December 29, 2022 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Newsom names out judges to California courts

by Matthew S. Bajko

Governor Gavin Newsom named two out lawyers to California superior courts Friday. A gay man will join the San Francisco Superior Court, while a lesbian will be joining the Orange County Superior Court.

Michael Rhoads, 38, will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Angela M. Bradstreet from the San Francisco bench. Bradstreet, a lesbian, stepped down in February after serving 11 years as a judge.

Julie Swain, 52, will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Joy W. Markman from the Orange County court. She had been appointed to the state’s former municipal court bench in 1993 and was named to the superior court in 1997 by former Republican governor Pete Wilson.

According to the LGBTQ demographic data for California judges released in March, the Orange County bench had three LGBTQ judges as of the end of 2021. The San Francisco bench had seven LGBTQ judges - four gay and three lesbian – last year prior to Bradstreet’s retirement.

Swain served as a deputy public defender at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office from 1997 to 2010. She then went into private practice, opening a solo law firm. Reached in the south of France, where she is vacationing with her wife of 20 years, Swain told the Bay Area Reporter that she had applied for a judicial appointment in April.

“I just moved through quick. I am super fortunate to get appointed today,” said Swain, who earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law. “I am proud to represent and I also think that when somebody walks into the courtroom and sees someone familiar to them, that gives them

New LGBTQ laws take effect Jan. 1

by Matthew S. Bajko

When the clock strikes midnight on January 1, a trove of new LGBTQ laws will go into effect in California. Among them are edicts to make it easier for people to change their gender on various government-issued documents and to require money managers to undergo LGBTQ cultural competency training.

The start of 2023 will also see a staggered rollout of changes to the state’s medical system aimed at improving the health care of transgender and nonbinary residents of the Golden State. People living with HIV will also see improved protections around their ability to obtain life or disability insurance.

And, as of Sunday, California will become a refuge for parents and their transgender children seeking gender-affirming health care banned in their home states. Officials in the Golden State will refuse to participate in any legal action the families’ home states take against them.

Due to the adoption of Senate Bill 107, authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), starting next week it will be California policy to reject any out-of-state court judgments removing trans kids from their parents’ custody because they allowed them to receive gender-affirming health care. State health officials will not be allowed to comply with subpoenas seeking health re-

cords and any information related to such criminal cases, and public safety officers must make out-of-state criminal arrest warrants for such parents their lowest priority.

Wiener introduced the legislation due to state governments, such as in Alabama, Texas and Idaho, adopting laws that call for prosecuting parents who allow their trans

children to have gender-affirming care. Families in the Lone Star State have already found themselves being investigated by state agencies and facing the possibility of being prosecuted and seeing their trans children placed in foster care.

2022 brought LGBTQ gains amid backdrop of attacks

by Lisa Keen

There was no shortage of dramatic and consequential events to consider as the top stories for the LGBTQ community in 2022, and most of those threaten to spill over into 2023: the U.S. Supreme Court’s interest in significantly undermining equal protection of the law for LGBTQ people; the escalating number of attacks against LGBTQ Pride events, gathering places, and people; and Republican capture of the U.S. House majority.

But for every troubling development, there was a happy or hopeful one. Here are our picks for the most important news stories of 2022 for the LGBTQ community:

Number 10: Griner held by Russia

As the U.S. and its European allies announced sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Russian authorities announced March 5 that they had detained an American in Moscow.

Brittney Griner, a lesbian professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist, became the focus of monthslong worldwide attention after she was detained at a Russian airport, accused of possessing marijuana. Authorities held her just a week before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Griner acknowledged having a small amount of hash oil in her bag, saying it was for medical purposes and that she had meant to leave it at home. Griner had been playing with a Russian women’s basketball team for eight years, earning four times what she earns as an All-Star member of the Phoenix Mercury WNBA team. Russian authorities scheduled her for trial.

Happy New Year

By May, the U.S. government announced it believed Griner was being “wrongfully detained,” and Russian media began claiming that a deal was underway for the U.S. to exchange a convicted Russian arms distributor for Griner’s return. Meanwhile, Griner’s spouse, Cherelle Griner, made appearances on national media outlets to pressure President Joe Biden to do more to secure Griner’s release.

Russian officials put Griner on trial in early July and declared her to be guilty. In August, they announced she was sentenced to nine years in prison. More than three months went by before the White House suddenly announced it had reached an agreement with Russian officials to exchange the arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner.

On December 8, Griner was freed and flown back to the U.S. She issued a statement December 16, thanking all the people and fans who provided love and help. She also noted that she will be playing with the Phoenix Mercury again next season.

She also pledged to work to help secure the release of Paul Whelan, another American sentenced to a long prison term in Russia. The Biden administration wanted both Griner and Whelen released, but only Griner was freed.

Russia released WNBA star Brittney Griner on December 8.

Courtesy the governor’s office

Attorneys Michael Rhoads and Julie Swain are set to become California superior court judges.

Bigstock photo

Sister act

A trove of LGBTQ bills will become law in California as of January 1. Courtesy Twitter

NCLR marks 45th anniversary

by Heather Cassell

Since its founding 45 years ago

the National Center for Lesbian Rights has been at the forefront of many of the LGBTQ movement’s key battles. From the beginning, the San Francisco-based public interest legal agency has led with a lesbian-feminist lens, advocating for the underrepresented, tackling multiple issues, and racking up major wins. Beyond the cases and courtrooms, NCLR has spearheaded advocacy education and built ally relationships.

Now at the helm of the $6 million organization is Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon, a queer woman. She came aboard at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

“It’s a really important time,” Rupert-Gordon said. “We have an opportunity to think about the beginning and how far we’ve come.”

At NCLR’s 45th anniversary November 11 - its first in-person gala since the start of the global health crisis - Rupert-Gordon unveiled a vision for the legal agency’s future.

“I’m really thinking about what’s next for NCLR, the ways that we were brave in the beginning, the ways that we sincerely changed the way that the world works, [and] what we’re going to be doing in 25 years from now,” she told the B.A.R. earlier this year.

In 1977, Donna Hitchens founded the agency as the Lesbian Rights Project at Equal Rights Advocates, a women’s rights legal advocacy organization. Hitchens, and her wife, Nancy Davis, were both law students at the UC Berkeley Law, and law clerks at ERA.

The struggle was very real for lesbians at the time. “Lesbian chic” wasn’t on the horizon. The late fem-

inist Betty Friedan slapped lesbians with the “Lavender Menace” label in the women’s rights movement, and the gay rights movement barely, if at all, recognized queer women’s place in the fight for rights.

Hitchens, 75, saw a need and an opportunity, she recalled in an interview several years ago with the Bay Area Reporter.

“It seemed like ... for those of us at the time [that] the term ‘lesbian’ really denoted being both a feminist and a gay person,” said Hitchens. “I saw a real need for a feminist organization that promoted the rights of lesbians ... but also always in collaboration with other civil rights efforts.”

There were few LGBTQ legal advocacy organizations in the 1970s. Those that existed mostly focused on criminal statutes such as sodomy laws, but not on other issues such as custody, employment, and housing. NCLR went after those issues and things like public accommodations, insurance, military, and law enforcement.

“NCLR was always a multi-trick pony,” said NCLR’s first legal director, Roberta Achtenberg, a lesbian. “We were not ever thinking that impact litigation was the only tool we needed to use to try to address legal rights we were always into organizing [and] educating.”

“We don’t get to LGBTQ equality if LGBTQ people are still experiencing racism or sexism or heterosexism,” added Hitchens. “Those things don’t work separately. They all work together.”

ERA provided office space, staff, and a $15,000 grant from the Berkeley Law Foundation. Fundraisers raised a couple of thousand dollars here and there, Hitchens said. The staff’s youthful idealism, passion, and clients fueled the rest even in

Help Wanted Freelance Reporters

The Bay Area Reporter is seeking freelance reporters to write about the diversity of the LGBTQ community –in news, arts, and sports.

For News, this includes local government, LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS nonprofits, LGBTQ community newsmakers, and other matters of interest.

For Arts, we are looking to increase coverage of local arts events and local nightlife, each with an LGBTQ focus.

The B.A.R. also has an opening for a twice-monthly freelance sports columnist. The ideal candidate would focus in part on news leading up to the 2023 Gay Games in Hong Kong. Other issues include the ongoing fights over trans inclusion in sports nationally, and other topics of interest.

Women and people of color and others are strongly encouraged to apply. The B.A.R. is an equal opportunity employer.

For News and the sports columnist freelancers, send a resume and links to previously published articles to Cynthia Laird, News Editor, at c.laird@ebar.com.

For Arts freelancers, send a resume and online links to previously published articles to Jim Provenzano, Arts and Nightlife Editor, at jim@ebar.com

Kendell also proved to be an effective face of the LGBTQ movement and fundraiser, bringing in millions of dollars as it took on the issues in the courtroom, educational campaigns, and working with allies.

periencing racism or sexism or heterosexism,” she said. “Those things don’t work separately. They all work together.”

Courtesy NCLR

NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon

the face of losing many early cases.

The first court victory came in 1983, when Sharon Johnson, a Black lesbian mother, won custody of her son, Daimein. The organization published, “The Lesbian Mother Litigation Manual,” its first guide for lawyers working with lesbian mothers on their custody cases in the 1970s and 1980s.

NCLR followed up that success by establishing a groundbreaking second-parent adoption precedent in 1986 and winning a partner guardianship case in 1991. That case inspired NCLR’s partner protection education campaign teaching couples how to protect their relationships.

Achtenberg, 72, said she, Hitchens, and other NCLR staff were fueled by inspiration from their clients’ courage. It gave them the energy to push forward through the bootstrapping and losses to the wins and the financial support that came with it.

“Watching their courage in the face of these losses gives you the energy to continue,” Achtenberg said.

In 1989, the project left ERA and became its own entity. A decade later, NCLR transformed into one of the nation’s leading legal organizations fighting for LGBTQ rights.

Hitchens and Achtenberg also left NCLR to pursue other goals but continue to be active with the agency. Davis and Hitchens, both now retired, went on to become San Francisco Superior Court judges.

Achtenberg was a San Francisco supervisor who later served in the administrations of former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, among other accomplishments. She currently is a partner at ABK City Advisors and vice chairman of the board of directors at Bank of San Francisco.

The Kendell effect

In 1996, lesbian Kate Kendell became NCLR’s third executive director. She joined the organization as legal director in 1994. Kendell resigned in 2018, passing the baton after chalking up a dizzying array of accomplishments.

Prior to Rupert-Gordon being hired, former longtime NCLR deputy director and Family Law Project director Cathy Sakimura served as interim executive director in 2018. Sakimura now leads San Francisco’s Legal Services for Children.

In 2019, nonprofit veteran Cindy Myers, Ph.D., temporarily stepped into the role of leading NCLR.

