08/18/10 v1i30

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GA Y N E W S , S T R A I G H T F A C T S

August 18, 2010 • VOLuME 1 • IssuE 30

INSIDETHISISSUE

page page pageElliot Tiber Interview

SFGN Profile:Men with Mojo

Steve & Zack of Ramrod

Champagne on Ice:

Page 9

19

Same Sex Marriage Stalled

6 27PomPano Bill

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2 August 18, 2010 • SouthFloridaGayNews.com

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August 18, 2010 • Volume 1 • Issue 30

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By Joey Amato

H undreds of gay men and their allies from throughout the country and beyond will

gather on August 25 – 29, at the Shera-ton Fort Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port Hotel to participate in the 2010 National Gay Men’s Health Summit.

The theme of the event is “Creating a Brighter Future: The Next Decade of Gay Men’s Health” and will be held jointly with the 9th annual Southeast Regional Gay Men’s Health Summit. Over 250 gay men will gather to reflect on and

celebrate their lives while work-ing on a brighter future for gay men’s health and wellness.

The summit is open to all and registration has been underwritten for residents of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties by the Broward County Health Department and the Florida Department of Health.

Pre-summit workshops begin on Wednesday, August 25, and include a panel featuring an intergenerational dialog around gay youth, adults, elders and ancestors; another focusing on body image and weight issues; and a gay men’s leadership institute.

The formal summit begins on Thurs-day, August 26, and concludes on Sunday, August 29, and features a number of speakers and nearly 70 workshops on topics as diverse as addictions, mental health, HIV, wellness, dating and relation-ships, and spirituality.

Many of the workshops will address

special topics and populations, such as HIV negative youth of color, building community among Hispanic gay men, return to work issues for those on dis-ability, and addictions recovery.

The summit is designed to promote social interaction and fun. A significant number of the workshops are experien-tial, such as laughter yoga or meditation, and are intended to be edgy, such as the impact of GRINDR on our community and the use of social media to improve gay health and wellness. There will be organized social events such as a show and a pool party.

The gay men’s health movement grew from an interest in expanding the scope of gay men’s health beyond, but certainly including, HIV to a full range of other is-sues that impact our health and wellness.

One of the key challenges facing gay men is to ensure that we continue to be involved in the strategizing and imple-mentation phases of Health Care Reform. Another key challenge is to develop creative funding strategies and work alongside key policy makers while we si-multaneously work with fellow advocates to shape policy such as ADAP and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

Local News

National Gay Men’s Health Summit Next Week“Creating a Brighter Future”

For more information, visit the 2010 National Gay Men’s Health Summit website at: Gmhs2010.com.


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By Dana RudolphKeen News Service

W hen child protective ser-vices took two young chil-dren from their home and

brought them to Frank Martin Gill and his partner in December 2004, the investiga-tor told the men, experienced foster par-ents, that the boys deserved a good holiday. The men were planning to move soon but agreed to take them temporarily.

It was clear the boys, ages four years and four months, needed care. The elder boy was wearing a dirty adult-sized t-shirt and sneakers four sizes too small. He did not speak, and his only concern was car-ing for his infant brother. Both boys had scalp ringworm and the younger had an ear infection, but the medicines brought from their home had been unused. When the older boy began to speak after about a month, the men learned he had never seen a book, could not count, and did not even know letters from numbers.

The brothers stayed and the men did not move. The boys developed friendships at school and in the neighborhood. They bonded with the biological son of Gill’s partner and with the men’s parents and siblings. They began refer-ring to Gill and his partner (who is not identi-fied in court documents) as “Papi” and “Daddy.” In 2007, after the rights of the biological parents were terminated, Gill petitioned to adopt.

The men, however, live here- in Florida -- the one state that bans any gay men or lesbians from adopting. And that has created a dilemma for the courts: either they honor the law or honor their duty to rule in the best interests of the children.

Despite a positive home study, the Florida De-partment of Children and Families denied Gill’s adoption application. With the help of the ACLU of Florida, Gill sued the state. (The men felt they would stand no chance if they sued for a joint adoption.) During the trial, the court heard ex-pert testimony from a psychologist who had as-sessed the boys and determined they would be “emotionally devastated” if taken from their cur-rent home.

In November 2008, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge

Cindy Lederman ruled that the adoption ban vio-lated Gill and the children’s right to equal protec-tion under the state Constitution. The govern-ment, she said, failed to demonstrate a rational reason for imposing the ban, and the law ob-structed the right of children to a permanent, stable home as provided by federal and state law.

The state Department of Children and Fami-lies (DCF) appealed the ruling to the state’s Third District Court of Appeals, which heard argu-ments in August 2009. The decision has now been pending for a year.

A few other states have some restrictions on gay people adopting children, but Florida is the only state whose law specifically bans adoptions by all gay men or lesbians. Mississippi bans same-sex couples from doing so, and Arkansas, Michi-gan, and Utah ban unmarried couples (by defini-tion, all same-sex couples in the state).

So far, despite the ban, Florida courts have ruled three times to allow an adoption by a gay or lesbian parent. The first was in August 2008, when a Mon-

Banning Gay Adoption Harms Florida ChildrenDecision Forthcoming in Landmark Case

continued on page 31

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By Joey Amato

E very now and then, a restaurant comes to South Florida and really creates a buzz in the community.

Recently, Mojo has done just that. Since the restaurant opened just a few weeks ago, I’ve heard nothing but positive comments about the establishment, so I figured I’d give it a try.

Mojo was founded by Anthony DeMaio and Domenick Falcione, partners in business and life for nearly 30 years. “We first met in August of 1980 at Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City during a crap game,” DeMaio recalls. “Several months later we ran into each other at a local bar and have been together ever since.” The couple will cel-ebrate their 30th anniversary in November.

Food has always been in Falcione’s blood. He travelled to Italy at 17 to apprentice at Sabatini’s in Florence before graduating from the Restaurant School of Philadelphia in 1981. “I opened my first restaurant called the Little Rock Café with my sister Linda

in 1984, which we sold in 1991.” He managed the infamous Splash Bar in New York City for a brief time before opening I Love Lucy’s Beach Grille in Margate, New Jersey.

DeMaio was born and raised in At-lantic City, NJ and attended college at St. Leo University on Florida’s west coast, where he majored in business and theater

In 1999 the couple purchased a home in addition to property which would eventually become the origi-nal Mojo. If that weren’t enough, they were hired to design and manage a 500-seat restaurant in Somers Point, NJ. “In 2006, we decided to sell Mojo, but spent another year and a half at Sails, our Somers Point location,” states Falcione. “After we parted ways from Sails we went back to our roots, I Love Lucy’s.”

At that time, the couple began to vacation in Fort Lauderdale for months at a time. “We were really bored all winter, so we de-

cided to search out a business opportunity,” states DeMaio. They closed on the property which houses Mojo in April and began de-sign work in May. Mojo opened its doors just a few weeks ago and has been met with positive feedback by the community. “We believe we have created a casual elegant neighborhood restaurant/lounge. Our back-grounds, creative menu and spectacular customer service is our recipe for success,” states Falcione.

The couple are hands-on operators. De-Maio handles all business transactions and serves as host, while Falcione is Mojo’s ex-ecutive chef and resident artist. All artwork seen in the restaurant are his creations.

Mojo’s menu is a cross between many cul-tures. “We call our food ‘New American Eclec-tic’ cuisine. The menu was designed to be fresh, interesting and healthy,” states DeMaio.

With only a few weeks under their belt, Mojo is already participating in charitable ventures. “On Friday August 20, we are do-nating 10% of our proceeds to SMART Ride for any client who makes a reservation using ‘SMART Ride’ when they book. In addition, Mojo will host their first GLBX After Hours event on August 26 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Mojo offers happy hour specials Monday through Friday from 4:00- 7:00 p.m. as well as live music and DJ performances through-out the week.

As guests enter Mojo, they are greeted by a friendly staff and instantly notice the Key West meets South Beach décor.

For starters, my guest Andres and I chose to sample the fig and orange glazed Japanese eggplant as well as the fried calamari. The

fig and eggplant dish was wonderful, light and contained a perfect balance of flavors, ranging from the sweetness of the figs to the saltiness of the feta cheese which was sprinkled throughout. The dish is served with three wedges of flatbread and is a healthy option for those counting calories.

Next, we tried the fried calamari with Japanese seven spice, sweet Thai chili and lime. I am usually not a fan of fried calamari on its own, but the Asian-style preparation of this dish made it more tasty that the tra-ditional version. Some other interesting se-lections include the baked escargot with ar-tichoke hearts, feta, grape tomatoes, garlic butter and white wine as well as the spicy jumbo lump crab with sambal aioli, baby greens, crispy wontons and 12 year old bal-samic glaze.

To stick with a healthier dinner, we de-cided to try one of Mojo’s specialty salads.

Chef Domenick recommended the cara-melized goat cheese salad made with violet mustard, oranges, sake plums, almonds, mixed greens and a guava citronette. Both Andres and I adored this selection. The marriage of the plums and oranges with the creaminess of the goat cheese was perfect. And the guava citronette was not overpow-ering, but yet complimented the flavors in the dish.

For our entrees, we ordered two of Mojo’s most popular dishes. First, the Irish organic salmon came grilled and served with an or-ange ginger glaze, wasabi mash and Asian vegetables. The fish was tasty and contained a nice char from the grill, although I found the vegetables slightly under seasoned and used more for presentation than taste.

Second, we tried the pan roasted duck breast sautéed with red kraut and apples, raspberry butter and a creamy cauliflower and goat cheese puree. Never before have I seen duck so perfectly cooked. It was so tender that at times, we thought we were eating a filet mignon. The raspberry butter added just the right sweetness to the dish, while the cauliflower puree helped to add to the dish’s uniqueness.

Finally, for dessert, we opted for the grilled coconut pound cake with sautéed peaches and blueberry syrup topped with vanilla bean ice cream. The warm cake was delight-ful, as were the sautéed peaches. What we liked most about Mojo was their use of fresh fruits in many of their dishes.

For more information, please visit Mojofl.com or call

954-568-4443 for reservations.

SFGN Profile:The Men with Mojo

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In spite of being a new enterprise, Sandra Spence, Vice President for Pub-lic Affairs, says that CCCU has settled well, opening new accounts for residents and bringing the ben-efits of credit union membership to many.

Noting the shift-ing demographics in today’s financial ser-vices sector, Lloyd Gill, CCCU’s Acting CEO said “We are a diverse organization, with many gay and lesbian employees, so doing business in Wilton Manors is a great fit for us. We’re looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”

“To celebrate our first year anniversary,” adds Gill, “we will be offering a special one-year CD rate of 1.05% APY to members who open this CD with new funds. Over the next few months we plan to offer business accounts, pet health insurance and financial planning seminars.”

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AP- A federal appeals court put same-sex weddings in California on hold indefinitely Monday while it considers the constitution-ality of the state’s gay marriage ban.

The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-peals, trumped a lower court judge’s order that would have allowed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday.

Lawyers for the two gay couples that chal-lenged the ban said Monday they would not appeal the panel’s decision on the stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. They said they were satisfied the appeals court had agreed to ex-pedite its consideration of the Proposition 8 case by scheduling oral arguments for the week of Dec. 6.

