynton Beach City Commissioner (Dist. 1) Justin Katz

â&#x20AC;&#x153;[I wanted] to create unity within South Florida by allowing people to celebrate each other and stand proudly together.â&#x20AC;? - Rolando Chang Barrero Box Gallery Curator and owner

he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We make a positive impact in so many meaningful ways â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to so many people, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a way to showcase that love and respect we have for each other.â&#x20AC;? Barrero also said that the concept of the exhibition spotlights the LGBT communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact as seen through the eyes of the general public and allies in South Florida. The exhibition will cover the broad spectrum of color, race, politics and religion within the LGBT community and its participants. The Box Gallery was founded in 2016. Located in West Palm Beach, it showcases rising artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work within the community and strives to create an inspiring space where all feel welcome. The gallery and Barrero have collaborated with Compass in the past with its TransCuba exhibit, which documented the lives of transgender Cubans. With Compassâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; annual pride events and the addition of the Spectrum exhibition, they are continuing to recognize LGBT diversity. The exhibition will be located at the Compass Community Center during their pride event on March 30 and 31. The event is family-friendly and all are welcome to attend. If you wish to visit The Box Gallery, you can find it on 811 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s open Tuesday-Saturday 12-6 p.m.

For more information about the exhibit and how to be included email Rolando Chang Barrero at PalmBeachFineArtGallery@gmail.com.

Riviera Beach City Commission (Dist. 1) Lynne Hubbard

Lake Worth City Commissioner (Dist. 2) Omari Hardy

Riviera Beach City Commission (Dist. 3) Tonya Davis Johnson

Lake Worth City Commissioner (Dist. 4) Herman Robinson

West Palm Beach Mayor Priscilla Taylor

Palm Beach Town Council Julie Araskog

West Palm Beach City Commission (Dist. 3) Richard Ryles

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Compass is teaming up with The Box Gallery of Palm Beach to celebrate South Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diverse LGBT community with a portrait gallery. The exhibition, named â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spectrum: Portraits of the South Florida LGBT Community,â&#x20AC;? will feature portraits of LGBT members in Broward and Palm Beach counties and more. Compass, the LGBT community center of the Palm Beaches, will feature the portraits in their Community Hall throughout the month. To be featured, you can nominate yourself or someone else. Box Gallery curator and owner Rolando Chang Barrero had a very clear goal when it came to curating the exhibition. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[I wanted] to create unity within South Florida by allowing people to celebrate each other and stand proudly together,â&#x20AC;?

Photo via Facebook.

Boynton Beach City Commissioner (Dist. 2) CO-ENDORSEMENT: Mike Fitzpatrick and Christina Romelus

Boynton Beach City Commissioner (Dist. 4) Tyrone Penserga

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FEATURE national Photo: Facebook.

Methodists May Split Over LGBT Issues

LGBT rights divide America’s third largest church Dakin Andone CNN

fter years of debate, hundreds of United Methodists from all over the world gathered in St. Louis last week to settle the denomination’s stance on LGBT clergy and same-sex weddings. In the eyes of many, they failed. Following several days of dramatic testimony and prayer, delegates of the denomination’s General Conference voted 438-384 to reinforce the United Methodist Church’s stance against ordaining gay clergy and performing same-sex weddings, in a move that threatens to split the secondlargest Protestant denomination in the US, and one that has a growing presence internationally. United Methodists who spoke to CNN reacted with a mix of devastation and contentment. However, none are celebrating. ‘I feel like someone has died’ Jordan Harris, a gay United Methodist pastor in Somerville, Massachusetts, decided to pursue ministry because of a childhood experience with homelessness. It was a church, he said, that helped his family, and it inspired him to become a pastor and help others.

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3 .6.2019

But now, on the cusp of being ordained the conference play out, Harris felt that the and marrying his fiancé, Harris is afraid traditionalists were unwilling to meet in the for the career he’s spent at least eight years middle. And now he’s left disappointed and preparing for. afraid. “I feel like someone has died,” Harris told “It’s hard to be in this place where you feel CNN. like things are falling apart all around you.” For years liberal United Methodists like Harris have pushed for the church to adopt ‘Who are we to legislate love more tolerant policies. of God?’ The Simple Plan would have removed language The One Church Plan prohibiting gay marriage was the path favored by and clergy from the Flo Martin. She’s the wife United Methodist of a retired minister, and Book of Discipline. The the mother of a current Traditional Plan, the one pastor. She’s also been a that passed, reaffirmed heavily involved member the church’s current for most of her life. stance. But while watching the There was also the proceedings online this One Church Plan, which week, Martin wondered, would have allowed “Have we really sat down - Jordan Harris local churches to and talked and listened Pastor decided on the issue for and allowed ourselves to themselves but keep the hear each other and each denomination together. others’ stories?” “It felt like we finally got to a place where Martin preferred the One Church Plan we were at least able to have constructive because she felt it afforded people the dialogue,” he said. opportunity to find a church that aligned with He was ultimately let down. As he watched their beliefs, “but also room for us to still say

“It felt like we finally got to a place where we were at least able to have constructive dialogue.”

we could be together.” “There are people sitting in pews together that disagree on lots of issues,” she explained. “Not only homosexuality but political issues and other issues. And if there were an emergency they would be there working sideby-side, caring and praying for each other.” “Who are we,” she added, “to be legislating the love of God, and putting barriers around people being in ministry?” LGBT people ‘are part of our family’ When the Traditional Plan passed, Keith Mcilwain, a pastor in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, said he was pleased with the outcome. “I wanted to see my preferred plan pass, just like every pastor did,” he said. “But I was keenly aware that no matter which plan passed, people were going to be upset, disappointed and people were going to be in pain.” “So I could not really celebrate,” he said. Mcilwain supported the Traditional Plan because it most closely aligned with the church’s theology and its historic stance on homosexuality -- that it is “outside the bounds of orthodox Christianity,” he said.

FEATURE national But prior to the conference Mcilwain held meetings with the members of his church to clarify the meeting’s purpose and start a dialogue. He wanted them to understand that the church was not deciding whether gay people were allowed to come to church. That much was not up for debate. He explained in a letter to his congregation that “our Church is debating how to be in ministry with LGBTQ persons -- not whether we will be in ministry with them.” Mcilwain’s congregation has a mix of members with different political perspectives and beliefs, he said, including gay people. “They are loved and they love others. We welcome them, they welcome us and we love them,” he said. “They are part of our family.” “Whether or not we will include them isn’t an issue,” he said. Rather, General Conference’s purpose was to decide “to what extent would it be appropriate to include them.”

The denomination’s Book of Discipline says all people have “sacred worth,” but it denounces the “practice of homosexuality,” and says it is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” But there are openly gay and lesbian clergy members who serve -- in 2016, Karen Phyllis Oliveto became the first married lesbian to become a bishop. While they gay clergy could be removed from ministry, church trials are rare. Harris was “hopeful” the UMC would continue to take steps towards tolerance this week. He felt some of the proposals up for debate offered a chance for churches with different views to continue to “coexist.” Like many LGBT clergy and United Methodists, Harris hoped delegates would vote for what was known as the Simple Plan -- one of three proposed plans that outlined different tracts for the church’s stance on LGBT persons. Martin pointed out she would have been staunchly The church faces a opposed to a split in years possible split past. But now she wonders if - Keith Mcilwain there’s a way the UMC could Pastor But the debate’s not over. split amicably, illustrating to The UMC’s Judicial Council the world that people who -- think of it as the church’s Supreme Court have different beliefs can “agree to disagree -- is set to review the Traditional Plan at its agreeably.” meeting in Illinois next month to decide But Harris said he’s determined to stay, whether it’s constitutional. and he doesn’t believe he’s alone. “The vast If the council upholds the plan, many fear majority of the response that I’ve seen ... has a split is imminent, and that liberal members been one of faithful resistance.” and more progressive churches will leave “I don’t see a whole lot of progressive the denomination. pastors or LGBTQ people who are adamant And while that’s no one’s preferred route, about leaving or giving up,” he said. “Rather, Mcilwain and Martin are coming to terms I think a lot of us are reinvigorated.” with the possibility. But right now he’s focused on Sunday, Mcilwain made clear he prefers the church and what he’ll say when he steps into the stay together, and he’s hopeful. pulpit. All he can do is share “the same truth “But if some people feel that they cannot I preached last Sunday, and the Sunday remain,” he conceded, “then I love them before and before that,” Harris said, “which enough to let them leave.” is, you are loved by God.”

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feature the Johns Committee

The Johns Committee State Sanctioned Homophobia Before Anita there was Johns An in-depth look at Florida’s shameful past Christiana Lilly Editor’s note: this story originally ran in 2016. In light of the resolution introduced into the Florida Legislature apologizing for the infamous Johns committee, SFGN is re-running the story.

or many people, their memories civil rights activists and integrationists, of their college years are filled namely setting its sights on the NAACP. with football games, parties, and Soon, however, the committee decided cramming for exams. For others, to go after a target that wasn’t so strongly it’s horrific flashbacks of being stalked represented: LGBT people. on campus, hours of interrogation, and Art Copleston was one of them. Growing questioning if everyone up moving from city to city they interacted with was an in Florida, he graduated investigator. high school in 1950 and For students and teachers joined the Air Force. After at some of the top universities serving nearly four years, in the state, this is a part of he was able to use the GI their history, the harassment Bill to attend the University of the Johns Committee. of Florida. His first day “While generally speaking of school was on his 25th we live in a society that’s birthday in 1957. He had accepting of people and plans to study industrial their private lifestyles, the management and move Johns Committee left us ahead in life. - Jim Schnur a legacy of intolerance,” However, the Johns Special Collections Librarian said Jim Schnur, the special Committee would try its at USF St. Petersburg collections librarian at USF best to knock him down. St. Petersburg. “It was just Copleston was “a disastrous how abhorrent they were; how many lives closet case” and only told a select few they attempted to destroy.” friends at his school that he was gay, It was 1956 when the state formed knowing they were too. the Florida Legislative Investigation “I had no money and the family had no Committee, or better known as the Johns money and I had to get a source of income Committee, as it was headed by Sen. and I knew I was gay. I had to hide it because Charley Johns, a Democrat from Starke, at the time, you didn’t dare mention that to Fla. who had also served as governor for a anyone,” he said. year-and-a-half. During a summer semester, he was The country was in the midst of the Red hanging out with some gay friends at a bar Scare, and the committee was out to find across the street, The Burger House, when

“It was just how abhorrent they were; how many lives they attempted to destroy.”

