Funds to help LGBTs find housing
ARTS
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Houghton Hall
Bridget Everett
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 44 • No. 43 • October 23-29, 2014
Stewart Party planned to celebrate highlights new Castro Street marriage work by Cynthia Laird
T
he state’s first lesbian appeals court judge cautioned against stereotypes and used her first speech since being appointed to the bench to talk about her prior work Deborah Craig on same-sex marriage at a recent din- California Appeal ner in Oakland. Court Justice Justice Therese Therese Stewart Stewart, who sits on the California Courts of Appeal, 1st District, was the keynote speaker at the Women Lawyers of Alameda County’s annual judges’ dinner Thursday, October 16 at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in Jack London Square. See page 10 >>
by Matthew S. Bajko
The Castro sidewalk and street improvement project is nearly complete; on Wednesday construction crews continued work at the intersection of Castro and Market streets.
No date for LGBT shelter by Seth Hemmelgarn
W
ith winter approaching and problems continuing for LGBTs in the city’s homeless shelters, a space designed to be welcoming to the gay community is still without an opening date. “There’s definitely been a lot of frustration from everyone involved about how long it’s taken,” said Wendy Phillips, executive director of Dolores Street Community Services, which will operate the proposed 24-bed space at 1050 South Van Ness Avenue. “We are literally doing everything we can. All these processes take time.” Advocates and elected officials have been pushing for the shelter since a March 2010 Board of Supervisors hearing in which several LGBTs told of harassment they had experienced at the city’s shelters. Since then, the project has been mired in city bureaucracy, with many of the hurdles related to obtaining permits from city agencies. “I can’t wait to call you and tell you when the opening celebration is going to be,” said Phillips, who’s been up-front about the struggles her agency has faced throughout the process. She said DSCS, which already operates one shelter at 1050 South Van Ness, got the permits it needed from the Department of Building Inspection in July, then updated the cost estimate. “It was a lot higher than it had been previously,” Phillips, a straight ally, said, “primarily” due to modifications required by the Mayor’s
T
o celebrate the improved look of Castro Street in the heart of San Francisco’s gayborhood, city officials are hosting – what else – a street party. A portion of Castro Street will be shut down the evening of Thursday, October 30 to mark the completion of a $6 million streetscape improvement project that has brought wider sidewalks, rainbow crosswalks, new street trees and See page 10 >> Rick Gerharter
B.A.R. election endorsements SAN FRANCISCO RACES State Assembly Dist. 17: David Chiu Dist. 19: Phil Ting Board of Supervisors Dist. 2: Mark Farrell Dist. 4: Katy Tang Dist. 6: Jane Kim Dist. 8: Scott Wiener Dist. 10: Malia Cohen SF School Board Mark Murphy Jamie Rafaela Wolfe Emily Murase
Rick Gerharter
Wendy Phillips from Dolores Street Community Services stands in the courtyard of the future LGBT homeless shelter facility on South Van Ness Avenue.
Office on Disability. She and others have been working to cut the costs. A specific dollar amount was not available. Dolores Street has approval from the Mayor’s Office on Disability to complete the project in phases. Phase one would include the shelter site itself, while work such as including Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant parking spaces can wait, since “our shelter resiSee page 9 >>
SF Community College Board Two-Year Term William Walker BART Board, Dist. 8: James Fang Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu Public Defender Jeff Adachi Judges SF Superior Court Office 20: Daniel Flores
OTHER BAY AREA RACES Oakland Mayor: Jean Quan Oakland City Council, Dist. 2: Abel Guillen Berkeley City Council, Dist. 7: Kriss Worthington Berkeley City Council, Dist. 8: Lori Droste Emeryville City Council: John Bauters El Cerrito City Council: Gabriel Quinto Peralta Community College, Area 7: Richard Fuentes East Bay Municipal Utility Dist., Ward 3: Marguerite Young East Bay Municipal Utility Dist., Ward 4: Andy Katz Richmond City Council: Jovanka Beckles San Mateo County Harbor Commission: Robert Bernardo CALIFORNIA GENERAL ELECTION Governor: Jerry Brown Lt. Governor: Gavin Newsom Attorney General: Kamala Harris Secretary of State: Alex Padilla Treasurer: John Chiang
State Assembly (Bay Area) Dist. 15: Elizabeth Echols Dist. 18: Rob Bonta Dist. 24: Rich Gordon Dist. 28: Evan Low Congress (Bay Area) Dist. 2: Jared Huffman Dist. 3: John Garamendi Dist. 5: Mike Thompson Dist. 10: Michael Eggman 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 CALIFORNIA PROPS Yes on Props 1, 2, 45, 46, 47, 48 SAN FRANCISCO PROPS Yes on Props A, C, D, E, F, I, J K, No on Props B, G, H, L
Remember to vote on November 4!
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