INTRODUCING THE NORM KENT LGBT NEWSMAKER FUND

Our Fund Foundation launched the Norm Kent LGBTQ Newsmaker Fund in the longtime attorney’s memory.

“It is especially meaningful for The Our Fund Foundation to hold the Norm Kent LGBTQ Newsmaker Fund because Norm’s values and hopes for South Florida align with ours. He was a force for good in our region, and we hope to follow in his path.”

Kent was the publisher of South Florida Gay News and before that the Express Gay News in the early 2000s. He was a passionate defender of the First Amendment.

Kent died April 13. He was 73. Here’s an excerpt from the SFGN obituary.

In 1999, Kent took on a new title: newspaper publisher. He launched the Express Gay News, which covered all aspects of queer life in South Florida.

Kent sold the paper four years later to Window Media, a national LGBT media group that renamed it the South Florida Blade. Window Media went bankrupt in November 2009 and quickly shut down the Blade. Most of the staff of the Blade reorganized and launched the Florida Agenda, which shut down in 2016.

In January of 2010 Kent launched a new newspaper and website called South Florida Gay News, along with a new business partner Piero Guidugli, who stayed with the company until 2020.

Celebrating 400 issues of SFGN in 2018, Kent and Guidugli highlighted a few of their most compelling stories, including:

– A five-year long program of entrapment by two West Palm Beach policemen who had entrapped more than 300 men.

– Hollywood police fired officer Mikey Verdugo in 2010 after the department learned he had appeared in a 15-minute gay porn scene 14 years earlier. (Verdugo now owns Bodytek Fitness in Davie and Wilton Manors.)

– The 2010 firing of licensed practical nurse Ray Fetcho AKA drag queen Tiny Tina, when it came out that 35 years earlier Fetcho had been charged with a lewd act for hosting a wet jockey shorts contest at the old Copa nightclub in Fort Lauderdale. (Fetcho died at 68 of cancer and diabetes in 2015.)

In 2016, Kent wrote in a publisher’s column about the last of the big gay bar raids in Broward County, when in 1991 then-Sheriff Nick Navarro created a media spectacle arresting men at the Copa and at Club 21 in Hallandale Beach.

“Sheriff Navarro orchestrated the raid as if he were hosting a Hollywood opening,” Kent wrote. “As the news report by Steve Rothaus indicates, the Sheriff turned the raid into a media event, placing the entire LGBT community in a false light. Navarro arrived on the scene, believe it or not, in a helicopter, accompanied by his wife, dressed in an evening gown. Reporters were shocked by the crass celebration, amazingly accompanied by foreign Russian dignitaries to show off for.”

Kent said he never regretted publishing a story, even if it got him into hot water with local power figures, including activists and elected officials.

“It’s the newspaper. It’s what editorial cartoons are all about,” he said. “It’s not for the politician to be thin skinned. It’s for the politician to go naked before the canon and accept the fact that he, too, can be criticized no matter how good they think they

May 11, 2023 • Volume 14 • Issue 19 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943

Publisher/Editor • Jason Parsley

Jason.Parsley@sfgn.com

Associate Publisher • Justin Wyse Justin@sfgn.com

Editorial

Assistant to the Editor • Kimberly Swan Webmaster@sfgn.com

Social Media Director • Christiana Lilly

Graphic Designers • Julie Palmer Kyle Willis • Craig Tuggle Design Consultant • Brendon Lies Artwork@sfgn.com

Arts/Entertainment Editor • J.W. Arnold JW@prdconline.com

Food/Travel Editor • Rick Karlin Community Editor • John Hayden john.jmhcreative@gmail.com

