Thank you to Amaya Wooding and Austin Bruckner Carrillo for standing up for inclusivity and your activism in general. I have very strong ties since childhood to both Sunol and Castro Valley, so this means a lot to me as a gay man who lived and worked many years of my life in CV, Hayward, and Fremont. We are on the right side of history!
It’s been a number of years since the George Floyd protests in 2020 and the shooting of Sean Monterrosa, which has been in the news a lot. Sean was not from Vallejo, but he was protesting the police brutality in Vallejo and became the next victim of a fatal officer-involved shooting of an unarmed person as a result. That was the last death of its kind in Vallejo to date. We had a new police chief, Shawny Williams, whom progressives mostly admired as he attempted to reform the Vallejo Police Department (VPD) after that, but he resigned eventually in what many of us believe was a result of his being chased out of town by the Vallejo Police Union (VPOA) with numerous racist threats (Shawny Williams is African-American).
In June 2023 there was the next officer-involved shooting of an unarmed person that made the news. Here is the link to the Vallejo Sun article. I’m pleased with the VPD decision.
So many asked me why I was SO UPSET that this Vallejo police officer fired shots at this alleged thief after I attended the VPD Town Hall at 4pm on a weekday. The timing of the town hall was suspect, but in fairness to VPD, they said all the evidence and investigation into the officer’s conduct was preliminary.
I asked myself “Was the cop in danger?” There were at least 5 unarmed AFTER-HOURS thieves in a closed commercial property. The thieves of course were NOT from Vallejo, but the property was closed up and there probably wasn’t even any cash in there. So the only thief who remained (the others jumped the fences to get away) drove forward since there was no other direction he could go. As a result, he was shot IN THE FACE by an officer who ran over to him. Is that the best practice for police officers? I thought shooting at fleeing unarmed thieves was not a reason to start gunfire, as is the case in every other country where guns are not fetishized. The car barely touched the cop on its way out of the parking space (you can watch the video), as clearly evidenced by the fact that the police officer continued to shoot directly toward the face of the UNARMED young man until his face was hit. No attempts were made at the tires of the car based on the ballistics, but there were a number of bullet holes in the car, which could have also caused it to explode. The alleged thief had surgery and survived, but a few inches over and he’d be dead for what? Stealing CANDY BARS?
At the VPD Town Hall on the shooting, we were told that the burglary of an EMPTY store with no employees present and with NO weapons except the crowbar used to enter the EMPTY store was considered a “Priority 1,” it made me wonder what priority a kidnapping, rape, or murder would have been. Would it have taken precedence over a nonviolent empty store being robbed in a city of 126,000? I’m not saying robbery is okay, but it’s NOT worth killing someone over!
Now VPD has wisely banned shooting at vehicles altogether, which would have made sense in this case also. It’s not like the license plate of the vehicle that attempted to escape wasn’t immediately discernable with the body cam and dashcam. Let’s hope that bit by bit common sense will prevail and guns will only be pulled out of police holsters when actual threats of violence toward PEOPLE are happening.
Called “Going Country for Cats and Canines” we had a fabulous evening of charity and fun at the Empress Theatre in downtown Vallejo. There were almost 200 folks there based on attendees, staff, and volunteers. It was a lot of work but for such a great cause. Don’t forget to donate, especially as a sustaining donor (giving monthly). The link is here!
In the video there is line dancing, live music,
Featuring music that originated in Vallejo or from Vallejoans, we had a blast at this event, connecting with local volunteers and artists for a good cause and some important local history of inclusion and diversity. Fabulous Board President Liat Meitzenheimer is speaking during this portion.
In anticipation of our big gala next month, we had a tour of this fabulous space in downtown Vallejo.
This picture shows some of us volunteering for HSNB.org at the Benicia Peddlers Fair yesterday. From left to right are Susan, Carlene, me, and Linda.
I cannot help but speak out about the escalating homophobia in my mother’s home country of Italy (and where some of my father’s ancestors are from). The aspiring fascist prime minister there is trying to earn political points by stripping away lesbian mothers of their rights and legally breaking apart families. As a Board alum of six years, I reached out to FamilyEquality.org with my outrage as an Italo-American still eligible for dual citizenship and how this is clearly violative of the European Union’s higher courts, which I hope step in. Giorgia Meloni is making examples of some lesbian mothers by literally removing their names from birth certificates based on the non-biological ties to their own children. Now they are working on criminalizing surrogacy, just to round out the homophobia.
