George Martinez/gmartnx.com

Something tells us they're not putting out any fires.

If you were one of the tens of thousands of revelers at the Miami Beach Pride Parade and Festival yesterday, you know just how many fierce and faaah-bulous boys, girls, and in-between were there.

We decided to forgo all the drinking and dancing and just shoot some peeps (with our camera, that is). Even in this colorful, sequined, spandex-heavy crowd, more than a few Pridegoers managed to stand out. Our ten favorites, after the jump.

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The last time James Franco was in Miami on a cultural mission, it was to show his own art at OHWOW's Art Basel satellite fair. That might be where Franco hooked up with fellow OHWOW exhibitor Harmony Korine, who later directed a cornrowed, gold-toothed Franco in this year's Spring Breakers.

But Franco's upcoming visit to the Magic City will have nothing to do with barely legal babes in bikinis. Franco will be honored with the HBO Latin America Ally Award "for his career accomplishments and his unwavering support of the LGBT community," according to a statement from the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

See also:
- James Franco to Exhibit at OHWOW's It Ain't Fair

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George Martinez

We know you're looking forward to Pride this weekend (Thursday, April 11 - Sunday, April 14). Free parties, kick-ass DJs, Adam Lambert, an excuse to drink -- what's not to like?

To help you maximize your Pride experience, Cultist has put together the Mommy Dearest of all roundups. These are the must-attend events for Miami Beach Pride Parade and Festival weekend. See you there!

See also:
- Miami Beach Gay Pride 2013: Adam Lambert Headlines This Year's Pride Beach Party

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The Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade & Festival is right around the corner. And this year's performers range from queens to Idols to club music legends.

Pride is more than just a parade. It's a festival celebrating the LGBT community in all its fabulous glory through a series of satellite events, from a brunch to several dance parties -- and the huge beach party after the Parade is one of the most anticipated.

Shirtless hunks, drag queens, androgynous girls, and tens of thousands of LGBT people and their supporters, will be shaking their thangs at Lummus Park, the Ocean Drive stretch between 11 and 12 Streets, and Pride organizers have brought three heavy-hitting headliners to make sure you get your groove on.

See also:
- The 15 Gayest Getups at Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade
- Miami Beach Gay Pride: From Bears to Bois, Seven Gays You'll See This Weekend
- Photos: Miami Beach Gay Pride 2012

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Courtesy of Elaine Lancaster

When it comes to the ladies of The Real Housewives of Miami, there's one who's head and shoulders above the rest -- literally. In season two, the larger-than-life Elaine Lancaster (AKA James Davis) frequently stole the spotlight from her drama-loving gal pals.

And though she's seen her fair share of reality-TV-fueled drama, this queen is all about being real (you know, except for those ladyparts). Ahead of Lancaster's appearance at this week's New Times Artopia shindig, we spoke with the drag icon about Karent Sierra's Botox, Lisa Hochstein's decrepit house, and The Elaine Lancaster Show Starring Elaine Lancaster.

See also:
- Real Housewives of Miami's Elaine Lancaster: "Marysol Patton Doesn't Meet My Standards"
- Artopia 2013: How to Party With Palo!, Roofless Records, and Miss Elaine Lancaster

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Miami New Times' Mastermind Awards honors the city's most inspiring creatives. This year, we received more than 100 submissions, which our staff narrowed to an elite group of 30. We'll be profiling those honorable mentions, and eventually the finalists, in the weeks to come. This year's three Mastermind Award winners will be announced February 28 at Artopia, our annual soiree celebrating Miami culture. For tickets and more information, visit the website.

Film and dance? Miami native Pioneer Winter manages to combine two art forms not commonly coupled. The conceptual choreographer and filmmaker graduated from FIU Honors College with a BS in psychology and a master's in epidemiology and biostatistics, going on to wow the art world with his work. Winter has presented his work at the Fringe Arts Festival in Scotland, the Bass Museum of Art, the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival, and the Deering Estate, just to name a few.

Winter is also the only choreographer to be accepted into the Cannonball Miami/LegalArt 2012-2013 residency program for Miami-based artists, and will be a resident artist at Miami Theater Center/The Sandbox this year. Plus, Winter also helms Project LEAP, a free program for teaching teens how to change the world through art, a theme that runs through his work.

"My work utilizes social and cultural narratives -- my Miami-made underpinnings -- to recall and develop a sense of geo-social identity. Creating dance on film and collaborating with visual artists and other arts presenters, I provide opportunities for accessing dance without needing to worry about barriers like schedule or ticket price. I believe in promoting awareness by discussing topics ranging from HIV and health disparities to gender, ageism, and identity."

Read on for our Q&A with Winters, mad scientists, parties, and Pina Bausch.

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Dear Jodie,

I've always respected you, both as an actress and a director. Your performances in films such as The Accused and The Brave One were both inspired and inspiring. Little Man Tate, your directorial debut, was a piece of masterful filmmaking. Through your films, you've given people hope when they would otherwise be wallowing in despair.

And I get it -- no, I really do. You've been in the public eye since you were three years old, starring in commercials, then movies, even turning in a riveting performance as a prostitute in Scorsese's masterpiece Taxi Driver, when you were, what? Thirteen years old?

Okay, the public eye has always been on you. Always. And because of that, your life has been, as you referred to it in your speech at the Golden Globes, one long reality show.

I respect your need for privacy. I respect that you don't want to live your life as a Kardashian or a Honey Boo Boo. But I don't respect your refusal to think big -- bigger than yourself, bigger than your own small world -- and consider the world at large.

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LaTrice Royale just missed the top three in the last season of RuPaul's Drag Race, but managed to pick up the Miss Congeniality crown and, of course, the highly coveted Miami New Times "Best Of award for Best Reality Contestant".

She may not have snatched the crown, but her casting on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars means she'll get a second chance to "Get up, look sickening, and make them eat it."

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image courtesy Chick-Fil-A

No photos were allowed at Friday's non-event, so here's a generic image of an empty Chick-Fil-A in a mall, somewhere.

On Friday evening, Dadeland Mall was packed with its usual crowd of South Miami shoppers. An average night spending dollars at outlets and the mandatory visit to the food court jungle.

It was as quiet an outing one could expect for a busy mall -- except for Chick-fil-A's three security guard escort and retractable belt barriers between the restaurant and customers. Hard to miss when it's the only food spot in the courtyard with this kind of special treatment.

Friday was National Same-Sex Kiss Day, a campaign started after Chick-fil-A's president, Dan Cathy announced his anti-gay sentiments, compounded by news of the company's support for anti-gay causes. The campaign in response promoted a "Kiss-In" after Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day last Wednesday. According to CNN, executive vice president of Chick-fil-A, Steve Robinson said, "We can confirm reports that [Wednesday] was a record-setting day."

Friday's Kiss-In? Not so much.

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"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud," Anderson Cooper writes in an open letter to Andrew Sullivan, published this afternoon.

Cooper's coming out won't be a surprise to anyone who's paid attention to the career of the silver fox of TV journalism. But it is a reversal of a long-held policy of privacy about the intimate details of the anchor's life.

"As long as a journalist shows fairness and honesty in his or her work, their private life shouldn't matter," Cooper writes. "I've stuck to those principles for my entire professional career, even when I've been directly asked 'the gay question,' which happens occasionally."

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