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For more information phone the Stonewall Library at (954) 763-8565
Stonewall Book Discussion Group takes on "Running with Scissors"
The Stonewall Library and Archives will hold the second in its new monthlyseries of book discussions on Thursday, October 12, at 7:30 p.m. Freelanceauthor and book critic Jesse Monteagudo will moderate a discussion of"Running with Scissors," Augusten Burroughs's best-selling memoir now amajor motion picture. The Stonewall Library is located at the Gay andLesbian Community Center of South Florida, 1717 North Andrews Avenue, in Fort Lauderdale. For more information phone the Stonewall Library at (954)763-8565.
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/state/epaper/2006/09/17/0917crist.html
GOP governors' group gives $1M to Crist
By S.V. Dáte
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Sunday, September 17, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - The nation's 28 Republican governors are giving a $1 millioncheck to help Attorney General Charlie Crist join their ranks in Florida,group chairman and 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Sunday.
Romney, the outgoing governor of Massachusetts who was in Tallahassee for afund-raiser for Crist, said Florida was a pivotal state for the RepublicanGovernors Association, which was the reason for the big check.
"And it ain't over yet," he said.
In a state the size of Florida with so many distinct television markets,though, $1 million buys less than a week of television ads in a full,statewide run.
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http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060917/OPINION/609170311/1004&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridatoday.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20060917%2FOPINION%2F609170311%2F1004&template=printart
September 17, 2006
Our view: Faith and ballots
Voters should be wary of groups that use God as a campaign prop
In the heat of another election year, some religious groups and electedofficials are proclaiming God is on their side and that if you're not withthem, your faith is false.
Take Republican U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris in an interview withthe Florida Baptist Witness:
"If you're not electing Christians then in essence, you are going tolegislate sin," Harris said, adding that God is the one who chooses ourrulers.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/legislature/sfl-fdeath17sep17,0,6594120.story?coll=sfla-news-legislature
FLORIDA STUDY
Florida's death penalty problems include racial disparity
By Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
September 17, 2006
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's death penalty system is plagued with problems offairness, accuracy and racial disparity in sentencing, according to a newreport by a group of Florida lawyers and jurists.
Working under the auspices of the American Bar Association's Death PenaltyMoratorium Implementation Project, the group studied the state's capitalpunishment system for more than 18 months before releasing itsrecommendations today.
The report criticized the state for: the number of innocent inmates sent toawait execution; a racial disparity that shows those convicted of killing awhite victim are far more likely to get a death sentence; the lack ofoversight and funding for attorneys who handle Death Row appeals; and adeath sentencing process that requires majority, not unanimous, juryagreement.
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcnorth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/09/17/c1a_DEATH_PENALTY_0917.html
Palm Beach Post
Bar study harsh on Fla. death penalty
By Susan Spencer-Wendel
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The American Bar Association released a soup-to-nuts review of Florida'sdeath penalty today, highlighting serious problems with the fairness andaccuracy of execution in the Sunshine State.
In the 454-page report, a team of influential Florida lawyers - bothsupporters and opponents - recommended a panoply of changes and urgedfurther study of racial disparity, finding the process is clearly not color-blind.
"It appears that those convicted of killing white victims are far more likely to receive a death sentence and be executed," according to the report.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3050
Gay couple say they were 'humiliated' in restaurant
Diners, restaurant staff offer differing accounts of incident at Egg & You
By PHIL LAPADULA
Sep. 16, 2006
Is it appropriate for gay couples to display affection for each other innon-gay public establishments and when do such displays cross the line toinappropriate behavior? Is there a double standard for gay and straightpeople when it comes to public displays of affection?
Such questions come to mind after hearing differing accounts of a recentincident at Egg & You Diner, a restaurant with a large gay clientele in FortLauderdale.
A gay diner says the owner of Egg & You Diner yelled at him and hisboyfriend and "humiliated" them in front of other restaurant patrons simplybecause the couple were showing affection for each. Michael Formika-Jones,38, a part-time resident of Fort Lauderdale, said he had his arm around hisboyfriend, Ray Yu, 20, and "kissed him a few times on the cheek and neck" while the couple ate lunch at the restaurant around noon on Aug. 22.
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The Express Gay News
http://www.expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=3062
AIDS conference to be held in Hollywood, Fla.
Co-discoverers of virus to speak
By
Sep. 16, 2006
The National Minority AIDS Council will host its 10th Annual United StatesConference on AIDS at the Weston Diplomat Hotel's Convention Center in Hollywood, Fla., from Sept. 21-25.
Several gay speakers will address the conference, which will includeworkshops on the HIV problem in the gay black and bisexual communities,according to Circe LeCompte, director of communications for NMAC.
One of the workshops, titled "Pride in the City," will focus on HIVprevention strategies for black gay men, LeCompte said. It will be held at4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, in the Regency 1 room of the conventioncenter. Another workshop will focus on black men who are married to womenbut also engage in sex with other men. It will be held from 9 a.m. to noon in the Diplomat 3 room of the hotel.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cdecline16sep17,0,2498785.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Enrollment in Broward County public schools shrinking
Condo conversions may be a cause
By Jean-Paul Renaud and Akilah Johnson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Education Writer
September 17, 2006
Fewer and fewer children are attending our public schools.
Reasons unknown.
Broward County Public Schools lost more than 8,000 students this year -- more than two high schools worth. Coupled with the losses in 2005, about10,000 children have decided not to return to this county's schools.
"We need to find out if this is a one year thing and we've adjusted or do weexpect a downward trend again," said Schools Superintendent Frank Till.
Projections foresaw a decrease, but not such a drastic one. With the studentpopulation now at 262,616, that's 2,289 fewer students than administratorsexpected to welcome back.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pvote17sep17,0,2372381.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Palm Beach elections office reaches out to minority voters
By Josh Hafenbrack
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 17, 2006
Undistracted by lingering calls for a paper trail of election ballots and harping about a slow vote count on primary night, Elections SupervisorArthur Anderson is quietly revolutionizing his office.
Using the Supervisor of Elections office as what he calls a "change agent,"Anderson is pursuing a costly campaign to raise the sense of civic duty inminority and poor communities, reversing what he calls a "myopic focus onthe affluent, those who do go to the polls consistently."
To this end, Anderson budgeted an unprecedented $550,000 for avoter-outreach media blitz of TV ads and radio spots -- starring himself -- that started before the primaries and will run up to the Nov. 7 generalelection.
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Broward County Main Library and Lavender Writes present
Talk About It: an Open Mic Reading
in celebration of National Coming Out Day
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 . 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
6th floor Bienes Center Conference Room
Main Library
100 S. Andrews Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
954-357-7444
Lwrites@mindspring.com.
Free
As coming out is a lifelong journey, both published and unpublished writers
(Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT), questioning or straight) are
encouraged to step up to the microphone to share their best writings and
thoughts on the subject. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three
pieces.
Writers can sign up in advance at Lwrites@mindspring.com. Audience members can just show up.
National Coming Out Day, celebrated every October 11th, was born out of the 1987 GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender) March on Washington, DC insupport of equal rights for GLBT Americans. Today, National Coming Out Day events are held in cities across the country and around the world.
For more information, go to www.lavenderwrites.org or call the library at 954-357-7443. This free public event is sponsored by the Friends of the FortLauderdale Libraries and Lavender Writes.
Lavender Writes, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, provides service and support to lesbian and gay writers by sponsoring writing workshops, developing public forums for writers to present their work and offering assistance with publication. Non-gay writers and readers are also welcome to participate.
