Florida Agenda

By JOEL S. SLOTNICK

On June 27, 1969— almost 43 years ago— something happened to change the lives of many. It’s known as the Stonewall riots. (I call it the Stonewall Uprising.) In a June 22, 2009 posting, The Leadership Conference wrote, “This Sunday, June 28, will mark the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the event largely regarded as a catalyst for the LGBT movement for civil rights in the United States. The riots inspired LGBT people throughout the country to organize in support of gay rights, and within two years after the riots, gay rights groups had been started in nearly every major city in the United States.”

At the time, there were not many places where people could be openly gay. New York had laws prohibiting homosexuality in public, and private businesses and gay establishments were regularly raided and shut down. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, a group of gay customers at a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village called the Stonewall Inn, who had grown angry at the harassment by police, took a stand, and a riot broke out. As word spread throughout the city about the demonstration, the customers of the inn were soon joined by other gay men and women who started throwing objects at the policemen, shouting “gay power.”

Police reinforcements arrived and beat the crowd away, but the next night, the crowd returned, even larger than the night before, with numbers reaching over 1,000. For hours, protesters rioted outside the Stonewall Inn, until the police sent a riotcontrol squad to disperse the crowd. For days following, demonstrations of varying intensity took place throughout the city.

In the wake of the riots, intense discussions about civil rights were held among New York’s LGBT people, which led to the formation of various advocacy groups such as the short-lived Gay Liberation Front, which was the first group to use the word “gay” in its name, and a city-wide newspaper called Gay.

On the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the first gay pride parades in U.S. history took place in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and near the Stonewall Inn in New York. The Stonewall riots inspired LGBT people throughout the country to organize in support of gay rights, and within two years after the riots, gay rights groups had been started in nearly every major city in the United States.

Here we are in 2012. Be honest. If you went around Pride events and questioned people about its history, how many could actually tell you? Since Stonewall, generations of our LGBT seem to have forgotten, or chose to put aside, what the riots were about, and what they did to clear the way for the freedoms we enjoy to this day.

Over the years, “Pride” has been celebrated with events worldwide. Some festivities last a weekend, a week, or even a month. There are parades, big and small. In some cases, it has turned into a circuit party, and a chance for some businesses and/or, individuals to capitalize off a once-great but diminishing history. Yes, I said it.

In the next decade, most if not all of those who fought in the Stonewall riots will be gone. Who will carry on the history of June 27, 1969? If we don’t start to remember why it got us, as LGBT persons, to where we are today, we may not have much of a tomorrow. Maybe it is time to think what we want the history of Stonewall to record. Will it be about our PRIDE, or about a party? If you don’t know the answer to this one, maybe you’ve been Stonewalled.

Joel S. Slotnick is a former Secretary- Treasurer for Pride of South Florida, and a longtime LGBT activist. He lives in Fort Lauderdale.

By Cliff Dunn

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – On Monday, Feb. 13, the Wilton Manors City Commission approved a motion to allow the Rainbow Business Coalition (RBC) to host the city’s annual Stonewall Street Festival on Sunday June 24. The RBC was launched in 2010 as an association of LGBT businesses and community leaders to serve both residents’ and merchants’ interests in promoting sustainable economic growth as well as market reach and share for its members.

The Stonewall Pride event, in one form or another, has taken place in South Florida every year since 2000, when the not-for-profit Pride of Greater Fort Lauderdale (PGFTL) was formed to produce the first local Stonewall Street Festival. The event and its yearly sequels recall the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, which represent the beginning of the fight for LGBT rights in the U.S.

Reece Darham, co-chair of the RBC, says the organization and its members take the heritage event with which they have been entrusted very seriously. Darham says that the community’s businesses are also uniquely positioned to make the event a hoped-for success.

“Wilton Manors is a unique setting, and the businesses here—bars, restaurants, and the numerous vendors and merchants who support them—have hands-on experience in knowing what works and what doesn’t work to attract both locals and visitors to a major event of this undertaking.

Darham and the RBC cut their collective teeth last year in event planning and management when the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) held its annual global convention in Greater Fort Lauderdale, with Wilton Manors serving as “ground zero” for many of the largest social events and activities, including an outdoor concert at the city’s Hagen Park.

“The business leaders of our community did a superlative job in bringing world-class entertainment to our little corner of paradise, and after 12 years of local Stonewall events, we know and understand the demographics of these things, as well as how they positively—and negatively—impact the community.

One example of the kind of operational changes that Darham, RBC co-chair Jason Tamanini, and their colleagues are bringing to bear is the organization’s negotiations with liquor brand representatives to develop a price-point for the sale of liquor at outdoor “satellite” bars during the event, which will be called Stonewall Summer Pride.

“The advantage of RBC dealing with liquor vendors for the street bars is that the prices in these satellite bars will be consistent, as will the product they will sell,” Darham explains.

This means that if Bar X has a street-side, satellite bar during the Sunday festival, it will be selling the same liquor brands as Bar Y and Bar Z, and at the same prices. These brands will be consistent with the event sponsors’ brands, but won’t impact what an establishment sells inside their permanent locations, or the pricing.

“We want people—customers as well as hospitality vendors—to know that whosoever is selling to the public from street side will be doing so from the same page as everyone else,” Darham added. One result will be the bars will only be competing with each other, rather than with each other and the event’s organizers.

