10 Things I Hate About Florida

I am so excited about the upcoming 2010. So, for the new year, here is my list of 10 things that I hope to see a positive change in:

10. Dirty drinking water. It may surprise you to know that despite Charlie Crist's boat rides throught the everglades with John McCain, that Florida has some of the worst water contamination in the United States. Our governor has repeatedly attempted to market himself as having concern for the environment but there is absolutely no evidence to back it up. In fact, cities where Crist garnered most of his votes (like Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Pensacola) all rank in the bottom 50 US cities for water cleanliness. Pensacola Florida has the absolute worst water quality in the USA. We need to clean up Floridas waters and stop dumping pollution into them.

09. Hurricane madness. Every time there is a hurricane in Florida, our entire state goes topsy-turvy with panicked media reporting, price gouging, and bizarre "emergency preparedness" marketing gimmicks. Just settle down, people. Every thunderstorm is not Hurricane Andrew. Just board up your windows, buy a few candles and remember the serenity prayer: God help me to accept the things I cannot change. Check out one of the hilarious parodies of Florida's weather reports on YouTube.

08. De-funding of rehabilitation programs in Broward. This one lands squarely on the shoulders of our Republican Sheriff Al Lamberti. He promised Broward's voters that he would cut the budget as Sheriff. Many of us believed this would be a good thing as there seems to be 2 Sheriff's officers for every citizen out on the streets here. It's a total police state. But Lamberti has gone and exacerbated many of our problems here in Broward by cutting the most essential programs associated with his department - the ones that keep criminals from returning to the streets with a chip on their shoulder. Furthermore, rumor has it with all the new cops he's put on the streets and a refusal to "just say no" to the PBA, he's actually increased the budget, not reduced it. One officer proudly showed me the computer games he had installed on his laptop in his squad car, which he admittedly plays all the time on his "boring" nights of patrol - paid for courtesy of the PBA. And I can still point to half a dozen obvious crack houses in my community that nobody has busted - including the corner dealer who slings his rock just one block south of the Sheriff's office building. Total shame! (And this assessment is coming from a guy who voted for Lamberti...)

07. Charlie Crist. This guy ran as a moderate and turned into someone so repulsive and pandering that even teabaggers think he's crazy. He's not managed to do much of anything except to strike a severe blow to gay rights and get married to some chick in a shotgun attempt to prove he's not gay himself. Florida Agenda editor, Dan Renzi wrote a tongue-in-cheek endorsement of Crists ultra-conservative opponent in the upcoming US Senate race in which he stated "Personally, I am rooting for [Marco] Rubio to win the Republican nomination... Crist has sold his soul for conservative votes just to benefit his own career." It must be noted here, that Renzi's "endorsement" of Rubio is at least sarcastic and at most, a hope to see Republicans back themselves into their own corner of shame. The Florida Agenda is a gay newspaper and Rubio is running an anti-gay campaign. But Florida's gays have lost all respect for Charlie Crist because of his support for Amendment 2 and seeing him lose another race to the very people whom he panders to would be bitter-sweet irony.

06. Gay Adoption Ban. Florida is the only state in the USA with a ban on adoption that specifically targets gays and lesbians. It's unconstitutional, it's wrong and it's hateful. Gay families all over the USA live in fear of this bill becoming a prototype for Nazi-esque family management laws all over the country.



05. Parking issues in South Beach. Every time there is a convention in Miami or South Beach, you are bound to pay hundreds of dollars in tickets, fees or to get your car out of towing (or all 3 simultaneously). City officials have been terrorizing visitors to their lovely haven with the threat of losing their transportation and income to "the system" for far too long. If you want your precious tourism to return, you had better take it easy on us and give us an affordable way to get there.

04. Public officials who live outside their jurisdictions. This issue was brought to my attention by a candidate for mayor of Fort Lauderdale who eventually lost, Earl Rynerson. A great number of city officials in metropolitan areas of Florida do not actually live in the areas that they preside over. This "take the money and run" approach to government is bleeding our cities dry and decreasing the liklihood that our legislators feel any allegiance to the communities which they supposedly represent. I am currently working on a list of income levels and places of residence for city officials in Fort Lauderdale and I would encourage other Florida bloggers and journalists to keep track of this disparity as well.

03. Hate Crimes. Florida is well on it's way to becoming the Hate Crime Capitol of the nation. Everything from the murder of Ryan Skipper to the police tasering of an unarmed African American bicyclist in North Florida to the States Attorneys and Sheriffs who flippantly refuse to prosecute hate crimes as such in spite of the new Federal law, The Mathew Shepard Act. For more information, visit Gay American Heroes.

02. Amendment 2. The state of Florida has more targeted anti-gay laws on its books than any other state in the USA - which is ironic considering the number of gays and lesbians who live and vacation here. Gay and Lesbian, NY and European tourism is declining at warp speed from South Florida, the small two-city patch of Florida from which we derive the upper 35% of our total tax revenue. Businesses are closing and restaurant workers are taking home fewer tips. One major reason for this is because Fort Lauderdale is no longer "where the boys are". Florida has been getting a nasty reputation as the only state that has specifically outlawed both gay adoption and civil unions. Amendment 2, despite the hype from an ultra-conservative group who put it on the ballot, goes far beyond protecting marriage and is a full-scale assault on gays and lesbians. It's much worse than California's Proposition 8 because it outlaws the recognition of civil unions and mandates it's own permanency by requiring that only a super-majority of voters can overturn it. The areas of Florida that voted for Amendment 2 by the highest majority also happen to be the areas from which we recieve the measley lowest amount of tax revenue in the state.

01. Gerrymandering. Here's where I introduce the light at the end of the tunnel. More Floridians (both conservative and liberal) are warming up to the idea of a ballot measure introduced by Fair Districts Florida which would effectively end Gerrymandering in the sunshine state. The current re-districting policies are probably the one link between all of the 9 problems listed above and a whole slew of other problems including corruption and cronyism. We can all agree that Florida is sick of hateful Republicans and corrupt Democrats. The Fair Districts Florida ballot measure is a way for us to give power back to the voters and to restore confidence in our swing state. We used to be the spotlight of the nation during our elections and our impact on the USA was envied. But in the last few elections we were an embarrassment to our country. We allowed George HW Bush's Supreme Court to elect his son to the Presidency in 2000 and we allowed our state legislators to take away our ability to participate in the Presidential primary election of '08. It's time to take back our state and tell our legislators that we would like to stop being forced to vote for the lesser of two evils in every election. The Fair Districts Florida ballot measure is the way to go!

