Happy Pride Anniversary 2026!

HAPPY PRIDE ANNIVERSARY!

Fifty-seven years ago today, a bunch of fed-up drag queens, hustlers, and assorted gay misfits at the Stonewall Inn in New York turned the tables on yet another unnecessary, unfair, harassing police raid. That resistance gave rise to a series of riots and ultimately to the birth of the modern gay activist movement. It seems like a long time ago, and while a few laws and minds have changed, we still have a way to go, and a lot more irrational fear, hatred, bigotry, and misconceptions to fight...especially considering the vicious, radical conservative and radical Christian-fueled wave of LGBT+--specifically Trans--hatred in our country which is being legitimized by the current administration of darkness.

We celebrate Pride Month and recognize Pride Day because it is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay youth are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay and trans men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes. That’s why Congress must pass the Equality Act to outlaw discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but we know that will not happen until the next administration that is run by a sense of humanism and decency. 

Because the LGBT Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, attacked, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

So today, we thank and celebrate all the brave individuals at the Stonewall uprising and the ensuing riots for saying, "ENOUGH. I AM A HUMAN BEING AND I DEMAND TO BE TREATED AS ONE!"

While The Stonewall Inn was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it became an official New York City landmark on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in order to preserve the site and honor its historic importance. Most importantly, on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall Inn was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the gay rights movement.

I just visited The Stonewall Inn in 2024 (see the photos below) and it was affirming to see such an important piece of history. And the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center is located right next door, where a sign says, "In the name of those who came before me, I pledge to be brave, to be true to myself, and to fight like hell for equality." I also visited Christopher Park, the little green park facing The Stonewall Inn which is the Stonewall National Monument under the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service. The park features a bronze sculpture of two men and two women unafraid to show themselves to the world.

There is a very nice, informative, and moving Wiki entry about the riots and the history leading up to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

JUNETEENTH 2026

https://www.juneteenth.com/

Happy Pride Month 2026!

June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer/Questioning) Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969 (look for my annual blog posting about this important date on the 28th).

Why Pride?

Despite the fact that Pete Buttigieg, an out and proud and well adjusted and brilliantly smart gay man ran a highly successful campaign for President of the United States (remember how everyone said that we no longer have any racism in the United States because a black man was President?), we still have a tremendous problem with homophobia here (especially with the new administration of darkness attacking LGBTQ rights) and around the world. Pride Month is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces here in the United States. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes, while political attacks against the LGBTQ community have increased with destructive, radical conservatives insisting that anyone who stands for LGBTQ rights is somehow "grooming children" for sexual exploitation. Yet that pales in comparison to some other unfortunately backward places around the world where gay men and women are routinely tortured and slaughtered--sometimes by government-sanctioned assassins, governments who insist that there is no such thing as homosexuality and that such ideas are evil imports from the Western world (Ghana imposes actual JAIL SENTENCES for anyone just identifying as LGBTQ).

The LGBTQ Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, tortured, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

The rainbow flag is a universal symbol of hope for LGBTQ people around the world. It first flew in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza for Gay Pride Day, on June 25, 1978. It originally had eight colors--two more than today's version--and was designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and activist who sewed the whopping 30' x 60' flag by hand. He had been commissioned to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003.
(Credit Fredrik Persson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Baker died in 2017, aged 65. In a 2015 interview with CNN, here, he revealed the rationale behind the design of the flag. "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," he said. "We're an ancient, wonderful tribe of people. We picked something from nature. We picked something beautiful."

https://gilbertbaker.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)

Day of Silence, April 10, 2026

Tomorrow is Day of Silence.

Day of Silence 2026: Rise Up. Take Action.

History of Day of Silence: Started in the mid 90’s by two college students, Day of Silence was a nationally-recognized demonstration where LGBTQ+ students and allies all around the country protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ+ people in schools.

30 Years of Day of Silence:

2026 marks the 30th year of the first Day of Silence. Originally held by students at the University of Virginia, in response to the bullying and harassment of LGBTQ+ students, it has grown to a national day of action pushing back against the silencing of LGBTQ+ youth and the erasure of their experiences.

