Warm Sunny Winter has Returned to South Florida

After a seemingly endless (OK, it was only 8 days) and not to mention record setting cold spell in South Florida, the beautiful warm weather is back. The first two weeks of January surprised many South Floridians who are used to day after day of sunny skies and average daily winter temperatures running between 75-80 degrees. Furthermore, while everyone north of this sub tropical paradise had little symapthy for local cries from thin skin native Floridians, the 8 days of temperatures dropping into the 30’s was so far below average that many of us were considering packing up and moving to Florida – untill we realized we were already here.

Needless to say, the bears (as well as the leather men, muscle boys, etc..) have come out of hibernation. The tourist season (among other things, if you know what we mean) is back in full swing and the forecast is sunny and warm from here on out…. Well at least for South Florida.

While the rest of the country is enjoying arctic winds, freezing temperatures and piles of dirty, dirty snow, sadly the coldest thing available in South Florida is a frozen Margarita on the beach. Just terrible isn’t it?

So, for those of you in the rest of the country who are suffering from cabin fever, it’s time to exchange your snow shoveling, sidewalk salting, windshield-ice-chipping-duties for a relaxing, rejuvenating, tropical getaway.

If you can make it down before the end of January, consider taking advantage of our weekday stay at The Cabanas Guesthouse and Spa with rates starting at only $119 per night. For more information, reservations or availability, call toll free (866) 564-7764 or (954) 564-7764.

We even checked flights from most major airports in all the cold areas and found prices as low as $180 round trip with little advance notification. Visit www.kayak.com to find flights from your area.

If you’re planning a trip down after this month, now is the time to make your reservations. Rooms are booking fast at this premeir winter getaway and are expected to fill quickly.

The Cabanas sits on a secluded waterfront property in the Wilton Manors area of Fort Lauderdale. Famous for its private and friendly gay clothing-optional setting, The Cabanas offers unique hospitality and service that is unmatched in comparison to other gay mens resorts. Perfectly located between the Wilton Manors Strip and Fort Lauderdale Beach, there’s nothing that can’t be easily accessed. Dining, nightlife, shopping and more, Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors have everything and anything you need for a perfect winter getaway. If you’ve never stayed at The Cabanas, we’re confident that you’ll come as a visitor and return as a friend. Visit us at www.thecabanasguesthouse.com and take a tour, or CLICK HERE to make reservations now.

Stonewall Festival 2009

Fort Lauderdale Gay Pride
Celebrating Stonewall Pride Island Street Festival 2009

As Gay Fort Lauderdale has developed over the past 15 years into one of the world’s premier gay resort destinations, so to has its annual Stonewall Pride Festival grown and grown. It should be noted that Gay Fort Lauderdale celebrates its main Gay Pride South Florida Festival, Pride Under the Sun earlier in the year (it will take place over the weekend of March 21 and 22 in 2009), and this is also a terrific event, drawing crowds from all over South Florida. The Stonewall Pride Island celebration occurs in late June (June 20-21, in 2009), to honor what many consider to be one of the foremost events in the history of lesbian and gay rights, the Stonewall Riots, which commenced early in the morning on June 28, 1969. It was begun in 2000 and has blossomed into a first-rate, festive celebration in recent years.

Many major cities around the world now host their Gay Pride Celebrations around this time, among them Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Toronto.

Fort Lauderdale’s Stonewall Pride Festival takes place in the city’s gay-popular Wilton Manors community and consists of several events. The festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 20 and 21, and consists of a street fair with some 150 vendors and GLBT organizations, a parade (on Sunday) that leaves from Fort Lauderdale High School and continues down Wilton Drive to Five Points, and a variety of music and comedy performances held throughout the weekend.

Of course, additionally, numerous gay bars as well as gay-popular restaurants, hotels, and shops have special events and parties throughout the week in Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors. Check local gay papers, such as Express Gay News and Hot Spots Magazine, for details.