Coming Out Part 1: Transgender F2M in College

Coming out of the closet is a process that is getting less and less press these days even though homophobia seems to be on the rise. I decided to start doing little bios occasionally on folks who are out of the closet at work and school. In this way, I can really use social networking for its ultimate purpose and hopefully, give my gay brethren a few words of encouragement along the way. The first person (and so far, the only one) to respond to my request for their perspectives on coming out of the closet is someone that I met and instantly admired as a girl but who is now a guy and I still admire him very much. Mason understood right away what my motivation was in wanting to bring the coming out process back into our consciousness. “I’ve definitely heard stories of people being very obviously fired for their identity and having no recourse. Sad as it is, sometimes it just isn’t possible to be out safely,” he warns.

Mason Strand was once a soft-spoken Midwestern girl, who went through a large part of his outwardly transformative process in NYC and has recently settled back in Chicago-land. But he has always been a student of the arts for as long as I’ve known him. The most difficult part in accepting my friend’s transgender status has been remembering to say “he” instead of “she” because, ultimately, in my mind, Mason hasn’t really “changed” but rather just expressed more outwardly who he really feels like on the inside. But also, until Mason, who has been a family friend for quite some time, came out as transgender, I had no frame of reference for this sort of thing. Being gay does not automatically give someone an innate perspective on all matters relating to sexuality.

Mason describes it this way:

“I experience and think of my entire queer identity as political, and I think a big part of that is not letting people get by with the “gay (or trans) people are just like us” thing. Some LGBTQ people are like straight people, but some aren’t, and shouldn’t have to be. Even though I’m male and date women, I’m nothing like you’re typical straight dude, and in fact don’t identify as straight, because no part of my sexuality fits into the ideas of what “straight” is. By being out, I queer even what people’s idea of a man is.”

Seeing his identity as being political is something that I can certainly relate to as an activist of sorts. I suppose if we’re being honest, gays and lesbians seem to have a choice in whether or not to pursue the politics of our culture but we really don’t. Politics in America eventually comes knocking for all of us, because, as the feminist mantra goes – the personal is political.

Let’s, for the sake of clarity though, offer the rest of Mason’s thoughts on coming out in Q & A format:

FS: What made you decide to come out at school?

Mason: I feel like saying you’re “out” is something of a contradiction or a misnomer, because you can never really be completely out – you’re continually having to come out to people, because you’re continually meeting new people. And so you’re making these decisions every day: who do I tell? Have I known this person long enough? Will this affect our ability to work together?

The fact that I work on a campus makes it so that I am out in certain circles, while other people have no idea. It isn’t that I’m hiding it at all – I started and continue to run a group on campus for transgender students that has a pretty visible presence – it’s just that with some people that I see infrequently it simply hasn’t come up. It’s also a little different for me because, as an ftm I’m often perceived as a gay man. So even if I’m not out as trans, I feel that I’m often perceived as queer one way or another, and that makes me glad. I think that straight people feeling the presence of LGBTQ people is important because it helps them remember that we aren’t just the people they make jokes about, or the funny sidekicks on TV. We’re real, whole people, who are infinitely varied and complex. This is a big part of why I want to be out.

Additionally, I feel like it’s important for me to be out at work and at school (which are the same place for me) because I’m interested in working in and for the LGBTQ community, and I think that necessitates a willingness to be upfront about your identity. I can’t run a group for trans kids on campus, or advocate for our rights if I’m not willing to tell people that I’m transgender.

FS: Has your “coming out” experience been overall, a good one or a bad one?

Mason: Overall my experience of being out has been very good. I’ve actually not had any negative reactions, and have experienced nothing but support and acceptance. I know that this makes me very privileged and fortunate, and the fact that I work at a big liberal university in a large city has a lot to do with this. But, that said, the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my life was when I was stealth (passing as male without disclosing my transgender identity) in a workplace. I was miserable and paranoid about being “found out.” Some people are perfectly happy being stealth all the time, but it makes me feel really icky (to use a technical term).

FS: What sort of work or school are you involved in and what special talents or appeal can GLBT persons offer to your line of work or education?

Mason: I work in the Center for Interreligious Engagement at the University I attend, where I’m also getting a Master’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies (my BA was in Film). I think that LGBTQ people are so incredibly valuable in a University environment because, for a lot of people, it’s the first time they’re really able to be out, and the first thing they’re looking for is a supportive community. My university happens to have a really high LGBTQ population, both in the staff and faculty and in the student body. This makes the campus a really great environment, because everywhere you go, you’re bumping into “family.” Even the Center I work at, which you would think would be conservative, is run by an awesome, progressive gay man, and does remarkable, thoughtful programming. I think that any person who has been marginalized tends to understand the world in a very different way, and has the potential to have a great, deep compassion for others who have encountered oppression. So that is something that I think LGBTQ people can be really great at, though I think it’s important to realize how interconnected all oppression is.

Additionally, I think that, on a Campus, whether you’re a student or an employee, there is a lot that you can do for LGBTQ students. Your presence and your work can inspire people to further explore their identity, and to feel empowered. It’s also great in that, if there’s something you don’t like at the school – a policy or the way something is run - you can work to change it. I think of it as practice for engaging the government once you get out of school (although you can, of course, do that while in school as well).

FS: If you could offer advice for anyone else who is thinking of coming out of the closet, what would that entail?

Mason: My honest advice for someone on coming out is to start small, especially if you are nervous about it at all. Tell a few people that you can trust, and work up from there. That way, if you ever do encounter any problems, you’ll know you have someone to back you up. I would also advise knowing what your rights are in the workplace, like whether there are anti-discrimination laws for lesbians and gays, or for trans people (because sometimes it only covers the LGB and not the T). These are different for every state, and I’ve definitely heard stories of people being very obviously fired for their identity and having no recourse. Sad as it is, sometimes it just isn’t possible to be out safely. But, if it’s possible, and you want to do it, I would advise people to be out in school and work, simply because it is so freeing, and everyone deserves to get to be their full selves in all parts of their life.

