October 2010 calendar of events
For further information, please contact:
Jack Rutland, Executive Director
Stonewall Library Museum Archive
1300 East Sunrise Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
954-763-8565
jack-rutland@stonewall-library.org
'Titanic,' 'Invisible Man' co-star Gloria Stuart dies at 100
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Gloria Stuart, the Hollywood actress of the 1930s who gained an Oscar nomination 60 years later for her role as the spunky survivor in "Titanic," has died. She was 100.
Her grandson, Benjamin Stuart Thompson, says Stuart died in her sleep Sunday night at her Los Angeles home.
In her youth, Stuart was a blond beauty who starred in B pictures as well as higher-profile ones like "The Invisible Man" and two Shirley Temple movies.
She resumed acting occasionally in later years and was selected to play the elderly Titanic survivor portrayed by Kate Winslet as a young woman.
The 1997 "Titanic" became the biggest modern blockbuster up to that point. Both Winslet and Stuart, then 87, were nominated for Oscars.
Jump! Sundays opens Oct. 17 at Lux nightclub on Washington Avenue in South Beach
From Edison Farrow:
Gallery | GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios speaks in Coconut Grove to South Florida Leadership Council
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios addressed the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation South Florida Leadership Council on Friday, Sept. 24, at the Coconut Grove home of Mark Ross & Joe Savnik.
Here are photos from the event taken by Jon Schwenzer, South Florida chapter president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA).
Gallery | Sunday brunch at The Palace on Ocean Drive in South Beach
Here are scenes from Sunday afternoon’s brunch at The Palace on Ocean Drive in South Beach.
Among those holding court: President and CEO Lorenzo Lebrija and artistic director Patrick Dupré Quigley of Seraphic Fire. Next weekend, Seraphic Fire will present Rachmaninoff’s Vespers in locations throughout South Florida. Click here for tickets.
Photos by STEVE ROTHAUS / Miami Herald Staff.
Georgia megachurch Pastor Eddie Long pledges to fight accusations that he had sex with young men
By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press
LITHONIA, Ga. -- The famed pastor of a Georgia megachurch said Sunday that he will fight allegations that he lured young men into sexual relationships, stressing that he'd be back to lead the church the next week.
Addressing a New Birth Missionary Baptist Church sanctuary packed with thousands, Bishop Eddie Long declined to discuss specifics of lawsuits filed against him - or flatly deny the accusations. But he drew thunderous applause when he told his church that while he's not perfect, the picture painted by the allegations is far from accurate.
"There have been allegations and attacks made on me. I have never in my life portrayed myself as a perfect man. But I am not the man that's being portrayed on the television. That's not me. That is not me," he said as applause interrupted him.
Long told the crowd that his lawyers had advised him not to "try this case in the media." While the remarks were short on details of the legal case, Bishop spoke at length about enduring painful situations.
"We are all subject to face distasteful and painful sitauations. Bishop Long, Eddie Long - you can put your name in that blank - will have some bad situations," he said. "The righteous face painful situations with a determined expectancy. We are not exempt from pain, but He promises to deliver us out of our pain."
Long is scheduled to speak again at a 10 a.m. news conference and 11 a.m. service.
About 100 people waited at the doors of the church more than an hour before the first service. Some held signs of support, while others prayed for their embattled leader. A small group sang the hymn "White as Snow" while outside.
Members in their seats clapped and swayed as the service began around 8 a.m., with several people with microphones singing on stage. Later in the service, hundreds began dancing and chanting, "Jesus, Jesus." A small group of young people held Apple iPads high over their heads, with the screens scrolling white letters against a black background reading, "It's time to praise him."
Long took the stage to loud applause from the crowd.
The lawsuits claim Long - who is an outspoken opponent of gay marriage - lured the four into sexual relationships with gifts including cars, cash and travel.
Long, a married father of four, previously denied the allegations through his lawyer but has not spoken publicly about them.
Over the past 20 years, Long became one of the most powerful independent church leaders in the country. He led New Birth as it grew from a suburban Atlanta congregation of 150 to a 25,000-member powerhouse with a $50 million cathedral and a roster of parishioners that includes athletes, entertainers and politicians.
He flashed his prosperity by wearing diamonds and platinum jewelry, while building strong political ties and a close relationship with the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The 2006 funeral for King's widow, Coretta Scott King, was held at New Birth. Their daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, is also a pastor at Long's church.
Bernice King took the stage at the first of Sunday's services.
Three of the young men who filed lawsuits this week live in Georgia, while the other was a member of a satellite church in Charlotte, N.C., run by Long.
Two of the plaintiffs were once members of a youth program called the LongFellows Youth Academy, which teaches teenage boys lessons on financial discipline and sexual control. In their lawsuits, the men say Long used the program to groom them for sexual relationships and lured them into trysts with cars, jewelry and cash.
The other two plaintiffs make similar claims that Long served as a mentor, gave them gifts, then convinced them to engage in sexual acts.
Caption: In this Monday, Aug. 3, 2009 file photo, Bishop Eddie Long speaks during a funeral service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. Long, the pastor of a nationally known Atlanta-area megachurch will wait until Sunday services to speak publicly about claims he has already denied that he coerced young men into sex. John Bazemore, File / AP Photo
Gallery | Hundreds of young fans attend 25th anniversary kickoff at Gansevoort for Miami City Ballet
Miami City Ballet dancers including Neil Marshall and Michael Sean Breeden attended a 25th-season kickoff Saturday night at Coco De Ville / Gansevoort Miami Beach.