The Cabanas Guesthouse and Spa, in the  heart of  Gay Wilton Manors, is a convenient location and a great place to stay when attending pridefest.

For more information on the Stonewall Festival visit their website.

Miami & Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals Events 4/1/09

Why do fools fall in LOVE?
Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
DATE
Wednesday, April 1, 2009

TIME
7:00pm – 9:00pm

LOCATION
Galanga Restaurant · Thai Kitchen & Sushi Bar
2389 Wilton Drive
Wilton Manors, FL

EVENT DETAILS
Why do fools fall in LOVE? Here’s your opportunity to sit, greet and mingle with available singles in Ft. Lauderdale. You’ll have two to three minutes to chat and secretly scope out the competition, while trying to make the right connection with that special someone. This Fools’ Day event will be hosted at the patio of Galanga Restaurant, in the heart of Wilton Manors.

This is a one night-only event where we will have the ladies and the gents, in separate areas, as they enjoy select specials on beer, wine and sake while they try their luck at the fools’ game of LOVE. And if you have to ask why its worth it, then think about the last time you had 20-30 eager prospects in a row, who were there to actually talk and possibly hit it off???

$12 Member price
$15 Non-Member price

To purchase tickets please visit mglff.com or call 305.534.9924.

Miami & Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals
P.O. Box 530280
Miami, Florida 33153-0280
(305) 534-9924

Gay Fort Lauderdale PRIDEFEST 2009 – March 21 & 22

The Largest Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Pride Festival In Florida
Dance Tent and Non-Stop Entertainment All Day Long March 21st and 22nd 2009

Fort Lauderdale – The 32nd anniversary of Pridefest is scheduled for Saturday, and Sunday March 21 & 22, 2009 at the very popular Holiday Park/War Memorial Auditorium. Pridefest is a celebration and tribute to the LGBT community and its unique culture. The weekend-long event includes a special tent and dance floor for your dancing pleasure! with local DJ Miik (Sunday) and DJ  J. Roxx (Saturday),  Also featured are over 300 vendors, music, food, Games and Florida’s largest Aids Quilt display.

As usual, there will be non-stop entertainment both days, with an outdoor stage highlighted by national recording artist Lori Michaels & The Girls, Shelina, Howard Tonkin, Nelson Polanco and many more surprises! Official Pridefest events will be held at several of the nightclubs and venues in town starting on Friday, March 20 at Living Room Niteclub for the Official Pridefest Opening Party and Saturday March 22 at Sidelines Sports Bar and continuing through Sunday night.

The hours are Noon – 7 p.m. both days, giving our local gay clubs the opportunity to continue celebrating Pride well into the night.

Pride South Florida is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization run by unpaid volunteers. We aim to produce a highly professional Pride Festival that is not only economically valuable to our community to promote itself as the #1 Gay and Lesbian destination in the U.S.A., but also benefiting South Florida GLBT community organizations: Proceeds from Pridefest are distributed through a grant program each Spring.

For more information on Pridefest events, volunteering and other activities, please visit their website at www.PrideSouthFlorida.org or call the PrideLine at (954) 561-2020.
Here’s what you need to know…

When:       12:00 noon – 7:00 p.m.   Saturday, March 21st and Sunday, March 22nd

Where:      Holiday Park / War Memorial Auditorium – 730 North Federal Highway,
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Tickets:     All ticket proceeds benefit our community – See our Grants Page
$8 per person per day
$5 per Student per day (w/valid ID)

o Great DJ’s!
o Dance Tent with Dance Floor
o Food Court and Cocktails
o Outside Stage
o Fabulous Merchandise and Vendors
o GLBT Support and Education Information
o Games
o Florida’s Largest AIDS Memorial Quilt Display

Huge Fort Lauderdale Crowd Shows Support for Gay Marriage

Huge Fort Lauderdale Crowd Shows Support for Gay Marriage
by Patrick Berkeley

The last election was a roller coaster for the GLBT community. The most gay-friendly president in history was elected while a strew of anti-marriage and anti-adoption laws were all passed through in California, Arkansas, Arizona, and Florida.

