By John Lewis–
(Editor’s Note: On April 7, John Lewis provided the following comment before the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission. This meeting preceded that of the San Francisco Small Business Commission on April 26, when the San Francisco Bay Times along with six other small businesses was added to the Legacy Business Registry.)
My name is John Lewis. Thank you for this opportunity to speak in support of the San Francisco Bay Times. My husband Stuart Gaffney and I moved to San Francisco 35 years ago. New to the city and its LGBTIQ community, we quickly became readers of the Bay Times. The newspaper already seemed like a community institution, even though we now know it was only eight years old at the time. For decades, we’ve turned to the Bay Times for incisive social and political commentary, news, arts, and entertainment, and to know what was going on in the community.
On February 12, 2004, Stuart’s and my life changed forever when we showed up for a marriage equality rally on the steps of City Hall and became one of the first ten same-sex couples to get married. Later, we were one of the plaintiff couples in the historic lawsuit that won the freedom to marry in California. We’ve been active marriage equality advocates ever since.
Several years ago, we were humbled when Betty Sullivan and Jennifer Viegas, the new publishers of the Bay Times, asked us if we would write a regular column for the paper. After decades of turning to the Bay Times for news and information, the Bay Times was turning to us—because they valued our voice as one of an extraordinary diversity of LGBTIQ voices they present and engage. We have been writing a regular column for the Bay Times ever since.
For years, we’d pick up the Bay Times from a metal news box in the Castro or some other part of the city—and the newspaper is still available in hard copy. But the reach of the Bay Times has expanded exponentially in recent years to a worldwide audience through its online presence. Indeed, we were gratified when representatives of the government of Taiwan reached out to us because they had read our column in the San Francisco Bay Times.
We also know first-hand that the Bay Times’ innovative Castro Street Cam—produced in collaboration with Cliff’s Variety and other Castro businesses and that streams Harvey Milk Plaza and the Castro live to the world—has served as an emotional lifeline to LGBTIQ people overseas who seek connection from isolation in their home countries.
When Betty & Jen reached out to us years ago, they told us the paper strived for one thing: excellence. We believe the Bay Times has met and far surpassed that goal. The paper not only educates San Francisco and the world with up to the minute information, but also, for over 43 years from 1978 to 2021, it has created an invaluable historical record of San Francisco and its LGBTIQ community.
The newspaper is truly a Legend in its own time … or should I say, San Francisco Bay “Times”!
John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
Published on May 6, 2021
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