The club was packed with younger ballet supporters, both gay and nongay. The ballet, which performs in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, is interested in cultivating its young and gay audiences.
Here are pictures from Saturday night’s party. All photos by STEVE ROTHAUS / Miami Herald Staff.
Gallery | Men@Work at News Lounge - Sept. 24, 2010
A few images from Friday night’s Men@Work, this month at News Lounge in Northeast Miami:
Photos by STEVE ROTHAUS / Miami Herald Staff
Some churches thin on safeguards when pastors like Eddie Long are accused of sexual misconduct
By TOM BREEN, Associated Press
ATLANTA -- The 2006 scandal that ousted one of America's most prominent preachers forced independent charismatic and evangelical churches to consider how to keep a closer eye on their leaders, an issue raised again this week with lawsuits accusing another megachurch pastor of misconduct.
It's too early to say whether the sex allegations against Bishop Eddie Long, the famed pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in suburban Atlanta, will spur the kind of soul-searching that followed the downfall of the Rev. Ted Haggard in Colorado.
Regardless, pastors and experts say the Long case demonstrates how vulnerable the country's independent churches still are to being damaged by the misbehavior - sexual, financial or otherwise - of leaders whose considerable influence often comes with temptation and little accountability.
"The more powerful a Christian leader becomes, the fewer restraints that other people can put on them," said the Rev. H.B. London Jr., vice president of ministry outreach for Focus on the Family. "Some of these men and women become so powerful that no one can tell them 'no.'"
In one of the biggest shocks ever for independent churches, Haggard resigned from the Colorado Springs megachurch he founded after a Denver man accused him of paying for sex. The fall of Haggard, who drove a pickup truck and made church salaries public information, shook the independent churches who considered him a spotless success story.
"Ted was not viewed as being one of the extravagant people," said J. Lee Grady, a contributing editor at Charisma Magazine and the author of "The Holy Spirit is Not For Sale." said. "Ted was viewed as one of the sensible people. That was a huge blow to the movement."
Haggard said the risk for all pastors lies in how they understand their relationship to God and the members of the congregation.
"Some preachers see themselves as with the people," he said. "Some see themselves as leading the people. And some preachers see themselves as on the mountaintop with God, above the people."
Having recently started a new church, Haggard said he's always tried to be a pastor who is with the people.
There have been subsequent scandals for independent churches since 2006, but none has involved a leader as prominent as Long. Over the last 20 years, Long became one of the most powerful independent church leaders in the country. He led New Birth as it grew from a suburban Atlanta congregation of 150 to a 25,000-member powerhouse with a $50 million cathedral and a roster of parishioners that includes athletes, entertainers and politicians.
This week, four young men who once belonged to New Birth filed lawsuits, claiming Long pushed them into sexual relationships when they were 17 or 18 years old with gifts including cars, cash and travel. Three of the young men live in Georgia, while the other was a member of a satellite church in Charlotte, N.C., run by Long.
Long denies the charges and plans to respond at Sunday worship services.
Even before the allegations of sexual misconduct, New Birth was one of six ministries targeted in 2007 by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, over the handling of their finances. Long was singled out by Grassley for questions over whether he, rather than New Birth's board of directors, holds sole authority over the organization.
It's a question that applies to many Pentecostal and independent charismatic churches around the country, which often have little or no affiliation with other churches and which sometimes have leaders who seem bigger than the church itself.
Lavish lifestyles and autocratic leadership can combine to create a kind of religious celebrity and the temptations that go along with that, according to Christian journalist J. Lee Grady.
"In some ways, they're like television personalities," Grady said. "When they fall, it's loud, because everybody knows them. It's almost like success destroys people."
After Haggard's scandal, churches began new programs of training for pastors and looked to adopt safeguards against misconduct. London, who counsels pastors, advises church leaders to always have at least two people holding them accountable - to the point of being able to access their computer and phone records.
The abundance of clerical scandals at churches with more formal, hierarchical structures is proof that such safeguards can't completely eliminate misconduct, with the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse saga a prime example.
"The main check on leadership that goes berserk is really the congregation," said Harvard Divinity School professor Harvey Cox, an expert on Pentecostal and charismatic churches. "You've got to keep the congregation with you, or they can toss you out."
At the time of Haggard's fall, he led the National Association of Evangelicals. The organization, which includes Pentecostal and charismatic churches along with Presbyterians, Lutherans, and other longer-established bodies, is developing a clergy code of ethics for its members, according to David Neff, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today and a member of the committee developing the code.
Neff cautions that such measures are not foolproof.
"It's possible for policies to be bent and shaped and ignored," he said. "Even when you're in a denomination that has a much stronger set of controls and authority than these independent churches do, you're on your own most of the time."
Caption: In this Monday, Aug. 3, 2009 file photo, Bishop Eddie Long speaks during a funeral service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. Long, the pastor of a nationally known Atlanta-area megachurch will wait until Sunday services to speak publicly about claims he has already denied that he coerced young men into sex. John Bazemore, File / AP Photo
