A gay couple was physically separated from each other Saturday night by a bouncer working at a Boca Raton, Florida bar.
Joseph Raia, a 22-year-old Florida State University graduate and Miami native, said on his Facebook that he and his boyfriend were singled out because of their sexuality.
Raia’s social media post quickly went viral after he blasted Blue Martini Boca for the treatment he said that he received at the bar.
“The bouncer was paid to remove us from the bar because the men who ordered the bottle service did not want us there anymore because we were gay.”
“For the past four years I have been openly gay and extremely fortunate to have never had a problem, felt threatened, or been discriminated against because of who I am until Saturday night, Raia wrote on the social media site. “I am proud and happy of who I am but unfortunately I experienced how hateful homophobia can be at Blue Martini Boca.”
Raia said that he was dancing with his boyfriend within a group of four other friends when he was grabbed and separated from them.
“The bouncer had pulled me off saying ‘We can’t have this here, you two can’t be here, you need to stop it and leave,'” Raia said. “I was genuinely shocked and did not understand why or where it was coming from. I kept asking why this was happening, what was his reason for attempting to kick us out.”
Raia said that he knows the reason for the physical treatment he received.
“A friend had come up to us to see what was going on and said he had witnessed a man who had ordered bottle service give the bouncer cash, thinking to himself that it was weird, but now making sense,” Raia said. “The bouncer was paid to remove us from the bar because the men who ordered the bottle service did not want us there anymore because we were gay.”
Another bouncer at the bar came over to Raia and apologized about the incident and said that the bouncer who touched Raia would be “reprimanded.”
The logo for Blue Martini at one of their 12 national locations. Photo Credit: Nick Bastian/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
“The manager on duty had said the same thing, that Blue Martini does not stand for this, and gave us $100 gift card to use when we return. I said I would never be coming back and we had spent much more than that, having a great night until that point but he would not let us leave without taking it,” Raia wrote on Facebook. “We left upset, hurt, and threatened since we did not know if the men would become physical towards us. I have never in my entire life felt wrong for being who I am and after the support from friends and family now realize that we were not wrong for dancing with each other.”
In an interview with Rise News, Raia said that he thinks the bouncer who got physical with him should be fired.
“As for the bouncer that tried to eject us, I would like to know that he has been removed from his position. The manager said there would be an investigation and then he would be reprimanded, but a slap on the wrist isn’t enough of a consequence for his illegal act of discrimination and bribery,” Raia told Rise News. “In our shock and being upset, we did not file a police report l, which we should have. At the time all we wanted to do was leave before someone got physically hurt.”
Raia said that he was fearful that the men who ordered the bottle service would turn physical toward he and his boyfriend.
“I am unapologetically proud of who I am and who I have become and I will not change because of pressures from someone else.”
“The men who ordered bottle service did not directly speak with us, only the bouncer,” Raia said. “They just stared at us, which was why the second bouncer suggested us to move.”
Rise News has tried to reach Blue Martini Boca for comment numerous times. A manager on call Wednesday evening said that she did not know who the on-call manager was on Saturday, and had not heard about the incident. The general manager of the bar could not be reached for comment before publication of this story.
Raia said that he would not be returning to any of the 12 Blue Martini locations.
“It is true that the actions of one man does not represent the actions of the group, but all the locations look the same. I would not feel comfortable being in the same environment that the incident occurred in,” Raia told Rise News. “As it stands now, I feel like I have to watch my back while walking down the side walk with my boyfriend. I know there is a time and place to show affection freely but I stand by my belief that we did nothing wrong.”
Raia ended his viral Facebook post with a poignant message.
“Our love is the same as anybody else’s love,” Raia said. “I am unapologetically proud of who I am and who I have become and I will not change because of pressures from someone else.”
Rise News will update this story with additional information as it becomes available.
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Cover Photo Credit: Joseph Raia/Facebook
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Abuela Mami: The Startup That Is Bringing Homesick Cubans Back To Their Roots One Box At A Time
Have you ever felt homesick for South Florida?
I mean like really homesick? So much so that you day dream about the food found on Calle Ocho or in your grandmother’s kitchen?
Well, if you’ve ever felt that before, then you are not alone.
It was that feeling that helped create Abuela Mami, a Miami based food startup.
Humby Valdes, 40, grew up in Miami as a first generation Cuban- American.
