OUR PAGES YOUR VOICE SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 VOL. 1 • ISSUE 15 VISIT US ONLINE AT OUTSFL.COM OUTSFL @OUT SFL @OUTSFL PAGES 16 - 28 FROM MEDICAL CARE TO RECREATION, LGBTQ-FRIENDLY SPOTS TO VISIT EXPLORE THE WORLD
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4 • 9.7.2023 COVER: Couple enjoying a walk along the rainbow path in Prince Alfred Park, Surry Hills, Sydney Australia. Photo courtesy Destination NSW. September 7, 2023 • Volume 1 • Issue 15 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 OutSFL newspaper is published on a weekly schedule. You should not presume the sexual orientation or gender identity of any featured individuals solely based on their names, appearance, or inclusion within this publication. Any opinions shared within stories, columns, graphics, or letters to the editor should not be assumed to represent the opinions of OutSFL, its Publisher, or its co-founder. Any stories or content, either in print or online, and also including any articles that are featured in conjunction with any media partners, are protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and this ownership is carefully and jealously guarded by this media group. Nothing that is published may be reprinted, either in whole or in part, without first receiving written consent from the Publisher, Jason Parsley. OutSFL is owned by Jason Parsley and Justin Wyse, and is represented legally by Russell Cormican. As a private corporation, OutSFL reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations, and photographs. Copyright © 2023 J&J Media Group. PUBLISHER Jason Parsley [email protected] CEO Justin Wyse [email protected] EDITORIAL ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR Kimberly Swan SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Christiana Lilly ART DIRECTOR Julie Palmer GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Kyle Willis • Craig Tuggle GRAPHIC DESIGN CONSULTANT Brendon Lies ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Rick Karlin [email protected] COMMUNITY EDITOR John Hayden [email protected] PHOTOGRAPHERS J.R. Davis • Carina Mask COLUMNISTS Brian McNaught • Jesse Monteagudo Sabrina Haake • Fred Fejes • John Porter Kelly Ghweinem, LCSW CST SPECIAL TO OUTSFL Steve Rothaus • J.W. Arnold CORRESPONDENTS John McDonald • Sean Conklin • Deon Jefferson David-Elijah Nahmod • Aurora Dominguez Denise Royal • Mary Rasura • Christian Walden Terri Schlichenmeyer • Gregg Shapiro Kennedy McKinney • Michael Anguille Sean McShee • Robert DeDominic Aaron Kinchen • Chris Allan PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Pier Angelo SALES & MARKETING For ad placement, call 954-530-4970 SALES MANAGERS Edwin Neimann [email protected] Silvio Carvana [email protected] Cory Livengood [email protected] DISTRIBUTION SERVICES Richie Wilson & Johnathan Rey NATIONAL ADVERTISING Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 CAN’T WAIT FOR PRINT? FOLLOW US ONLINE. OUTSFL.COM WIDE 'AWAKE' AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR FIN ARGUS NEWS HIGHLIGHT ‘OUTSIDER’ RAMASWAMY SCARING UP VOTES THROUGH TRANSPHOBIA A lthough a new face in the political arena, Vivek Ramaswamy is using an old playbook. In seeking the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, Ramaswamy has consistently brought up gender identity issues on the campaign trail. The biotech entrepreneur believes there are only two genders and told a voter in Iowa last month that there is no such thing as an “LGBTQ+ community.” “I don’t think it’s one community,” Ramaswamy said. “How could it be? Just mashed together in alphabet soup. Trans is fundamentally in contention with gay, if you ask me.” Polling as high as third nationally among the GOP candidates, Ramaswamy is basking in the increased attention to his “outsider” campaign. Unlike Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, Ramaswamy has appeared as a guest on several left-leaning political shows and podcasts, debating the likes of Al Sharpton and David Pakman. He frequently inserts his views on transgender topics into discussions and has called for a ban on puberty blockers and “genital mutilation” before the age of 18, comparing transitioning genders to getting a tattoo. Rev. Nicole Garcia, Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, said Ramaswamy is trafficking in misinformation. “I’ve worked with literally hundreds of trans people through the years,” said Garcia, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado. “Trans teens don’t get surgeries. There is such an incredible process for someone under 18 to get the proper care that they need. It’s not something that anybody can walk in and say, ‘this is what I want,’ and it will be given to them.” The World Professional Association for Photo via Vivek Ramaswamy, Facebook. Transgender Health dictates standards of care, Garcia said. Those standards, she said, include rigorous examinations by qualified therapists and doctors. “I’ve never heard of anyone getting surgeries without years of psychotherapy and being under the care of a qualified physician. It just doesn’t happen,” Garcia said. However, Ramaswamy presented Chloe Cole as an example that it does happen. Cole transitioned at 13 and detransitioned at 16 after a double mastectomy and years of puberty blockers. She has testified on numerous bills around the country dealing with medical transitions, including one in Florida that denies Medicaid coverage for procedures that alter a person’s primary or secondary sexual characteristics. “Now that my breasts are gone, I will never have the option of breastfeeding my children,” Cole told Ramaswamy. Garcia went through her transition in her early 40s and at the same time had a rebirth of faith. She is now an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Garcia firmly believes trans youth are being used as a “red herring” to go after body autonomy and to take away civil rights. “We are being used,” Garcia said. “Unashamedly used. There are not many of us. Less than one percent of the population identifies as trans. We don’t have much of a voice. We need allies. Our community needs your help. They are coming after us and using us as a sacrificial lamb.” John McDonald
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6 • 9.7.2023 OUT AND ABOUT PHOTO OF THE WEEK Maggie Martino, manager at Aqua Hotel North Beach Village in Fort Lauderdale, with wife Sue Martino, executive director at The Pet Project Florida, attending the grand opening of the Pub's new patio, Pride Hub at The Pub. Photo by JR Davis BUSINESS INSURANCE · PERSONAL INSURANCE LET US CHECK YOUR BOXES. Contact us or make an appointment to visit our office for a free business or personal insurance proposal. Responsive, knowledgeable agents Trusted expertise and timely solutions Access to the top-rated providers for more options and better choices World-class coverage from a local, accessible agency Our experience with Pallant/NSI Insurance Group has been outstanding. The organization is very knowledgeable and our rep is quick to respond. We highly recommend Pallant/NSI Insurance Group. ~ Alan Harris 1800 NE 26TH STREET · WILTON MANORS, FL 33305 · NSIGROUP.ORG · 954.522.3800 General & Cosmetic Dentistry 954-565-7666 Always Plenty of Free Parking • Conveniently Located on Wilton Drive Dr. David K. Warner, DDS, FAGD State of the Art Facilities • Most Insurance Plans Accepted 1946 Wilton Drive Wilton Manors • FL 33305 www.IslandCitySmiles.com Dr. Stephen T. Scoglio, DMD Your smile should leave a great impression. Comprehensive Exam, Digital X-Rays & Cleaning* $69 New Patients ($312 Value) *In the absense of gum disease. Not applicable to insurance benefits. Welcoming
9.7.2023 • 7 LAST WEEK'S COVER FROM THE NEWSROOM - TAYLOR SWIFT DURING HER RECENT CONCERT IN CHICAGO SCAN HERE TO VIEW THE ISSUE ONLINE z 924 N. Federal Hwy Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 owned & operated by J.A. Astaphan MD Seventeen Years Serving the CommUNITY • BOTOX® / DYSPORT® • SCULPTRA® • RADIESSE® /RESTYLANE® / JUVEDERM® / VOLUMA® / KYBELLA • PLASMA PEN SKIN TIGHTENING • PRP HAIR RESTORATION Follow us on INSTAGRAM @SILKLASERAESTHETICS DYSPORT FOR MEN BE SMOOTH AND LINE FREE IN 2023 $75 off 100 units or more injected. B12 ENERGY SHOT $20 954.462.7455 www.thesilklasercentre.com
8 • 9.7.2023 Welcome Aboard! Your beautiful vintage Captain Bruce Magnolia Grace Adventures trawler awaits. (352) 220-1016 / MagnoliaGraceAdventures.com • Intracoastal Day Trips • Pampering Weekends • Hourly Rentals • Fireworks EXPERIENCES: • 2-3 day Miami Skyline • Special Occasions • Airshow Viewing • Boat Parade OUT NATION By Mary Rasura DEMOCRAT TO TAKE SEAT AS FIRST GAY LEGISLATOR MISSISSIPPI A state House candidate is set to become Mississippi’s first gay lawmaker after a victory in a Democratic primary election runoff on Aug. 29, according to the Associated Press. Fabian Nelson, a 38-year-old realtor, won the election against Roshunda Harris-Allen, an education professor. The runoff was for the south Jackson metro area’s House district after neither party won the Aug. 8 primary. “I still think I’m in a dream. I’m still trying to process it and take it in,” Nelson said. “It’s still shocking to me, I have to be honest.” Photo via Fabian Nelson, Facebook. WATERLOO CITY COUNCIL REPEALS CONVERSION THERAPY BAN IOWA Waterloo, one of the state’s largest cities, voted to overturn its ban on conversion therapy on Aug. 21 after a Christian organization threatened to sue, according to the Des Moines Register. Liberty Counsel is based in Orlando, Florida, and told the city in a June 30 letter it would proceed with legal action if the legislation was not repealed by Aug. 1. The city enacted the ordinance in May. Liberty Counsel was advocating for a therapist in Waterloo “who was concerned about the implications of this on the practice of counseling,” according to the organization’s founder and chair Mat Staver. Staver also promised to target future states with litigation. Photo by Paula Kirman, Flickr. JUDGE STRIKES DOWN DRAG SHOW RESTRICTIONS TEXAS A ccording to ABC News, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against a Texas law set to take effect on Sept. 1 that has been the focus of a lawsuit from the ACLU of Texas. Senate Bill 12 would ban “sexualized performances and drag shows in the presence of a minor,” according to a statement from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. “The Texas Drag Ban is stunningly broad in scope and will chill entire genres of free expression in our state,” said ACLU of Texas attorney Brian Klosterboer in a statement. “This law flies in the face of the First Amendment,” he continued. “No performer should ever be thrown in jail because the government disfavors their speech, and we are asking the Court to block this affront to every Texan’s constitutional rights.” Photo via aclutx.org. QUEER STORIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
9.7.2023 • 9 By Kennedy McKinney OUT ABROAD CANADA WARNS TRAVELERS VISITING US NORTH AMERICA Canada has advised LGBTQ travelers on the potential dangers of visiting the United States. According to Reuters, the advisory reads, in part, “Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws.” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was asked why the advice has been updated and said the Canadian government had experts “look carefully around the world” and “monitor whether there are particular dangers to particular groups of Canadians.” “Every Canadian government ... needs to put at the center of everything we do the interest and the safety of every single Canadian and every single group of Canadians. That’s what we’re doing now,” said Freeland. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Photo via deputypm.canada.ca. MEN INJURED IN HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK EUROPE T wo men in London were the victims of a homophonic attack – the second attack within six days. According to The Guardian, politicians and campaigners blame the rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric for the recent violence. The victims of the latest attack, Michael Smith and his partner Nat Asabere, were waiting for a bus after attending a Pride event and talking about going to a drag show when they were punched repeatedly by a stranger. “We were chatting away and there was a guy behind me who obviously overheard our conversation. All of a sudden, he whacked me at the back of my head. Then he started having a go at Michael, slapping him around the face and then punching him on the lip,” said Asabere. A few days prior, two men were stabbed outside a nightclub. “The incident is being treated as a homophobic attack. Officers are keeping an open mind. However, at this time they are not treating this incident as linked to another incident in Clapham High Street on 13 August,” said the Metropolitan police. “I am not going to let anyone take my sexuality away from me or Michael’s sexuality, we are human beings,” said Asabere. Michael Smith. Photo via www.justgiving.com. MAN CHARGED WITH ‘AGGRAVATED HOMOSEXUALITY’ AFRICA A 20-year-old is facing the death penalty after being arrested and charged with “aggravated homosexuality” under Uganda’s antiLGBTQ law that was introduced earlier this year. Jacquelyn Okui, a spokesperson for Uganda’s directorate of public prosecutions, told The Guardian that the suspect, “was charged in Soroti [in eastern Uganda] and he is on remand in prison.” The charge sheet said that the suspect is accused of “unlawful sexual intercourse with … [a] male adult aged 41.” Okui told Agence France-Presse that she was not sure whether this was the first time a Ugandan had been charged under the new law. The law, which passed in May, also includes penalties for consensual samesex relations of up to life in prison. Photo by Jbmc74, via Wikimedia Commons. THE RAINBOW REVOLUTION AROUND THE WORLD
10 • 9.7.2023 POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY BIKTARVY may cause serious side e ects, including: Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section. Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fi ght infections that may have been hidden in your body. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY. Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY. Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. The most common side e ects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%). These are not all the possible side e ects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side e ects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY. HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food. GET MORE INFORMATION This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more. Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5. If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information. MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY may cause serious side e ects, including: Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without fi rst talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine. ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains: dofetilide rifampin any other medicines to treat HIV-1 BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you: Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection. Have any other health problems. Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY. Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. BIKTARVY and other medicines may a ect each other. Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines. IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY® This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment. (bik-TAR-vee) BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and KEEP BEING YOU are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. US-BVYC-0292 04/23
9.7.2023 • 11 ELIAS SWITCHED TO BIKTARVY BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you. #1 PRESCRIBED HIV TREATMENT* *Source: IQVIA NPA Weekly, 04/19/2019 through 01/20/2023. Person featured takes BIKTARVY and is compensated by Gilead. Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and at BIKTARVY.com. Listen to REAL STORIES being told by REAL VOICES. No matter where life takes you, Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.