Their FULL selves… in ALL parts of their life… There’s a novel idea. I wonder if anyone in America can be themselves 24 hours a day anymore. We all wear so many hats and it seems as though the entire nation might be stricken with multiple personality disorder. Can a Christian teacher really be a Christian at a University? Maybe if they work at a religious school… Can a gay male athlete be himself while vying for placement on a college team? Can an HIV positive woman really be frank with her co-workers while she is covered by the company insurance? Can a Republican candidate admit to thinking that Equality is a worthy endeavor? I’d like to think that eventually the answer to all these questions will be “yes we can”. But for now, we just don’t know, do we?

One thing that certainly helps to ease the mind is knowing that people like Mason are out there, every day and in every state and every metropolitan area – being themselves to the best of their ability.

Sex Scandals In The Media – Something’s Gotta Give

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On Planning and Executing a Political Demonstration

In Brief: This post describes how to think of protests and activism in ways that are beneficial to your cause. It is meant as a forward to the list of 10 ways to make your protest a good one.

Having taken part in dozens of political protests and demonstrations over the past 8 years or so, I have noticed some things that work very effectively and some things that just don’t fly. Particularly in terms of gay rights advocacy, there is a problem with a lot of our demonstrations and protests in that the persons who are most inclined to participate have not been armed with a solid understanding of the advocacy process. Furthermore, many people don’t even understand the issues at hand but they know they are angry and they know that there is injustice somewhere so they get involved before they are ready. Lastly, they fail to narrow their myriad of causes and issues down to one simple and effective message or goal.

My aim in this post, no matter what your political stripes, is to give you some advice on how to handle your protests, rallies and demonstrations in a way that encourages understanding of your point of view and doesn’t become a moment of contention between only you and your peers.


I have always believed that there is a secret understanding that political activists have of each other. This empathy extends even to their arch nemesis on the other side of the picket line. Political activists are very fiery, imaginative and independent people. They can be clever, even wickedly so… But they also have family and friends that they love and wish to protect. They are loyalists to an ideology but they generally have a modicum of respect for public health and safety. Two rival activists will often have respect for each other and sometimes even feel almost kindred, as though they might have been friends in another life. This is because both of them know what it’s like to be outsiders looking in… they are the rogue cowboys and Indians who battle over a new frontier ahead of all of their peers.

Most people don’t like to get involved with political protests – and they don’t always think very fondly of those of us who do. They are afraid that their boss will see them on the nightly news and fire them the next morning. In some cases, this is a realistic fear but in most cases, it’s very pessimistic and a little bit paranoid. Perhaps you will see your boss’s daughter at the event… and even on YOUR side of the issue! I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard naysayers reason that they can’t get involved because they have “real life” to contend with. Well, I’ve got news for them: We activists are the creators of their “real life” as it will be tomorrow. We are not “the sheep” even though that is usually the metaphor chosen to describe us by our nemeses.

Having said that, there is a certain amount of “herding” that goes into organizing a demonstration or protest and a good shepherd will not let his flock be embarrassed and sent home feeling unaccomplished. A person’s self esteem can be greatly enhanced or diminished after participating in political advocacy. We all have an interest in making sure that nobody (not even our so-called enemy) feels too bad about partaking in their American right to free speech.

I have put together this list of 10 Steps to Make Your Protest or Demonstration a Good One to use as a reference if you are just beginning your involvement with public activism.

10 Steps to Make Your Protest or Demonstration a Good One

In Brief: In this post, I describe some simple best practices when organizing a political demonstration, and help the reader to spot potential problems that may occur within their current structure.

To read my forward about why this list is so important and what's wrong with political advocacy today, click here.

1. Learn as much as you can about YOUR side of the issue. Too many people get all worked up about what other people are saying and doing. They don’t take the time to understand the facts and feelings put forth by their own side of the debate. For instance, in a gay rights rally, you will rarely find an advocate that knows how many soldiers have been discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.




2. Ignore the media. I know that might come as a shock to a lot of people because they believe in that old adage that “the media controls the message” but it’s simply not true. The media is lawless and crazy in America and they control THEIR message… which is often in stark contrast with what you may believe as a concerned citizen. The media will be impressed with your actions if they are interesting and well-planned but they cannot be counted on to side with you or even be compassionate toward your point of view. What’s MOST important is communicating to the people passing by in cars and those whom you can talk face-to-face with. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You can be more effective in changing one person’s mind through careful dialogue than you can by instigating thousands to react without reason.




3. Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.). There are certain events (like the National Equality March in DC back in October ‘08) where it is very effective to bring a number of similar issues together under one big banner. But most activism that a person can take part in will be on a much smaller scale with less funding and support. You need to pick just one small issue and tackle that. Narrow your message down to just one goal and go from there. For instance, if your idea is to “empower the religious community” then you are going to have problems because everyone has a different religion and they don’t want each other to be more empowered… But if you wanted to plan a demonstration called “Baptists for Repealing Amendment 2” then that could be far more effective.




4. Be nice to police officers and security. This needs very little explanation. These folks have a job to do and they don’t make the rules. You can’t let your fear of authority taint your view of the men and women who have been assigned to keep you safe. Sure, there is always that egotistical jerk that is just aching to use his or her taser but usually you are dealing with a regular Joe who just wants to make sure nobody blows anything up.




5. Leave your vanity at home. All too often a demonstration goes sour because some idiot wants to play king or queen for a day and turns your activities into a lime light for themselves. I have not yet found a way to get rid of these people but I know better than to become one of them.




6. Be tolerant of diversity but do not worship it. What I mean by this is that it’s ok if you and your peers all feel the same way about something and have a similar ideology. For instance, at a gay pride parade, you will see drag queens, circuit boys, political activists, religious leaders and sexual fetishes all displayed in the middle of the street. This is fine for a celebratory kind of environment but it does not send a clear message to anyone and does little to advance your philosophy on the national stage.




7. Bring at least one member of your family or a close friend with you. Do whatever it takes to convince them to participate. It will be a momentous experience that they can be proud of for the rest of their lives. I don’t know how I could function without the knowledge that I have been part of a movement of people who fought for what was right. I pity anyone who has never held a picket sign or a megaphone.




