Southern Nights Tampa’s NeiBEARHood Takeover

Check out photos from Southern Nights Tampa’s NeiBEARHood Takeover:

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/31/southern-nights-tampas-neibearhood-takeover/

Equality Florida’s St. Pete Gala 2018

Check out photos from Equality Florida’s St. Pete Gala:

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/31/equality-floridas-st-pete-gala-2018/

Around Tampa Bay with Amy Demilo

Check out our latest photo spread of Around Tampa with Amy Demilo:

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/31/around-tampa-bay-with-amy-demilo/

What’s Hot South Florida: May 31 – June 6

Thursday, May 31

OutMiami presents “Mix and Mingle” with LGBTQ professionals and friends while supporting your local community. The miser takes place from 6 to 9pm at Aloft Miami Doral (3265 NW 107th Avenue). Tickets are free for members (at Outmiami.org/mixer) and $10 for non members in advance and $20 at the door. 

Friday, June 1

Twist presents their monthly Flamboyance Party starring Superstar DJ Power Infiniti.

Saturday, June 2

Magic City Casino presents their annual Ultimate Miami Drag Queen honoring Athena Dion (Ultimate Miami Drag Queen 2017) and starring RuPaul Drag Race Alumni Adore Delano, Chad Michaels and Nina Bonina Brown, as well as many of the formers. Tickets are just $25 and can be purchased at TheUltimateMiami.com. 

Stonewall Library & Archives (1300 East Sunrise Blvd. Fort Lauderdale) presents their

Stonewall Library Week Long Book Sale starting today and going through Saturday, June 9. Get great deals on hundreds of overflow LGBT books ALL on sale for a bargain. Book sale hours: Saturdays from 11 am – 4 pm; and Monday – Friday from 11 am – 6 pm.

Beginning tonight, Matt’s Yoga classes will improve your mind, your body and your life. Bend and stretch through a series of yoga poses while embracing elements of deep breathing and inner strength. Classes are 60 minutes and for all yoga levels. Feel free to arrive 5-10 minutes before classes to meditate and stretch. The classes will take place at Hagen Park Community Center on Saturdays 10-11am and Wednesdays 6:30 to 7:30pm. The cost is $10 per class; or $40 for 5 classes. Bring your own Yoga mat and wear comfortable shoes.

The Ramrod presents Pig Dance #118 (first Saturday of the month), with DJ Herbie James playing deep and dirty house from 10p.m. to 3a.m. 

The Club Fort Lauderdale features their bi-monthly (1st and 3rd Saturday of the month) Res-Erection Naked Blackout event at 10p.m. This is always a sold-out event, so get there early!

Enjoy the authentic sights, sounds and flavors of the Caribbean during the 2018 “Taste the Islands Experience” at the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. Food and spirits enthusiasts with a taste for island indulgences will enjoy an all-inclusive evening featuring celebrity cooking demos, an artisan shopping village, live music and more at the second annual celebration to take place on the Riverfront on the lawn of the New River Inn (231 SW Second Avenue,  Fort Lauderdale) from 4-10pm. All-inclusive tickets are $95 advance and $125 at the gate and are available at ttiexperience.com. Price includes gourmet and authentic Caribbean food and premium drinks.

Sunday, June 3

Flip Flops Dockside Eatery presents their monthly T Dance (first Sunday of the month) from 4 to 7p.m., hosted by Amanda Austin with DJ Robert Lavalle spinning and this month’s special guests: Ruby Boxomm,  Rianna Petrone, and Adelaide. 

The Pub presents Brut Nears Bearnecessi-T Dance from 4-9pm starring DJ Guy Degiacinto and go-go bear dancers. 

Monday, June 4

The Pub presents the new “Stilettos” at 8pm hosted by Rae Jean Cox and featuring Candy Cox, Mitzi Ross, Melissa St John, Velvet LeNore, and Verandah Lanai. 