In our deepening cultural and political divide, LGBTQ+ students are more directly targeted than ever before. From harmful legislation to erasing LGBTQ+ history from school curriculum, it is now more important than ever to take a step back and let our communities know what it feels like when we are stripped of our voices.

Silent Protests as Resistance:

A silent protest is a form of demonstration where people express disagreement or demand change without speaking. Day of Silence is one of many highly successful demonstrations throughout history. Silent protests have been used across movements successfully and are powerful demonstrations that in the case of Day of Silence highlight the importance of intersectional LGBTQ+ youth voice.

I am not sure how many high school or middle school students stop by "Oh, By The Way," but if you are a student, please consider joining the Day of Silence tomorrow. And if you are an adult who knows a teen, especially a gay teen, who might benefit from this, please pass it along. The event is also observed on college campuses. Click on the link below to learn more about how to participate and for social media templates. We are under attack and can use all the voices we can get.

https://glisten.org/campaigns/dayofsilence/

Happy International Women's Day 2026

Today, March 8th, 2026, is the 115th International Women's Day. Read on for information about this year's theme from the official IWD site:

When we give, we gain.

Together, let's help forge gender equality through abundant giving.

The IWD 2026 Give To Gain Campaign encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration.

Give To Gain emphasizes the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organizations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction, it's intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.

Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women's advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.

What will you Give to Gain gender equality?

Visit the International Women's Day website to learn more:
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Spirit Day 2025!

Today is the fifteenth annual Spirit Day and I'm wearing purple to participate...and I hope you will too. The movement was launched in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan in conjunction with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) as a day to remember the young people who have taken their lives due to homophobic bullying and soul-destroying lies perpetuated by homophobic groups, both political and religious in nature (and some who think they are above the law and combine both without paying any taxes!). To show support to the LGBTQ+ youth still with us and to combat the rampant bullying and frantic hatred that still infects our country at cultural and political levels, today is a day to wear purple and demonstrate to anyone who might be feeling alone and worthless that there are many people in the world who believe in the value of their lives and souls. As a past victim of homophobic violence, physical attacks, and bullying, this observance is very close to me.

GLAAD's website says:
#SpiritDay is the world’s most visible anti-bullying movement inspiring LGBTQ youth, especially transgender and nonbinary youth to live their lives in their truth and authenticity. This year, on Thursday, October 16th, GLAAD will organize thousands of celebrities, influential voices, news & media outlets, tv & film studios, brands & corporations, landmarks, sports leagues, tech leaders, influencers, faith groups and so many more to go purple and support LGBTQ youth by creating clear possibility models for them to thrive and be represented in the world.

While GLAAD research shows that LGBTQ acceptance is at an all-time high, so too is anti-LGBTQ discrimination and bullying. As online hate continues to foment real-world harm, coupled with the anti-LGBTQ climate of our day — from book bans to bans on drag, bans on LGBTQ history and bans on healthcare — America’s youth is particularly at-risk and has never needed our support more than right now. #SpiritDay gives LGBTQ youth, their parents and allies an opportunity to see what’s possible when we lead with acceptance.

Take the #SpiritDay pledge now to commit to going purple on Thursday, October 16th and showing LGBTQ youth you’ve got their backs! Learn more at http://glaad.org/spiritday and @glaad across all social media.

These are frightening, disappointing statistics.

- 49% of LGBTQ+ students experienced bullying.
- 60% of LGBTQ+ students reported discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- 23% of LGBTQ+ students report being physically harmed or threatened simply because they were perceived as LGBTQ+.
- 90% of LGBTQ+ students, a truly staggering number, reported that their well-being was negatively impacted by recent politics.
And the most disappointing, heartbreaking statistic of all:
- 39% of LGBTQ+ students seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.

No wonder gay teens take their lives at much higher rates than the national average.

Anti-LGBTQ groups are using this deliberately misleading and harmful message to spread hate: "Protect our children." But of course they don't mean protect all children from harassment, bullying, and discrimination...their form of "protection" just increases the damage done to children as evidenced by the statistics above.

