Gallery | Gay community members fill tables at Switchboard of Miami awards luncheon

Friday I attended Switchboard of Miami's annual All Star Non-Profit Awards Luncheon held at Jungle Island. Many LGBT community leaders attended the event, including Rep.-elect David Richardson, D-Miami Beach, Florida's first openly gay state lawmaker.

Care Resource of Miami and Fort Lauderdale was nominated for an Innovation All Star Award, for its work with people living with HIV/AIDS.

From a story about LGBT suicide I wrote in 2009:

Switchboard of Miami, Miami-Dade's crisis center, launched a gay suicide hotline in 2005. It became the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Suicide Hotline in 2006. Between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008, Switchboard took about 400 calls from people identifying themselves as gay, including 56 that counselors declared ''crisis calls,'' or people at immediate risk.

It's not just young gay people contemplating suicide, said Ed Straub Jr., a Switchboard board member who founded the hotline. ''In the first year of our program, . . . 52 percent of the people calling the Switchboard were between the ages 35 and 59,'' he said.

Both gay men and lesbians are at risk. ''Absolutely,'' Straub said. ``In fact, women are twice as likely to consider suicide as men, even though the number of male suicides is higher.''

Straub, who hosted Friday's luncheon, received a rose bouquet for his longtime volunteer work with Switchboard.

Click here to view more pictures from the luncheon. Photos by STEVE ROTHAUS / Miami Herald Staff.

'Mac guru' David A. Cox: 'Not getting a [Shark Tank] deal was the best thing that could have happened'

• Key West computer tech jumps into 'Shark Tank'

"Mac guru" David A. Cox of Key West says he's doing just fine, despite not winning Friday night on the ABC-TV reality program, Shark Tank.

Early Saturday he posted on Facebook:

TRUST ME! NOT getting a deal was the best thing that could have happened. If you knew what I know and saw the e-mails flooding in, you'd realize it too. 8 Million people now know all about PCO, of which I own 95%. The service is 97% profit and we have 0 debt. So... who REALLY won? And as I said earlier: How do you out 'shark' a shark? Be a dolphin!

Here's the official message from Cox's publicist, Cathy Renna:

On November 9, David A. Cox, of The Mac Guru of Provincetown and Key West, appeared with comedian Bruce Vilanch on the ABC reality series Shark Tank.  The series, in which entrepreneurs compete for venture capital from a panel of established entrepreneurs and businessmen, selected Cox as a contestant on the basis of his PC Classes Online (www.pcclassesonline.com) site.  The site, aimed at baby boomers and other adults inexperienced with Internet-connected technology, offers on-demand classes on how to use a PC, Mac, iPhone, or iPad via both live and recorded video.

Said Cox: “I’m surprised and disappointed that the ‘sharks’ passed on the opportunity to partner with me and invest in what is a growing and much-needed service,” said Cox. We target an audience that is both large and underserved. Millions of baby boomers want to learn how to use computers to communicate with their family and friends but find the learning curve intimidating and steep. Nonetheless, I’m grateful to ABC, the show, and especially Bruce Vilanch for giving me the opportunity to present my vision to America. I hope my appearance will help make millions of people aware that whether they want to Skype with their grandchildren or share photos on Facebook, PC Classes Online is a resource they should seek out.”