“We are very gratified that the 9th Cir-cuit has recognized the importance and the pressing nature of this case by issuing this extremely expedited briefing schedule,” said Ted Boutrous, a member of the plaintiffs’ legal team. “Proposition 8 harms gay and lesbian citizens every day it remains on the books.”

Attorneys for sponsors of the voter-ap-proved measure applauded the decision. In seeking the emergency stay, they had argued that sanctioning same-sex unions while the case was on appeal would create legal chaos if the ban is eventually upheld.

“I think the basic notion that this case is not final until it’s gone through the com-

plete appellate process really prevailed,” said Douglas Napier, a lawyer with the Al-liance Defense Fund, a Christian legal firm.

“Rather than have this kind of pingpong effect of having the decision overturned, ap-pealed and then overturned again, it’s better to have this kind of decision,” he said.

Under the timetable laid out Monday, it was doubtful a decision would come down from the 9th Circuit before next year.

A different three-judge panel than the one that issued Monday’s decision will be assigned to decide the constitutional ques-tion that many believe will eventually end up before the Supreme Court and further delay a final outcome.

County clerks throughout the state had

been preparing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples for the first time since Prop-osition 8 passed in November 2008. The mea-sure amended the California Constitution to overrule a state Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex unions earlier that year.

“I’m sad, but I’m also glad that I didn’t

pay the $100 to reserve an appointment at the clerk’s office,” said Thea Lavin, 31, of San Francisco, who had planned to wed her partner, Jess Gabbert, 30, if the stay were denied. “This has happened so many times before where we take two steps forward, one step back.”

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker had ordered state officials to stop enforcing Proposition 8 beginning late

Wednesday afternoon after ruling Aug. 4 that the ban violated the equal protection and due process rights of gays and lesbians guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

The ban’s backers appealed that ruling and also asked the 9th Circuit to block same-sex weddings in the meantime. They claimed in papers filed with the 9th Circuit that gay marriages would harm the state’s interest in promoting responsible procre-ation through heterosexual marriage.

Lawyers for two same-sex couples had joined with California Attorney General Jerry Brown in urging the appeals court to allow the weddings this week, arguing that keeping the ban in place any longer would harm the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

In a two-page order granting the stay, the appeals court panel did not indicate why it was keeping Proposition 8 in effect until it could consider the appeal of Walker’s verdict.

But it ordered Proposition 8 sponsors to address in their opening brief due Sept. 17 whether they even have the legal right to try to have the trial judge’s ruling overturned. Both California Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown, the original defendants in the case, have said they support same-sex marriage and refused to defend Proposition 8 in court.

Walker presided over a 13-day trial earli-er this year that was the first in federal court to examine if states can prohibit gays from getting married without violating the con-stitutional guarantee of equality.

Currently, same-sex couples can legally wed only in Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecti-cut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Wash-ington, D.C.

Gay couple tara WalSh, left, aNd WeN miNkoff embrace thurSday, auG. 12, 2010, outSide city hall iN SaN fraNciSco. JudGe VauGhN Walker put Gay marriaGeS oN hold

for at leaSt aNother Six dayS iN califorNia, diSappoiNtiNG dozeNS of Gay coupleS Who liNed up outSide city hall hopiNG to tie the kNot thurSday. (ap photo/beN marGot)

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By Jesse Monteagudo

S tephen Wayne Foster is almost a Native Floridian.

Though he was born in Virginia in 1943, he moved with his family to Miami a year later and grew up in Miami Shores. Foster studied at Miami-Dade College and the Uni-versity of Miami, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History.

When Foster was 17 years old and in high school, he discovered gay history. “I came across Sir Richard Francis Burton’s trans-lation of the Arabian Nights from 1880, which included a very long article about the history of homosexuality.

Years later, in D.C., I discovered a copy of ‘GAY’ on a newsstand, by Jack Nichols,” he commented, indicating that turned him on to an article about the NY Mattachine

Society, and “an awareness that nobody was writing about gay history and that there was a need for this. So I felt that if anybody was going to do it I should do it.”

Now retired, Foster lives in an apartment in Coral Gables that he first occupied in 1975, having witnessed over a half-century of South Florida gay history and culture.

His scholarly journey began as student in the UM Library, where, he says, “I took a notebook and a pen and saw thousands of books before me… starting with The His-tory and Development of the Moral Ideas by Edward Westermarck, which contained a long essay about gay history. It formed the structure for all of my research after that.” Making exhaustive trips to the on-campus libraries, Foster estimates he gathered notes from at least “5,000 books.”

Though Foster says that he realized that

he was gay when he was 13, he did not ‘come out’ until he was 26, encountering oth-er gays at the popular corner of 21st Street and Collins Avenue, near the gay beach. But he notes it was no easy going back then, “That was a time when the Miami Beach police were real bastards and used the laws as excus-es to raid gay bars and make gay folks miser-able in so many ways.”

Gays did not immediately organize in Miami. In 1972, though, Foster, along with Barry Spawn, Bob Barry, Bob Basker, and Frank Arango, helped create ‘Gay Activists Alliance of Miami.’ Foster was the treasurer. “They trusted me,” he said. “I had to keep the money in my own account. We did not have a corporation or anything.”

One of Foster’s achievements during his GAA-Miami days was the creation of South Florida’s first LGBT library. Foster ap-proached the Rev. Don Olson, pastor of St.

John’s Lutheran Church, and asked him if he could use an empty room on the second floor of their facility. He got the go ahead and added some shelves, his private collection of books and publica-tions, and opened the ‘Center for Dialog.’ It was short lived, he said. “Rev. Olson said that he was embar-rassed because straight people might walk past the open door of the

library and see that it contained gay mate-rial- so he wanted me to keep the door shut. I felt very insulted by that and I gathered up all the material and took it home. So our first gay library lasted maybe three weeks.” About a year later, Mark Silber founded the Stone-wall Library.

GAA-Miami and Foster remained active, filing a class action suit against Miami Beach in 1972, challenging its laws against cross-dressing in public. In the same year, GAA-Miami members joined other activists to

Stephen Wayne Foster: Gay Activist and Scholar

By Jesse Monteagudo

Jesse’s Journal

StepheN WayNe foSter


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protest both the Democratic and Republi-can conventions which were being held on Miami Beach. Many gays gathered in Fla-mingo Park, the protest site. The respected Dr. Franklin Kameny of Washington, D.C. was amongst the protesters.

Unfortunately, GAA-Miami did not long survive the 1972 conventions. As Foster recalls, “that when the conventions went away and the antiwar demonstrators went away the whole thing died down and peo-ple lost interest.” Foster himself lost interest and says he resigned “over internal feud-ing.” He indicated that even though there was over 250 people on the GAA mailing list, that “by the end of 1973, GAA-Miami was history.”

Foster tried to start a gay student group at UM, but says that was also short-lived, at least in part to a case of agoraphobia overcoming him. “It discouraged my ability to take part in Miami’s growing LGBT movement,” add-ing it is no longer an issue in his life.

By withdrawing from political activism, Foster says he was able to return to his “first love, gay history.” He was becoming a major contributor, authoring anthologies on Sir Francis Burton, and assisting Jona-than Katz with his groundbreaking Gay American History.

Through the years, Foster helped many other gay scholars write their books. Proud-ly, he notes that “my name is mentioned in at least thirty books, usually in the form of footnotes saying, ‘I wish to thank Stephen Foster for his help’”.

Separately, Foster also contributed origi-nal essays and translations to the pioneer gay journal Gay Sunshine. He has also con-tributed articles on gay communities for the 1990 publication of The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and later for The Encyclo-pedia of Homosexuality.

At the time, many of those articles were written by authors who chose to use pseud-onyms, to keep their names hidden,” Foster notes, “Not me. I used my real name.”

Stephen Wayne Foster’s cross-section of writings includes a wealth of gay legends, from Oscar Wilde to Charles Fourier. As he notes, they are all in his own name, one that has stood the test of time, endured the days of adversity, and still stands tall today.

Jesse Monteagudo is SFGN’s Senior Feature Corre-

spondent and a South Florida resident since 1964.

Jesse invites other veterans of South Florida’s LGBT

community to share their experiences with him.

Contact him at [email protected]

By Cliff Dunn

T he military continued to fire mis-sion-critical specialists for being gay in fiscal year 2009, according

to new data released today. The data show that gay discharges included 8 linguists, 20 infantrymen, 16 medical aides, 7 combat engineers, 6 missile artillery operating crew members, and one member of the Special Forces, among others.

According to Aaron Belkin, “These data show, yet again, that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ undermines national security. Why are we firing linguists and infantrymen in the middle of two wars?” Belkin is Director of the Palm Center, the research institute at the University of California that released the data today. A sample of the new data is posted at www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.

The data confirm a long-term trend, and a 2005 government accountability report which found that the military fired 757 mis-sion-critical specialists, including 322 lin-guists, in the first decade of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” JD Smith, co-Director of OutServe, said that today’s news shows how “don’t ask, don’t tell” jeopardizes the safety of the troops.

OutServe is the first-ever organization made up exclusively of currently-serving gay and lesbian troops. It now includes more than 500 members. The new data were collected by the Defense Manpower Data Center and made available by the House Armed Services Committee. They were submitted to the Committee in com-pliance with current law which requires each of the services to disclose on an annual basis the number of service members who have left the service, why they left and what jobs they performed.

The Palm Center also noted that the data showed disproportionate discharges on the basis of race and gender. In the Navy, two officers were discharged in FY 2009 and both were Asian. In the Army, of the five Of-ficers discharged, two were African Ameri-can, one was Asian and two were white.

Although women comprise only 14% of the Army, lesbians received 48% of the

Army’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” discharges in FYI 2009. In the Marines, women comprise just 6% of the force, but re-ceived 23% of discharg-es under the policy. In the Air Force, women comprise 20% of the service but received 51% of “don’t ask, don’t tell” discharges in FY 2009. Women comprise 14% of the Navy but received 27% of the dis-charges last year.

The Senate is expected to address the policy shortly after it reconvenes from the August recess on September 13.

The Palm Center is a research institute

of the University of California, Santa Bar-bara, committed to sponsoring scholarship to enhance the quality of public dialogue about critical and controversial issues of the day.

Discharges of Gays Still Rampant Under ObamaLesbians Most Subject to Firing

lieuteNaNt coloNel Victor J. fehreNbach, diScharGed tWo yearS Short of beiNG able to retire With full peNSioN beNefitS


“This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are.”

W ith those words, President Obama indicated that he had no opposition to the

development and construction of a Muslim mosque and community center at a site close to the home of the World Trade Center. The community center proposal has led to a na-tional uproar over Islam, 9/11 and freedom of religion during a hotly contested midterm election season.

There are some who argue the site is “holy ground,” and should not be compromised. Unfortunately, the 17 pizza places, 11 bars, 10 shoe salons and 2 porn and sex shops nearby say otherwise.

