Cannabis and the LGBTQ+ Community: How the AIDS Crisis Gave Us Medical Marijuana

Cannabis and the LGBTQ+ community share a long history: both have been pushed to the margins, both have fought for legal equality and social acceptance, and during the AIDS crisis the two movements joined forces. That alliance, led by gay activist Dennis Peron, produced California's Proposition 215 in 1996, the first state law to legalize medical marijuana in the United States.

The bond got even stronger during the terrifying years of the AIDS epidemic in the late '80s and '90s. As infections spread at a horrifying pace with no cure in sight, patients and advocates went looking for ways to manage their symptoms.

Plenty of LGBTQ+ people already knew firsthand how much cannabis could help with pain. Throughout the '80s and '90s, LGBTQ+ people used cannabis at higher rates than the general public.

But because cannabis was illegal, getting hold of it was a challenge. That was about to change, thanks in large part to advocates from the LGBTQ+ community.

Dennis Peron, an openly gay Air Force veteran living in California, had been fighting to legalize cannabis long before the AIDS epidemic hit. When AIDS arrived, he opened a cannabis buyers' club to get weed into the hands of as many patients as possible.

In 1996, Peron co-wrote Proposition 215, a ballot measure to legalize medical cannabis across California. Supporters first campaigned for Proposition P, which put San Francisco on record backing legalization. From there, they took the fight statewide. After a long string of setbacks, including vetoes from the governor and ongoing pushback from then-President Bill Clinton's administration, Peron and his allies took their case straight to the voters. They formed Californians for Compassionate Use, a political action committee with many members from the LGBTQ+ community, and gathered more than 400,000 signatures to get Prop 215 on the ballot.

Three former presidents, local law enforcement, drug-prevention groups and a long list of city and state officials opposed the measure, while doctors, cancer survivors and a handful of politicians backed it hard.

In the end, Prop 215 passed with 55.6% of the vote. Almost right away, other states started legalizing medical marijuana. It was a huge leap forward for cannabis, and it began with one gay man's push to honor the memory of his partner, who had died of AIDS.

Both the LGBTQ+ community and the cannabis community have come a long way. But there's still a lot of ground to cover, both in acceptance within each community and in how the two interact.

For example, while many people see the legal cannabis industry as one of the most welcoming for people of every background and orientation, there's still work to do to make sure LGBTQ+ people, people of color and other marginalized groups have a real voice in the industry.

Meanwhile, legal cannabis companies have a responsibility to be proactive in pushing for broader decriminalization and legalization, especially for the thousands of people still locked up on marijuana charges for things that are now legal.

The work has to continue so we never lose sight of how we can not only avoid prejudice and injustice in our own practices, but also how we can be active allies in moving both the LGBTQ+ and cannabis communities forward.

Keep reading about...