By Andrew Shaffer

For many people, a planned gift—designating a charity or organization in a will or trust as part of estate planning—is the biggest contribution they will ever make to the causes they support. Yet many delay making this crucial decision or leave it up to their heirs to do so on their behalf. Establishing intentions for your estate can be a difficult process, but it can also be incredibly rewarding to know that your resources will continue to make a difference to the causes you support for years to come.

Michael Simones, a retired teacher and administrator in the U.S. Air Force, is the newest member of our Legacy Circle—a group of people who have made a commitment to support our work with a planned gift. When we asked Michael why it was so important to fund this work, he highlighted the reality that countless forces are trying to erase our history. “Simultaneously as I was estate planning, I was seeing on the news all of the attempts from politicians, right-wing extremists and misguiding religious leaders trying to erase our LGBTQ history and place us back in the closet which has reached a very disturbing level today.”

 He continued, “what the GLBT Historical Society is doing to preserve this history is exactly what we need to do. The education of our young people (and older) can lead us to more education in schools, colleges and universities, social media, literacy, etc. As a retired professional in the field of the education of young people, it is imperative that LGBTQ history be preserved. It is an honor to be a part of this preservation through the Legacy Circle. It has always been my dream that LGBTQ history be a mandatory part of school curriculum nationwide and worldwide. I may not see that in my lifetime, but I have faith that others will.”

In a few sentences can you tell us about yourself and your background?

MS: I originally moved to San Francisco in 1983 attempting to remove myself from a very homophobic rural town to a positive LGBTQ environment. After moving here I completed my education in Child & Youth Services which led me to a 37-year career with the U.S. Air Force, first as a civilian teacher and working all the way up to a senior administrator in the same field. I retired from this position in 2021 and returned to the city that I love. I served at nine Air Force bases throughout the world, but whenever I was between assignments—I always returned to San Francisco. In retirement I am currently writing children and teen books on the celebration of diversity and LGBTQ inclusion respectively. I hope to be published with my first book this year if all goes well.

How did you decide to make an investment into LGBTQ history as part of your estate planning?

MS: Entering retirement, it was now time to decide who will be the beneficiary when the time comes for me to pass on. I have been a lifelong lover of history. In fact, I spent all of my world traveling visiting historical sites. In early 2022 I took an online class from City College of San Francisco on LGBTQ history, taught by Ruth Mahaney, who has been a lifelong LGBTQ advocate fighting for our rights. During the class she introduced us to the GLBT Historical Society. As I was completing my research assignments, I came across a section on the website regarding the Legacy Circle program. This program just seemed so right for me. I was so impressed by what the society was doing to preserve our rich history which is just beyond amazing and critical to future LGBTQ education.

Is there anything your learned during the estate planning process that you would like to share with others?

MS: Estate planning is emotional, stressful and takes a lot of thought. You can’t change things once you are gone so the decisions I made today need to be well planned according to “my” wishes and my wishes only. As a queer male with no children, I had to decide if I wanted to include extended family members or a charity or agency. My best advice for others is to make decisions from your heart (not what others want you to do or what is traditionally done) and like I did, complete your estate planning to meet “your” wishes which reflects the best of you, your truth and your personal legacy.

NOTE: To learn more leaving a legacy through a planned gift, visit our legacy circle page. There you will find information about our program, as well as videos and resources to help with financial planning and preparing your archival legacy, if you have materials you would like to contribute to an archive.

Andrew Shaffer directs the society’s outreach, media and fundraising programs. He is also trained as a historian, and his academic background includes graduate work at the University of San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he helped to build that city’s first permanent LGBTQ archives.