Liquid Nightclub was host to a candidate's forum sponsored by SoBe Vote, Inc. and the candidates made their pitches to "twentysomethings" who filled the huge club to capacity.

The Herald's account (by reporter Rick Jervis) described how each of Miami Beach's mayoral candidates gave two minute pitches to prospective voters. They "came on Rollerblades, bikes and sandals" listening for an hour. During the question segment of the candidates' presentations—which included their replies on development, crime, gangs, and beautifying the city—one candidate stood out above all the rest, namely the openly gay mayoral hopeful Bob Kunst.

Jarvis' news report said: "Mayoral Candidate Bob Kunst got the loudest applause after saying acrimoniously that there is not sufficient police presence in the city because the cops are "too busy worrying about who's having an orgasm at Flamingo Park."

Kunst was incensed about recent crackdowns by undercover police who entrap males who go cruising in the city's public parks.

The gay candidate— running on an anti-over-development platform—has been called "the radical ticket" by the Herald (October 20) because he would "do away with parking meters and close off Ocean Drive to traffic if he becomes mayor. He also favors a building moratorium and would propose rent-control legislation to keep South Beach's rising rents reasonable."

The Miami area newspaper also revealed that candidate Kunst isn't among the wealthy political hopefuls but that he doesn't see this as a negative. "I don't have the money," he quipped, "but I don't see that as an advantage to the opposition." He gleams, "I'm going door-to-door reaching thousands of people on the streets. That's how you win elections!"

Kunst, besides being a long-time gay activist (he successfully humiliated Anita Bryant on national TV in 1977) is also president of Shalom International, a Jewish organization now working to put Europe's Nazi death camps under Jewish control.

Following the July murder of the internationally-acclaimed designer Gianni Versace, Kunst led a 6,000 Miami Beach signature campaign to stop Miami Beach's government from reneging on its pledge of a reward. After Kunst's petitioning efforts, Portuguese houseboat caretaker, Fernando Carreira (who discovered the whereabouts of Versace's reputed murderer, Andrew Cunanan) belatedly received his reward.

(See GayToday's profile of Bob Kunst, People, July 14, and its continuing series on police misbehavior.)

Donations to the feisty gay candidate's campaign can be sent to The Campaign to Elect Bob Kunst, 525 West 49^th Street, Miami Beach, Florida, 33140, or call (305) 864-5110.

Among those who have contributed to Kunst's campaign war chest is Randolfe Wicker, who was the first openly gay man to appear on radio and television in the early 1960s. Wicker told GayToday, "I like Bob Kunst. He's like me—he dreams impossible dreams."