By Stephen Fallon, PhD
What’s the difference between circuit parties and the gala fundraising event circuit? If you traveled the circuit parties in your youth, you probably starved yourself for weeks, and punished yourself in the gym for months, all so you’d look your best on the dancefloor in the tightest (or least) clothing possible. Some time deep into the night, in the humid glow of sweat and cologne, you may have felt a kinetic spark of community connection, so potent that it became almost visible, like an EKG of happiness following the dance beat.
Just as often, you may have grabbed a representative from this circuit party band of brothers, and brought him back to your room, more out of an impulse to code the night’s happiness into memory than out of any purposeful act of lust.
Today, your circuit party days may be behind you, or you may still make it to one or two, as a token to nostalgia. Now, though, you mainly travel the Gala fundraising event circuit. You still put extra thought into selecting just the right, festive outfit, one that makes a statement, and testifies to style. While once, you have starved yourself for circuit parties, you now get to indulge in exotic hors d’oeuvres. Loud circuit party music has given way to conversations and recollections.
All of this is in service of a cause: your entry fee to each Gala fundraising event helps support one of the LGBT non-profits that make South Florida a safer, healthier, more ennobling place for all of us. You reconnect with seasonal friends, share a knowing wink with past flings, and perhaps find yourself surprised when a familiar stirring comes.
Maybe it comes when you meet some young advocates, working for that non-profit. Maybe it’s when you hear that client’s touching story, and remember your own times of struggles or fears. Maybe you first notice it during one of the speeches, with its rousing call to action. The feeling that stirs is the same one you used to chase from coast to coast, on the sunlit wings of flights to circuit parties. You’ve found it again here at a Gala event. It doesn’t crackle like a spark; it warms like a glow. But it’s that same spirit of community and connection.
Whether you’re now in your 30s, 40s, or a bit more seasoned, you’ve made it to a certain place in your life. And now you’re giving back, to a younger version of yourself, or a less secure version, or perhaps a version that doesn’t look at all like you, but is part of this vibrant community you call home.
All of us at Latinos Salud want to personally invite you to join us on Saturday, February 8, 2020 for our 11th Anniversary Gala event, and to thank you for coming together once again. We hope you’ll attend our gala, and others this season. You’ll support the community. And in doing so, we hope you’ll feel that pulse of the community connection once again.
We’ve arranged some special early bird discounts to our event. Please visit our website, www.LatinosSalud.org or email Events@LatinosSalud.org or call (954) 765-6239 extension 207, and let them know that you’ll be joining us, in support of the community.