For days after the election, protests raged on throughout California, sometimes even turning violent, while in Florida people remained complacent.

Until Saturday, November 15th when protests throughout the entire county, including cities in Florida, were all taking place at 1:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Fort Lauderdale had a huge turnout, with over 1,000 people rallying on the streets outside of city hall in downtown.

A rainbow flag was held across the steps in front of the building with different minorities, sexualities, and genders all holding a piece. A woman in the front cried out, “But I’m straight, should I still hold it?” and the organizer of the event, Bishop SF Ma-Hee, proclaimed, “It’s okay, we want everyone fighting for us.”

And that was certainly a huge element of this event: people from all different backgrounds standing together for one cause. Older Fort Lauderdale residents in wheelchairs rallied alongside children. A mother nursed her child in one area, as two older lesbians held hands, waving miniature rainbow flags.

Rabbi Andrew Jacobs came to the speaking area holding his young son donning a Mickey Mouse hat. He explained to the crowd his purpose in attending: “I believe in a God that has no patience for these forms of hate…on behalf of the Jewish community we fight this lack of tolerance.”

There were many different religious organizations showing support. Bishop Reed of the Christian faith began the protests with an invocation, asking, “God the courage to believe we are indeed loved.”

The rally focused on using religion to help the GLBT cause, countering all the discriminatory ways religion has been used to keep gay equality from happening.

Bishop SF Ma-Hee led the Fort Lauderdale branch of this huge protest, and she brought a spirit of electricity to the crowd, jumping around and shouting different chants and words of strength.

She repeatedly asked participants to stay away from any forms of violence in the protest. The recent California protests were marked by sporadic instances of violence when protesters targeted the Mormon church (thought to have contributed lots of money to helping the marriage bans getting passed).

Bishop SF Ma-Hee also brought up another controversy concerning the election results: the idea that the surge in black voters led to the anti-gay marriage amendments getting passed.

As a black woman herself, she said she was particularly offended by that. “We have allies in the African-American community,” she spoke. “People who are racist and prejudice are also, always, homophobic.”

At that, she introduced Andrew Lewis, an African-American president of the Democratic Black Caucus of Broward County.

“Barack showed us what is possible. He showed us how to do it. Our voices should not be silenced. It’s not just about people who speak up with hate but also those who stay silent in the face of such hate. Silence is NOT harmless,” he said, calling to mind the words of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.

Also standing along the steps of city hall were protesters holding up signs of pictures of gay men and women killed in hate crimes, representing the organization Gay American Heroes.

Back in February, Simmie Williams Jr. was killed in a gay hate crime in Fort Lauderdale, and his mother showed up to speak, “We want you all to have equal rights like anybody else.”

The recent shooting death of a student at Dillard High School with gay subtext also affected the proceedings.
Kyle and Freddie, two 17 year old students at MacArthur High School were at the rally.

They are both members of the gay straight alliance at their school. “There’s not anything gay enough as a teenager, nowhere to really be gay,” Freddie said. “It’s nice to see this many people, as friends, loving everybody, except amendment 2.”

An event that started mainly through organizational efforts by Join the Impact using the website Facebook, the national protests were thought to be a huge success with over a million participants and more upcoming actions already planned.

These same sentiments were echoed at a similar rally in Miami Beach where Mayor Matti Bower addressed a large crowd and urged people to “never give up the fight.”

On December 10, Join the Impact is supporting “A Day Without a Gay” in which the GLBT community is encouraged to call out “gay” from work, and focus that time on helping the community, and not spending any money, contributing to the economy. After that, another protest is scheduled for January.

For a city that once seemed uninterested, Fort Lauderdale is strongly building up its gay supporters. Bishop SF Ma-Hee compared the GLBT cause to the recent rocket ship Endeavor’s trip to the space station.

“At 8:55 Friday night, we saw flames flying in the sky, from the rocket Endeavor. We endeavor too. We endeavor to put an end to bigotry.” And the 1,000 people holding up signs, banners, and flags cried out, “yes we can.”

