Miami Herald, The (FL)
May 6, 2006
Section: Tropical Life
Edition: Final
Page: 4E
AQUA GIRL: A BEACH PARTY FUNDRAISER WITH CLASS
STEVE ROTHAUS, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com

It wasn't too many years ago that Veronica Olivera finished high school, came out of the closet and found herself struggling to make it on her own.
"I had to work. It made living difficult. I had to live on my own,'' said Olivera, 27, who attended Broward Community College but hasn't graduated. "A scholarship for someone like me, a minority in both cases - a lesbian and Latina - would have given me a lot more ability to have pride and go to school.''
Olivera and other South Florida lesbians are working to fix that: They have established scholarships for women like themselves. The funds will help teenagers starting college and older women who want to continue their education, said Alison Burgos, board chair of the Aqua Foundation for Women.
"High school graduates, continuing education, back to school for masters - we want to open it to everyone,'' said Burgos, 37, a women's events promoter. "There's a great need out there.''

The Aqua Foundation for Women this year has budgeted money to cover five $3,000 scholarships. The money comes from the group's annual Aqua Girl fundraiser, a South Beach party weekend that attracts thousands of lesbians from all over the nation. Aqua Girl 2006 runs Thursday through May 14.

Ten women make up the community fund board. Olivera is one of the newest members and chairwoman of the group's scholarship committee.
"I've been doing the research for the scholarship program for the last eight or nine months,'' she said. "This is very important. . . . There really is a great need to empower young women and further their education and to become leaders in the community.''

BUILDING DREAMS
Olivera is learning to be a building contractor. Born in Cuba, she grew up in Ocala and moved to South Florida 10 years ago.
"In our community, Latin women are out and about and showing our faces,'' she said. "More and more business owners and professional women are out and able to be comfortable. I'm proud to be a part of that.''
Olivera says that being an out lesbian has changed the way she lives. "I've become very empowered,'' she said. "I'm happier in every aspect of my life. I'm not hiding. I'm not scared. I feel blessed by God. I feel normal. I have a right to have a family. All those things I did not grow up feeling.''

BECOMING MENTORS
Olivera and the other women's fund members will become mentors to the scholarship recipients.
"The recipient of the award gets to be paired up with a mentor who will keep in touch and be available for discussion and advice,'' Olivera said. "If some of these 18-year-old students had an opportunity to speak to these leaders in our community, their goals could evolve and become so much more of a reality. If she could talk with someone now who is succeeding in life and is in an `out' situation, it would be amazing.''

For a donation of at least $5,000, anyone can establish a scholarship.

Women's fund board member Sue Gallagher, 41, has endowed the Gallagher Friends and Family Scholarship.

This week, Gallagher received a doctorate in adult education and human-resource development from Florida International University.

"It was very clear to me that to celebrate this achievement and milestone, I didn't want to get more gifts for myself,'' Gallagher said. "I invited people who would have given me a gift to give to the scholarship fund.''

The scholarship committee will soon announce how women can apply for the grants. Gallagher's ideal recipient: "a lesbian, bisexual or transgender woman in our community who is pursuing college at any level. We provide a small stipend to help them along in the process. To pass along the blessing.
"Because of women's sexual orientation, sometimes families aren't supportive, or they don't have friends they can turn to. This organization provides the support,'' Gallagher said. "A lot of times they don't finish school or feel they can even start school. It's a real waste of human potential.''

Aqua Girl co-chair Vivian Lamadrid is another role model for young women. "Coming from a family that was lower middle income, the dream to go to school - it was very difficult,'' recalls Lamadrid, 47, a corporate trainer for Cruises.com. "To get a grant, you have to be below the poverty level or you drown yourself with student loans. One of our dreams is to give women the opportunity to go to school. . . . We want to give people that dream. We're making history here. Or as they say, her story.''

