Although I was firmly planting roots in San Francisco, I was also itching to see other parts of the world. I was in the prime of my life and I wanted new experiences, new faces, new surroundings.
It was in early 1984 when I picked up the Sunday San Jose Mercury News and read an opinion piece by a local state Assembly member stating that homosexuals should have no legal, social, or political standing in society.
Pride Month is here! And with it comes a monthlong excursion navigating coast-to-coast parades to celebrate community, self-affirmation, and a true gathering of family with every facet of the LGBTQ2+ prism.
Until recently, LGBT Americans regularly suffered harassment, abuse, and worse at the hands of law enforcement, an oppression justified by religion and criminalized by the government.