The reality is that President Obama has

stood up to ‘Islamophobia,’ just as a candidate and chief executive he has stood up for gay rights and protected us from to ‘Homophobia.’ The President and Mayor Bloom-berg of New York City should be applauded for their defense of freedom of religion; of the separation of church and state. So too should we salute Judge Vaughn Walker for his coura-geous ruling last week on gay marriage, now on a short hold while a higher court revisits it with an expedited fast track process. Our day is around the corner.

What is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not always right. When political leaders have the courage to buck the tide, they send forth a new wave of in-tegrity that washes away corruption.

Those candidates, straight or gay, that have embraced gay marriage and the rights of gay citizens to partners as they wish and with whom they will, deserve our support these coming days.

Those elected leaders, who stand by their word, and move the needle towards equal-ity, rather than away from it, deserve our

praise. Salute the persons who celebrate diversity and openness; who are willing to embrace equality under the law, not for some, but for everyone.

How do you find those persons on the ballot in an election where everyone is accusing everyone else of being corrupt career politicians? Well, start by looking at the candidates and their careers, what they have achieved, and where they have done it.

Have they challenged expedience and barely gotten their souls wet? Look for character and grit, not money or power. Look for integrity and independence, not

party affiliation or past office. Do not seek candidates who played to the gay com-munity. Find the ones who are players within it.

Find the voices that have articulated your vision, shared your pain, and dreamed your dreams. Just because someone wakes up with someone gay in bed next to him in the morning does not make him the person you want speaking up for you in the evening. Make sure the person you vote for today is the kind of person you won’t be called in for jury duty about tomorrow. Commit your vote to excellence and honor, and the good you do will one day come back to you.

Commit Your Vote to Equality

Norm Kent, Publisher

SFGN Editorial august 18, 2010

E ven if you don’t like baseball, you’ve probably seen video of a manager vociferously arguing a

call with an umpire. The manager might throw his cap. He might throw a base. He might throw out his back throwing a base.

Brent Bowers, skipper of a minor league team, performed an unusual physical ma-neuver and delivered a scalding tirade dur-

ing a confrontation with openly gay um-pire Billy Van Raaphorst. Bowers now has a place in baseball history, but it will only get him into the Hall of Shame.

On July 31, Bowers’ Edmonton Capi-tals played the Orange County Flyers in Fullerton, Calif. Van Raaphorst, of Irvine, Calif., was the crew chief. In the first in-ning, another umpire called a close play at

first base. Bowers and some of his players pointedly objected to the call. Van Raaphorst warned them. When Bowers and two players continued beefing, Van Raaphorst ejected them, the second day in a row he’d tossed Bowers in the first inning.

Bowers promptly benched his brain.

Outsports.com obtained the offi-cial report Van Raaphorst gave to the Golden Baseball League in which the umpire provided his account of what happened next. Bowers ran over to him and screamed, “You

By Leslie Robinson

YOU’RE OUTTA HERE!

General Gayety

StaNdiNG tall


Were it left to me to decide whether we should have

a government without newspapers, or newspapers

without a government, I should not hesitate a mo-

ment to prefer the latter.

–Thomas Jefferson, 1787

G ay News was a pioneering fort-nightly newspaper founded in England in 1972. A collaboration

between former members of the Gay Liber-ation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), Gay News was a response to a nationwide demand by lesbians and gay men for news.

The paper played a very important and loud role in the struggle for gay rights in the UK in the 70’s. It was described as the movement’s “debating chamber.” It ceased publication in April of 1983 after a long and costly legal battle with the courts, which had been brought on by the “moral vigilante” of the time, Mary Whitehouse. She was chal-lenged by a printing of a homoerotic poem about Christ, written by James Kirkup called “The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name.”

Nowadays, newspapers do not need court battles over morality or censorship to be put out of business. The same way video killed the radio star, the Internet, readers’ apathy and economics are killing newsprint.

Americans spend over 150 hours a month watching TV and surfing the web. Newspa-pers are no longer the predominant go-to news source. The Internet overtook news-papers as a news outlet a few years ago.

Newspapers across the US are suffering, or closing. Who will dig up corruption, white collar crimes, exploitation, political scan-dals, government agencies and big business cover ups when there are no more reporters?

Newspapers are a critical part of our de-mocracy. They are the watchdog for the public interest.

The founding fathers called newspapers “the market place of ideas.” Politicians, busi-ness leaders, even the Church, are petrified by being exposed in public and would not mind seeing the newspapers go the way of the LP records.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “I fear the newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets.”

If we are going to have a democracy this problem must be solved. One vehicle which has been successfully demonstrated in Europe is where governments have extended media support to all daily publications- regardless of the newspapers’ political affiliations.

In the UK, The Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, has branded the

majority of online news as little more than “re-cycled ‘churnalism,’” the Guardian reports.

To combat this, the commission has pro-posed a tax on the likes of Google and websites using news that they themselves have not produced. It is estimat-ed that the tax could generate $150 million a year, for local newspa-pers feeling the pinch.

On the US side, unfortunately, a new Rasmussen Reports survey shows that 84% of Americans oppose a three percent (3%) tax on monthly cellular telephone bills to help newspapers and tra-ditional journalism.

Similarly, 76% oppose a proposed five percent tax on the purchase of consumer electronic items such as computers, iPads and Kindles to help support print media. 74% oppose the proposal to tax websites like the Huffington Post to help the newspa-pers from which they draw their headlines.

Intellectual gay icon Gore Vidal in his book “Assault on Reason” writes on the demise of the marketplace of ideas in America: “...the belief that citizens can govern themselves...by logical debate..is the central premise of American democracy. This premise is now under assault... Newspapers are hemorrhag-ing readers, reading itself is in the decline...occupied by the empire of television.”

Let’s face it, the prob-lem is we have no atten-tion span anymore. We were raised on Sesame Street, computers, in-stant gratification and in-stantaneous communica-tions. Gov. Palin made it very clear that she did not read newspapers. Why should she? She can get all the news she needs from Tweety Bird.

Legend has it that the first thing Gutenberg print-ed on his press was his fa-vorite German poem. The second was an editorial on the death of publishing. At SFGN, we are trying to

prove that it is still doable. We have featured in-ternational, national and local news; entertain-ment and theater reviews, editorial columns, breaking stories, exposing crooks and making you part of all this by allowing your comments to be read in an open forum.

Whatever you do, stay informed. With yours, and our advertisers’ support, we are not finished yet. We believe in what John Stuart Mill said: if we silence an opinion, we may silence the truth.

Otherwise the landscape of America will soon resemble the 2007 movie “Idiocracy,” a sarcastic comedy film where an average guy from 2008 wakes up 500 years later and finds that everything has been dumbed down to the point that he is the smartest guy on the planet.

Would you like popcorn with that?

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

By Pier Angelo Guidugli

Off the Wall

Gore Vidal

know what I heard? I heard you are a fuck-ing faggot . . . So what do you do you fuck-ing faggot? Do you take it up the fucking ass you faggot?”

Bowers bent over and grabbed his ankles, apparently fearful the umpire hadn’t under-stood his words and a visual aid was in order.

This leader of men screamed into Van Raaphorst’s face, “What’s the matter, did your fucking boyfriend fucking cum on your face today, is that how you like it you fucking faggot?”

It was a fine, family-friendly day at the ballpark.

Bowers threatened, “I ought to kick your ass you faggot.” The plate umpire came

over and Van Raaphorst walked away. Bow-ers screamed at the plate umpire, “I know he is a faggot, I was told by [two prominent people in the league] that he is a fucking faggot. I know he is a faggot!”

Whew. Van Raaphorst, who stands 6’4”, did well not to knock him into the hot-dog stand.

Several possibilities here. The first is clear: This manager can’t manage his anger. As to the second and third possibilities, his rant was so extreme and so primal, Bowers either is a poster child for the testosterone-soaked ethos of pro sports, or he’s gay.

My bet is the former. The very idea of the latter probably makes him want to throw

bats out of the dugout. Preferably with me in the way.

The Golden Baseball League responded to the homophobic tirade by suspending Bowers for two games. Yup, a whole two games. That decision was the foulest of foul balls.

Fortunately, Van Raaphorst’s fellow umps were incensed over this slap on the wrist, and threatened to walk off the job. The league then suspended Bowers for the rest of the season. Bowers, who admitted to the tongue-lashing, resigned.

The guy without a job said he regrets what he did. “I’ve grown up more in three days than ever before,” said Bowers. That

still makes him only about 14.The league president said, due to this

incident, all 10 teams will be required to go through diversity training. Now that is a grand slam.

Kudos to Billy Van Raaphorst, who man-aged to endure an appalling situation. I don’t know if there’s a blessing for baseball umpires, so I’ll make one up: May your calls be accurate, may your temper be slow, and may a line drive never land in your teeth.

Leslie Robinson lives in Seattle. E-mail her at lesa-

[email protected], and read other columns at

www.generalgayety.com.


T he GLBT community won a very large albeit quiet victory last month. The largest accreditation organiza-

tion in the country announced that all hospi-tals in America will need a non-discrimination policy for GLBT patients on their books if they wish to continue to receive federal funds.

Now most people reading this have never heard of the Joint Commission (formerly known as the Joint Commission on Ac-creditation of Healthcare Organizations). But this is big news that could ultimately impact everyone in our community.

Back in 2007 Lisa Pond collapsed onboard a cruise ship and was rushed to Jackson Me-morial Hospital with a brain aneurysm. Jan-ice Langbehn, her partner of 18 years and their 3 children followed the ambulance to Jackson Memorial but were denied the chance to be bedside. The precise reasons

remain debatable. Over the course of eight hours, Pond slipped into a coma and died.

Langbehn sued Jackson, but lost, when the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida refused to hear the case, noting that no law existed that re-quired the hospital to allow her to be with her dying partner.

The case received nationwide attention and culminated last April with President Obama calling Langbehn in her home in Lacey, Wash-ington to apologize. He then issued a direc-tive to the Department of Health and Human Services to create new rules that would re-quire every hospital in America that receives federal Medicaid and Medicare funding to protect the visitation and healthcare deci-sion-making rights of GLBT patients.

“Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindness and caring of a loved

one at their sides—whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay…uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedside of their partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives.”

Prior to this, there was always the option to establish legal protections vis a vis living wills, health care surrogate papers, etc. But how many people who have pre-need docu-ments carry them around? And for the re-cord, the Langbehn-Pond family had them and the appropriate legal/medical forms were faxed to Jackson Memorial within 30 min-utes of Pond’s arrival.

For its part, Jackson Memorial Healthcare Systems has subsequently implemented a non-discrimination policy that includes sex-ual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. They’ve updated their patient’s bill of rights to include GLBT people and have updated their definition of family to include same-sex partners. Jackson still how-ever, denies any wrong-doing.

“The most important piece of informa-tion to consider from our side of this story is that the charge nurse on duty the night Ms. Pond was in our care—and the person who made all visitation access decisions that evening—is herself a lesbian with a life partner. In addition, numerous members of the medical team working in our trauma unit are openly homosexual.”

Show of hands, how many people out there still flinch when a professional orga-nization supported through our tax dollars still uses the term ‘homosexual’?

Who’s right? There are three sides to ev-ery story I suppose. But here’s a thought:

Langbehn wasn’t allowed to see her part-ner until a priest arrived to perform the Last Rites. If they had the time to send for a priest, they surely knew she was hitting life’s exit ramp and could have called Lang-behn to her bedside a little earlier.

