Before the Parade Passes By

LGBTQ Pride Parades will be happening many places today, including San Francisco where I participated for so many years.  Before the parade passes by though I want to say a few more things about LGBTQ history and all of these events.

 

All this month I have broken from writing about various ways we can make a difference and I have focused of the many people and events that have helped improve conditions and promote equality for our LGBTQ sisters and brothers.  There are so many more stories that can be told.  I'd like to invite you once again to share your own stories in the comments section below. 

 

I world is a better place and so many good people have done good things, but we still have a long way to go.  People should fell safe wherever they are and at all times, not just at celebrations one month out of the year.  Together, we can make the world a better place.  Let's always stand against hate.

 

Oh and about those parades, there was a time when there would be little media coverage.  Today many of the parades are being televised live!  Watch live coverage from New York HERE beginning at noon Eastern Time and watch the San Francisco parade live HERE beginning at 10:30am Pacific Time.  Happy Pride everyone!

Arson claims 32 lives

We wrote here about this tragedy back on June 12th and also wrote about the mass murder that occurred three years ago in Orlando.  What many people don't know about the New Orleans arson at the UpStairs Lounge, is that very little was said about it being a gay bar.

Thirty two people died in that horrific fire on this date back in 1973.  Some of the bodies were never claimed.  Some churches refused to hold funerals.  (I can recall the same thing happening during the early days of AIDS).  A local Episcopal priest held a small memorial liturgy with about eighty people present.  The priest received hate mail as a result and his bishop expressed sharp disapproval that the service had been held.

While this tragedy didn't get much publicity at the time, a documentary about the fire, UpStairs Inferno  was released n 2015.  Two years ago an Off-Broadway musical called The View Upstairs opened at The Lynn Redgrave Theater in New York City. 

The most likely suspect was never charged and took his own life a year later.   There was never any solid evidence proving that the arson was motivated by hate or homophobia.  It was the deadliest known attack on a gay club in this country until the 2016 Pulse shooting in Orlando.

The Trevor Project

Yesterday I mentioned The Trevor Project, but today I want to say a lot more.  (I really should have done this last night when they presented an amazing program and fundraiser).  This incredible organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning youth and helped so many kids get their lives on track.  I was pleased to see Eugene Lee Yang's connection and so many other celebrities.

I watched TrevorLIVE last night as they celebrated 21 years of our life-saving work. It was a heartwarming program, and as I said earlier, I wish I had told you about it yesterday, so many of you could have tuned in.  I do hope many of you will donate though.  The easiest way is through their secure website HERE.  You can also find out much more about them by going to https://www.thetrevorproject.org

I hope you will share this information with family and friends too.  All too often lgbtq youth are disowned by their parents or other relatives.  Feeling alone and isolated can be a terrifying experience.  How wonderful that The Trevor Project is there for people who find themselves all alone.  If you know of anyone thinking about suicide, they deserve immediate help - please call the Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386.

I'm Gay

Over the weekend, Eugene Lee Yang came out as gay.  That might not be huge news and some of you might be asking just who is Eugene Lee Yang.  Well he is an actor who became best known from the internet and is part of The Try Guys an online comedy series currently available on YouTube.  On Saturday, the Try Guys released a video which Yang wrote and directed and which is his coming out story.  The video is stunning.

I don't know much about his hometown or how difficult it might have been for him growing up.  Yang is from Pflugerville, Texas - ever heard of it?  It's a suburb or Austin.

There has probably been more written about Eugene Lee Yang in the past 24 hours than in all of his 33 years.  Most of what I have seen isn't centering on his talent and career, but on the spectacular way he told the world he is gay.  If you want to see the video, click HERE.  Share it with your friends too.  It can be a difficult and courageous action, but what Yang did this weekend - so appropriate during this Pride Month, can be a source of strength and encouragement to so many.  He could have just posted "I'm gay" on social media.  Instead he presented a visual experience that will be remembered for years to come.  By the way, ODESZA provides the incredible music for the video.

One more thing:  Yang tweeted "I've also created a fundraiser for the Trevor Project to help save LGBTQ+ lives."  (The Trevor Project is one of my favorite organizations, and I will write more about them tomorrow).  Thank you so much Eugene for making a difference! 