The agency continued to be on the cutting edge under Kendell’s leadership. It was a leader in the battle for same-sex marriage and it won a legal precedent in the infamous dog mauling case where San Francisco lesbian Diane Whipple was killed. Her partner, Sharon Smith, was able to obtain a civil judgment recognizing her as a surviving partner and family member. NCLR also won four groundbreaking custody cases: three in California and one in Florida.

During Kendell’s 22-year tenure, NCLR continued transforming family law as a priority for the organization. It also took on other issues, establishing projects addressing different segments of the community, such as the Youth Project and the Elder Project. The organization aggressively advocated for transgender representation and tackled homophobia in athletics with its Sports Project. NCLR was one of the first to take on LGBTQ immigration with the Immigration and Asylum Project and rural queers with its Rural Pride campaign.

The organization also fostered the Transgender Law Center before it incorporated as its own nonprofit in 2002. NCLR’s Proyecto Poderoso project grew into the LGBTQ program at California Rural Legal Assistance Inc.

Today, NCLR continues to operate out of San Francisco. According to the organization it has 25 employees, along with three contractors and two law clerks. It has 12 board members and 13 members on its national advisory council. It receives up to 1,500 calls for help a year.

New leader, new challenges

Rupert-Gordon stepped into the role of heading NCLR at a historic moment two years ago — the pandemic and a racial reckoning. She is now one of three Black queer women heading some of the LGBTQ community’s top organizations, including Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, and the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Kierra Johnson.

Rupert-Gordon said Black queer women leading these major organizations is “enormously important” because “representation matters, but it’s not everything.” Just because someone who looks like you is at the helm or in the room doesn’t mean the system isn’t still there.

“Being someone from an underrepresented identity does not make the organization anti-racist, it doesn’t make the organization inherently more feminist,” she said.

However, seeing someone who looks like you or seeing barriers being broken, starts conversations about racism, and gives an organization a different starting point than before, which “often is enough to get us some very different outcomes,” she added.

Achtenberg and Hitchens said it was important for a Black queer woman to lead NCLR.

“I like to think she’s in the rich tradition of NCLR,” Achtenberg said.

“It’s the leadership of African American women in the lesbian rights movement [and] in progressive movements [that] has been always a bedrock of the movement,” she continued, adding, “it couldn’t be more important” to have Rupert-Gordon leading the organization now.

NCLR’s feminist roots are not lost on Rupert-Gordon, she said, “it is at the heart of who we are” and it is the organization’s “superpower.”

“Our feminist founding being founded by both experienced marginalization on multiple levels, that is the reason NCLR has been successful in our work,” she said, explaining the organization thinks about people at the “highest levels of marginalization and finds ways to fix those.”

“We don’t get to LGBTQ equality if LGBTQ people are still ex-

One of the ways NCLR is thinking out of the box is by working with conservative and religious groups who are willing to find a common ground. In 2007, Achtenberg told the B.A.R. that she was most surprised by “the virulence and the sheer irrationality of homophobia. You have to be eternally vigilant.”

Asked the same question 15 years later, Achtenberg responded, “I’m no longer surprised.”

She said right-wing conservatives and nationalists are doing everything they can “to essentially destroy not just the community, but now it’s clear that we are inextricably linked to democracy.”

“If we get picked off and we get destroyed, so many important elements of the democracy go down with us,” she said, noting the LGBTQ community isn’t the only community linked to democracy. “I think others are seeing the relationship.”

NCLR is still fighting for LGBTQ family rights, but today the organization is also fighting for economic justice with its National LGBTQ Anti-Poverty Action Network and space for LGBTQ college athletes to play sports homophobic and transphobic free with the Common Ground project with the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Transgender issues are more than ever front and center, with transgender youth and their parents under attack due to dozens of anti-transgender laws targeting health care, identification documents, access to restrooms and other public facilities, and school sports.

“Many of the current challenges that we’re facing are so much about gender stereotyping,” said NCLR’s longtime legal director Shannon Minter. “It seems to force people back into very narrow gender roles and gender norms.”

Minter, a 61-year-old transgender man, pointed to attacks on transgender young people and their families and health care, like abortion rights, “which is of great significance to many people in the LGBT community,” he said.

Lizette Trujillo, 42, an Arizona mother of a transgender teenage son, is one of the families NCLR recently helped. She is grateful the organization was there for her son and family along with other parents of transgender youth in Arizona.

Trujillo was one of the three initial litigants in a federal court case against the Arizona Department of Health Services demanding Arizona allow them to change their children’s gender on their birth certificates without having genderaffirming surgery. Currently, the law requires proof of sex change surgery to change the gender marker on a birth certificate.

“It’s been great to have an organization really champion our children and believe that their rights are worth fighting for,” said Trujillo.

Arizona allowed Trujillo to change her son’s birth certificate in 2021. She’s no longer a part of the case that is ongoing, she said.

“My kid was thrilled,” Trujillo said, declining to state her son’s name to protect his privacy. “Obviously, there’s nothing more meaningful than having your identity documents match your gender.”

NCLR’s fight for same-sex marriage and families is why 37-yearold gay dads Sean McBride and his husband, Steve Cary, who have a 1-year-old son, have donated to the organization since 2010.

CA park hikes kickoff 2023

compiled by Matthew S. Bajko

California State Parks officials invite residents to welcome in 2023 by taking part in the agency’s annual First Day Hike offerings. The national program encourages people to get out and enjoy the outdoors with unique hikes and other activities each January 1.

On Sunday 50 of the state’s parks will be participating and offering guided hikes that day. The distance and rigor will vary per hike or activity, with such details as start times, meeting locations, day-use pass costs, and descriptions of the various hikes listed at the webpage parks.ca.gov/FirstDayHikes2023.

In the Bay Area a morning hike of three miles lasting roughly three hours will take place at Olompali State Historic Park in Novato, while Mount Tamalpais State Park is offering a 3.2 mile-long afternoon hike that will trek through its various habitats and take about three hours to complete. Hikers can also join a guided trek around Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay or explore Gray Whale Cove State Beach off Highway 1 on the San Mateo County coast.

Further afield will be guided hikes in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which will provide a look at the Santa Cruz County park’s re growth following the 2020 CZU Lightning Com plex Fire, and Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, which will focus on the redwood ecology of the park in the LGBTQ resort town of Guerneville in Sonoma County.

Those interested in joining one of the hikes should download the California State Parks mobile app, which allows users to add park unit maps onto their phone and get up-to-date information on any trail closures and events. First Day Hike participants will also be able to join virtually with the checkin challenge, post their progress and share photos along their way.

Powered by OuterSpatial, the app has hike information, route details and more. Visitors can download the app at outerspatial.link/csp.

Park visitors are encouraged to share their January 1 experiences on social media using the hashtags: #HikeInto2023, #FirstDayHikes, #HikeWithCAStateParks and #CAStateParks.

SF again will recycle Christmas trees

In another New Year’s tradition, San Francisco residents can again recycle their live Christmas trees by placing them on the curb in front of their homes from January 3 through January 14. The city’s

garbage hauler, Recology, will “treecycle” them for free, noted the San Francisco Environment Department on its webpage https:// sfenvironment.org/treecycle.

Clean, unflocked trees free of decorations, lights, and tree stands should be placed on the curbside next to the green recycling bin the night before residents’ scheduled garbage collection day. Trees taller than 6 feet should be cut in half before being placed on the curb.

Recology uses a special truck to pick up the trees. Anyone whose tree isn’t picked up by the end of the day on their regular garbage service day should contact Recology by calling (415) 330-1300 or sending a message via its website at https:// www.recology.com/recology-sanfrancisco/contact/.

Gay man to lead SF immigrant affairs office

A gay man who is the son of Mexican immigrants has been hired to lead San Francisco’s office that oversees services and initiatives for immigrants and newcomers. Jorge Rivas will take over as executive director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs on January 17.

City Administrator Carmen Chu announced her appointment of Rivas to the position December 20, as the Bay Area Reporter reported online last Tuesday. Rivas previously worked for the city in the Office of Economic and Workforce Development as the director of Invest in Neighborhoods, an interagency partnership aimed at strengthening and revitalizing neighborhood commercial districts.

He is currently deputy director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Bay Area, which works to preserve and produce affordable housing and economic opportunities for people of color and immigrants.

“As the son of immigrant parents, I understand firsthand the fears and uncertainty the immigrant community experiences,” stated Rivas, whose parents came to California in the 1970s and worked as migrant farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. “There’s a lot of work ahead of us, and this requires integrity and an unwavering commitment to immigrant communities. Together, I earnestly believe that we can make San Francisco a more welcoming place for all to thrive.”

Fluent in Spanish, Rivas is the first in his family to receive a college degree. He earned a B.A. in urban studies from UC Berkeley and a Master’s of Planning from the University of Southern California.t

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California State Parks are once again kicking off the New Year with First Day Hike offerings at various sites across the state, such as at Calaveras Big Trees State Park northeast of Stockton.

Courtesy California State Parks

Lesbian CA legislator’s out sister aims to succeed her in Sacramento

by Matthew S. Bajko

In what would be a first for the California Legislature, a lesbian member of the Assembly could be succeeded by her out sister come 2024. And depending on the outcome of that year’s legislative races, they could become the first pair of LGBTQ siblings to serve together in Sacramento.

As the Bay Area Reporter reported online December 20, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona) is seeking to succeed Senator Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside), who will be termed out of his 31st Senate District seat in two years. Roth has endorsed Cervantes, 35, in the race that has also drawn another Democratic candidate, Riverside school board member Dr. Angelo Farooq.

On Wednesday Cervantes’ younger sister, Clarissa, announced her candidacy to succeed her sibling in the Assembly District 58 seat. Clarissa Cervantes, 32, who uses she and they pronouns, identifies as bisexual and queer, as the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California noted when it endorsed her last year during her successful bid for a Riverside City Council seat.

The Cervantes siblings are set to both appear on the March 5, 2024 primary ballot, as the election is being held early due to it being a presidential election year. Under California’s top-two primary system, the sisters will need to place either first or second in their respective legislative contests in order to advance to the November 5 general election that fall.

Assemblymember Blanca E. Ru-

bio (D-Baldwin Park) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) were the first sisters to serve together in the Legislature. Blanca Rubio first won election to her 48th Assembly District seat in 2016, while Susan Rubio was elected to her Senate District 22 seat in 2018.

The B.A.R. could not determine if another pair of LGBTQ siblings had sought seats in a state legislature or served together in a statehouse. After searching their records spokespeople for the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which helps to elect LGBTQ people to public office across the country, told the B.A.R. they did not know of any other situations involving a pair of out sisters or brothers.

Last year, Clarissa Cervantes won her June 8 election to the Ward 2 seat on the Riverside City Council. When she was sworn in that July, she became the second out member of the governing body and its second Latina member.

She represents her city’s Canyon Crest, Eastside, Sycamore Canyon, and UC Riverside neighborhoods. And due to a change in the city moving its local elections to evennumbered years, Clarissa Cervantes is serving a five-year term.

Like her older sister, who gave birth to her and her wife’s triplets three years ago, Clarissa Cervantes is also a mom. She has a daughter, Autumn.

In a November 4 post on her Instagram account, she wrote about being an elected public servant at the same time as her sibling.

“I don’t often talk about how it ‘feels’ to be an elected official serving the same communities as my older sister. It’s my dream come true,”

wrote Clarissa Cervantes. “Sabrina and I spoke about helping people since we were little (must of got it from those amazingly devoted parents and our selfless grandparents who were always helping others).”

Prior to her election, Clarissa Cervantes had served as a legislative field representative for former councilmember Andy Melendrez. When he opted not to seek reelection last year, she jumped into the race to succeed him with his endorsement.

In September, she filed a libel lawsuit against Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for his claiming in a social media post that she had supported a protest over the

summer that resulted in damage to the city’s historic courthouse. Clarissa Cervantes refuted the charge, saying she happened to walk by on her way to a local bar and had asked a sergeant with the city’s police department what was going on.

She condemned the vandalism and demanded an apology from Bianco. When none came, she filed her lawsuit.

In announcing her Assembly bid Wednesday, Clarissa Cervantes stated she wants to serve in Sacramento in order to ensure the legislative district can continue to deliver “the critical resources” its residents deserve to receive.

“As a mother and lifelong resi-

dent of Riverside County, I understand the issues impacting our communities and vow to carry their stories of perseverance with me as I fight for their futures in the state Assembly. It would be my honor to represent you,” stated Clarissa Cervantes.

Her sister is among her early endorsers, as are Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Colton). Also backing her is civil rights icon Dolores Huerta who, with the late labor organizer Cesar Chavez, helped lay the groundwork for the creation of the United Farm Workers of America in 1962.

“I believe that public service is about being a voice for the people. I have a proven track record of working across Assembly District 58 to empower residents and foster a sense of community belonging,” stated Clarissa Cervantes.

Riverside City Councilmember Ronaldo Fierro, who has a daughter with his wife, was the first person to announce his bid for the Assembly seat. The fellow Democrat was elected to his Ward 3 council seat in 2019 and owns a restaurant and cocktail bar in the city, where he was born and raised.

“Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes has been an effective advocate for our region and has delivered for our residents during her tenure in the State Assembly,” stated Fierro in announcing his candidacy December 2. “I am confident that if there is an open seat, I am the best candidate to continue her strong work and represent the 58th District and fight for inland residents in the State Assembly.”t

equal access to justice in a more concrete way. The diversity can only add to equal access to justice on the bench.”

Rhoads, like Swain, is a Democrat. Since 2018 he has served as the chambers attorney to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who is retiring as of January 2.

a deputy legal affairs secretary for former governor Jerry Brown. He had started out as a graduate law clerk at the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office from 2009 to 2010.

Rhoads earned a Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School. In response to a request for comment from the Bay Area Reporter, Rhoads replied via an email from the governor’s office.

Swain told the B.A.R. she first needs to close down her practice and ensure her clients’ legal needs are seen to before she can hold her robing ceremony to become a judge. She intends to talk with the presiding judge on her court once she returns to the state about the timeline.

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Between 2016 and 2018 Rhoads had served as a staff attorney for the state’s highest court. Prior to that he was a deputy attorney general at the California Attorney General’s Office from 2015 to 2016, and from 2010 to 2012.

“I am deeply honored and thankful to Governor Newsom for this appointment. I look forward to serving the people of California as a judge,” stated Rhoads.

As for her desire to become a judge, Swain said having worked as a public defender before going into private practice, she felt it was important to return to public service.

The benefits are immense.

In between working for the AG’s office, Rhoads had served as

Rhoads and Swain will each earn $231,174. It is unclear when they will be sworn onto their respective courts.

“Also, I wanted to bring my level of experience I have from 26 years of being a lawyer and also diversity to the bench,” said Swain, a longtime member of the Orange County Lavender Bar Association, on whose board she had served.t

When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress and financial burden, allowing them to focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

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“They have always been focused on foundational rights, maintaining and increasing our rights as human beings and U.S. citizens,” said Cary. “They’re involved with the really important and challenging things that are happening right now.”

The spotlight is currently on transgender youth rights and conversion therapy, which is the widely debunked practice of trying to get LGBTQ people to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

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Minter started at NCLR in 1993 with a fellowship specifically to work on conversion therapy. One of his first cases was fighting for then-queer teen Lynn Duff’s emancipation from her parents who sent her to a camp for troubled teens that ended up being a conversion therapy camp. Duff was emancipated and taken in by a lesbian couple in Berkeley. Nearly 30 years later,

Minter is still working on conversion therapy and fighting to shut down the “troubled teen” industry, battling the same owners of the camp Duff was in for a new client. Minter could not elaborate due to the active case.

NCLR’s anti-conversion therapy program, Born Perfect, has been the organization’s most successful campaign ever, Minter said.

“I’m so proud of that,” he said, stating that the campaign supported the passage of more than 20 state laws banning conversion therapy for minors, including California; more than 120 localities, and in Washington, D.C. in 10 years, and the number is still growing. The call to ban conversion therapy has spread around the world, with countries like Germany banning the practice mostly for minors, and reaching the United Nations.

Future

“The organization has a culture

of transforming itself in order to do whatever it takes to make the maximum impact and confer the most benefit to the community,” said Achtenberg. “I know that that tradition is being continued through Imani’s leadership.”

Rupert-Gordon said that NCLR is working on creating a culture and environment “where folks can see themselves, can see multiple parts of their identity represented all through the organization.

“We’re in a place right now where we are going to be working to win some of our rights back,” she continued, “but this time, we’re going to do it better and we’re going to be stronger in doing that.”

Hitchens told the B.A.R. of NCLR’s current leadership, “I certainly think they’re on the right trajectory.”

She hopes NCLR will continue to receive the “resources they need to fight the battles that are most important.”t

Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, left, is running for a state Senate seat in 2024 and her sister, Clarissa, will seek her sibling’s Assembly seat in that election.

Courtesy Facebook

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

It was eight and a half years ago - in spring of 2014 - that Time magazine declared the “transgender tipping point” on its front cover. It certainly heralded a coming of age for transgender visibility in popular culture, even as other trans needs were still sorely lacking.

If that was the tipping point, I would like to hope that 2022 is the crest of the backlash against transgender people.

2022 saw hundreds of bills introduced at statehouses across the country, with most aimed at transgender youth. 2022 also saw quite a number of celebrities and other notables going “mask off” about their opposition to transgender people. Likewise, politicians on the campaign trail pushed transgender issues as a moral panic, using antitrans rhetoric as a reason to drum up votes.

Yet again, 2022 has been a bloody year for the community, with dozens known to be victims of anti-trans murders, and many more taking their lives in an in creasingly hostile world. Hatred of transgender people, and the ampli fication of same, has very much led to violence and death.

This was the year of the Club Q shooting, which was fueled by antiLGBTQ and anti-drag hatred, leav ing five people dead.

This is why I hope we’ve reached a crest. This is simply too much for our community to continue to bear.

I do think things are changing, too. While Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, both incumbents who pushed draconian anti-trans laws in their states, were successful in the midterms, many other politi cians who were hoping to ride into office on the backlash against trans rights were unsuccessful.

Likewise, many in the spotlight who have begun to embrace antitrans rhetoric are seeing these at titudes affect their bottom lines.

J.K. Rowling’s movie projects are shelved, and Dave Chappelle is tainted. While I don’t expect their minds to change, I do hope that this will cause other celebrities to at least think twice before opening their mouths, if they do not otherwise re pudiate their anti-trans beliefs.

Sadly, yes, we are already seeing new anti-LGBTQ bills around the country, and are sure to see more attacks on transgender youth and others hit the statehouses. I do hold some hope, however, that these too will wane, as people grow weary of

these once again cluttering the leg straight allies from working in the

us to force the hands of the politicians who will support our causes and shut down those who would stand against us.

The right has been very effective at putting persuasive propaganda into the world. They have led the way in getting people to believe lies about “groomers” at drag queen story times and that the medical industry is somehow coercing young people into the “trans lifestyle.” It will be up to us to speak out, tell our stories, and counter those narratives at every turn.

Yes, it sucks that, yet again, we’re reduced to having to do the heavy lifting, explaining everything from the most basic levels about who we are, once again pushing that stone up the mountain like so many of us did in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Maybe we got complacent on the way to the tipping point and assumed that we no longer needed to do that work. We hoped, perhaps, that everyone now understood what we are about. Meanwhile,

need to stand up for our trans siblings, our nonbinary and genderfluid siblings, our LGBTQ siblings, and our drag siblings all the more stronger than we ever have before. We need to set aside petty differences and have everyone’s backs in what has become a more hostile world.

Those who stand against us want to see our community divided. They are more than willing to support narratives that split us into factions and put us at each other’s throats, rather than saving our energy for our true opposition - them.

Yes, this will also mean that we need to do all we can to build our networks, help any of us in need, and provide resources within our community whenever possible.

More than this, I want you to take one thing into the new year, and that is hope. 2022 was a deeply difficult year for our community. We were left battered and beaten down.

Even in these dark times, however, there are just the smallest,

Mr. Hollings died November 10 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 61.

As the Bay Area Reporter noted in its obituary, Mr. Hollings was also a community leader in the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood. He served as treasurer for the Castro Community Benefit District and served on the board of the Castro Country Club, a sober space.

Sheriff Paul Miyamoto told the B.A.R. at the time that Mr. Hollings would be greatly missed by both his sheriff’s office colleagues and the community.

To RSVP for the memorial, visit bit.ly/3jwt58G.

Christine Smith

Our wish list for Newsom in 2023

Governor Gavin Newsom has political capital after his easy reelection win this year and having handily withstood the 2021 recall. As he goes into 2023, we think he should use some of it in ways that would benefit the LGBTQ community. Here are our suggestions.

Pardon Salesh Prasad

Readers will be familiar with the plight of Salesh Prasad, a queer bisexual man who had been convicted of second-degree murder decades ago for killing another man. Prasad came to the U.S. from Fiji as a lawful permanent resident when he was 6 years old. But, at 22, he “made a horrible mistake in the heat of an argument and unfortunately took another person’s life,” as Prasad wrote in a Guest Opinion in the B.A.R. in July.

He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years to life.

Prasad, 51, was found eligible for release from prison due to his rehabilitation and remorse. However, in August 2021, after being found eligible for parole, instead of being released to the community, he was directly transferred from state prison to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at Golden State Annex. Shortly after he was detained by ICE, his mother died from COVID, and ICE denied him the opportunity to be released, even temporarily, to say goodbye or to attend her funeral.

Because of his conviction, Prasad faces deportation to Fiji, where he has said he does not think he could survive the homophobia there. He has sent a pardon application to Newsom, and, as we editorialized in November, the governor should grant it.

Since our original editorial, new developments have occurred in the case that give Newsom more reason to grant a pardon. In early December, an immigration judge granted bond to Prasad, and he was released from ICE custody. During the 90-minute hearing, which we listened to via Zoom, Prasad was clear in his acknowledgement that he had done a terrible act back in 1994 and repeatedly expressed his remorse. He said that he has changed by educating himself and getting into treatment for his drug and alcohol problems, and taking part in therapy. He said that a man sexually abused him when he was about 11, which led him to join a gang for protection, and to use drugs and alcohol.

