Analyses of the 2010 Republican electoral wave put considerable importance on the rallies held during Congressional recesses. The newly dubbed “Tea Party” showed up at town halls to challenge President Obama’s agenda and strike fear into moderate Democrats and Republicans. They couldn’t stop the stimulus, Dodd-Frank or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but their organization…
Once again transgender Police Officer Christine Garcia has been subjected to hate, disrespect, insults and attacks by some militant radical members of our very own LGBT community. As many of you remember, Officer Garcia was barred from attending the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance because she was wearing her police uniform. Now for the recent…
Thanks to author Nell Stark—which seems to be something I say at least once a year—I was privileged recently to answer some questions for a lesbian high school student who was writing a paper about 1960’s gay activists. Below are the young woman’s questions and my attempts to answer. I am very fortunate to be…
When artist Dana Schutz presented “Open Casket,” an abstract painting of Emmett Till’s open casket-the Chicagoan 14 year old African American male teen lynched in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955- she could not have fathomed the conflagration that erupted. The painting hangs at the Whitney Museum in New York City but under the daily watchful eye of protestors blocking its view they termed the “black…
I have a new roommate Andrea who just came to San Diego from out of state. She works as an IT specialist for a large restaurant chain, and with her move needs to find a new doctor to take care of her transgender related health care needs that are in her company’s health care network….
In 2016, Democrats picked up six seats in the House of Representatives, a far cry from the 30 they needed to take control. Many swing state districts were lost by the same voting patterns that cost Secretary Hillary Clinton the presidency, but others were lost due to lack of preparation. Twenty three Republican Representatives were…
This coming July will mark the 20th anniversary of Andrew Cunanan’s “killing spree” national rampage that ended with the killing of fashion designer and icon Gianni Versace. Cunanan committed suicide after murdering a total of five people in the cities of Minneapolis, Chicago and Miami. For weeks this story made world headlines that turned into…
There are differences within diversity. This issue scratches below the superficial veneer of diversity and is an eerie reminder of how minority groups are often pitted against one another. This year’s Oscars were the most diverse in history. With six nominations for six African American themed films and at least 10 black actors and filmmakers,…
OK, I give in, it’s depression. I might as well face it. And I know I’m not alone. You can guess when it started: November 8, 2016. I tried to overcome it by resisting, ignoring, laughing at the fools on the hill. Like the amazing Elizabeth Warren, I persisted, but so did this depression. I’ve…
On a certain level I don’t understand hate. I can’t maintain it against individuals as it takes too much energy; I can’t hold it against classes of people because I’m aware, as a member of a minority community, of unintentional (or sometimes willful) ignorance that bigotry arises from. It takes a certain amount of self-awareness…