Celebrate All Hallows Eve at the Wicked Manors Block Party

Greater Fort Lauderdale’s Gay Mecca WILTON MANORS
will be the Scariest and Most Fabulous Spot In Town.

Dust off those wigs and over-the-top costumes, it’s time to celebrate the most ghostly of holidays … Halloween. Join us in Greater Fort Lauderdale for the hottest party in Florida – the Wicked Manors Block Party on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. This year’s theme, “The Silver Scream” will feature classic horror films from the past with party-goers in more eclectic and eccentric costumes than anywhere in South Florida. Female impersonators, contests, food vendors, bars and themed booths will fill “The Drive” with lots of good old Halloween fun. Looking to play some tricks or get some treats then come to one of these devilishly fun events or contests:
Schedule of Events

5 PM: Trick or Treat on the Drive

Get in the Wicked Manors spirit and trick-or-treat the entire length of the Drive from 5 PM to 7 PM. Participating businesses will offer special “treats” for the kids and adults and be on the lookout for your favorite storefront decorated in the spirit of Halloween!

7 PM: Wicked Manors Block Party Begins

Party the night away with a fabulous DJ and other live or (undead) entertainment.

Pet Costume Contest: Don’t leave the pets at home! Dress up your dog, costume your cat, masquerade your mouse! Furry friends can win big in this contest! Prizes will be awarded for large and small breeds.

Best Wig Contest! New for ‘08, this hair raising contest will flip your lid!

Celebrity Look-A-Like Contest: Has anyone ever told you that you look like Marilyn Monroe or maybe Hugh Grant? Here’s your chance to dress like a diva, wear movie star make-up, be a Britney (or not). Celebrate your inner celebrity and join the fun.

Drag Queen Walk Off! Bring out the high heels for this one! A quick walk down the runway, past the crowds and back to the stage – FIERCE!

Costume Contest: The prizes get bigger and the judging gets tougher! Can you be the scariest? Or even the best?

Winners announced throughout the evening and at 11 PM, we crown the Lord and Lady of Wicked Manors!

For more info check out www.WickedManors.com

Rain Fails to Dampen Spirits at Wilton Manors Gay Pride Celebration

By Georgia East |South Florida Sun-Sentinel

WILTON MANORS – Huddled under a tent with her partner, Donna Fearon was determined not to let rain spoil her fun at the Stonewall Street Festival on Sunday.

She came out to celebrate gay and lesbian pride. In the 30 years she has lived in the region, there has been a lot of progress, she said.

“People are feeling more open to be themselves and show affection,” Fearon said. “There’s no gawking. Pretty soon there will be no need for gay clubs. Everyone will be together.”

Fearon was among thousands who braved heavy downpours and strong winds to come out to this weekend’s ninth Stonewall Street Festival in Wilton Manors. For the first time, the festival was a two-day event, with a parade along Wilton Drive on Saturday night and a community festival with an array of vendors and entertainment on Sunday.

Bobby Kyser, one of the organizers, said over the two days the event drew close to 40,000 people. The rain didn’t curtail any of the festivities.

“I come for the camaraderie,” said Jonathan Winters, of Wilton Manors, a masseuse and kickboxer who tries to attend every year.

The festival marks the anniversary of the June 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. After Judy Garland died, some members of the gay community met at the Stonewall Inn in New York City to mourn the loss of an icon. Police raided the bar and the patrons fought back over three days of rioting. The riots served to galvanize the gay community, said Bill Greeves, with the Stonewall Library and Archives in Fort Lauderdale.

“We were just damn mad and not going to take it anymore,” he said about the discrimination then.

On Sunday it was like a reunion. Families clogged the street with strollers and shared hugs and updates with their friends.

“I like the fact that there are so many babies,” said Holley Mosley, of Fort Lauderdale. Mosley and her partner brought their 2-week-old son, Thomas, to the festival.

