Marc Hansen was serving as a Med Tech in the Air Force when he discovered that he was HIV positive in 1985, at the age of 22. The Laguana Beach, California, native, was determined that it would not be a death sentence, at a time when there were few options for treatment and even fewer services for patients.

When Hansen moved to South Florida in 1989, he dedicated himself to serving the community he loved, becoming president of Pride South Florida, organizers of PrideFest, the annual Fort Lauderdale Pride festival.

He also met and began a long-term relationship with Mark Maybee at the now-closed Hideaway Bar. At the time, Maybee was a manager at Hamburger Mary’s (now Rosie’s Bar & Grill), and the pair became a common sight at community functions and fundraisers.

According to Maybee, Hansen had been ill for months with a blood infection that ultimately caused his death.

Funeral and memorial services were still pending at press time.

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OAKLAND PARK—Former Oakland Park mayor, vice mayor and commissioner Larry Gierer died last Saturday after a protracted illness. He was 60.

First elected to the City Commission in 2001, Gierer continued to serve in various capacities until term limits took effect in 2009. Much of  his work remains on display with the revitalized downtown area and the culinary district, all began during his time on the city commission.

Ironically, Gierer won his first seat after his opponent made an issue of Gierer’s open homosexuality.

Father Bob Caudill, of the All Saints Church and Soup Kitchen, remembers Gierer for his kindness and volunteering. “You are in our hearts always,” he said.

Jeff Helyer of Oakland Park’s Lloyd Estates Neighborhood Association said, “(Larry’s) work and legacies carry on through Oakland Park and beyond.

He is survived by his spouse, Carlos Lobo, his mother, who lives in the St. Louis area, and numerous siblings, nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Gierer’s life will be 4 p.m., July 15 in the community room at the Jaco Pastoriuos Park.

Photo: sun-sentential.com

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POMPANO BEACH–Shanon Taz Wasson, a well-known member of the community is said to have taken his own life on the morning of Sunday, June 12, 2016. While the world news was occupied with the massacre that took place at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Taz presumably shoot himself in the head. His ex-wife and roommate Joanna Cortez found the body in the bedroom at 7:30 am when she returned home from work.

Since Cortez is not legally classified as next of kin, the police and coroner have not been forthcoming with many details. Cortez does know that the case has been officially closed by the police department.

All other information is only being shared with his estranged family members with whom Wasson hadn’t had contact with for years.

Gary Santis of The Manor Complex commented on a RIP Facebook post that he saw Wasson the day of his death at 3:30 am at the club in good spirits. Other friends of the plant and animal lover echoed the same thing. That night was the last time anyone saw the 6’2″ blue-hazel eyed Wasson as he left the Manor Complex for home in Pompano Beach with a black gentleman who has yet to be identified.

Cortez has started a gofundme page to help pay for Wasson funeral. Agenda asks that you support Cortez’s efforts by donating to Wasson gofundme.com/295zurra page.

Taz will always be remembered for his playful personality and loving spirit.

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Alan E. Schubert, age 69, lost his fight with cancer on June 1, 2016. His spouse, Robert Suzuki, and his twin sister, Barbara Fields, were at his side.

According to his family, Schubert attended the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus. In 1974, he founded Labor World, a temporary help provider in Chicago which quickly became a leader in the industry. Schubert moved to South Florida in August of 1984, where his philanthropic efforts set standards for the gay and straight communities. For many, his most lasting accomplishment is the founding of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, now known as the Pride Center at Equality Park. The Pride Center has grown to a 5 ½ acre Center with over 35,000 square feet of meeting space.

Alan Schubert shared his wealth and time to fight the battle of HIV/AIDS decades before Bill Gates came up with the ideal of The Giving Pledge, and his legacy will continue forever because of it. A Celebration of Life event will be announced.

Photo Credit from his Facebook Page

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Activist and advocate Juliette Love, a board member of the Pride Center at Equality Park since 2013, died after a battle with cancer on Wednesday. Love had been a member of Florida’s HIV/AIDS prevention planning process since 1994, initially working with the Miami-Dade Couty planning group. From 1997 to her death, she worked with the Broward Community Planning Group. Love graduated from Florida A&M University in 1970, and received her Masters in Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University in 2009. Services are pending.

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JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) – It’s perhaps not so surprising that the word “androgynous” was spiking on the Merriam-Webster online dictionary after David Bowie’s death was announced, as people looked up a word so commonly mentioned in connection with the rock star’s blazingly unique style.