However the situation played out, you can’t change it now. The best we can hope for is to salvage a silver lining from this trav-esty by making sure it doesn’t happen again.

I had a somewhat similar situation a few months back. A patient I was working with was clearly circling the drain and the staff at the hospital which employed me was ad-vised that under no circumstances was his partner to be allowed to see him. I know the fights I can win, and this wasn’t one of them so I bit my lip, shrugged and went to work. As luck would have it, I met my patient’s sister who ruefully informed me that her brother once was a nurse. Then she met this…person who got him addicted to crystal meth, possibly leading to his sero-conversion and ultimately to life’s coda.

When God wants you to shut up, you’ll know about it. Three sides to every story.

Despite one-third of all Americans still thinking same-sex couples don’t deserve any legal recognition, the tide continues to turn. Slowly. Now the Joint Commission is adding their considerable weight to the debate and policies nationwide are starting to change.

But as of this writing a Human Rights Campaign survey of 200 of the nation’s largest hospitals showed that 93 percent did NOT have fully inclusive non-discrim-ination policies. And 42 percent don’t even include sexual orientation in their Patient’s Bill of Rights non-discrimination policy.

Visitation Rights and Wrongs

HIV Editor

Paul Gallotta

JaNice laNGbehN aNd liSa poNd


“We treat you like part of the family!”DR. TROY LOMASKY

Graduate, New York Chiropractic College

Coast Chiropractic Injury & Wellness Center

954.463.30362608 NE 16th Ave., Wilton Manors

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• Back Pain• Neck Pain• Auto Accidents• Sports- & Work- Related Injuries• Pinched Nerves• Headaches• Massage TherapyWALK-INSEMERGENCIES

By Joey Amato

T he Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded The Pride Center at Equality Park

a $1.5 million, five-year program grant which began on August 1, 2010.

The funding will be used to develop and implement HIV Prevention Services for men who have sex with men (MSM) groups in which there may be a high risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV infection regardless of race or ethnicity.

Over the last 17 years, The Pride Cen-ter provided prevention services to over 100,000 people in Broward County. Indi-viduals are educated, counseled and linked to care for HIV, hepatitis and other commu-nicable diseases.

“The Pride Center is very proud to be-come part of the CDC’s efforts toward stop-ping the growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our area,” The Pride Center Executive Director, Paul Hyman, said in a statement.

“The funding will allow us to grow our efforts to help individuals decrease risk behavior, reduce transmission of HIV/STD through individual risk-reduction planning and reduce barriers to successful behavioral change. I would like to acknowledge the support of Diplomat Pharmacy for under-writing of the cost of preparing the complex CDC grant application. Additionally, we are

grateful for grant writing services provided by Tiano Consulting Group, LLC.”

Broward County has the first position in the nation for the rate of new AIDS diag-noses and second for the rate of new HIV infections according to the CDC’s latest Surveillance Report.

In addition to health education, The Pride Center provides an African American Test-ing Initiative (AATI) and the PALS Project which focuses on individual and group lev-el interventions for HIV positive individu-als teaching them skills for healthy living and reducing the spread of the virus to non-infected individuals.

The CDC grant will give The Pride Cen-ter the ability to expand on-going efforts and incorporate the CDC’s Project “Health and Community Services Program “(HCSP): Coun-seling Testing and Referral Services, RESPECT Intervention for Behavioral Change, and Com-prehensive Risk Counseling Services” into the highest risk segment of the MSM population.

“The Pride Center was able to show the Health Department meaningful results with its current HIV prevention programs,” Jorge Gardela, Senior Health Outreach Manager, said in a statement. “As a result, CDC fund-ing will enable the agency to continue its important work in the community on a much larger scale.”

For more information, visit Glccsf.org.

The Pride Center Awarded $1.5 Million from CDC Will Help Fund HIV Prevention Services

SFGN welcomes reader contributions regarding other organizations that receive CDC funding.


Political advertisement paid for and approved by Sandra Perlman, Non Partisan, for Broward Circuit Court Judge, Group 51

www.SandraPerlman4Judge.com

25 YEARS OF ENSURING THE FAIRNESS OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Former Prosecutor, Public Defender, Accomplished Lawyer

By Joey Amato

A s the Grindr fad sweeps the na-tion, the Manor Complex on Wilton Drive is preparing to host

their first ever Grindr party this evening from 9:00 p.m. until midnight. Join your Grindr friends in the Windsor Bar while sipping on $4 cocktails while DJ Rene spins the hottest dance videos.

Grindr is a location-based social net-working application available for purchase on Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and compatible BlackBerry devices.

Based in Los Angeles, Grindr uses GPS technology to determine your exact loca-tion and instantly shows photos of the guys around you. It accomplishes this through a simple user interface that displays a grid of representative pictures of men arranged from nearest to farthest away. A single tap on a picture will bring up stats and a brief profile. From here the user can choose to

chat and share more information, such as exact location or more pictures. To learn more about the app, visit Grindr.com.

If “grinding” doesn’t sound like your cup of tea or flavor of vodka for that matter, ear-lier that same evening, Sidelines Sports Bar will host a reception for four gay candidates running for various government offices.

Come to the popular Wilton Drive bar beginning at 8:00 p.m. to meet John Ador-nato, who is running for Oakland Park City Commission (Seat 4); Scott Galvin, candi-date for US Representative (District 17); Ken Keechl, who is seeking re-election as Broward County Mayor Commission (Dis-trict 4); and Justin Flippen candidate for State House Representative (District 92). Each candidate will be deliver a brief pre-sentation during the event.

The four men will be at the bar garnering support for the primary, which will be held on Tuesday August 24. For more informa-tion, visit SidelinesSports.com

Grindr Sweeps the ManorSidelines Hosts Gay Candidates Tonite Also

Scott GalViN JohN adorNato


Page 24

Taking Stock of a Great Gay Life

The Man Behind Woodstock

Elliot TiberTHIS IMAGE FROM “TAkING WOODSTOCk,” THE 2007 FILM, BASED ON TIBER’S “SUMMER OF LOVE”


Congregation Etz Chaim For LGBT Jews, Family, and Friends

Invites you to

~ Come Home for the Holidays ~ High Holy Day Schedule 5771

Erev Rosh Hashanah Wednesday, Sept. 8, 8pm Rosh Hashanah Thursday, Sept. 9, 10am Kol Nidre Friday, Sept. 17, 7:30pm Yom Kippur Saturday, Sept, 18, 10am

Healing and Ne’ila services begin at 5pm

All services at Temple Bat Yam, 5151 NE 14th Terrace, Ft Lauderdale

Tickets: Free to Members; Immediate Family Members & Out-of-Town Guests $50 (All Services), Non-members $100 all services/$50 ea.

Cost of tickets may be applied to membership ~ Please call to find out about our new membership specials ~

Fabulous Break the Fast, Sat., 9/18, 7:30pm Held at Congregation Etz Chaim, tickets $30 ea.

Cong. Etz Chaim, 1881 NE 26th St., Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Contact: 954-564-9232; [email protected]

Everyone is Welcome!

Featuring renowned cellist John Kaboff, and the Lambda Chorale

A s previously reported, Wednesday is a busy day in Wilton Manors

with both the Manor Complex and Sidelines Sports Bar hosting large events. Below are some other options if you are looking to head out this week.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 18

If meeting politicians or meeting men isn’t your

thing, head to Jimmie’s Chocolates tonight. Jimmie’s isn’t your typical Wilton Manors nightspot, but in conjunction with the popular women’s bar, New Moon, the sweet shop is dishing up Whip-It Wednesday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Chef Rob himself, along with New Moon’s Allie, will be whipping out complimentary chocolate shots made with Whipped Vodka, a new whipped cream flavored brand. Don’t miss this unique party at 1426 NE 26th St. in Wilton Manors.

THURSDAY, AUG. 19

The boys are heading back to college soon and Cozmos has plenty of great

specials tonight for all those local students. Enjoy the $15 domestic beer bash—all you can drink—all night long. For those who are more likely attending graduate school, slip into the piano bar for the music of Terry Hammond from 6 to 10 p.m. Cozmos Lounge is located at 2674 E. Oak-land Park Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.

FRIDAY, AUG. 20

Tonight the Manor offers BearNa-tion’s Bearlesque, an erotic theme

party and it’s going to be something. Just imagine the pole-dancing bears! Erotic film star Vince Ferelli will be appearing and DJ Pannik will be in the booth. Arrive early for $3 domestic beer from 9 to 11 p.m. and stay late for 2-4-1 late night happy hour from 1 to 3 a.m. You’ll find those hot, hot pole dancing bears at 2345 Wilton Dr.

SATURDAY, AUG. 21

Celebrate summer around the pool at the Hotel Victor, 1144 Ocean Drive

in Miami Beach. The occasion is Sum-merfest ’10, the main event of the annual weekend fundraiser for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the same LGBT advocacy organization that brings us the Winter Party. DJs FR8-O and Charl-mix will be providing the music and ev-eryone receives two free Finlandia vodka cocktails with their ticket purchase. Later that evening, the party moves to Lincoln Road hotspot Score for Summer Storm, a hot dance event. Tickets for both parties are still available at Summerfestmiami.com. And don’t forget to pick up some sun-screen in the meantime.

SUNDAY, AUG. 22

Johnny’s, one of Fort Lauderdale’s hot-test male go-go bars, features South

Florida’s largest amateur strip contest at midnight with more than $1000 in cash and prizes at stake for some fresh, undiscovered talent. Gemini Stone will be your hostess and after a few $3 cock-tails, perhaps you’ll take a shot at the big prize and strut your stuff on stage. Johnny’s is located at 1116 W. Broward Blvd.

Nightlife by J.W. Arnold

Wild Wednesday & More


By Joey Amato

T he quaint island of key West is known for its year-round subtropical weather, but tem-

peratures are predicted to rise dramati-cally Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 19-22 as they present Tropical Heat, one of the island’s hottest events of the year.

Tropical Heat offers four days of fever-pitch revelry in the island city whose open-ness and respect for diversity have made it a world-renowned gay vacation destination. The festival includes more than a dozen intriguingly decadent events ranging from drag shows to themed pool parties, appear-ances by adult entertainers and late-night parties at island clubs.

Comedian Paul J. Williams, acclaimed for his work on LOGO television network

and with RSVP Vacations’ cruises, will be Tropical Heat’s celebrity host. Williams and his drag alter ego, Sister Helen Holy, are scheduled to appear at the festival’s major events and star in an all-welcome comedy performance Sunday, Aug. 22.

The heat wave begins at 6 p.m. Thurs-day, Aug. 19, with a kick-off party at Island House Resort, followed by an evening of unforgettable soirees.

Festival attendees can take the plunge Friday into an afternoon pool party and barbecue at Big Ruby’s; dress for “success” at a sizzling toga party at Equator Resort; join drag queens and other entertainers at “Uno Noche Caliente” at Aqua Nightclub, and much more.

Saturday’s highlights include a pool party at Island House. Then, proving that key West heats up when the sun goes down, the

late-night “Exhibition” bash is planned at the Bourbon St. Pub. Attractions include a live DJ, dancers and even an on-site live film set.