In addition to the small-business vendors and community outreach organizations, political candidates were out in full force, with rainbow buttons and the word “pride” all over their literature.

“I know some of the politicians here aren’t gay,” said Chris Hassett, of Fort Lauderdale. “But at least they came. At least they know we exist.”

Georgia East can be reached at 954-356-4629 or geast@sun-sentinel.com.

Thank you for visiting our blog! Come visit us!
Bill and John

The Cabanas Guesthouse

Rain Fails to Dampen Spirits at Wilton Manors Gay Pride Celebration

By Georgia East |South Florida Sun-Sentinel

WILTON MANORS – Huddled under a tent with her partner, Donna Fearon was determined not to let rain spoil her fun at the Stonewall Street Festival on Sunday.

She came out to celebrate gay and lesbian pride. In the 30 years she has lived in the region, there has been a lot of progress, she said.

“People are feeling more open to be themselves and show affection,” Fearon said. “There’s no gawking. Pretty soon there will be no need for gay clubs. Everyone will be together.”

Fearon was among thousands who braved heavy downpours and strong winds to come out to this weekend’s ninth Stonewall Street Festival in Wilton Manors. For the first time, the festival was a two-day event, with a parade along Wilton Drive on Saturday night and a community festival with an array of vendors and entertainment on Sunday.

Bobby Kyser, one of the organizers, said over the two days the event drew close to 40,000 people. The rain didn’t curtail any of the festivities.

“I come for the camaraderie,” said Jonathan Winters, of Wilton Manors, a masseuse and kickboxer who tries to attend every year.

The festival marks the anniversary of the June 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. After Judy Garland died, some members of the gay community met at the Stonewall Inn in New York City to mourn the loss of an icon. Police raided the bar and the patrons fought back over three days of rioting. The riots served to galvanize the gay community, said Bill Greeves, with the Stonewall Library and Archives in Fort Lauderdale.

“We were just damn mad and not going to take it anymore,” he said about the discrimination then.

On Sunday it was like a reunion. Families clogged the street with strollers and shared hugs and updates with their friends.

“I like the fact that there are so many babies,” said Holley Mosley, of Fort Lauderdale. Mosley and her partner brought their 2-week-old son, Thomas, to the festival.

In addition to the small-business vendors and community outreach organizations, political candidates were out in full force, with rainbow buttons and the word “pride” all over their literature.

“I know some of the politicians here aren’t gay,” said Chris Hassett, of Fort Lauderdale. “But at least they came. At least they know we exist.”

Georgia East can be reached at 954-356-4629 or geast@sun-sentinel.com.

Thank you for visiting our blog! Come visit us!
Bill and John

The Cabanas Guesthouse

Wilton Manors in New York Times!

A Gay Boomtown Is More Mainstream And Less the Cliché
By GINIA BELLAFANTE

Presented By: The Cabanas Guesthouse In Wilton Manors

By the mid-1990’s, this small, once comfortably middle-class city just north of downtown Fort Lauderdale had its share of woes. Crime, drugs and prostitution blighted various neighborhoods. The local Piggly Wiggly supermarket needed security guards before it shut down completely.

Then in 1997 George Kessinger converted a boarded-up bank in a derelict strip mall into a gay bar, and things began to change. Boards were removed from other storefronts in the mall, and more gay-oriented businesses opened — a bar, a coffee shop, two men’s clothing stores.

Soon homes that would not sell for $80,000 or $90,000 even in a frenzied market moved briskly for $300,000 to $400,000, as gay men and women priced out of South Beach, Key West and Victoria Park in Fort Lauderdale moved to the more affordable bungalows of Wilton Manors.

Now, the city is thriving. It has a higher proportion of same-sex households than any other city in the country except Provincetown, Mass., and Guerneville, Calif., in the Sonoma wine country, according to a new study of census data. to San Diego but couldn’t afford it.

You can read the full New York Times article HERE.

Thank you for visiting our blog! Come visit us!
Bill and John

The Cabanas Guesthouse