Stuart Gaffney

Feb 13, 2025 | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–I still remember the first time I visited Thailand, now over 40 years ago. I was on my way back to the U.S. after working as a teacher in a camp in the rural Philippines for refugees from the wars in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. After spending a few days in Bangkok, a fellow teacher and I visited the Ban Vanai camp for Hmong refugees, who had to flee neighboring Laos. It was one of a number of camps in Thailand that housed refugees from the wars.

Jan 30, 2025 | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–For many of us, the first ten days of the second Trump administration have left us either shocked, fearful, angry, sad, or any combination of those feelings. It’s a natural reaction to the head-spinning number of brazen actions that the new administration has already taken. Indeed, it’s likely that Trump and his allies intended their actions to have that effect on us and leave us feeling hopeless and defeated.

Jan 19, 2025 | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–The setting was both beautiful and haunting. The jagged snow-capped peaks of the Eastern Sierra gleamed against the clear blue sky. A warm winter sun shone on the barren high desert at the foot of the mountains. For millennia, the native Nüümu (Paiute) and Newe (Shoshone) peoples had lived in harmony on this land they called Payahuunadü.

Dec 9, 2024 | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–We were shocked and horrified two weeks ago when Republican provocateur and Congressmember Nancy Mace launched a transphobic broadside against Sarah McBride, who in January will make history as the first transgender member of Congress.

Nov 24, 2024 | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis– It was a typical scorcher in San Bernardino, California, back on July 25, 2009, with temperatures approaching the century mark. Crowded inside a meeting hall were over 200 LGBTIQ activists there to debate when to go to the ballot to repeal Proposition 8, the horrific statewide initiative that several months before had taken away same-sex couples’ hard-won constitutional right to marry in California.