But while the word aptly describes much of Bowie’s chameleon-like appeal, there was another, deeper association being mentioned by some in the aftermath of Bowie’s death: the idea that the singer was a crucial source of support – perhaps even to the point of saving lives – for youngsters uncertain about their identity or sexuality in an era when gender fluidity was much less accepted than it is today.

“David Bowie showed this queer kid from Baton Rouge that gender outlaws are cool,” wrote singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier on Twitter. “Androgyny=rock&roll, not a reason to kill myself.”

Gauthier, 53, explained in an interview that she’d stumbled upon Bowie’s famous Ziggy Stardust persona – the flame-haired, body-suited, sexually ambiguous alien rock star from his 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” – when she was 14 or 15. “I was clearly aware that I was a gender outlaw,” she said. “Being androgynous didn’t sit well in Baton Rouge in 1974 or 1975. I hung out with outsiders. Bowie gave them hope, and me hope.

“I do think his work saved thousands of gender-different kids,” Gauthier said. She added: “It wasn’t a matter of what he was saying or arguing, it was a matter of how he was appearing. It may have been a show, but it was authentic.”

“He showed us there was a bigger world out there,” Gauthier said.

While the specific words may have been different, similar thoughts – the idea of Bowie making those who felt somehow different feel more welcome – came from far and wide on Monday, a day after Bowie died at age 69 following an 18-month battle with cancer that was not publicly disclosed.

One of those expressing such thoughts was Madonna, who spoke of Bowie’s androgynous image as easing the way for her as a young person.

“I never felt like I fit in growing up in Michigan,” the pop star wrote on Facebook. “Like an oddball or a freak. I went to see him in concert … We got caught after, and I was grounded for the summer. I didn’t care. I already had many of his records and was so inspired by the way he played with gender confusion. Was both masculine and feminine. Funny and serious. Clever and wise.”

Actress Evan Rachel Wood wrote on Twitter that Bowie “always made me feel less alone in this crazy world.” And filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, also on Twitter, wrote that “Bowie existed so all of us misfits learned that an oddity was a precious thing. He changed the world forever.”

As many pointed out, it wasn’t about Bowie’s own orientation – he made a few contradictory statements over the decades about his sexuality, but the father of two had been married to wife Iman for more than two decades at his death and was previously married to a model/actress – but the sense of liberation he gave others.

“David Bowie will always hold a special place in the hearts of many LGBT people,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of GLAAD, in an email message. “He was a beacon for all those who felt alienated because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, helped many to understand and accept themselves, continually challenged gender norms, and proved that being different is not only okay – it is something to be proud of.”

Gauthier, the singer, noted that for her, Bowie’s key message had nothing to do with sexual orientation.

“It’s about gender,” she said. “He shattered the binary idea of gender – as being male or female – and he created that middle. He showed us what a man looked like in a dress, and it was beautiful. There was an inner femininity, but it was masculine, too.”

And he was the essential outsider, she said; in fact, he gave the impression of coming from outer space, so other-worldly was his ethereal appearance.

“But he was MORE than human,” Gauthier added, “and not less than human. That’s an important difference.”

Photo Credit: telegraph.co.uk

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SEATTLE (AP) – Dr. Robert Spitzer – a psychiatrist who played a leading role in establishing agreed-upon standards to describe mental disorders, a development that transformed the profession – died Friday in Seattle. He was 83.

Spitzer died of heart problems, said his wife, Columbia University Professor Emerita Janet Williams.

Dr. Spitzer’s work on several editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the D.S.M., defined all of the major disorders “so all in the profession could agree on what they were seeing,” said Williams, who worked with him on D.S.M.-III, which was published in 1980 and became a best-selling book.

“That was a major breakthrough in the profession,” she said.

Spitzer came up with agreed-upon definitions of mental disorders by convening meetings of experts in each diagnostic category and taking notes on their observations, the Times reported.

Dr. Allen Frances, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at Duke University and editor of a later edition of the manual, told the Times that Spitzer “was by far the most influential psychiatrist of his time.”

Gay-rights activists credit Dr. Spitzer with removing homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in the D.S.M. in 1973, the New York Times reported. He decided to push for the change after he met with gay activists and determined that homosexuality could not be a disorder if gay people were comfortable with their sexuality, the Times reported.

At the time of the debate over homosexuality, Dr. Spitzer told the Washington Post: “A medical disorder either had to be associated with subjective distress – pain – or general impairment in social function.”