Tuesday, June 5

ArtsUnited presents United & Proud, their annual pride month art exhibit. The event, which presents the diversity of artists and art in South Florida, will kick off with a reception tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Broward County Main Library, 6th floor, 100 South Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale. For more information, visit: artsunitedflorida.com.    

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar presents “Lights, Camera, Charisma,” an open Mic night hosted by Charisma Adore starting tonight and every first Tuesday of the month thereafter. Showtime is 9:30 and will feature special guests every week.

Mangos and Starlet Skye invites you to her birthday bash featuring VJ Barry and performances by Erika Norell and Electra. No reservations required and admission is free.

Wednesday, June 6

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar present the first annual Miss Alibi Pageant, an official preliminary to Miss Florida F.I. 2018. The pageant starts at 9pm and is hosted by Nikki Adams and Michael Cavo with performances from the Miss Florida court: Kalah Mendoza, Antonio Edwards and Noel Leon, as well as Jose Vega (Mr. Florida Emeritus).  Categories include Evening Gown, Swimsuit, Talent and Q&A. Registration is at 6pm and there is no entry fee!

Hot Stuff

Georgie’s Alibi/Monkey Bar once again presents their summer deal “LoCo 4 Locals…Customer Appreciation Months” During the months of June, July and August, locals get 20% off total purchases from 11am to 3pm (with Florida ID). 

This is HOT

Shot entirely on the iPhone 6S Plus, Happiness Adjacent was written and directed by Rob Williams, and produced by the Guest House Films team of Rodney Johnson and Rob Williams. Happiness Adjacent stars Adam Fried as Hank Eisenberg; Ian Dick as Kurt Dimmeldorf; Rachel Alig as Kate Dimmeldorf; and features Jorgie Goico.  Traveling alone on a tropical cruise, gay Hank develops a strong friendship and an intense physical connection with Kurt, a bisexual man vacationing with his wife. Hank can’t help but wonder if this is just a vacation fling, or if it’s a chance for both men to find true happiness. The DVD is now available at Guesthousefilms.com for only $19.99.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/30/whats-hot-south-florida-may-31-june-6/

Surefire Strategies You Can Use to Beat Stress

Does your life sometimes feel like a never-ending series of chores that brings you plenty of aggravation and grief but precious little joy? If so, you’re one of the millions of people who have let stress take control of their lives.

Almost 77% of Americans suffer from physical symptoms of stress. If you struggle with excessive fatigue, stomach upset, headaches, muscle tension, or poor sleep, you may be one of them. Nearly 73% of Americans experience psychological difficulties related to stress, including nightmares, panic attacks, and depression.

Stress at work and at home can take a daunting toll, but there are things you can do to beat stress before it beats you!

Manage stress by figuring out what brings you joy — and then taking measures to bring more of those joyful things into your life. A new workout, a coffee break with a supportive friend, enjoying a home-cooked meal with someone you’re dating or your spouse: These are all great ways to enhance your life. Life is too short to skimp on the experiences that bring genuine joy to your heart.

On the flip side, reflect upon what you need less of in your life, so you can become more peaceful. Days lost nursing hangovers, quality time wasted on relentlessly negative friends, hours spent beating yourself up over things you wish you had done differently: These are all behaviors you can happily kick to the curb — or at least curtail.

Don’t start off too grand. You can’t simplify your life and manage stress overnight. Take baby steps. Instead of blowing up when friends or family members upset you, take a walk on the beach. If on the job you feel overwhelmed by forces beyond your control, choose one drawer of a file cabinet and reorganize it.

Try some simple self-care techniques to calm and relax you. Have a cup of hot lavender or peppermint tea or use the scent of a little essential Mandarin or bergamot oil to soothe your frayed nerves. When you feel like you’re absolutely going to “lose it,” pause and change the rhythm of your breathing: Inhale deeply, relaxing your shoulders, and then exhale slowly. Repeat this five or six times to regain your composure.

