Florida Agenda

By Joseph Furner

There is something about this quote from outgoing U.S. Rep. Allen West that doesn’t sit well with me: “In the United States, we are blessed with the freedom to pursue our dreams and to disagree on what they should be—loudly and passionately if we wish—but we must never, ever relinquish this freedom, whether it is in the name of political correctness or economic justice.” (Washington Times, November 22, 2012)

West and many other politicians love to use the word “freedom” as if “all” people in this country have all the same freedoms. This is very narrow-minded of him, and disrespectful of people in this country who do not enjoy all the same freedoms and rights. He is clueless and insensitive.

West needs to stop lumping all Americans into one category. Gays do not have all the same rights and freedoms as heterosexuals, not by a long shot. Gays cannot marry in most states. Gays do not have rights to bring bi-national partners to the US like heterosexuals can now. Gays cannot jointly file taxes. Gays just do not have the same rights and freedoms—always persecuted, always treated like freaks by some, and just not completely accepted here.

Allen West forgets about all of this. Maybe is happy that he cannot be discriminated against or treated differently. But gays are not free to marry who we want, when we want, from wherever we want. We have to suffer and pay a high cost to be “out,” and be together with the person we love. Although West touts the freedom to pursue dreams completely, he forgets about this group of people: Shame on him. This offends me.

Gays need to fight even harder now with President Obama for full gay rights, to be able to do and receive every [federal] benefit that heterosexuals and heterosexual couples now receive, and not [via the individual] states.

Mr. West, stop touting that all Americans have freedom, because gays are still not completely free. Some people use the word “freedom” too lightly, almost taking it for granted. Politicians from both parties can continue to appease gays, but until 100 percent gay rights are actuated in this country, they should stop talking about the freedoms that “all” Americans enjoy.

If politicians really care about freedom for “all” Americans, they should make sure that gays also enjoy the same freedoms. Gays deserve full and equal equality in this country, with no exceptions. “All” people in the US must continue to work for equal freedom for “all” people in the US, gays included.

Joseph Furner lives in Lake Worth.

WASHINGTON, DC – Actor Morgan Freeman—whose professional portrayals have included a fictional President of the United States (“Deep Impact”) and God (“Bruce Almighty”)—adds the role of LGBT rights advocate to his oeuvre, with the Oscar-winning performer appearing in a new commercial for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), in support of marriage equality.

In the 30-second spot, which began airing on Sunday, November 25 in several U.S. markets, Freeman says that, “Freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union.” Freeman, 75—who won the 2005 Academy Award for best actor (“Million Dollar Baby”)—added, “Now, across our country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry the person they love. And with historic victories for marriage, we’ve delivered a mandate for full equality. The wind is at our back but our journey has just begun.”

The narrative is delivered over images of the Statue of Liberty and the 1963 March on Washington, as well as depicting same-sex families.

In July, Freeman told Newsweek, “I grew up in the South, but I started dancing in my twenties when I got out of the Air Force, and studying dance, you’re surrounded by gay guys all the time. You get to know them and you have to shift gears.”

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Preventative Task Force has recommended that every American between the ages of 15 and 65 be tested for HIV. The Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, mandates that insurers cover preventative services that are recommended by the task force—a government-backed panel of scientists and medical professionals—which means that regular HIV testing will now be covered under as part of a routine check-up.

The task force’s recommendations are used by Medicare and other insurers to determine what laboratory tests will be covered. Previous guidelines on HIV screening, which were last updated in 2005, left the decision to test for HIV up to individual doctors. They also strongly recommended testing only for adults who were considered “high risk” of contracting the virus after having multiple sexual partners.

Researchers say that 20 percent of HIV-positive Americans are unaware they have the virus, and regular screening could help to identify more people who might benefit from early treatment.

In addition to HIV testing, ObamaCare provides funding for HIV research and prevention, mandates the affordability of HIV treatment drugs, and prohibits insurance companies from discriminating based upon an individual’s HIV status.

WASHINGTON, DC  - LGBT rights activist, attorney, and Democratic political consultant John Aravosis is calling for a boycott of the Salvation Army’s famous Red Kettle campaign, which raises millions of dollars each year through the use of corner Santas who ring a bell to solicit donations.

Aravasis, 49, the founder of AMERICAblog and StopDrLaura.com, is offering downloadable vouchers on his Website to give to the bell ringers in lieu of money to protest its policies, and send a message that “bigotry is not a Christmas value.”

“The Salvation Army discriminates against gay people, and discriminating donors should find another charity this Christmas than evangelical bigots who advocate against our civil rights,” the voucher reads. “And not just that—they’ve actively lobbied against pro-gay policies in a number of countries, as well.”

I hope that you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. There were a couple of things that threw me off this year, one being its weird placement, seemingly mid-month, meaning that my Holi-gay-dar is off about a week. (I’m already starting to obsess about wrapping paper patterns: Which is better—reindeer-holding-candy-cane motif, or polar bear-wrestling-penguin-on-ice-flow?)

Another thing that upset the equilibrium of an otherwise laid-back Turkey Day was the conversation I endured with my partner’s-sister’s-boyfriend just before the NFL kickoff (and after two tarted-up shots of eggnog with my future mother-in-law, no less). I should have seen the “warning flag” when he—we’ll call him Jimmy, as in “Jimmy Olsen,” reflecting both his eager nature and my difficulty at taking him seriously after the conversation I am about to describe—asked me what I thought about the results of the presidential election.

I was immediately suspicious of the topic: Jimmy is a nice kid—barely into his 20s—but he is possessed of the strong opinions and—Lord ha’ mercy—boundless energy, enthusiasm, and lack of tact that is endemic to his demographic group.