Another advantage of this business model is that it encourages the participation of smaller establishments, as well as those businesses that are not located on Wilton Drive.

“Let’s face it,” Darham adds, “there are many terrific businesses, hospitality and otherwise, that participate in the joys and sorrows of our community which aren’t located in the ‘downtown’ area. Ken and Lloyd from Scandals Saloon and The Stable were especially ‘key’ in ensuring the success of the IGLTA convention last summer. They and many others are very much a part of what makes this such an amazing place to live and work. We want them to get the same benefit from this heritage festival as will Jackson and Mark [of Bill’s Filling Station and Georgie’s Alibi], Craig [of Boom], and our city’s other bar owners and restaurateurs. And the bars on Federal Highway like Mona’s, Cubby Hole, The Depot—just ask their customers: they are as gay as any bar on the Drive,” he adds with a laugh.

The organizers plan for Stonewall Summer Pride to take place on Wilton Drive as well as at the city’s Hagen Richardson Parks between 12 p.m. and 10 p.m. on June 24. Committees have been established to oversee marketing and publicity, logistics and site planning, sponsorship opportunities, vendor relations, as well as the parade, which will take place from NE 20th Street to Five-Points and be held around dusk, with the exact time to be determined.

Something else that’s new for 2012 is the organizers’ desire for Stonewall to be a truly community-wide affair. “This is not going to be solely a ‘Gay’ Pride event,” Darham notes. “This is a ‘Community’ Pride occasion, and to that end we want to encourage the participation of the traditionally ‘straight’ bars and nightspots to help promote our entire community.”

Krishan Manners, President and CEO of Wilton Manors Main Street, Inc. couldn’t agree more. “This community is turning a page in its maturation,” he notes. “We have such a unique mixture of talented individuals, gay and straight, who have shown time and time again that they can come together and build memorable and lasting creations, whether it’s a park or an annual destination-event.”

Manners adds that the RBC has some Aces up its sleeve. “When you have the support of bars and business owners as well as that of the city, you have two key components for organizing and holding a successful event on the Drive.”

Darham and his RBC associates have hopes that success for Stonewall Summer Pride will resonate in the months after the event is finished. “A profitable Stonewall means that RBC will have sufficient funds to hold future community events, as well as paying for things like closing the Drive for ‘Wicked Weekend’ on Halloween, and New Year’s, as well.”

What about a plaque to honor the group’s first chairperson? “Get out,” Darham says, only half joking. “I have work to do.”

Photo: In times past, Stonewall Pride sustained businesses in the summer.

Now we may get to see if the reverse is also true.

DEAR EDITOR,

Two weeks ago, I began advertising my fitness, nutritional and yoga services in your publication. The response has been nothing short of overwhelming! Not only has my customer base for private training sessions increased, I have received and accepted invitations to do group yoga session at the Pineapple Point Guesthouse & Resort, speak on fitness and health at the monthly meeting of a nudist club, conduct multiple private yoga sessions, do exercise rehabilitation on a senior citizen with a shoulder injury, and teach a class in nutritional cooking. Each of these opportunities was directly related to the responses to my advertisements. In these days of economic strife, and increasing customer dissatisfaction, I wanted to take a moment to compliment not only your professional staff and the help they provided, but also the amazing reach of your multiple publications.

Again my thanks, many times over.

SINCERELY,
ANDY KRESS, SET, CFT

Dear Editor,
I found last week’s cover story on the local historian extremely fascinating. I think it is wonderful that someone wants to take the time in preserving our history. At the end of the day without this much of what we have achieved and done here in Florida will be forgotten. Organizations like Stonewall and what Fred Frejes is doing are what will be around for the future generations to see what life was like here. I for one remember when Wilton Manors wasn’t the cosmopolitan area it is now but rather a ghetto, an outsider’s area that was rough and raw and now look at it. To have that chronicled and reported will show the future and other communities what happens to benefit areas and to benefit people when the community works together.

Thank you, Stan Hart

Please send all your comments and letters to Editor@FloridaAgenda.com

Elaine Lancaster to  Appear at Bongos

MIAMI, FL – The fabulous Elaine Lancaster can now be seen every Monday night hosting Bongos Cuban Café and Sky Lounge at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, 5733 Seminole Way in Hollywood. Elaine will present “Café Society” every Monday at 8 p.m., with a live musical performance by Maryel Epps and musical arrangements by D.J.Smeejay. For reservations, call (954) 791-3040 or visit www.bongoscubancafe.com.

Judy Shepherd Back Pack Drive

WILTON MANORS, FL – Everyone is asked to help out with the annual Back to School Back Pack Drive, Thursday, August 11th, at the Pride Center at Equality Park from 5:30 to 7 p.m. At this event, they will be collecting back packs and school supplies. While you are not required to bring donations to attend, you are strongly encouraged to bring supplies or contribute a minimum of $10 to be used for additional supplies.

The Back Pack Drive is being presented by the Gay and Lesbian Business Exchange and is sponsored by Metro Media Works, Varsity Club, Women in Network and Fast Printz. The completed back packs will benefit students of the Thurgood Marshall Elementary School.

MDGLCC Spotlight Mixer

MIAMI BEACH, FL – The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce invites you to attend its Spotlight Networker Mixer on Thursday, August 24th, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Rooftop of the Gansevoort Hotel (2377 Collins Avenue) in Miami Beach. Mingle and network with MDGLCC members and guests.  Free hors d’oeuvres and vodka drinks. Cash bar. Drawing for great prizes.  Complimentary admission for MDGLCC members and $10 general admission. Valet parking $20 or metered street parking in surrounding area. Please register at mdglcc@bellsouth.net or call (305) 673-4440.

Stonewall Library Mourns Loss of Librarian

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The Stonewall National Museum and Archives is mourning the loss of their beloved librarian and friend, Susanne Phelps. Phelps, who served as Stonewall’s chief librarian, passed away on Friday, August 5th. She was loved and admired by many people connected with Stonewall and the community’s thoughts and prayers go out to her partner, Karen, as well as her family and friends. A memorial service and reception for Susanne Phelps will be held on Saturday, August 20th, at 3 p.m. at the Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 S.E. 9 Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. In lieu of flowers, everyone is being asked to consider a donation in Phelps’ name to a nonprofit animal, environmental or other charity of your choice. The Stonewall National Museum and Archives will create a Library Fund in Phelps’ honor to maintain the ongoing acquisition and collection of books.

Stratton Pollitzer to be Honored by Harvey Milk Foundation

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL – Stratton Pollitzer of Equality Florida will be honored by the Harvey Milk Foundation on August 28 in Miami Beach. According to the Harvey Milk Foundation, Pollitzer is being honored in recognition of his outstanding leadership through tireless work on behalf of Florida LGBT community. The award is presented to a select group of people who have demonstrated outstanding leadership. Past recipients have been Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Gianfranco Fini, President of Italy’s Lower House of Parliament.

The award presentation will take place on Sunday, August 28, at Yuca, 501 Lincoln Road on Miami Beach.

Tickets are $45 and include a fixed menu 3-course brunch with unlimited specialty drinks, tax and tip.

The sign in the window reads, “We homosexuals plead with our people to please help maintain peaceful and quiet conduct on the streets of the Village.”

The Stonewall rebellion was a defining moment in the history of the gay rights movement. That uprising awakened gay men and lesbians to the idea that they were being attacked as a group. That, in turn, awakened them to the idea that they needed to organize as a group. Advocacy and lobbying groups mushroomed after Stonewall, and now include everything from nonprofit groups mounting anti-discrimination advertising campaigns to political action committees to housing and health-related initiatives.

It was on the night of June 27, 1969, that a routine police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a Christopher Street hangout for gays, run by the Mafia, prompted not cowed obedience from the customers but uncharacteristic fury and outrage. It was not unusual for the police to raid gay bars, and they did so regularly, to arrest transvestites and harass the customers. What made the raid of the Stonewall Inn unusual is that the gay and lesbian patrons spontaneously fought back, tossing beer cans, bricks and anything else in reach at the police officers, who responded by beating many of the protesters and arresting dozens of others.

Just why Stonewall’s patrons fought back is anybody’s guess now. Some say it was the heat of the night. Others say it had something to do with the death of Judy Garland five days before in London. Whatever the reason, patience had run out.

More protests followed in the days after

the raid, marking a cultural shift at a time when few people were willing to be publicly identified as homosexual. In the aftermath of the melee, gays and lesbians left closets, never to return. At the end of the decade that had witnessed marches on Washington on behalf of civil rights for blacks and protests against the war in Vietnam, gay pride was born. Its time had arrived.

Since 1970, the Stonewall uprising has been celebrated with an annual gay pride march down Fifth Avenue and across Christopher Street.

The Stonewall Bar at 53 Christopher Street, the site of the Stonewall Inn uprising of June 27-29, was designated a national historic landmark in June 1999.
*From The New York Times: April 10, 2009

By Cliff Dunn

Events for Stonewall Pride Weekend are cropping up faster than one of Jonathan Bleiweiss’ victims, with a number of local establishments and watering holes teaming up to support charitable and service organizations, while serving up products to help shore up the summer slows.

To The Depot Cabana Bar & Grill’s Stonewall Saturday Pool Party on Saturday, June 18, you can add the first annual Pride Stride, a Drag Race benefiting Broward House, Broward County’s largest and oldest HIV/AIDS service organization. In addition to Scandals Saloon and The Stable, interested parties can sign up at Bill’s, Sidelines Sports Bar, Matty’s On The Drive, Georgie’s Alibi and New Moon – all of Wilton Manors. The Drag Race includes prizes for the first to cross the finish line (good luck with that one, sisters), the most money raised in donor pledges and the highest heels. There is nothin’ like a dame.

Speaking of Scandals and The Stable, co-owner Ken Kelley is proud that his venerable flagship bar on N.E. 6th Avenue in Wilton Manors is the only official kick-off party for 2011 Stonewall Pride. The bar, which opened in 2003 and landed in its present digs in 2005, will hold its Stonewall kick-off event on Friday, June 17.

Let the SunServe In

The non-profit SunServe is the recipient of a three-year federal grant for their Promoting LGBTQ Youth, Self-Esteem, Self Advocacy and Self-Resiliency (SSR) program. The 501(c)(3) social service agency serves South Florida’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) community – with a special emphasis on those in financial need, minorities, youth, seniors, families and those with life-challenging physical or emotional conditions.

The grant in question, totaling around $222,000, is geared towards preventing or minimizing teenage suicide. SunServe’s other community efforts – many of which benefit straight as well as gay persons – involve numerous educational and outreach projects, counseling, support groups and a Senior Center.

Stonewalling Wilton Drive

The Gables Wilton Park luxury apartments on Wilton Drive will be hosting an exhibit by Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall National Museum & Archives the week of June 13 to 19, during the run-up to the Stonewall Festival and Parade on Sunday, June 19. The free exhibit will focus on the history of the LGBT rights movement (or the Gay Agenda, if you’d rather), leading back to New York City’s Stonewall Riots. Find more info on the exhibit at StonewallNationalMuseum.org. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

It’s a Gay World, After All

The forward-thinkers at the Florida Family Association (FFA – an anagram with an entirely different connotation among the LGBT Levi’s and Leather Set) spent $7,000 last weekend to charter a banner plane “warning” the groundbound about Gay Days events being held in and around Walt Disney World. Operating in ten-hour shifts on both Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5, the plane towed airborne banners that read: “WARNING GAY DAY AT DISNEY 6/4” and “WARNING GAY PRIDE DAY AT DISNEY 2DAY.” The FFA, which bills itself as an organization dedicated to “improving America’s moral environment,” posted on its Web site: “30,000 children along with their unsuspecting parents will be confronted with the reality of witnessing over 15,000 Gay Pride Day revelers when they enter the Magic Kingdom on June 4, 2011.” They added: “Florida Family Association wants to warn these families about this offensive event before they arrive at the Magic Kingdomon Saturday.” (This puts me in mind the words of the Great Mouseketeer himself, Walt Disney, who said – appropriately enough: “We are not trying to entertain the critics. I’ll take my chances with the public.”)

Overheard

“We will want to take out a $2 million life insurance policy against the possibility you die before the five years are over. Does that work?”

“Yes, I’m good with that. Just don’t kill me.” – Conversation between potential business investors with local Captain of Industry at Rosie’s Bar & Grill in Wilton Manors (names withheld)

If you’re “Open for Business”, you can contact Business Writer and Director of Sales, Cliff Dunn with your story at Business@FloridaAgenda.com

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – On Saturday, June 11, at 1 p.m., The Stonewall National Museum & Archives welcomes April Claxton to its Distinguished Author Series to talk about her recently published book, Goodnight Just the Same.

April Claxton is the author of three books, The Movement Within: 8 Steps To Ignite The Movement Within You, The Power of Self Love: A Mini Boo” and the highly praised children’s book Goodnight Just the Same, as well as many inspirational messages available on The Movement Within Facebook page. Through writing, one of her biggest passions, April encourages, inspires and motivates adults and children to discover their value and necessity of Self. She enjoys speaking to adults, but her heart truly opens with her younger audiences. As a victim of childhood emotional and physical abuse, Claxton strongly believes in and promotes the power and necessity of positivity within a child’s life.

Stonewall National Museum & Archives is located at 1300 East Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

The presentation is free and open to the public and families are welcome.

For more information, call (954) 763-8565 or visit www.stonewallnationalmuseum.org.

By BOB KECSKEMETY

WILTON MANORS, FL – The Stonewall National Museum and Archives has teamed up with this year’s Stonewall Street Festival and Parade to be held on Sunday, June 19 on Wilton Drive in a joint program to help educate the community of the meaning of “Stonewall” and its relevance to the gay community and LGBT history.

The Stonewall Street Festival and Parade was founded in 1999 by a small group of people when the annual Pridefest had been moved from the traditional gay pride month of June to March. The festival founders wanted to commemorate the month of June and also wanted to bring the true meaning of gay pride back to the festival and thus named the festival after the founding of what is considered the birthplace of the modern gay pride movement, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. The first Stonewall Festival was held in June 2000.

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives, located on Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, was founded in 1973 and has grown into the largest library of its kind in the United States. The library has over 18,000 books and audio-visual materials and documents a century of LGBT cultural and social history with an emphasis on the southeastern United States. The Stonewall Museum has numerous traveling exhibits that are on display throughout the country.

Though the close proximity of both the location and the names of the two organizations, this is the first time the two organizations have teamed together to present an exhibit.
“They [the festival organizers] contacted me right after I started here after the first of April,” said Bryan Knicely, president of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives. “They came to me with the idea that we should partner together on this as community partners.”

“The parade and festival is one to celebrate the history of what happened at the Stonewall Inn in New York and that’s how we got our name,” continued Knicely. “We [the Stonewall Museum] is here preserving LGBT history. For the last 37 years that’s been our focus, to preserve all that history. For us it was a natural fit. And it [the Stonewall Street Festival and Parade] is the only gay pride in the country that’s named after the actual Stonewall event.

The Stonewall riots, which took place June 27, 1969, is often considered the defining moment of the modern gay rights movement. At that time, a routine police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a Christopher Street in Greenwich Village hangout for gays run by the Mafia. It was not unusual for police to raid gay bars and regularly did so to arrest transvestites and harass customers. Generally, angry customers cowered to police and left. What made this particular raid so unusual was that this particular evening, gay and lesbian patrons fought back tossing beer cans, bricks and anything else they could get their hands on at the police
officers. Police responded by beating the protesters and arresting dozens of others.