12 • 9.7.2023 POLICE SEARCHING FOR ARSONIST OF OAKLAND PARK CHURCH A church in Oakland Park was set ablaze last month, and law enforcement is trying to identify the person behind the arson. In the early morning hours of Aug. 14, city firefighters and the Broward Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a fire on the front doors of Power Outreach Ministries at 2600 NW 21st Ave. Oakland Park’s fire marshal came to the scene and determined it was intentional. According to surveillance video, a person carried a red gas can into the parking lot of the church then poured liquid from the can onto the church and set a paper towel on fire. His shoe briefly catches on fire before he runs off westbound on Northwest 26th Street. The suspect appears to be a Black man with short hair wearing a black shirt and shorts, and sneakers. According to BSO, the fire caused more than $1,000 in damage; BSO shared surveillance video footage online. BSO is asking the public to come forward if they know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect. Screenshot via Broward Sheriff's Office. Anyone with information should contact BSO Detective Robert O’Dor at 954-321-4849 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app. To remain anonymous, contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or online at browardcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters can also dial **TIPS (8477). NEWS LOCAL Christiana Lilly HUNTERS NIGHTCLUB HOSTS CELEBRITY LIP SYNC BATTLE T he flashy costumes! The flair! The fun! Hunters Nightclub in Wilton Manors was packed for the annual Celebrity Lip Sync Battle. Local celebs of all stripes showed up and showed out on the stage. From Prince Trilla to Jonathan Casanas to Tiffany Fantasia and more, only the most entertaining of entertainers wow’d the crowd. This year’s event was dedicated to helping Broward House, which was left devastated by April’s flood. All money raised is earmarked to help the organization rebuild. Jana Jaffe of Broward House said a whopping $20,000 was raised. Kevin Clevenger organized the event for the seventh year, which began as an opportunity to reach out to the community in a fun, yet impactful way. Broward House had to gut its facilities after the flood, but the staff’s dedication to their clients never waivered. While the main building is under repair, they continue to take a proactive approach to helping people who are in desperate need. Photo by SRL MEDIA. FlockFest sponsored the event, which raised $10,000. That money was matched by the Warten Foundation, for a grand total of $20,000. Here are the matchups, with ** denoting the winner: Elimination Onyx vs Pup Aspen •• Larry & Ken vs Edgar Reyes •• Daisy DeadPetals vs Leila Cox •• Trinity•• vs Priince Trilla Shasta McNastie vs Erik Lords •• Terry Dyer vs N2Natiinal Lords •• Brantley•• vs Eric Restivo Auntie Maim vs Jonathan Casanas vs Ground Zero** John Hayden BROWARD HOUSE IS STILL IN NEED OF DONATIONS. TO LEARN MORE, VISIT BROWARDHOUSE.ORG. COLLEGE COVERAGE OF LGBT ISSUES TAKES CENTER STAGE S ofia Zuniga and Veronica Hernandez took home first place in the college category Best Coverage of LGBT Issues at the Sunshine State Awards. The winners were revealed in a ceremony August 25 in Fort Lauderdale at ArtServe. Zuniga and Hernandez won for their story “Shevrin Jones, Florida’s first openly gay senator, fights to hold onto his job” published in Florida International University’s Caplin News. The judges had this to say: “Good journalism is not about just spouting facts and figures. It’s about telling stories. This story was a story not a ‘report.’ It kept my attention the entire way through with it’s writing and quotes. Well done.” The annual awards contest is presented by the Florida Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Second place went to Carter Mudgett for the story “Parental Rights in Education bill will ‘hurt a very vulnerable community,’ UNF LGBT Center director says” published in the Spinnaker, University of North Florida’s student newspaper. Finally, third place went to Savannah Peifer for the story “Transgender FAUPD detective files discrimination lawsuit against Board of Trustees” published in the University Press, Florida Atlantic University’s student newspaper. “I think it’s so great SPJ Florida encourages students to cover the LGBTQ community,” said OutSFL Publisher Jason Parsley. “Kudos to all of them for their excellent work. Savannah has since written one of our first cover stories when we launched in June. That story “The DeSantis Defiers: Meet 5 LGBT Activists Who Are Giving the Governor Hell” can be found by scanning the QR code below. Staff INSIDE THE NEWSROOM READ “THE DESANTIS DEFIERS: MEET 5 LGBT ACTIVISTS WHO ARE GIVING THE GOVERNOR HELL” HERE. First place winners, Sofia Zuniga and Veronica Hernandez. Photos via caplinnews.fiu.edu.
9.7.2023 • 13 LOCAL ACTIVIST KEN KEECHL DIES K en Keechl, an attorney who pioneered LGBTQ family law in Florida, has passed away. The news was announced on social media by his friend, the Rev. Joel Slotnick. “Absolutely shocked and saddened to hear about the sudden passing of friend Ken Keechl. He was an amazing man who cared so much about the community. So many roles in government, too, aside from being a great attorney.” He focused his life’s work on bettering the LGBTQ community around him. Before marriage equality, Keechl worked on domestic partnership law, adoption, and other equality issues. He was also incredibly prolific in local politics. Keechl was elected to the Broward County Commission in 2006, and served as the county’s first openly gay mayor from 2009-2010. He graduated from Florida Photo via Ken Keechl, Facebook. IN MEMORIAM State University’s law school in 1987 and began a love affair with law and politics. Todd Delmay, current president of the Dolphin Democrats, praised his predecessor as a friend and mentor. “He was a leader in the community and a trailblazer. We are very proud of his past as president of Dolphin Democrats. His counsel was always so wise. He was a kind man and so giving.” Community activist Jake Valentine knew Keechl as a man who was there when his community needed him. “He was a great friend who worked side by side in efforts to promote equal rights.” Keechl worked out of a modest office in a house in Wilton Manors. The small sign outside didn’t do justice to the man inside. He welcomed clients with a big smile and escorted them back to his working area, which looked outside to a sunny backyard. The person and the setting made people feel comfortable and took away some stress the client was feeling. A Wilton Manors city commissioner says Keechl was more than a colleague, he was a friend. “I am extremely saddened by the passing of my friend Ken Keechl. He was a good attorney and we often shared lunch. He made a major contribution to local politics throughout the years. He now joins his husband Ted, who was also my friend. My condolences to his family and friends.” HIS FINAL DAYS His last year of life may have been his hardest. Keechl's husband, Ted Adcock, passed away in December. He also lost a political comeback bid in a run for county commission. While his cause of death hasn’t been officially announced, several friends told OutSFL he was fighting a long-term illness, and had a procedure done just days before his death. Dates and times for any memorial services have not yet been announced. Keechl was 60 years old. John Hayden HIS LAST YEAR OF LIFE MAY HAVE BEEN HIS HARDEST. KEECHL'S HUSBAND, TED ADCOCK, PASSED AWAY IN DECEMBER.
14 • 9.7.2023 AUGUST'S TOP 5 ONLINE STORIES NEW PRIDE HUB FACES PROBLEMS by John Hayden 3 THE BOOK OF MATTHEW: AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW LÓPEZ by Gregg Shapiro 4 COMMUNITY RALLIES AROUND GAY BASHING VICTIM by John Hayden 5 PREGNANT TRANS MAN MURDERED OUTSIDE HIS WINTER HAVEN HOME by Christiana Lilly POSITIVE PUBLIC OPINION FOR PROPOSED WILTON HOTEL by John Hayden READ MORE AT OUTSFL.COM THE SECOND AMENDMENT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE A DEATH WARRANT L ike rapid fire bullets from an AK-47, American gun carnage is set to repeat. Random shooters can fell anyone, anywhere: at church, school, or the Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida. Mass shootings occur with such frequency that Americans seem inured to a brutal reality where the unstable and aggrieved - and the racist - can buy a gun as easily as a bag of chips. THE ‘RIGHT’ TO BEAR ARMS IS DIVORCED FROM HISTORICAL RECORD Alleged “originalists” on the Supreme Court, who claim to hew to the original meaning of the Constitution, did an about-face on the Second Amendment. (Disclaimer, my federal litigation practice focuses on 1 stand 14th Amendments, I’ve never tried a Second Amendment case.) As Chief Justice Warren Burger observed: The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American people by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime … The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies, the militia, would be maintained for the defense of the state ... The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires. This view, shared by many Constitutional law scholars, holds that an unbought and un-lobbied interpretation of the Second Amendment flows squarely from its historical context: In 1775, King George declared that the American colonies were in a state of rebellion. Eager to defeat, tax and control them while extracting their natural resources, the king sent bayonet-armed soldiers to occupy the Photo by Bermix Studio, via Unsplash. 13 colonies. The British army quartered itself in the colonists’ meager homes, slept in their beds, ate their scarce food, and confiscated their guns so they couldn’t form a militia to fight back. England disarmed the colonists to frustrate their efforts to organize a militia, which handicapped the rebels and, initially, the Continental Army. When the fighting was finally over, revolutionary war leaders met at the first Constitutional Convention in 1787 to draft their new governing laws. General George Washington, fresh from the fighting, didn’t just attend the Constitutional convention, he was the convention president. As written and adopted in 1791, the Second Amendmentmendment reflected the inequity of weaponry felt during the British occupation: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Nowhere does the original Second Amendment state that citizens have the right to bear arms against each other, rather, the right to bear arms as described was a matter of collective defense. FROM MILITIA TO EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF After ratification, the Second Amendment was in quiet effect for nearly 200 years, and various gun regulations were adopted without conflict or controversy. Trouble started brewing in the 1970s when the National Rife Association began lobbying to increase the production, sale, and distribution of firearms. After decades of effort, the NRA’s lobby paid off in 2008, when the Supreme Court declared for the first time that an individual right to gun ownership under the Second Amendment was separate from the “militia clause” in the very same sentence, effectively erasing those terms and their historical context altogether. Since then, Democrat states with stronger gun laws have experienced lower murder rates than Republican states. Arranging gun mortality rates according to controlling party VIEWPOINTS OPINION Sabrina Haake THE HAAKE TAKE Read more from Sabrina Haake is a 25-year litigator specializing in 1st this author here and 14th Amendment defense. Her columns also appear in Chicago Tribune, Salon, State Affairs, and Howey Politics. She and her wife split their time between South Florida and Chicago. Follow her on Substack. affiliation, twice the number of people are murdered per capita in red states than blue, even though red states tend to have more rural populations. WHEN A GOVERNOR BLENDS GUNS WITH RACIST POLICIES, THE RESULT IS PREDICTABLE Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis promotes guns and racist policies at the same time, and he is wildly unpopular among black Floridians. In 2020, Florida Moms Demand Action said this about DeSantis’ “stand your ground” enthusiasm: “Florida’s hate-fueling, so-called ‘Stand Your Ground’ law already encourages violence and deadly vigilantism — especially against Black Floridians. DeSantis’ proposal would make it even worse and embolden white supremacists.” Fast-forward to last week, when three black Floridians were murdered by a white supremacist with swastikas on his gun. DeSantis, who previously made it legal to drive over protesters in Florida without criminal penalty, made it obvious that he was targeting BLM protesters. The next year, as multiple Neo-Nazi protests took place in Florida, complete with white power insignia and anti-Biden banners, DeSantis hesitated to condemn the protesters at all. The NRA, the fossil fuel industry, and rightwing authoritarians like DeSantis, protect corporate profits at the expense of human life, and a tainted Supreme Court has aided them. It’s a good thing education in Florida is grossly substandard, or people might start to see a deadly pattern. NOWHERE DOES THE ORIGINAL SECOND AMENDMENT STATE THAT CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AGAINST EACH OTHER.
