Opinion :: Guest Opinion

Guest Opinion: The Castro Theatre belongs to the community

Guest Opinion: The Castro Theatre belongs to the community

  • by Tom Ammiano and Michela Alioto-Pier
  • Apr 24, 2023

For over 100 years, the Castro Theatre has been an architectural and cultural jewel in our city's crown and has evolved as an icon of the LGBTQ community and culture.

Guest Opinion: Harvey, the merchants, and the theater

Guest Opinion: Harvey, the merchants, and the theater

  • by Terrance Alan
  • Apr 19, 2023

The Castro Merchants Association was founded by Castro Camera business owner Harvey Milk in 1974 in response to the anti-gay Eureka Valley Merchants Association.

Guest Opinion: Not the Mother we wanted, but the one we needed

Guest Opinion: Not the Mother we wanted, but the one we needed

  • by Adriana Roberts
  • Apr 12, 2023

By nearly all accounts, Stefan Grygelko didn't really know what he was doing back when he created his now-legendary drag persona Heklina, on a whim in the early 1990s.

Guest Opinion: Reclaiming the Resurrection

Guest Opinion: Reclaiming the Resurrection

  • by Jim Mitulski
  • Apr 5, 2023

There is nothing like spending two winters in Duluth, Minnesota to make one appreciate the San Francisco Bay Area and all that it has to offer.

Guest Opinion: Time for trans people to stand up

Guest Opinion: Time for trans people to stand up

  • by Gabriel Haaland
  • Mar 29, 2023

This is the worst year in history for anti-trans and anti-drag legislation. Full stop.

Guest Opinion: A more inclusive Alameda County Democratic Party is good for everyone

Guest Opinion: A more inclusive Alameda County Democratic Party is good for everyone

  • by Annie Koruga
  • Mar 22, 2023

Over the past few years, the Alameda County Democratic Party has made significant progress on LGBTQ+ issues.

Guest Opinion: What we lose when an LGBTQ bar closes

Guest Opinion: What we lose when an LGBTQ bar closes

  • by Michael Yamashita
  • Mar 15, 2023

Shortly after the new year, I was stunned after learning another neighborhood business was closing.

Guest Opinion: It's time for Chapter 12X to go

Guest Opinion: It's time for Chapter 12X to go

  • by Rafael Mandelman
  • Mar 8, 2023

By the time the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the fundamental right to marriage is guaranteed to same-sex couples, many of us in San Francisco's queer community were ready to move on to the next frontier in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

Guest Opinion: Let's reauthorize PEPFAR

Guest Opinion: Let's reauthorize PEPFAR

  • by Barbara Lee
  • Mar 1, 2023

During President Joe Biden's recent State of the Union address, he briefly touched on a program that I helped start that has benefited people living with HIV/AIDS in countries around the world — the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

Guest Opinion: SFAF leads by values centered on justice

Guest Opinion: SFAF leads by values centered on justice

  • by Tyler TerMeer
  • Feb 22, 2023

For more than 40 years now, San Francisco AIDS Foundation has been there for our communities in times of crises: from the early response to AIDS to the current challenges around mpox, substance use, fatal overdose, and more.

Guest Opinion: MCC appears to be MIA

Guest Opinion: MCC appears to be MIA

  • by Adam Allen
  • Feb 15, 2023

My name is Adam Allen. I came out the first time as a lesbian when I was 19, and transitioned in my 20s. In the 1990s when I was first coming up, the fight for non-discrimination laws and marriage equality was front and center.

Guest Opinion: Creating Change makes me sick

Guest Opinion: Creating Change makes me sick

  • by by Emmett Patterson
  • Feb 8, 2023

On February 17, the National LGBTQ Task Force will gather thousands of activists in San Francisco for Creating Change, a national conference for queer movement building.

Guest Opinion: SF drag artists should apply for inaugural laureate position

Guest Opinion: SF drag artists should apply for inaugural laureate position

  • by Sister Roma
  • Feb 1, 2023

The art of drag has never been more celebrated and simultaneously more under attack than it is today.

Guest Opinion: Becoming Brown and gay in LA

Guest Opinion: Becoming Brown and gay in LA

  • by Anthony Christian Ocampo
  • Jan 18, 2023

In the early morning of June 12, 2016, a domestic terrorist entered Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and opened fire.