August 31st, 2014
TODAY’S AGENDA:
Pride Celebrations This Weekend: Atlanta, GA (Black Pride); Copenhagen, Denmark; Duluth, MN; Limerick, Ireland; Québec City, QC; Oakland, CA.
Other Events This Weekend: Splash Days, Austin, TX; Burning Man, Black Rock City, NV; AIDS Walk, Ft. McMurray AB; Show-Me State Rodeo, Kansas City, MO; Southern Decadence, New Orleans, LA; Camp Camp, Portland, ME; Gay Ski Week, Queenstown, New Zealand; Mr. Gay World, Rome, Italy.
TODAY’S AGENDA is brought to you by:
David, a Jacksonville-based gay photography and lifestyle magazine, reviewed the Hallandale bar (between North Miami Beach and Hollywood) in 1974:
The dynamic red-head (Keith) has had visits from celebrities such as Paul Lynde, Ann Margret, Burt Bacharach and has autographed pictures to prove it on display. A lively discoteque with shows, Keith’s has given a glowing start to many now popular gay entertainers such as Billie Boots Emore and Michael St. Laurnet. Always ready to pick up on a promotion of one sort or another, Keith is the one that paid to have a plane fly over Fort Lauderdale Beach with a streamer in back reading: Where the boys are …… Keith’s Cruise Room.” Keith was also the originator of the Bar Owner’s Association in South Florida, the Mr. Buns Contests (now in it’s third year) and the Miss Gay Florida Pageants. Next year, Keith and the owners of the Club Hollywood in Daytona are getting together to jointly produce the Mr. Gay Florida Contest.
Keith’s started humbly as Keith’s Cruise Room in the early 1970s with a simple jukebox and a dance floor. By the late ’70s, it was one of the Miami area’s most popular discos, thanks to its and after-hours operation that had it staying open until dawn. Next door in the same building was a lesbian bar called Fat Ladies.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
► 60 YEARS AGO: Miami’s Mayor Grows Impatient Over “Deviates”: 1954. Five days had passed since Miami Mayor Abe Aronovitz went on the radio to blast city manager E.A. Evans and police chief Walter Headley for failing to drive all of the homosexuals out of town (see Aug 26). Never mind that both Evans and Headley themselves were out of town on vacation when Aronovitz took to the airwaves. But both of Miami’s daily newspapers were pressing for action against the gay community ever since the murder of an Eastern Airlines flight attendant (see Aug 3) and the subsequent discovery, according to the papers, of “a colony of some 500 male homosexuals, congregated mostly in the near-downtown northeast section and ruled by a ‘queen’.” The papers demanded that steps be taken to drive the gay community out of town and Miami’s “Powder Puff Lane” closed for good. It didn’t help matters that, in contrast to the aggressive raids staged by the Miami Beach police department and the Dade County Sheriff’s office, Miami’s police chief’s policy of allowing a handful of bars operate in one centralized location to make it easier to “keep an eye on them” had earned the praises of ONE magazine earlier that year. Eight months later, the city’s papers were throwing ONE’s praises back in the city’s faces, and Aronovitz was feeling the heat.
So now that Evans was back (Headley was still on vacation), Aronovitz called Evans on the carpet and threatened to introduce a resolution in city council for his dismissal if the city manager failed to get rid of the city’s known gay bars. The mayor demanded that homosexuals be prevented from congregating in the bars, but he said it wanted it done within the existing legal framework and without violating anyone’s constitutional rights. Clearly, these instructions were impossibly contradictory, and Evans asked the mayor for instructions on how to accomplish this. “You are the director of public safety,” Aronovitz replied. “This is a law enforcement matter.” Evans, who was clearly feeling the heat, promised to get right on it and “put pervert hangouts out of business by tomorrow.” Tune in tomorrow to see how that went.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:
► Del Marquis: 1977. Jake Sheers had already formed Scissor Sisters when they were looking for a guitarist, and the guy Jake was dating had a friend who was looking for the gig. Derek Gruen answered the call, adopted the stage name of Del Marquis, and the rest of history. Scissor Sisters went on to fame on the strength of their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” That was followed by their own string of hits in 2004 which did well mainly on the British charts, but their popularity in the U.S. was blunted by Wal-Mart’s refusal to stock their eponymous debut album. They objected to the single “Tits On the Radio,” which they called a “snarling, swaggering attack on conservatism.” Which Wal-Mart took as a Very Bad Thing from which their bargain-hunting customers needed protection. The band refused to record a “clean” version. Since 2008, Del Marquis began releasing his own solo material, which you can hear on his web site. In 2012, Scissor Sisters released their latest album, Magic Hour, and they promptly went on a world tour. In October of that year, while performing in North London, the Sisters announced that they would be taking an indefinite hiatus.
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).
And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?
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