The following day, revelers can par-ticipate in a lively key West tradition: an all-welcome Sunday afternoon Tea Dance at La Te Da.

The festival’s packed schedule is to culminate Sunday evening, when Williams showcases his sidesplitting humor in a one-man show at Aqua Nightclub.

Tropical Heat Comes to Key WestSizzling Summer Parties Heads South

For information about Tropical Heat or to purchase tickets, please visit Tropicalheatkw.com.


By A. Sebastian Fortino

O n Sunday August 29 be sure to head to

the Sea Monster in Fort Lau-derdale for Music from the Heart Tea Dance. The event will benefit the Wellness Center of South Florida (WCSF), a non-profit orga-nization dedicated to the care and well being of HIV/AIDS patients in our community.

The tea dance kicks off at 5:00 and will run through 10:00 p.m., since the following day is a workday. For a mere $5.00 sug-gested donation – suggested, by the way, means you can certainly give more! Guests can expect hors d’oeuvres, a gift raffle, a 50/50 drawing, and free parking, which is a prize unto itself.

Entertainment comes in the talented instruments of: chanteuse Nathalie Noreau, Drag it Out, and Special Mistress

of Ceremonies, Moss Monica Moore. DJ Mas, Gregory Parsons, will be spinning – by special request – Classic 70s, Funk and Disco beats for

you to dance away Sunday afternoon. However, Guy Le Houx, who is a direc-

tor at WCSF, specializing in fund raising and special events says to expect more entertainers then he’s letting on.

“I am also working to have one or two special, surprise guests that day,” said Le Houx. “Many local businesses have offered their support, but we are still looking for more sponsors, and donations to make the event extra special for both our guests and the Wellness Center.”

If you would like to learn more about the event

please contact Guy Le Houx at 954-594-4178, or

email him at [email protected]

By Richard Labonte

I t’s hijinks on the high seas in the fourth

Polly Pepper mystery, though deducing who did the deadly deed is more or less beside the point – Jordan’s tart-tongued blend of comic camp and acidic gossip is hardly about the sleuth-ing. Fading celebrity Pepper, her investments devastated by America’s economic collapse, is reduced to book-ing a fan appearance on the kool krooz liner Intacti (think Titanic), accompanied as

always by her hunky young son, queer Tim, and her long-suffering servant, bisexual Placenta – for a reunion of the Polly Pep-per Playhouse cast. Murder intrudes when

someone slashes the throat (with a sharpened CD from the TV show’s boxed set) of egotistical diva Laura Craw-ford, a much-loathed co-star. The suspect net is cast far and wide, almost captur-ing Pepper herself, but the real fun in this skewering of ce-lebrity comes from Jordan’s ceaseless stream of bitchy Hollywood asides, name-dropping everyone from Doris Day and Hugh

Jackman to Barbra Streisand’s son, Jason Gould, and Charlie Sheen, slammed for his “fluke” of a hit TV show.

Book Review

Set Sail for Murder

by R .T . Jordan Kensington Books 304 pages $22 hardcover

Music from the Heart: a Benefit for the Wellness Center of South Florida

Music

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M aking a conscious decision to leave the faith you were bap-tized into is a relatively com-

mon act. kenneth kimball, an entrepreneur based in Pinellas County, severed ties with the religion into which he was baptized at the age of eight. He sent in his letter of res-ignation to the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons.

What is interesting about his resignation is that he’s descended from one of the top five Mormon families. His great, great, great grand-father was Heber C. kimball, (1801-1868) one of the first men to receive Joseph Smith’s new commandment of plural marriage.

At first Heber was reluctant to take another wife. However, the health benefits of polygamy impressed him.

“I have noticed that a man who has but one wife, and is inclined to that doctrine, soon begins to wither and dry up, while a man who goes into plurality looks fresh, young, and sprightly. Why is this? Because God loves that man, and because he honors His work and word.”

Heber C. kimball, Journal of Discourses

Heber C. kimball went on to have 45 wives. Only Brigham Young himself, with 55 wives had more. One of Heber’s descen-

dants – a cousin of kenneth kimball – was Spencer W. kimball, president of the Church from 1973 until 1985. The president is revered as a prophet.

“When he was the acting prophet we’d have family reunions, he’d always be there,” said kimball. “He was arguably the most homophobic of the prophets.”

kimball has not been an active Mormon for 20 years, since he came out as a gay man. He says the reason he is formally leaving the Church has to do with – in addition to dis-agreeing with the foundation of the religion and Christianity at large – Proposition 8.

“The church, and this is unsubstantiated but true,” admitted kimball, “is undergoing an exodus out of the Church because of Propo-sition 8. There are more Mormons leaving the Church now than ever before, they’re decreasing in the first time in their history.”

Another interesting fact about kimball’s resignation is that his forbearer, Heber C. kimball was anointed as one of the Quorum of Twelve, a governing body of the church. In describing this Mormon body of individuals it is necessary to draw a parallel to the Roman Catholic Church, which the Mormons would despise.

They are, effectively, anointed into their role, which can be paralleled to the College of Cardinals. In the Catholic tradition that role is based on what congregants, and influ-ence they possess. Essentially, their process is more democratic. The Mormons base it on the supposed direct influence of God unto the president, essentially a living prophet.

This is interesting, for Christ said no prophets would come after Him.

Another interesting fact is that while kenneth’s ancestor was persecuted for his belief of plural marriage he is partially leaving the church because he is married to a man. Like his ancestor before him

he knows the health benefits of marrying whom you wish to marry.

However, kenneth kimball is in good company. While he was unaware until my research into his family he has quite the black sheep among his ancestors. His cousin Winifred Shaughnessy, is better known as Natacha Rambova, Heber C. kimball’s great-granddaughter. She was an American silent film, artistic director, screenwriter, producer and occasional actress.

Natacha was also the globetrotting wife of Rudolph Valentino, one of silent film’s first heartthrobs, known to be a homo-sexual. The LDS Church values ancestry, to them studying familial past seems akin to ancestor worship.

Therefore, it is oddly fitting that LDS church members can look towards both kenneth and Natacha as proud dissenters that found their way out of an indoctrina-tion in which they did not believe, so they could live their lives as they saw fit.

To read the full letter kimball sent to the LDS Church, please go to SouthFloridaGay News.com/mormons

A Letter of Religious Resignation

Kenneth Kimball

Kimball descendant Natacha Rambova and her husband Rudolf Valentino



T he Summer of Love conjures up images of Flower Children, dancing through a haze of hashish

smoke, as they “drop out,” and rock out to the sounds of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, San-tana, and The Grateful Dead. People actively rejected the conservative culture of the 1950s, they protested injustice, and hoped to reinvent society for a new generation.

Yet, gay people seem to be oddly missing from this utopian movement. Until a very im-portant concert took place that summer in a sleepy hamlet in Upstate New York.

“Woodstock changed everything,” said Elliot Tiber from his home in Manhat-tan. “At the time we were finally classified as a lifestyle, no longer perverts or deviants. At Woodstock, the gays were mingling with ev-eryone else, and there was a lot of sex going on. Nobody seemed to care, it had never happened anywhere else like this. I came out at Woodstock when my parents saw me kissing a man. It was a wonderful time, that’s why I’ve been so con-nected to it for the past forty years.”

The concert was originally supposed to be held at another location, in Wallkill, NY. However, the locals were not pleased with the idea. The rural community did not want, “10,000 drug addicts, hippies, homosexuals, and dirty lesbians raping cows.”

Tiber understood people not wanting drug addicts but had no idea how or why a lesbian would rape a cow. The industrious Tiber, who was a professor of art in New York City, and worked as a decorator, also served as the Bethel Chamber of Com-

merce president. He was able to grant the Woodstock organizers a permit to hold the event, initially at his parents’ hotel the El Monaco. When land proved inadequate he suggested his milkman’s land, as they only had to deal with cows on his property.

By the time the event was in full swing the police put flowers in their helmets and were respectful of everyone, even the famous Dykes on Bikes that showed up to offer complementary security.

“Nobody wanted to mess with the Dykes on Bikes and the police must have

gotten a contact high from all the marijuana smoke,” said Tiber lightheartedly.

Even though Tiber issued a permit to host Woodstock in Bethel, the reception of his neighbors was not very warm.

“People drew swastikas, and wrote ‘faggot go home’ on our house. My parents understood the swastikas but not the faggot part. Don’t know where they got that idea,” he said of the slur. “I was a designer. Faggot hair-

dresser maybe, but faggot designer? No,” said Tiber wittily.

While his mother was initially not pleased with the event taking place, and the El Monaco Hotel hosting the hippies and musicians that descended upon their town, she was pleased with what cash they earned. After she hid money in mattresses, and her brassiere, they were able to pay off the hotel’s mortgage in one day which was needed – as the bank threatened to take over the failing hotel.

The summer of 1969 was a notable time for Tiber beyond Woodstock. He was so busy it is improbable he had time to notice Neil Armstrong walk on the moon in July. On a

sad note, the summer began with the death of Judy Garland on June 22.

“I went to the funeral home where they had Judy,” said Tiber. “There must have been 10,000 or 20,000 people in the streets. From the first time I saw her in concert when I was ten years old she, her voice, resonated with me. I realized that over the rainbow there must have been a better home for me somewhere. I went to her shows, gave her roses, met her…I was a little obsessed.”

His home life was really one in which the magic of Oz and its heroine was desper-ately needed. His artistic ambitions were not nurtured by his family, and from an

early age he knew he wanted to live life for himself, not them.

“My parents always discouraged me, even though I was always doing something artistic. They wanted me to become a rabbi, as my mother was very religious,” said Tiber, but he challenged their insistence on a religious vocation. “At my Bar Mitzvah I told them I would be a hairdresser, an interior decora-tor, or a dancer with the Metropolitan.”

His independent spirit did not keep him home much longer after he became a man.

“I left home at 16,” he said fondly. “I sup-ported myself. I painted neckties, murals for

Taking Stock of a Great Gay Life

The Man Behind Woodstock

Elliot Tiber



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A ccording to the Associated Press, actor Neil Patrick Harris and his partner, David Burtka, will become proud parents of twins this fall.

A representative for Harris confirmed in an e-mail Monday that Harris made the an-nouncement in a posting on Twitter.

The 37-year-old actor says he and Burtka are “super excited/nervous/thrilled.” He did not say whether they were adopting or using a surrogate.

Harris posted the message on Saturday. He stars in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

HARRIS AND BURTKA ExPECTING….TWINS?

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By the Night Owl

ISIAH THOMAS, SON JOSHUA PROTEST CALIFORNIA GAY MARRIAGE BAN

FIU men’s basketball coach Isiah Thomas and his son, Joshua, have posed for photographer Adam Bouska’s NOH8 campaign – protesting California’s gay marriage ban. The website posted a comment along with the photo: “We are Isiah and Joshua Thomas. We posed for the NOH8 Campaign because we believe that all hate and discrimination is wrong. It is time for full equality and equal rights for everyone, regardless of race, sexual orien-tation, religion, or gender.”

