WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker at the top LGBT advocacy group's gala next week, the Human Rights Campaign announced Friday.

(WB) Kamala Harris, accepting the nomination as vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic Party on Wednesday night, made denunciation of structural racism a cornerstone of her speech before the Democratic National Convention.

The astute can predict the future — with more than a modicum of confidence — by examining history.  

I sincerely hope that all of the "leaders" (both elected and self-appointed) of the Florida Democratic Party who forced the rank-and-file to accept the Republican Party's recycled garbage as our "best hope to win back the Governorship" will learn from their HUGE mistake.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus at its summer conference in Miami.

For Democrats to win statewide and tight local races in Florida, they need to piece together a broad coalition of voters, and the LGBT community is a key element.

At its regular monthly meeting on Feb. 21, the Rusty Gordon LGBTA Democratic Caucus of Palm Beach re-elected President Wayne Whitson; Vice President Steven Licari; Secretary Kevin Muth; and Treasurer Davilyn Whims. Elections are held in odd numbered years and positions are for two-year terms.

DETROIT (AP) — At a summertime getaway for liberals, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has captured the hearts of Democratic activists beginning to think about an heir to President Barack Obama. But their minds tell them that Hillary Rodham Clinton could help them hang onto the White House.

When the Democratic Party holds its annual national convention next month, Palm Beach County’s LGBT community will be well represented.

Three local Democratic groups issued a joint statement condemning President Donald Trump’s alleged statements on Haitian and Nigerian immigrants.

[Last week], after 43 Republicans boldly stood up and passed an amendment that asserted no federal contractor could discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity, House Democrats voted overwhelmingly to kill the Energy & Water Appropriations Bill to which it was attached.

(WB) A Germantown, Md., man charged with the October 2015 shooting death of transgender woman Zella Ziona, 21, in an alley behind a Gaithersburg shopping mall was sentenced on Sept. 15 to 35 years in prison.

Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony isn’t the only memorable moment.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse — the two Michigan women who legally challenged the state’s ban on gay marriage — exchanged vows Saturday during a ceremony in suburban Detroit.

(CNN) The first openly gay man elected to Georgia's General Assembly, Sam Park, spoke to CBS46 news about what role he will play in next year's session and what his win represents in his first on-camera interview Wednesday.

With business threats to North Carolina over House Bill 2 continuing to grow almost one year former Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law, Democrats in the state offered a vision for undoing the measure with the introduction of new legislation Thursday.

A Republican lawmaker filed a bill on Feb. 28 that would effectively eliminate the Democratic Party in Florida. 

LGBT Democrats and their allies are arriving in Fort Lauderdale Beach this weekend for summer meetings.

(WB) Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) has set his sight on becoming the next chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which would make him the first openly gay leader of the political arm for House Democrats if elected.

On Oct. 17 in Miami, the Florida Department of Health (FLDOH) hosted a statewide meeting for providers and the community, about the health of gay, bi, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). FLDOH wanted to obtain suggestions about the implementation of PrEP and troubling trends.

Troubling Trends among gay, bi and other MSM in Florida

New syphilis infections increased in 2014, by 29 percent from the yearly average of the previous three years. Gonorrhea cases rose by 80 percent and chlamydia cases by about 75 percent from 2010 to 2014. These increases occurred most often among gay, bi, and other MSM in their 20s.

From 2005 to 2014, new HIV infections in Florida increased about 26 percent among gay, bi, and other MSM. At the same time, new HIV infections in Florida decreased among all other adult males. Gay, bi, and other MSM are the key to controlling the HIV epidemic in Florida.

The Continuum of Care for the HIV Diagnosed identifies points of successful HIV care:

1. Diagnosis of the HIV infected (HIV testing)
2. First visit to an HIV care provider (Linkage).
3. Regular visits to an HIV care provider (Maintenance), and 4) Minimal amounts of active virus in the body (A Suppressed Viral Load). When someone has a suppressed viral load, they will maintain their own health and have minimal risk of infecting others. Among gay, bi, and other MSM, all racial groups show about a 20 percent drop from Linkage to Maintenance in Care. This 20-point drop exceeds all other differences between two adjacent points in the Continuum. Maintaining people in HIV care has become the point of HIV care most in need of improvement to control the epidemic.

As in most areas of life, racial differences occur in the Continuum of Care among HIV infected gay, bi, and other MSM in Florida. Among Black gay, bi, and other MSM, only 52 percent had achieved viral suppression. Among Latino and White gay, bi, and other MSM, these rates run from 63 percent (Latinos) to 68 percent (Whites). All three racial groups need improvement, but the greatest need for improvement occurs among Black gay, bi, and other MSM.

Suggestions offered

FLDOH set up the meeting for maximum idea generation. The meeting had no space for discussing the suggestions and no decision making power. Individuals made the suggestions below as individuals.

HIV TESTING: The mobile vans should test for syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia as well as HIV.

PrEP: Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) should be linked with PrEP, as people who need PEP would be good candidates for PrEP. A 24/7 PrEP/PEP hotline could increase uptake of PrEP and PEP. More providers need training in administering PrEP. In order to identify possible gaps in PEP and PrEP care, people have to create and maintain local PEP and PrEP resource inventories of providers, pharmacies, labs etc.

CONDOMS: People need to develop a consistent dialogue about “bareback” sex and “bareback” porn for the PrEP era. Any condom campaign should be sex-positive and avoid “slut-shaming.”

INCREASING LINKAGE TO CARE. It would be useful to co-locate testing and care more often. Phone aps used in Africa to increase adherence might be useful here.

A full report of the feedback will be available by the end of the year.

To read the full report on “The Epidemiology of HIV among MSM in Florida”, please visit http://bit.ly/1S9KkUh

For information on financial assistance with co-pays for PrEP or for those without insurance, please visit http://bit.ly/1Yl9Zx4.

If people want information about Truvada from its manufacturer, Gilead, they can visit Truvada.com and TruvadaPrEPrems.com.

The last Democrat to win a statewide election in Florida is now the head of the party.

SFGN Editor takes home Second Place for Journalist of the Year

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper began his long-planned bid to become governor Monday evening, telling a crowd of supporters the state has traveled down a path of income inequality and poorly-funded public education under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory's leadership and it's time to turn things around.

NEW YORK (AP) — To a raucous embrace, President Barack Obama told gay donors Tuesday that American society and its laws have advanced the cause of gay rights over the past 10 years but said the job was hardly over in the United States and especially abroad.

Okay, I need to vent. Institutional politics is why Trump triumphed. He did not just destroy the Democratic party in November. He took down the Republican establishment as well.

So, I finally did it. I didn’t really want to do it, and doing it didn’t fill me with pride or hope, but I did it.

Unable to stop the cascade of anti-LGBT attacks flowing from a Republican-dominated statehouse in Tallahassee, the fight moves to the courts and organizing for a contentious election year in 2024.

Speaking at a lecture on American citizenship Thursday evening, Sept. 24, at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank said he is backing Hillary Clinton’s campaign to capture the Democratic Party’s nomination.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has locked up public support from half of the Democratic insiders who cast ballots at the party's national convention, giving her a commanding advantage over her rivals for the party's presidential nomination.

Palm Beach County Democratic Party celebrated its 18th annual Truman-Kennedy Johnson Gala.