9.7.2023 • 15 ARRESTED? DON’T BE A DOPE! CALL 954-763-1900 NORMKENT.COM Russell Cormican Attorney at Law 12 SE 7th St Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 [email protected] THE LAW OFFICE OF RUSSELL CORMICAN EXPLORING NON-MONOGAMY WITH YOUR PARTNER SOME DOS, DONTS AND HOW-TOS MY PARTNER ASKED ME TO OPEN OUR RELATIONSHIP AFTER WE HAVE BEEN IN A COMMITTED MONOGAMOUS RELATIONSHIP FOR THE LAST SIX YEARS. I AM SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING IT BUT I FEEL A BIT LOST IN HOW WE CAN DO THIS WITHOUT US DAMAGING OUR TRUST AND INTIMACY. HOW CAN WE NAVIGATE THIS RELATIONSHIP CHANGE? Navigating the shift from a monogamous relationship to an ethical non-monogamous (ENM) relationship can be difficult because it is changing the bounds of the relationship agreement. When we start a relationship with one set of boundaries and change it during the course of the relationship it can evoke feelings of confusion, doubt, or insecurity. But it also has the potential to evoke feelings of hope, delight, and love. The first step in navigating this change is to understand what it means to be in an ethical non-monogamous relationship. There are many variations of relationships, think of it like “pick your own adventure.” The more you understand what an ENM relationship entails, the more thoughtful you can be about your decision to engage in one. I suggest watching videos, listening to podcasts, reading articles, or engaging in discussions on online forums to gain insight into the ins and outs of ENM. Once you have a clear picture on what ENM can look like, then you can decide what your boundaries are within the context of your own ENM relationship. Open and honest communication is needed when discussing the boundaries in the relationship. Discussing hard and soft boundaries so that you and your partner are coming to a new relationship agreement. This can look like saying, “I am OK with solo dates and outercourse, but for right now I am not OK with swapping bodily fluids or penetration.” This type of boundary setting lets your partner know how you feel about certain acts and allows them the chance to respond. Maybe they will say something like, “This is a Photo by Helena Lopes, via Unsplash. Kelly Ghweinem, LCSW CST VIEWPOINTS OPINION Kelly Ghweinem, LCSW CST is an established queer-affirming therapist and business owner who champions the LGBTQ+ community through activism and advocacy utilizing a queer, feminist, anti-racist lens. A University at Buffalo graduate, Kelly came to Fort Lauderdale from Manhattan in 2022. Visit velvetcollective.org for more info. boundary I feel comfortable with but I would like this to be up for discussion as we gain more experience in this and form deeper emotional connections.” After boundaries are established and you both feel heard and understood, take small steps in exploring ENM and then reflecting on how you feel about it. A small step could be flirting on dating apps, going on dates, or bringing in a third to the bedroom. It is important to start small and evaluate how you feel at each step so that you don’t become overwhelmed with the changes. It is OK to not have all the answers at the onset of your ENM journey, being reflect allows you to mindfully navigate this journey so both partners feel respected and heard. This is a learning experience for both of you. It is important to continually communicate throughout this process. If you get stuck or feel that you can’t have this discussion without it emotionally escalating, bring in the help of a therapist. A trained therapist that works with nontraditional relationships will be able to help guide you and your partner through this difficult conversation. QUEERLY BELOVED OUR PAGES YOUR VOICE Send us your letters [email protected] CAN’T WAIT FOR PRINT? FOLLOW US ONLINE. OUTSFL.COM
16 • 9.7.2023 CULTURE TRAVEL A VOYAGE AROUND THE ARCTIC L GBT people like to travel, and like many people they take cruises to see the world or just to relax. It used to be when taking something as personal as a cruise, where you’ll be with people in close quarters and where conversations can be easily overheard, you might have felt uncomfortable to be yourself. Today there are numerous LGBT cruises for almost every segment of the LGBT community where you can be your fabulous self and party until dawn or more. Among those companies are Atlantis adventures, primarily for men, and Olivia cruises for women. But those companies still comprise only a fraction of available cruise sailings. So, how welcoming are non-LGBT cruises? My husband Jason and I have been on numerous cruises on many LGBT and non-LGBT cruise lines. For our current trip we booked a cruise on Oceania, a line known for its food (they claim the best food at sea), exceptional attention to detail, and out of the ordinary shore excursions. We chose Oceania once before, and it was above most of the other cruises we’ve done. Another advantage of Oceania is that they do exotic itineraries. Our July cruise started in Reykjavik, Iceland and then proceeded to Greenland, the Shetland Islands, Denmark, and Sweden before ending in Oslo, Norway after a whopping 15 days. We traveled with another gay couple, our friends Klay and Val, who are out and proud like us. And that really is the heart of the question: how out and proud can LGBT people be on a traditional cruise? On the first night of the cruise, the ship promoted an “LGBTQIA+ Get Together” in their daily schedule printout. The four of us attended along with three other couples, though we weren’t the only LGBT people on board. Throughout the trip, we met many other LGBT people, mostly couples, who also had other cruise experiences. I asked many of them why they picked this cruise over an LGBT cruise, as well as how comfortable they felt being out on this cruise. The overwhelming answer was that people on a cruise, like the general population, gravitate to like minded people, and since everyone’s on vacation it’s easier to get along. Most of them were comfortable being open about their sexuality. Jason and I felt comfortable enough to show our emotions at times and hold hands or put an arm around each other, just like nonLGBT couples. It made a larger point for me. Could we have done that a decade ago? The answer is: probably not. So in that regard, traditional cruises pass the comfort level for LGBT people. But what about the more nuanced reality of being an LGBT person on a cruise with 97% non-LGBT people? Like any cruise, we found ourselves finding our own friends who turned out to be a fascinating lot. One of those was a couple who work at a small college and are developing new ways to be inclusive to LGBT students. Another was a retired couple from Seattle, another from Dallas. That’s the secret sauce in cruising, finding the people you get along with and having a nice time. For all of us, the two factors that led us to this cruise were the itinerary and the reputation of Oceania. Let’s start with the cruise stops. Mark Segal Philadelphia Gay News Fjords near Nuuk, Greenland. Photo by Jason Villemez.
9.7.2023 • 17 Rainbow Street, Reykjavik. Photo by Jason Villemez. CULTURE TRAVEL CONTINUE READING ON NEXT PAGE ⊲ REYKJAVIK, ICELAND The departing port of the cruise, Reykjavik, deserves a few days to tour since it has some of the greatest landscapes and wonders on earth, and if you’re lucky as we were, you will be met by an active volcano. We had arranged 3 days of touring with an LGBT tour company called Pink Iceland. There not only is a sizable LGBT population in Iceland, but it seems everywhere you go there are rainbows. The country even has had a lesbian Prime minister. It’s one of the most LGBT-friendly places on earth. Our first day we traveled to the south shore and marveled at the raw natural landscape, which looks like something from the moon but is actually dried lava with moss growing atop. The volcanoes and glaciers are everywhere, and with an abundance of volcanoes, you’ll see steam coming up from the ground in certain places. This has translated to natural geothermal power that powers the country, as well as natural glacier water (which tastes better than any bottled water) in every home. Later that day we went to the black beach at Reynisfjara with its basalt rock formation from eruptions thousands of years ago. We also visited and walked behind several waterfalls, and the sunshine meant that rainbows were aplenty. It was wet, magical, and romantic. Our second day began with an adventurous ATV ride on that moonscape with a stop at a dormant volcano’s top ridge. With me driving, Jason held on for dear life. Afterwards, we spent the afternoon in the world famous Blue Lagoon spa, where there are pools of volcanic minerals and silica that are a color of blue you’ll see no other place on earth. As you soak you can apply those minerals as a face mask. Even though it was around 50 degrees outside, by the time we finished, we were all pleasantly overheated. Our third day we toured the capital city, which is easily walkable and features a giant rainbow street, and then attended a gettogether organized by Eva and Birna, the owners of Pink Iceland, with some local LGBT community members, including a member of parliament and a playwright who was the first to come out in his village in western Iceland. The audience was among the most engaged I’ve ever spoken to, and they asked insightful questions and were delightful to engage with. Iceland is a country built on stories (called the Sagas), so the people are keen to learn the stories of others. After our three days in Reykjavik, we went onto our ship, the Oceania Riviera. The ship had recently come out of dry dock with a total renovation. The cabin was the most beautiful we’ve ever seen at sea and had ample closet space and a bathroom with a rainfall shower. Our home away from home would be comfy. Our friends Klay and Val opted for a larger room with butler service. The room had more closet space than some New York apartments, and the amenities were above average. But their butler, as they learned, seemed to have had no understanding of his role and often overcomplicated things. ISAFJORDUR, ICELAND Iceland is still developing its infrastructure for tourism. Our ship had provided 10 shore excursions, but all were completely sold before we even boarded the ship, including the one we wanted most, whale watching. The fact that shore excursions sell out months before the trip was not fully communicated to us. When we attempted to book six weeks before the trip, many ports had no available excursions. Nevertheless, in this small fishing village, left to our own devices we discovered one of the treasures of Iceland, The Tjoruhusid Restaurant. Known to be the most traditional Icelandic food in the country, you still needed a reservation since locals and tourists come from all over for its cuisine. But in true Icelandic hospitality, the staff found room and were kind enough to seat us, and I must admit that while I’m not a seafood eater it was amazing. The buffet meal included a fish soup, five types of fish entrees, including fish throat, which I didn’t know existed, various vegetable combinations, and coffee, biscuits, and chocolate. After the meal, we took a stroll through the village and discovered that among the fishing boats, fjords, and homes, the town square had a giant rainbow painted down the center. That’s two for two cities in Iceland with rainbow streets. PAAMIUT, GREENLAND Our second stop was a small village of about 1,300 whose complete economy was fishing and seal hunting. Very few cruise ships have ever stopped there, and for good reason. While there are very few facilities and the infrastructure is sparse, the main problem was that as we approached, the seas were somewhat choppy and we found ourselves in a sea of Icebergs. Before I could suggest to everyone that we all break out into a chorus of “My Heart Will Go On,” the captain stated the obvious: he canceled the adventure in Paamiut. It was not safe to take the tender boats to shore (there was nowhere to dock in a port that small). However, a consolation prize was being treated to a sea of majestic icebergs as we sailed away. That evening the entertainment and information system in all the staterooms went down. No television, no stateroom information, no map. Not only was the television system down, but the ship’s entire network went down as well. The casinos were out of service, and bartenders and shop staff had to write down stateroom numbers on paper receipts. Getting information about the problem was met with what would become a common complaint on this trip: a lack of communications skills from the staff. But we moved on to the next port of call, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. NUUK, GREENLAND The capital of Greenland, Nuuk, held its Pride celebration the week before we arrived. Discovering small cities with Pride events astonishes me even to this day. We had tried to find a Nuuk Pride T-shirt but since the city is so small (17,000 people) the organizers told me they didn’t have the funds to create merch. For our excursion for the day, we chose the Fjord Boat Tour, which was majestic. Our boat driver dodged icebergs like a taxi weaving in and out of traffic. When we stopped for a few minutes, the calmness and solitude, being surrounded by ice and mountains, was otherworldly. Sadly, our driver said that 10 years ago, none of the ice in the water was there, and that it has been a result of climate change and melting ice. I shudder to think what the area will be like in another 10 years. There might be so much ice that boats can’t get anywhere. QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND In Qaqortoq, a 1,500-person city south of Nuuk, the excursion we chose was the “Kaffemik,” basically enjoying coffee and traditional Greenland cakes in a private house. We walked up the hills and passed by colorful homes to get to the residence of our host, an 80-year-old widow with Swedish ancestry who was charming and explained Greenlandic culture. One of her children was there to help translate, while her other children live in Denmark, which Greenland is a territory of. During the pandemic, Greenland received ample funds from Denmark to make up for the loss of income in industry. After we wrapped up our sightseeing, that evening, while walking around the ship, we came across a portrait of a woman who is the godmother of the ship, Cat Cora, the famous Iron Chef. She and her wife and children were also among the guests on board with us. We went to see her give a talk the following DISCOVERING SMALL CITIES WITH PRIDE EVENTS ASTONISHES ME EVEN TO THIS DAY.
18 • 9.7.2023 ⊳ CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE evening. We figured since there was no working casino or state room entertainment, that meeting an Iron Chef would be entertainment worth seeing. During her presentation she introduced her family, and afterwards we got a chance to chat. When I asked her about how it felt introducing her wife, she said “that’s what we need as a community, we need to be more visible.” That was music to our ears. TORSHAVN (FAROE ISLANDS), DENMARK This charming capital of the Faroe Islands is a wonder of old architecture and homes with grass roofs. The town’s Library had several LGBT books on display in the window due to the previous week’s Pride celebration. This trip, after learning about Pride in Nuuk, Greenland and also the Faroe Islands, proved to me what I’ve always believed, that Pride is one of the best exports America has ever given to the world. I thought of my friend Ellen Broidy who helped write the resolution that created Pride, and all of us who marched in that first Pride in 1970 in New York. LERWICK (SHETLANDS ISLANDS), SCOTLAND Believe it or not, it was actually stated in the ship’s excursion brochure “encounters with Shetland ponies is not guaranteed” which COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LGBT MEDIA ASSOCIATION gave me a chuckle. The tour we were on in Lerwick included going to the town’s museum to learn about the Shetland Bus, where people ferried people and supplies back and forth between Norway during WWII, as well as, thankfully, a stop at a Shetland Pony farm. Seeing the ponies and the beautiful green hills full of sheep was the highlight of this stop. One surprise was that while the Shetlands are part of Scotland, the citizens feel culturally closer to Norway, and there are lots of Viking motifs. HAUGESUND, NORWAY While there were excursions available to see the Norwegian fjords, by this point in the trip we needed a little bit of a break, so we simply walked around the town’s main square, bought a magnet as a souvenir, and enjoyed the warm sunshine, the first day above 50 degrees we’d had in two weeks. One of the LGBT couples did go on a fjord tour, and they said it was beautiful despite spending three hours in a bus to get to them. SKAGEN, DENMARK Skagen is the picture-perfect Danish seaside town. I’d recommend not doing any guided tours and just walking around the city’s downtown area on your own. There are museums, art galleries, shopping, and plenty of outdoor cafes and bistros. There are also top notch garden shops and plenty of greenery for those who have a green thumb. GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN Sweden’s second largest city has a population of 579,000 and is a model of a beautiful European city with second empire buildings and a very large central shopping area. We stumbled upon some fun shops, including one dedicated to Pippi Longstocking, as well as the largest cinnamon rolls and cookies we’ve ever seen. We took some time to sit in a city park and enjoy the surroundings. On the final night of the cruise, we enjoyed a performance by Tiano, the tenor and piano duo of Shimi Goodman and Chris Hamilton. They dedicated one of the love songs to Val and Klay, who were celebrating their 25th anniversary. The duo will soon embark on a North American tour, and we’re looking forward to seeing them again. They’re also a couple, and they mentioned that they were glad to meet other LGBT people on the ship. OSLO, NORWAY The cruise ended in Oslo, Norway, and many passengers planned a couple day layover before heading home. But others, like Jason and I, decided to head to the airport the CULTURE TRAVEL Jason and I at Skógafoss Waterfall. Photo by Jason Villemez. Skagen, Denmark. Photo by Jason Villemez. morning of disembarkation, and we purchased tickets from the ship that would transfer us and our luggage to the airport. The luggage was put in a truck, and we were ushered into buses. The process was confusing, and there was no ship representative at the airport to direct us where our luggage was. Ultimately, the truck with the luggage arrived about 15 minutes after we did, and everyone was reunited with their bags. Compared to the other Oceania cruise we did, this one failed to meet expectations. While it had what seemed like the best cabin at sea and a wonderful itinerary, the staff, while helpful, seemed to be learning on the job. The other major disappointment was the food. Oceania no longer has the best food at sea. Other than the specialty restaurants, the food was similar to any other cruise at best, and at times some of the food was severely disappointing. Also disappointing were the ships lack of available shore excursions, and lack of communications skills. The lack of information, especially from the cruise director and excursion staff, was subpar compared to many other cruises we’ve been on. And while the cruise did go to ports that have little infrastructure, there are ways to mitigate that which the cruise staff did not do. While the cruise did not meet Oceania’s reputation, it still afforded us the delight in the people we met and the destinations we saw along the way. That’s what we’ll remember most. A private party with some of the LGBT guests we met; Tiano on that final night; the maitre’d in the dining room who seemed to know the name of every passenger on the ship. Each evening we had the delight of sharing our experience with our friends over dinner. To sum up the reason for this trip, as an LGBT couple, we felt comfortable being ourselves on a non-LGBT cruise, and the other LGBT people we spoke with didn’t seem to have any issues either. As for whether we’d take Oceania again, we sadly would not unless the itinerary was completely unique. Oceania seemed to have lost the sparkle that made it one of the best cruise companies around. But despite the ship’s faults, seeing Iceland, Greenland, and so many other places was an experience of a lifetime. We can’t wait to go back to Reykjavik someday and see more of the country and meet more of the people, and we’re forever grateful to have seen Greenland, a place of unparalleled beauty and where few others have ever been. It’s a reminder that the planet has existed long before humans, and that we are but a small part of the wide wonder of nature.
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22 • 9.7.2023 LOVING THE LAND DOWN UNDER AUSTRALIA OFFERS LGBTQ TRAVELERS NOT ONLY A WIDE RANGE OF EXPERIENCES IN A STUNNING SETTING, BUT ALSO A WELCOMING AND DIVERSE CULTURE Having grown up in Kansas, in the middle of the United States, I’ve always longed to see more than the flat, flyover states that are the Midwest. When I was a kid, my dad was a huge Olivia Newton John fan. She was his Australian heartthrob. Many a school day, I would come home to her music blaring or one of her live concerts in the VCR. And as a young gay boy, I was mesmerized by her as well. She was pretty, sang beautifully and was from this great land far, far away. I wondered how this pop chanteuse from Down Under got into my living room. And I always wondered what her homeland of Australia was like. Was it filled with dangerous animals as everyone suggested? Was there something at every turn that could kill me? To me, it sounded exciting! I’ve always tried to live my life by a Helen Keller quote I heard while in high school: “Lift is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” And it was with that mindset firmly in place that I packed my bags this past spring to visit that mystical Land Down Under. Australia is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world, with a progressive culture that embraces diversity and inclusivity. Australia decriminalized homosexuality in the 1970s and legally recognized same-sex marriage in 2017. The country has a very vibrant and dynamic LGBTQ community, and it is a popular destination for LGBTQ travelers. Sydney, the largest city in Australia, is often considered the LGBTQ capital of the country. The city hosts the famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, an annual festival and parade that attracts more than 300,000 visitors from around the world. The festival, with colorful floats, music, and performances, has become a symbol of Australia’s commitment to LGBTQ rights and is a mustvisit for anyone traveling to Australia. The parade, beginning with the roar of hundreds of “dykes on bikes,” is truly a sight to behold. The whole country comes to CULTURE TRAVEL Pride lights the night in Sydney. Photo courtesy of Destination NSW. Chad Mantooth Dallas Voice SLAY at this parade! Everyone puts on their brightest colors and outfits for this over-thetop event. It was one of the best (and longest) Pride parades I’ve ever been to in my life. In 2023, Sydney was home to the 2023 WorldPride festival, and the city rolled out the rainbow carpet for the estimated 1 millionplus people, staging more than 400 events. And when I tell you that this city went over the top — well, that’s a complete understatement. EVERYWHERE I went, EVERYTHING was covered in rainbows — from the city sidewalks to the lighting on buildings, to every employee I saw in every shop with their rainbow pins and buttons. It was like gay was the norm and straight was the minority; it was weirdly fabulous! MELBOURNE Melbourne is another great city for LGBTQ travelers to visit. Aside from being the current home to my favorite pop star, Troye Sivan, the city is known for its vibrant arts and culture scene and is home to a thriving LGBTQ community. The annual Midsumma Festival, a three-week celebration of queer arts and culture, is held in Melbourne and features a range of exhibitions, performances, parties, and other events. If shopping is your thing, check out the 145-year-old Queen Victoria Market. This open-air market is home to more than 600 small businesses where you can buy everything from Australian fruits and veggies to gourmet food, clothing, and souvenirs. There is literally something for everyone. WILD AUSTRALIA What initially drew me Down Under were the lush landscapes and wild animals I saw on TV growing up. The country is home to some of the world’s most stunning natural wonders, including the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, and the Blue Mountains. LGBTQ travelers can explore these natural wonders through a range of activities, including hiking, snorkeling and even zip lines and hot air balloon rides. One stop for me was the breathtaking Heron Island, a stunning coral cay located on the southern Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland. It is accessible only by catamaran or helicopter and offers a secluded and pristine escape for travelers looking for a uniquely tranquil experience. The island boasts world-class snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities, giving visitors the chance to swim among vibrant coral reefs and an abundance of marine life including sea turtles, manta rays and reef sharks, while its sandy beaches provide a picturesque setting for sunbathing and leisurely walks. The island is an also breeding ground for several species
9.7.2023 • 23 Scuba diver exploring the coral gardens surrounding Heron Island. Photo courtesy of Jordan Robins. CULTURE TRAVEL COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LGBT MEDIA ASSOCIATION of seabirds, including the endangered black noddy tern and the wedge-tailed shearwater, making it perfect for birding enthusiasts. I spent three glorious days on this piece of paradise and have never felt so relaxed in my life. I got up close with nature — every kind of wildlife you could imagine birds — in a way that I’ve never experienced before and will never forget. Accommodation options on Heron Island range from eco-friendly tents to luxurious suites, with all rooms offering stunning views of the reef and the island’s lush vegetation. Facilities include a restaurant and bar and well as guided nature walks and reef talks. If you need a chance for some peaceful rest and rejuvenation, especially after all the excitement of Sydney and Melbourne, Heron Island is the perfect destination. Its remote location and unparalleled natural beauty make it a must-visit destination. BONDI BEACH Australia has several LGBTQ-friendly beaches, including the popular Bondi Beach in Sydney. The beach is home to the Bondi Gay and Lesbian Beach Picnic, which is held on the first Sunday of every month and is a great way to meet other LGBTQ travelers. FOOD AND WINE Australia’s food and wine culture is yet another draw for LGBTQ travelers, offering a range of culinary delights from fresh seafood to world-class wines and unique indigenous cuisine. I know I came back to the states 10 pounds heavier! The cities of Melbourne and Sydney are particularly known for their food and wine scenes, with a range of LGBTQfriendly restaurants and bars. Overall, I spent a little more than two weeks in The Land Down Under. I loved it so much that I’ve decided I will definitely be going back to vacation there again, and I might even move there some day to live! The welcome I felt from the people there is something I will never forget. Aussies care about their country and the people in it. From the moment I touched down until the minute that I left, I never felt unwelcomed anywhere I went. The country’s progressive culture, natural beauty, and diverse cities make it an ideal vacation spot for LGBTQ individuals and couples. Whether you’re looking to attend a Pride parade, explore the great outdoors or simply relax on a beautiful beach, Australia has something to offer everyone. So, pack your bags and come and say G’day; you won’t regret it! For more info on traveling to Australia, visit www.australia.com. and and