PUSSY…FOR DINNER?(AP) Buffalo, NY Police

say a routine traffic stop led to animal cruelty charges after they found a live cat “marinating” in oil and pep-pers in the trunk of a car.

Buffalo police say officers heard the cat meowing when they stopped 51-year-old Gary Korkuc of Cheektowaga to ticket him for running a stop sign Sunday night.

They say they checked the trunk and found 4-year-old Navarro in a cage, his fur covered with oil, crushed red pep-pers and chili peppers.

Police say korkuc told them he did it because Navarro was ill-tempered. korkuc was charged

with cruelty and released; his phone number isn’t listed. Police say he told them he was going to

cook Navarro. korkuc also told officers a number of things that didn’t make sense, including that his neutered male cat was pregnant.

Animal advocates have cleaned Navarro and put him up for adoption.

WHICH ONE IS GAY?As reported in the Advocate last month,

90210 producers teased fans with the promise that one of the three male charac-ters pictured here would be coming out in the fall. Now, television website Zap2it.com claims to know which one it is. Accord-ing to the site, Teddy (played by Trevor Donovan, pictured at left) is the male character coming out this season. It will be the first major gay character on the show since its inception. Producers previously confirmed the gay character would be ei-ther Navid (Michael Steger, right), Liam (Matt Lanter, center) or Teddy. At the end of the last season, Teddy got back to-gether with his on again, off again girlfriend Silver (Jessica Stroup).

“I would be flattered if [it was me],” Donavan told reporters last month. “What a great chance to use your acting chops a little bit to dive into a different kind of character. That is why we do this.”

Earlier this month, Entertainment Weekly reported Kyle Riabko (Broadway’s Spring Awakening and Hair) had joined the cast as a love interest for the gay character.

Heard it on...

Steven Petrow is the author of The Essential Book of Gay Manners & Etiquette. Find him on the web at www.gayandlesbianmanners.com

QUEERIES by Steven Perow

DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOODBy Romeo San Vicente

It’s ALwAys sunny In PhILAdELPhIA’S GAY MARRIAGE

It was time for the funny, under-appreciat-ed and politically incorrect sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to attack the subject of marriage equality, so it’s going to chew on both sides of the issue in its upcoming sea-son’s first two episodes. Rob McElhen-ney’s character, in love with a transgender woman named Carmen (played by Britta-ny Danke), finds out that she has not only finished her surgical transition but that she is also marrying another man. And because this is a sitcom about self-centered apolitical people, he goes ahead with a court battle about Carmen’s “gay” marriage out of sheer jealousy. Meanwhile, straight characters marry on a whim and chaos ensues. And McElhenney personally knows the score on marriage equality: his own lesbian mother and her partner helped raise him. See the comedic skewering of this culture war when the new season premieres next month.

JANE WIEDLIN, DANIELA SEA JOIN CAssErOLE CLub

Filmmaker Steve Balderson isn’t playing it traditional in casting his upcom-ing feature The Casserole Club. Instead, for his period 1960s suburban dramedy about

“desolation, unspoken desires” and the hosting of elaborate dinner parties, he’s bringing together a group of actors that includes Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s and former L Word co-star Daniela Sea. Wiedlin’s been exuberantly entertaining in a few films, like Clue and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure but has usually chosen to focus more on being the rock star she is. Sea has been in several bands, but is known for playing male on L Word. Wouldn’t it be cool if they played a hetero couple here and Sea was the girly-girl and the pixie-ish, bisexual Wiedlin had five o’clock shadow? It would, but that’s probably not how it’s going to work out. In fact, there’s no word at all on who their characters are, but shooting is scheduled to begin this fall. All will become clear soon enough. The film’s website has some great cocktail and casserole recipes to distract you in the meantime.

WHO PAYS FOR DINNER ON A GAY DATE?

Q: Even in 2010, with decades of openly gay dating under our community’s collec-tive belt, I still get confused when the din-ner check arrives. What rule of thumb do you go by for what seems like an archaic conundrum but truly is not?

A: Wasn’t life easier for everyone when the guy just paid for everything? Oh, right, that wouldn’t work for two gay men or two lesbians on a date. That’s why there’s a great rule: “You invite, you pay.” This is

especially the case if you’ve chosen the restaurant as well as making the invitation. Also, consider these phrases as code for “I’ll pay”: “Please be my guest”; “It will be my treat”; “I’d like to invite you to join me…” and “Let me take you out to...”

Of course, it’s good manners to offer to pay for yourself or contribute toward the tip, even when you know you’re the guest. And it’s wise to be prepared to pay your own way, because you never know. By the way, if your date does pay for you, remember that you’re under no obligation to go out again, or to become horizontal.

Daniela Sea

Isiah and Joshua Thomas

Trevor Donovan, Matt Lanter, Michael Steger


By Penn Bullock

B efore I took my first trip to Ram-rod, the legendary local leather club, my boyfriend imparted a

warning: “The patrons there are bears with barrel chests,” he said, “and they aren’t much appreciative of skinny, 21 year-old guys like yourself.” The message was clear: Don’t expect to be ogled. Expect to be marginalized, disdained, and openly mocked, if not beaten with rubber hoses.

So it was with understandable trepidation that I went into the Ramrod last Saturday – wearing a cotton shirt and not a shred of leather – accompanied by my 24-year-old friend Travis, a fellow twink. When we walked in the door, we noticed a sort of gift shop to our left, and poked our heads in. It could have doubled as a tackroom: There were neat rows of harnesses, bridles, and every variety of BDSM gear hanging from the walls. The merchandise struck us as a bad omen, a foreshadowing of imminent medieval rape, but we pressed on.

Through a little curtain we arrived in the cramped club space. Instantly the crush of half-naked male bodies carried us off. We were trapped in a logjam on river rapids. Travis grabbed a hold of my hand, his sur-vival instinct activated. There was almost no lighting, so our eyes took minutes to adjust, and the air was filled with a thin haze – a mix of cigarette smoke and sweat evaporat-ing off exposed chests. A small dance floor was packed tight with men and strafed by little laser lights. The music was heavy, elec-tronic and unusual – there was notably no Top 20 crap, and one song was punctuated by a five-minute-long female orgasm. The interior, with its rustic, wood-paneled walls, old-looking lamps, legions of pot-bellied and muscular bearded men, and atmosphere of claustrophobia and drunken reverie, began to feel like a below-decks party on a pirate ship, or perhaps an old frontier saloon over-run by homoeroticism. Whatever the case, there was the thrill of the lawless.

My boyfriend’s warning was partly ac-curate: Travis and I got few sexual leers, and only one or two light, non-committal gropes from the patrons. But we didn’t feel dis-

criminated against either, and it was safely too dark to tell if we were being glowered at. Before long we were sipping Budweisers, feeling chilled out, if a bit numb from shock, and enjoying a gay-club miracle: We could hear each other over the music.

When we went tepidly onto the narrow back-patio, which I had heard was an any-thing-goes cruising zone, I expected to see scenes from a 1970s illustrated underground

gay smut magazine: men in leather berets holding a barbed whip in one hand, a veiny schlong in the other, hunting for orifices. But we didn’t see a single exposed penis, just a bunch of shirtless guys standing around with drinks, speaking in subdued, friendly tones like they were at a church social. There was hardcore porn playing on a few TVs, but the raunchiest scene I saw unfold in real life was two guys making out vigorously.

Travis and I were only propositioned once. Standing by our cars after closing time, discussing Ramrod’s ambiance and the German-like engineering of fetish gear, a guy in a pick-up truck pulled over next to us and asked whether we knew anyone interested in buying deep-sea fishing rods for $350 each. Is “deep-sea fishing rod” a leather euphemism? We still don’t know.

In an interview the next day, Ramrod’s owners, Zak Enterline and Steve Whitney, explain to me why there was so little lewd-

ness at Ramrod on a Saturday night. “We have dick patrol now,” Whitney says.Obscenity laws are tight in Fort Lauder-

dale – it’s a crime to have an erection in a nightclub – and the laws are being enforced with more frequent police raids, the couple says. So Ramrod has had to crack down. They would prefer to do away with patrols and let dicks roam free, but they can’t until the laws change.

“Fort Lauderdale is a small town and it’s still a conservative police force,” Whitney says.

Enterline hails from Ohio. He studied to be a cartographer, and went up in helicop-ters to draw maps. But he was outmoded in the 1970s by computers and satellites. So he moved to Florida and became a bartend-er. That’s where he met Whitney, a fellow bartender from Massachusetts. They’ve been business and romantic partners ever since the late ’70s, though they can’t remember the exact year.

“We’ve lost count,” Whitney says with a laugh.

Sixteen years ago, they took over a straight biker bar called The Hobbit. They added a cage, but left much else the same. And thus Ramrod was born.

The couple remembers the Wilton Manors area before the great gay influx. The Shoppes of Wilton Manors were a “half-boarded up strip mall,” Enterline says. Gay

life was concentrated “south of the tunnel” in downtown Fort Lauderdale. “People asked, ‘Why are you moving up there?’”

But the area soon took off. It entered a leather renaissance, a bygone golden era when there were four local leather bars and at least five shops selling leather gear. The scene has faded, a decline that Whit-ney attributes to the Internet, which made gatherings in person redundant. These days, he says, the bulk of Ramrod’s patrons aren’t leather fetishists; they just come to take off their shirts, a freedom that Ramrod is one of the few clubs to afford. And the younger ones, Enterline says with a hint of sadness, are “graduating to rubber and neoprene.”

“Everyone’s welcome here,” he says - in-cluding twinks. “A lot of leather guys like twinks. They like the boys-daddies thing.”

Whitney says their club’s success has to do with the unchanging vibe that

they’ve kept for sixteen years. After all, the Pig Dance, an event going on when I visited, dates back to one of Ramrod’s opening nights.

“Ramrod is the oldest gay club in Fort Lauderdale with the same owners, at the same location,” Enterline says. That contiguity with the past has turned the club into a his-toric site. It is to the leather scene what the Mai-kai is to Hukilau: a point of pilgrimage… And, perhaps unlike the Mai-kai, a place where a lot of porn movies have been shot.

“People come from all over the world to be at the Ramrod,” Whitney says. There are plenty of rich people, and “the doctors and lawyers seem to be the kinkier ones.”

There are even visits by celebrities. The couple claims that kevin Spacey has stopped by twice. I ask what other big names they’ve come across, but “there’s a couple I can’t tell you,” Enterline says. But he reveals that the closeted celebrities arrive with their managers – so that if they’re photographed, they can say they were tagging along with their gay manager.

In a recent poll on GayCities.com, Ram-rod was voted the best leather club in the world. But Whitney says there are many locals who have never visited.

“I don’t know if they’re afraid to come here – afraid they’re gonna get spanked and whipped and beat,” he says.

As I discovered, nothing of the sort takes place. But the couple likes that their club scares outsiders – because it ultimately lures them in.

“It’s the intrigue,” Whitney says.

