In a word, Time Magazine’s designation of “the protester” as person of the year means nothing to me. I’ve been a protester for most of my 60 years on this planet, starting in my teens when I took to the streets in civil rights and anti-Vietnam War demos and later with… Read full post »

The last thing in the world many LGBT people want to be is a queer senior. And with good reason: entering the “golden years” in the queer community can be like entering a living hell. 

It means being dismissed by younger people as sexually and socially undesirable or being pat… Read full post »

I find it very interesting that some liberal religious leaders have joined the ranks of Occupy Boston’s encampment, not to proselytize, they say, but to be a part of a movement that they see as naturally akin to their faiths. They’ve even set up a tent that is for religious services… Read full post »

“…the government’s policies…are a stench in the nostrils of decent people, an offense against morality, an abandonment of reason, an affront to human dignity, an improper restraint upon proper freedom and liberty, a disgrace to any civilized society, and a violation o… Read full post »

I just came back from Eric Quezada’s memorial. He was the second friend to die in a month. The second amazing activist friend who went way before his time should have been up. 

It doesn’t get easier. No matter how old I get, no matter how many friends I’ve… Read full post »

Arthur Evans and I ended up as political enemies, though you wouldn’t know that if you saw us talking to each other on the streets of the Castro in the past few years. He always had a smile for me, even when we were on opposite sides of an issue, which… Read full post »

I learned about sex from the streets. In the working-class Little Italy in South Philly where I was born and raised, it’s where you found out anything you wanted to know. The older kids were fonts of wisdom. They didn’t always know what they were talking about, but you listened to… Read full post »

Michele Bachmann has once again made me proud to be an atheist. Her controversial comment on hurricane Irene last weekend that she now claims was just a joke (she’s got such a great sense of humor, that woman!) made me happy that at age 16 I rejected the Catholicism that was… Read full post »

Hurricane Irene is heading for the East Coast. It’s expected to be the worst tropical storm that part of the country has experienced in 20 years. Already, it’s battered the Bahamas and by Saturday should touch base on American soil in North Carolina, tearing up the northeast coast and hit… Read full post »

“You wouldn’t be talking to me now if we didn’t riot, would you?” That’s what one protester in Tottenham in North London told NBC News during what is being described as the city’s worst riot ever. Not that NBC or any other mainstream media will ever truly comprehen… Read full post »

In America, a veteran is considered a real hero and patriot. Newspapers and TV always talk of his or her amazing courage. Ask any American and he’ll tell you that vets went off to war to protect our precious “freedoms.” America is sure proud of its vets. 

Until one of… Read full post »

The “house keys not handcuffs” signs are gone as are the sounds of guitars and the people hanging out on the roof of the vacant 42-unit building in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District, home to Latino immigrants, artists and radical activists. Not to mention homeless folks… Read full post »

Whoever thought that a protest march held at the end of June to commemorate a riot by drag queens and others in New York’s Greenwich Village would become like the Chinese New Year parade or Mardi Gras? In some places, such as San Francisco, it’s even broadcast live on TV. 

 … Read full post »

When people wrote of the plays, songs and performance art I did in the 80s, they often used the adjective “angry.” I was the quintessential angry young man, only I was already in my 30s, so I don’t know if I qualified as “young.” But I was sure as hell angry.… Read full post »

My father’s birthday is coming up. He’s not around anymore, in fact, he’s been gone for over two decades. Yet I never fail to remember the day he was born. It’s strange, because we didn’t have the ideal father-son relationship. It was more like the relationship from hell… Read full post »

According to Christian radio host Harold Camping, president of the Family Radio network in Oakland, the Rapture, the most anticipated event in the lives of some Christian fundamentalists, is scheduled for Saturday, May 21. No exact time of day has been given. 

The Rapture occurs when all… Read full post »

Some people may think the world is now safe from terrorism, but it’s certainly not safe from crass commercialism. Osama bin Laden’s body had barely hit the water after being shot by Navy Seals when vendors throughout the country began capitalizing on his death with all sorts of memorabili… Read full post »

I can’t think of a bigger waste of taxpayer money than the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. 

The British people cannot afford the fairy tale affair, not at a time when Britain is facing a $6 billion deficit. It’s such a slap in the face to the ordinary… Read full post »

I still remember how scary it was to be gender non conforming 40 years ago. 

Not only in school where, as a sissy, I sometimes suffered the insults and blows of classmates who today might be seen as caricatures of South Philly toughs, but also after coming out and deciding… Read full post »

It’s a tried and true formula. 

Cities have used it for years to reduce populations of ethnic minorities they didn’t like. In the 1960s, the San Francisco Redevelopment Authority gutted the Fillmore area of the city, a long-time African American neighborhood, a place where jaz… Read full post »

Much has been said about The Advocate’s designation of San Francisco as the 11th gayest city in the country.

Some folks think that we should be numero uno or at least close to the top of the top ten. I think we still have our moments when we shine as… Read full post »

I was only a kid, but I remember the excitement among Catholics in my working-class, Italian/American neighborhood in Philadelphia. One of our own kind finally had a shot at being the next president of the U.S. 

After centuries of Protestant domination of the White House, the country was… Read full post »

I’ll never forget that night.

It was warm. Indian Summer. It was still light out, as daylight savings time was over a month away. In the streets of South Philly’s Little Italy, the kids were playing outside and the guys were hanging out, as they tended to do, on… Read full post »

The memories keep coming into my head this morning, they won’t stop. 

It’s World AIDS Day and, though I know that AIDS is not just about the dead, the voices of those who have passed on are loud in my mind right now, demanding to be heard. I’m sitting… Read full post »

Ft. Worth, Texas Councilman Joel Burns did something extraordinary on October 12.

An out gay member of City Council, he gave a stirring 12-minute speech about being bullied in school because of his perceived sexual orientation, an orientation he was too scared to acknowledge. He urged… Read full post »