Art Copleston at the University of Florida in 1958.

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3 .6.2019

feature the Johns Committee a friend leaned in to whisper in his ear. Committee — one night after a party he “One of the gay guys whispered to me that undressed in their dorm and touched there was a guy sitting at the bar watching himself, coming onto Copleston and asking me,” he remembers. “My tipster said, I hear if he had ever been with a man before. When that there is some sort of a gay investigation asked about it later, he proudly admitted he going on by possibly the state officials and was getting paid by the committee, which maybe this guy is from that group.” helped him with college tuition. The man was John Tileston, a police officer “I never knew where one of the with the university. investigators was going to suddenly appear The very next day, the same friend told him in my daily life. It could be in walking down in the cafeteria that he had been pulled from a sidewalk, in a classroom, outside my dorm class and interrogated. Being proudly out, he door, at any time in the day or night, I never said he was excited to stand knew when they were going up to them. A few weeks later, to be there watching me,” he when the fall semester started, said. “That was, I think, one it was Copleston’s turn. He was of the most debilitating things pulled out of class and met that came out of this whole by officers in standard Johns thing for me. It was exhausting Committee uniforms — light as well as terrifying.” blue uniforms with a matching Copleston said his friends hat, a holster with a pistol, didn’t socialize on campus, out and knee-high, shiny black of fear of being seen together. boots. Copleston was thrown To keep any semblance of a in a squad car and taken into social life, they would escape to an interrogation room in the Daytona Beach or Jacksonville administration building with for the weekend. Even so, he - Art Copleston covered windows, a table with was interrogated two or three University of Florida graduate three wooden chairs, a light more times, he said, including bulb dangling from the ceiling, being pulled out of class while and a tape recorder. he was taking his accounting final exam. This was years before Miranda Rights, and “It was the same crap every time,” he said. he had no legal representation. For hours, “I want people to know what happened.” Tileston questioned Copleston about his Despite the fear and stress, Copleston homosexuality and who he knew to be gay. graduated from the University of Florida He refused to give them the answers they with honors and a 3.8 GPA. He immediately wanted. After the interrogation, Copleston left the state. noticed that his mail was taking longer It wasn’t just students who were to get to him and discovered it was being targeted — it’s believed 15 professors at the intercepted by the committee. university were also targeted, including Later, he discovered his roommate was professor Sigismond Diettrich, who served actually an informant planted by the Johns as the esteemed chairman of the geography

“I never knew where one of the investigators was going to suddenly appear in my daily life.”

department. He was called to a hotel in Gainesville for an interrogation, where he discovered a colleague told the committee that Diettrich tapped his foot in the bathroom sometimes, and he believed it was to encourage sexual advances from men. After the interrogation, Diettrich was so embarrassed and ashamed that he took 85 aspirin pills and attempted to jump out the window of his office building. He didn’t go through with the suicide attempt, but resigned from the university. “I have lost all I had, all I lived for in my proud vanity,” he said, according to special collections librarian Schnur’s thesis. “If I’ll have to leave my beloved Florida … I shall go forth in humility.” The committee also set its sights beyond Gainesville, interrogating students and professors at Florida State University and University of South Florida. Ironically enough, it was the committee itself that would be its own downfall. In 1964, the

committee published “Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida,” nicknamed “the purple pamphlet” for its coloring, with the intention of warning the public about the dangers of gay people. Instead, people were outraged with the content and photos of the pamphlet – photos of a man receiving fellatio in a bathroom stall, a man tied up with rope while wearing a g string, and a glossary of “homosexual terms and deviate acts” such as “fairy,” “butch,” “69,” “71,” and more. In the pamphlet, the committee claimed that 60,000 Floridians were “active homosexuals” with “an insatiable appetite for sexual activities [who] find special gratification in the recruitment to their ranks of youth.” Finally, the goal was to “keep their hands off our children.” Reacting to the public outcry that taxpayer money was used to create “state-sponsored pornography,” the committee was not given funding to continue its witch-hunt. Continued on next page 

In the pamphlet, the committee claimed that 60,000 Floridians were “active homosexuals” with “an insatiable appetite for sexual activities [who] find special gratification in the recruitment to their ranks of youth.” the goal was to “keep their hands off our children.”

3.6.2019 •

feature the Johns Committee

“[Johns] asked fellow lawmakers to ‘close the office, lock up the records and save the taxpayers of Florida the remainder of the $155,000 appropriation,’” according to John Howard, author of “Carryin’ on in the Lesbian and Gay South. “Claiming that the FLIC operated exclusively under the ‘executive session’ provision of the 1885 constitution, the legislature sealed all public records of this agency from inspection until 31 December 2028.” For nearly three decades, the Johns Committee was buried in history, its reign of terror forgotten by Floridians, committee members’ names still remaining on some school buildings to this day. But in 1991, Schnur, the special collections librarian, would be instrumental in unearthing the truth. A graduate student at the time, he was coming up with a thesis on Florida history when he came across the Johns Committee. He requested records on the committee, but discovered that the 30,000 pages of records were sealed until 2027 due to

an archaic amendment in Florida’s 1885 about lesbian relationships. However, they constitution. didn’t seem concerned when straight men “Long story short, after some battles admitted to having thoughts of pedophilia or that took place where a lot of us were very had touched young children. involved, the records were finally opened in “Instead of making a copy and making July of 1993,” Schnur said. “They were heavily up the copy but preserving the originals, redacted and they damaged the original they destroyed them. Why did the state of documents, they mutilated the original Florida do that? The state of Florida was documents. My thesis came out in 1995 and I put into a tough predicament because they wrote basically the first institutional history had destroyed people’s lives,” Schnur said. of the Johns Committee.” “There were lots of lists of “We have a lot of great names.” As Beutke DeVito records about the Sons of the In 1995, Schnur completed Confederacy, but we don’t his thesis. looked into have very much on the LGBTQ Four years later, Allyson Hawkins’ history, Beutke DeVito was a experience.” Poring over the documents, student at the University of she discovered Schnur read transcripts of Florida and was assigned a he was forced to interviews, with investigators documentary project. Her asking students and teachers professor encouraged her to travel to Miami “intimate, humiliating Virgil Hawkins, the and wait for hours research questions.” He said the first African American to be investigators were especially admitted to the university’s in a hot, humid interested when they were law school after a Supreme basement to be interrogating someone Court battle; he withdrew his questioned by the application in exchange for a court order to desegregate the Johns Committee. university’s colleges. As Beutke DeVito looked into Hawkins’ history, she discovered he was forced to travel to Miami and wait for hours in a hot, humid basement to be questioned by the Johns Committee. One thing led to another, and she discovered Florida’s dirty secret, starting with its hunt for African Americans, and later, LGBT people. While compiling data, she came across Schnur’s master’s thesis. Over the next year, she produced “Behind Closed Doors.” In her documentary, she interviews those who were terrorized by the committee, and also attempts to reach out to those in the committee itself. Beutke DeVito reached out to Johns’ son, who kept postponing the interview until finally canceling. Art Copleston in 2014. She also discovered communication between the university’s president J. Wayne Reitz, and Johns during the witch-hunt — Reitz happily allowed Johns on campus. Today, the student union is named after Reitz. “We would eat lunch at the Reitz Union,” she said of her days as a student. “You realize all the things that kind of happened during that time period. It was definitely not something that I had expected to find when I first read about Virgil Hawkins.” In 2011, another documentary was made on the Johns Committee, this time at the University of Central Florida. After the attack

“This was allowed to happen. This was a clear representation of mass thinking throughout this society during the ‘50s. Homosexuality in the 50s was really an aberration … We were considered really different and really sick, sick people. People need to know that this went on, that this happened.” - Art Copleston

University of Florida graduate

at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people, the film was revived and broadcast on more than 100 PBS stations across the country. Today, Copleston lives in Palm Springs, Calif. and volunteers for the Democratic Party. He has done a few speaking engagements about the Johns Committee, and most of the audience’s reaction is surprise that it happened. “This was allowed to happen. This was a clear representation of mass thinking throughout this society during the ‘50s. Homosexuality in the ‘50s was really an aberration … We were considered really different and really sick, sick people. People need to know that this went on, that this happened.” It’s been so buried, in fact, that the University of Florida’s alumni magazine named Johns to its list of distinguished alumni in 2005. (He was quickly removed when the Alumni Association was told of his legacy.) “It definitely has taught me to know your history, to question the past, to look at things with a critical eye,” said Beutke DeVito, who is now a faculty lecturer at the University of Kentucky.

