Massive global interest in the passing and memorializing of Nelson Mandela last week illustrated again that people of color were humanity’s conscience during the 20th century. My question is will LGBT people be the conscience of the 21st century? If the systematic oppression, torture and denial of the basic human rights of a minority class…
Until 1976 I knew many homosexual men and women who were sent to state mental hospitals by a judge or the signature of one of their parents. Many received electric shock treatment and never came out of these hospitals the same person they were. It is in this environment, this hostile and hating society that…
Chris Kehoe’s election as our city’s first openly gay official was one of the most important moments in the history of our LGBT community. Since then LGBT San Diegans have been elected judges, district attorney, state assemblymembers and county supervisors, etc. To many of us, Kevin Beiser’s election to the school board was the second…
Dear Candidate Faulconer: You were recently spotted eating with an LGBT leader at a restaurant in Hillcrest. According to the people sitting at the booth next to you, you were being counseled on how to get the LGBT vote. The fact that you were asking for counsel around the LGBT vote illustrates that your record…
Whether President Obama lied when he said, “If you like your plan, you can keep it” isn’t much of a question anymore. His team knew that the new coverage rules would require insurers to change or drop plans – that was, at least in part, the whole point of Obamacare. As a staunch supporter of…
Heterosexual-male chauvinism thrives in oil-rich places like nowhere else. Whether the evidence is brought to light by the Supreme Court of the United State’s decision last week to allow Texas to eliminate safe places where a woman can have an abortion; or Afghanistan’s recent move toward returning to its penal code death by stoning for…
David Alvarez When it comes to GLBT issues and equality, our community has two solid candidates, supporters and friends in Kevin Faulconer and David Alvarez. While I do appreciate both of these candidates reaching out to me after the primary, I have not totally made up my mind, but will endorse a candidate in my…
Last week, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democrats changed the Senate, allowing a simple majority to end filibusters on most judicial nominations and executive appointees. To do so, they used what had become known as the “nuclear option,” interpreting the rules to mean that while 60 voters were needed to end a filibuster, only 51…
So the battle is engaged. Two city councilmen will face off in the upcoming mayoral runoff election; Kevin Faulconer versus David Alvarez. Both of the parties got what they wanted, the Democratic Party wanted David Alvarez and the Republican Party wanted to run against Alvarez in February. Wasn’t it obvious? Francine Busby and the Democratic…
Some suggest that Alvarez beat Fletcher with Election Day voters, and there is a hint of truth to that. Fletcher was ahead of Alvarez when the first returns came in. But it doesn’t appear that Fletcher was swamped by a tidal wave of Election Day voting. In fact, it appears that the final numbers fell…
