Seasons Change
Greetings Letters readers—Robby from Fort Lauderdale—back, back, back again. (Drag Race UK Finale dropping as I write this—Team Ginger Johnson, although I think Tomara is too iconic not to win.)
Sorry if I bummed many of you out with last month’s column, which detailed my not-so-smooth past few months newly living in the Sunshine State. It was a tough transition—tougher than I imagined it would be—BUT I am more than happy, overjoyed even, to be able to tell all of you that the tide has finally turned.
August and September here were HOT AF. Like “standing on the sun” hot. And many queer residents pack up and leave during that time. I have been reassured that this summer was above and beyond—the hottest summer on record—by longtime Floridians. Thank you, global warming.
Once that heat wave subsided, once October—and “season”—began, the social floodgates opened. It was like night and day. Or summer and fall. It finally wasn’t too hot to go to the beach. It wasn’t too hot to walk to the Drive and have lunch at Gym bar or Spencer’s. And wouldn’t you know it, the more you go out, the more people you meet, the greater your chances are of making connections and friends. Funny how that works.
And as I have been writing this column, I just got invited to a clothing optional pool party this Friday! Food, games, music, and naked guys! Welcome to season.
I have also started to find two new tribes of folks to call friends. Grass Kickers represent! My motley crew of thrown-together kickball team players. Each of us joined the league as singles, sans a team; many, like me, have just recently moved here. With no team to speak of we came together to form our own team and currently we have a damn good shot of making the playoffs. OK, OK, every team makes the playoffs. But for a team thrown together like ours we have won games and have had a hell of a good time doing it.
Cornhole league starts in January, and I am currently on the hunt for a partner. (Shout out to Noah my ‘corn you feel the love’ partner in the CAMP Rehoboth 2021 Cornhole tournament…we took second place!)
My other new family are the fine people at The Poverello Center. The Center is the combination food pantry/thrift store servicing the community here. They “provide nutritious food with understanding, respect and love for individuals living with critical and chronic illnesses.” They have been serving this community for 35 years—with the thrift store funding the food pantry. I am honored to volunteer with an organization that helps those in need.
Contrary to what some Republicans think, being poor is not a crime. Thankfully I don’t really align with Republican thinking at all.
Speaking of Republicans—failed Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is still unfortunately Governor here, wreaking havoc everywhere he and his tiny feet go. His #1 target: queer youth. HIs “Don’t Say Gay” initiative is the law of the state’s land, virtually erasing the word gay from public schools throughout the state.
(Fun fact: Joseph Harding, the ‘mastermind’ behind that initiative is currently serving four months for wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in connection with obtaining $150,000 in COVID-19 relief loans.)
Oh, DeSantis is also coming for AP African-American studies classes and college sociology courses. It is 2023—how does this keep happening?
In DeSantis’s case we can thank low voter turnout. Fifty percent of registered Democrats in Florida did not vote in the last gubernatorial election. Fifty percent. And this is the result. Choices have consequences and our queer youth are currently paying the price.
I am an out-and-proud gay man who has been arrested multiple times in the past for civil disobedience, protesting with groups like Rise and Resist and Gays Against Guns. I am also a former teacher with over 15 years of experience teaching English literature and creative writing to middle- and high-school students. The thought of going back into the classroom here in Florida fills me with dread and anxiety and fear. So why go back?
Sadly, the answer is easy: money. Idealism, morals, and convictions don’t pay the bills. My new FAB life in Fort Lauderdale isn’t going to pay for itself. While I enjoy working as a freelance writer—the hustle, the different people you meet, and different stories I get to tell—it will not afford me the life I want to live. So come January 2024, Robby from the block will be re-entering the classroom for the first time since 2017.
And you can trust and believe he will be saying GAY! ▼
Robert Dominic is a freelance writer/blogger in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is proud to be one small blue dot in a very red state. He writes for numerous publications including Instinct magazine and his own blog, “The Gays of our Lives” (gaysofourlives.net).