In honor of HIV/AIDS Awareness Month, History Fort Lauderdale, Stonewall National Museum & Archives, and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) will present “Queer by the Beach: The History of the Fort Lauderdale LBGT Community,” a conversation with Dr. Fred Fejes, professor emeritus at FAU, author and LBGT historian, on Wednesday, December 7, from 6:30 – 8 p.m., at FAU’s Downtown Campus (Metro Lab, First Floor, 111 E Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale). Fejes’ appearance is part of History Fort Lauderdale’s “Florida Scribes & Stories,” a free meet the author monthly series that offers literary and history enthusiasts a chance to speak with local authors, purchase their latest releases and have them signed.
Fejes will share historical accounts about the evolution of the gay community in South Florida and its struggle for equality and acceptance as part of his “Queer by the Beach: The History of the Fort Lauderdale LBGT Community” talk. He’ll touch upon the origins of the first “gay” bar, “Club Ha-Ha,” that opened in Broward county in 1935 and the long line of clubs that followed which used female impersonators and raunchy entertainment to attract those whose sexuality and gender was outside the mainstream.
Fred Fejes is a professor emeritus at Florida Atlantic University in the School of Communication and Media Studies. He received his PhD from the Institute of Communication Research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and was a 2018-2019 Fulbright-Palacky University Distinguished Chair at Palacky University, Czech Republic. His research interests include Queer history, sexuality and the media and Queer space. He authored “Gay Rights and Moral Panic: The Origins of America’s Debate On Homosexuality” (Palgrave-MacMillan), an account of the 1977 campaign for LGBT rights in Dade County, Florida and its national impact. He is also author of numerous articles about the LGBT community and the media. He is currently working on a book about the history the LGBT community to be published by University Press of Florida.
Upcoming authors in the “Florida Scribes & Stories” series include Donn R. Colee, Jr. on January 17 and Mike McGinnis and Jeff Davies on February 11. Additional novelists and dates will be announced. Guests may RSVP at bit.ly/HFLFloridaScribesFejes2022. The program also will be available on Zoom and details are available by emailing fejes@fau.edu.
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