8. Figure out whether you’re participating in a protest or a demonstration or a rally. There is a major difference between protests and demonstrations. The term “protest” should only be used if you are specifically standing AGAINST the actions of a person, group, business or government entity. In that case, your motivation is to get them to stop their evil ways and you have more freedom to be angry and outrageous (as long as you’re abiding by the laws). In a protest, it is perfectly ok to use strong language and show that you mean business. But a rally or a demonstration is quite different because, in this case, the point is to advance your own cause. You will want to be pleasant and attractive. You will want to convince people to join you and identify with you. In the case of a rally FOR a cause, you will need the help of politicians and upstanding citizens who have reputations to uphold. The tone changes drastically when your motivation is to attract rather than to shock or scare. Both kinds of activism are valid and useful, but you have to know the difference. In my opinion, this is what failed with “the tea party movement”. They failed to decide whether their aim was to scare people or attract them. They weren’t clear in whether they were against Obama or rather FOR one of the many politicians who were involved. The combination of pandering and protesting did not mix very well in people’s perception of the movement.




9. Decide on your role and stick to that. In every engagement, you will need a person or committee (depending on your size) to handle one of the following tasks: Designing pamphlets and signs, a media contact or liaison (the person who most understands the issues), a visible speaker/leader, a host to provide beverages and moral support, sign holders, pre-event promotion, a transportation/RSVP coordinator and a couple of people who are willing to chip in for the costs involved.




10. Don’t let other organizers dilute your message and don’t do that to other people’s demonstrations either. Time and time again, someone will attempt to rally around an issue but it will get away from them and become something foreign and meaningless because of some type-A, egomaniacal opportunist who sees their cause as another chance to step in front of a camera for their own organization or self-promotion. You have to encourage supporters to get behind the issue because it’s important. Remind everyone of exactly what your mission is and thank them often for their participation. If you think that signs promoting another idea or concept are going to disrupt your message, don’t be afraid to tell someone nicely that you would rather they leave those particular signs at home. But you MUST have clearly legible signs with simple, catchy phrases or else it’s your fault if other people’s messages detract from your own. A protest sign should have no more than 8 words on it and be printed boldly enough that it can be read by a passenger in a car at least 40 feet away. And well designed literature like pamphlets, postcards and brochures are an EXCELLENT way to get your message out there without having to be a perfect spokesperson for your cause.

If there were to be an 11th rule here, it would be to expect steps 1-10 to fall apart before your very eyes no matter what you do. I have seen countless protests, rallies and demonstrations over the years and every single one of them has had its own unique flavor and set of challenges. The important thing is that you accomplish your mission or goal to some degree. If your goal is a realistic one, you have better chances. You must have a satisfactory outcome in mind when engaging in any political action. If your only motivation is to be a rabble-rouser, then you are what I call an "aww", a cute little acronym which I've coined to mean "angry with the world". Nothing can really be done for these people except to simply sigh in sympathy for them... "aww"...

Barring that, you must try to hold on to your dignity and sanity in the process. Political activism starts from a place of personal strife, trials and tribulations. From this anxiety is born a movement. But just because you put in the blood, sweat and tears does not mean that God, society or your local government is going to give a hoot. After the engagement is over, you will have to go back home and live with yourself. You must practice some acceptance of your friends, co-conspirators and even your opposition, because without them, you are reduced to being that crazy person who yells at traffic for no apparent reason.

A Confession of Ignorance

In short: I describe the need for more education in America on the fundamentals or basics of our nation's economy and I blame the mainstream media for failing to provide even the most rudimentary understanding of economic events.

Ok, so this morning I was reading an article in the Washington Post (described by readers in the comments section as "insipid") about Neel Kashkari, the hapless guy who dreamed up the bailouts under Secretary Paulsen and now chops his own wood for his fireplace.

If Laura Blumenfeld, the author of the article, meant to anger Americans with her descriptions of how he and his wife are "coping" and "detoxing from Washington" in their little cabin in the woods with their dogs, then she accomplished her goal. But there was no education involved in the piece.

At one point, she offers defensively that the Kashkaris actually took a pay cut to move from CA to DC and that the TARP funds were not used for personal gain. But that's the only line in the 1400 word memoir that serves to educate the public. And I'm not confident that the author would know these things for sure.

Let's go back to a couple weeks ago where MSNBC was interviewing hillbillies at a Sarah Palin book signing in order to highlight their ignorance of world affairs... The reporter grilled one girl (about 25 years old) who was wearing an anti-bailout T-shirt and when the poor girl confirmed that she thought Sarah was against the bailouts too, the axe fell swiftly and Democrats cheered.

However, we are ALL like that misguided girl in the stupid T-shirt. None of us know what's going on. While I applaud MSNBC for having the brass to show us that huge crowds of people can all be wrong about something (or everything), I would also appreciate a little bit of information I can use. I had no idea whether Sarah Palin was trained to offer an opinion on the bailouts or not... So the only difference between myself and "the stupid girl" is that I don't particularly like Sarah Palin and I don't wear T-Shirts with slogans on them.

I took an Economics class in high school where I learned how to sign over a check to my mom if I wanted to. Many years later, I took a Macro-Econ class in college and I learned (roughly) what the Dow index is used for. Nobody is there to explain why TARP was necessary (if in fact, it was) and nobody is there to explain the differences and similarities between capitalism and socialism to us (unless they happen to be a capitalist or socialist themselves and wish to spread a bit of propaganda).

We have become so sharply divided in politics but at the same time we know next to nothing about the gears in the machine itself. We push flashing buttons and hope for the best. The best education we can get on economic matters are little quips we hear in the news like "congress holds the purse strings" but those are misleading in their over-simplification.

Perhaps the saddest thing about Obama's first year in office is our nations gradual understanding that nothing had really changed in the heart of America's economy and that all the same players are still doing things as they've been done all along. I think that even some Republicans were secretly hoping that Obama would shake things up and we would get to war over socialism vs. capitalism in some apocalyptic battle for America... In fact, I KNOW some Republicans were hoping and planning for this battle - they are now called teabaggers.

But alas, even Michael Moore could not reach Paulsen by phone and so Moore's documentary on capitalism fell short of being touted as "Fahrenheit 2.0". Even more to the point, Elizabeth Warren just looked pathetic in Moore's movie. A brilliant Harvard educator who had crucified the credit card industry in a better documentary has now been reduced, thanks to her Obama appointment, to some kind of hermit in a windowless office somewhere in DC with no real way to influence anything anymore. Thanks Michael Moore - we can always count on you to slay the dragon.