“I didn’t want him to take me and rape me again,” Prasad told immigration Judge Kevin Riley as to why he joined a gang.

Prasad’s attorney is Maddie Boyd, who is with the immigration unit at the San Francisco Public Defender’s office. She told Riley that Prasad has an extensive plan in place to be successful now that he is out on bond. And, he wants to help other young people in similar situations through mentoring. We think that he would be successful in that type of role.

Stakes

by Michael Nunez

On December 5, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in 303 Creative LLC vs. Aubrey Elenis, in which the company 303 Creative preemptively seeks the right to refuse to sell wedding websites to same-sex couples. The company argues that the Colorado law prohibiting discrimination by public accommodations does not apply to it because the law violates the First Amendment free speech rights of the company and its owner, who opposes same-sex marriages.

The precise scope of this case’s impact will depend on how the court decision is written, but its impact will not be limited to same-sex weddings, or even to the LGBTQ community.

In August, my colleagues at Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld and I filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of former Democratic California congressmember Tony Coelho, a principal author of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a coalition of 10 disability rights organizations. The brief, which is available at https://rbgg.com/wp-content/uploads/303-

It’s important to recognize that getting out of ICE detention is not easy. Yet, Riley was able to see past the objections from attorneys with the Department of Homeland Security when he granted Prasad bond, which, at $5,000, was low enough that it could be posted. A pardon would allow Prasad to remain in the U.S., where he has established a robust support network, including in the LGBTQ community. There were 80 people listening in on that Zoom call during his recent hearing, and several more inside the Van Nuys, California courtroom, as Boyd noted.

Newsom should grant the pardon because it would be the right thing to do. Political leaders often talk about the importance of rehabilitation in the abstract. The Prasad case is a good example of how remorse and rehabilitation have allowed one man to help others while incarcerated, as well as help himself. The governor should issue the pardon.

Support a safe consumption bill

We were dismayed in August when Newsom vetoed a bill by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that would have established safe consumption site pilot programs in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. The idea of letting people use drugs in a supervised setting is an entry point for substance use treatment services and adheres to the harm reduction philosophy that has proved effective here, in other countries, and New York City. In San Francisco, the nowclosed Tenderloin Center had functioned as an unofficial safe consumption site, which irked some in the city but actually demonstrated why such a program is so important.

In his veto message, the governor, a former San Francisco mayor, stated that he remains open to the concept of safe consumption sites and wanted to convene local leaders in discussions with his health and human services secretary to develop best practices. Those conversations must start in the new year. Newsom should also let Wiener and other advocates know what changes he’d like

to see in any legislation so that Wiener can tailor a new bill to address those concerns. Wiener recently told us he’d “love to reintroduce the bill,” but needs to hear from the governor’s office what would be required so that Newsom would sign it. We know that there are legal issues at the federal level, but we don’t think the Biden administration is going to prosecute local governments or nonprofits that likely would operate the sites. A nonprofit in New York City has sites up and running, and they’ve been so successful that Mayor Eric Adams wants them open 24 hours a day. California should take the initiative, and Newsom needs to lead on that front in light of his veto.

State lawmakers, who would also be crucial to passing a bill, and Newsom must start to explore new ideas to address the drug crisis and overdose deaths that a safe consumption site could help alleviate. Allowing people to use drugs in a supervised setting gets them off the street and could get some into treatment. It’s a concept that must be tried in San Francisco and the other interested California cities.

When a new bill next comes before him, Newsom should sign it.

Induct Sarria into CA Hall of Fame

Since 2015, we have advocated that two governors, first Jerry Brown and then Newsom, induct gay Latino veteran and drag queen José Julio Sarria posthumously to the California Hall of Fame – only to see him repeatedly snubbed. Earlier this month the city of Palm Springs and its chamber of commerce did the right thing in memorializing Sarria in the Walk of Stars. But he is equally deserving of being added to the California Hall of Fame, which recognizes outstanding residents and those with direct ties to the Golden State.

As we’ve noted, Sarria’s history in drag culture and his willingness to run for public office at a time when gay candidates were given little chance of success are commendable. He made history in 1961 as the first out gay person to seek elective office in the U.S. when he sought a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. While unsuccessful, he nevertheless paved the way for other LGBTQs to run and win. This year, out candidates ran for office in all 50 states. There’s also his charity work in establishing the Imperial Court System, which today continues to inspire and contribute to drag culture while raising funds for nonprofits that help the LGBTQ community.

We were encouraged when lesbian state Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), the incoming chair of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, recently told us that she intends to see Sarria inducted into the hall next year. The caucus, now at a historic high of 12 out lawmakers, will have greater influence with Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who select the hall inductees.

Let’s hope that 2023 is the year that this honor is finally attained for Sarria.t

Creative-v-Elenis-corrected-Brief-of-AmiciCuriae-in-Support-of-Respondents-Accessible-8-26-22.pdf, asks the nine justices to decide that application of Colorado’s antidiscrimination law does not violate the website designer’s First Amendment free speech right. The brief argues that endorsing the company’s proposed First Amendment defense to anti-discrimination laws would not only open the floodgates to discrimination against LGBTQ people, it would allow companies that contend they offer expressive goods and services and whose proprietors harbor ableist views – for any reason, not just religious – to refuse to serve people with disabilities. The case poses the same threat to people of color.

California has some of the nation’s strongest laws protecting the civil rights of LGBTQ people and people with disabilities. However, these laws would not, and cannot, shield Californians from the harm that would flow from a Supreme Court ruling endorsing the 303 Creative’s proposed First Amendment defense. Because the company seeks an exemption to civil rights laws based on the U.S. Constitution, adopting the company’s

proposed carve out would erode civil rights protections for LGBTQ people and people with disabilities across the country, including here in California.

As both a member of the LGBTQ community and the disability community – I am both gay and blind – this case is very important to me. First, I strongly believe that I and other members of the LGBTQ community should have full and equal access to the goods and services of all public accommodations, just like everyone else, without needing to first pass business proprietors’ litmus tests. Allowing photographers, bakers, and website makers to turn away members of our community would undermine years of hard-won progress in legislatures and at the ballot box.

In addition, the implications for people with disabilities cannot be understated. Most obviously, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s questioning at oral argument made clear, endorsing the company’s First Amendment defense would empower some business proprietors to refuse to provide an as-of-yet undefined set of expressive goods and services for weddings involving people with disabilities or to other-

Governor Gavin Newsom can use his political capital to help the LGBTQ community in 2023.

Courtesy Governor’s Office

2022 Op-Art shines a light on transphobia

by Matthew S. Bajko

This year’s op-art shines a light on transphobia, which sadly has been on the rise across the country. The fifth submission in this end-of-year tradition for the Political Notebook column comes from East Bay artist Camilo Villa.

Originally from Bogota, Colombia, he moved to the Bay Area nine years ago to attend the California College of the Arts. Villa graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Villa, 27, who is gay, teaches Spanish at the San Francisco Friends School in the Mission district. He resides in Richmond with his husband, Sanmit “Sammy” Singh, a psychologist and mental health department manager at Kaiser Permanente.

For his art, Villa does oil painting portraits mainly of queer Latinx community members. He is particularly inspired by muxes, gender-nonconforming individuals from the Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

They often wear a crown of flowers, as Villa depicted the muxe in his two-panel artwork for the Bay Area Reporter. He first learned about muxes in a documentary he saw and afterward ordered a book about them that he found online.

“I had never heard about them, ever,” said Villa, who plans to do a children’s book about muxes. “They reflect the way Indigenous cultures recognize queerness and embrace it. It was only until the Spanish conquistadors erased all of these people who had been accepted, valued and worshiped.”

That erasure of others inspired the theme of his op-art, which draws on the refusal of some people to honor people’s preferred pronouns. It also touches upon Villa’s own professional career, as he is one of many Spanish-language educators using more gender-inclusive words.

“I think it began maybe 15 years ago in Argentina. Feminist and queer linguists start-

wise serve people with disabilities. However, the harm could go much further than that.

Although many businesses are committed to disability inclusion, the First Amendment exception that this Supreme Court case may create would allow others to exclude people with disabilities. For example, architects could claim that wheelchair ramps interfere with their artistic message. Websites and mobile apps that now offer accessibility options for the blind, deaf, and hard of hearing could refuse to provide these legally required accommodations because they compel speech. Even movie theater owners could argue that providing something as basic as closed captions for the deaf, or audio description for the blind, impermissibly changes their message.

These are not merely theoretical possibilities. Members of the business community have already expressed an interest in using the First Amendment as a shield to block disability access requirements. Some have testified before Congress that their First Amendment free speech rights should shield them from requirements to make websites accessible to people

ed to question how the Spanish language is very heteronormative. For example, in the plural, the word is always masculine,” said Villa. “Obviously, there is a backlash sometimes. Families will ask me, ‘Why are you teaching my child this language?’ But the Friends School supports me. It is very social justice oriented.”

To learn more about Villa and

his artwork, visit his website at http://camilovillastudio.com/t

Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion, will return Monday, January 9.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/ politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail m.bajko@ ebar.com.

puter program that translates onscreen text and controls into audio output and refreshable Braille, to use apps and browse the internet on my computer, tablet and mobile phone. A ruling in favor of the 303 Creative could embolden businesses disinterested in making their websites or mobile apps accessible to refuse to do so.

Increased web inaccessibility would make it more difficult for blind people to obtain and perform jobs, complete school assignments, pay bills, and manage their affairs. Similarly, without closed captions and audio description, people who are blind or deaf would be unable to access movies, television, live theater, and educational content.

with disabilities.

In response to a lawsuit challenging inadequate captions on CNN.com, Cable News Network argued that the First Amendment shielded it from closed captioning requirements. The Motion Picture Association of America brought a legal challenge to federal audio description regulations intended to provide the blind with access to television content.

The harm from enabling such discrimination could be significant.

Like many other blind people, I use screen reading software, a com-

Our courts have a long tradition of upholding our civil rights laws, including protecting people’s access to public accommodations, against similar attacks. We no longer condone discriminatory conduct, even when cloaked in the guise of free speech. The Supreme Court should uphold Colorado’s law and reaffirm that open markets should be open to all Americans, and that public accommodations are for all of the public to enjoy.t

Camilo Villa

Michael Nunez is an attorney with Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld in San Francisco.

Michael Nunez and his guide dog Peggy

Courtesy Michael Nunez

Number 9: LGBTQ people targets of global attacks

Just three days before Griner was released from a Russian prison camp, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation to prohibit the expression or dissemination in social media, television, movies, or other media of any statements with positive information about “non-traditional sexual relations.” A similar ban, directed only at “propaganda aimed at children,” was enforced just before the Sochi Olympics in 2014. Under the new expanded law, violators can be fined up to $80,000.