Word of the first protests that first night spread throughout the gay community and for the next two nights, the protests continued, each night becoming larger than the night before. By the end  of the decade, marches were held in Washington D.C. on behalf of civil rights for blacks, protests against the Vietnam war and gay pride was born.

Since 1970, the Stonewall riots have been celebrated with an annual gay pride march down Fifth Avenue and Christopher Street in New York and gay pride celebrations have spread worldwide.

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives exhibit will be on the corner of Wilton Drive and N.E. 21 Court at the Gables Wilton Park complex for a week leading up to the June 19 festival and parade. The event is free and open to the public.

Photo: Rich Rodriguez, Mister Ramrod 2011

Zak Enterline and Steve Whitney, proprietors of Fort Lauderdale’s oldest gay bar, Ramrod, are sending a contestant to the 2011 International Mister Leather (IML) competition, this year being held in America’s Second City, Chicago. Rich Rodriguez of Wilton Manors, who was crowned Mister Ramrod, is Chi-Town-bound this Memorial Day weekend.

Open for Business wishes him luck. Next up on Zak and Steve’s Bucket List: helping Your Kindly Scribe to find a pair of @#%-less chaps that accentuate his fundament during next month’s Pig Dance.

Stonewall Wilton Manors:  Still Flying the Flag

Readers may recall that last year’s Stonewall Street Festival ended with a whimper rather than a bang following its organizing committee’s admission that they were flat broke following June 2010’s event in Wilton Manors. Pride of Greater Fort Lauderdale officers and board members reported a net loss of over $30,000 after the dust settled, with unpaid expenses for vendors, law enforcement and other creditors. This year, the standard for the seminal street festival has been picked up by Wedner and Friends Events, which is producing a more streamlined version for the 12th year of the summer Pride highlight.

The producers and city officials met this Tuesday at Wilton Manors’ Hagen Park in a preliminary Town Hall meeting to share their vision with residents and supporters for the 2011 production, being held Sunday, June 19. The producers say that the event has been re-envisioned for 2011, with a 4 – 9 p.m. festival component, a parade beginning at 6:30 p.m. and entertainment beginning at 7:30pm, all centered on Wilton Drive. This year’s Grand Marshals will be MSNBC News Anchor Thomas Roberts and his partner

Patrick Abner. Roberts, an award-winning journalist, anchors MSNBC Live on weekdays at 11 a.m.

Another new addition to the 2011 event is the participation of Luminary Couples in the parade, long-term partners who “will be honored at this year’s gathering for their courage and dedication,” according to event producer Ellen Wedner. “The first 10 couples, together 20-plus years, who reach out to us will be known as the Founding Luminary Couples, and will be invited to ride in the parade. Any couple having a 10-plus year relationship is invited to apply to walk or ride in the Luminary section of the parade as well.” 20-plus years? Open for Business feels special if someone holds the door open on the way out of the restroom at Torpedo.

By the Numbers

$24 Billion: Amount spent annually worldwide on the purchase of soap

$106 Billion: Amount spent annually worldwide on the purchase of household cleaning products

76: Estimated Percentage of kitchen dish cloths infested with germs

1-in-3: Number of American men who don’t wash their hands after using the restroom

If you’re “Open for Business”, you can contact Business Writer and Director of Sales, Cliff Dunn, with your story at Business@FloridaAgenda.com

Photo: Tim Tebow Courtesy, palmbeachpost.com

2010 may become known as the year of the comeback. Just when you thought all hope was lost, President Barack Obama finally pushes through one of his campaign promises, and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed in the final weeks of the year.

After seeing Florida take a step back in 2009 with a constitutional amendment making marriage between one man and one woman, the absurd law that said gays and lesbians could not adopt children in the state, went by the wayside, thanks to several rulings from Florida’s courts. Of course not all was good. We lost friend of the gays, our “Golden Girl” Rue McClanahan and gay shock jock Neil Rogers. We saw Ricky Martin come out, Tom Ford direct his first movie and Steven Slater quit his Jet Blue job in only the most fabulous way possible. Let’s reflect back on the year that was and hope the momentum on the gay agenda continues to swing upwards.

Now, enjoy some of the top stories and headlines from 2010, and here’s to an even better 2011.

January

*AIDS  Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed a “sanitary nuisance” complaint with the State of Florida, against three pornography productions and distribution companies in Miami who filmed pornographic scenes without the use of condoms. AHF claims that workers in other industries who have an increased risk of catching infectious disease are protected with gloves and mask, and porn stars, they say, should have similar protection.

*An openly gay former Broward Sheriffs Officer, accused of sexually assaulting illegal immigrants, was freed on $250,000 bond while awaiting trial. Jonathon Bleiweiss, who patrolled the Oakland Park area, was released and will go live with his father in Oregon. Bleiweiss, a seven-year veteran of the BSO and one-time “Deputy of the Year,” faces 73 charges ranging from sexual battery, stalking and false imprisonment on at least nine different victims. He was jailed in August 2009.

Other Headlines:
• The ACLU calls for the dropping of the ban against gays and lesbians adopting children in state of Florida.
• Ihosvany Marquez of Miami is accused of using fake HIV clinics to defraud Medicare of more than $55 million dollars.
• The City of South Miami approved an ordinance providing for benefits for the domestic partners of city employees.