To read the latest news on the Johns Committee, see page 12. 20

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COMMUNITY press release

MUSIC LINE-UP RELEASED FOR FURRY FUN FESTIVAL

ort Lauderdale’s no-kill animal shelter, Abandoned Pet Rescue will be holding its first ever Furry Fun Festival on Sunday, March 10, 2019 from noon to 4 p.m. The event will take place on the grounds of the Sanctuary Church at 1400 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. The event will include some of the great music talent of South Florida. Here is the performance schedule. 12:00-12:45 p.m. — The Shindig 1:15-2 p.m. — Peter White and Friends 2:30-3 p.m. — The Weedline Band 3:15-4 p.m. — Kilmo and the Killers Featuring Jimi Fiano In addition, artisans, crafters, jewelers and vendors will show off their wares while you and your pet can be captured on digital at the APR Pet Photo Booth. Register your loved ones for the Fun Dog Show with categories like cutest pup and dog/owner who most resemble each other, plus of course some of South Florida’s most interesting doggie fashions on the runway.

Artist experiences will include a battle between painters in an on-the-spot live painting competition plus a chance for everyone to try “pouring,” a new collaborative painting technique. There will also be a childrens area featuring the children’s painting booth, a bounce house, and the color cubes jungle gym. Great food, the tastiest brews, and the sweetest treats will all be on hand at the APR Kitchen on site. Bring your pup, your appetite and your blanket, sit on the lawn, enjoy the music and roam this runway for an afternoon of fun. ADMISSION IS FREE. PARKING IS FREE and widely available.

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Convictions

Guest Column

‘The First Step’

The Florida Inclusive Workforce Act We have a chance to pass a statewide non-discrimination law protecting the entire LGBT community and it’s imperative we support it

Tony Lima

The capitol in Tallahassee. Photo credit: Ebyabe, via Wiki.

Executive Director, SAVE

hen the legislative session begins this week in Tallahassee, there will be a legitimate opportunity for consideration of a bill to protect LGBTQ Floridians, particularly our transgender and gender nonconforming neighbors, friends and colleagues, from discrimination in the workplace. Senator Joe Gruters recently introduced the Florida Inclusive Workforce Act (FIWA), a bill championed by SAVE, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to Florida’s Civil Rights Act in the Senate. Its companion bill was filed and co-sponsored in the House by Representative Javier Fernandez (D-Miami) and Amber Mariano (R-Port Richey) last week. With sponsorship in both houses and support across the aisle, there is now growing momentum for FIWA and a significant opportunity for consideration during this spring’s session. In the context and history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination legislation here in Florida, this is hopeful news. Legislation to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations was initially introduced in 2007 but failed to hit the Senate floor. The Florida Competitive Workforce Act followed in 2009, but unfortunately, in the past nine legislative sessions, the bill failed to be heard in the Florida House of Representatives. In 2015, there was one hearing in the Senate, which failed to pass. As we are all aware, we could not find ourselves in a more precarious political and judicial climate. In 2011, the 11th circuit in Glenn v. Brumby declared workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity a violation of the “sex” based discrimination, yet, as recently as last year, the 11th refused to rule in favor of interpreting civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

As we are all aware, we could not find ourselves in a more precarious political and judicial climate.

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3 .6.2019

The 11th circuit is currently hearing another case in which they have yet to rule. As circuit splits are more likely to happen, this increases the likelihood of a case (or cases) reaching the Supreme Court of the United States, and with recent changes in SCOTUS composition, positive court rulings on LGBTQ issues are becoming even riskier. What this means is that LGBTQ organizations like SAVE, of which I serve as the executive director, need to spend significant energy protecting our rights at the state level. It’s on organizations like SAVE to ensure legislation passes to protect our constituents as courts are no longer a reliable space to seek justice. State-based protections reinforce state responsibility and power to protect its

population with stricter confines than federal law. It is important to remember; however, that should, and when protections become laws, state executive are required to defend them. And so, SAVE and other advocates need to maintain pressure, demonstrate support and continue to articulate their benefits even once the laws are passed. State executives must continue to understand the benefits of these laws to the state and all its residents. And so, when it comes to LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections here in Florida, SAVE whole-heartedly supports the Florida Inclusive Workforce Act. We acknowledge that FIWA focuses specifically on workplace protections as opposed to directly including housing and public accommodations as part of the legislation.

Convictions

Guest Column

However, we believe the most effective and support of the Florida Inclusive strategy for securing LGBTQ protections Workforce Act is just the first step— at every level is a comprehensive one not the only or the last. And nor is it a that begins with securing workplace compromise on the comprehensive protections. protections we all deserve. Advocates, The reality is that employment is like SAVE, need and will continue to a fundamental vehicle to personal fight these legal fights on all fronts— success and fulfillment, financial from employment to housing to security and improved public accommodations. mental and physical wellWe are committed to a SAVE’s being, particularly for the broader strategy which most vulnerable members advocacy and includes a host of of the LGBTQ community, protections and will work support of our transgender and to secure state funding the Florida gender non-conforming for the implementation community. Stable of protections and Inclusive employment also empowers programming serving Workforce access and personal LGBTQ populations. We sustainability when it comes continue to march Act is just the will to housing. Employment together until every first step— also increases access to LGBTQ Floridian is safe quality medical care as and protected in all not the only a measure of equitable spaces, treated with the or the last. compensation. This can dignity and respect they include ensuring insurance deserve and has access to covers transition-related, gender- the same privileges and opportunities affirming care, etc. Finally, employment as their fellow citizens. protections would effectively include I encourage you to stay informed. public accommodations as customers/ Reach out to your legislators to voice consumers/students would be treated your support and stay tuned for equitably to employees. more developments. Follow SAVE on Like all fights for equality and justice, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for I can assure you that SAVE’s advocacy the latest updates.

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Antonio “Tony” Lima is the Executive Director of SAVE, Florida’s longest-serving LGBTQ advocacy organization. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. 3.6.2019 •

NEWS white house watch

Washington Governor To Campaign On Climate Change And Indiana mayor campaigns as only gay candidate

John McDonald

ashington Governor Jay Inslee announced he is running for president. He made the announcement in a live broadcast March 1 on Facebook. Inslee, 68, intends to put climate change at the forefront of his campaign. “We’re the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we’re the last that can do something about it,” Inslee declares in a campaign video. The video, part of Inslee’s presidential campaign rollout, is titled “Our Moment” and shows Inslee walking the port in grayskied, stormy Seattle. “We can do this!” Inslee says in the video. Inslee joins an increasingly crowded Democratic primary field with at least a dozen major candidates announced. As a governor, he is the first candidate with current state level executive experience to seek the presidency. “Since Jay became governor in 2013, Washington state has expanded voter rights, provided affordable health care to 800,000 more Washingtonians, passed the Reproductive Parity Act, stood up to the president’s Muslim ban, protected LGBTQI Americans from discrimination, raised the minimum wage, passed historic investments in public schools and infrastructure, and created one of the best clean-energy economies in America,” reads the bio on the State of Washington’s governor webpage. Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper joined the campaign on Monday. Only 20 candidates will be allowed on the debate stage, per Democratic National Committee rules. Elsewhere, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigned in Iowa on Monday. Buttigieg is the only gay candidate in the field. He will be featured in a town hall airing Sunday, March 10 at 9 p.m. on CNN. Buttigieg, 37, is also promoting the release of his new biography, “Shortest Way Home.” In the book, Buttigieg writes of his undergraduate years at Harvard University and creation of the social website, thefacebook.com. “In the privacy of my room, out of what I told myself was curiosity, I could even search

Jay Inslee. Photo via U.S. Govt.

which users were men whose profiles said they were interested in men. Still years away from facing the reality of my own sexual orientation, I had no practical use for the information, but I was impressed that some of my classmates had no reservations about putting it online in this way,” Buttigieg reveals, adding: “Only today can I imagine the comedy of traveling back in time to tap my twenty-one-year-old self on the shoulder and explain to him that one day he would use a Facebook-connected app on a phone to be introduced to his future husband.” In the book, Buttigieg writes of deploying to Afghanistan, volunteering for the 2000 Gore campaign (he was a driver), meeting his husband, etc.

LGBT Field Notes: Jared Polis, Colorado’s governor, is not showing his hand when it comes to the Democratic presidential field. In an interview with Chuck Todd of NBC News, Polis, a gay man, said he is looking for authenticity from the candidates. “Who is the best at establishing that relationship of trust with the voters? Who do we think can win based on those personal traits and characteristics?” asked Polis, who described the party’s primary system as an “open casting call” and “audition.”

White House Watch is a weekly column taking a look at the state of the 2020 presidential election.

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3 .6.2019

WMG Volume 6 • Issue 5 March 6, 2019

Wilton Manors Gazette Facebook.com/groups/WMGazette Justin Flippen, mayor of Wilton Manors. Photo via the City of Wilton Manors, Facebook.

Page 6

Wilton Manors Backs Statewide

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Opinion

Let Compassion Guide Us Into the Future in Wilton Manors

WMG March 6, 2019 • Volume 6 • Issue 5 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305

By Sal Torre As we finished celebrating Mardi Gras earlier this week, and with springtime festivities only weeks away, 2019 is picking up steam and moving right along. Luckily enough, I did not get myself arrested on Tuesday evening as I stumbled out onto the Drive with my Mardi Gras beads shouting at people passing by to flaunt themselves in exchange for cheap jewelry. One or two enthusiastically engaged in my debauchery until friends hauled me away to safety. All in all, it was a far cry from the hordes of revelers that pack New Orleans and other cities throughout Christendom on the eve marking the beginning of the Lenten season. Now we move on to 40 days of ascetic behavior and avoidance of temptation. The many who claim to be good Christians will hopefully gain greater compassion as they practice a more spiritual discipline through the Lenten season, even though the Methodists are clearly off to a poor start in that department.

Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943

On the topic of compassion is a bright spot on the local level here in Broward County with the launch of the Community Court, which is held every Wednesday at the Fort Lauderdale City Hall. It is the first court of its kind here in Florida, aimed mainly at those accused of petty infractions like panhandling and loitering. This court will go a long way in assisting a very vulnerable population in our community. Only a few weeks into operation, many are witnessing a huge support network coming together to offer services to those so desperately in need. Outside City Hall, organizations offer clothing, care services, and assistance in obtaining legal identification cards, birth certificates, and so much more that is required for many to get the social services they need to break the cycle of homelessness. This small part of a solution to a regional issue of homelessness, mental illness and addiction can serve as a beacon of hope for us all. Looking to lend a helping hand to those in need is a far better approach than to do nothing, turning a blind eye to encampments outside our public facilities, and offering no hope as those who are suffering spiral further down a path of despair. Initial signs of compassion and hospitality were definitely fading fast at our last City Commission meeting once the initial presentation was made to a packed house of enthusiastic residents. Those packing the Commission Chambers heard a wonderful presentation on the Station Area Master Plan and possible development scenarios that are necessary to sustain our city’s future. The presenter did a great job informing the engaged audience on the possibilities of a future train station and how increased density achieved in the right places and with appropriate design does not have to be viewed as an evil monster rearing its head to bring havoc and destruction to us all. Unfortunately, the ensuing presentation on the Hotel Study Findings caused all good feelings to quickly dissipate, like a vacuum sucking all the air out of the room. Luckily for the presenter, he had to leave early for another engagement. Had he stayed around, he would have experienced very little compassion once the agitated Commissioners and audience let loose with questions and commentary that would have bordered on verbal abuse towards this poor misguided soul. To think of comparing our great city’s needs to those of an aged motel chain on Federal Highway was insulting enough for anyone in the audience to endure. In an attempt to make ice cream out of mud, our Economic Development

Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli piero@sfgn.com Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com Copyeditor • Kerri Covington

Editorial

Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com News Editor • Sallie James

Correspondents

Sal Torre • James Oaksun

Staff Photographers

J.R. Davis • Carina Mask • Steven Shires

Sales & Marketing For ad placement in the Wilton Manors Gazette, contact 954-530-4970

Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Clark Rogers clark.rogers@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER

WMG File Photo.

MEMBER

advisor stated that at least now we know the hurdles placed before us by such misguided individuals and institutions who are preventing such a shared dream of becoming a reality. By the end of a long informative evening, compassion was clearly not on the minds of those few tired souls left sitting in the chamber. One caveat was to watch the Commissioners begin to get a bit curt with their colleagues on the dais as the facade of pleasantries faded along with the remaining minutes to the midnight hour. As 2019 moves steadily ahead we should spend the next few weeks looking at ways to bring compassion into our daily routine. Let compassion guide us and motivate us to assist those in our community in need of a helping hand. Let us be motivated by the good work being done every Wednesday at the Community Court. Rather than turn a blind eye, let us compassionately engage to bring about solutions that will make life just better here… WMG

Associated Press MEMBER

MEMBER

A curly-tailed lizard. Photo credit: Matt Saunders, via flickr.

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March 6, 2019

More Reflections on Inflections

Real Estate

By James Oaksun We now return to our series on predicting major moves in real estate prices here in South Florida. Over the last 45 years, there have been four major trends in south Florida real estate prices – down/up/down/up – and three readily identifiable inflection points – late 1997 (down turned up), late 2006 (up turned down), and early 2012 (down turned up). This week we will look at that first inflection point and see if we can answer two critical questions: 1. Why were real (inflation adjusted) prices falling from 1977 through 1997? 2. What might explain the reversal of that downtrend? Adjusted for inflation, real estate prices fell by 21 percent from 1977 to late 1997 – about one percent per year. Sure, there were a few blips here and there, but the clear trendline was down. I’ve been looking for a formula that might explain why this and the other inflection points occurred. So far, no luck. Perhaps it is a fool’s errand, and I am no fool. I can look at the situation, however, and see a couple things that standard economic theory would suggest as contributors to that first inflection point of late 1997.

1. Supply and Demand. All other things being equal, prices will increase when demand exceeds supply, and decrease when supply exceeds demand. What do we know about the period 1975-2000 from a development and building standpoint? That was the time frame when the suburbs west of 441 and the Turnpike were developed. Cities like Tamarac, Margate, Sunrise, Plantation and Pembroke Pines saw enormous new construction. Broward County had tremendous population growth then, as well. County population increased from just under 900,000 in 1975 to 1.6 million in 2000. So, the population almost doubled. But believe it or not, the number of housing units in the county more than doubled – from around 300,000 to around 700,000. And at that point, the county was just about built out. Supply exceeded demand. 2. Substitution Effect. The desirability of investment in real estate depends in part on expected rates of return compared with other alternative investment options. Indeed there are personal, emotional and psychic benefits from owning one’s home. But there are times in the economic cycle where its attractiveness as an investment is more favorable. Considering the period 1977 to 1997, the S&P 500 index, with dividends reinvested, had a real (adjusted for inflation)

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March 6, 2019

WMG File Photo.

return of nine percent per year. That compares with the -1 percent for Broward real estate. Clearly, having your money in the stock market in that time frame was more lucrative. Of course, with the stock market (as with real estate), good times eventually end. In December 1996, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan – whose every word and facial expression were analyzed by Wall Street – warned of “irrational exuberance” in the stock market. But investors don’t just stop investing. Although the stock market game was ending, there was an asset class whose practical supply was almost maxed out, demand was strong, and was 20 percent cheaper than it had been 20 years earlier. Open the floodgates Broward County, here comes the money. Inflection Point One has been reached. Next time: The Bubble. WMG James Oaksun, Florida’s Real Estate Geek(SM), is BrokerOwner of New Realty Concepts in Oakland Park. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).

3.6.2019 •

rebuttal

Creating A New Wilton Drive Comes With Growing Pains Blevins blasts Kent’s editorial as off-base

Generally, I agree with many of Norm Kent’s commentary and editorials. However, I must take issue with his headline and subsequent article entitled “PLANNERS STRIKE OUT AT THE PLAZA”. As one of the advocates for this project and vice chairman of the Wilton Drive Improvement District, I can attest to the numerous meetings, workshops and public hearings that have been held over the past ten years to make Wilton Drive safer, more beautiful, and cooler with the addition of many more trees and plants along the Drive. The real catalyst came about four years ago when well-known singer and Gay Men’s Chorus member Greg Futchi was killed crossing Wilton Drive. A huge rally was quickly organized that got the attention of our elected city officials and the Florida Department of Transportation-FDOT. Norm may not be aware that prior to Greg’s death, on several occasions the city commission

chamber was filled to capacity with support for narrowing Wilton Drive and many of the supporters were Wilton Drive business owners as well as residents. Greg’s death was snot the first and it was time to find a way to save lives and improve Wilton Drive at the same time. The exaggeration of “blood on your body” that Norm states in his articles hardly compares to the number of deaths and blood that has been shed on Wilton Drive with pedestrian fatalities. Thanks to the efforts of many of the commissioners including Vice Mayor Tom Green and Mayor Justin Flippen who worked closely with the Metropolitan Planning Organization-MPO, the MPO agreed to fund more than three million dollars in construction costs,. City staff, FDOT, engineers and Landscape consultants spent countless hours in meetings over the past two and a half years working and reworking plans to optimize the funding resources

Let your voice be heard!

Submit your own letter to Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com

This letter remains unedited.

Wilton Drive. Photo credit: Justin Musial.

Doug Blevins. 

from the MPO for a better and safer Wilton Drive. Several workshop meetings were held where the public and business owners could offer comments. Ironically, I don’t recall seeing Norm or anyone from SFGN at those meetings. What the public and many businesses don’t realize is the contractors that FDOT hired were ahead of schedule on other projects and were able to move ahead faster on the more challenging portions of the construction on Wilton Drive. While we didn’t expect that we would have this much construction during our peak winter season, the good news is that as of today, barring no unforeseen circumstances, the completion may be sooner than previously expected. The Wilton Drive Improvement District also made it a priority to keep all businesses notified of scheduling and the segmenting of the construction process. Lightship Media was contracted to create a Website dedicated to the narrowing project and has done so with informative videos and weekly notifications to help businesses stay informed and help them navigate the inevitable growing pains of construction. I encourage everyone to check out Wiltondrive.org. There is a narrated video that will help explain more about the changes and challenges we face in improving Wilton Drive. We are also contracting a visual artist to render three prominent locations on Wilton Drive to depict realistic changes that will dramatically affect businesses and pedestrians in a very positive way. The City and the Wilton Drive Improvement district also funded a discount program for Lyft and Uber to help bring patrons to the drive during the construction. In the meantime, YES, we have to deal with barriers, dirt, dust, a bit of inconvenience

and in some cases, businesses may realize a slight decrease in business. I have been reaching out to several business in the past week and some have seen no effect in their numbers, while others have mentioned 1020% reduction. I spoke with Mark Seymour, owners of Hunter’s Night Club located in the Shoppes of Wilton Manors and he is very excited about the improvements and despite the construction, his business is surviving fine. In one case, interestingly enough, Ethos, Greek Bistro has seen an increase of 35% in its revenues over the past few months and construction is directly in front of its location. In closing, it is not the planning that is to be blamed, but perhaps the timing. There are so many aspects of these changes, like drainage, fiber optics, utility lines, etc. that inevitably there are challenges for the contractors as well. It is our sincerest hope that business will show support for a NEW, IMPROVED and SAFER Wilton Drive. We strive to promote all businesses and it is our fervent hope that the positive changes to Wilton Drive will enhance the economic vitality of the Wilton Drive businesses and our entire city. We ask that you encourage everyone to have patience and assure them that the result will be amazing. Be assured, despite Norm Kent’s insistence that the re-design plan was not thought out carefully, I assure you it was. Growing pains hurt, we all recognize that and there is no good time to close an entrance or block a sidewalk, but in the long run, I am certain Wilton Drive and all business will soon be on the road to recovery and better than ever. WMG

- Doug Blevins

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March 6, 2019

Food

Dining on the Drive… and Beyond By Rick Karlin

Join the Conversation

Community

Join the Wilton Manors Gazette Facebook group to let your voice be heard!