After whispering the political equivalent of sweet nothings, Jimmy went in for the kill. What did I think of the “widely-held” belief of “Biblical scholars” that President Obama’s re-election is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. And New Testament prophecies. And Nostradamus prophecies. And Mayan 2012-Apocalypse Now!-prophecies. Kill me now: Someone who thinks Obama is the Antichrist.

I will admit here in a public forum that I was probably too forceful in my counter-argument—and did I mention I was in two or three eggnogs deep? I recall offering Jimmy something helpful in reply (to the effect of, “Don’t give me ******* Biblical prophecy on Thanksgiving, Bri—I mean, Jimmy”) before launching a pre-emptive strike against the possibility of him dropping an A (as in “Antichrist”) bomb.

I told Jimmy that his menu of religious and otherworldly predictions came from a scattering of belief systems, most of which would find very little to agree with the others, except, “miraculously” this confluence of oracular data. Seeing that I was having the opposite-from-desired effect—fanning the flames of his fanaticism rather than smothering them in logic—I stepped up my appeal to the Goddess Reason.

I informed him that within my own faulty memory, the list of historic “Antichrist” candidates from past failed predictions has included—but is certainly not limited to—Yasser Arafat, Bill Gates, Mikhail Gorbachev, FDR, JFK, Henry Kissinger, Martin Luther, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, the Roman Emperor Nero, Pope John Paul II, the Shah of Iran, Ronald Reagan, Pat Robertson, Manuel Noriega, George Bush (H.W. and W.), Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Qaddafi, Charles Manson, David Rockefeller (Sr. and Jr.), Boris Yeltsin, the “Beast” super computer of the European Union, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and now Barak Obama.

Not wanting to leave anyone out, I “reminded” him that the Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted no less than a dozen “end of world” scenarios, including a 1971 prediction that the “battle in the day of Jehovah” would begin “within our twentieth century.” Time flies.

Fundamentalist Mormon—think: HBO’s “Big Love”—Prophet Leroy Johnson set the date that Christ would claim “the Keys of Priesthood” from him for the year 1998, and predicted that he would shepherd his polygamist flock until Jesus’ Second Coming. Johnson’s 1986 death surprised his followers.

After touching on the state of the world just four short weeks before its putative December 21 end (according to the Mesoamerican Mayan calendar), with no apparent reason (or scientific evidence) to suspect or support that predicted end, I figured I would spare Jimmy the Scientologists’ take on Xenu, rogue thetans, and the intergalactic DC-8s: He looked exhausted.

My point here is not to destroy the legitimate intellectual curiosity of a genuinely decent young man who will make a valuable contribution to our society (and who doesn’t have a hateful bone in his body).

But prophecy, like prophets, is a dime a dozen. It’s okay to have your beliefs, as long as they are grounded in reality.

Or, like a wise man—Krishan Manners, co-owner of the Island City Art Walk and CEO of the Wilton Manors Development Alliance, to be precise—told me this afternoon: “I expect to be here on December 22.” So may we all.

WILTON MANORS – On Saturday, over 2,000 participants are expected to take part in the World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil, which organizers say is one of the nation’s largest, commencing with a participants line up at 6:30 p.m. inside Hagen Park (2020 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors, behind City Hall), with the walk beginning promptly at 7 p.m.

The organizers will supply candles for the walk and vigil, and they have requested that participants wear red to signify their support for the event and those living with HIV/AIDS. They also request that businesses on Wilton Drive decorate their windows and storefronts with red fabric and other materials.

Terry DeCarlo, Director of Development for Broward House, Broward County’s oldest and largest HIV/AIDS service organization, noted that alterations to the 2012 walk in Wilton Manors include “the change of the route to encompass all of Wilton Drive.”

As part of the commemoration, the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) will display a “paintable” fire truck on Wilton Drive, at the Shoppes of Wilton Manors, beginning at 3 p.m. The fire truck is dedicated to those who have been lost to HIV/AIDS, and guests are invited to paint messages of hope, support, and remembrance on the vehicle’s sides. Officials say BSO’s air division will provide a helicopter to take part in an aerial salute.

Said DeCarlo: “Speakers in the park include Rabbi Noah Kitty [of Congregation Etz Chaim], Pastor Leslie Tipton [of Church of the Holy Spirit Song], [Pride Center executive director] Robert Boo, [Broward House CEO] Stacy Hyde, [singer and television host] Michelle Visage, [comedian] Wanda Sykes,” and “performances by the Gay Men’s Chorus and David Meulemans.”

World AIDS Day was the first organized global health commemoration, held each year on December 1. Since 1988, the event has drawn worldwide attention to the fight against HIV, allowing people all over the world to show their support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

Like many of the participants in this year’s vigil, DeCarlo has personal reasons to be involved. “I was part of ACT UP [the international advocacy group formed in 1987 by Larry Kramer and other AIDS activists] back in the 80s, and realized that nothing was being done [in South Florida] to commemorate World AIDS Day, and to remember the lives of those we have lost,” he recalls, “so I just lined up all the sponsors and made it happen.”

DeCarlo also noted that the vigil is truly non-profit. “No one makes a cent off of this event, and it is free to the public.”

MOBILE, AL – LGBT rights activists are calling for hate crimes charges to be filed in a Thanksgiving Day assault against a 23-year-old lesbian. Mallory Owens attended a Thanksgiving gathering at the home of her girlfriend’s family, where she was attacked by her girlfriend’s brother. She was hospitalized after sustaining several severe injuries, including skull fractures, bleeding on the brain, a broken nose, and crushed cheek bones.

Travis Hawkins, Jr., 18, was arrested and charged with second-degree assault. Rights groups and Owens’ family are calling for hate crime charges to be filed by Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich.