October 27, 2019

Or L'Simcha: Joyce, Richard, Rose, Jerry, Cecil, David, Bernice, Sylvan, Daniel, Melvin, and Irving

Joyce Fienberg, 75
Richard Gottfried, 65
Rose Mallinger, 97
Jerry Rabinowitz, 66
Cecil Rosenthal, 59
David Rosenthal, 54
Bernice Simon, 84
Sylvan Simon, 86
Daniel Stein, 71
Melvin Wax, 88
Irving Younger, 69

October 22, 2019

LGBT History: 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the White Night Riot. "He got away with murder!"

I was not at Stonewall, but I was at San Francisco City Hall ten years later and 3000 mile away when upwards of 5000 people expressed their outrage at the verdict in the trial of Dan White for the murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Like my memories, the opinions that follow are solely my own.

At Stonewall, they slashed the tires of police cars. On White Night they burned police cars. Twelve of them.

For those unaware of the details behind the murders, the short version is this. In November, 1978, former police officer and former firefighter Dan White had resigned his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors because it did not pay enough to support his family. Viewed as their only voice on the board, several of his extremely conservative constituents convinced him to rescind his resignation.

Initially, Moscone agreed to let White stay, but several people including Milk convinced him not to. A reporter told White over the telephone before Moscone could.

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Did you know October is LGBT History Month? How much GLBT history do you know?

October 6, 2019

WATCH: The horrific explosion of violence against trans women of color

Catching up to reality, the ABC News program Nightline has investigated the epidemic of American violence unleashed on transgendered people since Trump’s election, especially trans women of color, and the result is nothing less than devastating.

Hosted by reporter Juju Chang, the segment focuses on a group of trans women living in Dallas, doing a deep dive on the story of 22-year-old Muhlaysia Booker. In April, a crowd of bystanders stood and watched as a man attacked and beat Booker following a minor traffic accident. Passers-by filmed the incident, videos of which went viral.

However, onlookers only intervened after the beating had rendered Booker unconscious.

Following the attack, Booker made an eloquent public plea for an end to violence and acceptance of trans people. A few weeks later, she was murdered.

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Video at link is GRAPHIC. WATCH IT!

October 3, 2019

Brooklyn synagogue's windows broken during Rosh Hashanah prayers

The windows of a synagogue in Brooklyn were broken during Rosh Hashanah services.

A video showing people throwing milk crates at the the Rivnitz synagogue in the Williamsburg neighborhood was circulated Wednesday on social media.

Police said that the incident took place on Monday afternoon and they were searching for two females who were seen in the video, according to WPIX-TV.

https://twitter.com/WMSBG/status/1179249627473821698

--snip---

There has been a spate of attacks in recent months against visibly Orthodox Jewish men in Brooklyn.

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