By Joanie Juster–
I long ago stopped making New Year’s resolutions—I’m lazy, I like chocolate, and the resolutions rarely lasted half a day. But on a less formal basis, I’m aiming this year to simply be more useful: to myself, my family, my neighborhood, my community. Let’s see how it goes.
Election Season: Something to Think About
Four years ago, I heard actor and activist Sharon Stone speak about our responsibility for participating in the work of our democracy. She quoted some truly depressing figures about voter turnout in the LGBTQ+ community, and challenged everyone to get out and vote in larger numbers, if they want to survive and thrive.
According to a study of LGBTQ+ voting patterns by the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, in the 2020 election 9 million LGBTQ+ adults were registered and eligible to vote, but 21% of LGBTQ+ adults were not even registered to vote. Imagine if they had all registered and voted in the 2020 elections. Could they have changed the balance of power in swing states? In red states? Could they have helped prevent the crushing wave of hateful anti-trans and anti-gay bills coming out of state legislatures?
Two years later, there was some better news. A study from Human Rights Campaign and Bowling Green State University, during the 2022 elections, found that more than 1 in 10 voters was predicted to be LGBTQ+, with that percentage expected to rise to 1 in 7 voters by 2040. This is largely due to a huge growth in the number of young voters predicted to identify as LGBTQ+: 27% of Gen Z, as opposed to 4.6% of Baby Boomers.
Why am I throwing all these figures at you? Because representation is power. Voting for policies that directly affect your life matters. Voting for candidates who represent you in very real ways matters. According to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which works to elect pro-equality, pro-choice candidates who are out members of the LGBTQ+ community to public office, LGBTQ+ elected officials make up only 0.25% of all elected positions in the U.S.
How can you help? First and foremost, register, and vote. Convince everyone you know to do the same. And if you want to help support LGBTQ+ candidates, the Victory Fund is a good place to start: https://victoryfund.org/
The Latest Victim of the Culture Wars: The Dictionary?
This is your periodic reminder that those who try to ban books are never on the right side of history.
Last year, in their tireless quest to make sure that students cannot be allowed to learn anything even remotely relevant to their actual lives, the state of Florida passed Florida HB 1069, a bill that mandates that any book submitted for review for containing “pornographic material” must be pulled from the shelves until a review process is complete.
The vague wording of the bill—and the fact that anyone can submit a book title for review for any reason—left schools and libraries across Florida in an impossible situation: keep books on the shelves and risk the consequences of breaking the law, or pull every book that has been challenged until it has survived the lengthy review process. The problem is exacerbated by a shortage of “certified media specialists” to review the books and approve them to be returned to the library shelves. And, of course, by the fact that there are determined right-wing activists who submit challenges for hundreds of books—whether they have read them or not—because they object to them for ideological reasons.
That brings us back to the dictionary. Yes, a challenger deemed Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus for Students to contain “pornographic material.” And the Guinness Book of World Records. And National Geographic’s Science Encyclopedia, as well as Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. You see where this is going … .
In December, the Escambia County Public School District, faced with a tsunami of book challenges, pulled 1,600 books from library shelves pending the review process—which, by the way, has no specific timetable or deadlines. So, while the school district is busy assuring parents and the media that they haven’t actually “banned” any books, in reality those 1,600 books are not available to students for an indeterminate amount of time, which could be many months, or even years.
This is all because one person can claim there was something objectionable in the books, like local English teacher Vicki Baggett, who has taken it upon herself to submit hundreds of books for review. This is why PEN America, Penguin Random House, and other plaintiffs are challenging these laws in court, claiming that restricting access to books violates the public’s rights under the 1st Amendment.
These attempts to restrict students’ access to books—largely due to perceived sexual content, LGBTQ+ issues, or racial and social justice issues—have spread across the country like a virus, but Florida remains the hottest spot, with more than 40% of the book bans nationwide during the 2022–23 school years taking place in Florida. I highly recommend reading the full list of all 1,600 books pulled from the shelves of the Escambia School District shelves; it is fascinating reading. It can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/BanFLA
Overdose Prevention – Yes, You Can Help
In case you missed it: The San Francisco Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Entertainment Commission recently partnered with drag artist and noted harm reduction activist Kochina Rude to produce a potentially life-saving video: Overdose Prevention in Nightlife. With recent news that San Francisco counted 806 accidental drug overdose deaths in 2023—the highest level ever seen here—this video is a much-needed tool to educate the public about how to recognize and reverse overdoses. The video shows how to use fentanyl test strips, and how to use Narcan to revive someone who has overdosed. Thanks to the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District for sharing this on their website.
Please watch this video, and share it widely. You never know when this training will help save a life. http://tinyurl.com/ODVidKR
Save the Date: Coronation is Coming
One of San Francisco’s favorite annual events is coming up next month—or, more accurately, series of events, because the annual selection of the new Empress and Emperor of San Francisco, and properly celebrating and thanking the outgoing Empress and Emperor, require an entire week of festivities. The largest, and most glittering, of these events is Coronation itself, the night when the Imperial Council of San Francisco pulls out all the stops. It is a gathering of the clan, not just of San Francisco’s royalty, but also of members of sister councils from across the country.
Coronation Week events begin with Imperial Voting Day on Saturday, February 17, then an entire week of celebratory events leading up to Coronation 59 on Saturday, February 24, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown SOMA. And in case you still have energy left over, the following morning—Sunday, February 25—there is a pilgrimage to Woodlawn Cemetery to honor the founder of the Imperial Council, José Sarria.
Throughout the year, the members of the Imperial Council, currently led by reigning Empress Cameron Stiehl-Munro and Emperor Michael Anthony Chua, have hosted countless events to raise money for charitable organizations in San Francisco. Their work is worth celebrating, so polish your finest tiara and join the fun. View all the events and pick up your tickets at http://tinyurl.com/ICSF5924
Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.
New Year, New Hope, New Challenges
Published on January 25, 2024
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