Happy Pride Month from CAC!
Happy Pride Month Everyone!
This month is a time of celebration, education, and remembrance. We’ve come so far, but we’ve got so far to go.
History of Pride
Marsh P. Johnson, a black transgender woman, and Sylvia Rivera, a latina transgender woman, are credited for leading the uprising at Stonewall, starting the modern wave of the gay rights movement!
June is a very significant month in the LGBTQ community. On June 28, 1969, a series of turbulent demonstrations called the Stonewall Riots, or Uprising, began. These demonstrations were initiated due to a police raid in the early hours of the morning at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York. This issue wasn’t uncommon, in fact police raids were happening very frequently in gay bars all over the country, but that night at Stonewall Inn in 1969 became a catalyst for major changes in the fight for human rights.
In Recent News…
Now, 51 years later in 2020, even though lots of progress has been made, many queer people are still fighting for their right to express themselves without fear. And along with other oppressed communities are still fighting against police brutality. The new rush of Black Lives Matter demonstrations began due to the loss of George Floyd, a man who was pinned down at the neck by a police officer who didn’t let go until it was too late and George ultimately passed away. Again, these are not uncommon occurrences in oppressed groups. We need not forget that Black Lives Matter also means every black life, including queer lives:
Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salaudead, was a black trans woman and Black Lives Matter activist. Rest In Peace Toyin <3
Ever so recently, we lost a young, 19 year old, transgender, black woman and Black Lives Matter activist. Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salaudead was abducted just after tweeting that she had been sexually assaulted on June 6, 2020. In Tallahassee, Florida, they found her body several days ago on June 13, 2020. An absolutely tragic death of a beautiful young black and trans activist, with a strong social media following, who was willing to do anything she could for her communities. The investigation is still underway.
Occurrences of sexual assault, police brutality, and murder of queer people have been written in our history, and we have a responsibility to educate ourselves so that maybe we can change even one person’s perspective.
Not Uncommon
Chapter 6 of Blueprint for Equality states “Trans people who have done street economy work are more than twice as likely to report physical assaults by police officers and four times as likely to report sexual assault by police.”
All the fear that people believe they have of LGBTQ community is misplaced and on the flipside is a very real fear for queer people everywhere because their lives are the ones at stake on a grand scale. Below is a chart that states that nearly half of the LGBTQ youth is not accepted in their communities. However, even more disheartening is the fact that this is only the children that are brave enough to mention they are queer.
With all that being said, we are halfway through 2020, and it has been a very frightening year but let us celebrate through all the adversity. Pride Month is here and everyone who has sacrificed their lives to make it safer for queer people everywhere is to be commemorated and honored with cheer! We are going on 16 years since Massachusetts made gay marriage legal! Yay Massachusetts! It has also been 5 years since the whole country was legalized! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, it just needs to be seen by everyone, so educate yourself and spread love, not fear. Let’s learn from the past, celebrate the progress and appreciate how much beauty and color the queer community brings to our world!
Cannabis and Pride
Queer rights have a long history alongside cannabis legalization. Dennis Peron, an openly gay vietnam veteran and activist, snuck 2 pounds of cannabis back home with him from war. He had several altercations with the police, vulnerable for being so open and vocal about his continued activism in the gay rights movement and believing that cannabis was a powerful medical plant.
In the 90’s, the AIDs crisis sadly hit the queer community hard and Peron noticed that people were seeing relief of many symptoms that AIDs treatments were causing. Mary Jane Rathbun, or Brownie Mary, met Peron while trying to get involved in helping with the AIDs epidemic. She started selling pot brownies to AIDs patients in hospitals. She had a bunch of arrests due to cannabis but never stopped selling. Peron ended up being one of the co-writers of Proposition P and Proposition 215, causing the legalization of medical cannabis in the state of California. Brownie Mary helped Peron open Cannabis Buyers Club in San Francisco, the first cannabis dispensary in the US! Others involved in the founding the company included Dale Gieringer, Beth Moore, John Entwhistle, Jason Patrick Menard, Gerry Leatherman, Richard Eastman and Tod H. Mikuriya.
Brownie Mary (Mary Jane Rathbun) and Dennis Peron
With ⅓ of queer people consuming cannabis affirming they use cannabis and less than 20 percent of the heterosexual population indicating they use cannabis, the LGBT community has seen profound results in the treatment of mental health. Due to the history of oppression, violence, and constant repression of queer people’s true selves, mental health has become high risk. Cannabis has been shown to help lower anxiety, depression, PTSD and many other illnesses on the mental health spectrum.
The cannabis culture encompasses all other cultures: LGBTQ community, minorities, women, veterans, disabled, etc… Consuming cannabis is an inherently human thing to do, find something helpful to our existence and use it to flourish in this world. We are all on this planet trying to thrive and be happy and wishing or causing ill of others makes no sense for the bettering of society.
The queer community pushes through all the adversity and refuse to hide. We in the cannabis industry have a responsibility to constantly educate ourselves and our employees on the issues and participate in the health and safety of our fellow humans. We wouldn’t have gotten this far in the industry if it weren’t for the queer community.
At CAC, it is our commitment to do better all the time, to learn from our mistakes and educate others. Below are some wonderful resources on all things LGBTQ. We urge you to keep learning as well! Happy Pride Month from Commonwealth Alternative Care!!!
Love has no gender. Love is love.
Sources Used:
NCTE Federal Blueprint of Equality: Reforming Police and Ending Anti-Transgender Violence
Human Rights Campaign: Growing Up LGBT in America