Senior Photographer • J.R. Davis JRDavis12000@hotmail.com

Senior Feature Columnists

Brian McNaught • Jesse Monteagudo

Special to SFGN Steve Rothaus

Correspondents

John McDonald • Sean Conklin • Deon Jefferson

David-Elijah Nahmod • Aurora Dominguez

Denise Royal • Austen Erblat • Kennedy McKinney

Mary Rasura • Christian Walden • Christopher Flores

Contributing Columnists

Pier Angelo • Terri Schlichenmeyer Gregg Shapiro • Dana Rudolph

Associate Photographers Carina Mask • Steven Shires Sales & Marketing

For ad placement in SFGN, contact 954-530-4970

Director Justin Wyse Justin@sfgn.com

Senior Advertising Associate Edwin Neimann Edwin@sfgn.com

Distribution Services

Richie Wilson & Johnathan Rey National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 sales@rivendellmedia.com

Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping Printing by Stuart Web Inc.

Co-Founders

Norm Kent • Pier Angelo

SOUTH FLORIDA GAY NEWS.COM, INC.

FOUNDED, DECEMBER, 2009 BY PIER GUIDUGLI AND NORM KENT

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, Jason Parsley at Jason.Parsley@SFGN.com. SFGN is owned by Norm Kent and represented legally by Russell Cormican. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. Copyright © 2023 South Florida Gay News.com, Inc.

Montana

JUDGE RULES TRANS LEGISLATOR CAN’T RETURN TO HOUSE FLOOR

According to AP News, District Court Judge Mike Menahan ruled on May 2 that Rep. Zooey Zephyr was not permitted to return to the Montana House floor. The trans legislator was censured after telling her colleagues they would have blood on their hands if they voted in favor of a bill restricting gender-affirming care for minors. Menahan stated that it was outside of his scope to allow Zephyr to return to the floor.

“Plaintiffs’ requested relief would require this Court to interfere with legislative authority in a manner that exceeds this Court’s authority,” Menahan wrote.

Zephyr responded to his decision.

“It’s a really sad day for the country when the majority party can silence representation from the minority party whenever they take issue,” Zephyr told AP News.

Texas

Lgbt Protesters Booted From State Capitol

According to The Texas Tribune, protesters advocating for trans rights at the Texas Capitol were removed by police on May 2. Texas Speaker Dade Phelan cleared the gallery. State police handcuffed two people.

“Rules matter in the TX House,” said Phelan in a tweet. “Today’s outbursts in the gallery were a breach of decorum and continued after I warned that such behaviors would not be tolerated. There will always be differing perspectives, but in our chamber, we will debate those differences with respect.”

Landon Richie, a transgender man and policy associate with the Transgender Education Network of Texas, disagrees with the move.

“It’s a real act of cowardice,”

Richie said. “They don’t want to face accountability for their actions. They don’t want to face the people that this legislation is going to harm.”

Iowa

STUDENTS PROTEST ANTI-LGBT BILLS DURING AWARDS CEREMONY

According to The Des Moines Register, Iowa high school students protested during an awards ceremony on April 30. One of these students was Clementine Springsteen, a transgender woman, who accepted her award wearing the colors of the transgender flag.

“Trans rights are human rights,” Springsteen said, after shaking the hands of Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg.

Miran Pettigrew and Leo Friedman were students who protested for education rights, with Pettigrew wearing a shirt that read “Public Money for Public Schools.” Friedman’s shirt read “I Read Banned Books.”

The protests come after Iowa banned gender-affirming care for minors, as well as passing an education bill that will simplify the process to ban books and enact restrictions on LGBT education in schools.

Australia South Korea

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT URGED TO ACT AS MORE DRAG EVENTS ARE CANCELED

Advocates in the LGBT community are asking the Victorian government in Melbourne to do more to protect their community after threats led to the cancellation of five drag events in the past six months.

The threats are coming from farright groups and have not only targeted drag events but other ceremonies for the queer community. Victorian Pride Lobby’s Sean Mulcahy told The Guardian police, councils and the state government needed to do more to protect the queer community from threats and make sure family-friendly events could be held.

“If we had stronger anti-vilification laws, if police were willing to enforce the laws that they have, and if councils worked to ensure that their local laws were enforced, then we will be able to deal with these issues early on,” Mulcahy said.