Farewell To Florida
To some it's the Sunshine state or home of Mickey Mouse. Or maybe God's waiting room, amazing fishing or Margaritaville. How ever you know the state of Florida the fact remains you know it because this state can promote like nobody else. I have spent the summer here taking care of wreckage from my past & closing the door on a part of my life REALLY needed closing. However, while spending my 3 months bouncing around being fabulous & fun...and yes a bit annoying (I am not blind to myself people!) Boy About Town has found that this little corner of the world seems to be a war with it's self as Florida struggles to find an identity.
We all know that the world loves to flock to the beaches of Ft Lauderdale & South Beach to partake in all the fun both of these places offer, which Boy has enjoyed this summer to the dismay of his dermatologist. But are most of these fun loving adults aware that Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) & Dade County (South Beach) have rated number 1 and 2 in the nation for new HIV infections? And with a system that is already overwhelmed with huge numbers of people in need the local, as well as federal, goverments have picked now as the time to cut budgets that help combat this very issue. And these people come to enjoy the sun & nightlife only to find that the famed nightclubs and dance scene no longer the celebration of life they once were. The employment front is not a whole lot better. The largest employer in the southern most state is non other then the state it's self! And within this machine The Department Of Corrections is the king of the hill. Which is easy to understand since 1 in 5 adult males in Florida has or will be incarceted or on some kind of supervision. And that fun fact is easy to understand when you consider that Florida is at the LOW end of the high school graduation scale while at the HIGH end of the drop out rate.
With all this said I have to say congrads to those that fight the good fight both on social issues as well as the dance floor! Poverello, in Ft Lauderdale, provides life-saving food and basic life essentials to almost 2500 youth, women and men living with HIV/AIDS. This much needed & much loved agency has been backed by the local community, which defines the word diversity, for the past 25 years! Save Dade is an organization working to defend the Human Rights Ordinance which opposes discrimination, because this is the south & Florida does have it's own ghosts in that area. The Department Of Corrections is in an ongoing and never ending battle with the federal goverment as well as the ACLU over it's criminal treatment of the state's inmates and the EX offenders that find their road to rehabilitation blocked at every turn. And outstanding DJ's like Jeffrey Jacobs, pictured here with Boy, are leading the way back to the tribal feel of house music at smaller and yet fabulous venues like The Ramrod & Torpedo. And in all fairness, what was one of the most amazing parties Boy About Town has attended in years was Ryan Salazar's B-day bash this past weekend right off Ft Lauderdale Beach. So there is hope for Florida & I am praying the good guys win this one....Yes I do pray!
I am throwing in some of Boy About Town favorite photos from this summer...enjoy! Next stop California!
We all know that the world loves to flock to the beaches of Ft Lauderdale & South Beach to partake in all the fun both of these places offer, which Boy has enjoyed this summer to the dismay of his dermatologist. But are most of these fun loving adults aware that Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) & Dade County (South Beach) have rated number 1 and 2 in the nation for new HIV infections? And with a system that is already overwhelmed with huge numbers of people in need the local, as well as federal, goverments have picked now as the time to cut budgets that help combat this very issue. And these people come to enjoy the sun & nightlife only to find that the famed nightclubs and dance scene no longer the celebration of life they once were. The employment front is not a whole lot better. The largest employer in the southern most state is non other then the state it's self! And within this machine The Department Of Corrections is the king of the hill. Which is easy to understand since 1 in 5 adult males in Florida has or will be incarceted or on some kind of supervision. And that fun fact is easy to understand when you consider that Florida is at the LOW end of the high school graduation scale while at the HIGH end of the drop out rate.
With all this said I have to say congrads to those that fight the good fight both on social issues as well as the dance floor! Poverello, in Ft Lauderdale, provides life-saving food and basic life essentials to almost 2500 youth, women and men living with HIV/AIDS. This much needed & much loved agency has been backed by the local community, which defines the word diversity, for the past 25 years! Save Dade is an organization working to defend the Human Rights Ordinance which opposes discrimination, because this is the south & Florida does have it's own ghosts in that area. The Department Of Corrections is in an ongoing and never ending battle with the federal goverment as well as the ACLU over it's criminal treatment of the state's inmates and the EX offenders that find their road to rehabilitation blocked at every turn. And outstanding DJ's like Jeffrey Jacobs, pictured here with Boy, are leading the way back to the tribal feel of house music at smaller and yet fabulous venues like The Ramrod & Torpedo. And in all fairness, what was one of the most amazing parties Boy About Town has attended in years was Ryan Salazar's B-day bash this past weekend right off Ft Lauderdale Beach. So there is hope for Florida & I am praying the good guys win this one....Yes I do pray!