Dr. Jack Drescher, a gay psychoanalyst in New York, told the Times that Spitzer’s successful push to remove homosexuality from the list of disorders was a major advance for gay rights.

“The fact that gay marriage is allowed today is in part owed to Bob Spitzer,” he said.

Dr. Spitzer and his wife moved to Seattle from New Jersey this year.

Photo Credit: nytimes.com

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By Richard Hack

Zella Ziona was by all accounts a beautiful 21-year-old woman with a kindness that she extended to all those around her. Today, she is known as the 21st transgender murder victim in a senseless crime being pegged to pride. She was shot multiple times at point-blank range as a gang of teenagers looked on in amusement. Alleged to be behind the violence: Rico Hector Leblond, a 20-year-old convicted felon at whom Zella had purportedly smiled during an excursion in a shopping mall. She was there to buy flowers to put on her grandmother’s grave. She died in the alleyway behind the stores, the flowers at her side.

The violence that has found its target in primarily black transgendered females has reached a proportion this year that is unbelievable to civilized adults. Yet, the deaths are real and mounting with each month. Their tally is a witness to the brutality of man. And it serves as yet another wake-up call that violence has become so commonplace that it barely makes the news any longer.

While we did not know Zella or any other of the slain victims of intolerance, we pause to remember their gifts, their talents, and their memory. You are our sisters and our brothers, and we will never forget.

Papi Edwards, 20
January 9, 2015
Louisville, Kentucky

Papi (Sherman) Edwards was shot at the Fern Valley Hotel in Louisville, KY after admitting to be a transgender to a potential sexual partner. Prosecutors, who identified Papi as a male, have arrested and charged a suspect, Henry Gleaves, with murder.

Lamia Beard, 30
January 17, 2015
Norfolk, Virginia

Lamia Beard was shot on the 700 block of East 25^th Street in Norfolk, VA. Lamia was labeled a male by police. She later died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. No suspect has been arrested.

Ty “Nunee” Underwood, 24
Tyler, Texas
January 26, 2015

Ty Underwood was found shot in a automobile on 24^th Street in Tyler, Texas. On February 9th, police arrested and charged 21-year-old football player Carlton Ray Champion Jr. with first-degree murder in Underwood’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.

Yazmin Vash Payne, 33
January 31, 2015
Los Angeles, California

Yazmin Payne was found in her apartment’s kitchen, dead of multiple stab wounds, as firefighters were responding to reports of a fire in a rear bedroom. Her boyfriend Ezekiel Dear, 25, was charged with the murder.

Taja Gabrielle de Jesus, 36
February 1, 2015
San Francisco, California

Taja DeJesus was found stabbed to death on the 1400 block of McKinnon Avenue in San Francisco. A suspect in the killing was later found stabbed to death himself.

Penny Proud, 22
February 10, 2015
New Orleans, Louisiana

Penny Proud, 22, was fatally shot multiple times by an unidentified assailant February 10th on the 1100 block of North Claiborne Ave., in the Treme district of New Orleans. Robbery was the suspected motive. No suspects have been named.

Bri Golec, 22
February 13, 2015
Akron, Ohio

Bri (Brian) Golec, 22, was stabbed to death in his home in Akron, OH. His father Kevin Golec, 53, an alleged heron addict, was charged with the crime.

Kristina Gomez Reinwald, 46
February 15, 2015
Miami-Dade, Florida

Kristine Gomez Reinwald, who performed in Miami under the name Kristi Grant Infiniti, was found stabbed to death in her home at 2045 SW 58 Ct., near Coral Gables. Although an ex-boyfriend was initially thought to be the murderer, no charges have been filed in the case.

Keyshia Blige, 33
March 7, 2015
Aurora, Illinois

Keyshia Blige was shot to death while driving in her car with a friend. Because she was initially reported as a male on police documents, the transgender identification was delayed for three months. No suspect has been arrested.

Mya Shawatza Hall, 27
March 30, 2015
Fort Meade, Maryland

Mya Shawatza Hall was shot and killed after trying to ram her car into the front gate of the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, MD. Mya was said to have been having a drug-fueled tryst before stealing a SUV for a joyride that ended in the crash and shooting. No charges were filed. A friend, 20-year-old Kevin Fleming, was also in the SUV at the time of the accident.

London Kiki Chanel, 21
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 18, 2015

London Kiki Chanel was stabbed to death in an abandoned building in the 2200 block of Ingersoll Street in Philadelpha, by her live-in boyfriend Raheam Felton. Felton is believed to have carried London outside the building before flagging down police in an unsuccessful effort to save her life.

