French LGBTs mourn terror victims
ARTS
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Lupino lives
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Afternoon Delight
The
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Vol. 45 • No. 47 • November 19-25, 2015
SF Pride shooting case settled
SF LGBT senior agency ramps up housing outreach
by Seth Hemmelgarn
T
he nonprofit organization that runs San Francisco’s annual LGBT Pride parade and festival this week settled a lawsuit with a man who had sued it after he was shot at the Rick Gerharter June 2013 celebration. Trevor Gardner, 25, Trevor Gardner of Los Angeles, had claimed that the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee’s lax security led to him being shot in the leg after a brawl broke out nearby that year. SF Pride officials said through an attorney that they had worked hard to secure the event and the shooting was “a random act of violence.” Gardner had sought millions of dollars from festival organizers. Previous settlement talks had failed, and the trial had gotten underway last week in San Francisco Superior Court. Tuesday, after jury selection had been bungled, attorneys in the case agreed to settle. Reached by phone, they wouldn’t discuss details of the deal, citing the confidentiality of the agreement. Asked why the case had settled, Ryan Lapine, Gardner’s attorney, would only say “because there was a settlement that was agreed to by the parties.” Lapine wouldn’t say how much money Gardner would receive, or which party took the lead in reaching the settlement. Last week, Lapine suggested to prospective jurors that the hundreds of thousands of people who attend the annual SF Pride festival should have to go through metal detectors and have their bags checked. In a call Tuesday, he said, “It goes without saying I hope that security at the event conforms to industry standards and that there are no shootings in future years.” Gardner, “a trained gymnast,” had been working as a model at the Tropicana Las Vegas booth June 30, 2013 when a “brawl” erupted nearby, resulting in Gardner being shot in the leg, Lapine said. Maria Caruana, SF Pride’s attorney, said Tuesday, “I’d love to speak with you,” but “a couple of days ago, the court actually ordered that we not speak with the press about this case any further.” Gardner consistently appeared in the courthouse with no obvious injuries, but Lapine said his client had continued to experience pain, and his ability to work is limited. He also said that Gardner hadn’t been seeking punitive damages, but funds for medical expenses and other costs. Gardner couldn’t be reached Tuesday for comment. See page 14 >>
Construction continues on the 55 Laguna Street senior housing project.
by Matthew S. Bajko
O
penhouse, the San Francisco-based LGBT senior agency, is ramping up its housing outreach as it prepares to open next fall the city’s first affordable housing complex meant for LGBT seniors. Crews with James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corp.
are turning the building at 55 Laguna Street, a block away from the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, into 39 units of various sizes meant for low-income seniors age 55 and older. An additional unit is being set aside for the resident manager, while six of the senior units will be assigned to people living with HIV or AIDS and at-risk for or have been chronically homeless.
The lottery for those interested in living at the remodeled 55 Laguna building is expected to open in April or May of next year. Those who qualify and are selected to be tenants are expected to move into their new homes sometime in October. See page 13 >>
Sheen comes out as HIV-positive
Rick Gerharter
by David-Elijah Nahmod
workers was public knowledge, but he and his handlers felt compelled to ollywood bad boy Charlie pay $10 million to keep his HIV staSheen, who was said to tus secret shows we have a long way be the highest paid actor to go combating HIV-related stigma,” during the long run of his sitcom said Brian Basinger, director of AIDS Two and a Half Men, came out as Housing Alliance/San Francisco. HIV-positive in a no-holds-barred Basinger praised the actor’s deciinterview on the Today Show. sion to come out about his diagnosis. The actor, known for his very “Charlie Sheen joins a select public battles with network execugroup of public people who lives tives, substance abuse issues, and a their lives fearlessly, out in the stormy love life, said that he’d been open, about their HIV status,” diagnosed with HIV, the virus that Basinger said. “I applaud that he is causes AIDS, four years ago. coming out of the HIV closet and I “I’m here to admit that I’m in feel for him for the public scrutiny Courtesy NBCUniversal fact HIV-positive,” Sheen, 50, told he is going to endure.” Actor Charlie Sheen, left, and his physician, Dr. Robert Huizenga, Today Show host Matt Lauer. “I Basinger added that it doesn’t matappeared on the Today Show Tuesday, where Sheen revealed he’s have to put a stop to this onslaught ter how a person contracts the virus. living with HIV. of attacks and sub-truths.” Tez Anderson of Let’s Kick ASS Sheen appeared serious on the (AIDS Survivor Syndrome), a supsince his diagnosis, practiced safe sex. “Every program. port and networking group for HIV, he said, is “a hard three letters to absorb.” time,” said Sheen, who acknowledged that he longtime HIV survivors, was less than pleased wasn’t sure how he contracted the virus. During the interview it was noted that Sheen with Lauer’s interview techniques. A portion of the segment also included Sheen’s has been accused of deliberately spreading the “All those questions from Lauer about ‘how physician, Dr. Robert Huizenga from UCLA, did you get it’ were stigmatizing,” Anderson told HIV virus, which he denied. “I release myself from this prison,” Sheen who said that Sheen’s viral load is undetectable. the Bay Area Reporter. “Sheen felt such shame “Charlie does not have AIDS,” Huizenga said. that he spent millions of dollars to keep a secret told Lauer, saying that he’d paid out $10 million “He is healthy.” to blackmailers, some of whom were prostitutes that did not need keeping. Lauer seemed judgMany in the HIV community applauded with whom he’d had sex. Lauer asked Sheen if mental to me and doesn’t seem to understand Sheen’s candor and expressed dismay over the he was still paying the blackmailers. that condomless sex can be protected sex if fact that the actor had been blackmailed. “Not anymore,” said Sheen. one’s viral load is undetectable.” “The fact that we live in a society where the Lauer asked tough questions about whether See page 13 >> or not Sheen, who has remained sexually active actor’s substance abuse and employment of sex
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