We Wouldn't Have Legal Weed Without These LGBTQ Activists

By Tyler Koslow If you wander past the neon green cross symbol into a marijuana dispensary today, it’s likely you’ll see a wide array of cannabis products, generous budtenders quick to talk favorite strains, and an altogether feel-good environment.  But the modern dispensary is in harsh juxtaposition with America’s first-ever public cannabis dispensary. When the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club opened in 1992 out of a small apartment in the Castro District, the somber setting was one of grave desperation rather than celebration. And we wouldn’t have the marijuana legalization we have today if it wasn’t for a group of activists who helped spark the legal marijuana movement amid an AIDS epidemic that wreaked havoc among LGBTQ and communities of color across the United States in the 1980s and ’90s. The role that the LGBTQ community played in getting medical marijuana legalized in California is important to share. It’s a story of iconic activists who dedicated their lives to advocating for the medical potential of cannabis and fought for the passage of Proposition 215.   It’s impossible to dive into the history of Proposition 215 and marijuana legalization without beginning with Dennis Peron, a gay man widely regarded as the “father of medical marijuana.” Peron died of lung cancer on Jan. 27, 2018, but his legacy as a cannabis and gay rights activist is well-documented and celebrated in both communities.  The Father of Medical Marijuana  A Bronx, New York-born Vietnam War veteran, Peron relocated to the Castro District in 1969, a historically gay neighborhood in San Francisco, after completing his stint with the United States Air Force. His initial foray with activism was as a “yippie,” a term used for radical members of the Youth International Party, is detailed in Brian Applegarth’s short documentary, “The Secret Story: How Medical Cannabis Was…

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