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Letters >>
August 11-17, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 5
Gay is not newsworthy
I’m sure you’ve come to your senses on how in 2016, in San Francisco, in a field like education, the mention of someone’s sexual orientation in a job appointment article appears either ignorant or heavy-handed [“Gay man to head SF school district,” August 4]. It’s simply not important and as a journalist you should realize it isn’t something that needs to be reported. Announce his appointment for sure, but leave out mention of his sexual orientation. It’s not news. Jeff Breininger San Francisco
[Editor’s note: On the contrary, Myong Leigh’s appointment as interim superintendent of San Francisco’s public schools is newsworthy in part because he is a qualified gay man, as the story stated. We know of only one other out big-city school district superintendent, Carole Smith in Portland, Oregon, and she just announced her retirement. We work to bring relevant news about LGBT people to our readers, and this certainly qualifies. Of course, next time we could just run a story with the headline, “Man tapped to lead SF schools,” and readers would wonder why it’s even in the paper. There’s no shame in being LGBT; that’s why the Bay Area Reporter has existed for 45 years. As Harvey Milk frequently said, we must come out so people know that we are everywhere. Coming out is a continuing process throughout one’s life.]
Supports Dufty for BART board
I was a BART director for West San Francisco from 19861990. I was probably the first LGBT BART director ever, but I was not out when I held that office. (I did get a non-discrimination ordinance and domestic partner benefits passed, however.) Last Monday, Tom Radulovich, the gay longtime BART board member, announced he was not seeking re-election. For about three hours I was a candidate for BART board, then I called Supervisor Scott Wiener and was told ex-Supervisor Bevan Dufty is running [“Out candidates seek SF BART board seat,” Political Notebook, August 4]. Personally, and on behalf of the LGBT community, I hope Dufty is elected, so we can continue to have strong LGBT representation on the BART board. Arlo Hale Smith San Francisco
Strange rules for Up Your Alley
Did anyone else think the rules at this year’s Up Your Alley Fair were a bit strange? No smoking at an open-air event. No plastic bottles at an event at which beer was served in plastic cups. I even saw the monitors break up a “slave and master” display that many people were enjoying. What’s next? No cellphones and no nudity? It all seemed very odd to me. Ken Hensley Alameda, California
Oakland at-large council race attracts two lesbian candidates by Matthew S. Bajko
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he race this fall for the at-large city council seat in Oakland has drawn two well-known lesbian candidates. Rebecca Kaplan, the incumbent, is vying for a third four-year term, having lost her second bid to become the East Bay city’s mayor in 2014. She officially kicked off her re-election bid in June. Speculation had swirled all year that former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, whom Kaplan had lost to in 2010, would jump into the race. Quan, as well as Kaplan, was defeated two years ago by Libby Schaaf in the mayoral race. Now Schaaf ’s mayoral campaign manager, Peggy Moore, has decided to run against Kaplan for the at-large seat. Moore, whose given name is Margaret, earlier this year had taken a leave of absence as a special adviser to Schaaf to work on Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid as the political director for California. Moore, who had worked in a similar capacity for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, did not respond to an interview request by the Bay Area Reporter’s press deadline Wednesday morning. Kaplan’s campaign also did not reply to a request for comment by deadline Wednesday. While she has helped elect others to public office, Moore has fallen short in terms of running for election herself. In June she lost her bid for a seat on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee. In 2013 she surprised supporters by ending her bid for a state Assembly seat based in Oakland. And in 2005 she unsuccessfully ran for the city’s District 2 city council seat. According to the Oakland city clerk’s website, six other people have also pulled papers to run against Kaplan this fall. The filing deadline to do so is Friday, August 12.
Victory Fund backs gay SF judicial candidate
After staying neutral in the June primary race for a seat on the San Francisco Superior Court, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund has endorsed the gay candidate in the runoff race this November. Paul Henderson, who is Mayor Ed Lee’s deputy chief of staff and director of public safety, landed in second place among the three candidates running in the primary contest with nearly 34 percent of the
Greg Linhares/City of Oakland
Jane Philomen Cleland
Peggy Moore has filed to run for the at-large Oakland City Council seat.
At-large Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan is seeking re-election.
vote. The first place finisher, attorney Victor Hwang, received a little more than 48 percent of the vote, while attorney Sigrid Irias landed in third with 17 percent. Hwang and Henderson are seeking the local court’s Seat 7, which became vacant with former Judge Ernest H. Goldsmith’s retirement in April. The candidates are both former San Francisco assistant district attorneys, and during the primary, highlighted their courtroom experience. If elected, Henderson would be the first LGBT African-American to serve on the local court. Ahead of the June vote, he secured endorsements from the B.A.R., the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, and the LGBT legal group Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom. (The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club had backed Irias in the primary and will be voting on a new endorsement in the fall race at its meeting Tuesday, August 16.) Henderson told the B.A.R. having the support of the Victory Fund signals how important it is to elect LGBT people at the local level. “Our struggles for equality are not over and we can’t afford to wait for a seat at the table of decision without participating in elections and supporting each other,” Henderson wrote in an emailed reply. “Even though these are sometimes hard conversations to have with each other, we can’t fix what we can’t even talk about.” Now that Henderson has secured the national group’s backing, which he disclosed to the B.A.R. over the weekend, he can tap into its network of donors to further bolster his campaign coffers. According to his latest campaign finance report, Henderson raised $126,492 this year through June 30. He reported having $50,316 in
cash on hand for the fall campaign. Hwang, meanwhile, reported raising $158,296 during the first six months of the year, and as of July 1, had just $341 left in his campaign account.
Congresswoman snubs gay man running to succeed her
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) last week snubbed the gay man running to succeed her by endorsing his opponent this fall for her 46th Congressional District seat in Orange County. Gay Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen, who is in San Francisco this week to keynote Thursday night’s Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club gala dinner, has long been seen as the underdog in the race. As of Wednesday morning, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund had yet to endorse him. (After it also had stayed neutral in the primary race, the statewide LGBT advocacy group Equality California recently announced it had endorsed Nguyen in the runoff.) At first landing in third place on election night in June, Nguyen went on to claim second place with nearly 15 percent of the vote once all ballots had been counted. Former state Senator Lou Correa easily placed first with nearly 44 percent of the vote. On Friday Sanchez, who is running against Attorney General Kamala Harris for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s seat, announced her endorsement of Correa. “Lou has a great record of fighting for Orange County’s families. Whether it’s been his work in the state Legislature or on the county Board of Supervisors, he has the proven experience we need right now in Washington,” stated Sanchez. Correa issued his own statement to say he was honored to have Sanchez’s support. He vowed that, once he is elected to Congress, “I will pick up where she left off and continue See page 14 >>
Barry Schneider Attorney at Law
family law specialist* • Divorce w/emphasis on Real Estate & Business Divisions • Domestic Partnerships, Support & Custody • Probate and Wills www.SchneiderLawSF.com
415-781-6500 *Certified by the California State Bar 400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA