TODAY’S PRIDE HERO
José Julio Sarria (1922 - 2013)
I am far from an expert on Jose but learning about him gave me a great appreciation for all he has accomplished for the LGBTQ community. He was one of America’s gay rights pioneering leaders. #LGBTVoices
Jose was a proud World War II veteran and the very first openly gay candidate to run for public office in North America. Born in San Francisco in 1922. His father showed no interest in his son’s life.
After being discharged from his duty in World War II, he studied to become a teacher and frequented the Black Cat where he began performing in drag.
Sarria took an alliance of social groups & developed it into the International Court System of 🇺🇸, 🇨🇦, and 🇲🇽 with chapters in over 68 countries. He helped form the first gay rights organizations in the country & the first gay non-profit registered in California.
International Court System is a whimsical LGBT fraternal organization that focuses on political action & helped jump-start the gay liberation movement. The ICS is the 2nd largest LGBT organization in the world focused on building community relationships for equality and charity.
His legacy as a gay Latino leader, activist and drag queen will live on in the LGBT Community. A section of 16th street in the Castro was renamed to Jose Sarria Court in his honor.
Members of #LGBTVoices will tweet about a different Pride Hero every day throughout the month of June.
I know not who wrote the #NYTimesOpEd and frankly I don't care.
The situation currently is that the house is burning and we are more focused on who set the fire than trying to save the house.
My tweets seem like rambling lately, and to my friends I apologize. /1
It is my inner feelings, my emotions, my anger, and my frustrations that I share.
We can focus on finding out who to blame for the fuck up in the 2016 elections, or we can focus on how to limit the damage to our democracy to 2 years. /2
Apparently the checks and balances that our forefathers had put in place are not working as expected. If the #NYTimesOpEd is to be believed, it is high time that we invoked #25thAmendmentNow and save democracy, but party has taken more importance than country /3
Tonight I see the rule of law dying, the principles our country was founded on are being ignored, due process is being trampled upon.
I care very much about women's rights, LGBTQ rights, healthcare as we know it, and the possibility getting justice against an #IllegitimatePOTUS
The respect that I once had for elected officials has faded, the respect that I had for fellow Americans who were on the other side of the aisle disappears
No I don't hate them, I am disgusted by the fact that we have forgotten that while we may have differences we are Americans
As Americans, sure we make mistakes, but we also learn from our mistakes and fix it so that we don't repeat them.
In the current environment, I do not feel I can trust fellow Republicans, who once cared about 🇺🇸, blindly turn a blind eye towards atrocities and hate
I apologize for the rant. I wake up thinking this must be just some running joke. I mean seriously the people that voted for #LiarInChief are the people he has hurt them the most, yet they continue to support him.
Facts in tweets that follow.
Here are the farmers. Well I think we can agree farmers across the country are hurting cause of tarrifs. Well I guess they will learn and #VoteBlue
Hard working fishermen and women. This is from today. So will they #VoteBlue
A week ago I was tired and frustrated cause I was focusing on the wrong things. I was resisting but also thinking about things like why xyz didn't follow me or why they didn't RT me or do I make an impact
I took time to reflect and refocus. Here is what I learnt. /1
It's not about me stupid
It's about the children pulled away from families, 528 of whom are still not reunited and it is unclear if/when they will be reunited. #FamiliesBelongTogether#chi
It's #WhatsAtStake for women's rights, LGBTQ rights, voter rights, Roe v Wade, ACA, health care for pre-existing conditions, Medicaid...
🏳️🌈TODAY’S PRIDE HERO🏳️🌈
James “John” Finley Gruber (1928 - 2011)
James Gruber was an original member, co-founder, and helped name the Mattachine Society, one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States. #LGBTVoices
James considered himself bisexual. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1946 at the age of 18, was honorably discharged in 1949. Gruber met & began a relationship with Konrad Stevens. He attended meetings of an early homophile organization called the “Society of Fools”
James Gruber, following a conversation with Harry Hay about Medieval masque troops known as “mattachines” and suggested renaming the “Society of Fools” to Mattachine Society. The Mattachine Society was a single national organization headquartered in Los Angeles.