The Indonesian parliament in December enacted a law penalizing sex outside of marriage in a country where same-sex couples are not allowed to marry.

In Qatar, LGBTQ rights gained considerable global attention. In a dramatic moment at a news conference at the World Cup, the media chief for the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) came out as gay and defended FIFA President Gianni Infantino against criticism that the host country and games were trying to halt any visibility of LGBTQ players or spectators. At a contentious November 19 news conference on the eve of the competition, the press pummeled Infantino with questions about various civil rights issues surrounding the games in Qatar, a country that makes sex between men punishable for up to three years. It was near the end of that news conference that FIFA media chief Bryan Swanson took the microphone to say he himself was gay and to vouch for Infantino’s efforts to protect the rights of visitors to the games. Later, during one of the tournament’s first matches, a man wearing a Superman T-shirt and carrying a rainbow flag ran onto the field to protest having the World Cup in Qatar.

In Iran, which has been experiencing unprecedented street protests against the government’s harsh treatment of women, the government, in August, reportedly convicted two women in relation to their efforts to help LGBTQ people escape the country. LGBTQ activist Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani and her associate, Elham Chobdar, were said to have been given the death sentences. The United Nations issued a statement in September, strongly condemning the death sentences and calling on the Iranian government to annul the convictions and retract the sentences.

Number 8: Supreme Court appears poised to gut protections

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority seemed to signal December 5 that it is prepared to allow certain business owners to violate state laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations. The hints came pouring out of oral arguments in 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case out of Colorado staged by the ardently anti-LGBTQ legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. ADF filed the lawsuit in Colorado for web designer Lorie Smith, who wants to sell custom-written wedding websites to heterosexual couples – but not same-sex couples. And ADF argued that Smith’s work amounts to an “expression” and that the public accommodations law is violating her First Amendment right to freedom of expression by requiring she serve same-sex couples. Colorado said the discrimination at issue is the web designer’s discriminatory treatment of a group of people protected by the Colorado law.

Justice Neil Gorsuch stated, “what would be impermissible is

discrimination on the basis of status, but what would be permissible is refusing service because of a disagreement about views.” He offered the notion that the web designer was not discriminating against same-sex couples. His evidence? The web designer had LGBTQ customers for other products and said she would sell a same-sex wedding website to a heterosexual couple.

Because public accommodations laws typically prohibit discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and other categories, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned during oral argument, “This would be the first time in the court’s history that that it would say that ... a commercial business open to the public, serving the public, that it could refuse to serve a customer based on race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation. ...” It seems unlikely all six conservatives will vote to gut public accommodations laws so dramatically. But there was little hope in the oral argument that the court might uphold protections for same-sex couples seeking wedding websites, cakes, and other services.

Number 7: Democrats control of White House and Congress

President Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress gave enormous consideration to LGBTQ people during 2022. There were the perennial June Pride-related events also held by other Democratic administrations. And Biden signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to increase access to mental health services for LGBTQ youth and to eradicate the promotion of conversion therapies.

The White House distributed thousands of mpox vaccines to cities with large Pride events taking place. At a White House Pride celebration in June, Biden said his administration has “more LGBTQ+ people than any administration or every administration combined – I really mean it.”

Biden made many appointments in 2021, including the first openly LGBTQ cabinet member (Pete Buttigieg) and the first federal circuit appeals judge (Beth Robinson). In 2022, he promoted an openly LGBTQ person to be his chief spokesperson: Karine Jean-Pierre. In May, she became both the first Black person and the first lesbian to serve as White House press secretary.

In Congress, 10 years ago, there were only four openly LGBTQ members of Congress – all members of the U.S. House. By the end of 2022, that number had grown to 13. In the upcoming new congressional session, there will be 11 openly LGBTQ House members (even though two incumbents lost reelection) and two senators. Having openly LGBTQ members in Congress has obviously had a positive impact on the community. They were crucial in pressing for the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, which

helps protect the right of same-sex couples to marriage equality.

Number 6: Two lesbians elected governor; gay man reelected

Two lesbians were elected governor of their states in 2022: Maura Healey did so in Massachusetts where she won in a landslide on Election Day, and Tina Kotek won in Oregon in a close race that took a couple of days before the result was known.

Healey served for eight years as the state’s attorney general, along the way becoming a popular Democrat in a deeply blue state. Her victory on November 8 made her the first lesbian to be elected governor of any state. Healey, who helped lead the legal battle against the federal Defense of Marriage Act and for marriage equality, also championed many legal challenges against Trump administration policies.

Appearing on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner show December 13, Healey said, “I probably would not be here today were it not for that case [challenging DOMA] and what it taught me about the importance of government and law, and making sure the right people are in places to stand up and fight for people.”

Kotek was declared the winner of Oregon’s gubernatorial race November 10, winning by more than four percentage points.

Jared Polis, the nation’s first openly gay male governor, won reelection to the Colorado governor’s office November 8, meaning three of the nation’s 50 governors will be openly LGBTQ in 2023. Bisexual Kate Brown, the outgoing governor of Oregon, was the nation’s first openly LGBTQ governor, finishing out a term of a previous governor and then winning election herself in 2016.

Number 5: Republicans win the House; Democrats the Senate

Republicans won a nine-seat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections, and Democrats retained the Senate. Initially, Democrats could claim 49 Democrats and two independents caucusing with the Democrats for the upcoming new session, for a total of 51. But in what many considered a surprise move, bisexual Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) announced December 8 that she

was leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent.

“I’ve registered as an Arizona independent,” Sinema told CNN. “I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to.” Sinema made her announcement after Georgia Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock won his runoff against Republican Herschel Walker for a full six-year term.

Sinema becomes one of three independent members of the Senate and has indicated she expects to caucus with Democrats.

While Democrats will continue to hold the power in the Senate, Republicans will now take over leadership in the House in January. Among the 222 Republicans in the House will be George Santos, a gay man and investor who beat a gay Democrat to represent the Congressional district covering Queens and Long Island, New York. Santos acknowledged attending the rally prior to the January 6 insurrection riot. Santos has said he would support marriage equality but also would support the current “Don’t Say Gay” legislation pending in Congress. The New York Times recently reported on discrepancies in Santos’ resume.

The Times also reported that Santos attended a gala in New York City December 10, one that attracted white nationalists and far right activists. Meanwhile, Republicans appear to be splintering over such things as who will be their leader.

Congressmember Kevin McCarthy (R-California) is seeking to become speaker. To do that, a candidate must win more than half of all 435 votes in the House (or 218). With only 222 Republicans in the chamber, any Republican candidate for speaker must win support from all but four Republicans. Political observers have suggested voting might go on for a prolonged and contentious period of time before the next session’s Republican leaders emerge.

Number 4: ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ anti-LGBTQ bills abound

Likely Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, encouraged and signed into law a bill that severely curtails teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in schools. Copycat “Don’t Say Gay” bills sprung up around the country, including Republicans in Congress who introduced a similar bill in the House.

This was part of a nationwide barrage of anti-LGBTQ legislation and governors’ directives. DeSantis took another dramatic step in December, bypassing the Republicancontrolled Legislature to issue an order to block gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. In May, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the governor’s order to direct child welfare workers to report any instances of genderconfirming health care for children. Arizona passed a bill to prohibit transition surgery for young people and to ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports.

Alabama passed a bill to make it a felony to offer gender-affirming health care to transgender people under the age of 19. Other states

followed suit, filing similar legislation, much of which is now pending for the 2023 session.

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson told a U.S. House hearing in December that the “onslaught“ of anti-LGBTQ bills in 2022 totaled at least 344 bills in 23 states.

“More than 25 of these bills were ultimately enacted across 13 states –17 of which have a disproportionate or targeted impact on transgender people,” she said.

Number 3: Escalation in physical violence

A 22-year-old in November shot and killed five patrons of Club Q, a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub. The alleged shooter, identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich, also injured at least 17 others in the shooting spree on November 19. Aldrich opened fire with a rapidfire military assault-style weapon until a U.S. military veteran who was a patron at the bar knocked the gunman down and, with the help of one of the club’s performers, subdued Aldrich.

A November 30 bulletin from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned of potential additional attacks on LGBTQ bars. It noted that, after the Club Q shooting, the DHS observed messages “on forums known to post racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist content praising the alleged [Club Q] attacker.”

Club Q had operated in conservative Colorado Springs for 21 years without any threats or attacks. Aldrich has been charged with 305 counts, including first-degree murder. Aldrich is being held without bond.

The Club Q attack, which took place just minutes before midnight and the start of observances marking Transgender Day of Remembrance, brought back many memories, including the 2016 attack on Pulse, an LGBTQ bar in Orlando, Florida. There, lone gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 patrons and injured more than 50 more. He was killed in a shootout with police.

Some news reports focused on the fact that Club Q was featuring a drag show. They noted that rightwing political activists have in recent months made concerted efforts to publicly malign drag queens and revive an old scare tactic that claims LGBTQ people are a threat to children. A Human Rights Campaign report in November indicated at least 32 people had been killed thus far in 2022 because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Sixty-five percent of those victims were Black transgender women.

Pride Day events in several cities were attacked, including gun threats in Idaho, which forced the cancellation of a celebration. In Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, police arrested 31 men in their 20s in June in connection with a plot by the white nationalist group Pride Front. Reports said the police found the group waiting in a U-Haul, carrying metal pipes and wearing riot gear, with a plan on how to disrupt the familyfriendly LGBTQ festival there. The Washington Post quoted a researcher as saying that groups that attack

Five people were killed in a shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Courtesy Club Q

Out gubernatorial candidates Maura Healey, left, won in Massachusetts; Tina Kotek was victorious in Oregon; and incumbent Jared Polis was easily reelected governor in Colorado.

Courtesy the candidates

LGBTQ events tend to be “far-right extremists, who he said adhere to a hypermasculine worldview and the belief that other, often marginalized groups, are making gains at their direct expense.”

In June, reported members of the right-wing Proud Boys barged into a Drag Queen Story Hour at a public library in San Lorenzo, California, hijacking the event and intimidating attendees.

In December, the Human Rights Campaign issued a report showing a “highly organized attack” was being waged against more than two-dozen hospitals that provided gender-affirming care. But the organization also released a report in November, showing that a record number of cities across the nation (120) earned its highest score (100) for having pro-LGBTQ laws, policies, and services in place. The study, done with the Equality Federation Institute, looked at more than 500 cities. Some of the expected perfect scores included Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland in California; Wilton Manors, Florida; Ann Arbor and Detroit in Michigan; Atlanta; Chicago; Bos-

LGBTQ laws

In Alabama, parents and physicians face being imprisoned for up to 10 years for either allowing their trans kids or providing their trans patients gender-affirming care. Both laws have been put on hold by judges as LGBTQ advocates challenge them in state and federal courts.

As Governor Gavin Newsom noted in his signing letter for SB 107, the law signals that California stands “for parental choice” unlike those states that have attacked the rights of parents with trans children.

“We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need – including gender-affirming care,” wrote Newsom. “Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear.”

