We recognized our spiritual and human calling in a world that too often confuses difference with danger and identity with threat.
Guest Column
When former CNN news anchor Don Lemon filmed a marathon seven-hour protest at a Minneapolis church last week, Harmeet Dhillon, Trump’s assistant AG, publicly threatened him: “You [Lemon] are on notice! A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service.”
Once an overlooked pocket of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Flagler Village has quietly — and now confidently — emerged as one of South Florida’s most exciting and inclusive urban destinations. What was once industrial has transformed into a vibrant, walkable neighborhood that blends modern living, culture, and community, while standing out as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly areas in the region.
For the past three years or so, I’ve been living out a surgical saga. Several procedures, two different states, and many changes: Some subtle and unnoticeable, others, hard to miss (a nod to my treasured D cups, and the brilliant surgeon who placed them).
The Trump administration is trying to take the world back, not just to the Dark Ages when people were tortured to death for their beliefs, but to the Stone Age when Neanderthals with the heaviest clubs held the most power. Neanderthals commandeered fecund hunting grounds from weaker neighbors because they could. But when they came up against more organized, ordered, and civilized Homo Sapiens, they became extinct.
In tragedy and grief, sometimes the smallest details sear themselves in our minds. I can’t stop thinking about Renee Good’s knit cap.
The LGBTQ community has long been defined by its fierce loyalty to the underdog. We rally for the kid bullied at school, the artist rejected by the mainstream, the candidate counted out before the race even begins. We know what it feels like to be dismissed, silenced, underestimated — and that shared memory has fueled decades of activism, creativity, and cultural change. It is one of our greatest strengths.
Scot Rogers is a South Florida-based businessman and author who began to write books after a career in advertising.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a masked ICE agent shot and killed another person, the 14th ICE shooting under Trump to date.
In spring 2025, The Our Fund Foundation launched Trans Voices, a recurring op-ed series designed to spotlight powerful, first-person stories from South Florida’s transgender community and the allies who stand beside them. Developed and sponsored in partnership with OutSFL, the initiative amplifies deeply personal narratives — stories of surviving suicide attempts, confronting body dysphoria, navigating fear of being targeted, and enduring the anguish of being denied equal treatment.
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