Let this post be read as a plea to math and history teachers everywhere to find for your students ways to understand our nation's economy which allow room for dialogue. There is really no point in understanding math or history in America without talking about the economy. I don't even think the treasury was mentioned in my high school American History book. How sad is that?

If anyone would care to offer some links in the comments section to any educational websites which can help us gain an elementary understanding of current economic issues, we're all ears and eyes!

Satanic Nazi Spacemen Invade Uganda

In brief: In this post I give a brief a synopsis of how Republican Senator James Inhoffe and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson are linked to a cult of money and privilege and how that cult has designs to start up a 2nd holocaust, beginning in Uganda.

It's tough to dream up a tale more horrific and obtuse than what Republicans give us as a storyboard this week. My facebook friends have been posting updates at rapid speed about the recent revelations concerning "The Family" - a nefarious clan of world leaders who were outed by writer Jeff Sharlet in Harper's magazine back in 2003.

Sharlet has recently connected the dots between an anti-gay bill proposed in the Republic of Uganda and an American Senator from Oklahoma who sits on aerospace and military panels.

The anti-gay bill is no less than the beginning of a new holocaust. It would require Africans to turn in their neighbors to the police if they suspected any "homosexual activity" and those Africans who committed the gay acts would be killed.

The Senator connected to all of this? His name is James Inhoffe (R) and unlike his fellow cult brothers, he has not been in the news very much. He believes, as part of the "The Family", that Jesus is a capitalist, among other things, and that Christians in Uganda have a duty to rid their nation of the evils of homosexuality by murdering rumored homosexuals. Inhoffe has recieved many awards from various Tea Party organizations and Taxpayers unions as well as the NRA.

Some other outed members of this bizarre pseudo-Christian money-cult are Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Thune(R-SD), Joe Pitts (R-PA) and our own Bill Nelson (D-FL).

What's especially interesting about "The Family" is the way its top members are sought out by their connection to the oil and aerospace industries... much the same way as Church of Satan was rumored to solicit their membership a few years ago. Sharlet goes into great detail about how the clandestine group of elitists who go about bringing us the Inaugural Prayer Breakfast every 4 years is also a group of men who idolize Adolph Hitler, King David and Osama Bin Laden but think of Jesus as "a guy who would be really great at sports". They also operate their own little version of Hitler Youth called Youth Corps.

When I look at Bill Nelson (one of the few Democrats in "The Family") in his NASA suit, smiling like the cat that ate the canary, I am immediately reminded of the confirmed Satanist, Jack Parsons, who pretty much invented the jet fuel for space travel along with the famed Nazi rocket scientist named Werner Von Braun...

But supposedly, Satanic Nazi Holocausts aren't very American... or are they?

Sink Is Running... And The Drain Is Open

"Voice For Equality" Singing The Same Old Song...

UPDATE: Sink has finally made her position against the adoption ban solid. She can be seen in this video saying the same thing that the Herald quoted her as saying at the Equality Florida event. But it should be considered that this video was made after Sinks appearance in Broward, not before and that Sink really was misquoted by the newspaper... Therefore, I am not an asshole, she just didn't tell the crowd what she obviously told individuals. And the rest of the following post still stands true as well. However, it must be known that she DOES stand on the right side of the adoption ban and that she has now been willing to discuss it specifically.

I have condensed this post to its raw points, since it was getting way too long and boring to deal with:

1. Alex Sink (D), is a candidate for Governor of Florida in 2010.
2. She had not, until recently, been firm nor clear on any gay rights issues.
3. She was recently given an award by Equality Florida called "The Voice of Equality" where she gave a campaign speech even though, supposedly, Equality Florida was only giving her an award as CFO and not technically as a candidate for Governor (read as: an endorsement without the red tape of having to ask her to commit to her stance on the issues).
4. I went to the gala to get her opinion on the gay adoption ban and hopefully a statement of how she would work to remove it.
5. She did not specifically support repealing the ban in her speech at Equality Florida's gala even though a Miami Herald reporter wrote a misleading article which claims she did.
6. Her campaign staff ordered me not to record her on my digital video recorder and blocked my access to her. They did not want me to get her on record and made it known that I would not be able to ask the candidate any questions. (of course, I have all of this on video).
7. I raised a big stink about that.
8. Later, Alex Sink told a Florida TV news channel that she does support repealing the gay adoption ban in Florida.
9. So far, Alex Sink has specifically and verbally supported just that one agenda item for gays and lesbians, and I give myself some amount of credit for that because I really put pressure on her campaign and Equality Florida to be more specific and to actually express support on repealing the ban and not just let Sink get by with saying that she "looks forward to working with Nan Rich".
10. I am not really impressed with Alex Sink (D) and think of her as a noncommittal, political chameleon. Therefore, I will still be voting for Michael E. Arth (D) for Governor of Florida in the primary election.

Bittersweet Veterans Day - Dolphin Dems Back On Target

While this Veterans Day was emotionally turbulent for most of America due to the recent attack at Fort Hood, there was a glimmer of hope offered to gay supporters of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
At the Dolphin Democrats meeting in Wilton Manors, Vice Mayor Justin Flippin announced that Wilton Manors was the first city in Florida to unanimously pass a resolution to support the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (HR 1283) which would effectively repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Since then, 4 other cities and one county commission in Florida have followed suit.

When asked why city councils should pass such resolutions, Flippen said that this gives politicians in Florida the ammunition they need to support the legislation in the House, knowing that their communities are behind them. He expects other cities and counties to fall in line with this sort of resolution and he's not the only one.

According to Waymon Hudson on his blog; St Louis, Portland, San Francisco, Atlanta, Tuscon, Los Angeles and New York have also passed this resolution.

Also in attendance at the Veteran's Day meeting were police Chief Rick Perez, Michael Albetta(who gave an on-target speech about the upcoming Senate Healthcare debate), Julie Carson (who warmly presented Perez with recognition in light of his contributions), Colonel Robert Guida (who gave a fun retrospective on being in the Services prior to DADT) Stephen Gaskill (of the Stonewall Democrats), Mark LaFontaine and Scott Hall (the founder/coordinator of Gay American Heroes who was recently featured in Instinct Magazine along with Lieutenant Dan Choi in their Leading Men of 2009 article).

