The news media is considered “The Fourth Estate,” a societal and political institution whose influence is not officially recognized. The first three estates are the branches of government; executive, legislative and judicial. While San Diego LGBT Weekly and LGBTweekly.com both qualify as a member of The Fourth Estate, we have very clear policies about what…
Do you remember Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno? He was the alderman who stated he wouldn’t allow a Chick-fil-A to be built in his ward after Chick-fil-A’s CEO Dan T. Cathy stated that Chick-fil-A supported “the biblical definition of the family unit,” and the broad LGBT community became aware that Chick-fil-A’s non-profit arm (the Winshape Foundation)…
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, that’s now become a major holiday season shopping day, has a different meaning for me. That’s because on Black Friday in 2009 Christine Daniels, fka Mike Penner, died by suicide. I wasn’t her closest friend by far, but her death still impacts me greatly to this day. For those…
What I believe we can’t have enough of is leadership training for our young, as well as our older, newly-out future leaders in the LGBT community. And, given that the only national LGBT non-profit organization with a trans person at the helm is OutServe-SLDN, more leadership training to develop and prepare more trans people to…
This past Election Day, LGBT rights activists had a lot to celebrate. Marriage equality was legalized on the state level by popular vote for the first time, but not just with one state’s vote, but in all three states where freedom to marry the one you love was on the ballot: Maryland, Maine and Washington….
Many in the LGBT community aren’t aware that there is a Transgender Pride Flag. It’s flown at transgender specific events; it can be seen each year at the San Diego Pride festival at the transgender booth. It’s a flag that visually symbolizes the T subcommunity of the LGBT community in a manner similar to how…
Last week, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel, announced the selection of transgender Army veteran Allyson Robinson to lead the newly combined organization. In her first interview since her appointment Robinson spoke to San Diego LGBT Weekly columnist Autumn Sandeen about her new role and what…
Transprogressive BY AUTUMN SANDEEN In a recent San Diego LGBT Weekly column, “What good is improved VA gender policy if it’s inaccessible?” I wrote about how I was pretty much the only transgender military veteran in the United States who was unable to take advantage of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA‘s) new policy for…
Life is often about family, and many of us who have pets know that they’re family. I have two feline family members named Kitty Bon-Bon and Maggie. Kitty Bon-Bon is 7-years-old and Maggie is 8. Both of these cats have had health issues of late that have been pretty expensive, and it’s not like they…
Transprogressive BY AUTUMN SANDEEN What is the “My Family. Together.” campaign that was launched in February 2012? According to Immigration Equality: “For couples facing separation, exile or undocumented status, the president’s inaction has serious, immediate consequences. Today, we are telling the president: We can’t wait. Today, we’re launching a new campaign – My Family. Together….