I constantly remind people that the equivalent of Italy’s founding fathers are both GAY – Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo, not to mention countless other Renaissance pillars, popes, etc.
This is exactly the kind of underhanded bigotry that we are still fighting against in what should be a modern world. As a gay parent, I am appalled, but very pleased that Family Equality Executive Director Stacey Stevenson replied to my pleas for the organization to make an official statement, which they have now done. This is a perfect response to these troubling developments:
Soon after prime minister Giorgia Meloni issued a public order removing the names of nonbiological LGBTQ+ parents from their children’s birth certificates, the Italian parliament approved a bill that criminalized surrogacy abroad.
Washington, D.C. — Family Equality, the leading national organization for current and future LGBTQ+ families in America, condemns recent actions taken by the Italian government to undermine and diminish the rights of LGBTQ+ parents and families, including removing nonbiological LGBTQ+ parents from birth certificates and, more recently, approving a bill that would criminalize surrogacy abroad.
With surrogacy and other reproductive medical treatments like IVF already prohibited for LGBTQ+ couples in Italy, this legislation not only denies LGBTQ+ people the opportunity to start their family — it threatens to put prospective parents in jail for even trying. The measure, which passed in the chamber of deputies with 166 votes in support, needs approval by the Italian senate before being passed into law.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the unconditional joy and belonging of family, no matter who you love or where you live,” said Family Equality CEO, Stacey Stevenson. “What we’re seeing from the top elected officials in Italy is unconscionable. And yet, these actions reflect what we’re seeing outside our own front door, as politicians and pundits alike spout dangerous anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric instead of focusing on passing legislation that keeps us all safe, healthy, and protected. To the LGBTQ+ families in Italy, know that we stand in solidarity with you and will fight with our partners in this international community to preserve your fundamental right to find and form family.”
I’m very proud that I was instrumental in getting this free full-page ad for LGBTQMinusTobacco.org in the Lazybear Brochure this year! Thank you to the Lazybear Fund for showing there are those of us who care about this important aspect of gay men’s health in addition to all of the good fundraising it has done for AIDS/HIV research, their commitment to sober spaces at these events and also a mention of how important it is to respect everyone’s right to clean air from vapes and cigarettes when at events like this. Looking at Sonoma County’s unincorporated area smoking ordinances, there is definitely not enough adherence to the rights delineated for non-smokers in bar patios or resorts. There should be more responsibility taken by the business owners to ensure fresh air for all patrons.
Below is the ad I am holding above, which I’m so proud to have been involved with getting published in the Lazy Bear Week brochure. It’s a real quote from a real San Francisco bartender. Obviously, we opted to pick the most bear-ish ad for our audience out of many that LGBTQMinusTobacco.org has. For decades all aspects of the queer community have been specifically targeted by the insidious marketing tactics of Big Tobacco, so exposing this by fighting back with the diversity of the community that falls under the alphabet is helpful. Indeed, I was lucky and glad we had this on hand for the brochure when we had a tight deadline to reach to make the press. The gracious offer to include this gratis by the Lazy Bear Fund (a non-profit that has raised tens of millions of dollars over the decades for gay men’s health issues like HIV/AIDS) was in response to my email letter inquiry into the smoking culture that has unfortunately been integral even in crowded spaces at the event I’ve attended now for 17 years. To my pleasant surprise, they responded beautifully with this magnanimous offer. The brochure goes out to thousands of men who attend Lazy Bear Week, many of whom live or at least visit the San Francisco Bay Area regularly.
Shame on Italy. The gay news reports that some lesbian mothers are having their names removed from their children’s birth certificates to exercise their homophobic power.
Italy is my mother’s home country, where most of my relatives continue to live. The country may be risking a court overruling from the EU with this outrageous act of homophobia. I fought for years as part of what is now called FamilyEquality.org to make sure this kind of family destruction was not sanctioned by the United States in certain backward states. Now EU member countries are trying to push the envelope and reverse all the progress Europe has made toward recognizing all types of families.
I wrote Family Equality hoping they make a statement condemning what Italy is doing and how the EU should respond. As an Emeritus Board contact (with the honor of being listed on their website) and especially as an Italo-American, I am outraged to my core.
The organization was known as Gay & Lesbian Parents Coalition INTERNATIONAL (GLPCI) when I was on the Board between 1996-2001. While I’m glad they no longer have a trans-exclusive name, I do remember at our conferences having parents from other countries who wanted to see how the USA was securing rights for queer families like ours.