Steve and Zack ‘Bear’ All

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LOVE, JANIS

Across 1 Fruits of the Earth author André 5 Song about donning gay

apparel, e.g.10 Break under strain14 Served perfectly, to Mauresmo15 Combined16 “Baby Doll” band17 Brazilian soccer great18 kelly McGillis’ ___ Land19 Going full tilt20 Start of a Janis Joplin quote23 Where you might see R.E.M.24 It’s tiny but attractive25 Interior designer’s doing26 Drips out slowly28 Walk like you’re fagged out31 Halves of ems32 Balls33 Time capsule events36 More of the quote39 Mychal Judge and Malcolm Boyd40 Peru native43 ___ Francisco46 Early sneaker brand47 Hunter that comes out at night48 Bone to pick50 Avg.52 Meas. for Dr. kildare53 End of the quote58 Clears59 Comes out slowly60 kind of code or rug62 Maupin story63 Eat away at64 Words before instant65 They have foamy heads66 “John Brown’s Body” writer67 Poet kitty

Down 1 Generation separator 2 Drink for some who don’t like

it hot 3 2004 movie about Cole Porter 4 Genie portrayer Barbara 5 Big tech stock 6 Actress Susan 7 Come and go 8 Working in a mess 9 Look at a hottie in a bar10 Obstacle to gay pride11 Become aware of12 Cartoonist Bechdel13 Tools, in slang21 “My country, ___ of thee ...”22 In a queer way23 Where the NY Liberty plays27 Sitting sound28 Part of the media29 Lively tune30 Meatheads33 Favorite cheese on Wisteria Lane?34 Thrift shop condition35 Dijon dusk time37 Family Matters nerd38 They’re horny and hung like horses41 Director Jean42 T or F, on exams43 Greek city of tough guys44 Common rooftop item, once45 Tease47 Poem of Sappho49 Decorative vessels50 Napped leather51 Family room piece54 Pop singer Lisa55 Time of Camelot56 8 Women director Francois57 The way you walk61 First name among bi singers

See solution on page 34

Crossword Puzzle


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AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation)aidshealth.orgAlcoholics Anonymouswww.aa.orgAsians and Friends South FloridaFort Lauderdale, FL954-565-2345asiansandfriendssouthflorida.netBereavement Support Group of South Florida2040 N. Dixie HwyWilton Manors, FL 33305954-463-9005glccsf.orgBroward House, Inc.1726 SE 3rd AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33316954-522-4749BrowardHouse.orgCamp4Health2040-B N Dixie HwyWilton Manors, FL 33305954-530-4832Camp4health.orgCare Resource Fort Lauderdale871 W Oakland Park Blvd.Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311954-567-7141careresource.orgCare Resource Miami3510 Biscayne BoulevardMiami, FL 33137305-576-1234careresource.org

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Red Hispana Florida1350 E Sunrise Blvd #129Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304954-462-8889Redhispanafl.orgShadowood II307 SW 5th StreetFort Lauderdale, FL 33315954-462-3719SoBe Roomwww.thesoberoom.comSouth Beach AIDS Project, Inc.1234 Washington Ave # 200Miami Beach, FL 33139305-535-4733sobeaids.orgSunServe1480 SW 9th AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33315954-764-5557sunserve.orgSwitchboard of MiamiHIV Prevention, Education and CareConfidential free telephoneCounseling305-358-HELPSwitchboardmaimi.orgTuesday’s Angels2545 East Sunrise BoulevardPMD 139Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304954-566-7686tuesdaysangels.orgUnion Positiva Inc.721 NW 21st CourtMiami, FL 33125305-644-0667unionpositiva.orgWomen in Distress24 Hour Crisis Line954-761-1133Womenindeistress.orgYES Institute5275 Sunset DriveMiami, FL 33143305-663-7195yesinstitute.org

LEGAL AND CRIMINALBroward Human RightsInitiative (Legal Aid)491 N State Road 7Plantation, FL 33317954-765-8950Broward Human Trafficking Coalition(954) 594-3363BHTC.usHate Crimes Task Force at Broward Sheriff’s Office2601 W Broward BlvdFort Lauderdale, FL 33312954-831-8900

PETS AND ANIMALSFriends of Greyhounds2621 NW 105th LaneSunrise, FL954-578-0072Friendsofgreyhounds.orgHumane Society of Broward2070 Griffin RdFort Lauderdale, FL 33312954-989-3977Humanebroward.com

The Pet Project1164 E. Oakland Park Blvd.Suite 308Oakland Park, FL 33334954-568-5678petprojectforpets.org

POLITICAL & ADVOCACYBroward Log CabinPO Box 1281Fort Lauderdale, FL 33302954-LCR-1995lcrfl.orgDolphin DemocratsPO Box 7437Fort Lauderdale, FL 33338866-478-8262dolphindems.orgEquality Floridaeqfl.orgFlorida GLBT Democratic CaucusPO Box 7492Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304877-446-8569floridaglbtdemocrats.orgFlorida TogetherOutfl.orgGay American Heroesgayamericanheroes.comSAVE Dade4500 Biscayne Blvd #340Miami, FL 33137305-751-7283savedade.orgSunshine RepublicansSunshinerepublicans.org

SENIORSSenior Action in a Gay En-vironment - SAGE2040 N. Dixie Hwy, Suite 225Wilton Manors, FL 33305954-634-7219sagewebsite.org

SPIRITUALITYAbiding Savior Lutheran Church1900 SW 35th AveFort Lauderdale, FL 33312954-583-3212asavior.netBody of Christ Church4033 N.E. 7th AveFort Lauderdale, FL954-566-1791boc-church.orgCalvary United Methodist Church301 1st Avenue SouthLake Worth, FL 33460561-585-1786Center for Spiritual Living1550 NE 26th StWilton Manors, FL 33305954-566-2868cslftl.orgChurch of Our Savior, MCC2011 South Federal HwyBoynton Beach, FL 33435561-733-4000churchofoursaviormcc.org

Church of the Holy SpiritSong1717 N Andrews AveFort Lauderdale, FL 33311954-418-8372cohss.orgCongregation Etz Chaim1881 NE 26th StreetWilton Manors, FL 33305954-564-9232etzchaimflorida.orgDivine Mercy New Catholic Communities2749 N.E. 10th AvenueWilton Manors, FL 33334954-567-1930newdivinemercy.orgDrolma CenterBuddhist MeditationW Prospect RdOakland Park, FL 33309954-337-9191First Congregational Church of Lake Worth1415 North k StreetLake Worth, FL 33460561-582-6691lakeworthchurch.orgMCC of the Palm Beaches4857 Northlake Blvd.Palm Bch Gardens, FL 33418561-775-5900mccpalmbeach.orgMetaphysical Chapel of South Florida233 North Federal Hwy #51Dania Beach, FL 33004954-923-0066metaphysicalchapel.comNew Divine Mercy Catholic Church2749 N.E. 10th AvenueWilton Manors, FL 33334954-567-1930newdivinemercy.orgNew Hope First Commu-nity Church2929A S. Seacrest Blvd.Boynton Beach, FL 33435561-424-0699newhopefla.orgParish of Sts Francis & Clare441 NE 3rd AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33301954-731-8173stsfrancisandclare.orgSunshine Cathedral MCC1480 SW 9th AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33315954-462-2004sunshinecathedral.orgSt. Andrew’s Episcopal Church100 North PalmwayLake Worth, FL 33460561-582-6609integritypalmbeach.orgThe Way Donations (Min-istry)301 1st Avenue SouthLake Worth, FL 33460561-585-1786Unitarian Universalist Church Of Fort Lauderdale3970 NW 21st AveOakland Park, FL 33309954-484-6734 uucfl.org



roe Circuit judge al-lowed Wayne LaRue Smith to adopt the boy he and his part-ner had been fos-tering since 2001. Because Smith had already been named the boy’s legal guard-ian, neither DCF nor the attorney general appealed.

The second adop-tion was granted to Gill through Lederman’s ruling in Novem-ber 2008. The third was in January 2010, when a Miami-Dade circuit judge allowed Vanessa Alenier to adopt the one-year-old she and her partner have been fostering. The judge said the adoption ban was “un-constitutional on its face.” The state has ap-pealed that decision, too.

Nadine Smith, executive director of the advocacy group, Equality Florida, observed, “Judges are beginning to push back and say ‘There’s a contradiction in this law that does not allow us to carry out our prime mission, and that is that the children have to come first. What their needs are has to be the pri-mary guidance in what we do.’”

Florida legislators have also recently at-tempted to overturn the ban in the legisla-ture. Three bills were introduced in March, but two were withdrawn before a vote and one died in committee.

And Governor Charlie Crist, who now running for U.S. Senate, stated in June he believes in “a live and let live attitude as it regards adoption [by gay men and les-bians].” He said “the best decision maker would be a judge,” but that the current law must change first.

“I’m sure that a future legislature and may-be the next governor might address that is-sue,” he added.

Beyond Florida, some LGBT experts and advocates think that adoption could be the next major target -after marriage equality- for opponents of LGBT civil rights. In the federal trial this year challenging the constitutional-ity of Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, a witness for the plaintiffs, Dr. Gary Segura predicted that, as fewer states are able to use the initiative process to con-

test same-sex marriage, “the new front line would be gay and lesbian adoption.”

“I would not be surprised to see anti-adoption initiatives appearing in the near future,” said Segura, professor of political science at Stanford University.

Equality Florida’s Smith agreed, saying, “The entire country has a stake in end-ing [the Florida] adoption ban so that the far-right doesn’t begin trying to export it and expand it elsewhere through the same mechanisms that they pushed the mar-riage ban. . . . The far-right nationally is geared up to defend and expand this ban and we’ve got to be geared up nationally to defeat it.”

There are signs of this already. The Arizo-na House approved a bill at the end of Feb-ruary that would give preference to married couples when placing children with adop-tive parents. It is now in the State Senate.

And voters in Arkansas approved that state’s ban on allowing adoptions by unmarried couples in November 2008. In April, a state circuit judge struck down the ban for that cir-cuit, but the state is expected to appeal.

Anti-LGBT groups have long tried to tie the right to parent with the right to marry. In the Proposition 8 case, for example, at-torneys defending the marriage ban tried to persuade the court that an opposite-sex couple provides the best family structure for raising children, and that marriage should therefore be limited to opposite-sex couples.

The defense’s star witness, David Blanken-horn, president of the Institute for Ameri-can Values, however, testified, “I believe that adopting same-sex marriage would be likely to improve the well-being of gay and

lesbian households and their children.” Attorneys on the plaintiffs’ side brought

in two experts who had also testified in the Florida Gill case. One was Dr. Michael Lamb, professor of developmental psychology at Cambridge University, who spoke in both cases about the extensive research showing that chil-dren do as well with gay or lesbian parents as with straight ones. The other was Dr. Letitia Peplau, professor of psychology and sociology at UCLA, who testified to the stability of same-sex relationships.

Anti-LGBT groups may have better luck at the ballot box than in the court room, as the field of experts to testify on their be-half about same-sex couples and children seems to be shrinking. In the Gill case, the DCF brought in two experts for the trial court hearing who argued that gay men and lesbians were not suitable to become par-ents. Judge Lederman said of one, clinical psychologist Dr. George Rekers, “the court can not consider his testimony to be cred-ible nor worthy of forming the basis of public policy.” (Rekers was later reported

to be traveling with a gay male escort who claimed Rekers himself was gay. Rekers re-sponded that he spends time with sinners in order to help them.)

