A Touch Of Gay #79: Gavin Newsom, Chuck Fleck, LGBTQ+ Bill Of Rights

Chuck Fleck and Flex Spas, LGBTQ+ Bill Of Rights, California Governor expands LGBTQ+ protections Daily Inspiration: Live your days on purpose * Structure your day in the morning * Take inspiration from something * Set spiritual or emotional intentions * To do list for tasks to complete * Use a calendar Check In: * Roagui Calendar - https://www.instagram.com/roagui/ * Building paint continues * Getting ready for gay men’s spiritual retreat next week Topic: October is LGBTQ+ History Month * Established in 1994 by Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high-school history teacher. * October was chosen because public schools are in session, making it ideal for classroom education. * Dedicated to highlighting historic figures, trailblazers, and the societal impact of the queer community. Topic: Chuck Fleck and Flex Spas * Chuck Fleck opened the first Man’s Country bathhouse in 1972 in New York City before co-founding Man’s Country/Chicago with Renslow. * Before opening Man’s Country/Chicago, Renslow co-owned franchise locations of the Club Baths chain in Chicago, Kansas City, and Phoenix with Chuck Fleck. * Club Baths was a chain of gay bathhouses in the United States and Canada with particular prominence from the 1960s through the 1990s originally founded by Jack Campbell. * At its peak it included 42 bathhouses around the US and Canada and some 500,000 members. * Chuck Fleck eventually converted his interests in the Club Baths chain into the he Flex chain of bathhouses, spas and hotels which remain in Los Angeles, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. * Fleck started Flex Cleveland by moving from the original Club Baths location to a former Greyhound bus garage and drivers dormitory. The space is now considered the chain’s flagship location with hotel rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, and a bar. * Long a champion of community organizations, Fleck led the response to the HIV epidemic by bringing in local service organizations to the spas to do testing, providing informational pamphlets and distributing thousands upon thousands of free condoms. A legacy that still lives on today. * He fought both Atlanta and New Orleans, where local politicians tried to block the opening of bathhouses, going all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court, where he claimed victory. * Chuck passed away in 2012 at his home in Miami, Florida. His death at age 73 was described as suddenly, from natural causes. He had put together a corporate Topic: Lambda Legal Calls For New LGBTQ+ Bill Of Rights * To mark LGBTQ+ History Month, Lambda Legal, the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV. * They have unveiled a “New LGBTQ+ Bill of Rights” inspired by the legacy of the original “Homosexual Bill of Rights”. * This policy push is part of Lambda Legal’s five-year Strategic Plan, “Rising Together,” that is designed to meet the unprecedented challenges facing LGBTQ+ communities across the country. The LGBTQ+ Bill of Rights builds on decades of progress to confront today’s realities. It centers five interconnected priorities: * HEALTH: Quality, affordable, and culturally competent health care that allows all LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV to thrive. * EDUCATION: Public education that respects and cultivates the full potential of every student. * OPPORTUNITY: A Society of Opportunity that offers all LGBTQ+ people meaningful and dignified access to the American economy and our society. * FAMILY: A Culture of Belonging for LGBTQ+ people and their families. * DEMOCRACY: A Constitutional Republic that truly re