Miami Herald - Monday, June 23, 2003
Ashley Fantz, afantz@herald.com

Almost 1,000 people wearing Mardi Gras beads walked hand in hand with their same-sex partners visiting 107 booths representing gay- and straight-owned businesses. Some wore Technicolor wigs and makeup, waving triangular pride flags, while others kissed and danced in the street to the beat of techno tracks.

The scene was to honor a group of drag queens who stood bravely in their stilettos against a homophobic police force.

In June 1969, New York City's fiercest cross-dressers stood defiant against police intent on shuttering the Stonewall Inn, one of the few bars where gays were welcome. Locking arms, the queens sang loudly, "We are the Stonewall girls!"

Hundreds were beaten and arrested, sparking three days of rioting across Manhattan, and planted the seeds of the gay rights movement of the 1970s and '80s.

Held in Wilton Manors, Sunday's Stonewall Festival was one of the few places where a gay beauty pageant could feature contestants answering trivia questions such as, "What was the name of the pig on the television show, Designing Women?"

"This is the gayborhood," joked organizer Tony Ramos. "It's in everyone's backyard."

With the largest percentage of households headed by unmarried couples in the Eastern United States, according to the 2000 Census, Wilton Manors has become more than a vacation spot for gays.

"It's sort of suburban and quaint," said Melanie Ruberg, 38, who joined a crowd of women outside Kick's, a popular lesbian bar. "I feel welcome here, never threatened at all."

An outspoken woman with short, spiky hair, Ruberg moved from London to South Florida nine years ago. She lived for a short time in South Beach, which was, at least in the mid-'90s, considered a gay haven. That reputation has eluded SoBe for years, many gays and lesbians said.

"I can't live there. I got yelled at just walking down the street," Ruberg said. "The vibe is not tolerant. I want to walk down the street without fear."

That is what the Stonewall riots were about, said Stephen Freeman, 44, who enjoyed the festival with his partner of four years, David O'Conner.

Freeman, a case manager at a Fort Lauderdale law firm, said he didn't attend last year's festival.

"It just started to seem like an outdoor bar, just a party," he said. 'We lost a lot of the meaning behind this. It's essential to remember that we are all here and living the way we choose because a bunch of queens stood up and said, `We're not going to take this anymore.' "

But representatives of South Florida's activist community believe a sense of political awareness is returning. Several HIV assistance organizations and political groups including PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; Miami's Care Resource, a one-stop assistance organization for those living with AIDS; and Fort Lauderdale-based PWAC, People With AIDS Coalition, had booths at Stonewall.

Plagued for nearly two years by budget woes and constant leadership turnover, PWAC elected an optimistic leader this month who said activism is not dead in Broward.

"There's a growing sense of cohesion," Joe Killfoile said.

PWAC has more than 800 HIV-positive members who offer each other emotional support and practical advice about navigating the world of AIDS.

"We have to remember -- and we hope events like this remind us, every person who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual -- that the fight has not ended."

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