By Jon Burstein
Staff Writer

June 20, 2005

Wilton Manors * U.S. Army veterans Dick Rogers and Bill Mullins are proud to have served their country, proud to be gay and proud to be partners of 42 years.

Before thousands of people who lined Wilton Drive on Sunday morning, the two retirees marched together -- Rogers holding a rainbow flag and Mullins carrying the state flag of Florida -- as part of the city's sixth annual gay and lesbian pride parade. The two men belong to American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group of gay veterans that served as this year's grand marshal at the Stonewall Street Festival and Parade.

"We want to see an end to the government's `don't ask, don't tell' policy," said Rogers, 68, of Fort Lauderdale.

The parade highlighted a day of festivities commemorating the 36th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event considered by many to be a turning point in the gay rights movement. What began as a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, turned into a series of violent confrontations between police and homosexuals.

People from across South Florida flocked to the 1 1/4-mile stretch of Wilton Drive shut off to traffic, milling between the 115 local businesses, nonprofit organizations, political groups and food vendors with tents. About 17,000 people had been expected to attend the free event sponsored by Pride of Greater Fort Lauderdale, said Greg Phelps, the group's chairman.

"This helps us show our diversity and we can enjoy ourselves in the open in the community that we have chosen as our community -- Wilton Manors," Phelps said. In recent years, Wilton Manors has become a gay destination and is the second city in the United States to elect a gay majority government. The first was West Hollywood, Calif.

While the tents were being set up early Sunday and people filtered in for the parade, music echoed down the street as members of the Church of the Holy SpiritSong held an outdoor service on Wilton Drive. Pastor Deanna Jaworski and about 40 members of the predominantly gay congregation belted out songs praising God, some raising their hands to the sky.

"A lot of television media when they cover these events they always focus on the stereotypical absurd," said congregation member Art Comeau. "There are a lot of different facets to gay society. There are people who go to church and have families and live lives like everyone. A lot of the mainstream churches through their doctrine are exclusive and we want to be inclusive."

After the service, the church congregation marched as one of the parade's 52 entries, including the Flamingo Freedom Band, the Stonewall Knights Motorcycle Club and the American Veterans for Equal Rights.

"We want to show everybody we are just as American as the next person, whether gay, straight, black, white or otherwise," said Mark LaFontaine, an American Veterans for Equal Rights member who was thrown out of the Coast Guard because of his sexuality. "We are here in support of veterans who served, whether they are gay, straight or otherwise. We want equal protection under the law and equal opportunity to serve our country without fear of discrimination or reprisal."

Jon Burstein can be reached at sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.
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