The meeting went without a hitch and there was a lot of buzz about how we can get a repeal of the gay adoption ban in Florida too... but more on that later.

I want to take this space to thank and congratulate the veterans in my life (my Dad, cousins, friends and the VFW Post 2857 in my hometown of Kankakee, IL) for their dedicated service to our country.

*Salute*

Note: This post was updated on December 08, 2009 to reflect a name change. I apologize to Mr. Albetta for previously attributing his speech to another Dolphin Dems member.

Where Not To Work

Can I just take a moment to say that no matter how broke I am, I will NEVER work for Wal-Mart?

Here's a few of the reasons that I will never shop at or apply for a job at Wal-Mart:

1. Wal-mart security beat a woman to death in China for allegedly stealing merchandise. After ignoring pleas to stop from the woman's family (for 2 hours!) the woman was dead and the reciept for her purchase was found in her pocket. No trial or arrests have been made in connection with the murder.

2. A Wal-mart in Michigan, being too cheap to pay for employees to scan merchandise has taken to making customers scan their own merchandise. Recently, a gay couple who were using a faulty scanner, were accused of stealing a package of Bic lighters. Once the matter was proven to be a fault of the self-scanner and not theft, the couple was still arrested and their adopted special-needs children were locked in a back room at Wal-mart with abusive employees.

3. Despite Wal-Mart security's ability to kill women and abuse gay men's children, they still can't prevent their customers from being raped in the parking lot at their stores in Florida or keep teenagers from shooting people in front of their families in Texas.

4. Wal-Mart does everything just short of waterboarding their employees who try to organize a union. They take their employees into management-run interrogation rooms where they are not allowed to have witnesses from their own employment level and threaten their lives, jobs and families.

5. Former Wal-Mart Spies say that the company has the ability to read the private emails of their employees who are on Gmail or Hotmail. They routinely dress their spies as local "liberal types" and infiltrate unions, city council meetings and anti-walmart activist groups.

6. Wal-Mart customers are internationally known as the most obese, mentally handicapped and classless people in the world.
7. Her affiliation with Wal-Mart is, to this day, a big gaping scar on Sec. Hillary Clinton's resume:

Queer As Broke

I feel the need to explain why I’ve been such a bitch lately: cigarettes are too expensive and I don’t wanna quit.

Ok, let me explain.

I’m broke – not broke as in “OMG, I really shouldn’t have bought those $100 jeans” but more like broke as in “wow, am I really digging between the couch cushions for change to fill my gas tank?”. And if you only know one thing about gay people, it should be that we get really ugly when we don’t have any money. My financial demise started a long time ago but it recently came to a head when I was fired from a gay retail outlet, in part, because I took the weekend off to go to the National Equality March and fight for my civil rights. I’ll just let the irony of that sink in for a moment… yeah.

Now, add to that that I’m a college student and something of a local political activist and you have a recipe for disaster. I’m not completely unlike those teabaggers on the right – the ones with mullets and high-top basketball shoes that beg the question “what Aerosmith concert in Indiana did you just escape from and how did you afford to get to Washington DC?”

While I have no moral objection to prostitution, something tells me that the high earners in this arena spend a little more time at the gym than I do. So that leaves me with getting a real job – which I will probably boast on my facebook feed when it finally happens.

I suppose that I can take some comfort in the fact that I’m not alone. State funded services are tapped out and you can always spot some other “fabulous” folks in line at the unemployment offices. My friend Gordon rides his bike 7 miles a day to work as something just above apprenticeship at a local tattoo parlor. He found that there are cigarettes which market themselves as “cigars” that only cost $2.50 per pack!

But the biggest problem with being out of money is that it marks the end of your political voice. My Live Feed on Facebook is littered with invitations to pricey dinner parties where our pandering political candidates are expected to solicit our votes in upcoming elections and I can’t go to any of them. So, for the most part, I have to hope that the South Florida Blade will ask the tough questions at these events and not become as easily waxed & wooed as they have in the past.

Let’s take for example, the upcoming gala for Equality Florida where Alex Sink is expected to speak. This was announced on my Facebook Live Feed as “a chance to meet Florida’s Next Governor” (for $175). There was supposedly an opportunity to attend the gala for free by volunteering for the event, but those links all lead to a dead end. Now, I really like the people at Equality Florida and they do some very important work but I have a real problem with this because not only does it blur the lines between an endorsement and a speaking engagement, but Ms. Sink has not really said anything about gay rights or why gay people should vote for her. (Update: Equality Florida has recently removed the “Florida’s Next Governor” tagline from their invitations.) Are we expected to wait for second-hand information to trickle down to us from those who frequently pay extravagant amounts of money to listen to bullshit? The worst part of this situation is that there is an incredibly nice guy who is running for Governor against her who clearly states on his website that he is all for gay rights. But the Gay Democratic Establishment has decided that Michael E. Arth is a “fringe liberal” and therefore we must accept a career politician (as usual) who has “republican appeal” according to Equality Florida.

Then there was the Dolphin Democrats Awards reception ($75) at which I could have interviewed Sheriff Lamberti about why Craig Cohen’s murder was not charged as a hate crime if I had the money. That way, I could have avoided 5 interviews with less connected persons and 2,000 words of blather on my blog. We should not have to pay for information from our political leaders. It’s so sanctimonious and pompous the way these organizations assist politicians in collecting funds and to avoid stating their positions on important matters.

Pam Spaulding, on her blog, recently came under fire for suggesting that gay people stop playing this game of giving up their political dollars and then waiting to see what the results might be. She advocates only donating to candidates and organizations that you truly believe in and who have given you definitive results and specific promises. Spaulding brilliantly subtitled this new approach as “GayTM out of order for Democrats”. But it seems that some people are really addicted to the kool-aid that the Democrats have been selling lately.

In Florida, this has become extremely problematic because we have created an environment where it’s “too dangerous” for a Democrat to discuss Amendment 2 in their campaign. Amendment 2 is far worse than Proposition 8 because it has far-reaching effects like the absolute ban of civil unions and the enhancement of the gay adoption ban – things that California will probably never have to deal with. Yet the gays with means in Florida are so easily hornswaggled that they practically piss their pants if you give them a rainbow button and tell them to have a nice day. And I should know – because that is exactly how we got Barack Obama elected in Florida. I worked on the campaign for change and it was my task to go around convincing Hillary’s voters that Obama was gay-friendly too by handing them “Obama Pride” propaganda and talking about repealing DADT and DOMA. We’ve now seen the President (and other Democrats) do a 90 degree turn on those issues and I’ve learned my lesson: No more Mr. Nice Gay.

