03-28-24 Interview - Gays Against Groomers' Rich Guggenheim - Straight Members of the CO Legislature Want to Ignore Gay History

STRAIGHT MEMBERS OF THE COLORADO LEGISLATURE WANT TO IGNORE GAY HISTORY In the push to allow felons who declare they are transgender to legally change their names (thus allowing them to deny their criminal past) Gays Against Groomer's Rich Guggenheim went to testify at the Legislature against the bill. Here is his testimony:

My name is Dr. Rich Guggenheim. I am a homosexual resident of Denver. I would like to take a moment of your time to share with you a prominent piece of the gay and lesbian liberation movement from Stonewall.I want to tell you about the history of Malcom Michaels Jr., and Tony Rivera. Both were gay, black men, sex workers, drag queens, and convicted felons. Both were well known in the gay community in the 1960s and 70s. Malcom may be more familiar to you by his drag name, Marsha P. Johnson and is falsely identified today as a transgender woman. Malcom was frequently seen with Tony Rivera, who went by the drag name Sylvia.Both were heavy cocaine users. In fact, the false narrative today is that Marsha threw the first brick, yet Marsha admitted to never even being at Stonewall and instead was with Sylvia, who was passed out from cocaine on a bench in Bryant Park.Marsha and Sylvia are also known for running the STAR house. A home for gay run-away boys as young as 10. STAR house is described as a child prostitution operation and "shelter.” The owner of the building, Michael "Dirty Mike" Umber, a Carlo Gambino soldier, made boy on boy porn. The children were sex trafficked on 42nd Street by Rivera and Michaels for "Matty" Lanniello and his crew. Today we have another former felon, black gay man, sex worker who identifies as transgender, and uses children to perform in sexually provocative shows in adult burlesque clubs in Colorado Springs promoting this bill. The parallels are astonishing! Gay and Lesbian people fought back against allowing people like Malcom and Rivera into the community. They pushed back and worked for decades to destroy the talking points from people like Anita Bryant that homosexuals are child pedophiles. Today, half a century later, we are here in this building, in this room, fighting the exact same fight. HB24-1071, introduced in the legislature, is being presented a group and individual who seek to allow convicted former felons like him to change his name and gender identity.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who has a criminal record.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who does drag.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who works as a sex worker.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who is purported to be a woman.Like Malcom and Rivera, a man who works with children in “adult art forms”.Like Malcom and Rivers, rightfully shunned by common sense adults; even in the LGB and T populations for their toxicity to our movement and cause for equality and freedom. Gay men and lesbian women fought against allowing these types of people to be associated with the “community” for a reason. The association of pedophiles and groomers with gays and lesbians was damaging and harmful to our fight for liberation, equality, and freedom. The passing of this bill will result in further homophobic attacks, increased accusations of us being pedophiles, and a continuing decline in the support for LGBTQ rights. I ask for a NO vote on HB24-1071.

Apparently his accurate testimony struck a nerve and he was gaveled out, which is the equivalence of being given the hook while testifying. Rich joins me at 1 today to talk about this. Find out more about Gays Against Groomers by clicking here. Follow Rich on Social media by clicking here for Twitter.