It's going to happen, whether you like it or not

California's Governor, Gavin Newsom is not a gay man but he believes that gay men and women should have the same rights as everyone else, particularly in the area of marriage.  It was he, while he was Mayor of San Francisco, who directed the county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and got the marriage equality ball rolling. 

 

This is not to say for one second that others were not a part of this fight and credit should certainly be given to City Attorney Dennis Herrera and to so many faithful love warriors.  Gavin Newsom though played a major role and it was fitting that he would officiate the wedding of gay pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.

 

Would we have gotten where we are today without Newsom?  Probably, but not as quickly.  Every movement needs a beginning, and for this one, it was his actions.  Newsom is not just a lgbtq supporter in the area of marriage, he has proudly supported the lgbtq community over and over and I'm certain will continue to.

Earlier this month he issued a proclamation declaring June 2019, as “LGBTQ Pride Month” in the state of California and speaking of "our remarkable capacity to live together and advance together across every conceivable difference."  The proclamation says "This June, we stand with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community of California as they declare their pride in who they are and who they love."

Newsom has participated in San Francisco's Pride Parade for many years, but later this month he will do it as Governor of California and will be the first sitting governor of the state to do so.
 

Of all his statements in support of the lgbtq community, I will always remember his speech regarding same-sex marriage in which he said "It's going to happen, whether you like it or not."

Gay Mass Tragedies

Last Saturday I mentioned the terrible Pulse Nightclub tragedy and said remember them with action.  I want to repeat that because it is so important and today is the anniversary of that massacre.  When I wrote about it back in 2016 here in this space, I said we should never forget and I wrote something on the subject for several days in a row.  Any loss of life is terrible and it becomes that much worse when it is motivated by hate.  Remember the forty-nine souls who perished that day because of hatred and learn some of the things you can do by going to https://honorthemwithaction.org/ too.

 

Sadly, this was not the only hate crime against the LGBTQ community. Another horrible attack occurred during the month of June, this one in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana way back on June 24, 1973, at a gay bar called the UpStairs Lounge. Thirty-two people died as a result of fire or smoke inhalation.  The exact cause was never proven, but that does not change the fact that people died a horrible death.  Not much publicity surrounding that incident either.

 

I listed the names here on Saturday of the victims of the Pulse massacre.  I'd like you to also know the names of those who lost their lives in New Orleans.  Sadly, two of them were never identified.  Say their names.

 

Willie Inez Warren

Eddie Hosea Warren

James Curtis Warren

Luther Boggs

Rev. William R. Larson

Dr. Perry Lane Waters, Jr.

Horace “Skip” Getchell

Leon Richard Maples

George Steven Matyl

James Wall Hembrick

Larry Stratton

Joe William Balley

Clarence Joseph McCloskey, Jr.

Adam Roland Fontenot

Ferris LeBlanc

Donald Walter Dunbar

Kenneth Paul Harrington

Gerald Hoyt Gordon

John Thomas Golding, Sr.

Douglas Maxwell Williams

Robert “Bob” Lumpkin

David Stuart Gary

Guy D. Anderson

Duane George “Mitch” Mitchell

Louis Horace Broussard

Reginald Adams, Jr.

Joseph Henry Adams

Herbert Dean Cooley

Glenn Richard “Dick” Green

Larry Norman Frost

Unidentified White Male

Unidentified White Male

Phyllis

You cannot talk about lgbtq heroes without mentioning this lady, Phyllis Lyon.  A former journalist, Phyllis met another incredible woman, Del Martin some 64 years ago, and together they made a lot of history.

The two women were active in the National Organization for Women, Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club (San Francisco), and Old Lesbians Organizing for Change.  They also formed the Council on Religion and the Homosexual.  With six other gay women, they formed the Daughters of Bilitis way back in 1955.  This was way before equal rights were being talked about anywhere and it was the first national lesbian organization in the US.

Phyllis spent over fifty years with Del, and then in 2004, they married when San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Six months later that marriage was voided by the California Supreme Court but there was more legal fighting to come.  That same court legalized same-sex marriage four years later, and in the first same-sex wedding to take place in San Francisco after that ruling, Phyllis and Del again exchanged vows.  Sadly, Del passed away two months later.

