Hawaii for romantics
ARTS
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Kinky Boots
Shawn Ryan
The
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Vol. 44 • No. 48 • November 27-December 3, 2014
SF leaders detail plan to cut HIV infections to zero by Matthew S. Bajko
S Courtesy RWF
Last year’s Rainbow World Fund Tree of Hope in City Hall.
Tree of Hope moves to cathedral by Cynthia Laid
C
ity Hall’s loss is Grace Cathedral’s gain. Rainbow World Fund’s Tree of Hope, an annual holiday display promoting global unity, will be installed at Grace Cathedral next week, after the nonprofit agency was told it would have to pay $15,000 to have the tree in San Francisco City Hall. The tree has been displayed in City Hall for the past eight years. But a communications snafu left the San Francisco-based LGBT humanitarian agency scrambling to find an alternative site and City Hall looking for a Christmas tree for inside the Beaux Arts building. “It was a bit of a misunderstanding,” city Administrator Naomi Kelly told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview November 20. “We’re working through to make sure we get it back next year. “I’d love to have the tree back next year,” she added. At issue, according to Kelly, was $15,000 to cover security and overtime costs by the San Francisco Sheriff ’s Department, which provides security in City Hall and has deputies on hand whenever the building is open. Senior Sheriff ’s Deputy Enrique Luquin said he wasn’t aware of the security cost for the tree. “We haven’t given anybody any estimates,” he told the B.A.R. “We never quoted that amount.” Jeff Cotter, the executive director of RWF, was disappointed that the tree won’t be in City Hall this year, but praised Grace Cathedral for its wonderful space. The tree lighting will take place on World AIDS Day, Monday, December 1, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. “We are not able to have the tree at City Hall this year due to policy changes that made it cost prohibitive for us,” Cotter said in an email. The Rainbow World Fund Tree of Hope, as it is formally called, is unique in that it is decorated with thousands of origami cranes See page 18 >>
an Francisco leaders have mapped out an aggressive plan to cut new HIV infections by 90 percent come 2020. The ultimate goal is to get to no new HIV infections, though backers of the plan have Jane Philomen Cleland yet to commit to a tarProject Inform get date for meeting it. Executive “Our hope is this is a Director Dana plan that really makes Van Gorder San Francisco the first city in the nation, and essentially the world, to really virtually drive the epidemic out of existence,” said Project Inform Executive Director Dana Van Gorder. “This is something I hope everyone will want to embrace and participant in.” For the last year a group of 25 leaders, representing the public health department, city hall, community groups, private health care providers, and UCSF officials, have been meeting regularly to devise a multi-pronged strategy to dramatically reduce new HIV infections in the
Courtesy SFDPH
A chart from the San Francisco Department of Public Health shows new HIV diagnoses, deaths, and prevalence in the city between 2006-2013.
city. Their work has led to the creation of a plan dubbed “Getting to Zero: Zero HIV Infections, Zero AIDS Deaths, and Zero Stigma.” Three of the key components are rapid enrollment in treatment for those who test pos-
itive for the virus; retention of people once they are in care; and ensuring those who are HIV-negative and at risk for HIV have access to pre-exposure prophylaxis. Known as PrEP, See page 17 >>
Events to mark World AIDS Day
by Seth Hemmelgarn
Ermet AIDS Foundation, and Joe Seiler, the group’s board vents are planned around chair, with its Light in the Grove the Bay Area in the coming Lifetime of Commitment Award. days to mark the 26th anREAF began 20 years ago nual World AIDS Day. under Henderson and Seiler’s As he prepared for the occasion, leadership with Help Is On the which commemorates the lives lost Way: San Francisco Cares. Help and the work that remains to be Is On the Way has become “the done in fighting HIV and AIDS, Bay Area’s largest annual AIDS John Cunningham, executive dibenefit concert and one of the rector of the National AIDS MeBay Area’s primary sources of morial Grove, spoke of Ebola. The funding for many local AIDS recent outbreak of the disease in service agencies,” according to several West African countries has the foundation’s website. Rick Gerharter killed more than 5,000 people; two In a brief call, Henderson people who contracted the disease Flowers and a candle were left at the Circle of Friends during 2013’s noted the AIDS grove organizaabroad later died in the U.S., where World AIDS Day ceremony in the National AIDS Memorial Grove in tion has honored “some pretty San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. they were brought for treatment. high-profile people, and we just “I think that as we again apfeel very honored to be included The AIDS grove will hold its fifth annual proach World AIDS Day, it’s inin that kind of presence.” Light in the Grove fundraising gala from 6:30 cumbent upon all of us that have fought the Seiler, who said the award is “really special,” said to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, November 30. The VIP fight over the last 30 plus years to not only reREAF is “going to just keep trying to keep things reception is from 5:30 to 6:30. The grove is lomember those we lost far too young, but most going until there’s a cure. That’s the key thing.” cated in the eastern end of Golden Gate Park at importantly, as a community and a society, to Individual tickets for Light in the Grove are the intersection of Bowling Green and Middle make sure we apply the lessons learned both $200. Host level admission starts at $500 and inDrive East, across from the tennis courts. from the heartache and the struggle” and “based cludes the VIP reception. Tickets at both levels The event will feature cocktails, dinner, in love and compassion,” Cunningham said in were available late last week, but Cunningham music, and “brilliant displays of creative lightan interview. “As our society faces a new epiexpected them to sell out by early this week. ing throughout the grove,” Cunningham said demic in the form of Ebola, we already see the Funds raised through the event ensure the in an email promoting the event. stigma being placed upon that, and it’s imporcontinued maintenance of the memorial through The grove this year is honoring Ken Hentant that we who have already walked this path its community volunteer workday program, alderson, executive director of the Richmond/ don’t let it happen again.” See page 18 >>
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© Keith Haring Foundation
{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }
Nov 8, 2014–Feb 16, 2015
de Young • Golden Gate Park • deyoungmuseum.org