24 • 9.7.2023 ONE FAMILY’S JOURNEY My son (FTM) has been transitioning for several years and completely passes as male. His HRT treatments started before Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republicans scared off or shut down a lot of gender-affirming clinics and have continued in the gray area where they can continue treatment but not take on new patients. My son still had begun developing breast tissue prior to starting HRT and so has been binding for years. As parents, my wife and I have been supportive, enrolling him in gender-affirming care and providing counseling and therapy for both him and ourselves to facilitate and support our son. Obviously, for a good while our son has wanted top surgery to remove the developed breast tissue and thus end the constant stress and expense of binding. Some supporters may not agree with our parental approach to top surgery, so proceed with awareness. We as parents understand that most effects of hormone treatment are reversible or minimized if the person decides to stop treatment. This gives parents — as well as the child — a lot of flexibility to determine the future while being supportive and proactive. Surgery is irreversible, and so that decision must be made with much greater confidence. That being said, my wife and I decided that our son would be responsible for providing his own top surgery. We are supportive and gave our permission, but the actual cost and logistics needed to be our son’s responsibility. It is important to us that our son owned his transitionary steps. We know some won’t agree with us on this. So be it. We did not want his transformation to be a gift but a milestone in his journey, something he made happen for himself. In consulting with his therapist and psychologist, we agreed it would be beneficial if this step was something our son owned and accomplished himself. And so he began the search for a provider. Our insurance was willing to cover the procedure as medically necessary. But we could Courtesy photo, via Dallas Voice. CULTURE TRAVEL Sean Hamilton Dallas Voice find no providers anywhere in this country who would accept our insurance. Every one of them refused our insurance and asked for upfront payment. Our insurance was unable — or unwilling — to help us find someone. Our insurance company suggested we have the procedure done out-of-network, and they would cover it if we could get the provider to fill out and submit a one-page form. None were willing. And the costs were between $16,000 and $18,000 up front. That’s not something a high school or college student can afford. In addition, many of these doctors had waitlists of six months to two years to even have an initial consultation. For those familiar with the stress of gender dysphoria, months and years add massive costs to mental health and wellbeing. So my son began looking further out for other alternatives. This brought him to the idea of medical tourism. If you aren’t familiar, medical tourism is where a person travels to another country to have a medical procedure performed, spends time there to recover and then returns home. Not surprisingly, this is mostly an American phenomenon, as many other countries have much more accessible and affordable care, even for “elective” procedures such as top surgery for transgender people. According to an NPR article from March 2023, more than 780,000 Americans participated in medical tourism in 2022, experiencing drastically reduced costs compared to equivalent procedures in the United States. My son researched various connecting agencies designed to match patients to providers in Mexico. Ultimately, he found someone he felt was compatible, available, and supportive. Emails and phone calls were exchanged followed by initial virtual consultations that led to scheduling a date for surgery. Let me take this moment to inform on the state of Mexico’s healthcare system: The Mexican healthcare system provides no-cost access to healthcare for citizens. But this does not prevent or exclude private care, so Mexican citizens who want a higher quality of care than the government provides might opt for private care at their own expense. It is this sector of private care that also accommodates medical tourists. So, to be clear, this is still a for-profit medical practice. It is not charity or a government service and it operates like any other for-profit A PARENT’S EXPERIENCE IN GENDER-AFFIRMING MEDICAL TOURISM business. A payment up front is required to show commitment and to secure a space. For my son this was in the form of a nonrefundable wire transfer of several hundred dollars. He needed to work with our bank to facilitate the transfer, as there are several security steps involved, and wire transfers to Mexico have specific rules and requirements. Once approved and accepted, the remaining payment for the procedure is expected either in advance or on the day of the procedure. Credit cards are preferred, but other forms of payment are accepted depending on the provider. In my son’s case, this payment covered everything — pre-op consultation, surgery, anesthesia, and all post-op care, even after we returned to the United States. This included daily updates to the surgeon on healing progress and multiple follow-up visits. Where this would have cost over $18,000 in the United States, the fee for this private service in Mexico was $3,800. But this is only half the process. At this point, we have provided for the procedure, but we’re also in a foreign country, and we don’t want to navigate airports and customs with fresh cuts and blood drains. So we needed a place for him to recover and heal. This is where the “recovery houses” enter the picture. These are facilities, sometimes hotels, sometimes just homes, that are rented out as safe and staffed spaces where medical tourists can safely recuperate and heal with daily care. Costs run from $80 to $120 a day as of June 2023, and that includes all meals, sanitation, room cleaning, laundry, transportation to and EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first part in a two-part series written by the father of a (FTM) son. Note that costs are in U.S. dollars. PART 1: THE HOW-TO
9.7.2023 • 25 Courtesy photo, via Dallas Voice. CULTURE TRAVEL COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LGBT MEDIA ASSOCIATION from airports and medical appointments and on-staff or on-call nurses with direct contact to your doctor for the entirety of your stay. In our case, I was an additional person, and that was an extra $30 a day, which included all meals and transportation. I try to imagine what this kind of care would cost in the United States, and I don’t think there even is any equivalent. It’s not a hospital room, but it’s not just a hotel room, either. I can’t imagine a similar service in the U.S. — three healthy meals a day, on-call nurses to manage your bandages and medications, staff to clean your bed and clothes and a driver to take you to and from all of your appointments? How much would that be here? Like the for-profit doctor, this is also a forprofit enterprise and requires non-refundable payment up front for the entire length of the stay. While some may be tempted to save some money and cut the time in the recovery house short, just remember that healing is a rollercoaster, and just because you feel really good one day does not mean you are ready to travel. I would recommend following the doctor’s advice on how long to stay in town in the recovery house, even if it’s a few days more than you think you might need. Most complications happen within the first 10 days to two weeks, and you want to be available to your doctor to address anything that might happen. A two week stay in a recovery house is an additional $1,400 or so, bringing our base cost for surgery and recovery to around $5,200. The recovery house is not an expense you would have if having this procedure performed in the U.S., but this total is still far below the $18,000 estimate to have same procedure domestically. And, of course, you must factor in the cost of flights to Mexico. As of June 2023, Texas to Guadalajara — where my son had his procedure — was about $350 per person, coach, with a flight time of about three hours. As for the travel aspect, if you can afford it and you have the time, Global Entry will save you huge headaches and lines getting between the U.S. and Mexico. When entering Mexico through customs, “Medical tourism” is a valid reason to give customs agents; they are familiar with it and understand. You must have a passport; just a U.S. driver’s license is no longer enough to travel to Mexico. It can take months to get a passport, so plan ahead. It is my personal opinion that everyone should have a valid passport anyway, as it supersedes any other form of ID the U.S. provides. An interesting fact for transgender people: My son was able to get his passport in his identifying gender, opposite his birth certificate, even though he can’t get his state driver’s license in that gender, because Texas. Uber and AirBnB work in Mexico quite well. There are many Uber drivers, and we rarely had to wait more than a few minutes for a ride anywhere (when we wanted to go somewhere that wasn’t a doctor’s appointment). And it is cheap; most drives only costing us a few dollars. Have your Uber app updated and ready, and you can get anywhere easily. A note of caution: There is a delivery app that is quite popular in Mexico called Rappi, but it does not accept U.S.-based credit cards or accounts at this time without extensive and expensive verification steps. Avoid it until they choose to accept U.S. credit cards. This limitation is not advertised on their site or app; I found out through trial and error. I don’t know about other medical tourism areas in Mexico, but where we were, our recovery house was within easy walking distance of two convenience stores, three pharmacies and multiple cafes and restaurants. It was wonderful for us since I was able to walk and get any supplies we needed with ease. Check with your proposed recovery house about what is in the area, because sometimes a little snack or a short walk can make a recovery day much better. As far as money, most places take credit cards and mobile payments easily. Just let your credit card company and your bank know you are traveling. Cash is mostly unnecessary unless you want to tip. Tipping is less expected than in the U.S. but is appreciated. No one got offended any time we did not tip, and often our Uber driver would be driving away before we had the chance to tip. The minimum wage in Mexico is about $13 dollars an hour, so tipping is not necessary for anyone’s survival, and if you’re on a strict budget, you can get by without tipping. We did choose to leave some chocolate for our nurse and staff as recognition, and I tipped our driver at the end of our stay. But that was a personal choice and not expected. I hope that our experience gives some clarity into what to expect if you or your trans loved one are considering medical tourism. It was overall a very positive experience. This article was about the logistics and the details; in Part 2I will explore our experience from a more cultural and emotional point of view. Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting your LGBTQ people. Sign up for our newsletters at outsfl.com outsfl knows DAILY OUR DAILY EBLAST ISLANDER TWICE WEEKLY WILTON MANORS EBLAST SCOOP OUR WEEKLY EBLAST
26 • 9.7.2023 GENDER-AFFIRMING MEDICAL TOURISM I t’s January 2023. My son (FTM) sends me a text — just an aside in the middle of a conversation about movies or philosophy or something: “Also!! Top surgery on June 27.” I open my calendar to start making plans. It’s something he’s been working on for more than a year. We tried going through my insurance, and while the insurance promised to cover the procedure, we were unable to find anyone willing to do the procedure under insurance. They all wanted no insurance, payment in full up front. Most doctors were holding new patients to a six-month, one-year, or even two-year waitlist to even have an initial consultation. And then, it would cost approximately $16,000-$18,000. And, to be honest, the doctors he talked to in person were coldshouldered, unfeeling and just chasing profit. So, my son was researching medical tourism, which is traveling to another country to have surgery done cheaper and faster than what the United States could provide. Some may not agree with us on this, but his mother and I put the burden of achieving this goal on our son. We had him in gender-affirming care, including hormone replacement, and were fully supportive of his pronouns and recognition of his gender. But we wanted this surgery to be something he owned, something he made happen for himself, not something we gifted him. It is part of life’s journey that we struggle to accomplish the things most important to us, the experiences that define us. Gifts don’t do that; struggle does. Courtesy photo, via Dallas Voice. CULTURE TRAVEL WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I TRAVELED TO MEXICO WITH MY FTM SON FOR HIS GENDER-AFFIRMING SURGERY But that being said, we were not going to just abandon our son. We wanted to be supportive. So I helped with flights and told him I was willing to pay for my own accommodations to be there with him during his transformation. I made sure that everything I did was my expense to be there with him, but he COULD have done this completely on his own. That was important. So. I scheduled our flights, and then I began thinking: I’m a native Texan, but in all my years, I’ve never been to Mexico. And as far as Texans go, my Spanish is terrible, good for little more than