Pride Center salutes activists
Catch up with the award gala’s cabaret entertainer.
A diverse group of honorees made the list of the first Diversity Honors gala.
The inaugural event, to be held Saturday, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, will award the following activists:
Judy and Dennis Shepard, co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation
Elaine Lancaster (James Davis), female impersonator
Rand Hoch, president and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council
Jazz Jennings, honorary co-founder of the Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation
Lillian Tamayo, CEO of Planned Parenthood of South Florida
William Thomas, 11th Judicial Court of Florida judge
Dean Trantalis, Fort Lauderdale commissioner
Presented by the Pride Center at Equality Park and the Harvey Milk Foundation, the evening will be emceed by WSVN-TV’s Craig Stevens and will feature performance artist Joey Arias as the event’s entertainment.
Diversity Honors will begin 7 p.m. at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, 1 Seminole Way, in Hollywood. Tickets cost $150. To order, go to DiversityHonors.com.
I recently spoke with Arias, a genderbending cabaret entertainer, about the event.
How did you get involved with this gala?
When they called and asked me to perform, I was a little reluctant. I met Stuart Milk [co-founder and president of the Harvey Milk Foundation, named after the first openly gay person elected in public office in California before being slain by Dan White in 1978] last year, and I was just floored by him. So he asked me to come down to this. I said, “What do you want?” He said, “We just want you.” Of course, we need to keep the cost down … so I thought it would be playback with two or three or four songs. But they seemed to have scrounged up a piano donation, and someone else donated their time as a pianist, but I’m still bringing my playback just in case.
Do you know what songs you want to do? Will you do some of your signature “channeling” of Billie Holiday?
I will pick the songs that will be appropriate for that evening, but I won’t really know until I get there. But oh, yes, Billie. You know my manager was in there early pitching to all these Billie Holiday centennial celebrations. We knew the 100th birthday was coming up and he started months ago … since I had done all these tributes.
You’re a frequent visitor to South Florida, aren’t you? I remember seeing you in South Beach in the ’90s.
I performed in Miami like crazy. I started in the late ’80s with Louis Canales. Susanne Bartsch started bringing me down there once a month for club nights. And Madonna brought me down for a couple of parties. I think it was one of her New Year’s Eve bashes. And I think the last time was actually at Hard Rock with Elaine Lancaster.