Opinion

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Ten Things You Should Know About Ashjian

1. Brooke Ashjian is president of the Fresno Unified School District Board 2. He has a history of being anti-LGBT including accusing a local LGBT organization of pimping him out… Yeah, it makes no sense to anyone else either. 3. There is a CA law that went into effective in 2016 that requires that middle and high schools […]

Jol Devitro

Remarks for Brooke Ashjian

During last week’s school board meeting, time was reduced and I was unable to share my full remarks to Brooke Ashjian. I hope these may find their way to him and to those who share his beliefs. ~Jol   American hero Helen Keller said,“The highest result of education is tolerance.” Her quote, though universal in

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Ashjian not my president

Tonight I attended a Fresno Unified School District Board Meeting as a volunteer for LGBT Fresno. At one point I was handing out rainbow ribbons for LGBT supporters to wear and accepting donations for the organization. I was approached by a Mr. Chavez who said his attorneys said I wasn’t allowed to do that. Not

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Somewhere Over The Rainbow Our Boots March On

I think we all can agree that this last presidential election was quite the roller coaster. It was exciting, stimulating, and oh so angering at times. Despite feeling like we were a part of some lame reality television show exposing our most embarrassing family dysfunctions and secrets, I don’t think any of us ever thought

Trump & The LGBTQ+ Community

Let’s rewind to the night of the November 8th- I sat with my family in front of my mom’s big screen TV, excitedly waiting for the results that would announce the new leader of our free world. I won’t go into details of the battlefield my mind had endured when casting my ballot, but I

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Somewhere Over the LGBTQ+ Rainbow

The opposition to black and brown stripes being added to the Pride Flag is an almost poetic metaphor for the discrimination LGBTQ+ people of color face on a daily basis. One would think, being part of a marginalized community, broader inclusivity and intersectionality would be a given, but that is not always the case. As

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An open letter to friends and family who still approve of President Trump

To friends and family who voted for Donald Trump last year and remain silent about his continual behavior, or worse, still approve of his job as Commander in Chief, I ask a simple question: What will it take for you to say, “Enough is enough!”? We knew what Donald Trump was about before the election.

Industrial-strength Donald J. Trump chutzpah

Despite all his fulminating about “fake news,” it appears that our President-whose definition of‘fake” is any coverage (covfefe??) he doesn’t like—isn’t above generating some fakery of his own. Remember Trump’s preening over his massive, multi-billion dollar “deal” with Saudi Arabia? Bruce Reidel of The Brookings Institution reports that no such deal exists.Last month, President Trump

‘One couple’s journey of identity and discovery’

Your hair is grayer than it was back then. You’ve both packed on pounds here and there,too. A few wrinkles surround your smiles,but that’s okay–you’re not fresh faced kids anymore. You’ve aged, you’ve softened and,in the new book “Transitioning Together” by Wenn & Beatrice Lawson,you’ve changed quite a bit.Long before they met, Wendy and Beatrice

Why voting is a huge civic responsibility

I generally shy away from basing my blogs–or my own opinions, for that matter–on material from partisan sources. Trump and his enablers may accuse traditionalmedia of being “fake” or biased, but that’s a tactic, not an accurate description, so I try to limit my references to places like the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian,