Recently, I found myself on a solo adventure to one of my favorite places, the bubble that is Wilton Manors. This literal inland island within the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has become a refuge for Daddies and those who admire them since well before my time.
But this rose-colored wonderland of hot guys and musk-driven sexuality may be coming under attack in part two of Trump’s America.
Florida is one of the most conservative states in the country, fueled by boomers whom are drawn here to seek out their final days on this earth in an air of easier living and warmer climates. But with them comes their politics, which clearly do not align with the glitter-laded avant-garde of the greater LGBTQ+ community.
Still, like a fucking oasis of faggotry, these outposts of the rainbow union, like Wilton Manors, are thriving while under possible and continuous attack.
This trip down was to assist friends and chosen family with Flordia Leather Weekend and the Boundless Block Party. An event featured in the heart of Wilton Manors directly behind its greatest temple to debauchery, the Eagle Wilton Manor.
A Showcase of fetish kinks and fabulousness, this Folsom-like event is posed to grow into one of the East Coast’s premier open-air festivals, that is, if we can keep the Christian nationalists and their seemingly every more staunch view on normality away from all that makes our world great.
It’s going to become so fucking vital that we work to maintain these communities as havens of acceptance for those that need to escape what may soon become a reality very much charged with hate, and Wilton Manor’s will be on the forefront.
But how can we do anything after the red-blood-bath of an election we didn’t expect or couldn’t see coming.
Well first, support community business. Since the power of our vote didn’t work, we can use our economic might and frankly the wrath of our disposal income. Now is not a time to squabble over the “gay” tax since the only way we can ensure our community has these places to rally to is by out spending the breeders.
Granted I’m not say go into debt, in fact I am sanctioning the exact fucking opposite. But our friends, family and follow faggots/queers need our support more than ever. Since we could be looking at a major shift in the social fabric of our country we can choose where our dollars get spent.
Shop local, and shop queer.
Invest in new queer, or friendly enterprises. One of my mentors once told me that our power not only came from social organization and civil protest but also in forming economic bubbles of angel inventors ready to fuel change by creating jobs in a queer friendly eco-system. Capitalism can be a two-way street kids. Villages and gayborhoods all started out of entrepreneurial endeavors focused on filling community needs.
As mainstream and queer social ideologies normalized gentrification of our community spaces happened. Meaning in a lot of cities LGBTQ+ centric communities have started to died out simple because we have become welcome on “Main Street.”
Don’t get me wrong I love the concept. I want homogenization in my life. It’s good for cheese and business. But with the con queso conquistador and his band of misfits taking power we may have no choice but to reboot our spaces out of sheer self preservation, with the kink and fetish culture of our community is leading this charge.
In the before time, 60s, 70s, 80s and even the 90s our neighborhoods and destinations were something of legend. A promise land where you could go to explore and discover yourself in complete safety. They were always spoken about with glee and reverence, like mystical lands filled with unicorns, rainbows and Channing Tatum‘s ready to sweep you off your feet and show you true excitement. Colonies of art and culture where the dear and the Mapplethorpe’s could play.
In the coming days we are going to see so much of what makes us, us come under attack. We need to circle of wagons, reinforce the walls, make sure the well is full of fresh lube, and prepare for the siege that is coming for our Mecca’s of amazingness. If places like Wilton Manors fall it’s only because we allowed them too.
