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Different from the Others
I know how lucky I am to have been born when I was. I know that where I live – Southern California in general and Palm Springs specifically – gives me advantages others lack or can only dream of. Even now, with Trump and Company leading an all-out war against diversity, looking to rollback decades…
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Enough!
Ah, November. It is the beginning of so much in the Coachella Valley. It marks the official start of what we call “the season” here in Palm Springs – a period of six months, more or less, of heaven on earth: highs in the mid-70s, rarely a cloud in the sky, maybe a raindrop or…
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Never a truer friend was there
I have a friend who is going to die shortly. I know this not because of his diagnosis or some prescience on my part. I know it because in light of his diagnosis he has made the choice to end his life using the California EOLOA – the California End of Life Option Act –…
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Are you an ally?
Have you ever had the experience of hearing a friend, a coworker, a religious leader, a politician, or even a stranger in line with you at the checkout of the supermarket say something derogatory about LGBTQ+ people, or just homophobic, and thought to yourself ‘I don’t agree with that at all?’ Seen on the news…
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The Black Cat
When the Civil Rights Act was passed and signed into law in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson, it did not end discrimination, it signaled that it would be the official policy of the United States to treat all people equally under the Constitution. It acknowledged the inherent dignity of every person. Five years later, on…
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The Warrior Ethos?
I… um… the… it’s… but… there are no words. I’ll try though. I thought it was hilarious – ignorant, stupid, childish, petty, but hilarious – last March when Newsweek reported that pictures of “Enola Gay,” the aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan during WWII, were flagged for removal from the…
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Proclamation
“Coming out” is not a one-and-done deal. Throughout our lives, LGBTQ+ people are faced with “the dilemma” – over and over – of when and how much to share about themselves. As a physically disabled man, I require assistance just to accomplish many of the things that make up my day. I need help taking…
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Buyer’s Remorse
I have been horrified to watch the wholesale attack on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) that has engulfed the federal government since the new administration took office. It is about the most un-American impulse possible. E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one” in Latin, is the motto of the United States, recalling the union…
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Et tu, Brute?
You know, up until this last week, I was very proud of the governor of my state, Gavin Newsom. He has long held a place of the highest honor and regard in the gay community for being the first politician, in the entire country, to use his considerable authority as the then-mayor of San Francisco…
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Broadcasting the Closet
As a young boy, I loved the television show Bewitched, where an attractive 60s housewife named Samantha Stephens (played by Elizabeth Montgomery) is married to an east coast ad exec named Darrin Stephens (played first by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent). Samantha is a witch; Darrin, is a mortal. They have a half witch/half…
Your mileage may vary.