For more information, to take the anti-bullying pledge, or to donate to GLAAD, please visit their website.
https://glaad.org/spiritday/


Here is a letter I wrote to anyone who needs to hear it:

Dear gay teen contemplating suicide:

You are not wrong. You are not "bad.” You are not sick, defective, or evil.
You are perfect and beautiful just the way you are.
You have done nothing wrong and you have done nothing to deserve being humiliated, punished, or hurt, either physically or emotionally.
Bullying and discrimination are never, ever innocent: the bullies are the ones who are wrong, bad, and sick for hurting you.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that you are any less of a human being than they are. Don’t believe anyone who tells you being gay is a choice or that being gay is about behavior; you are who you are. Embrace yourself and be proud of being alive.

You have value. You have as much right to be here on this planet as anyone else.
It may seem like the world is against you now, but know there are people for you out there, there are places for you out there. You will be happy, you will get to live YOUR life the way YOU want to, without having to pay any attention to the bullies or whatever “bible” nonsense some people might throw at you… you are not "impure," "immoral," "unnatural," or "against nature." Those are just ridiculous, ugly lies they tell to mask their hatred, fear, and prejudice.

You will survive and thrive! You get to live here. This is your RIGHT.
You might turn out to be an important author, a doctor who cures a disease, a famous designer, someone who invents a new type of metal alloy, an inspiring performer… or you might end up working with kids who need to hear that they have value and are perfect the way they are.
Please stick around.
Please.
We need you.

Keep yourself safe.

Love,
JEF

To help, please visit:
The Trevor Project
And please spread the word about this issue and these sites--you never know who might need to hear about them.

HAPPY LABOR DAY 2025!

Happy Labor Day, readers in the United States! This is a holiday that recognizes and honors the American labor movement of the late 19th century and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of the country.

I believe in the power of labor and work. I believe in the dignity of labor and work. I believe in the power of unions to protect workers from abuse by companies and corporations, and I am a proud union member. Now more than ever in this current political climate, I believe all of these things. I believe in the sense of fairness toward which the human spirit strives. Happy Labor Day!

Standing together with co-workers in a union makes a tangible difference you can feel every day. Here are just a few benefits:

• Workers in labor unions make 18% more in wages than our nonunion counterparts.
• We are more likely to have health care benefits. More than nine out of 10 union members have access to employer-provided health insurance, compared to 68% of nonunion workers, according to the Department of Labor.
• We work in safer workplaces. One study found job sites that were unionized have lost-time claims at a 31% lower rate than non-unionized sites.
• We have more job security—even and especially in moments of economic crisis.

Countries where most workers are in a union are among the happiest and healthiest on Earth.

Life is better in a union.

https://aflcio.org/laborday

Happy Pride Anniversary 2025!

HAPPY PRIDE ANNIVERSARY!

Fifty-six years ago today, a bunch of fed-up drag queens, hustlers, and assorted gay misfits at the Stonewall Inn in New York turned the tables on yet another unnecessary, unfair, harassing police raid. That resistance gave rise to a series of riots and ultimately to the birth of the modern gay activist movement. It seems like a long time ago, and while a few laws and minds have changed, we still have a way to go, and a lot more irrational fear, hatred, bigotry, and misconceptions to fight...especially considering the vicious, radical conservative and radical Christian-fueled wave of LGBT+--specifically Trans--hatred in our country which is being legitimized by the current administration of darkness.

We celebrate Pride Month and recognize Pride Day because it is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay youth are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay and trans men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes. That’s why Congress must pass the Equality Act to outlaw discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but we know that will not happen until the next administration that is run by a sense of humanism and decency. 

Because the LGBT Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, attacked, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

So today, we thank and celebrate all the brave individuals at the Stonewall uprising and the ensuing riots for saying, "ENOUGH. I AM A HUMAN BEING AND I DEMAND TO BE TREATED AS ONE!"