Such is the argument being made by Megan Poe, mother of 15-yearold Allison of Northern Alabama (both proceeding anonymously), one of the five parents who filed the lawsuit against Alabama’s law, known as Boe v. Marshall. They are waiting to see if the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will uphold a district court order that barred enforcement of the law.

“Like any parent, I want to provide my children with the support they need. Ensuring that my daughter has access to the medical care she needs has meant that she can be a confident teenager who is happy and optimistic about her future,” stated Poe. “I hope the court of appeals will see that parents of transgender children simply want our children to be healthy, happy and safe.”

ton; Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio in Texas; Trenton, New Jersey; and New York City.

Among the unexpected cities scoring 100 were: Birmingham, Alabama; Juneau, Alaska; and Columbus, Ohio. And five cities which scored the absolute worst – zero – were: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; Florence, Alabama; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Pierre, South Dakota; and Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Number 2: Enactment of the Respect for Marriage Act

President Biden on December 13 signed into law a federal bill to repeal the now-defunct Defense of Marriage Act and to require states to recognize any marriage, including same-sex and interracial marriages, licensed by another state.

Congressmember Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), a longtime ally to the LGBTQ community, introduced the legislation to the House in July, and it passed the House right away on a 267-157 bipartisan vote. It was after the midterm elections that it finally started moving in the Senate, where it was shepherded by lesbian Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin). There, it passed 61-36, also a bipartisan vote. The Times gave credit to Ken

Changes coming to trans health care

Another bill authored by Wiener, SB 923, requires California medical professionals who interact with transgender, gender-nonconforming, and intersex patients to receive cultural competency training. It also calls for health providers to create searchable online directories of their gender-affirming services.

Known as the TGI Inclusive Care Act, it builds on the state’s Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund created in 2020 and allocated $13 million last year. The Office of Health Equity within the state Department of Public Health administers the fund and awards grants to organizations providing transinclusive health care.

“California is setting groundbreaking standards that will help us create a better, more culturally competent healthcare system for trans, gender diverse and intersex people,” stated Wiener. “No one should have to educate a doctor in order to get the care they need.”

While the bill becomes law January 1, Wiener built into it staggered deadlines for the impacted state departments and medical providers to meet. For instance, the California Health and Human Services Agency has until March 1 to convene a working group that will help craft the new curriculum for health care providers with TGI patients.

The state agency has until September 1, 2024, to develop and implement quality standards for treating TGI patients. Meanwhile, the deadline for when health insurers and health plans have to require all of their staff in direct contact with patients to complete the cul-

Mehlman, a gay man who was former President George W. Bush’s campaign manager, and a group of other Republicans, for lobbying GOP senators to secure the 11 GOP votes they needed to pass a procedural hurdle to take a vote on the measure.

“It involved flooding the phone lines of Republican senators with calls from constituents who favored the same-sex marriage measure,” reported the Times, “presenting them with polling that showed that voters were more likely to support a proponent of the bill than somebody who opposed it, and a public pressure campaign aimed at demonstrating widespread conservative support for the legislation.” Twelve Republicans were among the 61 senators who voted yes for the bill.

The Washington Post gave much of the credit to Baldwin, who worked with her colleagues, including Republican Senator Susan Collins (Maine) to round up GOP support for the bill.

The Respect for Marriage Act originated in 2009 but was refurbished by Nadler this year after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives made clear many of them were eager to revisit the landmark Obergefell deci-

tural competency training is March 1, 2025 at the latest.

That is also the deadline for when health plans need to have rolled out their searchable databases for their gender-affirming services. The hope, however, is that the law’s provisions will be enacted prior to those dates.

Another health care law going into effect in 2023, Assembly Bill 1041 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), will benefit LGBTQ households. It expands the state’s family leave provisions for workers to include their chosen family members in addition to their biological relatives, spouses and children.

Wicks wrote it so that LGBTQ people estranged from their biological families but who live with close friends can take time off from work to care for their housemates who are ill.

Another new law, SB 283 by Senator Lena A. Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), imposes a prohibition on a life or disability insurance insurer from considering an applicant’s occupation in determining whether to require an HIV test and clarifies that limiting benefits payable for a loss caused or contributed to by HIV is allowed if it was part of the original underwriting risk. It also clarifies that the misdemeanor for willful, negligent, or malicious disclosure of HIV test results to a third party is punishable by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 364 days.

AB 465 by former Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian (D-Van Nuys), who was termed out of office this month, requires professional fiduciaries to receive LGBTQ+ cultural competency and

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF

NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE

CNC-22-557591

In the matter of the application of CHOU-YI CHAO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner CHOU-YI CHAO is requesting that the name CHOU-YI CHAO be changed to BONNIE CHAO-YI CHOU. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 12th of JANUARY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-557595

In the matter of the application of VLADIMIR YAGOLNITSER, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner VLADIMIR YAGOLNITSER is requesting that the name VLADIMIR YAGOLNITSER AKA VLAD YAGOLNITSER be changed to VLADIMIR YAGOLNITSER. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear

before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 17th of JANUARY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22557594

In the matter of the application of WEIYUAN DU, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner WEIYUAN DU is requesting that the name WEIYUAN DU be changed to ALICE DU. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 26th of JANUARY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398884

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SIERRA WINDOWS & DOORS, 1795 BANCROFT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GABRIEL SANDOVAL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact

business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/30/22.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398778

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CRYSTAL LOUCEL COACHING, 1217 3RD AVE #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CRYSTAL LOUCEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/16/22.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398757

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HARMONIZE HYPNOTHERAPY, 2000 VAN NESS AVE #216, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MARY MICHELLE MOYLAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/18/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San

sion in 2015 that had struck down state bans on same-sex marriage.

Number 1: Roe overturned; marriage equality targeted

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 24 that the Constitution “does not prohibit” states from banning abortion. On the face of things, one might not immediately see why LGBTQ people were deeply alarmed by the decision. But in a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas made sure that everyone knew that, with the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the hour-glass was being turned over for same-sex marriage and relationships. Oddly, Thomas said he agreed with a statement in the majority decision (written by Justice Samuel Alito) that “nothing in [the Dobbs opinion] should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”

“For that reason, in future cases,” wrote Thomas, “we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.” Lawrence struck down state bans against same-sex sexual relations; Obergefell struck state bans against marriage for

sensitivity training during their education and licensing process.

Private professional fiduciaries provide critical services to older adults and people with disabilities, from managing their clients’ daily care, housing, and medical needs to ensuring their bills are paid and managing their investments.

“Unfortunately, LGBTQI+ seniors face unique challenges as they age, and are among the most vulnerable population in our society,” stated Nazarian. “These challenges include barriers to receiving formal health care and social support that heterosexual, cisgender adults do not encounter. This new law will ensure that LGBTQI+ seniors get competent and respectful services by professional fiduciaries.”

Discrimination against LGBTQ foster families will now be banned due to the enactment of AB 2466, authored by lesbian Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona). Agencies that place foster children can no longer decline to place a child with a resource family because a parent identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. It also scraps the usage of the phrase “hard-toplace children” in state codes.

Vetoed bill to become law Also finally becoming law in 2023 is legislation that Newsom initially vetoed in 2020 in order for a revised version to be reintroduced the next year for him to sign. AB 218 by gay Assemblymember Chris Ward (DSan Diego) creates a process for Californians seeking a change of gender to also request that their marriage license, certificate, and their children’s birth certificates be reissued with their updated gender-affirming

same-sex couples; and Griswold struck bans against couples using contraceptives.

Jennifer Pizer, chief legal officer for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, called the 6-3 conservative majority “the most shockingly activist court we have seen in any of our lifetimes.” The majority opinion in Dobbs overturned two major precedents: Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The 1973 Roe decision said the Constitution implies that citizens have a right to privacy and liberty and that those rights cover the right to choose an abortion. The 1992 Planned Parenthood decision said states could regulate abortion once a fetus becomes viable as long as the regulations did not create an undue burden to women who seek an abortion.

Shannon Minter, legal director for the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the Dobbs decision put LGBTQ rights “on the chopping block” and that “we must turn to our local, state, and federal representatives to secure fundamental freedoms through legislation.”

“We are witnessing a full-scale assault on the rights of women and LGBTQ people,” said Minter, “and the moment to act is now.” t

information.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, lesbian former state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) initially had carried the legislation. But when it reached Newsom’s desk two years ago for him to sign, state health officials flagged a problem with its implementation they said could result in individuals who sought to update certain records publicly revealing they had transitioned their gender.

With Galgiani termed out of office that December, Ward agreed to introduce a revised bill in 2021 that protected the privacy of transgender and nonbinary individuals. Due to AB 218, they can request that their old marriage certificates and the birth certificates of their children with inaccurate information about their gender identity be sealed and have new documents issued.

It is similar to current state law that allows such a person’s old birth certificate to be sealed and a new one issued as an original to both protect the person’s privacy and respect their identity, as noted in the legislative analysis of the bill.

“All Californians, regardless of gender identity, deserve to live a life of privacy, without fear of prejudice or violence,” stated Ward after Newsom had signed AB 218.

“However, transgender and nonbinary individuals often face unnecessary hurdles, privacy violations, and harassment when attempting to access basic services that many Californians take for granted. This bill ensures all Californians receive access to gender affirming legal documents in a manner that protects their privacy and prevents discrimination.”t

Francisco, CA on 11/15/22.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398902

The following person(s) is/are doing business as TAX RETURN AND FINANCIAL SERVICE CENTER, 333 FELL ST #414, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YVONNE ZHOU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/02/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 12/02/22.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0398732

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SNAPNRACK, 225 BUSH ST #1400, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SUNRUN INSTALLATION SERVICES INC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/09/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/09/22.

DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0398865

The following person(s) is/are doing business as STANDARD 5 & 10 ACE, 3545 CALIFORNIA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed STANDARD 5-10-25 CENT STORES, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/05. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 11/29/22. DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-0392895

The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as AUSSIE RECRUIT, 1387 FRANCISCO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business was conducted by a limited liability company and signed by AUSSIESFBAY LLC (CA). The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/21. DEC 08, 15, 22, 29, 2022

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF ELLA MAE FORD IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO: FILE PES-22-305878

by Brian Bromberger

2022will be remembered as the year LGBTQ films went mainstream, meaning Hollywood Studios were willing to make and market them at cineplexes. Unfortunately they were box office failures, especially “Bros,” despite massive publicity and good critical notices, and “Spoiler Alert” with mixed reviews.

Audiences were primarily LGBTQ, not appealing to straight movie-goers, though with such low revenues these films lost money, few queer people patronized them.

The record on streaming channels is mixed. The heavily promoted “My Policeman,” starring sexually ambiguous Harry Styles and nonbinary Emma Corrin, was critically drubbed (44% Rotten Tomatoes) and ignored on Amazon Prime.

