Politician of the Year: When I started thinking about this award in early December, I couldn’t settle on a winner. Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, Congressman Scott Peters and Mayor Kevin Faulconer were in the mix, but I didn’t feel like anyone had locked it down. What a difference two weeks, and two votes, can make….
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed away last week with the close of the 113th Congress. It was 40 years old. ENDA had been surviving on life support in the House of Representatives for slightly over a year, its suffering ending when Speaker John Boehner formally withdrew care by not scheduling a vote. ENDA was…
Last week, President Obama used executive power to provide legal status to approximately 5 million undocumented immigrants. Now that the details are known, we can start scoring the winners and losers for this round of the immigration debate. Losers: Immigrants not covered by the action. Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine a more inclusive immigration reform…
The votes have been counted, and we now know that former City Councilmember Carl DeMaio failed in his bid to oust freshmen Rep. Scott Peters in California’s 52nd District. It’s time to move on and start to heal some of the rifts left in the wake of a largely negative campaign. In that spirit, I…
Election Day is when we hold our elected officials accountable for their policies. The days after are when we hold pundits accountable for their analysis and predictions. I think it’s only fair to take another look at last week’s column (https://lgbtweekly.jeffjungblut.com/2014/10/30/election-preview/) and see how I did. “The most competitive race is for superintendent of public…
The GOP started the 2014 cycle with high hopes and a clear path to the Senate majority. Despite Democratic gains in 2012, Republicans needed only 6 of the 7 Democratic controlled seats in states won by Mitt Romney: Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana and North Carolina. Naturally, things have not remained so…
It’s been an interesting week at the Supreme Court. Monday, the Court declined to take up any challenges to Circuit Court rulings in favor of marriage equality, apparently adding the five states involved to the 19 states already allowing same-sex marriage. (Those who remember this column, https://lgbtweekly.jeffjungblut.com/2014/02/27/marriage-equality-its-not-over-til-its-over/, will understand why I’m feeling a little smug.)…
When it comes to out members of the U.S. Congress, Democrats currently lead Republicans six to nothing, including five representatives and one senator. Moderate Republicans hope to change that this year, both to broaden their base and to woo back some large LGBT donors. The road for LGBT Republican candidates isn’t an easy one. In…
Sen. Barbara Boxer once told a group of LGBT activists “I’m your girl!” when lamenting her under use in the No on 8 Campaign. As one of the earliest and fiercest advocates for equality issues across the board, I would be sorry to see her retire, but various whispers and a depleted campaign account suggest…
“Lock him up and throw away the key.” That seems to be the prevailing sentiment about Thomas Guerra, aka Ashton Chavez, who was charged by the San Diego City Attorney’s Office with “wilfully exposing infectious person to another,” or, in English, lying about his HIV status and infecting his sexual partner(s). If all I have…