BSO Hates Hate Crimes (therefore doesn't report them?)

Want to know how to commit a hate crime in Broward County and get away with it?
Easy. Just don't call it a hate crime when the cops come to arrest you.

Last week, I attempted to yank on Sheriff Lamberti's chain for getting together with the Dolphin Democrats in an effort to assure us all that he is dedicated to stopping hate crimes in Broward County. Over the weekend, Dani Moschella, the Sheriff's Public Relations Officer returned my calls made before the post.

According to Moschella, "Sheriff Lamberti is committed to stopping hate crimes [and so is] everyone else [at BSO]." She assured me that the Broward County Sheriff's Office is doing everything within their power to investigate, deter, and otherwise stop hate crimes and that Craig Cohen's murder did not (at the time of investigation) turn up the requisite evidence to report it as a hate crime.

"So, what evidence do they need?" I asked her.

The answer was complicated, as expected. Moschella struck me as a sincere person who was dedicated to her office. She told me that because of Lamberti's efforts, BSO is one of the few agencies in Florida that even has a Hate Crimes Task Force. She believes (perhaps rightly) that Broward County is way ahead of the curve when it comes to tackling hate crimes in Florida.

(UPDATES 09/04/09 - Commander Wierzbicki returned my calls today and offered new information - see below.)

Wierzbicki, a member of the Dolphin Democrats (a gay democratic organization), has made comments to local papers that seem to be directed at those who wish to see Craig Cohen's murder reported as a hate crime. Most recently, he told the Sun Sentinel that "You don't just throw hate crime charges on a wall and hope they stick. This attack just doesn't fit the criteria for those charges."

In an email to me, the public information office told me to expect a call back from Wierzbicki. At first I was personally offended that Weirzbicki has concluded that those of us who are brave enough to call a spade a spade are "throwing things at the wall and hoping they stick". This seemed rather accusatory and defensive, especially considering that it does not address the specifics of the case. (see updates below)

Wierzbicki has addressed specifics of the case before, at which point he disappointingly did not address what strikes us as the most obvious evidence (the easily concluded sexuality of the victims and the plans formulated by the perpetrators) to say that there was no evidence that a hate crime had occured. Wierzbicki even went so far as to imply that they would need the murderers themselves to spell it out for them before they could have enough evidence by his calculations. A local rabble-rouser named Scott Hall, who is often seen at gay events with large photographs of murdered gay people looming around him, pointed out the hypocrisy of Weirzbicki's deflection by saying that if the same thing had happened to an African American person, we'd be looking at a different outcome.

9/5/09 - Speaking to Wierzbicki, he says that he and his department believed it to be a hate crime at first as well, but the evidence wasn't there. This is probably where Wierzbicki is in the uncomfortable position of not being able to give his opinion on the matter because of his position. It would most likely be illegal for a commander or officer to give an opinion to media persons which conflicts with the evidence at hand.

According to BSO (via Moschella), while they express their commitment to stopping hate crimes, the hard evidence is what matters in classifying hate crimes as such. The philosophy behind gathering this evidence varies greatly from person to person at the Broward Sheriff's Office. According to some, they believe it necessary to think in terms of what a jury is likely to convict on (which obviously stems from rhetoric used by States Attorneys). According to others, hate crimes are reported if the evidence matches enough of the bullet points on some mythical 'evidence of a hate crime checklist'. If such a document exists, I have not seen it, despite all efforts to locate one.

According to state law (see pg 6), a hate crime is when the perpetrator intentionally selects the victim based on one or more of the following characteristics: race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, advanced age, or mental/physical disability. It's a vague definition at best and the operative word in the attack on Cohen is "intentionally".

In the case of Craig Cohen's murder, the kind of evidence that would be needed to classify it as a hate crime might be something like this:

Officer: Hey, was this by any chance a hate crime because Cohen was gay?
Assailant: Why yes, yes it was. I hate gays.

This is the ridiculous sort of scenario that I imagine when I look at these situations in the way they are being described to me by officials. It defies logic that the requisite evidence of a hate crime is, foremostly, even required for reporting one and secondly, reliant mostly upon the perpetrator of a hate crime to give themselves away.

Since the murderers (who had already spoken to their attorneys by the time the words "hate crime" were uttered by anyone) were wise enough to avoid saying anything in official records about Cohen (or their other victim, Villanova) being gay, the murder is said to be one of 'everyday garden variety'. (09-04-09 -According to Wierzbicki, he is not sure if the perpetrators spoke to their attorneys before they were questioned but it doesn't seem likely in light of the fact that they discussed their motivations with Sheriff's officers at all.)

Evidently, BSO is not required (or wasn't at the time of investigation) to gather evidence of a possible hate crime by interviewing other people who know the attackers (teachers, neighbors, parents, friends, or church fellows). The perpetrators of this crime also viciously attacked another gay man (near a gay bar in a gay neighborhood) the same night. The discovery that the attackers got together and smoked pot in their hometown of Deerfield Beach while discussing the idea of going to Fort Lauderdale's gay area to find a victim is apparently of no importance to anyone involved. 09-04-09 According to Wierzbicki, the Sheriff's Department circulated pictures of the attackers and originally investigated the attacks as hate crimes because of the circumstances. However, because the attackers only confessed that they were looking to "mess somebody up" for a good time, the requisite evidence was not there to charge them with a Hate Crime. It is believed (by Wierzbicki) that the attackers chose their victims only by the fact that they were walking alone. We are expected to believe that by some divine accident, the two lonesome walkers that the attackers chose out of hundreds of thousands in the state of Florida that night both happened to be gay and it was just a coincidence.

During the Matthew Shepard trial, Chastity Pasley and Kristen Price (the respective girlfriends of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at the time of the event) testified that Henderson and McKinney both plotted beforehand to rob a gay man. That's what sealed the fates of those murderers even before any hate crime legislation had been enacted. Hate crimes legislation is intended to bring awareness to people and declare that the United States of America does not tolerate socially-targeted hateful acts. It proves the point that some crimes are perpetrated out of hatred for any given social class and that we, as a society of civilized people find these crimes to be particularly offensive.