The other DCF expert, Dr. Walter Schumm, associate professor of family studies at Kan-sas State University, seemed to argue for Gill when he said, during the Florida trial, that “gay parents can be good foster parents,” and “the decision to permit homosexuals to adopt is best made by the judiciary on a case by case basis.”

Only one federal bill seeks to address the issue. The Every Child Deserves a Family Act, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-Ca-lif.) in March, would prohibit federal funds to states that discriminate in adoption based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Gill himself testified at a U.S. House panel discussion when the bill was introduced. The bill is now in the House Ways and Means Committee and has 29 co-sponsors, but there are no scheduled hearings and no Senate counterpart, making it unlikely it will pass this session.

Banning Gay Adoption

continued from page 4


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people, and sold paintings. I didn’t sell them for great amounts but I was living in Green-wich Village, where all the artists were.”

Eventually, he studied art at Hunter Uni-versity, and Brooklyn College where he was taught by the likes of Mark Rothko. This was the beginning of the New York School of Ab-stract Expressionism, a movement that defined the art of the mid-twentieth century as much as Woodstock performers influenced music.

He also frequented the Stonewall Inn, as it was one of the few gay bars in operation. It was backed by the unlikely marriage of mafia money, police who turned a blind eye in exchange for cash, and gay clientele.

“It was terrible in those days. If you left the bar alone people would try to frisk and beat you up, so you’d leave with others to get a cab,” recounted Tiber. “We were looking out the windows, there were cop cars there, some cops came inside for their money. The other cops hung outside the bar, just looking mean. In those days they looked at you and made you feel dirty and sick. Well, I shouted, ‘Let’s turn over the fucking cop car and get Mayor Lindsey out here.’ Someone started to chant gay power, which I’d never heard before. We barred the doors until Lindsey came. Then 1,000s of people started to show up.”

When asked if he can somehow separate one of the events from the summer of 1969 as the most pivotal, to his development as an artist, writer, filmmaker, and gay activist, Tiber said that would be impossible.

“No, I can’t separate them. I’ve been living with Woodstock and that summer for 40 years,” said Tiber with a fond sigh.

However, while the man who saved Wood-stock – to the delight of hippies and anger of conservatives – has been a fixture on talk shows and retrospectives about those three days of peace, love and music the gay man that saved Woodstock has really only come out publicly within the past few years. Often times “gay” was edited out of the story.

After the release of “Taking Woodstock” in 2007 Tiber went on a radio show in Los Angeles to promote the book. He was told to wait in the green room until his time slot. Film-

maker Ang Lee entered the room shortly after.Tiber recognized Lee and, with typical

Brooklyn chutzpa he told him that – while he loves his rather heavy, emotional films – it might be a nice change of pace to do a comedy.

Lee said yes. Tiber flew to the set in Yonkers, New York, from his home in Wilton Manors – he contemplates moving back, as he misses the strength of the gay commu-nity. They interviewed Tiber for five hours. Production set up shop in an old airplane hangar. He found himself surrounded by all things Tiber and Woodstock.

“I felt like Citzen kane,” Tiber said. In the opening of that mas-

terpiece of American cinema the value of the title charac-ter’s life is represented by the wealth, art, and possessions he collected. kane’s life however is seen as empty, summarily devoid of anything but money and greed.

Tiber’s artistic life however has been vibrant, as an educa-tor and activist. In the fall a new book he wrote, entitled Palm Trees on the Hudson

comes out. He describes this as being a pre-quel to Taking Woodstock, and promises to be a tale of “the mob, Judy Garland, and interior decorating.” SFGN will review the book when it is published.

Tiber promises to earmark some of the money for a special event he wishes to organize.

“I’m trying to organize a Gaystock,” he said. “It’ll be three days of peace, love, music and equality. I want about 75 percent focused on gay rights leaders. There will be entertainment too, but I want it to be a platform of performers who are LGBT and can’t get a break because they’re gay.”

So far GLAAD is interested, and he is talk-ing to a city on the Gulf Coast here in Florida as a possible location for the event. It seems that 41 years later the spirit of social change that swept across our country has not, and will not leave Elliot Tiber alone. However, rather than dwell on that pivotal time in his-tory as frozen in the past, he still uses it to produce, create and give back to society.

Elliot Tiber


For more information on “Taking Wood-stock,” and the upcoming book, please visit Squareonepublishers.com


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ARIES (March 20 – April 19): Relationship karma is hitting hard. Just shrug it off. Sublimate any urges to act out. Creativity will pay off, but only through careful consideration and cooperation. Acceptance and learning from frustration leads to enlightenment and success.

TAURUS (April 20 – May 20): You may hate arguments, but listen at least. You don’t have to join in, but hear out new ideas and decide for yourself, however quietly, which ones to profit from. Don’t get caught up in details. keep an eye to the larger picture.

GEMINI (May 21- June 20): Your home life is going topsy-turvy. That’s a distraction that will work itself out. Focus on your investments, both financial and romantic; take the sensible, mature approach to both. Don’t follow any ideas you don’t understand.

CANCER (June 21- July 22): Worries about money are usu-ally a combination of realistic concerns and patterns absorbed in childhood from parents. Sorting those out aren’t easy, but your partner or a very good friend can help you clarify what you really need to deal with.

LEO (July 23 – August 22): Your birthday may bring up the stress and worries of being truly fabulous with advancing age. The truly fabu-lous are ageless and don’t worry about such things. What exercise and diet don’t preserve, inner peace, acceptance and an open heart will overcome.

VIRGO (August 23 – September 22): When you catch yourself get-ting sick with worry, meditation is the key back to health. Get creative and busy with something you love, but make sure to take time for calm centering.

LIBRA (September 23 – October 22): Who turned up the thermostat? That’s Venus and Mars making you hot – maybe too hot to handle. Soaking up attention can over-inflate your ego. Channel your charisma into recruiting friends to do good for your community.

SCORPIO (October 23 – No-vember 21): You do your best work in the dark, so unwanted attention can be especially annoying. Try to think of that audience as a sibling who could be very helpful if you can express simple matters very clearly.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 20): You were born to reach out in new directions, but if you’re not standing on solid ground when you do that you can easily fall on your face. Be very cer-tain that your ideas and efforts are based on reliable facts and values.

CAPRICORN (December 21 – January 19): The “king of the Hill” is more target than monarch. Do your best work in a forthright manner and try not to be too competitive or flamboyant about it. keep your ego right sized and let your work speak for itself.

AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18): Uncertainty about yourself and your sexuality can open you up to learning more about both. Let your partner take the lead, and if you don’t know what to do for yourself, focus on making your honey look good.

PISCES (February 19 – March 19): Worries, especially about work, health, relationships and sex, are kicking up a storm in your head. The real challenge is to take a mature, sensible view. An older friend can help you keep things in perspective. Jack Fertig, a professional astrologer since 1977, is avail-able for personal and business consultations in person in San Francisco, or online everywhere. He can be reached at 415-864-8302, through his website at www.starjack.com, and by e-mail at [email protected].

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Wilton Manors 1Br/1Ba one block from shopsrestaurants/nightlife. a/C, ceiling fans terrazzo floors,laundry room with washer and dryer. large screened in pool & patio. $900/mo. includes:electric cal 9545634442-------------------------------------------------Wilton manors large 2Br/1Ba in 4 plex. newly renovated, CaC, polised terrazzo floor, new bathroom, fenced yard. $1150/mo f/s 9545668049

SELF-DEFENSE

WoMen on guard. non-lethal, self-defense and home protection products call susan eaton or Martha Martines at 9545320600 or email us at [email protected]

VOLUNTEER SECTION

Volunteers needed iMMedi-ately. two cat-only shelters are merging and need volunteers for daily chores,socializing cats, manning phones and/or helping with adoptions. shelter in Pompano Beach on atlantic Blvd. Call sharon fomes at 9546730848

To place an ad, call Brian Swinford 954.530.4970or fill out the form on page 39.

Q Scopes By Jack Fertig

Just shrug it off, Aries!The Sun’s opposing Neptune and Chiron, Venus and Mars are square the

nodes, and Mercury is turning retrograde. Freaking out won’t help. Resist

the temptation to childish indulgences. This won’t be easy, but hard work,

maturity and responsibility offer the most effective way through this mess.

Solution to Crossword Puzzle on page 28


S P O R T S

By Jennifer Morales

I n our little city by the sea, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a growing phenomenon

is occurring. Each year, resi-dents eagerly await the many visitors who come to our town for the sea, sun, and sandy beaches that have long been the mainstay of our tourist dollars. While much of the source of this economic gain comes from the mainstream straight consumer, there are a growing number of LGBT visitors who take pleasure in the area’s attractions and wa-ter sports, such as boating, fishing, and water-skiing, as well as the many other outdoor sports, such as softball, tennis, rugby, and soccer.

In 2010, it’s gratifying to know that the LGBT traveler is no longer relegated to vacation in out-of-the-way, off-the-beaten-track destinations just to be themselves and enjoy the fruits of their hard labor. Luckily for them, Fort Lauderdale is one of those cities that welcome LGBT visitors to their festive playground, where gay men & wom-en can be comfortable as themselves and where sports no longer implies heterosexu-al-only “no-gays-allowed” exclusive clubs.

Professional sports leagues like the Na-tional Football League, the National Bas-ketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League have long attracted and promoted themselves to sports fans in mainstream society. Gay sports leagues, however, such as the South Florida Amateur Athletic Association, the Amateur Sports Alliance of North America, the Gay Polo League, and even the Gay Games, are only just now witnessing a surge of popu-larity and a rise in participation.

Living my life as an openly-gay women, has afforded me the luxury of being com-

pletely honest with my family, my co-workers and of, course, my friends. Be-ing a sports lover, however, I never felt comfortable con-necting with my fellow team members. Thankfully, that was then and this is now, and I’ve discovered a rap-idly growing fan base from the gay community for both professional and amateur sports. It seems that no mat-ter what your orientation, sports is one leisure activity where the line in the sand has blurred, and we, as gay people, are becoming more and more integrated.

Just a few years back, Steve and John, and Joanie and Lisa had to go to a traditional sports bar to cheer for their favorite team. They couldn’t hold hands, kiss when their team scored, or even scream at a television with other gay sports fans. With the growing number of gay sports bars popping up everywhere in this country (even Hawaii ), there are now many cities and municipalities who wel-come these businesses and their clientele into their tax rolls.

The recent trend of new gay sports bar openings is a HUGE step forward for the gay community and for sports. The likeli-hood of seeing gay men & women cheer-ing, rooting, yes, even shouting expletives at opposing teams, on the fields, is becom-ing the norm. I, for one, am tickled pink (& lavender) to be a part of the competitive and entertaining antics we call sports!

So, I say, get out there, compete and have fun! We earned it!

Jennifer Morales is a freelance writer and direc-

tor of marketing for Sidelines Sports Bar in Wilton

Manors, FL. She can be reached at Jennifer@sideli-

nessports.com.

SPORTS NO LONGER IDENTIFIES ORIENTATION

Because it makes sense.

1600 K Street, NW, Ste. 501 Washington, DC 20006 | 888-67-NORML | www.norml.org

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