While The Stonewall Inn was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it became an official New York City landmark on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in order to preserve the site and honor its historic importance. Most importantly, on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall Inn was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the gay rights movement.

I just visited The Stonewall Inn in 2024 (see the photos below) and it was affirming to see such an important piece of history. And the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center is located right next door, where a sign says, "In the name of those who came before me, I pledge to be brave, to be true to myself, and to fight like hell for equality." I also visited Christopher Park, the little green park facing The Stonewall Inn which is the Stonewall National Monument under the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service. The park features a bronze sculpture of two men and two women unafraid to show themselves to the world.

There is a very nice, informative, and moving Wiki entry about the riots and the history leading up to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

JUNETEENTH 2025

https://www.juneteenth.com/

Happy Pride Month 2025!

June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer/Questioning) Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969 (look for my annual blog posting about this important date on the 28th).

Why Pride?

Despite the fact that Pete Buttigieg, an out and proud and well adjusted and brilliantly smart gay man ran a highly successful campaign for President of the United States (remember how everyone said that we no longer have any racism in the United States because a black man was President?), we still have a tremendous problem with homophobia here (especially with the new administration of darkness attacking LGBTQ rights) and around the world. Pride Month is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces here in the United States. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes, while political attacks against the LGBTQ community have increased with destructive, radical conservatives insisting that anyone who stands for LGBTQ rights is somehow "grooming children" for sexual exploitation. In fact there were over 800 anti-LBGTQ bills introduced last year alone. Yet that pales in comparison to some other unfortunately backward places around the world where gay men and women are routinely tortured and slaughtered--sometimes by government-sanctioned assassins, governments who insist that there is no such thing as homosexuality and that such ideas are evil imports from the Western world (Ghana imposes actual JAIL SENTENCES for anyone just identifying as LGBTQ).

The LGBTQ Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, tortured, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

The rainbow flag is a universal symbol of hope for LGBTQ people around the world. It first flew in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza for Gay Pride Day, on June 25, 1978. It originally had eight colors--two more than today's version--and was designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and activist who sewed the whopping 30' x 60' flag by hand. He had been commissioned to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003.
(Credit Fredrik Persson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Baker died in 2017, aged 65. In a 2015 interview with CNN, here, he revealed the rationale behind the design of the flag. "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," he said. "We're an ancient, wonderful tribe of people. We picked something from nature. We picked something beautiful."

https://gilbertbaker.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)

Happy International Women's Day 2025

Today, March 8th, 2025, is the 114th International Women's Day.

IWD is a movement, powered by the collective efforts of all.

The day belongs to all groups, everywhere. That's what makes IWD so inclusive, not exclusive.

Since the first International Women's Day in 1911, the day remains an important opportunity for elevating and amplifying the focus on gender equality.

IWD celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness about persistent inequities, and mobilizes action.

Visit the International Women's Day website to learn more:
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

LGBT History Month: Friday of the Purple Hand, 1969

Tomorrow marks the 55th anniversary of a landmark event in the history of gay rights: Friday of the Purple Hand. I am always humbled and filled with gratitude and awe when I read stories of the bravery of my gay brothers and sisters from long ago. The article below from KQED in 2019 offers a fantastic recounting.


Armed with Ink, 1960s Activists 'Struck Back' Against Homophobic Media
by Sarah Hotchkiss fro KQED
Jun 13, 2019

The day that came to be known as “Friday of the Purple Hand” ended in 15 arrests, a broken rib, one set of knocked-out teeth and purple handprints scattered across the San Francisco Examiner’s exterior walls.

Four months after the infamous Stonewall riots in New York City, the Bay Area’s more radical LGBTQ+ organizations of 1969 refused to passively accept negative depictions of their community in the local news. So on Oct. 25, when the Examiner published an article by reporter Robert Patterson under the headline “The Dreary Revels of S.F. ‘Gay’ Clubs,” the newspaper unknowingly issued a powerful call to arms—to the very people it had derided.