Commissioner Julie Carson Diagnosed With Rare Form of Cancer Raymond Carrier

Positive thoughts full of love and support to her from the WilMa community—Stay strong Julie

David Mann

Sending positive thoughts for a quick recovery Photos via Facebook.

John Watson

OMG Prays coming your way! Miracles DO happen! Never give up!

Courtyard Café is kicking off March with some terrific dinner specials. This week they include chicken Francaise, peppered pork medallions, pan-seared salmon and a Southwester New York strip steak. Starting on March 14 the specials will include Asian grilled chicken, baked stuffed pork chops, corned beef and cabbage and a rib-eye steak with mushroom sauce.

Susan Dato

Wishes for a full and speedy recovery!!

Do you get thirsty on Thursdays? At Bona Italian Restaurant select bottles of wine are up to 40 percent off. BTW, if you’re dining at Bona before catching a show at Island City Stage, be sure to let them know and they’ll donate 10 percent of your check to the theater company. Bona shows its commitment to the community by giving back every Monday night as well. Every Monday night a percentage of the sales is donated to a local community organization. During the government shut-down, the folks at New York Grilled Cheese took a trip down to Miami to meet and serve lunch to the National Air Traffic Controllers. From the smiles on their faces you know that grilled cheese made their day!

Wilton Manors PD Shows Off Pride with New Rainbow Rider Amy Alex

Love the idea but the graphics could have been a lot better. But still, well done Wilton Manors! Proud to be part of this city!

Boomerang’s Thrift Store to Leave Wilton Drive Luke Kahlich

This is part of how Wilton Drive is becoming the pawn of rich landlords who seek to make it another Las Olas. Many of us moved here not be live in a place like that. These greedy landlords are ruining the small town people oriented area. So far the city goes along with them it seems.

Marcello V Galante

The arrogance of LoGrand and d’Arminio speaks for what they are about....both newbie transplants trying to squeeze their big city ideas into small town Mayberry a recipe for failure (the failed ‘manhattan’ type business on Dixie lasted less than 3mo)...I guess their next target will be AHF’S Out of The Closet.

Frank Termini Marcelo

Sunday night’s cabaret at The Grille on the Drive is fast becoming the most popular ticket in town. Folks come to enjoy dinner and the show put on by Victor Vazquez and Rick Leonard, Wilton Manor’s answer to Steve and Eydie!

I couldn’t disagree with you more. Maybe this neighborhood could live without another consignment shop as we can do without another Sushi restaurant. Getting items for free and trying to sell for a profit will attract a certain demographic. Like it or not Wilton Manors is moving towards urbanization and gentrification. Maybe it’s time to move on. If you consider Dixie Highway – Manhattan style profile, you are way out of your league . Old time Floridians deserve the respect of the community, but it’s time to move over and let more progressive ideas take over. This is happening all around the U.S. Get out of your cars and walk.

Facebook.com/groups/WMGazette

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March 6, 2019

3.6.2019 •

politics

Wilton Manors Backs Statewide

Non-Discrimination Bills By Sallie James

City officials this week approved a resolution that urges the Florida Legislature to support two separate, bipartisan bills that ban anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace. But this all-gay commission’s vote for approval wasn’t unanimous: Commissioner Julie Carson voted “no” because one of the bills doesn’t address discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodations. Commissioner Gary Resnick voiced support for the resolution but couldn’t vote due to a conflict of interest. Mayor Justin Flippen, Vice Mayor Tom Green and Commissioner Paul Rolli voted “yes.” “I think in today’s environment we need to be united to work together more than ever in terms of LGBTQ rights. These rights in the current environment are eroding on a daily basis and we can’t wait for perfect because perfect never comes,” Rolli said. “I don’t know any group in history that gained all their rights in one day. Civil and equal rights have all been gained incrementally so let’s please work together.” The single resolution included support for both the Florida Inclusive Workforce Act (FIWA) and the Florida Competitive Workforce Act (FCWA). Both bills prohibit employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity and would protect the LGBT community by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Florida’s Civil Rights Act. However, the Competitive Workforce

“I think in today’s environment we need to be united to work together more than ever in terms of LGBTQ rights.” - Paul Rolli

Wilton Manors City Commissioner

The Wilton Manors City Commission during Fort Lauderdale Pride. Photo via the City of Wilton Manors, Facebook.

Act additionally bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations and housing. Supporters of the Competitive Workforce Act believe that accepting anything less is a compromise, but the state Legislature has repeatedly refused to consider the measure for more than a decade. Green said the issue was an emotional one for him. “It’s ridiculous that [you have] two different groups of people wanting the Legislature to pass inclusive legislation, but the two groups aren’t happy with what the other group is after, so they are fighting each other and telling legislators don’t vote for that bill,” Green said. “I voted to support both. The one that has the most traction is [FIWA]. The head of the Republican Party is supporting it. I felt that is the way to go.” Mayor Justin Flippen has said the Commission recognized the merits of both resolutions. Resnick said he was concerned that bickering between two LGBT organizations that support different bills could detract

from the overall cause of stamping out discrimination. “There are a lot of opponents to this bill who would love to just see it die. For the gay community to be fighting against antidiscrimination legislation in Tallahassee just makes it easier for these Conservative Republicans to get through their own legislation,” Resnick said.

The Broward League of Cities Executive Committee, of which he is chairman, passed a resolution supporting FIWA last month, Resnick noted. Additionally other cities have passed similar resolutions supporting FIWA including West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, North Bay Village and Miami Beach. Carson is the first commissioner in South Florida to vote against such a resolution. WMG

Wilton Manors’ pride police car. Photo credit: Carina Mask.

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March 6, 2019

Business SPOtlight

NEWS

Ballz Booted from Court Judge Dismisses Castrataro’s Lawsuit

The Garden at the Grille Expands Menu

By WMG Staff

Photo credit: Marcus Q., via Yelp.

Sean David’s explosive lawsuit against to articulate a single legal claim that could withstand judicial scrutiny. the city of Wilton Manors has imploded. Castrataro’s response was due by Jan. David, former owner of Ballz, a gay sports bar in Wilton Manors, recently sued the 31, 2019, but nothing was filed. When the court management system saw that no city claiming he had been run out of town. Last week though, United States District responsive pleadings had been filed in Court Judge William Dimitrouleas gave Ballz David’s behalf by Feb. 19, Judge Dimtrouleas the boot, throwing the case out of federal extended the time for a reply, but entered a court. The South Florida jurist, appointed “show cause” order, requiring the plaintiff to file it by Tuesday, Feb. to the federal bench by 26, or risk having the case President Bill Clinton in dismissed. 1992, entered a final order David, former However, on Feb. 27, no of default against the reply having been filed, the plaintiff, American Dreams owner of Ballz, court, within its powers, Entertainment, Sean a gay sports entered an order of default David’s corporation. against the plaintiff. David had touted the bar in Wilton A final judgment and complaint around town, Manors, recently order of the court dismissing saying that when he David’s complaint was then opened the club Ballz on sued the city recorded. Wilton Drive in January of claiming he had The city of Wilton Manors 2016, the city “had it in for legal counsel’s office would him,” and harassed him at been run out of not comment on the case every turn. town. while it is pending. It is His attorney, George now determining whether Castrataro, had filed a to seek legal fees against the lawsuit in January, alleging that the city interfered with his opening plaintiff. For David to proceed again under the and operation of the business, impeding its same complaint, he would first have to file success. After the suit was filed however, the City for permission and leave of the court to do of Wilton Manors engaged special counsel so. Castrataro told SFGN that he is exploring Christopher Stearns of Fort Lauderdale, to respond. He answered the claims with a his options, as he still maintains that his fiery motion to dismiss, arguing that David’s client was wrongly persecuted by city suit was specious and without merit, failing officials. WMG

Inside The Grille on the Drive, the Garden’s chef Julio grills fresh pork for the Garden’s tasty Cuban sandwich. Photo credit: WMG staff.

ilton Manors has another master cheeseburger in town. The Garden Restaurant, a great luncheon option, attached to the Grille on the Drive, at 2000 Wilton Drive has launched a new lunch menu. From the Applewood Smoked Bacon on their novel BLT on Rye, to Mama’s Meatballs, your food fortunes have just increased. Juicy, mouthwatering burgers are also added to the mid day fare, along with Gourmet Grilled cheese sandwiches, featuring four cheesy options, including provolone, Swiss, cheddar, and even smoked Gouda. Now for you fit and healthy freaks, they still have their amazing Strawberry Fields salad, infused with key lime vinaigrette, candied pecans, and goat cheese. If you are into fresh fish, the sesame seared tuna is healthy and hearty. But the new Garden has many more flowers on its menu,

including cheesy garlic bread and a tasty spinach dip. Their tuna melt is already a classic, but now the Garden has added a magical monster meatloaf in a bourbon sauce if you want, served on fresh piece of challah. They also feature a Cuban sandwich, my own favorite. The bottom line is that all the sandwiches and servings are moderately priced, homemade, and freshly prepared by their house chef, from the smoked salmon crepes to their eggplant parm submarines. And if you are tempted to go next door to the Dairy Queen for dessert, don’t! The Garden’s Root Beer Floats or Mango Madness smoothies are cream filled and dream worthy.

