Back to School!

This semester (Fall 2020) I am taking an online class at City College of San Francisco: Contemporary LGBTQ Film. I've decided I'll blog the writing I do for the course, since I know you're all just SO god-damned interested! Here's my introduction, to get things started:

Hello Class!

My name is Jeff Matthews. I am a 59-year-old, gay, cisgender man, but I prefer the label "queer" for a few reasons. 

1.) It's accurate. I knew I was queer long before I knew I was gay. 

2.) It's provocative. I liked the in-your-face aspect of it at the time I adopted it, during the early 1990's Queer Nation Era. ("We're here. We're queer. Get used to it!")

3.) It's inclusive, encompassing everyone who is not heterosexual or cisgender.

4.) It's concise. No never-ending, forever-evolving anagram.

I took my first Queer Studies Course at CCSF in Fall 1995! Interestingly, it was a course titled "Homosexuality in Contemporary Film." I guess I've come full circle during the past 25 years, as this is the last course I need for my A.A. Degree in Queer Studies. Obviously, I wasn’t in any hurry to get the degree. Hey, I’ve been busy doing other things! LOL. Chipping away at the degree has always been a labor of love, anyways. I enjoy being a student.

I just retired in June, after teaching at a community college myself for 28 years. My crowning achievement there was creating an A.A. Degree Program in Queer Studies! I knew once I pulled that off, I could retire in peace, and I did. If you want to know more about that side of me, you can read this article.

I’ve also created some delicious music for stoned queers over the past 35 years or so, which you can check out here.

Besides not being able to travel, one of the things I hate most about Life During a Pandemic is not being able to go out to the movies. I developed a life-long love of movies (and grand theaters) when I was a little boy, and was there every step of the way as queers evolved in cinema since (and before) 1985. I am purposefully not looking ahead at the syllabus as I want to be surprised each week by Ardel’s picks. How many will I have already seen? This first week’s pick, “The Watermelon Woman,” will be new to me. I’m looking forward to watching it soon.

Good luck, everyone! Looking forward to getting to know you better this semester.

~ Jeff