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Vol. 46 • No. 22 • June 2-8, 2016
SF Pride HIVers reflect as disease marks 35 years withholds pink brick T by Brian Bromberger
his year marks the 20th anniversary of the widespread distribution of the protease inhibitor drug cocktail (the highly active anti-retroviral therapy regimen), as well as the introduction of the viral load test so doctors could monitor the progression of the HIV virus in the body. Both advances transformed AIDS from a near automatic death sentence to a chronic condition by reducing the HIV virus to undetectable levels. For those who have struggled with HIV for many years, it is an extraordinary accomplishment to be alive and thriving today, with some returning from the brink of death. As the 35th anniversary of the first reported cases of what would become known as AIDS is observed June 5, the Bay Area Reporter interviewed three longtime HIV-positive men. Cleve Jones, 61, is a co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1982, as well as the creator of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in 1987. HarperCollins published his first memoir, Stitching a Revolution in 2000. His new book, which inspires the forthcoming ABC miniseries When We Rise, will be released in November. Gabriel Quinto, 55, is the first known HIV-positive person elected to public office in the Bay Area after he won a seat on the El Cerrito City Council in 2014. He is currently running to be a voting member on the Democratic Central Committee in Contra Costa County. See page 17 >>
by Seth Hemmelgarn
O
rganizers of San Francisco’s LGBT Pride parade and celebration are being tightlipped about their decision not to give out the pink brick to anyone this year, including Donald Trump, the Republican Donald Trump presidential candidate who was one of the nominees. The dubious honor, which typically goes to someone who’s done harm to the LGBT community, has previously been awarded to people such as conservative Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly and anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera. Even Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California), a former San Francisco mayor, received the distinction in 2004 after she called then-Mayor Gavin Newsom’s allowing same-sex couples to marry “too much, too fast, too soon.”
The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt had its final display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. October 13, 1996.
See page 18 >>
Rick Gerharter
B.A.R. election endorsements SAN FRANCISCO RACES
Congress (Bay Area)
State Senate
Dist. 2: Jared Huffman Dist. 3: John Garamendi Dist. 5: Mike Thompson Dist. 11: Mark DeSaulnier Dist. 12: Nancy Pelosi Dist. 13: Barbara Lee Dist. 14: Jackie Speier Dist. 15: Eric Swalwell Dist. 17: Mike Honda Dist. 18: Anna Eshoo Dist. 19: Zoe Lofgren
Dist. 11: Scott Wiener
State Assembly Dist. 17: David Chiu Dist. 19: Phil Ting
Judges SF Superior Court Seat 7: Paul Henderson
SF DEMOCRATIC COUNTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE Dist. 17: Joshua Arce, Bevan Dufty, Zoe Dunning, Michael Grafton, Pratima Gupta, Shaun Haines, Frances Hsieh, Rafael Mandelman, Gary McCoy, Leah Pimentel, Rebecca Prozan, Alix Rosenthal, Francis Tsang, Scott Wiener Dist. 19: Kat Anderson, Keith Baraka, Joel Engardio, Mark Farrell, Sandra Lee Fewer, Tom Hsieh, Mary Jung, Rachel Norton, Marjan Philhour
CALIFORNIA PRIMARY President: Hillary Clinton U.S. Senate: Kamala Harris
State Assembly (Bay Area) Dist. 15: Tony Thurmond Dist. 18: Rob Bonta Dist. 28: Evan Low
State Senate (Bay Area) Dist. 9: Nancy Skinner
CALIFORNIA PROPS Yes on 50
DISTRICT PROPS Yes on Measure AA
SAN FRANCISCO PROPS Yes on Props A, B, C, D, E
Remember to vote June 7!
SF event promotes CA transgender campaign by Matthew S. Bajko
A
s a sophomore, Rexy Amaral sought to transfer to Mission High School so she could feel free to express herself. Her first day at the public school, which straddles San Francisco’s gay Castro and Latino Mission districts, she wore a black dress, her make up “all done up,” and had fashioned her hair to the side. “I experienced something I never felt before. I experienced acceptance,” recalled Amaral, 19, who identifies as a trans Latina woman. Now a recent high school graduate, Amaral told the Bay Area Reporter she is “working on becoming a drag superstar.” She has been shopping around a television series to tell her transition story and promoting herself as a public speaker and performer who can address students and others about transgender issues. Being able to attend Mission High, were she felt “welcomed and protected” for the first time as a student, was “such a blessing,” said Amaral. She was one of the speakers during a May 27 event in San Francisco to promote the recently launched Transform California campaign. An effort to educate the public about transgender people and the issues they face, it is co-led by statewide LGBT advocacy group Equality California and the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center.
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Kelly Sullivan
Rexy Amaral speaks at the Transform California rally May 27 on the steps of Mission High School.
The aim is to make “the state of California a welcoming place for all,” said TLC Executive Director Kris Hayashi, himself a transgender man. The event was held on Mission High School’s 18th Street steps to highlight the San Francisco Unified School District being a leader in ensuring its schools are safe spaces for transgender students. It first adopted pro-LGBT policies in See page 16 >>
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