However, “Fire Island” with a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating was a huge hit this summer. Incidentally, while “Bros” was advertised as the first gay rom-com released by a Hollywood studio with an openly gay cast, “Fire Island” was made by Disney’s Searchlight Pictures with mostly queer actors/crew, played in theaters for two weeks, then was streamed on Hulu two months prior to “Bros.” Therefore, one could argue this “landmark” distinction belongs to the more successful “Fire Island,” rather than “Bros.”

Overall this year, audiences did return to theaters though nowhere near pre-pandemic levels, including older (meaning over 35) patrons who felt COVID-safe in multiplexes. The highestgrossing movies were action (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Marvel/Superhero (“Black Panther”), and scifi/fantasy (“Avatar”).

Meanwhile highbrow critically praised films (“theatrical specialty market”) such as “Tar,” “She

by

Welove the holidays, so in addition to eight days of Chanukah, we have 12 days of Christmas, which means there’s plenty of time left to watch some queer Christ mas movies and make the Yuletide gay, right? As the year draws to a close we need as much time curled up and cozy and decompressing as we can get as the holidays can be stressful for queer and trans folks.

Gay gifts

Hallmark and Lifetime answered the call for LGBTQ holiday content with two new films for 2022. Lifetime’s “A Christmas to Treasure” is one

Best LGBTQ films of 2022

Said,” and “The Fabelmans” struggled at the box office. The consensus is that audiences have grown comfortable streaming these kind of movies at home and don’t want to pay to see them at theaters.

Viewers appear to want entertainment and escapetype movies, not downbeat or introspective ones.

Considering the poor audience turnout and mixed critical reception of LGBTQ movies, it’s likely Hollywood won’t be making them unless there’s a guarantee straight audiences will patronize them. The last mainstream queer film that crossed over to the straight crowd was “Call Me By Your Name,” five years ago, aided by a breakout turn by straight newcomer Timothy Chalamet.

However, “The Whale” about a dying 600-pound gay man salvaging an estranged relationship with his daughter, is breaking box office records with a once-in-a-lifetime comeback performance by Brendan Fraser, a straight former matinee star. These movies are few and far be-

tween, meaning the majority of LGBTQ movies will be created for and shown on streaming platforms, with the occasional indie and foreign titles appearing in smaller theaters.

Despite the ambivalent news, it was an auspicious year for quality queer films, so much that we had to expand our Top 10 list to 15. If you haven’t seen any of these movies, do watch one over the holiday break and imbibe the rich creative talent our community continues to offer.

1. Austria’s entry for the Best International Film Oscar, “Great Freedom” is a stirring, captivating indictment of Paragraph 175, which made sex between men a crime, later expanded by the Nazis as a pretext to send queer people to concentration camps. After the war, West Germany kept the law till 1994. We follow Hans Hoffman, a gay Jewish man, rescued from a concentration camp, then sent to prison to serve the remainder

always having a Black bestie to help guide the troubled white protagonist.

A fun element of this movie is that the two gay leads are married in real life. Frey and Massey got married in 2016 and last fall they welcomed their first child, daughter Rafa Massey-Frey, via surrogate on Halloween. It does not get gayer than that, friends.

Sitting in

Hallmark’s “The Holiday Sitter” is a sly romance about family. Single gay workaholic Sam (out gay actor Jonathan Bennett) is packing for vacation in Hawaii when he gets a call asking him to take care of his niece and nephew.

Sam is not a kid person and hilarity –and disaster– ensues. Enter Jason (out Canadian actor, musician and hottie George Krissa –you’ll want to check out his pics online, seriously), the sexy single neighbor who is totally kid-friendly and knows how to do everything as he is in the process of adopting a child.

Sam literally falls for Jason (it’s a cute scene). Romance sneaks into the holiday festivities and there are ugly Christmas sweaters and a fireplace and, well, it’s Hallmark for gays. “The Holiday Sitter” is charming and delightful and only a Grinch wouldn’t love it.

Bennett, who executive-produced the film, said in an interview with NBC News that he and Krissa would “look at each other and [be] like, ‘We’re about to shoot two boys meeting and falling in love in a Christmas rom-com on Hallmark.’ We knew how much it was going to mean to so many people watching it.”

As we always say, representation matters.

of those “Big Chill” style films that follows six childhood friends who reunite in their sleepy little hometown. They’ve all gotten invitations to return for a treasure hunt after the passing of a beloved neighbor whose house is about to be turned into a holiday resort.

But Austin Craig (Taylor Frey) and his former best friend, Everett Matthews (Kyle Dean Massey), were unaware that they would both be there and it’s awkward. Yet as the treasure hunt heats up (it’s a lot of fun), the connection between Austin and Everett takes center stage. Romance might be the true treasure of the story.

We watch far too many Lifetime movies and “A Christmas to Treasure” follows the network’s formula well, including Lifetime’s dedication to

The Year in TV

2022 was a pretty terrible year for many of us. As awful as the socio-political landscape was, TV was absolutely spectacular. There was so much drag, the introduction of a number of non-binary and trans actors into non-gay TV shows, and a panoply of really good series TV that held up throughout every episode.

Here’s our list of what we thought was the best TV of the year. Not all of it is queer. Possibly our favorite new drama series this year was ABC’s stellar “Alaska Daily.” It’s difficult sometimes to articulate why a series has a queer sensibility while not actually having queer characters, but “Alaska Daily” does that.

“Alaska Daily” is an underrated series that de-

of his sentence. Arrested repeatedly for 20 years, he falls in love with two inmates through the years. As Hans, actor Franz Rogowski has the role of a lifetime. This tender, empathetic masterpiece about perseverance, the longing for freedom, the need for nurturing love, plus the refusal to be destroyed by unjust institutions/laws, will steal your heart. It’s not only the best queer film of 2022, but perhaps the last half decade.

2. “The Blue Caftan,” is Morocco’s submission for this year’s Best International Film Oscar and a highlight at this year’s Arab Film Festival, with its tale about a married couple Halim and Mina who run a traditional caftan (the national garment) store. In order to keep up with more customer orders, they hire a 25-year-old apprentice Youssef, to whom Halim, a closeted homosexual, is attracted.

serves to be on every list of the top series of the year. And indigenous actress Rita Dove is superlative, more than holding her own against twotime Best Actress Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Perhaps the best gay show of 2022 was Netflix’s “Heartstopper,” a British queer coming-of-age series based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel. As the title implies, it is heartbreaking good as it tells

Victoria A. Brownworth

Kyle Dean Massey and Taylor Frey in ‘A Christmas to Treasure’

George Krissa and Jonathan Bennett in ‘The Holiday Sitter’

Mina knows about Halim’s secret sex life, but when she experiences a health crisis, she must reevaluate her relationship with him and callous attitude towards Youssef. Sensual, hypnotic, and contemplative, the film is more erotic than all the naked closeups in “Bros” and shrewdly argues for a modernizing of traditional (Muslim) attitudes towards LGBTQ folk. A stunning delectable concoction, it opens February in theaters and is not to be missed.

3. “Tar” is an intense and relentless investigation concerning the fictional orchestral conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Lydia Tar, occurring over three weeks. Despite having a patient wife Sharon, she’s had a series of inappropriate romantic relationships with young women under her tutelage, one of whom has committed suicide, leading to the unraveling of Tar’s stellar career. Can we separate an artist’s personal failings from an appreciation of their creative work? As Tar, Cate Blanchett establishes herself, among the greatest transformational film actors ever and will likely win her

third Academy Award. Despite a 2.5 hours runtime, it plays like a thriller and is absolutely mesmerizing even in the final murky twenty minutes. It’s a probable Best Picture Oscar nominee.

4. The trials of being Black and queer are etched in “The Inspection” about homeless Ellis French, rejected by his mother for being gay, decides to enlist in the Marines in 2005 when Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was still the military’s policy. Based on gay filmmaker Elegance Bratton’s fictionalized experiences of surviving Boot Camp trauma, French accidentally outs himself becoming a virtual pariah, but remains determined to persevere through graduation. Jeremy Pope as French is a stupendous, starmaking triumph, the year’s best queer performance, matched by Gaby Union’s electrifying career-best as his disappointed, scornful mother. This thoughtprovoking, pro-troop, suspenseful, occasionally-painful-to-watch film is this year’s biggest surprise.

5. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” centers on Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), a weary, disillusioned Chinese laundromat-owning immigrant, being divorced by her husband (Ke Huy

Kwan) and audited by the IRS (Jamie Lee Curtis). The absurdist plot resists description incorporating elements of science fiction, fantasy, martial arts, and animation as Evelyn connects with parallel universe versions of herself, but it’s really about her trying to reconnect with her family, especially an ambivalent relationship with her lesbian daughter and her girlfriend. With its overwhelming gonzo energy the film invites you to enter into its flow via funfilled action sequences. Yeoh gives a career-peak Oscar-caliber performance with Kwan and Curtis equally superb. Incredibly imaginative, visionary, and heartfelt, this movie must be seen to be believed and appreciated.

6. “All Man: The International Male Story” is a guilty pleasure charting the rise and fall of the monthly catalog that featured not only provocative trend-setting men’s fashions but showcased gorgeous mostly (but not all) heterosexual models setting the standard for gay male physiques in the late 70s/80s. The catalog allowed gay men to indulge their sexual fantasies plus provided a bridge for men to come out and not feel so rejected, especially in non-urban areas. The film maintains it changed conservative notions of how men dressed, promoting a more carefree and confident lifestyle brand. This fun, lighthearted, breezy documentary gives the catalog the credit for redefining images of masculinity in popular culture, changing the way men looked at themselves and each other.

7. The terrific documentary “Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro

Zamora Way” charts how the charismatic and articulate HIV-positive Cuban-American Zamora with movie star looks, wound up a star on MTV’s 1992 “The Real World (the first reality TV show). He educated viewers about living with HIV, then as one of TV’s few openly gay people, married his boyfriend in the first televised gay wedding, decades before it became legal. Roommate Judd Winick and housemate Pam Ling later married, becoming HIV activists and preserving Pedro’s legacy with their heartbreaking reminiscences. The documentary brings the affable, impassioned, brave Pedro back to life, helping us understand why he deserves to be remembered and cherished, after his 1994 death at age 22, hours after “Real World’s” final episode aired.

8. 76-year-old writer/director Terence Davies’ “Benediction” chronicles the life of Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), a World War I military hero, and later one of England’s finest poets, critiquing the war. He had illfated romances with composer/matinee idol Ivor Novello and dilettante/ author Stephen Tennant among others, but so disillusioned he married a woman aware of his homosexuality. He became a cantankerous, conservative curmudgeon/Catholic convert. A study of emotional turmoil, Davis argues sadness, regret, and survivor’s guilt hung over Sassoon’s entire life, his poetry indicting the country’s hypocrisy and redeeming martyred soldiers. This cutting-edge biopic reveals the subjective conflict between desire’s fulfillment and convention’s oppression. “Benediction” is

a substantial masterwork in Davies’ impressive canon.