reading a restaurant menu. And I’ve been fed a media diet that looks down on Mexico as a third world country, rife with crime and danger and filthiness. Let me just say that, as open-minded as I am and as much as I try to be nonprejudiced, our media in the U.S. is insidious and pervasive. I was worried about this trip because of everything I’d heard in our media. Were we at risk of being kidnapped? Are the hospitals there terrible? Do the toilets work? Are we going to get sick if we inadvertently drink the water? Is my kid safe having surgery here? But life is an adventure. So I booked our flights and he booked our AirBnB and the recovery house. And we prepared for our adventure. His surgeon was located in Guadalajara, which has a strong medical tourism industry. It’s not as prevalent as in Mexico City or other cities in Mexico, but it is established. There are multiple surgeons and surgery centers and recovery houses available there. It is a large city, with all of the modern aspects you would expect any large city to have. Uber and AirBnb are common and easy to use. We made extensive use of Google Translate and the translation functions of WhatsApp to communicate, and it made our lives much easier. We arrived a day before my son was to have his initial consultation. He booked a cute little AirBnB for the first two nights, as it was much cheaper than the Recovery House. For these two nights, a one-bedroom AirBnb in a nice part of town was about $50 a night. It had an upstairs bedroom with an air conditioner, bathroom and shower, and a futon in a little living room and kitchen on the first floor. I’ve certainly stayed in worse places for more money. The next morning, my son was scheduled for his blood draw and in-person consultation with the surgeon. I must say that one of the most striking differences in the health care practices in Mexico versus the United States is the simple practicality of Mexico’s process. We arrived at the surgeon’s office for the blood draw and consultation. My son talked EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part II of Sean Hamilton’s story about his experience supporting his transgender son. All monetary sums are in U.S. dollars. PART 2: A PARENT’S EXPERIENCE Sean Hamilton Dallas Voice
9.7.2023 • 27 CULTURE TRAVEL to the lady running the lab desk. She took his payment — $30 — and then sat him down right there and did the blood draw, giving him a receipt to take to the surgeon. Including the delays for translation of instructions and payment, we were there about 10 minutes. Then we walked upstairs and told the desk he was there to see his surgeon. We waited about five minutes, and then were escorted back to meet with the surgeon in person. Now, to be clear, this is a person that my son had been talking to over email and in messages for months, with electronic consultations. My son had sent him a wire transfer of $500 to secure the surgery date, and this day was the first time they had met in person. The doctor was very supportive, spoke fluent English and answered all of our questions, multiple times. While my son was getting changed for the physical aspect of the consultation, the doctor addressed me, saying (paraphrased), “It is so nice when I see family come with my patients. It is love. It is love to support them.” I’m sure there are some that will say this was just him keeping his paying clients happy, but I felt it was more than that. Yes, he is a plastic surgeon conducting cosmetic surgery. And mostly their center does breast enhancement. But this felt different. I genuinely feel that he wanted to help my son feel more confident and at home in his own body. So my son consulted with the doctor. And, upon seeing my son in person, the surgeon changed his plan a bit before scheduling surgery for 8:30 a.m. the next day. Our challenge then was to get from the AirBnb to the Recovery House, get set up and go straight from there to surgery. Fortunately the recovery house was very accommodating and were able to pick us up early in the morning with enough time to move our gear and get us to surgery — with time to spare. A note on traffic: Traffic in Guadalajara is much like traffic in any larger city, except where, in the U.S., stop signs mean stop, in Guadalajara, stop signs are a mild suggestion. Stop lights are more serious — but not much more. It was common for our drivers to see a stop sign or a stop light and just check that the intersection was clear, and, if it was, just blow through it. So I do recommend using official taxis and Uber drivers to get around unless you are an adventurous driver. I had heard about people trying scam tourists with bad or fake taxi services, but I think the Uber phenomenon has supplanted that. We used an official taxi service to get from the airport to the AirBnb, then we used Uber after that. We had no problems at all with any of these services. On the day of surgery, we arrived at the surgery center. From what I could determine, we were the only patients there that morning, so we had the building and the staff to ourselves. The rooms were very plain and simple compared to surgery rooms in the U.S., and very practical: a bed, a seating area for supporting relatives, a bathroom and some basic medical equipment such as heart and blood pressure monitors. And that’s all. Now I’m going to go into some differences in procedures and treatment. In the U.S., top surgery — more officially, double mastectomy with chest sculpting — involves the patient being put fully under anesthesia — intubated and completely down. However, this anesthesiologist did not feel that was necessary, so her plan was to put my son in twilight with an epidural. The option was always there to take him fully under if necessary, but she didn’t feel it was needed. Again, practicality. This surgery required no cutting of muscles or bones; it’s just skin and fatty tissue work. This made my son a bit anxious but it worked out very well. Surgery took about four hours during which time I used the local Wi-Fi to work. I took a picture, and I remember vividly that last moment, watching my son walk into the operating theater to his transformation, knowing that the person I would meet a few hours later would be fundamentally different. It was a long wait. But finally they rolled him back from surgery, already awake and talking. He recovered quickly because of the lower anesthesia, and at about four in the afternoon, we called for our ride to take us back to the Recovery House. During this time, we needed to make the final payments for the surgery, and here is how understanding and nice they are: My son had already paid half upon arrival, and the other half was due prior to surgery starting. However, their system glitched, and they were not able to process the payment before surgery started. But they went ahead with the surgery. While he was in surgery, the system cleared, and I worked with them to complete payment. I can’t imagine that we would have had the same understanding in the U.S. They were instructing me on the postoperative care my son would need in the recovery house — prescriptions, bandages, anti-septics, compression wraps, gauze, cotton — and the nurse, while my son was recovering post-surgery, literally walked with me down the street to a pharmacy, ordered the prescriptions and picked out all of the items we would need. I just paid drug store prices for all of it. No stupid $300 for Tylenol markup, just go to the pharmacy and buy these things to use in recovery. Very practical. And you can get Tramadol over the counter for pain management. After we left the surgery center and returned to the Recovery House, the same nurse that walked me to the pharmacy came there to help my son shower, clean and change his bandages and rewrap everything. According to my son and his peers who have had top surgery in the U.S., this is very different. In the U.S., they have been told to stay in their bandages for a week, maybe two weeks before changing anything. Here, they wanted the bandages changed, the wounds inspected every day and pictures sent to the surgeon to monitor healing. My son got to see the shape of his new chest the next morning, unlike his peers in the U.S. The nurse helped him shower, and even washed his hair, the very next morning after surgery. I can’t even express how good this was for my son’s morale. If you aren’t aware, having this surgery often requires having drains present to siphon off bodily fluid that is generated by the surgery. This means plastic tubes coming out of the chest to drain into a container. In the U.S., doctors often just let the patient heal for a week with these drains in, no changing of bandages or other care. For my son’s doctor this was different. It still took a little more than a week before the drains were removed, but in that time my son was able to shower every day, view the progress of his healing every day and feel better every day. There were some issues with pain. Even though this surgery did not involve cutting any muscle or bone, it did involve removal of breast tissue and lactation glands, liposuction After the surgery. Courtesy photo, via Dallas Voice. CONTINUE READING ON NEXT PAGE ⊲ NO STUPID $300 FOR TYLENOL MARKUP, JUST GO TO THE PHARMACY AND BUY THESE THINGS TO USE IN RECOVERY. VERY PRACTICAL.
28 • 9.7.2023 and nipple replacement, with long cuts across the chest to sculpt the skin. My son is generally opposed to opioids, but on the second night, the pain was rough. Fortunately tramadol is available overthe-counter, as I noted, and I was able to walk to a nearby pharmacy and get some serious pain relief for him. This got him through the next couple of nights until the healing crested and the pain began to subside. The Recovery House provided for everything he needed. All meals were covered and included protein, fresh fruits and vegetables and, usually, fruit or vegetable juice. They had direct access to his doctor’s office for any questions. They did not provide items such as soap, shampoo or toothpaste or any of the materials needed for recovery. You provide those yourself. But they did clean the rooms and laundry every day, including our personal laundry. There was a nice sitting area, Wi-Fi, a patio and comfortable places to just be and listen to the birds or enjoy the weather. The house was gated and protected by electric wire, and the gates were always closed. I never had a sense of being unsafe. Because Guadalajara is not “zoned” the way many neighborhoods in the U.S. are, there were many options for food and supplies within easy walking distance. Less than five minutes’ walk in three directions there were convenience stores and pharmacies as well as cafes, restaurants and other shops. It was easy to simply walk out the gate down to the 7-11 or the pharmacy, pick up some gauze or tape or prescriptions and return. Two weeks of watching your kid recover is a long time, so I read a lot of books on my computer and worked with my teams in the U.S. We watched Netflix at night until he was tired. After about eight days, the doctor felt the fluid drainage had subsided enough to remove the drains. So we went into the office where he snipped the ends of the sutures holding the drains in and smoothly removed them. My son said it felt weird but was not painful. It’s important to know that this surgery requires compression to make sure the skin reattaches to the underlying body fascia. So this whole time, my son was wearing a layer of gauze over the wounds, a layer of cotton over the gauze, and an elastic bandage wrapped multiple times around his torso to provide compression. With the drains in, this was uncomfortable for him. Once the drains were removed, a lot of that discomfort went away, and a day later he felt ready to go out and see something other than the inside of the recovery room. Fortunately, there were a lot of options nearby. Just a 10-minute walk away was a nice shopping area with a casino, several restaurants and some shops. You only need to be 18 to gamble, so we spent a few hours on the slots until he got tired, and we walked back and had a nice dinner to celebrate. It was not lost on me, by the way, that my son had his transformative surgery during Pride Month. He continued to heal over the next week and, finally, on the day before we were to return the U.S. he saw his surgeon for a final check-up. All this time, the surgeon had been getting daily photos of my son’s healing process, and now it was time to snip the sutures. This was painful, but it also marked the final step. This is where the full reality of transformation really hit home. My son was crying with happiness. And his surgeon showed so much compassion and care; he spent easily a half an hour with us, even as he had other patients to care for, to make sure that my son was okay. As has always happened anytime I travel, I completely re-evaluated my expectations, threw away prejudices I was not aware I had (mostly due to U.S. media) and came to a greater understanding of our shared humanity. I was privileged to watch a person I love become more of who they want to be, and I was privileged to meet people who gladly helped him make this transformation. From the surgeon to the housekeepers, everyone was supportive, smiling and friendly. I went to Mexico to support my son and found I was only one of many people willing to be his support. ⊳ CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE CULTURE TRAVEL THIS IS WHERE THE FULL REALITY OF TRANSFORMATION REALLY HIT HOME. MY SON WAS CRYING WITH HAPPINESS. AND HIS SURGEON SHOWED SO MUCH COMPASSION AND CARE; HE SPENT EASILY A HALF AN HOUR WITH US, EVEN AS HE HAD OTHER PATIENTS TO CARE FOR, TO MAKE SURE THAT MY SON WAS OKAY.