February

*Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow , formerly from the University of Florida, starred in an anti-abortion commercial to be aired during the broadcast of the Super Bowl game for anti-gay group Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family is an evangelical Christian group based in Colorado that runs a ministry called Love Wins Out that attempts to convert homosexual teenagers into heterosexuals, often against their will. The group is also adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage rights.

*A program geared toward helping people maintain private insurance coverage if they are HIV-positive, has to put people on a waitlist due to increased demand. The AIDS Insurance Continuation Program (AICP) makes direct payments of up to $750 to employers or insurance companies for people diagnosed with AIDS or are HIV-positive with symptoms and who, because of the illness, are unable to maintain their private health insurance. The program had been helping 2,600 people with another 168 people waiting for help.

Other Headlines:
• Miami Beach gay bar The Palace fights to save their drag queen shows after a noise complaint was filed with the city by The Tides hotel.

• The Pride Center at Equality Park holds a ribbon cutting ceremony opening their new center on a twoacre, five-building property

March

*After a nearly 16-year fight, Congress passed historic health care reform legislation in the nation’s capitol. The 10-year, $938 billion bill, known as The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was signed into law by President Barack Obama. Some of the provisions of the bill went into effect in October and the bill will be fully implemented by 2014. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would cut the federal budget deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade.

*National leaders made a week-long call for every church, mosque, synagogue, temple and home to join in prayer, education, advocacy and service for the healing of AIDS in the U.S. and the world. The purpose of the National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS was to put the national spotlight on the AIDS epidemic in America while at the same time focusing on the role that our nation’s faith communities can and are playing in AIDS prevention, education, service and advocacy.

Other Headlines:
• Former Hollywood, Florida police officer Michael Verdugo files a lawsuit against the city for discrimination after being terminated.

• Lt. Dan Choi is arrested after chaining himself to the White House fence in protest of the military’s
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy

• The Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce holds their first “Commit 2 Love” commitment ceremony and reception with 13 couples participating.

April

*President Obama called for the end of discrimination practices toward gay and lesbian couples’ visitation rights in hospitals when visitation is limited to immediate family members. The president also called and apologized to Janice Langbehn, who unsuccessfully sued Jackson Memorial Hospital after the 2007 sudden death of her partner Lisa Pond. Langbehn and Pond, along with their three children, were preparing to board a cruise ship when Pond suddenly suffered a fatal brain aneurysm. Langbehn contends that a hospital social worker would not let her visit Pond because Florida is “an anti-gay state.” Pond died the next day. A court determined that a hospital has the right to set its own visitation rules.

*Local activists Anthony Niedwiecki and Waymon Hudson move to Chicago. Neidwiecki, who also sat on the Oakland Park City Commission, was offered and accepted a high-level administrative and faculty law professor position at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Hudson is a national LGBT rights advocate and writer. Niedwiecki and Hudson were co-founders of the LGBT lobby group Fight OUT Loud and led an activist campaign against former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle after he made a number of anti-gay statements. The couple also lobbied the Florida State Senate to overturn the state’s ban on gay adoption, after taking in a foster child who had been abandoned as “unadoptable” by the state because of the child’s HIV status. The couple wed in California in June 2008 before Proposition 8 was passed and remain legally married as one of 18,000 couples still wed after the anti-gay marriage proposition passed.

Other Headlines:
• Wilton Manors Main Street displays their “Main Street Initiative” for taking back control of Wilton Drive from the state, adding more parking and landscaping.

• The City Commission of Miami Beach and Wilton Drive approve a resolution for Washington to lift the ban on gay men donating blood.

• Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced he’s leaving the Republican Party and running for U.S. Senator as an Independent.

May

*George Alan Rekers, a man whoprided himself on empathetically stating homosexuality was a sin and helping convert people of that “deviant lifestyle,” was caught traveling to Europe on a 10-day vacation with a prostitute from the website Rentboy.com, according to the Miami New Times. A week later, a second escort came forward and claimed that he remembered Rekers being a client of his more than a decade earlier. Rekers was founder of the Family Research Council and an officer with the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality

*Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) ensures that that underserved and uninsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS have access to life-saving medication, but now some of the hardest hit individuals will be put on a wait list because the program simply doesn’t have the funding to continue supporting everyone. Florida has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the United States. Approximately 18,000 people qualified for ADAP in Florida because they met the requirements.

Other Headlines:
• Solicitor General Elena Kagan was chosen by President Obama to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

• Walgreens opens a new pharmacy geared toward the LGBT community in Wilton Manors.

• According to a poll commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign, more than two-thirds of Florida voters favor
gay men and lesbian women serving openly in the military.

June

*Americans’ support for the moral acceptability of gay and lesbian relations crossed the symbolic 50 percent threshold according to a Gallup poll. At the same time, the percentage calling these relations “morally wrong” dropped to 43 percent, the lowest in Gallup’s decade-long trend. Gallup’s annual “Values and Beliefs” survey documents a gradual increase in public acceptance in gay relations since 2006. The change is seen almost exclusively among men and particularly men younger than 50 and a greater movement toward acceptance among Independents, moderates and Democrats than among Republicans. Liberals were already widely accepting of gay relations in 2006 and have remained that way while conservatives’ acceptance continues to run low.