Mercedes Williamson, 17
George County, Mississippi
May 30-June 1, 2015

Mercedes Williamson’s decomposing body was discovered June 2 in Rocky Creek, Alabama, allegedly buried two days earlier by 28-year-old Josh Brandon Vallum on his father’s rural property. Williamson was said to have been living with Mercedes in nearby Theodore, Ala., at the time, but both she and Vallum had home addresses in George County. Josh is facing first-degree murder changes. Williamson had been beaten to death.

Ashton O’Hara, 25
Detroit, Michigan
July 14, 2015

Ashton O’Hara was a gender fluid transgender who was stabbed to death and then run over by a car in a brutal slaying. Ashton’s suspected killer, 37-year-old Larry B. Gaulding was arrested and stands accused of first-degree murder.

India Clarke, 25
Tampa, Florida
July 21, 2915

India Clarke was killed with a single gunshot wound to the head, and her body left in University Community Park in Tampa, FL. Eighteen-year-old Keith Gaillard was charged with the crime. He had been arrested 25 times since the age of 11. Tampa police continue to list Clarke under her given name Samuel and list her sex as a male.

K.C. Haggard, 66
Fresno, California
July 23, 2915

One-time security guard K.C. Haggard was stabbed to death in the neck when she was walking around her Fresno neighborhood at 1:30 am in the morning. After walking over to a SUV, she was attacked by its passenger. The local police have no suspects, but are treating the murder as a hate crime.

Shade Schuler, 22
Dallas, Texas
July 29, 2015

The severely decomposed body of 22-year-old Shade Schuler was found in an empty field in the 5600 block of Riverside Drive in Dallas. Shade had been shot, and her body later dumped in the field. While the police were initially unable to determine the victim’s race, her photograph’s later revealed that she was black. No suspect has been charged in the crime.

Amber MonRoe, 20
Detroit, Michigan
August 8, 2015

Amber MonRoe was shot in the same park in Detroit where her friend Ashton O’Hara had been killed a month earlier. It is an area of town known for gay, straight and transgender prostition. Amber was shot once after exiting a car in the area. No suspects have been charged with the crime.

Kandis Capri, 35
Phoenix, Arizona
August 11, 2015

For Kandis Capri, the last moments of her life involved her car being towed from an apartment complex near 45th Avenue and Thomas Road in Phoenix. The transgender woman had recently enrolled at South Mountain Community College, intent on studying theology. She was shot multiple times in the front and back, and her purse and cell phone were missing from the scene.

Elisha Walker, 20
Johnston County, North Carolina
Remains found on August 13, 2015

The death of Elisha Walker was labeled a hate crime after her body was finally discovered nearly a year after she was reported missing. Her car had been found abandoned and burned in a field on October 23, 2014. By the time her body was discovered in a shallow grave the following August, nearly the only thing left of Elisha were memories of a vibrant student. Her boyfriend, gang member Angel Arias has been charged with the murder and felony larceny of a motor vehicle.

Tamara Dominguez, 36
Kansas City, Missouri
August 15, 2015

Tamara Dominguez’s death was brutal by anyone’s standards. She was deliberately hit and run over by an SUV, and then run over a second and third time, to make certain that the body was unrecognizable. Making the scene all the more unbelievable, it happened in the parking lot of a Methodist church. No suspects are being investigated, although there were eyewitnesses to the crime.

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Mark Layton of Wilton Manors passed away on August 16, 2015. The long-time South Florida bartender is reported to have died of complications of liver cancer, while awaiting a lifesaving organ.

According to family reports on social media, Layton—whose birthday is August 27—was 48 years old.

“I am devastated,” said Vickie Bennett, co-owner of Beefcakes Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, who knew Layton for nearly 30 years.

“Mark was one of my dearest friends,” she added. “We worked together back in the day at The Hayloft, and he helped me open Beefcakes seven years ago. I’m very upset, and so is everyone who knew him.”

Friends and co-workers posted messages of condolence for the New York State-born Layton and his family.

“Mark, I’m so sorry to hear that you left us all too soon. I have known you for many, many years, and I know that I will always have the great memories that you left me,” commented friend Ron Dunton on Layton’s Facebook page.

“I used to have so much fun with you when you worked at Alibi with me and all our fun nicknames. You will truly be missed,” added former co-worker Bobby Neal Furedi.

Said Bennett: “He was such a wonderful person. He always had something uplifting to say, and he was such a treasure to work with.”

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