Miami Herald, The (FL)
May 15, 2006
Section: Metro & State
Edition: Final
Page: 1B

OUT, PROUD, PARTYING
LYDIA MARTIN, lmartin@MiamiHerald.com
They tore up the terrazzo dancing salsa at South Beach's Pearl. They jammed to electronica and played make-believe news anchors and firefighters at the Miami Children's Museum. They did the Dirty-South grind, chains of them in bikinis and surfer shorts, around the pool at the Surfcomber on Collins Avenue.

More than 7,000 lesbians, from South Florida, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, even Canada, France and South America, came together over the weekend for the blowout fundraiser Aqua Girl. They didn't stop dancing until well into Sunday evening.

They also didn't stop surprising themselves with their ease in blending together. In a culture that rigorously breaks down into types - butch/lipstick, urban gear/Birkenstocks, baby dyke/older lesbian - Aqua Girl, in its sixth year, is notable for its ability to bulldoze barriers.

"We're talking to all kinds of girls. It's not always that way at home. Lesbians tend to stay segregated,'' said Stacey Wallace, 35, a black narcotics officer with the Philadelphia police force.
Wallace and her girlfriend, Lori Smith, 37, also a Philly police officer, strolled the Surfcomber pool party Saturday afternoon, making new friends among the 1,500 revelers.

Anglo gays and lesbians tend be the most involved - and most visible - in South Florida activism circles. Their Hispanic and black counterparts may be large in numbers, but they are from communities where being out can be more costly.

During Aqua Girl weekend, local lesbians who are rarely on the scene mixed with the always out-and-proud. The dinner, comedy night, brunch and sold-out dance parties (one of them, called Candyland, at the Children's Museum) attracted everybody, including hip-hoppers, rockers and the reggaeton set, and everything, including Lil' Kim look-alikes, J.Lo wannabes and Shane clones.

But for all the different looks and backgrounds, it was a celebration of commonality. "Everybody is on the same page,'' said Kara Ferguson, 26, a black kitchen expediter for Home Depot who flew in from Mantua, N.J. "Aqua Girl is how it should be every day.''

You only had to say "The L Word,'' and folks in the crowd responded with the name of the character they're having a TV thing with on the Showtime lesbian soap.

"Shane for sure,'' said Colombian Maribel Alvarez, 23, of Hialeah, who studies accounting at Florida International University. Alvarez's girlfriend, an FIU student who lives with her Cuban parents in Kendall, is "more of a Carmen girl'' - but she didn't want to be on the record.

"I work as a secretary in a very Cuban medical office. It wouldn't be cool if my co-workers knew I was a lesbian,'' said the 26-year-old, in lipstick and high heels at the sun-baked pool party.

"Yeah, I guess I do look like a straight girl. I don't want to wear a sign that says I'm gay because not everybody would be cool with that. That's just the reality. I don't even really go to gay clubs. But Aqua Girl is a big deal.''

The weekend, produced by volunteers, benefits the Aqua Foundation for Women, which supports the local lesbian community through grants and scholarships. With the $86,000 generated by last year's Aqua Girl, the organization gave $15,000 to such groups as the Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and Pridelines Youth Services and set aside $30,000 to create a women's healthcare initiative. They hoped to boost this year's take to $100,000.

"There are other women's weekends around the country. But they're mostly for profit,'' said Alison Burgos, president of the Aqua Foundation for Women. "This one is 100 percent about giving back to the community. It's volunteer-driven, and the locals really take pride in it. It's about partying, but it's also about being involved.''

About 60 percent of the crowd this year was from South Florida, Burgos said. Organizers keep admission prices affordable to attract a mix of women.

"The pool party is $15 in advance and $20 at the door because we want everybody to be able to come,'' said Burgos, a longtime lesbian-events promoter. "We don't want to exclude the younger girls or the girls who don't have a lot of money. We want the whole community to be out.''

Even a few straight girls in the crowd felt the vibe of inclusiveness. Jen Scordamaglia, 17, and Jen Buitrago, 18, who were hired to model tiny Perfect Tan bikinis at the pool party, were at ease in a sea of ogling lesbians.

"When a guy says something to you, you want to slap their face,'' Jen Scordamaglia said. "But these girls are all really respectful. I'm more comfortable here than I usually am around straight people.''