He spoke Spanish at home and was raised with all of the Cuban culture comforts.
It was only 5 or 6 years ago that he went to work in New York and for the first time he felt he was away from Miami and from the tastes that helped make home for him.
In New York, he realized that things like some Cuban dishes (i.e pastelitos, guava, Cuban crackers) where hard to find. It was even hard to find Cuban Coffee.
“When you live in Miami you just get Cuban coffee everywhere,” Valdes said in an interview with RISE NEWS.
Valdes found himself constantly missing food and all of other Cuban goodies from Miami.
He thought it was a good idea to create a box full of Cuban goodies that could be delivered around the United States.
His mom and grandmother used to do something similar.
In December 2015, he got together with his brother Kiki Valdes, 35 and launched Abuela Mami.
In Spanish, Abuela means grandmother and Mami stands for mom, the origin of the name comes from Humby’s and Kikis grandmother Blanca del Rio and their mom Gladys Ferrer.
Abuela Mami’s purpose is for their costumers to have an emotional connection when they open their monthly box of Cuban treats.
You can also make one time purchases of either the Coffee Box ($25.95) or the Surprise Box ($19.99).
The most popular subscription is for the Surprise Box, which is just as it sounds.
Each box contains 4 to 9 items of handpicked Cuban culture goodies.
Boxes can include kitchen tools, games, snacks, sweets and coffee among other interesting things.
Abuela Mami is based in Miami and all of the products also come from Miami area suppliers.
With a little help from their 90 year old grandmother, the brothers ensure that the Surprise box is always a unique and intimate Cuban experience.
As it is still a growing business, Humby Valdes insists on the importance of making each box “as intimate as possible”, while making “sure that when people receive the box it comes straight from Miami, something that is coming straight from Cubans or Cubans Americans”.
“The connection that the subscription box has with family, the emotion that it gives to costumers it’s amazing, it is very humbling to be able to make people feel and connect to heritage and family”.
In the future the founders have been thinking of expanding the Surprise Box in a way so they can deliver boxes from other Latin American countries (i.e Colombia or Venezuela),yet for the moment they are focused only on Cuban cultural selections.
Humby Valdes also has some advice for young people who move away from their home.
“They [young people] are going to miss it and realize your mom and mother are not going to be there forever, [so] enjoy your family and heritage.”
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Photo Credits: Abuela Mami
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Where The Fuck Is Turkey Going?
With a seemingly endless war going on in Syria, Arab states slowly coming apart, terrorist cells continuously operating and economic as well as military interests from countries like Russia and America, the Middle East has become a complicated and turbulent region.
While the role of the world’s greatest hegemonies inside the Middle East seems clear, there are regional powers whose presence is often underestimated or forgotten.
So, with a strained relationship with the Unites States and failed negotiations to form part of the European Union, what is Turkey’s international and regional role?
“Every decision Turkey makes, even the ones that affect the international sphere, are related to their domestic policies.” Agustín Berea a Middle East specialist said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “Everything Tayyip Erdoğan does is for his public and his public is the Turkish people.”
In a developing country where the society is divided between those in favor of business and liberalism and those who are much more conservative and traditionalist, Tayyip Erdoğan came in as a reformist, progressist and with strong ties with the conservative sectors of the Turkish society.
In the beginning of Erdoğan’s mandate, talks about joining the European Union were strong.
READ MORE: Why Turkey Should Be Removed From NATO
However, such discourses have gradually faded over time.
Historical issues, such as the occupation of Cyprus, and the recent violation of human rights, as well as the authoritarian government, have been enough to declare that Turkey does not reach the standards to form part of the union.
Although the Republic of Turkey was founded with the objective of having a legitimacy based on secularity and laicism, the Turkish society remains strongly attached to its religious basis.
“Demographically, there’s a lot more people who identify themselves with the East than with the West. Geographically, the part of Turkey located in Europe and the Mediterranean, although highly populated, represents a minority,” Berea said.
Not only that, but the agenda of Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan does not tie with the agenda of other international actors such as Russia and the United States.
A market in Istanbul. Photo Credit: Pedro Szekely/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
“His main goal is to solve internal conflicts,” Berea said.
The inability to tie Turkish interests with those of other countries has resulted in strained relationships with the American president Donald Trump and the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Moreover, it has also resulted in the breaking of diplomatic relations with the Iranian president Hasán Rouhani.
