Interview in My Queer Art ALAN LESSIK, SAN FRANCISCO WRITER, INTERVIEW What is your name? Alan Lessik Where are you from? San Francisco What kind of work do you create? Novels and commentaries What do you define yourself as? Or do you not? Why/Why not? Novelist, storyteller and alan of all trades How long have …
Remembering Simon Nkoli: The White-washing of LGBT History in South Africa
In 1996, I had the honor of interviewing the major players who engineered the inclusion of sexual orientation in the South African constitution. Simon Nkoli, Zackie Achmat, Edwin Cameroun and David Botha were among the leaders that I interviewed, each having their own crucial role to play. As I was pulling up the articles I …
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Speaking Truth to Power–S.F. Frontiers Newsmagazine, June 8, 1995
In 1995, I entered this essay in the "Greatest Moments of Pride" Contest in S.F. Frontiers Newsmagazine and was awarded 1st Place. Unfortunately, there are no on-line archives of the magazine from this period. The room fell silent as I slowly walked up to the podium. When I reached the front, I too fell silent …
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South Africa’s Gay Rights–San Francisco Bay Guardian, May 22, 1996
I wrote this article for the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 1996 after four trips to South Africa. I had the great fortune to interview the major players in the movement to include sexual orientation in the new constitution. Unfortunately, this article is not currently on-line. The Bay Guardian plans to open up archives of …
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Marching to Pretoria: Adventures in Queer South Africa–SF Frontiers, January 18, 1996
I rediscovered this article I wrote in 1996 and sadly enough, its last paragraph is true again. "No person shall be unfairly discriminated against, directly or indirectly, and without derogating from the generality of this provision, on one or more of the following grounds in particular: race, gender, sex, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, …
A Conversation with Alan Lessik
This was one of the last pieces that Dave Robb wrote before his death in November 2016. He was a fantastic editor. A Conversation with Alan Lessik Interview by Dave Robb. On a foggy summer morning in San Francisco, Dave Robb sat down with Alan Lessik over a plate of homemade waffles. Lessik’s debut novel, …