9.7.2023 • 29 Favorite pizza? Most talented barber? In this contest, it’s YOUR CHOICE! VOTE NOW! PRESENTED BY THE FINALISTS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN! THE LAST DAY TO VOTE IS SEPTEMBER 28TH OUTSFL.COM/YCA
30 • 9.7.2023 TO-DO LIST [email protected] FOOD TRUCKS & SHOPPING! Food In Motion returns to downtown Fort Lauderdale at a new location (while Peter Feldman Park undergoes the acoustic opening act renovations). The food truck and artisan market run from 6-10 p.m. at Esplanade Park, 400 SW 2nd St., Fort Lauderdale. For more information check out facebook.com/FlaglerFoodInMotion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 DRAG ‘ROUND THE CLOCK Hamburger Mary’s, 2426 Wilton Dr., is dragnificent all day and all night with the Drag Diva Throwback Brunch starting at 11:30. Don’t know whether that means it’s old school music, or you throw back a few cocktails or both! And then that night, it’s drag queen Bingo starting at 7 p.m. For more info go to hamburgermarys.com/fortlauderdale. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 SEE DICK. TALK DICK TALK, DICK! Talking about penises, while viewing them, what could be better? How about having The Penis Talk Show hosted by the hilarious Bruce Vilanch? At The Foundry, 2306 N. Dixie Hwy., Wilton Manors, tonight through Wednesday. For tickets call 954-826-8790 or go to RonnieLarsen.com. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 EAST VS WEST Whoever said East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet, never meant Mark Hunter. He’s got popular bars in WilMa and Palm Springs. Tonight at 7 p.m. the two face off in a head-to-head live Trivia Tournament. Will we have the advantage because they just started drinking? Check it out at Hunters, 2232 Wilton Dr. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 PEACE, LOVE, & ROCK N ROLLIN’ ON THE RIVER IN PALM BEACH Peace of Woodstock takes you on a musical journey from Richie Havens’ acoustic opening act of the Woodstock experience, through the closing moments of the festival with the explosive, electric sounds of Jimi Hendrix. Also featured are songs from Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Who, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Joe Cocker, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Santana, the Jefferson Airplane, and others. At Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach. Tickets are $40-$45, at artsgarage.org. DIVAS ON STAGE! The Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave, welcomes the return of Divas on Stage! for a special preseason fundraising event with a tribute to the legendary Tina Turner. Join Lupita Hollywood, Melissa St John, Shardee L Ross, Danielle Montgomery, Dayzee Deluxx, and Tonna McKenzie for this special one-night event! Tickets are $15, at LakeWorthPlayhouse.org. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 [email protected] CULTURE FOOD HAWKERS ASIAN STREET FOOD Photo via eathawkers.com. HAWKERS ASIAN STREET FOOD 640 ATLANTIC AVE., DELRAY BEACH 561-485-4111 EATHAWKERS.COM Everyone who returns from trips to Asia always raves about the street food carts. Delray Beach has a restaurant that specializes in that fare. So, if you can’t afford a quick trip to the Far East, head to Delray’s Hawkers Asian Street Food for a quick vacation fix. Hawker’s may be a chain (there are a dozen or so locations, mostly up and down the Atlantic seaboard), but the Delray location is the only one in South Florida. Is the food authentic? Maybe not, it’s been adapted for the American palate, but like all good Asian street food it mesmerizes all five senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, and of course, taste. We stopped by with our friends Jeff and Eva for a late lunch and, to our joy, discovered that it was happy hour (3-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday), with half off all baos and beers, special $5 small plates, and $3 off all cocktails. After a couple of tropical cocktails for me and our friend Jeff and a martini for his wife Eva, we were off on our culinary adventure. Hawkers is perfect for when you just want to sit and chat with friends. Food comes out as it is ready, and most plates are shareable. Everything we tried was delicious, I don’t think you can go wrong with Hawkers’ menu. Dim sum treats include steamed bao stuffed with a choice of roast duck with hoisin, spicy Seoul fried chicken, lush pork belly, or sweet and sticky roast pork char siu. Dumplings are available seared or steamed and include chicken and soup-filled versions as well as two variations on deep-fried wontons. Chicken egg rolls, veggie spring rolls, and shrimp summer rolls are on the menu, as are Korean kalbi short ribs, bulgogi steak, cola-braised five-spice sticky ribs, Korean fried wings, and Hawkers wings, served with a choice of sauce: sweet Thai chili, spicy Hainanese spicy icon, honey Rick Karlin HOT DISH sriracha, onion-ginger, or with a jerk rub. Skewers come laden with shrimp, chicken satay, or lamb. Vegetarians have lots of options including green papaya salad (ask them to hold the shrimp), grilled shishito peppers, edamame, house-made kimchi, crispy tofu bites, fivespice green beans, and Hawker’s Delight, a saucy blend of wok-seared tofu, broccoli, carrots, napa, bell peppers, and straw mushrooms served with jasmine rice. Larger plates to be shared by the table (or scarfed down on your own) include fried rice with roast duck, kimchi, or Hawkers’ classic, packed with chicken, shrimp, char siu, eggs, onions, and soy sauce. It wouldn’t be Asian street food if noodles weren’t involved and there’s a nice variety here. Wok-fired shrimp, chicken, lap cheong, egg, veggies, and fresh wide rice noodles in a simple soy and pork sauce is a Malaysian street classic. Singapore mei fun noodles are dusted with yellow curry, chicken, shrimp, eggs, and veggies. Yaki udon features chicken, eggs, and veggies in a savory sauce with a chili finish, beef haw fun combines fresh wide rice noodles, steak, and spring onions, and of course, there are the classics, pad Thai and lo mein. Desserts aren’t big in Asia, usually just fresh fruit, or sweet bean cakes, but Hawkers offers up a bag of mini donuts. But what you really want to end your culinary adventure are the banana spring rolls (deep-fried with spiced honey and Nutter Butter crumbles. served with vanilla ice cream, fresh berries, peanut butter, and raspberry sauce). OMG! Not at all authentic, but with something this delish who cares? During our visit, we sampled at least a dozen dishes, each perfectly prepared, and service was impeccable. Not a bad way to spend a few hours on the attractive patio, for $40 a person (including a generous tip for the hot waiter). Read more from Rick Karlin is OutSFL’s arts & culture editor, but the this author here views and opinions he expresses in his columns are solely his own and do not represent the official viewpoint of OutSFL. Have a culinary tip to share? Email Rick at [email protected].
9.7.2023 • 31 MEDICARE AND PRIVATE INSURANCE ACCEPTED 1164 E Oakland Park Blvd, Suite 201 Oakland Park, FL 33334 Dr. Macek is double board certifi ed in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Macek is fellowship trained in Pain Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, the birthplace and leading program of modern pain management in the United States. TREATMENT FOR: ▶ BACK PAIN • NECK PAIN ▶ JOINT DISEASE • HIV NEUROPATHY ▶ HEADACHES • SHINGLES ▶ CANCER PAIN PROCEDURES OFFERED: ▶ STEM CELL THERAPY ▶ PLASMA RICH PROTEIN THERAPY ▶ EPIDURAL STEROID INJECTIONS ▶ JOINT INJECTIONS ▶ SPINAL CORD STIMULATION ▶ MIGRAINES ▶ BACK BRACES ▶ RADIO FREQUENCY ABLATION T: 954.866.5555 | F: 954.938.2127 DRTOMMACEK.COM TOM MACEK, MD Board Certifi ed in: ANESTHESIOLOGY, PAIN MANAGEMENT A PEX SPINE & PAIN
32 • 9.7.2023 “Love without judgement” A home for your spirit. Holy Angels National Catholic Church 1436 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors. 33305 Facebook.com/HolyAngelsFL www.HolyAngelsFL.org 954-633-2987 Mass Schedule: Sabado 6:00 PM misa en español • Sunday Mass at 11 AM in English • All are welcome! Join us for masked, socially distanced in person worship. 11 AM Sundays. Services also LIVE-streamed on Facebook and posted on website for safe at home viewing. Join us for in-person worship at 10 AM Sunday, or live streamed on Facebook www.facebook.com/ChruchofOurSaviorMCC 2011 South Federal Hwy. Boynton Beach, FL 561-733-4000 www.churchofoursaviormcc.org Church of Our Savior MCC CONGREGATION ETZ CHAIM 2038 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors (Pride Center Building B) 954-564-9232 | etzchaimflorida.org [email protected] Friday Night Shabbat Service 8p.m. CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOR, MCC 2011 S. Federal Hwy. Boynton Beach churchofoursaviormcc.org | 561-733-4000 Sunday Service 10AM HOLY ANGELS CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 1436 NE 26th St, Wilton Manors 954-633-2987 - HolyAngelsFL.net Sunday Mass at 11AM ST. NICHOLAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH 1111 E. Sample Road, Pompano Beach 954-942-5887 | StNicholasFL.org Sunday Service 9:30AM ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND SCHOOL 1750 East Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale 954-563-5155 | www.saintmarksftl.com Worship Sundays @ 8am and 10:30am STS FRANCIS AND CLARE CHURCH 2300 NW 9th Ave. (Powerline Rd.) WIlton Manors 954-731-8173 | stsfrancisandclare.org Sunday: 10:30 AM. Watch LIVE @ facebook.com/stsfrancisandclare SPIRITSONG CHURCH 2038 N Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Pride Center Auditorium @ Equality Park (rear of campus) cohss.org Sunday Service 10 AM Live streaming on YouTube & Facebook UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF BOCA RATON 2601 St Andrews Blvd. in Boca Raton (just off Glades Rd., next to University Woodlands Park) (561) 482-2001 | www.uufbr.org Sunday service at 10:30 AM Eastern. Zoom Meeting ID: 914 8201 7108 Passcode: 952914 SPIRITUALITY LISTINGS PLEASE CHECK EACH LOCATION'S SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION REGARDING DATES, IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE FOR SERVICES, OR OPTIONS FOR VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE. JOSH SEITER OF 'THE BACHELORETTE' IS ALIVE DESPITE REPORTS S everal reports were made that Josh Seiter is dead after his family played a “cruel joke” on his Instagram page announcing he was dead. The false statement said the following: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the tragic news of Joshua’s unexpected passing. His fearless voice and indomitable spirit helped thousands of people in their darkest moments feel just a little less alone.” The statement concluded by providing crisis resources. Seiter issued a statement via Instagram proving he’s alive and that his account was hacked by his own family. Many news outlets have condemned the actions of Seiter’s family for joking about suicide and have felt the need to explain why it is not acceptable. Josh Seiter. Photo via josh_seiter_official, Instagram. OUT AND LOUD CULTURE OUT AND LOUD BISEXUAL By Christian “CJ” Walden LGBT CELEBRITY WATCH EMMA-JAY WEBBER BECOMES FIRST LESBIAN PAGEANT WINNER T he Ms World International Woman Pageant that took place in Miami Beach on Aug. 31 crowned Emma-Jay Webber as their beauty queen. Webber is now the first lesbian finalist of an international beauty pageant, and she plans to use her status to help push for LGBT inclusivity worldwide. Webber is a forklift driver and mother of two from the UK and is “very proud” of how far the UK has come in terms of inclusivity in pageantry. Webber told Pink News that more needs to be done to change the “heteronormative industry.” “It’s incredible to be able to use this platform to promote my love of LGBTQ+ rights. This is a dream title to win,” said Webber. LESBIAN Emma-Jay Webber. Photo via Emma-Jay Webber, Facebook.
