Stuart Gaffney

1 week ago | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–It is a truism that musicians and artists often do not receive recognition in their lifetimes. And so it is with the 1960s and ’70s gay musician, the late Peter Grudzien, who wrote and sang outsider psychedelic country music as part of the Greenwich Village folk and bluegrass music scene of the time.

3 weeks ago | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–North Dakota? How could North Dakota, of all places, stand at the forefront of protecting marriage equality? The state ranks as the third least-populated state in the country. With 800,000 inhabitants, its entire population roughly equals that of the city of San Francisco alone.

1 month ago | sfbaytimes.com | Stuart Gaffney |John Lewis

By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–As the destructive chaos of the second Trump presidency continues to unfold, we find ourselves returning over and over to the inordinate influence of big money in American politics. A staggering $15.9 billion was spent nationwide on federal election races during the November 5, 2024, election cycle, with approximately $5.5 billion spent on the presidential election alone.

2 months ago | 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.

2 months ago | 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.