Openly Gay Fort Worth City Councilmember Headlines Queer Democrats' Freedom Awards (tags)
As a boy, openly Gay Fort Worth City Councilmember Joel Burns was bullied by schoolmates and driven to thoughts of suicide. One of his friends, a boy from Oklahoma, actually did kill himself. As an elected official, Burns spoke October 12 in the Fort Worth City Council chambers and talked about his past in a speech that was heard 'round the world through YouTube and the power of the Internet. On November 13 Burns came to San Diego as the keynote speaker for the 35th Annual Freedom Awards of the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club and talked about teen suicide and the need for renewed commitment on the part of Queer Democrats and progressives to elect officials whose actions will make Queer teens safer.
San Diego’s A-List Queers Greet Former Ambassador Hormel (tags)
Over 100 movers and shakers of the San Diego Queer community turned out Wednesday evening, October 17 for a reception honoring James C. Hormel, whose appointment as ambassador to Luxembourg by former President Clinton made him the U.S.'s first openly Queer ambassador. The program also honored the late Queer activist Herb King and celebrated the signing into law of California's domestic partner rights bill, AB 25.