9.7.2023 • 33 WONDERING WHERE YOU FIT IN? Holy Grill Mobile Feeding Ministry BINGO! Sundays 2pm Thursdays 1pm DANIELLE MCGAHEY BECOMES FIRST TRANS CRICKETER Danielle McGahey is a part of Canada’s squad for a qualifying tournament to compete in the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh. This means McGahey is set to become the first transgender cricketer to play in an official international match, as long as she passes the qualifiers. The 29-year-old trans athlete has fulfilled all the eligibility criteria the International Cricket Council (ICC) has for male-to-female transgender players, which has caused backlash from many outlets, including the Women’s Rights Network (WRN). McGahey’s participation is rare among sports, as transgender women have been banned from elite women’s competitions in many countries across the world. However, McGahey is required to do blood tests every month to determine her testosterone levels and must report who she has played against in her player profile and how many runs were scored. Regardless of her heavy requirements to participate in Cricket on an international scale, McGahey told BBC Sports, “I am absolutely honored. To be able to represent my community is something I never dreamed I would be able to do.” Danielle McGahey. Photo via bbcsports, Twitter. CULTURE OUT AND LOUD TRANSGENDER
34 • 9.7.2023 ¡BIENVENIDOS GAY GAMES 2023! I t’s a warm Friday evening at Dolce Veele, a café bar in Guadalajara’s Zona Rosa. A tall drag queen stands alone on a stage at the back. She’s leading karaoke tonight, belting out a Mexican country song in sync with a video of a handsome cowboy that plays out front to the open street. The young servers sing along, laughing and smart-assing her. Passersby smile or ignore them. Then one middle-aged man with his small son approaches and they get up on the barstools. He puts his son’s drink and snack on the counter and orders something for himself. Welcome to the truly family-friendly city of Guadalajara, home of the 2023 Gay Games. It’s the first Latin American city to host the games and this past January the city even made the New York Times list of “52 Places to Go in 2023.” It turns out the second-largest city in Mexico is a huge epicenter of both Mexican and queer culture. “A lot of people outside of Guadalajara from other states have come here because they feel freer to be gay,” said Mónica Sánchez, Executive Director for Gay Games Guadalajara 2023. “There’s a lot of artists here … it’s like a crisol [melting pot], un mosaico of people from all over México.” I spoke with Sánchez, a bisexual woman, at the lovely and very mainstream Guadalajara Convention and Visitors Bureau. The event is actually being underwritten by the region’s governmental agencies. Sánchez and other Tapitios (Guadalajara inhabitants) are hoping that visitors from all over the world will head to the state of Jalisco this November to experience the games, the area’s rich culture, and the “after party” in Puerto Vallarta, which is just a half day away. First held in 1982 in San Francisco, the Gay Games were created as an inclusive and healthy platform for queer athletes of all ability levels. “Tom Waddell saw that through sport we can come together as a community and be safe and feel free to be yourself and be an athlete,” says Sánchez, herself a former professional beach volleyball player. She points out that the event is also called Los Juegos Mundiales de la Diversidad (The World Diversity Games) to emphasize that all are welcome. Like the Olympics, the event is held just SPORTS NEWS Chris Allan Photo by Chris Allan. THE WORLD’S LARGEST LGBTQ SPORTING EVENT HEADS TO MEXICO once every four years. This year’s nine-day celebration will include 21 different sports. They include more standard competitive events of track and field and swimming, but also bowling, cheer, and even dodgeball. The San-Francisco-based Federation of Gay Games chooses the games, and the categories include men, women and mixed. Participants are able to register in any categories they choose according to each individual’s “selfperceived and identified gender identity.” While some of the sports will likely feature high-performance athletes, the games are open to everyone 18 and older, of any skill level, and any sexual or gender identification. “I always use the example of my mother,” says Sánchez. “She is 80 years old. If she wants to participate in 5k, we will open her category!” In addition to the sports competitions, the games will also feature special galas Pink Flamingo synchronized swimming and dancesport (ballroom dancing), as well as exhibition sports Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling), rugby, and skateboarding. Guadalajara won the bid for the games in part because the city has recently racked up numerous advances for the community: an Office of Sexual Diversity, a Sports Federation for Diversity, and multiple changes to the civil code that including banning conversion therapy, recognizing same-sex marriage and officially recognizing transgender people and their legal rights. “I think that when the people from the LGBTQ+ people take spaces, in the government or in activism and different spaces, we conquer those things,” said Marcelino Orozco Flores, a gay man who has worked for the local government and now works with Sánchez on the Marketing and Communications team. His perception is echoed by Juan Cobian, a community activist and the Political Advocacy representative for Guadalajara Pride. “There is a lot of work yet to be done, but there is finally willingness on the political side to get things done.” Cobian, a gay man, is from Jalisco and has lived in Guadalajara for 15 years. He notes that while the drag community does experience some violence and aggression, it is worse for the trans community. As recently as early March, the Catholic church has implemented marches in Mexico that are anti-abortion, anti-trans, and anti-same-sex marriage. “They call us ‘sick people,’” said Cobian. However, he also notes that the wider queer community has grown tremendously from their first Pride march in 1982. “Now in 2023 in Jalisco we will have 35-40 LGBTQ+ marches and there is a new alliance of Mexico marches. We used to see one march per state and now we see 15 plus.” In another first for the Gay Games, Guadalajara is actually co-hosting the games along with Hong Kong. The first Asian city to host the games, the Hong Kong celebration will have its own unique slate of sports, including mahjong and martial arts. “I think they made this decision because having the gay games there is going to help and push the community there to be out,” said Sánchez. So what can an LGBTQ out-of-towner expect in November? Many of the worldclass venues that were first used when the city hosted the 2011 Pan American games will be re-purposed for the games. While the venues are located throughout the sprawling city, many of them are close to two key neighborhoods: El Centro (the historic downtown and home to most of the area’s queer hotspots) and the more hipster Colonia Americana. In between events, visitors can also enjoy the beautiful plazas, fascinating Orozco murals, rich Neoclassical architecture, famous ceramics industry, home-grown tequila, mariachis, charreria (all originated from the region) and of course, the nightlife. The city has over a dozen queer bars, discos, and bathhouses, plus naked men’s yoga and Grindr. Organizers are hoping for a turnout of 6,000 or more for the games. With Dia de los Muertos scheduled at the same time, the city should have a mucha buena onda (very cool vibe). “It’s like the first time that I heard many people talking about the Gay Games,” said Orozco. “People said they found a family there through sports. For trans people especially, so many times they don’t find a family, so when you do these kinds of events, it’s not just only a sporting event - it’s for the community. And maybe you’re going to find a family there, a support there, and I think it’s one of the great things about sports.”
9.7.2023 • 35 F our women get a chance at life after death in a local playwright’s new original work “The Equivalent of Sensation.” Playwright Arianna Rose’s historical and magical fantasy work centers around a day where sisters Etta and Claribel Cone (played by Celine Hakoun and Laurie Tanner, respectively), as well as Gertrude Stein (Carla Zackson Heller) and her long-term partner Alice B. Toklas (Leslie Kandel), come back to life and explore their own collection in an art gallery. “There’s nothing like sitting in the back of an audience watching people respond to something you wrote that came out of your imagination,” Rose said. “That they gasp, or they cry, or they laugh. It’s just the best feeling in the world.” The four women were collectors of influential artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, and are guided by an anthropomorphic Matisse painting (Brittany Nicholson) as they explore issues they had left unresolved during their lives. The play debuts in Miami at the Sandrell Rivers Theater Sept 9, then goes to Boca Raton for the second weekend. Rose had been writing and researching the play for about a decade before seeing it come to fruition. Femuscripts Productions, an organization founded during the pandemic that is devoted to producing plays written by women, femaleidentifying, and non-binary playwrights, is producing the show’s run. “I put out a call for submissions on the theme ‘back to life,’ which was partly a metaphor for this frustration of not being able to live a full life during COVID-19, but also I wanted to leave it open to interpretation,” said Tanner, the show’s producer who also plays Claribel Cone. “And Arianna’s play was a perfect fit because the four women characters and the painting literally come back to life for one day.” Carey Brianna Hart, the play’s director, emphasized the uniqueness of the production. “It’s been really exciting bringing this play to life because it’s brand new,” Hart said. “It’s not like ‘Rocky Horror,’ it’s not like ‘West Side Story’ or ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ or even ‘Rent,’ where you have set characters and we have set ideas about who these people are and what they look like and the way that they speak and the highs and lows that they hit.” The play will first show in Miami at the Sandrell Rivers Theater in collaboration with the Cultural Arts Partnership Program (CAP@ SRT) through Fantasy Theatre Factory. The Miami dates are Sept. 9 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at tickets.ftfshows.com, over the phone at 305- 284-8872, or in person at the Sandrell Rivers Theater Box Office. The following weekend the production will have showings in Boca Raton at the Sol Theatre. The dates are Sept. 16 at 3 and 7 p.m. and Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at femuscripts.ticketleap.com/the-equivalentof-sensation. NEW PLAY FOCUSES ON FAMOUS FEMALE ART COLLECTORS INCLUDING LESBIAN COUPLE Krystal Millie Valdes as Etta, Sandi Stock as Gertrude, in the reading of The Equivalent of Sensation March 2022 in Miami Florida. Directed by Matt Stabile. Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography via ariannarose.net. ENTERTAINMENT THEATER Mary Rasura INDEPENDENCE HALL Enhanced Senior Living Boutique Assisted Living Follow Us to… WILLIAMSBURG LANDING 1639 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 (954) 563-6232 1776 NE 26th Street Wilton Manors, FL 33305 (954) 566-1775 goldenbellseniorliving.com Large Private Suites Starting at $3750
36 • 9.7.2023 Grab your phone, or if you’re going old-school, your Day-Planner, and add these dates. Stonewall’s “Back to the Drive” celebration, featuring stage, film and television star Billy Porter on Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Venue, 2345 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors, will benefit Stonewall’s National education Project (SNEP.) Some are trendsetters, some are household names, but few are one-of-a-kind, agents of change making us better people by addressing our fears of those who are different. Through his courage and fearlessness. Billy Porter is such a person, with extraordinary talent to back it up. Billy will be hosting a night filled with music, food, fun, and good times in support of SNEP, the decades old education program making sure that our most marginalized students not only have a safe and welcoming school environment, but that our history and culture will be taught along with all other invaluable subjects. For tickets and reservations go to stonewall-museum.org or email [email protected]. Save the dates: the 15th anniversary edition of Outshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival will be held Oct.19 – 29. This year’s film and event lineup, with titles to be announced on September 29, includes a Men’s Spotlight Film & Party on Oct. 21, a Centerpiece Film & Party on Oct. 26, a Ladies’ Spotlight Film & Party on Oct. 27 and the Closing Night Film, party, and awards ceremony on Oct. 29. The well-received Cocktails & Cinema community films and Happy Hour initiative, launched during last year’s Fort Lauderdale film festival, returns Oct. 23, 24 and 25. “We’re ramping up for this year’s incredible OUTshine LGBTQ+ Fort Lauderdale roster of dramas, comedies, shorts, and thoughtprovoking documentaries and we can’t wait to unveil this year’s special events,” said Mark Gilbert, OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Fort Lauderdale interim executive director. “For 15 years in Fort Lauderdale and 25 in Miami, we’ve been a leading LGBTQ+ community voice bringing people together to champion diversity, inclusiveness and awareness in the arts and beyond.” Ronnie Larsen, in association with Plays of Wilton, will present a killer new comedy Clark Gable Slept Here created by two South Florida theatrical stars Michael McKeever and Stuart Meltzer. Running Sept. 15 – Oct. 15, at The Foundry, 2306 N. Dixie Hwy., Wilton Manors. When the corpse of a naked male prostitute is found in his superstar client’s hotel room during the Golden Globe Awards, agent Jarrod Hilliard tries to sweep things under the rug in this dark comedy. MNM Theatre Company’s Five Guys Named Moe, running through Sept. 24 in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center features the music of jazz legend Louis Jordan and is based on a 1943 musical short of the same name by Louis Jordan himself. “To me MNM means ‘chance,’ Jacquez Linder-Long says. “I came to Marcie Gorman and her company with my vision for Five Guys Named Moe, and from day one we have been working to make that vision into reality - to present to audiences a show of African American Legacy and culture through timeless music.” Tickets available at mnmtheatre.org and/or www.kravis.org. EDIFYING ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS Billy Porter. Photo by Meredith Truax, provided by Stonewall Museum. ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS Rick Karlin
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9.7.2023 • 39 SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM donations to OutSFL can be made here: outsfl.com/donate