Now Reading
How Queer is Weed Activism?

How Queer is Weed Activism?

weed

The LGBTQ and weed-legalization communities most famously came together during the AIDS crisis of the 1970s and 80s. When the disease was first starting to spread, Harvey Milk and other LGBTQ activists on the West Coast (concentrated primarily in San Francisco) rallied for the legalization of medical cannabis as a way to ease patients’ pain.

This official show of solidarity brought to light the bond between the two communities. In the years since, both medical and recreational use of cannabis have slowly gained legal traction across the country; new businesses have sprung up to spread education, as well as  products that show the natural commonalities between both groups.

Colorado National Organization for the Legalization of Marijuana (NORML) Executive President Ashley Weber said she’s seen a lot of overlap in the two activism communities since 2012, when personal trouble with consuming medical cannabis on federal housing grounds started her involvement as an advocate for legalization.

Although Weber, 35, is not LGBTQ herself, three of her siblings are, and she said she and Colorado NORML support the community completely.

“We need the organizations that are going to come together and make a coalition,” she said. “We all have to stand together.”

Weber said now that Colorado has legalized recreational, as well as medical, use, it’s time to make sure the minutiae of the laws are truly allowing freedom of use. For example, this year, Colorado NORML is working on an expungement effort as a ballot initiative for the entire state. Expunging records, she said, affects everybody, and is the type of activism work that can use the combined power of minority groups.

“I’m like, yes, let’s do this; let’s make the world a better place,” she said.

Weber also said it’s important in a legalized state that regulations are loose enough to make the enterprise worth it for consumers and businesses.

But LGBTQ acceptance does not always keep in step with cannabis legalization. Wayne Borders, former president of South Carolina NORML, said that cannabis has become more accepted as more white, cisgender, heterosexual males get into the lifestyle—the more it’s presented as “normal” in pop culture and commerce, the less attention is paid to those participants who are still thought of as “other,” especially people of color and on the LGBTQ spectrum.

Related article: 420 and Chill- Cannabis, Kink, and Sex Markets Collide 

Borders, 37, is a gay, black, cannabis activist where cannabis is not legal either medically or recreationally. He said that, as the country moves in a more progressive direction when it comes to cannabis, we have to make sure not to leave anyone behind or ignore anyone who can benefit.

“There are still going to be things [people of color and LGBTQ people] have to deal with because the system that we live in is still one where these underserved and continually disenfranchised communities should have the same opportunities to advance,” he said.

Borders got into weed activism when he was living in Houston for college in 2007. He heard two radio shows by black, cannabis activists and realized it was something he wanted to do with his life. When he moved back to his home state of South Carolina, he joined his local NORML chapter and eventually took charge when other leadership bowed out. He was president from 2012 to 2017.

During his tenure, he helped push a medical cannabis bill into the SC state legislature that he said “would really put SC on the map” as a place with comprehensive legal coverage, but it gave him pause because half of the generated tax revenue would go towards SC’s sheriff’s association and law enforcement division. Borders said NORML wanted 36 percent of the money to go to police academy and public school drug education instead, citing the need to update the scare tactics both departments currently use.

Sophie Saint Thomas, a 32-year-old journalist and author in New York who is bisexual and queer, also says that education is key to spreading the use of cannabis without further marginalizing the persecuted minorities who use it.

“The queer community has always been smart and brave enough to acknowledge the social and medical benefits far before straight people,” she said, adding that the main concern now should be that queer cannabis culture continues and that queer people get equal opportunities to profit off cannabis.

Related article: April 2020 Issue- 420 and Cannabis 

Saint Thomas grew up steeped in Caribbean and Rastafarian culture, so cannabis was never stigmatized to her as a taboo. She says she’s always been fascinated by it and has written and researched about it for more than a decade.

When she realized medical cannabis helped her get past PTSD related to sexual trauma, she naturally wanted to share this knowledge in her reporting. To Saint Thomas, debunking weed myths and dangers occurs naturally as LGBTQ people mingle and participate with users.

“What’s the difference between education and culture?” she asked. “The education is there, even if it’s not always formalized.”

Arend Richard, 29, agrees. As a gay man, he co-founded TheWeedTube as an alternative video creation and sharing site for cannabis education when YouTube deleted his channel on their site.

TheWeedTube’s mission, he said, is to include and uplift LBGTQ members as creators who enrich cannabis culture through their own content. TheWeedTube has also made contributions to the real world, such as raising money for the Trevor Project. Richard also brings his message to live shows.

He claims a huge part of LGBTQ cannabis culture comes through social gatherings like the Glitter Bong Bash he hosted in Denver with Izzy Blaze.

Richard said the cannabis and LBGTQ communities can learn acceptance from each other.

“Cannabis helped me accept who I was at a fundamental level,” he said. “At the same time, I’ve experienced homophobia from time to time in the cannabis industry, and I think there’s some room for acceptance there.”

Richard said cannabis and LBGTQ communities are both made of naturally occurring beauty that is often suppressed from the larger picture of society, and that shared sense of hiding the best of themselves is what brings the two groups together.

“There’s an understanding of suppression from both communities that should do nothing but make them sympathetic to each other’s fight,” he said.

Saint Thomas said the queer community is really strong, and that joining their strength with the cannabis legalization fight will encourage everyone to use their strengths to create a united front.

“I think that they’re going to continue to be fabulous,” she said.

Photo by Kayte Demont

What's Your Reaction?
Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
Scroll To Top