Dine in their air conditioned venue while looking out on the Drive. Open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

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March 6, 2019

3.6.2019 •

Christ Lutheran Church 1955 East Oakland Park Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306 www.christlutheranfl.org

Sunday Service @ 10am Fellowship after Service

spirituality

SouthFloridaGayNews.com

Your Community Synagogue

What this country needs is a little more PURIM!! Join us on Sunday, March 15th at 5pm

2038 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors ● On the Pride Center campus 954Ͳ564Ͳ9232 ● www.EtzChaimFlorida.org Proudly serving our community since 1976

LISTINGS

Divine Mercy Chapel 2749 NE 10th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-567-1930 - DivineMercy.church Service Time: Mass, Sunday 10:30am

Congregation Etz Chaim 2038 N. Dixie Hwy (Pride Center Building B), Wilton Manors 954-564-9232 - etzchaimflorida.org RabbiNoahKitty@etzchaimflorida.org Friday Night Shabbat Service 8p.m.

St. Nicholas Episcopal Church 1111 E. Sample Road, Pompano Beach (954)942-5887 - stnicholasfl.org office@stnicholasfl.org Service Times: Sundays 8:00AM & 10:30AM (9:30AM only from Memorial Day through Labor Day)

Holy Angels Catholic Community 2917 NE 6th Avenue Wilton Manors, FL 33334 954-633-2987 - HolyAngelsFL.net Sunday Mass at 11AM Christ Lutheran Church 1955 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale. 33306 (954) 564-7673 - christlutheranfl.org pastordeborah@christlutheranfl.org Worship: Sunday 10:00am

Be a part of our LAKE WORTH Faith Community No matter who you are, No matter where you are on life’s journey, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE!

1415 North K Street Lake Worth, FL 33460 (561) 582-6691 | www.fcclw.org office@lakeworthchurch.org

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First Congregational United Church of Christ 1415 North K Street, Lake Worth, FL 33460 561-582-6691 - fcclw.org office@lakeworthchurch.org Service Time: Sunday 10:30AM United Church of Christ Fort Lauderdale 2501 NE 30th Street, Ft. Lauderdale (954)563-4271 - uccftl.org revpatrickrogers@gmail.com Service Times: Thursdays 10:30AM (Elliot Hall) & Sundays 10:30AM (Sanctuary)

Fort Lauderdale Friends Meeting

Simplicity Peace Integrity Community Equality Sustainability

Meets for Quaker silent worship Sunday at 11:00 AM SANCTUARY 1400 N. Federal Hwy. Ft. Lauderdale

FAITH & PRIDE spirituality

between the beginning

and the end Reverend Dr. Deborah L. Geweke Christ Lutheran Church

ur journey begins with ashes. They remind us of what we once were and what we will someday become again. In the Rite of Christian Burial we are reminded of our nature, as we commend the body of our brother or sister to the ground, “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The ancient practice of smearing ashes on one’s forehead on Ash Wednesday (this year falling on March 6) serves as a potent image of the life we live in between the beginning and the end, our bracketed existence living as disciples of our Lord. The life we live as Christians is marked by the sign we receive on Ash Wednesday—the very same sign marked upon us in our Holy Baptism and again traced over us at our Christian Burial—the cross. While seldom in our lives is this sign as visible as the smudge on Ash Wednesday, evidence of being so marked by our Lord is made real as we live a “cruciform life.” That is, life lived under the cross. A life in which our faith is made evident in our relationships, both “vertically” with our Lord and God, and

“horizontally” with our brothers and sisters in the faith. On this Ash Wednesday, as through all of Lent and into the Easter Season, Christ Lutheran Church invites you, our brothers and sisters in our community, to join together in worshipping the Lord of the Cross and the Christ of the coming Easter. We are a community together and together we are brought by our Lord as One people.

Ash Wednesday Service March 6: Noon and 7:00 p.m.

Lenten Services Wednesdays: Noon and 7:00 p.m. Easter Eve Service: Saturday, April 20, 7:00 p.m. Easter Day Service: Sunday, April 21, 10:00 a.m. Come to Christ this Holy Season of Lent and Easter...and together we will celebrate His gifts!

3.6.2019 •

column letters to the editor

A Pastoral Letter to LGBTQ Family and Friends of

Christ Church United Methodist

LGBTQ Brothers and Sisters, Family and friends at Christ Church,

I want you to know that as long as I am your pastor, you will have a friend that strives for your full inclusion in the life of the church.

I write you today as a United Methodist pastor, as your pastor. As you probably know by now, the special General Conference of the United Methodist Church rejected the One Church Plan and adopted the Traditional Plan. The One Church Plan would have provided a way for traditional and progressive United Methodist to live together. It would have made a way for greater inclusion for LGBTQ persons in the life of the church by allowing United Methodist pastors to officiate at weddings, making a way for ordination of LGBTQ persons, and removing some of the language from the Social Principles that describes homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.” The vote was very close, revealing just how diverse the United Methodist Church is related to these issues. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to give yourself so faithfully to the church through worship, prayer, serving, and bringing others to Christ and then be told that who you are as a person is “incompatible with Christian teaching” or to have your most loving and committed relationship denied by the church. I cannot imagine the pain of being told your family is not a true family or you are somehow not worthy for ordination, even though you commit to live by the same standards of fidelity as heterosexual candidates for ministry. As a friend who has left Church said to me not long ago, “the Church has no idea how much harm it has caused to LGBTQ persons.” I fear that the decisions of the 2019 General Conference have only increased that harm. I want you to hear today that you are a person of sacred worth, created in the image of God. You have value. As our Bishop here in Florida, Ken Carter, said, “You are of sacred worth. You are not the problem. You are not out there. You have been in every church I have ever served. You have blessed me and our family. Your gifts strengthen the church.” I also want to affirm that I have seen the Holy

Spirit alive and at work in and through you. I see it in the ways you seek Jesus and strive to be a part of His Church. I see it in the ways you serve Christ Church faithfully week after week. I see it in the courage of you who make yourselves vulnerable by trying church one more time, even though church has rejected and hurt you time and again. I see it in the ways you care for and love your children and one another. I am humbled by your Christian faith, hope, and love. As a pastor, I want you to feel claimed and loved by Jesus, even if the United Methodist Church has not made that abundantly clear. I don’t know what all of this means for the future, but I want you to know that as long as I am your pastor, you will have a friend that strives for your full inclusion in the life of the church. You and your family will be valued for who you are. I also believe our Christ Church United Methodist community is a loving and caring people, even when we disagree, and you will always be a vital and important part of our church family. As I write, words feel somewhat inadequate for the moment. I write these words with tears in my eyes and a heaviness in my heart, but this much I can promise: you are beloved children of God and God has purpose for you; you are disciples of Jesus Christ; God is present and bringing healing-even in the midst of this pain; and though we are all broken we are in the hands of a great and loving redeemer; we worship a God of resurrection who brings life out of death…and this God is always faithful. May God’s peace and grace surround you!

Together we are the hands and feet of Jesus, Brett Opalinski Pastor of Christ Church Fort Lauderdale This letter remains unedited.

Let your voice be heard!  Submit your own letter to Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com 36

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lifestyle books

“Now I’m Here” by Jim Provenzano 358 pages Beautiful Dreamer Press

David-Elijah Nahmod

Now I’m Here: Gay Love In Small Town Ohio

n his new novel “Now I’m Here,” author Jim Provenzano paints a vivid picture of gay life in small town Ohio from the late 1970s to the early 90s. The book, now available in Kindle and paperback editions at Amazon, tells a poignant tale of love found, lost, and found again. Joshua is a musical prodigy who was sickly as a boy. David is the rough-around-the-edges son of a pumpkin farmer. They meet when David steps in to defend Joshua from a schoolyard bully. Joshua instantly falls in love, but David has a girlfriend. It isn’t long before David and the girl break up, which leads to the boys becoming closer and closer. Their first date is to a concert by the legendary rock band Queen, and they are soon deeply in love. Things take a sour turn when a school prank by David goes horribly wrong — he’s sent to a halfway house for delinquents, and the pair are separated for several years. Eventually they reconnect as adults, moving in together just as the horrific specter of AIDS begins to engulf the gay community. In an interview, Provenzano explains why he felt it was important to make the AIDS pandemic part of the story. “AIDS was and is the most impactful experience of an entire generation,” he said. “To ignore it in a gay novel, unless it’s set long before it or on another planet, would be inauthentic. I had written about AIDS from many aspects, including my own experiences in New York City, in three previous novels. But most of the novels and memoirs of that time take place in big cities. I had several high school friends who stayed in Ohio, or who returned there, and died. I wanted to tell their stories.” But “Now I’m Here” is so much more than an AIDS story. The book touches upon themes of religious intolerance, rejection from family members, and the sometimes harsh