Unfortunately, some people don't completely get it. They believe that the point of hate crimes legislation and reporting is to issue that "extra punishment" for the perpetrators. Obviously, prosecuting attorneys have come to see the classification as a tricky bonus round in the game we call justice. The Broward Sheriff's Office seems to ascribe to that latter definition.

According to Moschella, "there isn't really any point [from a legal standpoint] in charging them with a hate crime because it is what's referred to as an 'enhancement charge' and [the attackers] were already charged with murder."

I don't think Moschella is out on a limb on this one. I'm sure this belief is popular in Tallahassee as well. It would be quite convenient for Florida's Republican legislature and the taser-happy cops of North Florida to think of hate crimes reporting as something that's sort of pointless and excessive. I don't mean to imply that Moschella is defending hate crimes - I believe her when she says that BSO takes them seriously and is concerned. But at the same time, there is evidence that BSO still might need some improvement in this department when compared to their peers. In a report issued by the Florida Attorney General's office in 2008, only 4 hate crimes were officially reported by the Broward Sheriff's Office. However, 25 hate crimes were reported by city police within Broward County.

Let's throw that last little fact at the wall and see if it sticks.

Still unclear to me until further interviews, is whether or not reporting hate crimes is only done when hate crime charges are filed. More information to follow.

This post contains updated information since the post "Queer & Loathing in Fort Lauderdale" was published. Future updates on this subject will be posted here and this post is subject to periodic edits and changes as relevant information is discovered.

"NARTH Vader" Descends On West Palm Beach

In Brief: This post discusses Julie Harren, a licensed therapist who believes for religious reasons that it is her duty to convert homosexuals to make them straight.

Julie Harren is the director of Worthy Creations Ministry, INC. - a conversion therapy program for "people recovering from homosexuality". Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale has been known to refer people to this program as well as Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

On November 21st, Julie Harren (now Harren-Hamilton) will make her first appearance as President of NARTH at the Marriott Hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida.

N.A.R.T.H. stands for the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuals. It is a small but well-funded, religious, for-profit group of therapists whose aim is to take away civil rights from gays, lesbians and transgendered people by singling them out and labeling them as having a mental disorder.

The "Social Issues" section of their website reads like a horror film... all the worst most negative aspects of gay life are drudged up, re-hashed and emphasized over and over again by NARTH... Everything from obscure groups of men who wish to contract HIV to sado-masochistic tendencies and the perennial "pedophilia" accusation. If gay life were even one tenth as bad as NARTH makes it sound, I would have offed myself long ago...

NARTH shares a building with the corporate offices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons). In fact, their offices are right around the corner from the temple. They are strongly supported by The Traditional Values Coalition (better known as The House on C Street or "The Family").

But back to Julie Harren Hamilton...

Would you pay for advice on child-rearing from a woman who has never had kids? Would you accept marital counseling from someone who still has rice in her hair from her recent wedding? I know I wouldn't...

So how does a poor counselor from a religious college in Chattanooga Tennessee become the President of the most well-funded anti-gay organization in America? How does she move so quickly from being a Republican spinster in a 1 bedroom apartment to a married marriage counselor and college professor, living in a half-million dollar oceanfront property in West Palm Beach?

She sells the cure for a disease that nobody really has.

When you first Google her name, you are directed to her website called Homosexuality101.com, Which is just a brochure-style webpage offering her "scientific" explanation of how gay people are "lead off the path" from being happy, healthy straight people. She claims that homosexual men are the products of distant, absent or abusive fathers and that they never learned how to bond with other boys as children because they were afraid of their dads and their mothers became over-involved with their lives. And in true keeping with the hogwash technique, she affirms that the damage is done before your child's 5th birthday! I wonder how many other therapists have been able to talk parents into starting their children in on $125/hr therapy before they start 1st grade?

In short, she blames your parents for your "disease" and she can make them feel guilty enough about your "painful lifestyle" to pay her lots of money to "help you".

Click around a little bit more and you see that she is hocking her DVD's for 15 bucks a piece, too. Do some more online research and you finally get to the foundation of her rationale:

"As Christians we are vessels of God's love. So I just want to challenge us all to go out into the places we live and work and BE vessels of God's love because people are hungry for God's love..."

"It's God who does the transforming but first people need a relationship with him."

On July 23, 2005, she gave a talk at the Exodus Freedom Conference called "Educating the public on the topic of homosexuality". It was here that she really raised some eyebrows at Exodus Inc. and breathed new life into the dying carcass of conversion therapy.

You see, Harren-Hamilton takes a different approach. She mixes the old with the new... She is willing to accept that there are biological pre-dispositions which lead to being gay and she even professes to "love" her subjects and see them as equals. With her twittery coo, she blesses everyone and calmly explains that gay people did not make a choice to be gay... but they CAN still make a choice to become straight.

This new approach to the presentation of conversion therapy is becoming quite popular in some Christian ministries because it takes the focus away from their lack of success and away from the fringe hate-groups that back them and puts the focus back on "Christian love".

But what is Julie Catherine Harren-Hamilton's experience and why is this issue so important to her?

She is experienced only in public speaking and money-making. She only became married herself about 2 years ago (to Robert Tyler Hamilton who is 6 years her junior). She has never been a lesbian - recovered or otherwise. Nor has she ever been a mother or had a child - gay or straight. Most importantly, she has yet to present one solitary person who is willing to come forward and testify that her therapy works.

The more difficult question to answer about Julie Harren-Hamilton is why converting homosexuals has been her sole focus for more than 10 years.

Perhaps the good "Doctor" suffers from an Obsessive Personality Disorder with a dash of Histrionics and Narcissism... (I'm just sayin'... you know, maybe she's CRAZY?)

Maybe she had an unrequited grade-school crush on the local Clay Aiken and now she's bitter...

Whatever the reason, she's swimming up stream without a paddle and she's about to drown in Fort Lauderdale's ocean of loving gay/straight families who don't take too kindly to being called "diseased" and "abusive".

November 21, 2009
Please join us in showing NARTH (and the world) that our love is not a disease and many of us have excellent relationships with our parents and friends.