For many of us who lived through the hate filled eras of Joe McCarthy and Anita Bryant it now seems that those dark years are returning. There’s so much hate going on in America that I have not seen this country so divided since the Vietnam War, and possibly even more so now.
The rise of hate incidents against the Jewish Community is not only in the United States but all over the world. There are now almost 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced into legislatures across the nation, it is very reminiscent of Anita Bryant‘s national anti-Gay crusade of the 1970s. In Idaho there has even been a statewide bill introduced that would ban “public Drag performances” and of course Florida’s “don’t say Gay” state legislation has already been passed and signed by the governor as well as the Texas bill targeting parents of Transgender children.
The Supreme Court’s decision to take away the right of people with uteruses to control their own bodies is one of the most alarming and serious in decades and what other radical decisions could be coming in the future.
There is now a large group of Americans who are becoming more visible and upfront about their dislike and bias against people of color and immigrants. We all know that it was the Trump presidency that brought forth this now open hate and bias and the widening division between Americans. I believe that Trump’s slogan should’ve been “Let’s make America hate again” also returning us to the days of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party (now called The Proud Boys).
There is also an ongoing effort to suppress the African American vote and the fact that many of these campaigns are succeeding is unbelievable and a smack in the face to the centuries and sacrifices of the black civil rights movement. The growing violence in America seems not to be ending and the Republican Party is no longer the political party of Nixon, or even Reagan, it has become an ultra-right nationalism party. What is the answer to all of this? Latinos, Blacks, the Asian/AAPI, Jewish, and LGBTQ+ communities and the First Nation Natives must all come together and build a strong and united American coalition because the ultra-right Trump radicals are indeed after all of us, period!
Vote Tuesday, November 8th!
San Diego GLBT 2022 has made the following a top priority on your ballot:
State Senate: Joseph Rocha
State Assembly: Brian Maienschein
San Diego School Board: Shana Hazan
San Diego Sheriff: Kelly Martinez
Assessor/Recorder/Clerk: Jordan Marks
San Diego City Council: Kent Lee and Dr. Jennifer Campbell
Congress: Michael Levin
Chula Vista Mayor: Amar Campa-Najjar
These are all considered tight races!
Saturday, December 3, 2022
You are all invited to the unveiling street sign ceremony for “Nicole Murray Ramirez Way” in Hillcrest. I am so sincerely honored to be the first Gay San Diegan citizen to be recognized in this way (fellow longtime activist Jeri Dilno was the first Lesbian so honored). Yes, the ceremony will be held on my birthday with special guest out of town speakers like Judy Shepherd, Stuart Milk, former San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty and former Mayor of Salt Lake City, Jackie Biskupski.