*Though they had the largest turnout for this year’s Stonewall Street Festival and Parade, Pride of Greater Fort Lauderdale reported a $30,000 loss for their 11th annual event. PGFL cited that lack of a complete sales infrastructure at the start of the festival, which was partially caused by an electrical storm early in the morning halting the erection of bar and ticket sales booths. By 11 a.m., the organization knew it was in deep trouble when it was reported that people started walking away from the event with cases of liquor. After the event, PGFL cancelled its plans for the annual Wicked Manors Halloween Street Party.

Other Headlines:

• Both the U.S. House of Representative and the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

• President Obama urged the swift passage of the Domestic Partner and Obligations Act, giving LGBT federal employees the same rights and privileges of their heterosexual counterparts.

• Florida Gov. and U.S. Senatorial candidate Charlie Crist changes his stance in favor of gays and lesbians adopting children in the state.

July

*U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled that the federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage. The ruling came in response to two separate challenges of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA. Congress initially enacted DOMA after Hawaii became the first state to legalize same-sex unions in that year. If the law is overturned, same-sex couples could argue they quality for federal tax benefits. It would also have wide-ranging implications in such areas as immigration.

*The White House Middle Class Task Force and Council on Women and Girls unveiled recommendations from the Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force aimed at ending pay inequality and discrimination. The recommendations are related to the 2009 passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act , which helps women who face wage discrimination. The recommendations include ways to better inform employees about their rights and improve coordination amongst enforcement agencies. Advocates and officials also urged the Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will help ensure people who do equal work receive equal pay.

Other Headlines:

• The FDA approves a first-of-itskind HIV test that can detect HIV days earlier than current tests.

• An American Lung Association study indicated that the LGBT community is twice as likely to develop lung cancer, and that tobacco usage is highest among gay men.

• The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force honors Tony award-winning actor Alan Cummings with its National Leadership Award at its annual Miami Recognition Dinner.

• The U.S. Labor Department announced that it would order businesses to extend unpaid leave for gay workers to care for newborns or loved ones.

August

*LGBT organizers were shocked and upset with the Target Corporation for making contributions to Minnesota Forward, a political organization supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Emmer was known for opposing gay rights, especially gay marriage. National days of protest were organized in neighborhood Target stores throughout the country. Target’s donation was $100,000 in cash and another $50,000 in goods and services. Best Buy, the giant electronics retailer, made a $100,000 donation to Minnesota Forward. The retailer was previously rated a 100 percent from the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index.

*U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker struck down California’s Proposition 8 and reopened California to same-sex marriage. Walker, a conservative, was first appointed to the federal bench in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan. Walker’s ruling, though favorable toward same-sex couples, does not allow the marriages to resume immediately. The judge decided that he should suspend his ruling while proponents of the ban pursue their appeal. He ordered both sides to submit written arguments on the issue immediately.

Other Headlines:

• Sunserve opens a second location in the Pride Center at Equality Park

• Women’s softball players form their own softball league.

• Former Hollywood Police Officer Michael Verdugo holds a press conference explaining that he was fired from the Hollywood Police Department due to anti-gay discrimination.

• Former Manhunt employee A.J. Spellman accuses employer of transgender discrimination.

• Steven Slater, an openly gay JetBlue flight attendant, was arrested for flipping out as his flight landed in Philadelphia, cursing out the passengers, grabbing a beer and resigns his position while escaping the airline by the emergency chute. He pleads guilty to criminal mischief charges as part of a deal to avoid jail time.

September

*Florida’s 3rd Court of Appeals ruled that banning gays and lesbians from adopting children is unconstitutional. Though the ruling was expected to be challenged and sent to the state’s Supreme Court for their final decision, Florida’s Department of Children and Families and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said they would not appeal the decision. The original suit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of Martin Gill who, with his partner, wanted to adopt their two foster children. Late last year, Miami- Dade County Judge Cindy Lederman decided that Gill could adopt the children, which ultimately ended the 33-year ban on gay adoption in Florida.

*Former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman came out of the closet as being gay. In an interview in The Atlantic, Mehlman stated that he is, in fact, gay and that he plans to be an advocate for legalizing same-sex marriage. According to the New York Times, Mehlman’s “announcement makes him apparently the most prominent Republican official to come out.” This disclosure followed years of him avoiding and denying inquiries about his sexual orientation. During his RNC chairmanship, Mehlman supported social positions of the Republican Party, including opposition to same-sex marriage. Mehlman claimed that he could not have gone against party consensus, but acknowledged that, had he come out of the closet earlier, he could have impacted Republican efforts to pass state initiatives banning same-sex marriage.

Other Headlines:

• U.S. District Court in California declares DADT unconstitutional. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled vote to repeal DADT as part of National Defense Authorization Act, but it fails to get the 60 votes required to break a filibuster.

• St. Petersburg Police get domestic partner benefits.

• Students Matty Daley and Bobby Canciello broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Longest Continuous Kiss.” The record-breaking kiss took place on The College of New Jersey campus located in Ewing, New Jersey.

