In 2013 the Corporate Equality Index named Wells Fargo the “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality.” The CEI gave Wells Fargo a “perfect score” on its index “for the 11th consecutive year.” This leads me to wonder if corporate corruption is included in the Corporate Equality Index. One must wonder how many LGBT crooks…
“I thought I was the only one,” the stranger said in a low voice. It wasn’t 1957, or even 1977. It was last week, at the grand opening of a supermarket in town. He was gray-haired, tall, dressed like a ranch hand. His smile was sheepish, his eyes conspiratorial. He wasn’t talking about finding a…
As a former resident of San Francisco and of Alabama in the era of racial segregation I feel qualified to speak on the sanctuary city issue. At present there are over 200 sanctuary cities in the United States that refuse to enforce federal immigration law. There are other cities and states who refuse to endorse…
In July 1994, during the Second Session of the 103rd Congress, Sen. Barbara Boxer and seven other United States senators came to my aid. North Carolina Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, informed of my first-of-its-kind position as a gay employment counselor for the federal government, pushed through the Senate an amendment to an appropriations bill that…
Community HousingWorks (CHW) sent the following to Betty Owen in response to her letter published in San Diego LGBT Weekly, Sept. 15. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention here at CHW. The time and energy that you and many other members of the community put in to advocate and create a community…
In competitive high school debate, the victor is known quickly. A judge watches the debate and keeps track of the arguments. Speakers score points when reasonable arguments go uncontested and when their arguments win contested issues. The judge adds up the points and announces a winner before the next round or awards ceremony. Scoring presidential…
Having been involved with San Diego Pride since the beginning in 1974, I have the unique experience of knowing every board of directors. Sadly, the current Pride Board has lost its way and lost touch with the LGBT community which it serves. Last week’s Pride Board meeting saw almost 100 San Diegans show up with…
I had an exciting front row seat to the sexual scandal that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. The 2016 presidential campaign reminds me of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair and my long days and late nights at my Capitol Hill office. Just before the sordid sexual scandal broke, a female colleague at…
The North Carolina governor and legislature has taken the position of declaring transgender people aren’t real in recent court filings. It’s costing the state millions to continue to legislatively prohibit transgender people from using bathrooms associated with their gender identities in government buildings, as well as prohibiting local government entities, such as cities and counties,…
In 1964, Fact magazine asked psychiatrists about Republican candidate Sen. Barry Goldwater’s mental stability. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), of 12,356 psychiatrists polled, 2,417 responded, and 1,189 said Goldwater was unfit to be president. None had examined Goldwater, who sued the magazine and won. Since 1973 the APA has enforced a policy, often…