The events of that day show that the battleground for the burgeoning gay liberation movement wasn’t just on the streets or in the bars—where LGBTQ+ people demanded the right to live openly and unmolested by police—but within the pages of America’s newspapers and magazines. There, mainstream media’s dismissive adjectives, ironic scare quotes and defamatory headlines had the power to shape public opinion of an increasingly vocal and visible minority group.

And they definitely weren’t expecting a coalition of gay liberation groups to strike back.

The headline of Robert Patterson's Oct. 25, 1969 article about gay breakfast clubs
in the 'San Francisco Examiner.' (Courtesy of the SF Examiner)

A community mobilizes
By today’s standards, Patterson’s article, ostensibly about after-hours “‘gay’ breakfast clubs” (note the scare quotes around the word “gay”), reads like a hit piece.

He described the clientele of these so-called “deviate establishments” in as many grossly homophobic ways as possible, all well beyond the pale: “semi-males with flexible wrists and hips,” “the pseudo fair sex,” and “women who aren’t exactly women.” (In a testament to Patterson’s ‘credibility,’ he was fired by the Examiner in 1972 for a series of stories he wrote about visiting China; the paper concluded he had not actually visited the country.)

The community he described was outraged. “The San Francisco Examiner has surpassed its traditional standard of tastelessness and its predictable appeal for redneck hysteria,” the newly formed gay liberation group, the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) wrote in a Berkeley Barb response piece. “The entire gay community and all those actively working for true liberation must mobilize to confront the brutal suppression of freedom that the Examiner consistently exemplifies and encourages.”

A date was set after several attempts to engage with the paper’s editor and Patterson directly: a large-scale protest would take place on Oct. 31, starting at 12pm on the sidewalk outside the Examiner’s Fifth Street building.

The “melee,” as the Examiner described it the next day, started when two unknown persons (widely thought to be newspaper employees) dropped bags of purple printer’s ink from the building rooftop onto the peaceful picketers below. “Indignation turned to anger,” one of the protesters later wrote in The San Francisco Free Press. “Feet stepped in the ink. It appeared all around the sidewalks. One or two hands dipped into the ink and a new symbol was born.”

Stevens McClave raises his purple fist in protest

The police initially apprehended just one demonstrator, the first one to put his inky hand on the building walls, but as others protested his arrest, the “Tac Squad” (sardonically described as “close by and ever on the ready”) moved in, raising their batons and declaring the picket line an illegal assembly.

In the ensuing “fracas” (another great 1969 word), a dozen protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct and thrown in the paddy wagon—several on felony charges that were eventually dropped (except for one instance of allegedly biting a police officer). Other protesters took the issue to City Hall, where an additional three were arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly and remaining at the site of a riot (essentially, staying in the building past closing time).

Unsurprisingly, the SFPD’s heavy-handed response—and the ensuing cases against the arrested protesters—galvanized not just the members of more radical LGBTQ+ groups, but the old guard they initially sought to distance themselves from, creating a network of support that would propel the Bay Area’s gay liberation movement in the years to come.

Marc Robert Stein, professor of history at San Francisco State University and editor of The Stonewall Riots: A Documentary History, thinks the timing of Patterson’s article wasn’t coincidental, and reflected the era’s homophobic attitudes to burgeoning gay organizing. “October was the month when mainstream magazines first covered Stonewall,” he says. “The movement is really growing. And it’s at that moment that there’s this incredibly hostile story.”

Join the gay revolution
Before the events of the Purple Hand and before the creation of the CHF, the largest gay organization in San Francisco was the Society for Individual Rights (S.I.R.), a homophile society (to use the language of the time) founded in 1964.

As the women’s rights, anti-war and Black power movements swept the country, some younger members of the LGBTQ+ community considered S.I.R. to be too conservative. In an April 1969 editorial, Leo Laurence, editor of Vector, S.I.R.’s monthly magazine, broke ranks with the mostly white, middle-class and nonconfrontational members of S.I.R., calling them “timid, uptight, conservative, and afraid to act for the good of the whole homosexual community.”