October

*Gay teen suicides, all due to being bullied in school, became the major topic of national discussion and headlines and evoked protests, memorials and candlelight vigils throughout the country. Billy Lucas, 15, of Greensburg, Ind., saw no end to the constant stream of teasing and harassment for his openly bisexual orientation and hanged himself from the rafters of his family’s barn. A day before the suicide, Lucas had a chair pulled out from underneath him in the school cafeteria and his classmates had taunted him by saying he should just go hang himself. Seth Walsh, 13, of Fresno, Calif., hung himself from a tree in his family’s backyard after getting bullied by a group of local teenagers in a park. Walsh had been openly gay but not sexually active, according to his family. Tyler Clementi, 18, a freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey, jumped off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River after his roommate secretly videotaped him engaging in sexual activity with another man. Asher Brown, 13, of Houston shot himself in the head in his stepfather’s closet. The middle-school student was constantly picked on by four students at his school and endured being called gay and had mock gay acts performed on him during physical education class. Raymond Chase, 19, a sophomore at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island committed suicide by hanging himself in his dorm room. Friends and family said that Chase seemed happy and they did not know he was suicidal.

*Pride of Greater Fort Lauderdale (PGFL) announced it would cease operations Dec. 31. The organization was able to pay off $20,000 of its total $40,000 debt and donated its remaining physical assets and it registered trademark “Wicked Manors” to the Pride Center at Equality Park. Later, the City of Wilton Manors announced they would handle all future events on Wilton Drive and hoped to keep a gay pride and Halloween festivals alive on The Drive. PGFL, which owned the electrical service on the corner of Wilton Drive and NE Sixth Avenue along with a custom-made electrical circuit box and cables for the stages, have donated that equipment to the city.

Other Headlines:

• The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), honored the Emmy Award-winning ABC comedy “Modern Family” at the Respect Awards. The series focuses on a diverse suburban family, including a gay couple with an adopted daughter.

• President Obama told a studio audience and television viewers of an MTV town hall meeting that he felt that being gay was not a choice but genetic.

• The Union Leader, New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, refuses to print marriage announcements for same-sex weddings.

November

*Florida’s struggling economy found its latest victims: uninsured HIV/AIDS patients. According to the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau for HIV/AIDS, a budget crisis is forcing the state to drop 350 uninsured HIV/AIDS patients from a federal drug subsidy program, and an additional 2,000 more patients may suffer the same fate. The need to drop patients from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) stems from Florida’s $16 million shortfall of its $100 million drug program budget. Another factor affecting the cuts is the economy, which has triggered an increase in the number of Florida patients being enrolled in the program due to loss of employment and health insurance. The Bureau estimates the current enrollment to be approximately 11,000 patients. The lack of funding has forced the agency to put patients on a waiting list.

*The U.S. Congress turns “pinker” with a distinctive taste of tea, and Florida becomes more “red” after the mid-term elections. Two term Rep. Ron Klein (D) from Florida lost to Tea Party-endorsed candidate Alan West, helping the GOP gain a 53-seat majority in the U.S. House. Re-elected were LGBT-supported Representatives Ted Deutch, Debby Wasserman Schultz, Alcee Hastings and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. On a statewide level, Tea Party-backed Marco Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Rep. Kendrick Meek. The Democrats barely held on to their majority in the Senate. Democrat Alex Sink barely lost her bid to become Florida’s Governor to Republican Rick Scott by less than 2 percent. Pam Bondi (R) was elected Florida Attorney General and has vowed to challenge the court decision permitting gay adoption. Broward County’s first openly gay mayor Ken Keechl (District 4) lost his reelection bid for the county commission.

Other Headlines:

• Pastor Jim Swilley, head of the Conyers, Georgia Church in the Now, announced to his congregation that he is gay. Swilley founded the church 25 years ago and is the divorced father of four.

• A Federal Appeals Court indefinitely extended its freeze on a judge’s order halting enforcement of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

• U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wants the Senate to quickly move ahead with repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” during the lame duck session.

•Wilton Manors Police investigate a series of attempted rapes and muggings.

• The Oakland Park City Commission votes in favor of a resolution supporting legislation prohibiting discrimination and bullying. • Pope Benedict XVI says that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV.

December

*In the lame duck session prior to the new Congress, which begins in January, the U. S Senate voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a 17- year policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The same legislation previously passed in the House of Representatives. With the help of eight Republicans, senators voted down the policy by a vote of 65-31. For Lt. Dan Choi, Capt. Jim Pietrangelo, Cadet Mara Boyd, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen and the 13,389 other people who have lost their jobs in the United States Armed Services, it’s too late, but no longer will a man or woman be kicked out of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines for being openly gay or lesbian. President Obama signed the DADT repeal bill into law.

The new military policy will take several months to implement

*For the fourth year in a row, Broward County leads the state of Florida in the number of reported hate crimes, but officials say the numbers aren’t as dire as they seem for the second largest county in South Florida. Attorney General Bill McCollum released the 2009 Florida Hate Crimes Report, which indicates that reported hate crimes in Florida are at their lowest level since 1990. During the 2009 calendar year, 148 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies, well below the annual average of 262 reported hate crime incidents since reporting began in 1990. Broward County had 22 reported hate crimes, while Miami- Dade County reported 17 hate crimes, Palm Beach County reported nine hate crimes, Orange County also had nine hate crimes, Pinellas County had three hate crimes and Osceola County had one reported hate crime

Other Headlines:

• Orange County banned sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. • Scientists believe they have found a pill that can help healthy gay men stay HIV-negative.

• Former City of Hollywood Police Officer Michael Verdugo loses his court appeal in the Broward County Circuit Court.

• The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) changed their constitution to remove the requirement that players must be “female at birth” in order to join the tour, paving the way for transgender male-to-female golf players.