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realities of gay life in rural America. For Provenzano, writing the book was reliving his youth. “While I was born in New York City, our family moved to Ashland, a small town in Ohio, when I was four,” he said. “Serene, the fictional town I created, is smaller and farther south, but it is built from a lot [of] my own experiences going to the mall to buy concert tickets, driving around with friends, getting drunk and stoned at ‘the cool kids’ parties. I knew farm boys and actually worked on a produce farm one season when I took a break between college years. It was excruciating work, but it left a strong impression. All those details are quite real. Ever since then, I’ve had a special affection for pumpkins.” Provenzano acknowledges that Joshua and David are two very different types of people. He explains what brings them together. “Their first encounter is a playground fight in grade school,” he said. “I had crushes on boys even then, and David is based on a combination of guys I knew or admired secretly. I made David’s invitation for Joshua to join him at a Queen concert a tie-in to their common interests. It sparks their friendship. Both of them have a sort of distance from the popular kids, but in different ways. That they are so different makes it work, because they don’t judge each other.” The music of Queen plays a prominent role in the telling of the story — the book derives its title from Queen’s song “Now I’m Here.” Queen is a big part of Joshua’s life — his brilliant piano cover of the band’s classic song “Bohemian Rhapsody” wins him a few appearances on television and a brief burst of minor fame in Hollywood. “Queen had a significant meaning for me,” said Provenzano. “I knew, of course, that Freddie Mercury was gay. So to see him take the stage, at the same 1978 concert described in the novel, in all his flamboyance, was a revelation. Also, as

in the novel, I performed a piano solo version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” for my high school recital. Joshua’s later TV appearances are fictionalized. I loved learning how to play rock music on an old upright piano my father retrieved from a demolition site in Cleveland. I still can’t believe that my family tolerated all that playing for hours every day.” Even at over 350 pages, “Now I’m Here” is a quick and easy read. Joshua and David come to life through Provenzano’a prose, as does the town of Serene. The story beautifully conveys the exhilaration of love, the power of music, and the profound sadness of loss. The book is also a slice of pre-internet life, when downloading music or meeting people online wasn’t an option. In those days people had to listen to the radio or buy records in order to hear their favorite songs. They would meet by chance, as David and Joshua did, in real life situations. The late 70s and 80s were, in many ways the last remnants of a more innocent time. Provenzano’s deft writing whisks readers back to those halcyon days. “Back then you had to work to find a community,” he said. “This story covers the last years of ‘analog’ life, pre-internet and before cell phones. I wanted very much to document that kind of life before it’s forgotten. Even though this is a fictional story, I value cherishing real life experiences and memories.” In “Now I’m Here,” Provenzano’s memories serve up a bittersweet nostalgia and a plethora of emotions which readers of all ages can relate to. Brian McNaught has been a leading educator on LGBTQ issues globally since 1974. He has made his many books and DVDs available for free at Brian-McNaught.com. The New York Times named him “The Godfather of gay diversity training.

Editorial Cartoon

Convictions

Editorial Cartoon By Mike Luckovich

Don’t miss a

tastE Feeling the hunger?

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

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LIFESTYLE photos

m u e s u m l l a w Stone

a l a G

J.R. Davis.

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives hosted their annual gala Feb. 22 at the Ritz Carlton on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

“T

he Stonewall National Museum & Archives hosted the largest Gala in its history and honored three amazing individuals in LGBTQ history - Brian McNaught, an educator who moves beyond comfort zones to change the way people care for each other; Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a trailblazer who fights for the oppressed at every turn – giving strength to generations; and Jazz Jennings, a symbol of youth and energy that is part of our next great generation of activists and leaders,” said Chris Rudisill, executive director of the Stonewall National Museum. “As one of our National Advisory Council members Elizabeth Birch said at the end of the evening, ‘this is our moment.’ This is our next great endeavor. The importance of preserving our community’s stories and legacy will shape our future and now is the time to support that national mission.”

To see many more photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (left) with Eric Marcus.

Kathy Najimy.

“That was an extraordinary experience last night, one I never imagined having in my life. It couldn’t have been more wonderful. I said to my higher self, ‘Okay, use me to say what you want heard.’ I ended up saying things completely different than I had planned. I was pleased it came out, and engendered the response that it did,” said honoree Brian McNaught. “Having Carson Kressley enthusiastically say he’d be honored to fly down to present the award, was very exciting for, and meaningful to me. You never know who’s listening when you speak. He was a junior when I spoke on gay issues at Gettysburg College in the 1980s. He said last night that I helped him come out, and be proud to be gay. That’s the primary reason I do what I do, to create a world in which LGBTQ people can live full and happy lives.” Brian McNaught (right) with his husband Ray.

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lifestyle photos

the

Campbell Foundation

Donor Appreciation and Fundraiser 2019 The annual fundraiser was held at art serve and featured a keynote speech, food and a raffle drawing. Photos via The Campbell Foundation Keynote speaker Dr. Stevenson.

The door crew.

Bill and Jane.

To see many more event photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook. 42

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lifestyle food

All the Colors of the Rainbow Rick Karlin

Le Dîner en Blanc comes to Fort Lauderdale and other foodie news

e Dîner en Blanc, the secret dinner global phenomenon, held its first Fort Lauderdale-based event, taking over Esplanade Park as nearly 750 guests, who started guessing of the clandestine location when they met at departure points throughout Miami-Dade and Broward County, boarded buses, which all converged at the beautiful location just before dusk for the sole purpose of sharing a gourmet meal with good friends. Guests were greeted upon arrival by hosts filled park area by the water with some lights strung here Susan Rakita, Ken McCormack, and Richy and there among the trees in nearby groves, a lone DJ, and Miranda-Cortese. Toting stylish picnic a media area, and the next thing I knew there were five baskets filled to the brim with gourmet buses and 660 people all in white who came, constructed, treats, they set up their tables and chairs and conquered. The DJ played everything from Latin to and created unique all-white table-scape classic rock to soul to rap to progressive jazz to hip hop to designs, including elegant chandeliers and the Electric Slide and everything in between. And the crowd miniature lit Eiffel Towers. was dancing up a storm! You had the option of bringing As soon as all the table settings were your own picnic or purchasing the DEB picnic. The food perfected, the beginning of dinner was was diverse, tasty, light, elegant, colorful and beautifully signaled by the traditional waving of white presented, and fit perfectly with the atmosphere. Here’s an linen serviettes. Music by DJ Tony the Tiger example of just one of the five menus: tomato salad and feta filled the air throughout dinner, while cheese, selection of cheeses & green grapes, smoked salmon participants dined and enjoyed dip, shrimp salad on roasted peppers, the company of friends. After pecan pie and crunchy chocolate mousse & dinner, guests twirled glow Lent is almost peanut butter.” sticks that lit up the night sky upon us and that and signaled the opening of the St. Patrick’s Day is coming also means Mardi upon us, and since it falls smack dance floor. Attendees included hosts Gras celebrations. in the middle of a weekend, from other international Le you know there’s going to be Where better to Diner en Blanc events that a lot of wearin’ of the green celebrate than take place in Ecuador, Cuba, (and puking of the green beer). and Trinidad. At the end of the at Las Olas’ The The Grille on the Drive should evening, guests packed up their prove to be classier than that Balcony, a chic belongings as well as all their with its special menu, available two-story New rubbish and left the site as if the Friday and Saturday. Among the Orleans-style night had never happened but traditional dishes being offered with a head full of unforgettable are potato-leek soup, fish and restaurant? moments and new friendships. chips, Irish stew, shepherd’s I was out of town when this pie and, of course, corned beef event took place but asked my friend Robin and cabbage. BTW, the Grille’s Garden room Alexander to cover it for me. is now serving lunch Mondays through Saturdays. Here are her impressions: Toss me those gold, green and purple beads! If the sudden appearance of commercials for “This is the gayest thing you could possibly do without fish sandwiches at fast food restaurants (really, being gay. That being said, I was surprised that I didn’t fish at Arby’s?) weren’t enough of a sign, here’s see more gay people. I had no idea what to expect, other the official news, Lent is almost upon us and than lots of people all in white with white picnic tables, that also means Mardi Gras celebrations. chairs and dishes. Turns out it was a feast of creativity: Where better to celebrate than at Las Olas’ masks, wigs, feathers, fedoras, gloves, lace, tulle, bows The Balcony, a chic two-story New Orleansand beads and headpieces echoing Lady Gaga, flappers, style restaurant? From Tuesday, March 5 hippies, 1940s church ladies, South Asian Hindu dancers through Sunday, March 10, The Balcony - and a boat captain - along with centerpieces of flowers, will feature menu specials ($3 Abita beer, $5 lights, and other modernistic imaginative constructions that Hurricanes with souvenir cup, $5 jambalaya, somehow came out of a picnic basket to be resurrected in gumbo, and beignets and $8 shrimp or oyster the middle of a small table. One minute it was a sparsely po’boys). On Tuesday, March 5; Friday, March

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Le Dîner en Blanc. Photo via Facebook. 8; and Saturday, March 9; it will host Mardi Gras-themed parties, so guests can celebrate in true “N’awlins” style. (Does that mean free beads if you show your titties?) For more information visit thebalconylasolas.com. The folks that run Bokamper’s, near Oakland Park Blvd. and the Intracoastal, are opening another restaurant just a few blocks to the east. Bo’s Beach, which may be open by the time you read this. Former Miami Dolphins Player Kim Bokamper and the PDKN Restaurant Group present a twostory, casual restaurant and bar with a woodfired oven featuring cocktails and oceaninspired classics with direct ocean views. The restaurant features indoor and outdoor seating and is located at 600 Seabreeze Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Speaking of new places, the long-awaited Gulf Stream Brewing Company is the newest place to open on the 13th Street Corridor. It’s a true brewery, whipping up suds on the premises and while it doesn’t serve food, it often partners up with local food trucks and allows you to order in while sampling their brews. The first and third Tuesday of each month features bingo and every Wednesday is trivia night. Green Kaffe has taken over the space formerly occupied by Maria’s Cantina,

Hungry for more?



with an address of 2401 Wilton Dr., even though the actual restaurant is around the corner on the side street. They’re not great about marketing or presenting themselves (seriously its website is just the menu and its Facebook page isn’t much better), but the food is damn good. There is a large selection of smoothies and four different kinds of veggie burgers. While I don’t think it will win over any converts, it is a great place to stop if you’re looking for a healthy alternative. It’s a local business that can use some support. Finally, if you’ve ever driven south along Federal and wondered what’s inside The Gallery of Incredible Things, here’s your chance to do so, while raising funds for a worthy cause. The 6th Annual “Cheers to B!” fundraiser to aid those affected by neurofibromatosis event takes place at the Gallery of Amazing Things (481 S. Federal Hwy, Dania Beach) on Saturday, March 30. Enjoy a cocktail reception, explore the ins and outs of the museum, bid in a silent auction, enjoy bites and strike a pose in an interactive photo experience. The evening will continue with a seated buffet dinner, and a live auction. General admission tickets are available for $200 per person. Adults 21 – 30 can select a special discounted ticket price of $75/person.

