Another mass shooting perpetrated by a young white man. I use that description because if these shootings were being perpetrated by young Latino or black men, it would be the headline but I digress before I really get started. Another mass shooting by a person who is mentally unstable. There is plenty of blame to…
I read with dismay the Sept. 3 guest commentary (San Diego LGBT Weekly issue 181) by PETA’s Gray Caskey urging the LGBT community to unite against SeaWorld. I am a proud member of San Diego’s LGBT community, and I completely disagree with the distorted portrait Ms. Caskey painted of our park. There is no organization…
If you look up the words “integrity” and “honesty” in the political dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Toni Atkins right next to these two words. Atkins has never forgotten where she came from – the Appalachian mountains of Virginia, a coal miner’s daughter. She grew up in a home with no running…
In the wake of House Speaker John Boehner’s announcement of his retirement at the end of the month, political insiders think that his second in command, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, has the inside track to take the gavel. That may be true, but McCarthy would be wiser to keep his current job and elect a…
When Shadi Petosky entered into TSA screening to take to the air at Orlando International Airport Sept. 21, she did so with the presumption she had a terrorist body – whether she knew it or not. She may have never been singled out in exactly that way before, or talked to in the way she…
I had many reasons to enjoy a successful and meaningful career as a gay diplomat with the United States government. I traveled widely and enjoyed the company of other diplomats, foreign professionals and international businesspeople. I had intestinal parasites, robberies and anti-American types who pointed guns at me and threatened me with knives. My worst and…
The Diocese of San Diego is putting the well being of many of their thousands of students at their schools in jeopardy every day. The Church’s teachings on gay and lesbian behavior that is intertwined in its schools’ curricula are harmful to students and are not recommended by many reputable national organizations such as the…
This past Tuesday I joined my good friends, Nathan Fletcher and Lorena Gonzalez, for lunch for a pre-birthday celebration of this popular state assemblywoman’s birthday. And we all know that what we wish more than anything for our best friends is their happiness. I have long admired former Marine Nathan for his long history of…
For me, National Recovery Month is a reminder of how far we’ve come, both therapeutically and in society, regarding the treatment of addiction and mental health conditions. This month especially, we get to celebrate those who are in recovery and increase awareness for those who are still suffering. Even in the 26 years since the…
I have conservative friends with whom I enjoy discussing policy issues. Sometimes I educate. Sometimes I learn. Sometimes we find common ground. Occasionally they say something that lets me know I should give up on a conversation that is going nowhere. Like when they say “anchor baby.” Let’s unpack this, because that phrase is so…
