Quest for Acceptance | How cannabis and the LGBTQ+ community are still fighting for each other

At Curaleaf, being inclusive, accepting, and respectful are core elements of our company values, so Pride Month means a lot to us. This year, with so many states banning drag shows and questioning the rights of transgender people, we feel especially compelled to share our support for the LGBTQ+ community and our thoughts on why this particular group of people is so vital to our company and our industry.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that there is no such thing as legal cannabis without the LGBTQ+ community. Back in the 1980s, there were no treatments for the debilitating and painful effects of AIDS. Patients, who were primarily gay men, endured fatigue and physical discomfort that severely impacted their appetites for food causing severe weight loss. Out of pure desperation, AIDS patients reported finding relief and improved quality of life from cannabis despite it being illegal at that time. Appalled by the possibility of their sick friends being arrested, several advocates for legalizing cannabis emerged from the gay community.

One of those advocates was Mary Jane Rathbun AKA “Brownie Mary,” who we wrote about during Women’s History Month. At age 57, Brownie Mary made national headlines when she was arrested for possessing large amounts of marijuana for the cannabis-infused brownies she made to supplement her waitressing income. As part of her plea deal, Mary Jane did 500 hours of community service at a shelter for AIDS patients called The Shanti Project in San Francisco. There she saw firsthand the ravages of the disease and how patients reported that her “magically delicious” brownies helped them cope.

As San Francisco Weekly reported, “I know from smoking pot for over 30 years that this is a medicine that works,” Rathbun told the Associated Press in a 1992 interview. “It works for the wasting syndrome. The kids have no appetite, but when they eat a brownie, they get out of bed and make themselves some food. And for chemotherapy, they eat half a brownie before a session, and when they get out they eat the other half. It eases the pain. That’s what I’m here to do.”

Brownie Mary’s passion for supporting the gay men she called her “kids” led to her being arrested two more times. In the process, her grandmotherly appearance, genuine empathy for AIDS patients, and profanity-riddled vocabulary earned her even more popularity and support. With the help of her long-time friend and fellow cannabis advocate Dennis Perron, Mary Jane used her public acclaim to share her experiences with the medical benefits of cannabis with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Brownie Mary’s efforts laid the groundwork for Proposition 215 which made California the first state in the country to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“I didn’t go into this thinking I would be a hero,” Rathbun told the Chicago Tribune in a 1993 interview. “It was something I wanted to do to help my gay friends, and it just spiraled.”

Twenty four years after Brownie Mary’s death of a heart attack at 78, medical marijuana is legal in 38 states plus DC, and recreational cannabis is legal in 22 states and DC. Encouraging progress, but from what we’ve learned about Brownie Mary, we imagine she’d expect legalization to be nationwide by now. We’re also willing to bet she’d have a major problem with the political and social backlash the LGBTQ+ community is currently receiving. From cities across the country banning rainbow pride flags to the 451 anti-LGBTQ+ bills currently being deliberated in all but four states and the District of Columbia (according to the ACLU), these are troubling times.

Just as cannabis has been unfairly categorized as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, the LGBTQ+ community is being inexcusably judged for doing nothing more than trying to be themselves.

At Curaleaf, we stand with the LGBTQ+ community. Not just during Pride Month, but every day as its members strive to exercise the inalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness defined by the signers of the United States’ Declaration of Independence. We believe LGBTQ+ rights are human rights and we invite you to visit our website or your local Curaleaf dispensary to learn how we’re supporting our allies in the LGBTQ+ community. Working together, we believe the same passionate efforts that helped legalize cannabis, same sex marriage, and the legal recognition of LGBTQ+ families will ensure a brighter future for everyone—regardless of who they love or how they identify themselves.