The time had come, Laurence argued, for everyone to come out to their friends, family and employers, and to be proud of their sexuality. They should be joining forces with other social causes, like the Black Panthers and local unions, and standing up for everyone’s rights.

To illustrate his idea of LGBTQ+ freedom in a subsequent Berkeley Barb interview, Laurence supplied the alt weekly with a picture of two men smiling: Laurence with his arms around his friend Gale Whittington. In no short order, S.I.R. asked Laurence to resign, and Whittington was fired from his job at the States Steamship Company.

The CHF, co-founded by Laurence, Whittington and a few others, was a direct reaction to this double rejection from both “straight” society and the existing gay establishment. And with this effort, they would be all about coalition-building.

The Purple Hand events were co-organized by at least three like-minded groups, including Gay Guerrilla Theater and the Gay Liberation Front. But despite the fracture between Laurence and S.I.R. that precipitated the creation of the CHF months earlier, the old-guard emerged as surprising supporters of the younger demonstrators as well.

In a Nov. 7 Berkeley Tribe piece reflecting on the demonstration and its aftermath, Laurence writes, “I was scared and felt alone in jail, until I learned of the help mobilized ‘outside.’” The Red Mountain Tribe gathered bail money, S.I.R.’s president saved Laurence’s camera film before he was thrown in the paddy wagon, Del Martin (co-founder in 1955 of the lesbian group Daughters of Bilitis) helped CHF find lawyers, writing several sympathetic articles for Vector in the months to come.

“When Gale Whittington and I founded the CHF last spring, we dreamed of a nationwide movement,” Laurence writes in the Tribe. “It’s no longer a fantasy.”

After the Purple Hand
Protests against mainstream media’s depictions of the LGBTQ+ community would continue for years to come. The Purple Hand events, Stein says, are just one example of protests across the country against newspapers and magazines in ’69 and ’70, along with a second wave of protests against television stations and individual shows in ’73.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca, who joined the Gay Liberation Front in Philadelphia when he was a 19-year-old student at Temple University, remembers those times well. “Back in the ’70s especially pretty much any time they did a feature on the community it would be very negative,” he remembers. The GLF would picket or actually enter the newspaper offices, confronting editors and writers of the specific stories.

Through a combination of direct action, face-to-face conversations and larger shifts in society, Mecca says, things gradually changed, fulfilling in many ways Laurence’s early 1969 call-to-arms.

“I think one of the greatest things we did as a community was to come out of the closet,” Mecca says. “By being visible, we broke all the stereotypes. We forced people to engage with us, we forced our families to deal with us, we forced people to see we were just like them.”

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13859570/friday-purple-hand-gay-liberation-1969

Spirit Day 2024!

Today is the fourteenth annual Spirit Day and I'm wearing purple to participate...and I hope you will too. The movement was launched in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan in conjunction with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) as a day to remember the young people who have taken their lives due to homophobic bullying and soul-destroying lies perpetuated by homophobic groups, both political and religious in nature (and some who think they are above the law and combine both without paying any taxes!). To show support to the LGBTQ+ youth still with us and to combat the rampant bullying and frantic hatred that still infects our country at cultural and political levels, today is a day to wear purple and demonstrate to anyone who might be feeling alone and worthless that there are many people in the world who believe in the value of their lives and souls. As a past victim of homophobic violence, physical attacks, and bullying, this observance is very close to me.

GLAAD's website says:
#SpiritDay is the world’s most visible anti-bullying movement inspiring LGBTQ youth, especially transgender and nonbinary youth to live their lives in their truth and authenticity. This year, on Thursday, October 17th, GLAAD will organize thousands of celebrities, influential voices, news & media outlets, tv & film studios, brands & corporations, landmarks, sports leagues, tech leaders, influencers, faith groups and so many more to go purple and support LGBTQ youth by creating clear possibility models for them to thrive and be represented in the world.