Phyllis Lyon has continued the fight.  Proposition 8 took away same-sex marriage for a short time, but the courts finally made same-sex marriage legal again in California and I will always remember that day.  I was in the San Francisco City Hall rotunda awaiting the announcement with a huge crowd gathered, and down the grand staircase came Phyllis Lyon with the Lt Governor on one arm and the Mayor of San Francisco on the other.  I felt sad that her wife couldn't have been there with her.

This fall Phyllis turns 95.  I'll be she is a bit amazed at how much progress we have made in her lifetime, much of which came about thanks to her dedicated work.

Successful new Pride

Located about 105 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada the city of Kingman, Arizona is the seat of Mohave County and has a population just over 28,068. It is the reddest county in Arizona with more votes cast here for Donald Trump than any other part of the state. Yesterday though it show a thing or two about diversity and equality as it hosted its first-ever Pride event. Some say that over 3,000 attended. I was one of them.

Folks came from all over - all ages, genders, sexual orientations, races - all kinds of people.  Local merchants participated.  There were numerous events for the kids (like face painting).  There was live music.  There was food and beer and yummy ice-cream.  Oh and the weather was perfect, which is not always the case in this neck-of-the-woods.  Two local women were the primary organizers of the event and although this was a new venture for them, you could have sworn this was what they always do.  All of the comments I heard were positive.  This was indeed a very successful new Pride event.

For those who have attended Pride in other cities, there were a lot of familiar things too.  Folks were being themselves and having a good time.  The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group and political lobbying organization in the country, was present with a booth.  Also on hand were The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from both Las Vegas and Phoenix.

 

There are new Pride events happening all the time.  Perhaps there is one near you this month.  I hope they can all be a fun and as successful as this one!

Honor Them With Action

One of the darkest days in our history occurred just a few years ago in Orlando, FL.  It was on June 12, 2016 that a gunman shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub that was hosting Latin Night. Honor Them With Action is the national campaign to ensure the lasting memorial of the Pulse massacre is the real change of uprooting hatred, discrimination, and violence of all kinds against the LGBTQ and Latinx communities, and those who live within both.  So today through June 16th, intentionally do something in your community to make a difference.

 

As I have mentioned already, the very first Pride event where I currently live is today.  What better place to come out and so love and support for everyone, and honor the memory of the horrible tragedy in Orlando.  Here is Kingman is just one place of course,  You can honor them wherever you may be.

 

You can donate money, get more information, or get further involved by checking in at https://honorthemwithaction.org/ too.

 

Let me also remind you of the men and women who lost their lives that night due to hate.  Don't let them be forgotten.  Say their names.

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old
Amanda Alvear, 25 years old
Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old
Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old
Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old
Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old
Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old
Juan Chavez Martinez, 25 years old
Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old
Cory James Connell, 21 years old
Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old
Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old
Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old
Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old
Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old
Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old
Frank Hernandez, 27 years old
Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old
Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old
Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25 years old
Christopher “Drew” Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old
Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old
Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old
KJ Morris, 37 years old
Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old
Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old
Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old
Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old
Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old
Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old
Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old
Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old
Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old
Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old
Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old
Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old
Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old
Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old
Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old
Luis Daniel Lestat Wilson-Leon, 37 years old
Jerald “Jerry” Arthur Wright, 31 years old

This Could Be The Start Of Something Big

Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Stonewall this year, there are a lot of new Pride events and I am thrilled and excited to see something happening in Mohave County, Arizona.  This happens to be where I live these days, so I have an extra reason to be hoping for success here.  

For the very first time, there is a Pride event in downtown Kingman, AZ and the day long festival in the park tomorrow will be followed in the evening by an after-party complete with drag queens.  While that might be business as usual in a large city, it's not what you usually find in this relatively small town.

This could be the start of something big folks and I really hope it is successful!  I am not one of the organizers, but I do know that a lot of work has gone into this.  If you live in or near Northwest Arizona, come to Kingman tomorrow and join in the fun.  The festival will be from 10am to 8pm in Metcalf Park on Beale Street in Kingman.  The after-party is nearby, and a Sunday morning drag brunch is the perfect way to end the Pride celebration here.  Tell your friends too!

Now this not having happened here before, I cannot tell you how successful it will be.  A lot of that is up to us.  As with all struggles, if we want to make progress, we have to participate.  On Sunday, I wrote here about the need for Pride and I think the need if often greater in smaller communities.  I am very happy that local media have been reporting on this, and I hope others will keep spreading the word.  As I often say, together we can make a difference!