Every study has shown the major influence of LGBT spending power and the impact of LGBT Americans. A recent Nielson Study showed 10 percent more shopping trips are made by gay consumers than straight customers; 48 percent more money is spent by gay households on wine than straight households; 31 percent more money is spent…
In presidential election years, the five odd-numbered City Council districts are up for election. As with the California legislative elections, they can be dull because the incumbent wins easily or the general election features two candidates from the same party. 2016 looks to be a bit more interesting than most, with three open seats and…
On the 50th anniversary of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, the Academy and Golden Globe Award winning Eva DuVernay film “Selma” was not without its critics. Criticism ranged from historically inaccuracies to production issues. The film began with scenes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. receiving his Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm in…
Local races for the California legislature are often a snooze fest. Incumbents rarely lose, and the districts have a sufficient partisan lean that successors are anointed by the party or chosen in the primary. Those trends appear likely to hold for incumbent Assemblymembers Marie Waldron (R-75), Brian Maienschein (R-77), Shirley Weber (D-79) and Lorena Gonzalez…
“Although fundamentalists and many others equate homosexuality with sin, it’s generally agreed there has been a softening in the positions of some churches, and a re-examination of homosexuality in many others.” That was the opinion expressed in an article from the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle in 1977. Since then religious fundamentalism has grown into a…
Bill Kolender followed a police chief who was known to be racist, sexist and homophobic. Bill changed the police force toward what it is today. Chief Kolender was the first to reach out to our community and appoint a “Gay Liaison.” I attended the first meeting of a police chief and gay and lesbian activists…
It’s officially autumn! Our ongoing warm weather may attempt to trick us to believe in perpetual summer, yet we are all aware of the subtle differences of our shorter days and cooler evenings. Seasons change and so do we as individuals in our life journeys. Due to the nature of my work, I meet many…
With Election Day 2016 now less than a year away, it is time to take a break from presidential debate analysis and focus the next few columns on San Diego contests. In the past few weeks, new candidates have emerged in races that had been static for months. There will no doubt be a few…
Every Nov. 20, here in San Diego we memorialize those people who’ve been killed due to anti-transgender hate. The day we do this is called the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, often referred to by the acronym TDOR. Originally, the list of the dead was Americentric as Gwen Smith, who is credited with beginning that…
Fear of “special rights” for LGBT Americans to sexualize workplaces, schools, and churches set back the cause of equal rights decades. Those who opposed “special rights” did so more effectively than those who supported equality. Pope Francis, just before departing the U.S., bestowed special rites on Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, whom some liken to Montgomery…