While Erdoğan’s ability to project his influence at an international level is questionable, with one of the world’s largest and most powerful armies, Turkey’s regional power is undeniable.
“Turkey cannot reach just any part of the world. However, its mobility and ability to effectively achieve its goals within the Middle East are higher than the one of countries like Russia or even the United States,” Berea said.
These goals include neutralizing the threat of ISIS within Turkish borders, the liberation of the city of Raqqa, and toppling the Assad regime. However, this would require more time, planning, and manpower than the one Turkey currently has in Syria.
This year, as early as February, former prohibitions considered to be secularization measures, such as the banning of the of Islamic veil and religious demonstrations, have been lifted. This has led many to believe that Turkey is no longer the champion of secularism.
“Muslim sectors are much closer to the government and it would seem like Turkey’s regional allies are projects that align with the agenda of political Islam,” Berea said.
Turkey is not the only nation of the Middle East that seems to be going back to projects and governments based on the Muslim religion.
READ MORE: Kicking Turkey Out Of NATO Would Be A Massive Mistake
“Countries in the Middle East have experienced with secular governance models and it is the opinion of many that such projects have not worked so far,” Berea explained.
Iran, Syria and Egypt are some of the countries that have experienced with these secular governance models.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The idea of going back to a caliphate comes from these failed projects of democratic nations and the people in the Middle East want to go back to a moment in which society and political structures worked better.
Could we expect Tayyip Erdoğan’s government to fail or to be toppled by a revolution in Turkey?
“The only way that there could be a successful coup against Erdoğan is if he openly spoke about religious structures within the state. This is unthinkable for the Turkish army,” Berea said.
Although political leaders have known how to handle their differences and act with moderation, the future of the Middle East is now more uncertain than ever.
With so many international actors involved in a small region, the situation seems to be bound to escalate to major proportions.
“My fear about Trump is that he may not know how to handle himself in moments of tension,” Berea said.
While conflict is possible, it doesn’t seem likely yet.
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RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Charles Dunst/ RISE NEWS
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I Almost Ran For Office Last Week
Anyone that actually knows me understands that I don’t buy the hype about much.
I’m the guy who wore sneakers to the 8th grade dinner dance and I’m rarely quick to buy a new app or gadget.
I just don’t believe in the drama of life. I try to abstain from it as much as possible.
That is especially true when it comes to politics and public life.
We, the people control our politics whether we want to believe it or not, and we have the power to make change whether we want the burden or not.
I don’t care about the pomp and ceremony of politics. I’m not interested in the game of it. I care about getting things done and making real progress for real people.
That is why it bothers me when I see the current crop of politicians on the local and national level.
Some are forward thinking and interested in making change, but most are wastes of space, seeking only their own career advancement.
From climate change to the widening income gap to the atrocious way in which we treat adults with developmental disabilities, we face real challenges in South Florida and across the country.
I almost ran for the state legislature last week after being encouraged to by family and friends.
I almost did it. Almost drove to Tallahassee to register as a candidate. Almost bought voter data. Almost designed a logo. Almost built a campaign team.
We could have put up quite the fight. And one day, we might.
But I didn’t run because I believe that RISE NEWS can become something really special and I want to focus all my energy on making this collective dream a reality.
Over the course of the last year, we have published pieces from scores of talented and idealistic young people from all over the United States and some other parts of the world.
We have broke news and made people think about the future while giving voice to the disparate parts of our generation.
But we still have much more to do and so many more stories to tell.
I don’t believe in the status quo way of doing things in either politics or journalism. Neither do large swaths of the public.
I don’t believe that politics should be a dirty game that few want to play.
And I don’t believe that journalism should be an elite endeavor that few feel connected to.
I do believe in speaking truth to power however and in shaking things up in order to bring about change.
So that is what we will strive to do.
We cannot allow our generation to grow cynical in politics. We are the only hope this country has to fix the biggest problems facing our future.
And we will do more in this publication to fight for the things we believe in moving forward.
Journalism can only work when you believe in it. And we hope to earn your trust as we work to find the truth, and labor for what is right and just in our society.
Finally, I’d like to encourage young people to get involved in public life in whatever way they feel that they best can, whether that is on the side of running for office or keeping those running for office accountable.
Accountability doesn’t have to be a big dramatic production after all.
It can be something as small as paying attention to how your representatives vote on important issues and remembering their votes come election time.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Jim Bowen/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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