Always make room for exercise. Physical activity, whether it’s walking the dog or taking a group fitness class, can make you feel more creative, more alive, and better about life in general. Working out, doing cardio, and playing sports are dynamite ways to build a great body, burn calories, and blow off steam! Exercise is the only real fountain of youth we’ve got, and it’s available to everyone.

Finally, don’t forget to work out your mind. Reading, travel, playing bridge, solving crossword puzzles, visiting a museum, and attending a concert are all activities that sharpen your cognitive skills by challenging you — and can help you tune out needless stress and anxiety that age you.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/30/surefire-strategies-you-can-use-to-beat-stress/

Trump Administration Reverses Yet Another Obama-Era Trans Policy

Being in prison sucks.

Granted, I’ve never been in prison, but one doesn’t actually have to spend time behind bars to know it’s awful. I’ve been conditioned my entire life to recognize that prison is not somewhere I ever want to go. And so it’s a pretty good motivator to be a law-abiding citizen (recognizing, of course, that being a cisgender white woman gives me plenty of unearned and unfair advantage).

There is, unfortunately, a perception in America that prison should be horrific, the more horrible the better. We have a very punitive prison justice system, where the goal of putting people in prison is to punish them not rehabilitate them. We want people who break the law to suffer (unless those people are white and have lots of money; those people apparently get to be president).

And boy do we love to lock people up! The United States has the largest prison population in the world. I’m not talking per capita, I mean total. We’re No. 1! We also love to try children as adults and put them in adult prisons. Which is sick.

But for those of us not in prison, it’s really easy to say something like, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,” and, “It’s prison, it’s not supposed to be a resort.”

It’s easy to forget that the people in prison are, well, people. They are human beings.

So you can imagine that it’s especially hard for trans men and women to be in prison. Because even trans folks who are not in prison have to constantly defend their very humanity against constant assaults.

The Trump administration has been a disaster for transgender people. An already marginalized and relatively small group, they’ve repeatedly been singled out for harm by this administration. All of the gains made for trans rights under Obama are being rolled back for no other reason than that the Trump administration doesn’t like trans people, and they don’t like black people, and they’ll be damned if they let a black guy tell them how they should treat trans folks. And so we’ve seen direct attacks on transgender service members and transgender students from Trump and company. And now it’s prisoners.

Unlike service members and students, prisoners don’t have the advantage of being part of a group that many people like or even admire. They have few advocates in actual power. Transgender prisoners are the most marginalized of the already marginalized.

Which is probably why the Trump administration decided to undo rules put in place during the Obama Presidency that allowed trans prisoners to be housed in facilities that aligned with their gender identity. The intention behind the Obama-era rules was to protect trans prisoners from sexual and physical assault. A transgender woman, for example, would not be placed in a men’s prison.

Trump’s rule change was prompted by a lawsuit brought by four evangelical Christian prisoners in Texas. These women argued that being housed with “men” (as they refuse to acknowledge or accept trans identity) put them at risk and made them feel “icky” (that’s a legal term, obviously). And Trump and his ilk were more than happy to throw trans inmates to the wolves.

This has, not surprisingly, drawn criticism from the LGBTQ community.

“Once again, the Trump Administration is turning its back on those most vulnerable,” Lambda Legal Staff Attorney and Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct Strategist Richard Saenz said in a statement. “There is no justification for this policy shift; it is a deliberate recipe for violence against transgender people based in inexcusable prejudice.”

While I agree with Saenz, I don’t really think its accurate to say that the administration is “turning their backs” on transgender people. After all, in order to turn away from someone you have to acknowledge they exist in the first place. Instead, Trump and his minions want to erase them entirely. As for “deliberate recipe for violence,” that’s exactly what this is. Remember, if prison is supposed to be hell for cisgender folks, it follows this sick line of reasoning that it should be especially hellacious for trans people the system barely sees as human.

Also, “Based in Inexcusable Prejudice” would make a great title for a book about the Trump presidency.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/30/trump-administration-reverses-yet-another-obama-era-trans-policy/

Monet Xchange Talks ‘Drag Race’ Season 10