While GLAAD research shows that LGBTQ acceptance is at an all-time high, so too is anti-LGBTQ discrimination and bullying. As online hate continues to foment real-world harm, coupled with the anti-LGBTQ climate of our day — from book bans to bans on drag, bans on LGBTQ history and bans on healthcare — America’s youth is particularly at-risk and has never needed our support more than right now. #SpiritDay gives LGBTQ youth, their parents and allies an opportunity to see what’s possible when we lead with acceptance.

Take the #SpiritDay pledge now to commit to going purple on Thursday, October 17th and showing LGBTQ youth you’ve got their backs! Learn more at http://glaad.org/spiritday and @glaad across all social media.

These are frightening, disappointing statistics.

- 68% of LGBTQ+ students feel unsafe at school.

- 60% of LGBTQ+ students reported discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

- 53% of LGBTQ students report being verbally harassed simply because they were perceived as LGBTQ+.
- 66% of LGBTQ+ students said that hearing about potential state and local laws banning people from discussing LGBTQ+ people at school made their mental health a lot worse.

And the most disappointing, heartbreaking statistic of all:

- 41% of LGBTQ+ students seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.

No wonder gay teens take their lives at much higher rates than the national average.

Anti-LGBTQ groups are using this deliberately misleading and harmful message to spread hate: "Protect our children." But of course they don't mean protect all children from harassment, bullying, and discrimination...their form of "protection" just increases the damage done to children as evidenced by the statistics above.

For more information, to take the anti-bullying pledge, or to donate to GLAAD, please visit their website.

https://glaad.org/spiritday/


Here is a letter I wrote to anyone who needs to hear it:

Dear gay teen contemplating suicide:

You are not wrong. You are not "bad.” You are not sick, defective, or evil.
You are perfect and beautiful just the way you are.
You have done nothing wrong and you have done nothing to deserve being humiliated, punished, or hurt, either physically or emotionally.
Bullying and discrimination are never, ever innocent: the bullies are the ones who are wrong, bad, and sick for hurting you.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that you are any less of a human being than they are. Don’t believe anyone who tells you being gay is a choice or that being gay is about behavior; you are who you are. Embrace yourself and be proud of being alive.

You have value. You have as much right to be here on this planet as anyone else.
It may seem like the world is against you now, but know there are people for you out there, there are places for you out there. You will be happy, you will get to live YOUR life the way YOU want to, without having to pay any attention to the bullies or whatever “bible” nonsense some people might throw at you… you are not "impure," "immoral," "unnatural," or "against nature." Those are just ridiculous, ugly lies they tell to mask their hatred, fear, and prejudice.

You will survive and thrive! You get to live here. This is your RIGHT.
You might turn out to be an important author, a doctor who cures a disease, a famous designer, someone who invents a new type of metal alloy, an inspiring performer… or you might end up working with kids who need to hear that they have value and are perfect the way they are.
Please stick around.
Please.
We need you.

Keep yourself safe.

Love,
JEF

To help, please visit:
The Trevor Project
And please spread the word about this issue and these sites--you never know who might need to hear about them.

HAPPY LABOR DAY 2024!

Happy Labor Day, readers in the United States! This is a holiday that recognizes and honors the American labor movement of the late 19th century and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of the country.

I believe in the power of labor and work. I believe in the dignity of labor and work. I believe in the power of unions to protect workers from abuse by companies and corporations, and I am a proud union member. Now more than ever in this current political climate, I believe all of these things. I believe in the sense of fairness toward which the human spirit strives. Happy Labor Day!

Standing together with co-workers in a union makes a tangible difference you can feel every day. Here are just a few benefits:

• Workers in labor unions make 18% more in wages than our nonunion counterparts.
• We are more likely to have health care benefits. More than nine out of 10 union members have access to employer-provided health insurance, compared to 68% of nonunion workers, according to the Department of Labor.
• We work in safer workplaces. One study found job sites that were unionized have lost-time claims at a 31% lower rate than non-unionized sites.
• We have more job security—even and especially in moments of economic crisis.

Countries where most workers are in a union are among the happiest and healthiest on Earth.

