JOEL ON LGBTQ ISSUES
As a gay man, Joel arrived in San Francisco looking for a better life — just like many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who came before him.
When Joel met his husband in San Francisco, they didn't believe they would ever be allowed to get legally married. For Joel and Lionel, it was a triumph to walk down the aisle. But in many parts of the world marriage equality still does not exist for same-sex couples.
In the United States, LGBTQ people can still be denied housing and healthcare in many states. Transgender people continue to face terrible discrimination and violence. Some states have passed laws that try to erase the mention of LGBTQ people in public schools, which will hurt both LGBTQ youth and the kids who have LGBTQ parents.
There is still much work ahead to ensure that all LGBTQ people can live fully and equally, and Joel is committed to leading the fight.
Do you still believe in San Francisco? I do. I’m running for supervisor to create our best San Francisco.
Remembering Mark Lim on the 20th anniversary of his death.
I didn’t have a dad growing up, but now I have a father-in-law and I can recognize good fathers when I see one.
A personal story of Joel Engardio’s relationship with Mark Lim, who died of liver cancer at age 31 in 2001.
A short story with personal reflections on the terrible-to-be-gay year of 1992 and what it means to see presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and his husband on the cover of Time magazine in 2019.
If presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg can pick a running mate as well as a husband, America will be in good hands. It’s just one of many impressions from my lucky dinner with Pete and Chasten Buttigieg.
Exactly 42 years after the San Francisco Police Officers Association declared gay people unfit to serve, Tony Montoya became the police union’s first openly gay president. Yet Montoya’s temperament is just as groundbreaking — when compared to the take-no-prisoners approach his predecessors took in local politics. “Our bombastic style doesn’t work anymore. It turns people off,” Montoya said. “I’ll be more thoughtful.”
African Americans arrested for being in a Starbucks and the Supreme Court deciding if businesses can deny LGBTQ customers. Today’s news reminds Angelic Williams of The Green Book that helped her grandparents travel safely in Jim Crow America. So she created an app that tells LGBTQ people of color where they’re welcome.
With all the challenges the world faces today, why do we need a $40 million memorial to World War I? Because today’s great grandchildren are still fighting it. And we still haven’t learned “what is past is prologue.”
How did a lifeline for LGBT persecution in the Middle East start on the Google bus to Silicon Valley? Meet Kevin Steen, who wouldn’t let 7,500 miles get in the way of helping his Jordanian friend. “Mohammad’s dad threatened to shoot him,” Kevin said. “It was an honor crime waiting to happen.”
San Francisco welcomes Mohammed Khalil for being Muslim, but pushes him out for being middle class. How can we be a refuge for every working family? By fixing our housing shortage and affordability crisis with Khalil’s can-do spirit.
President Trump's executive orders have sparked outrage, but what can we learn from President Eisenhower's 1953 order to purge all gay and lesbian employees from the federal government? "The Lavender Scare" is an award-winning documentary that is both history and a cautionary tale.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Large Catholic and Asian populations on the westside are less inclined to embrace issues like marijuana dispensaries or LGBT rights accepted by the rest of San Francisco without question. So it’s a profile in courage that Assemblymember Phil Ting doesn’t just give lip service or stay neutral on LGBT issues when he needs westside votes to keep his job.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Even in San Francisco, a city synonymous with social justice and LGBT pride, the intersection of race and sexual orientation/identity can be complicated.
By Joel P. Engardio -- As we celebrate marriage equality, it is worth remembering the setbacks and lessons learned on the way to the Supreme Court's historic ruling. How we persevered will help us in the work that remains to ensure a perfect union for everyone.
By Joel P. Engardio -- My mom wouldn't go to my recent wedding, but the Supreme Court is hearing a big case this week that could make same-sex marriage legal nationwide by July. A personal take on what this means for families still divided.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Are show tunes the best way to reach Americans on the fence about gay marriage? One San Francisco family – a gay couple, their adopted daughter and a goldendoodle – hopes their story will win over the remaining hearts and minds.
Joel Engardio speaks to the wedding guests after marrying Lionel Hsu on February 21, 2015.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Life got better for gay firefighters in San Francisco last year. The fact it took until 2014 for this gay awakening shows how long the journey to diversity has been for the San Francisco fire department.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Seoul mayor Park Won-soon leads a city of 10 million people and has a good chance to become South Korea's next president. His staff invited me to meet with him during his recent San Francisco visit. I asked about his views on LGBT rights and Park made news in the exclusive interview.
Joel Engardio speaks about LGBT rights in relation to Title VII and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) at a panel hosted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in San Francisco. This was part of a celebration of 50 years of the Civil Rights Act. June 2014.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Keith Baraka left his family in Ohio for an easier gay life, but he said nothing was tougher than the decade he spent being a gay firefighter in San Francisco's Station 6.
By Joel P. Engardio -- While Cher and Elton John debated the best way to protest Russia’s anti-gay laws (she wouldn’t sing there and he was willing), my stand for LGBT equality in Russia was limited to likes on Facebook posts. Then I received a surprise email from a Russian television channel. They wanted permission to broadcast a documentary I made for PBS. Now I had to decide: Be like Cher and refuse to do business with a country that discriminates? Or follow Elton John’s example and be a gay man who supports gay Russians by trying to engage the nation?
Joel Engardio introduces first-ever meeting of the Alice B. Tolkas LGBT Democratic Club on San Francisco's historically conservative Westside. October 7, 2013.
By Joel P. Engardio -- Gays are discovering the historically conservative San Francisco Westside as a nice place to settle down. “A traditional neighborhood is blending into a 21st Century version of Mayberry,” said Mark Norrell, a business owner on West Portal Avenue. “We haven’t lost our small town feel. We’re just updating it. You could call it Gayberry.” But there’s some resistance to Norrell’s push to modernize the area's shopping experience. "Our meetings can be soap opera dramatic," said Maryo Mogannam, president of the West Portal Merchants Association. "Get the popcorn."
By Joel P. Engardio -- Beware the new social fax pas in the age of same-marriage equality: Asking gay friends when they are getting married.
Joel Engardio interviewed on ABC 7 News San Francisco on eve of Supreme Court ruling against Proposition 8 to make same-sex marriage legal in California. June 25, 2013.
By Joel P. Engardio -- The students at San Francisco’s Lowell High School weren’t entirely bored with my guest lecture on the history of media and political campaigns. They laughed at the vintage TV ads, especially the “I Like Ike” cartoon from 1952. But they had no idea who President Dwight Eisenhower was. Hormones and a warm, spring day can explain the lack of interest in dead presidents. Two boys in the front row held hands the entire time I spoke.
I wanted to stop the lecture and tell the affectionate boys they should thank Eisenhower if they’re going to the prom together. The Glee-era high school experience they enjoy today is connected to Eisenhower’s purge of gay people from the U.S. government 60 years ago.
By Joel P. Engardio -- On the same week the Supreme Court heard its two historic cases on gay marriage, Google announced the first lucky test subjects who would get to try Google Glass -- history-making eyewear that puts the Internet in your field of vision. None of the justices were selected, but maybe Google should lend them a pair before they reach a decision in June.
By Joel P. Engardio -- I'm a gay man inspired by Harvey Milk, but renaming SFO after him is a bad idea.