Jackie Robinson in Dodgers uniform, 1954 April 15 marked the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson becoming the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Most years, this wouldn’t cause a ripple in an LGBT community focused on the bizarre hurdles they face in tax law. This year, however, the anniversary came with 42, a…
In the week since I wrote my last column, scheduled Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF) performer Ubaka Hill released a statement in response to the Change.org petition asking that this year’s performers at the festival boycott the event. She stated, “My response to your courageous request that I cancel my Drumsong Workshop and the Drumsong…
The elephant in the City Hall room is the talk going around about a possible recall campaign being launched against Mayor Bob Filner. Now, by elephant I do mean conservative Republicans, some who are distributing “Recall Mayor Filner before it’s too late” stickers. KGTV-10 News premiered these car stickers a few weeks ago. No mayor…
When Rick Santorum ran for president, people asked if I was offended as a gay man. My reply, “No, I’m offended as a Pennsylvania native.” Similarly, the Supreme Court arguments on marriage equality didn’t upset me as a gay man, but the suspicious use of data offended me as a scientist. Let’s start with Justice…
In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Martin Luther King Jr. stated: “The nonviolent resisters can summarize their message in the following simple terms: we will take direct action against injustice despite the failure of governmental and other official agencies to act first. “We will not obey unjust laws or submit to unjust practices. We will…
18-year-old and HIV Recently, an 18 year-old-friend of mine told me his doctor told him he had HIV. This young gay man was upset but then told me he hardly ever used condoms and none of his other young friends used them either. What the hell! It’s unbelievable, but many of our younger generation I…
The oral arguments on Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA, United States v. Windsor) are over, and the pundits have had a week to sift through the transcripts ad nauseum. I think it’s only fair to take a look at what Politically Aware got right and wrong. https://lgbtweekly.jeffjungblut.com/?p=35247 First,…
On the day the constitutionality of Prop. 8 was being argued before the Supreme Court, a rally was organized by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Family Equality Council, GetEQUAL, Marriage Equality USA and the New Organizing Institute. The rally was successful, almost in every way, in how the…
Many of us knew, loved and supported Auntie Helen’s founder Gary Cheatham and I know he must be rolling over in his grave over the public scandal that continues to plague his beloved dream. Auntie Helen’s has had to admit financial mismanagement and has been forced to return San Diego County funding and grants because…
The Voice and Viewpoint piece attacking District 4 City Council candidate Dwayne Crenshaw was homophobic. It was vitriolic. It was contemptible. Journalistically, however, it wasn’t the most sinister thing published about Crenshaw last week. That award goes to Voice of San Diego, for “The Candidate and the Troubled Non-Profit.” Say what you want about the…