Visit SFGN.com/FOOD!

Rick Karlin is SFGN’s food editor. Visit SFGN.com/Food to read his previous reviews. Have a culinary tip to share? Email Rick at RickKarlinFL@gmail.com.

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SFGNITES

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THU

3/7

burlesque Explore the oceans with the Aquamen, a unique underwater burlesque show, Thursdays at the B Ocean resort, 1140 Seabreeze Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale. Gaze at the fine male fish through the portholes of the Wreck Bar in the iconic beachside hotel. Between 6 and 7 p.m., enjoy a complimentary glass of prosecco. The show starts at 9 p.m. Reservations required. More info at BOceanFortLauderdale.com.

FRI

3/8

theater Outré Theatre Co. at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. in Pompano Beach, presents Gregory Naufft’s touching play, “Next Fall,” tonight through March 31. The witty, award-winning drama explores the relationship of a young gay couple who must work out serious differences when it comes to their religious faith. Skye Whitcomb directs. Tickets start at $19 at CCPompano.org

Thursday

3/12

dance

Dein Perry’s “Tap Dogs,” is coming to the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts for one night only on Tuesday, March 12 at 8 p.m. “Tap Dogs” features high-energy dance, theatrical performance and live music performed by a cast of six dancers and two musicians who bring the steel works to life in a fastpaced, unstoppable and unpredictable spectacle. Tickets start at $25 at BrowardCenter.org. Photo Credit: Chris Richardson.

SAT

3/9 SUN

3/10 MON

3/11 TUE

3/12

comedy

film

Comedy

concert

Miss Richfield 1981 is back at the Outlandish performance series at the Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 S.W. 9th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale, for one night only, tonight at 8 p.m., with her new show, “Gender Fluids.” Miss Richfield will attempt to find nonbinary answers to our increasingly complex world with all new music, videos, costumes and a healthy heap of help from the audience. Tickets at OutlandishFL.com.

The Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton kicks off the 3rd annual Judy Levis Markhoff Film Festival today. The three-week long festival will feature more than 44 independent and international feature films and shorts from 19 countries. Screenings take place in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and at the JCC campus, concluding on March 31. For a complete festival program and tickets, go to BocaJFF.org.

Some questions are best unanswered, but if your penis could talk, what would it say? Find out at “The Penis Talk Show,” tonight at 6 and 8:30 p.m. at the Foundry at the Wilton Theater Factory, 2308 N. Dixie Hwy. in Wilton Manors. Four “anonymous” penises will answer your questions about the male member in this hilarious evening that has become a local cult favorite. Tickets are $20 at RonnieLarsen.com.

The South Florida Symphony welcomes back pianist Svetlana Smolina to perform Tchaikovsky’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. The program, conducted by Maestra Sebrina Maria Alfonso, also includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s spirited “Capriccio Espagnol” and Debussy’s tone poem, “La Mer.” Tickets start at $40 at SouthFloridaSymphony.org.

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3 .6.2019

Markho Judy Levis

March 10-31

Cinemark Palace 20 Boca Raton Movies of Delray Levis JCC Sandler Center Boca Raton Forty Films. Three Weeks. Two Thumbs Up! A variety of Jewish-themed films from around the globe. Festival features guest speakers, filmmakers, actors, special events and more. Don’t miss a minute!

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3.6.2019 •

A&E theater

New Exhibition Chronicles Miami-Dade’s Gay History J.W. Arnold “Queer Miami: A History of LGBTQ Communities,” a new exhibit

opening Saturday, March 16 at HistoryMiami Museum, explores Miami’s queer past, reflecting its gender and sexual diversity for over a century. Curated by author and historian Julio Capó, Jr., the exhibition presents the stories of Miami’s queer communities who, despite discrimination, isolation, and violence, managed to carve out spaces for themselves and made their voices heard in South Florida. Hundreds of artifacts, photographs, archival footage and other items were assembled for the exhibit. Displayed in the museum’s 5,000 square foot gallery, “Queer Miami” will address topics ranging from policing and criminalization, community development, advocacy and activism, immigration and the AIDS crisis to what the future holds for Miami’s queer community. Visitors will be able to examine memorabilia from some of Miami’s oldest gay bars, photographs of rallies and marches, archival material from Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign, historical footage and original video interviews from the people involved in building Miami’s LGBTQ communities. Interactive components will also encourage visitors to contribute their own stories to the exhibition. History Miami Museum executive director Jorge Zamanillo said, “This exhibit is unique because the story is still being told and changing every day. We’re inviting visitors to tell their own stories and be a part of history.” He added, “We live in such a diverse city, it can be a challenge to tell every story. I think it will be eye-opening…People will come out learning a lot more than they expect, especially the deep history of the struggle, going back to the beginning of the 20th century. There’s a lot of important history that has taken place right here.” “It’s an exciting—and most necessary— time to tell these stories,” added Capó. “One of the greatest challenges in studying LGBTQ history is that our lives and experiences are so often purposefully erased from history

Marchers in Miami’s first LGBT rights parade (1978) hold signs displaying their professions. Credit: Tim Chapman, Tim Chapman Collection, HistoryMiami Museum.

books and archives. As this exhibit will show, our LGBTQ community, of which I am also a proud member, has persisted and persevered in Miami since its inception.” An expert on the intersection of gender and sexuality throughout history, Capó is also the author of “Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami Before 1940.” Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2017, his book received honors from the Florida Historical Society, Florida Book Awards and Southern Historical Association. Capó is currently an associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

HistoryMiami museum will open the exhibition with a preview party on Friday, March 15 at 6 p.m. The opening reception will feature live music, performances and complimentary beverages. Tickets are $10 or free with pre-registration at bit.ly/Queer-Miami-Party. The museum is open Tuesday – Sunday and regular admission is $10. For more information, go to HistoryMiami.org.

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MARCH 10 | 7:30 PM

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A&E fashion

Fashion Designer Reminisces About Coming Out in New Memoir J.W. Arnold

nlike many in his generation, Isaac Mizrahi is as much a pop culture icon as a fashion designer. But, despite his flamboyant personality, the designer, who first shot to fame in the 1980s, largely kept his personal life under wraps. In his new memoir “I.M.,” Mizrahi offers a candid and often touching look back on his experiences, and the designer will be coming to the Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton on Wednesday, March 13 to share many of the most memorable stories. “A really long time ago—literally seven years ago—I had dinner with this friend who was a very important book agent. I was telling him about this idea for a book, a scrapbook kind of visual book before my retrospective at the Jewish Museum, when the suggestion to write a memoir came up,” Mizrahi recalled. “I didn’t want to write a memoir, but I started tinkering with it and before I knew it, I was deeply into the project, above and beyond any expectation. It became a kind of incredible task, an incredible soul-searching task, cathartic.” Much of the book is devoted to his early years, growing up gay in a sheltered Syrian Jewish Orthodox family and his “beautiful” relationship with his mother. “We saved each other,” Mizrahi said. “The Sephardic Jewish community is not your typical Jewish community…it doesn’t value education the way most Jews do. They don’t stress education, especially for women. She was incredibly well read and, honestly, she read everything printed, went to museums and performances and, in that community, it really wasn’t done. I was the crazy kind of misfit, but she was less of a misfit than me, and we clung together and helped each other. We were there for each other through all the negativity.” At the famed LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts, he “found his people” (and appeared in his first movie, “Fame”). As a budding fashion designer, he worked with Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein, before launching his own label. The rest, as the old saying goes, is history. “I’m going to quote myself now in the book, the first sentence of a certain chapter says: ‘Had you told me at a young age that I would become this famous designer and fly around the world and have these glamorous shows, but had you also told me at that age, that I would grow up and be out and [a] happy homosexual, that I would have a fulfilling sex life and a wonderful

Isaac Mizrahi discusses his new memoir in Boca Raton next week. Photo Credit: Macmillan.

sex life, I would have told you that you were crazy. That was the big surprise of my life,’” he said. Mizrahi has been married to Arnold Germer for nearly eight years and the couple has managed to find a balance between the demands of the designer’s life and the need for intimacy. “Even after I met him, I never expected that kind of happy ending at all and that’s maybe why it happened. I expected to be married to my work. One of the great things about Arnold is he understands and we maintain a peaceful separation at times, because we met each other late in the game. Young people have a very romantic notion of love. We do share a deep, deep love and a strong togetherness, but better than that we share a wonderful apartness,” Mizrahi explained. “Arnold has not forced me to make that choice. You don’t have to choose.” And Mizrahi’s advice to the young gay people who may find inspiration in his story? “Persistence. The great thing, the unexpected boost that you have, that’s why they call it a gift…All of the machinations of getting there is not about the success or the money or the fame or the exposure, it’s knowing that you like to do that thing. If I had one word of advice, don’t sweat it and persist. Don’t listen to people. People have the worst advice,” he concluded.

Isaac Mizrahi will discuss his new book, “I.M.,” on Wednesday, March 13 at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. reception) at the Levis Jewish Community Center Sandler Center, 21050 95th Ave. S. in Boca Raton. General admission is $36 at LevisJCC.org.

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LIFESTYLE photos

Winter party festival

At Nikki Beach

From Feb. 27 to March 5, the Winter Party Festival hosted expert party-goers in Miami Beach for a wild annual effort to raise funds for the National LGBTQ Task Force. Funds are also donated to support other LGBT organizations across Florida. J.R. Davis Fernando and Daavid.

DJ Dan Slater.

Larry, Eric and Teddy.

To see many more photos, visit South Florida Gay News on Facebook. 52

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