9. “Fire Island” is a gay multicultural (mostly Asian-American) riff/update on Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” transferred to Long Island’s famous queer enclave. It’s the tale of Noah (Joel Kim Booster) and his BFF Howie’s (Bowen Yang) search for romantic entanglements during a week of non-stop partying (drugs/underwear/karoke) and hook-ups with hot men, but ultimately prizes friendship and community above sex. Bawdy and raucous with witty, biting repartee featuring a likable ensemble cast, and cleverer with less preachiness than “Bros,” it’s the perfect LGBTQ summer beach movie, the gay “Gidget.” The film propels stand-up comic/scriptwriter/actor Booster to stardom and cements “SNL’s” Yang as a major talent.

10. “Jimmy in Saigon,” another Frameline gem, is a spellbinding detective story, that explores the mysterious death, countercultural life, and forbidden romance of a 24-year-old Vietnam veteran who died in Saigon in 1972. Director Peter McDowell, Jimmy’s younger brother, begins a ten-year search, using Jimmy’s letters and interviews with family members/friends, to uncover the truth behind Jimmy’s sexual orientation and drug use, as well as discovering exactly how and why Jimmy died. It’s a heart-wrenching journey that will exert a personal impact on Peter, who’s also gay.t

the story of Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) and their developing friendship and feelings for each other. It’s breathtakingly lovely and you absolutely don’t want to miss it.

The best drag shows of the year were, “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” (Para-

mount+) and “Legendary” (HBO Max).

RuPaul Charles is 62, friends, and magnificent as ever, aging gracefully and graciously.

In no particular order, these are the rest of the year’s best TV series. All have queer content and some have queer leads.

The hellish industry tradition of cancelling lesbian-themed series con-

tinued in 2022. The interracial lesbian love story cum vampire series “First Kill” was canceled after one spectacular and bloody season by Netflix.

HBO canceled the highly rated historical BBC drama “Gentleman Jack” after two seasons. The series is set in 1830s Yorkshire and stars Suranne Jones as the noted landowner and industrialist Anne Lister. BBC wants to

Upper left to right: ‘The Blue Caftan’, ‘Tar’, ‘The Inspection’, ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

Lower left to right: ‘All Man: The International Male Story’, ‘Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way’, ‘Benediction’, ‘Fire Island’, ‘Jimmy in Saigon’

Upper left/right: ‘A League of Their Own’, ‘The White Lotus’

Lower left/right: ‘Our Flag Means Death’, ‘Uncoupled’

by Gregg Shapiro

Don’t be afraid of the past. Yours or anyone else’s. It will always be there, and you can pretend it doesn’t exist, but it’s still there, nevertheless. One way to make peace with the past is to listen to it.

Take the new reissue of the “haunting score” to the 1976 “horror classic” “The Omen” (Varese Sarabande) for example. Newly released (although too late for Halloween) on “blood red vinyl with black splatter,” the Oscarwinning score, composed by movie soundtrack maven Jerry Goldsmith (“Basic Instinct,” “Poltergeist,” “Chinatown,” “Planet of the Apes,” and many others), and conducted by Lionel Newman, is still as terrifying as ever.

The 12 ominous tunes, many of which conjure satanic ritual chants, are sure to cause panic among Christian nationalists. That’s Goldsmith’s wife Carol providing the vocals for the song “The Piper’s Dream.”

Far less frightening is “Live at the Bon Soir” (Columbia/Legacy) by Barbra

Streisand. Unearthed after 60 years, the album is billed as “Barbra – the way she was!” According to Streisand in the liner notes, “I had never even been in a nightclub until sang in one,” but you’d never know it from the confidence she exudes (or the way she corrects Columbia Records exec David Kapralik’s pronunciation of her surname).

Recorded in Greenwich Village in November 1962, the set provides insight into the kind of daring performer Streisand was in the early stages of her career. The song selection contains almost as many familiar numbers (“Cry Me A River,” “Happy Days Are

Here Again,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” and “Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now”) as it does semi-obscurities (“Napoleon,” “Much More,” and the extraordinary “Value”). Well worth the wait and meant to be cherished for years to come.

Less than six months after Streisand’s 1962 Bon Soir concert, The Beatles released their debut album “Please Please Me,” and the rest, as they say, is history. In recent years, Beatles albums, including 1968’s “The Beatles (White Album),” 1969’s “Abbey Road,” and 1970’s “Let It Be” have been given the expanded reissue treatment.

“Revolver” (Apple/Universal), from 1966, is the latest.

From its immediately recognizable Klaus Voorman album cover to the opening track “Taxman,” every indication is that the Fab Four were in the midst of a serious creative transition.

After all, who else but hugely successful musicians would be singing about the pain of taxes? “Revolver” contains some of the most beloved Beatles tunes – including “Eleanor Rigby,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “For No One,” to mention a few, along with experimental numbers including “Tomorrow

A real-life international love story

by Laura Moreno

Michael J. Lato’s first book shares the remarkable love story of a male couple and offers us a window into a world few of us will ever get to see for ourselves. “Refugee Handbook” is the suspenseful story of an American who, after five years of getting to know a beautiful young man online, decides to travel abroad to meet him in person. Likable and unusually good-looking, Khaled is an HIV-positive war refugee from Iraq who had settled in Turkey.

Of particular note, the book provides insight into the dangers that exist for LGBTQ people in the Middle East, despite their prevalence.

What prompted Lato to go nearly half way around the world to meet Khaled? His conservative family’s reaction to Donald J. Trump’s unexpected November victory did it. Boastful tweets and words with a family member compelled Lato to make the fateful decision to spend the holidays abroad. He decided to go to the Maldives and Turkey, one of the world’s top ten most popular vacation destinations.

This book and the great love story within it never would have happened

if the 2016 presidential election had gone as expected.

Lato’s dazzling, vivid prose puts the reader right there alongside him in his travels. The reader gets to experience the beauty of the various locations through his eyes, as well as receive a crash course introduction to a vastly different world. We come to better understand our own changing world through this book.

Lato’s traumatic journey is fraught with open prejudice, deception, and the economics that have made human trafficking one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. The possibility of falling into or eventually being pushed into slavery, perhaps by war, is a real danger.

As Lato points out, good people need to know what is happening in our world.

After immersing himself in the culture, the author decides to make Turkey his home so that he and Khaled can be together.

“Refugee Handbook” fits into the new but growing genre of refugee literature and film, such as the highly acclaimed LGBTQ film “Label Me” from Germany, also a love story that depicts the battle for equality that refugees

face in Europe, especially when one lacks a full salary. The genre reminds us that refugees are created by the endless wars we have been powerless for some reason to get our elected leaders to stop, and that each refugee is a unique individual with a great deal to offer their new country.

Monumental task

The book is filled with engaging anecdotes like this one:

“The Maldives became a Muslim country in the 12th century, when a young Muslim man rented a room 11 from a widow and her daughter. At the time, every month a young virgin was

New Year’s fun

continue the series, so they could yet find another partner now that HBO has bailed.

Other queer historical dramas that were superb are Amazon Prime Video’s “A League of Their Own,” which melds lesbianism and baseball and racism, and AMC’s “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire,” which is just sumptuous and sexy and very bloody, but so, so sexy.

The frolicsome gay historical comedy “Our Flag Means Death” (HBO Max) is simply perfect. FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows” is semi-historical and 100% hilarious in the same quirky and off-beat way of “OFMD.”

We love ABC’s “Big Sky,” which is less queer this season, but still stellar. The addition of Reba McIntire as a complex woman with many secrets was pure David Kelley. She’s fabulous.

“Law & Order: Organized Crime” continued its run as the most subversive of the 33-year “Law & Order” franchise. The series maintains a Black lesbian lead in Danielle Moné Truitt’s as Sergeant Ayanna Bell, along with other lesbian characters. “The L Word’s” Ilene Chaiken continues to bring it as one of the show’s creators.

“The White Lotus” (HBO Max), “Severence” (Apple TV+), “Los Es-

Whether you’re looking for the wildest New Year’s Eve party in town, or a fun flick to stream as you cozy up under a slanket, we’ve got you covered in our weekly online events listings on www.ebar.com.

pookys” (HBO), “Wednesday” (Netflix), “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu), “Yellowjackets” (Showtime) and “Magpie Murders” (BBC/PBS) all succeeded in bringing captivating suspense, humor and queerness. These are all magnificent series, all very different, all uniquely compelling and all seamlessly bringing the lesbian, gay, bi and gender nonconforming characters to the fore.

Honorable mentions to the latest iteration of “Queer As Folk” (Showtime),

“Uncoupled” (Netflix) and the often too bloody and over-the-top but still utterly queer “Chucky” (USA/Syfy).

Here’s wishing you all the most soothing of holidays and a New Year that brings you joy and good health and all of us less hate for LGBTQ people. So until we meet again next year, remember to stay tuned.t

Read the full article on www.ebar.com

brought to the seaside to be scarified to a genie. The genie would somehow make the virgin disappear. When his host’s daughter was chosen to go, the young unbearded man dressed as a woman and took her place. At the seaside, he read from the Quran and made the genie disappear. The act converted the country from Buddhism to Islam.” Turkey has more or less integrated four million refugees in a short time. The monumental task is accomplished with monetary help from the European Union, which provides basic cash assistance to 1.3 million refugees. The huge endeavor is on the same scale as Mrs. Frances Perkins’ US Labor Department

Never Knows” and “She Said She Said.” The second disc in the set features a pair of non-LP hit singles – “Paperback Writer” and “Rain” – as well as a plethora of mixes and takes.

In the early-to-mid 1970s, in the years between rock and disco (and punk), a revival of ’30s and ‘40s music afoot. Artists such as Bette Midler and The Pointer Sisters were performing the music of that period, and dressing in vintage fashions. The same was true of Grammy Award-winning vocal quartet The Manhattan Transfer who not only scored some hits at the time but also earned themselves a summer TV variety series.

To commemorate the group’s longevity (they continue to tour and record), The Manhattan Transfer has released “Fifty” (Craft), an album recorded with the WDR Funkhausorchester on which they revisit a number of songs previously recorded for earlier albums, including “Twilight Zone/ Twilight Tone,” “Chanson D’Amour,” “What Goes Around Comes Around,’ and “Agua,” in new arrangements.t

creating jobs for the four million soldiers returning from WWII.

Notably, 3.7 million of Turkey’s refugees are Syrian. Like Khaled, the refugees participate in the life of the nation and are not held in refugee camps with their lives on hold for decades.

A major takeaway of “Refugee Handbook” is that successful nations can welcome asylum seekers with good will, begrudging them nothing.

A dramatic turning point in the book came when the Turkish government required HIV positive refugees to reveal where they contracted HIV. Rumors of what this would actually mean for them caused them to suddenly leave, escaping by raft for the first leg of their bold journey to attempt to obtain asylum in Amsterdam.

In the Afterword, Lato reflects on the fact that Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus were themselves refugees. Hospitality is a very important value in the Middle East, as true in the Christmas story as it is today in the refugee crisis.t

‘The Refugee Handbook: Notes from the Road to a Life of Choices’ by Michael J. Lato. paperback, $8.99. Kindle $7.99, audiobook $5.99; self-published.

Author Michael J. Lato

Steven Underhill