Life is better in a union.

https://aflcio.org/laborday

Happy Independence Day 2024: A Celebration of True Democracy

For those readers with me in the United States, Happy 4th of July. Although things are better than they were  from 2017 to 2021, Democracy itself and our country are still under attack from the inside by hostile forces from the right, with their unrelenting, baffling desire to destroy the principles of Humanism. Our upcoming Presidential election is a tremendous source of anxiety for those of us who want the principles of Democracy to prevail. It is our wish and hope that someone from the Democratic party wins the election. If not, I truly fear for our future and our literal physical safety.

So it is at this time in particular that we need to celebrate our Independence Day, our country, and the concept of Democracy. When nearly two and a half centuries ago, a band of patriots gathered in Philadelphia to declare that "all men are created equal," they intended for this country to be different form the others, to be better, to be always striving toward a more perfect union. It is why they made the Constitution a living document, able to be revised, changed, improved upon, thus improving the lives of everyone living in these United States. It is our true purpose, our original ideal to continually improve the quality of life for Americans--all Americans--no matter their race, sex, age, physical ability, religion, and sexual or gender identity. And July 4th is a celebration of that, a Celebration of Possibility, a celebration of the idea that we can continually improve upon our morals, our laws, our procedures, our attitudes. We continually strive toward those possibilities which include instead of exclude, which right what has been wrong, which bring more people into our national fabric, elevating and enriching life in this country. That is why it is particularly distressing and brings a very specific anguish to see these ideals, this leap toward possibilities of greatness that is part of our Constitution and of Democracy itself eroded, attacked, and mocked by conservatives and the right wing and more shockingly, by a large section of our own fellow citizens who support the viciousness and hatred, demonstrating that only cruelty and not the health and future of the United States is their point.

But today, let's choose to celebrate the possibilities of change, of improvement, of an ever-strengthening yearning toward a more perfect union. Please vote to honor these ideals in the next Presidential election--we must have a President and not a King or despot--and to ensure that we live up to the promise of making life for all citizens--ALL CITIZENS--better. We haven't yet and we need to, finally, fulfill that promise.

Here is the sonnet "The New Colossus" by poet Emma Lazarus which serves as the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, our valuable ally. The inscription affirms the ideal of inclusiveness and the United States as a beacon of hope, comfort, and stability for anyone who seeks it.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Happy Pride Anniversary 2024!

HAPPY PRIDE ANNIVERSARY!

Fifty-five years ago today, a bunch of fed-up drag queens, hustlers, and assorted gay misfits at the Stonewall Inn in New York turned the tables on yet another unnecessary, unfair, harassing police raid. That resistance gave rise to a series of riots and ultimately to the birth of the modern gay activist movement. It seems like a long time ago, and while a few laws and minds have changed, we still have a way to go, and a lot more irrational fear, hatred, bigotry, and misconceptions to fight...especially considering the vicious, radical conservative and radical Christian-fueled wave of LGBT+--specifically Trans--hatred sweeping across our country.

We celebrate Pride Month and recognize Pride Day because it is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay youth are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay and trans men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes. That’s why Congress must pass the Equality Act to outlaw discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and stem the frightening tide of over five hundred anti-LGBT+ bills in state legislatures this year alone across the United States. 

Because the LGBT Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, attacked, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

So today, we thank and celebrate all the brave individuals at the Stonewall uprising and the ensuing riots for saying, "ENOUGH. I AM A HUMAN BEING AND I DEMAND TO BE TREATED AS ONE!"

While The Stonewall Inn was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it became an official New York City landmark on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in order to preserve the site and honor its historic importance. Most importantly, on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall Inn was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the gay rights movement.

I just visited The Stonewall Inn last month (see the photos below) and it was affirming to see such an important piece of history. And opening today is the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center right next door, where a sign says, "In the name of those who came before me, I pledge to be brave, to be true to myself, and to fight like hell for equality." I also visited Christopher Park, the little green park facing The Stonewall Inn which is the Stonewall National Monument under the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service. The park features a bronze sculpture of two men and two women unafraid to show themselves to the world.

There is a very nice, informative, and moving Wiki entry about the riots and the history leading up to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots