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8 • BAY AREA REPORTER • December 7-13, 2017
Volume 47, Number 49 December 7-13, 2017 www.ebar.com PUBLISHER Michael M. Yamashita Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013) Publisher (2003 – 2013) Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003) NEWS EDITOR Cynthia Laird ARTS EDITOR Roberto Friedman BARTAB EDITOR & EVENTS LISTINGS EDITOR Jim Provenzano ASSISTANT EDITORS Matthew S. Bajko • Seth Hemmelgarn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ray Aguilera • Tavo Amador • Race Bannon Erin Blackwell • Roger Brigham Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth Brent Calderwood • Philip Campbell Heather Cassell • Belo Cipriani Richard Dodds • Michael Flanagan Jim Gladstone • David Guarino Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • John F. Karr Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • Joshua Klipp David Lamble • Max Leger Michael McDonagh • David-Elijah Nahmod Michael Nugent • Paul Parish • Sean Piverger Lois Pearlman • Tim Pfaff • Jim Piechota Bob Roehr • Adam Sandel Khaled Sayed • Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro • Gwendolyn Smith Tony Taylor • Sari Staver • Jim Stewart Sean Timberlake • Andre Torrez • Ronn Vigh Charlie Wagner • Ed Walsh Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood ART DIRECTION Max Leger PRODUCTION/DESIGN Ernesto Sopprani PHOTOGRAPHERS Jane Philomen Cleland • FBFE Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja Georg Lester • Dan Lloyd • Jo-Lynn Otto Rich Stadtmiller • Kelly Sullivan Steven Underhil • Dallis Willard • Bill Wilson ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS Paul Berge • Christine Smith ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION Colleen Small Bogitini VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937 NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863
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Taxes and cake T
he Republicans are intent on screwing over blue states. Led by President Donald Trump, conservatives are closer than ever to passing a tax reform package that will be devastating to California and other coastal states. We already pay more in taxes than red states, and the plans that have passed the House and Senate do away with state and local tax deductions. This will have a profound impact on homeowners, including LGBT families, who could see their taxes increase by thousands of dollars. “This bill will divide the blue states from the red, the Democrats from the Republicans. It is evil in the extreme,” Governor Jerry Brown said in a call with reporters Monday. He was joined by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor-elect Phil Murphy. In addition to tax pain for families, the Republican plan will also hurt governments’ ability to raise taxes. As the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, state and local governments have been able to “sell” tax increases by pointing out that they are deductible on federal returns. No more. And San Francisco is a city that loves to tax itself to pay for a variety of services. It remains to be seen whether that trend will continue. Tax experts told the New York Times that the Senate and House plans’ capping of mortgage deductions could make buying a home in the Golden State more difficult. “It could have spiraling consequences – the economy, the real estate market, revenues to local governments – it goes further and further into things where it could have a negative impact,” Gonzalo Freixes, a tax expert at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, told the paper. But it’s not just property owners who will be squeezed. As we pointed out in this week’s online Gays Across America column, Equality California has serious concerns with the tax overhaul. Executive Director Rick Zbur said in an email blast that it “would benefit the top 1 percent of Americans and corporations at the expense of LGBTQ
people, people living with HIV and AIDS, working families, students, and low-income people.” The tax plan includes “deep, across-the-board spending cuts” on programs including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or food stamps), Medicare and Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income for people who are living with HIV/AIDS and others, said Zbur. The proposal also includes repealing the mandate that every individual have health insurance, a key component of the Affordable Care Act. Zbur said that undoing the mandate “would lead to an estimated 13 million people dropping from ACA coverage, and drastic spikes in insurance premiums.” The House and Senate are currently reconciling the two bills; one version must be approved to make it to Trump’s desk. But from all accounts, it’s going to be painful for a lot of people, while corporations and the wealthy will see their taxes drop. Trump is wrong when he says it’s a middle-class tax cut, at least for California. The middle class here, already struggling with high housing costs and stagnant wages (in many cases) will feel real pain. This is just another reason why the seven California congressional Republicans in districts won by Hillary Clinton last year need to be defeated in the 2018 midterms.
Let them (not) order cake
Tuesday’s oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is the latest effort by conservatives to chip away at laws that protect minorities, including LGBTs. In this case, a gay couple went to Jack Phillips’ bakery to order a wedding cake for their reception. Phillips refused their request, and the couple sought relief through state antidiscrimination laws and were successful. Phillips had appealed the civil rights commission’s ruling and finally made it to the Supreme Court. Early reports coming after the session don’t bode
t
well for LGBTs. Some legal observers predict a narrow ruling that would preserve Phillips’ right to discriminate if he custom creates a cake, but he would have to sell existing cakes to anyone. That’s probably the best outcome the LGBT community could hope for, and even it would send a deeply troubling message that we are not free from discrimination. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the fifth vote in many of the court’s LGBT rights victories, “seemed troubled,” Politico reported, by Colorado officials’ treatment of Phillips, which included ordering him and his staff to undergo “remedial training.” But Kennedy also seemed concerned about same-sex couples who might be denied services. The liberal online site ThinkProgress went further, stating that LGBT rights had “a horrible day” at the Supreme Court and predicted Kennedy would side with Phillips. Another disturbing development in LGBT rights occurred Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case out of Texas where that state’s Supreme Court has ruled that the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide does not fully address marriage benefits. The city of Houston had requested high court review in Turner v. Pidgeon after the state Supreme Court threw out a lower court ruling that said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to governmentsubsidized marriage benefits. The state high court said that Obergefell does not require that “states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons.” This is a major challenge to Obergefell, which Justice Neil Gorsuch said was “settled law” during his confirmation hearing earlier this year. The National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders pointed out that the case is far from over, and returns to the Texas trial court for a final decision. The groups said it was premature to petition the Supreme Court to hear it, since there hasn’t been a final judgment yet. But we are on notice that marriage equality is increasingly under attack in the courts, which is another example of how basic equality is under assault now that Trump is president. t
Honor Milk with new plaza by Andrea Aiello
The future
T
he Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, or FHMP, is excited about the community dialogue to reimagine and reinvigorate Harvey Milk Plaza. First and foremost, we want to assure all that the reimagining process is just beginning. We also want to reassure everyone that we agree that easy and accessible use of the transit station will be an essential component in a successful design resolution. To this end, we can assure everyone that we recognize that the sole entrance to the station should not be relocated to the western end of the plaza, near Collingwood Street. There is no plan to implement this design idea generated during the competition. The renderings from the competition should be understood by all to be conceptual sketches, not finished design proposals. The design process is just getting started and there will certainly be opportunities for the public to participate. The current design of Harvey Milk Plaza struggles to reconcile the needs of the transit hub with the need to properly and appropriately honor a man who, for so many, stands as a beacon of hope for LGBT rights; a man who reminded us to have “hope for a better world.” As an out and proud gay man, Milk, who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, has very special significance to the worldwide LGBT community, and we proudly claim him as one of our own. But Milk understood the importance of hope to all marginalized people, and he included women, Latinos, blacks, Asians, and seniors in his mission, giving Milk special significance to many disenfranchised populations. This is why people from across the globe still come to visit the Castro and to stand in Harvey Milk Plaza to show their respect. Milk’s history is our history and his mission is our calling.
The history
The Castro Muni Metro station and plaza debuted in 1980 and was designed as a transit hub for the district. Planning and design work for the Castro Muni Metro station began in the early to mid-1970s. It was not originally conceived of as a tribute to Milk, who was assassinated in 1978. On September 15, 1985, Mayor Dianne Feinstein,
Courtesy Perkins Eastman
A conceptual rendering of the Harvey Milk Plaza winning redesign by Perkins Eastman shows the main Muni entrance at the western end of the plaza, which likely won’t be the sole entrance, according to Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza.
Board of Supervisors President John L. Molinari, and Milk’s successor, Supervisor Harry Britt, dedicated Harvey Milk Plaza, thus enshrining the plaza as sacred ground for LGBT civil rights history. In 1997, to recognize the 20th anniversary of Milk’s election to office, the giant rainbow flag, designed by another former Castro citizen, the late Gilbert Baker, was installed and dedicated. In January 2017, to kick off the reimagining of the plaza, we held two meetings to hear from the community and to gauge public support. Collectively, the feedback gathered from these meetings indicated the community’s strong desire to make significant changes to the current space, to align it with the importance of the individual for which it is named. There was a general consensus and understanding that for millions, the Castro is not just a neighborhood, it is an internationally recognized mecca for those on personal journeys of truth and discovery. It is easy to forget that the rest of the world looks to our city for hope and that, for so many, Castro and Market is hallowed ground. We believe that, as citizens of the Castro, we have a special responsibility to honor Milk at the plaza that bears his name. If we do not take up this mission now, then who will, and when?
The FHMP is spearheading a privately funded reimagining and reinvigorating of this public space. This opportunity to reimagine the plaza coincides with a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency accessibility project addressing some required updates at the site. Harvey Milk Plaza, in its current state, will necessarily undergo significant change with this project and FHMP is working closely with SFMTA regarding the timing of the planned improvements. Beyond the planned SFMTA project, there are known issues present in the current plaza – drainage issues, an awkward stair configuration, and shallow bus stops on Market Street. Our goal is to address as much as possible all known and anticipated issues at once, to reduce disruption to commuters that would result from a series of ongoing smaller projects. Further, this public space must be reconsidered to meet the needs of the growing population through 2040, based on increased ridership projections. We believe a holistic rethinking of the plaza creates a unique and timely opportunity to optimize the function of the transit station while also providing an opportunity to create a public space befitting the civil rights icon for whom it is named. Our vision for the new plaza will encourage locals and visitors of all ages to come experience LGBT history, to feel rooted in the beloved Castro, and to inspire them to create change in their own lives and their own communities. The FHMP wants to build a place where hope will live, forever. We need your participation and help with this project of global import. Join with us and stay involved. Go to friendsofharveymilkplaza.org to stay informed, attend the community meetings if possible, and participate in other opportunities to provide input. The FHMP is filled with great optimism that this newly reimagined Harvey Milk Plaza will cement LGBT history into the fabric of the Castro and inspire generations to come about Harvey’s message of hope, inclusion and equality. #honorharveymilk. t Andrea Aiello is the executive director of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District and serves as president of Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, a Castro neighborhood organization committed to maintaining and improving the public space named in honor of the civil rights icon.