Over the past two decades, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has undoubtedly become one of the nation’s most prominent LGBTQ travel destinations as well as one of the top retirement cities for gay men over the age of 50. Unlike Miami that reached its peak of gay fabulosity in the 1990s from a social scene perspective, the gay community of Fort Lauderdale boasts more legislative power. In 2018 the city elected its first openly gay elected Mayor, Dean J. Trantalis, and an all openly gay city commission in Wilton Manors.
Wilton Manors, a neighboring city district of Fort Lauderdale, is the established epicenter of the city’s LGBTQ+ residents. It thrives with gay-owned businesses and shops, restaurants, real estate, and pulsating nightlife. Sadly, the tight-knit community is still grappling with the recent, unexpected death of Wilton Manors’ first openly gay Mayor, Justin Flippen. Beloved by everyone, Flippen, just 41 years old, suffered a brain aneurysm in February while on his way to a city commission meeting.
The commission has opted not to hold a special election to fill Flippen’s Mayoral seat, deciding instead to hold the election as scheduled in November. At that time, there will also be Wilton Manors City Commissioners’ seats up for grabs, and one candidate, in particular, you may recognize – even if he does look a little bit different – while wearing clothes.
A friend and Fort Lauderdale resident reached out to me last night to ask if I knew porn star and proud Wilton Manors resident Antonino Biaggi is currently campaigning to run for a seat on the city commission. I was unaware of this, but I knew Biaggi owned a salon of some sort and had established himself over the years as one of today’s top talents in the adult video industry. His name was big in that world, but I asked my friend what political experience did Biaggi have? To which he replied, “Honey, a big dick … and a hair salon.” Ouch! (literally).
I’m not a Florida resident, and Biaggi’s bid for a commissioner’s seat won’t affect me one way or another. However, I spend a lot of time in Fort Lauderdale every winter; it is on my shortlist of potential cities where my partner and I might consider buying a second home, and I try to follow its local politics. That said, I set out to learn more about Biaggi’s campaign, which led me to his Instagram, where he made his case to the public in his own words:
“I’m running for City Commissioner of Wilton Manors. Former Business owner of the Drive. I’ve been an environmental advocate, animal rights activist. My background as a Manager for a tour company in Puerto Rico and owner of several businesses gives me the tools and experience to serve the City of Wilton Manors.”
Listen, stranger things have happened in politics. We’ve had an actor – Ronald Regan as President, we’ve had Austrian-born, pro bodybuilder turned action-film star Arnold Schwarzeneggar become the governor of California. So, it’s not too big of a stretch – no pun intended, for a handsome, Puerto Rican, self-proclaimed environmentalist, who happens to have a penis the size of a baby’s arm, to run for local office. It just takes passion, a dream, and a willingness to put in the work on behalf of the city. In Biaggi’s case, one of his most important platforms is diversity as he hopes to fill what he sees as a void of brown-skinned representation in the city’s commissioners office.
Biaggi already has face recognition going for him in the gay community, and that’s a plus. However, his fans may be a bit confused by his new, currently-used first name of “Melecio,” not Antonio.
Name change aside, it remains to be seen if his career in porn will work for or against him. I think it could be a positive thing as many men feel like they already know him on an intimate level and have faith he has the stamina to be a leader who will rise above in any situation, no matter how hard it gets.
You’ll have to search Google yourself for Biaggi’s naughty content but visit Melecio Biaggi on Instagram for more information about his run for political office in Wilton Manor.
I consider Antonio a good leader and a great man. Despise his strong temper Antonio has the potential to make positive changes.
This is offensive. This irresponsible idiot promotes Hiv by barebacking all the time. What’s worse, he’s totally illiterate. Just read some of his comments and you’ll see he barely finished elementary school. But you got the rulers for deserve, so if he wins, the people that vote for him are worse than him.
what do you mean by “…the rulers for deserve,” ?
He is irritating. Read his posts in FB in a Wilton Manors group and you’ll see that he does not have a good, level headed temperment. He’s angry and insulting. Here’s some info about his comments on Beyonce: https://southfloridagaynews.com/Local/porn-star-biaggi-opens-local-spa-attacks-beyonce.html
Yes, it appears that is indeed the case.
Didn’t Biaggi come out with racist tweets about Beyoncé and her fans a couple of years ago?