New leader for trans legal group
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SF Opera, 2015-16
Matthew Martin
The
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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 45 • No. 3 • January 15-21, 2015
Housing key concern for SF supes San Francisco Supervisors, from left, Jane Kim, Scott Wiener, Mark Farrell, Malia Cohen and Julienne Christensen were sworn in to their terms on the board January 8. Not pictured is Supervisor Katy Tang. Christie Smith via NewsOne
BART protesters chained themselves to a train at the West Oakland station November 28.
BART charges criticized by Seth Hemmelgarn
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rotesters in Oakland who disrupted BART train service the day after Thanksgiving last year to call attention to police brutality are hoping to see charges and restitution sought against them dropped. Meanwhile, two gay progressive BART board members are being asked to support the protesters’ request, and a demonstration is planned for Friday morning on the underground platform at the Montgomery BART station, potentially affecting the morning commute. The Alameda County District Attorney’s office is charging 14 people with trespassing on railroad property, a misdemeanor. Officials are also seeking $70,000 in restitution. The situation, stemming from the November 28 Black Friday protest that interfered with service for hours, has drawn out BART directors Rebecca Saltzman and Tom Radulovich into a controversy with others, including San Francisco’s Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. According to court documents, several protesters had chained and locked themselves to trains at the West Oakland station. The Black Friday protest was one of many across the country that have centered on police brutality after grand juries in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island, New York declined to indict white police officers who killed unarmed black men. Karissa Lewis, 32, of Oakland, one of the defendants, said the BART protesters believe “the charges should be dropped because we were doing our due diligence as citizens to protest and object to unjust living conditions in our community.” Lewis, who’s black and is acting as a spokeswoman for the protesters, known as the “Black Friday 14,” said those conditions include “being targeted by the police,” gentrification, a lack of access to health care, and other issues. See page 5 >>
by Matthew S. Bajko
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an Francisco’s affordable housing crisis will continue to top the agenda at City Hall in 2015. The issue was a key focus for the city’s returning supervisors as they gathered last week to welcome Julienne M. Christensen as the new District 3 supervisor and elected District 5 Supervisor London Breed as the new board president during the January 8 swearing in ceremony for the five even-numbered supervisors who won re-election to new terms in November.
“Most of all, we need affordable and safe housing for our residents,” said Breed as she listed a number of issues she plans to tackle as the board’s new president. The second African American woman to lead the board, Breed recalled how only blocks away from City Hall she grew up in public housing with her siblings, grandmother, and an aunt. “I remember standing in church lines to get donated food and standing in fire department lines for toys at Christmas,” said Breed, who in 2012 defeated bisexual former Supervisor Christina Olague, who had been
appointed to fill a vacancy, to represent the Haight and Western Addition on the board. “I felt left out, isolated, powerless as I watched the city move by all around me,” added Breed. “The good news is I had a grandmother and community who loved me. Wealth is nothing without love, without compassion.” Christensen, a North Beach neighborhood activist and businesswoman, also spoke of the need for the city to do more to protect current residents from being evicted. See page 5 >>
Campaigns target uninsured LGBTs Rick Gerharter
by Matthew S. Bajko
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tanding in his floral design studio in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, Maurice Harris discusses why he signed up for health insurance through Covered California, the state-run exchange where uninsured residents can choose from a variety of plans. “I need to take care of myself as well as my business. And now I can do both with health coverage,” says Harris, noting that his job comes with risks that could require him to seek medical treatment. Not said in the 15-second ad, part of Covered California’s “I’m In” marketing campaign, is that the 33-year-old Harris is a gay man. Nonetheless, Harris is the public face of the state exchange’s latest efforts to reach uninsured LGBT residents in the Golden State. Since the fall his television spots have aired in the state’s various media markets during shows known to attract a sizeable LGBT audience. And print ads featuring Harris have also been running in LGBT publications, such as the Bay Area Reporter, for several months. “Maurice was someone we found while looking for individuals and families to tell their stories about why having health coverage was important to them,” Covered California spokesman Roy Kennedy told the B.A.R. in an emailed response to questions. “We do this on a regular basis because having actual enrollees tell their stories is very impactful and gives people a real perspective of how Covered California helps people.”
Courtesy Covered California
Los Angeles floral designer Maurice Harris is one of the faces of the Covered California ad campaign.
When Harris opened his business Bloom and Plume in 2010, he opted not to enroll in a health insurance plan. He cited the cost of having to pay a monthly premium between $400 and $500 as a barrier to having coverage. “It was too much of an overwhelming process for me. It seemed really expensive and unapproachable,” said Harris, who grew up in Stockton and moved to southern California when he enrolled at the Otis College of Art and Design. “I really just avoided the whole thing.”
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That changed with the launch of Covered California in the fall of 2013. Harris logged onto the website and found a plan costing $200 a month, far less than what he had been quoted in the past. “It was significantly more approachable than what the private sector was offering before this bill was passed,” said Harris, referring to the Affordable Care Act enacted by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama. Shortly after he signed up, Harris received a call from a representative with Covered California inviting him to audition for a marketing campaign. That led to a crew visiting him at his studio a few blocks from his home to tape the spot. A black man, Harris also appears in a 30-second television ad with two black women that has been airing during shows with large African American audiences. His being featured in the spots has led strangers to approach him on the street to discuss the ads, which he was surprised to learn were being shown on TV. “I thought it would be an online testimonial kind of thing ... I didn’t realize it would be a commercial running all the time,” said Harris, who missed the first call back. “They really wanted to see me, so they called me back again a second time.” Having disclosed his sexual orientation to the marketing team, Harris said they asked him if he would be interested in using his story to See page 13 >>