SAFETY bill goes to gov
15
Gay Wine Weekend
ARTS
Protesting Pride
ARTS
04
02
15
'Friends of Dorothy'
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
LGBTQ hate crimes in CA increase, AG’s report says by Cynthia Laird
Vol. 54 • No. 27 • July 4-10, 2024
Sunny SF Pride parade ‘more magical than usual’
D
espite an overall decrease in reported hate crimes in California last year, those committed against the LGBTQ community continued to rise, according to Attorney General Christopher Robledo Rob Bonta, who re- California leased the state’s 2023 Attorney General report June 28. Rob Bonta spoke According to the at the GLBT “2023 Hate Crime in Historical Society California” report, Museum in San reported hate crimes Francisco in 2021. also increased against Jewish and Muslim communities. Overall, reported hate crime events in California decreased by 7.1% from 2,120 in 2022 to 1,970 in 2023, according to the report. “While it is heartening to see an overall decrease in hate crimes in 2023, some of our communities, including our LGBTQ+, Jewish and Muslim communities, continue to be targeted and endangered by hate at alarming rates. An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us – there is no place for hate in California,” Bonta stated in a news release accompanying the report. According to the report, between 2022 and 2023, hate crime events motivated by sexual orientation bias increased by 4.1% from 391 in 2022 to 405 in 2023. Anti-transgender bias events increased by 10.2% from 59 in 2022 to 65 in 2023, and anti-LGBTQ+ bias events increased by 86.4% from 2022. In the sexual orientation category, there were 231 anti-gay (male) 17 anti-lesbian, 151 antiLGBTQ+, and six anti-bisexual events. Under gender, there were two anti-male, four anti-female, 65 anti-transgender, and 11 antigender-nonconforming events, the report stated. Tony Hoang, a gay man who’s executive director of Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ+ rights organization, said the numbers aren’t a surprise. “Hate does not happen in a vacuum,” Hoang stated in a news release. “Over the past several years, we have seen a sharp increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric being expressed by far-right extremists and hate groups. This year alone, more than 600 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation were introduced across the country, including right here in California. “The data in this report makes it clear: antiLGBTQ+ laws and policies directly result in physical intimidation, harassment, and acts of violence,” he added. “No person should have to live with fear of being themselves, and we must be very clear that hate has no place in California.” See page 13 >>
People danced as they carried the Latino Wellness Center banner in the June 30 San Francisco Pride parade.
by John Ferrannini
T
he summer sun shone down on a packed Market Street for San Francisco’s LGBTQ Pride parade June 30, marking the end of a celebratory month and commemorating the 55th anniversary of the
Stonewall riots, which inaugurated the movement for queer liberation in the United States. The parade kicked off at 10:30 a.m. with the Dykes on Bikes roaring from Drumm Street, leading 50,000 people who were part of 220 contingents for several hours up Market Street to Eighth Street. Crowds
also flocked to a few blocks away, in the Civic Center Plaza, for a celebration featuring grand marshal gay actor and singer Billy Porter, and an appearance by Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), among others. See page 8 >> John Ferrannini
Russian River’s R3 resort put up for sale by Matthew S. Bajko
O
ne of the last remaining LGBTQ-focused resorts in Guerneville is being put up for sale. The listing for the R3 Hotel comes just as the busy summer tourist season in the Russian River area kicks into high gear, with crowds expected for the long, four-day Fourth of July holiday weekend. The property went up for sale June 27 with an asking price of $4.564 million. The proceeds will be split among an investment group that numbers 17 people and will also benefit the LGBTQ nonprofits Face to Face based in Santa Rosa and the Desert AIDS Project of Palm Springs. “Obviously, the new owners are entitled to make their own changes, but we would like to see it continue to be the gay and lesbian business in Guerneville,” said Glenn Dixon, 72, a gay man who is the chief financial officer for the resort. Located at 16390 Fourth Street at Mill Street in downtown Guerneville about 90 minutes north of San Francisco, the R3 resort includes 23 guest rooms, a bar and restaurant, pool, and an event space. Dixon told the Bay Area Reporter that it is the only gay-owned full-service resort with such facilities under one roof in the U.S. “It is important for me to leave that legacy behind for the future generations,” said Dixon. “I want to see it continue in some iteration of what it is today.” Asked if that meant he and the resorts’ ownership
From Facebook
The R3 Hotel in Guerneville, known for its pool parties, is on the market for $4.564 million.
group want to see it remain an LGBTQ resort after it is sold, Dixon told the B.A.R. that is the goal. As for the prospects of selling the property this summer, with high interest rates hampering the property market over the last year, he was less certain. “I wish I had a crystal ball,” said Dixon. “The difference here is we are looking for the right person and the right price. We don’t have to sell.” Dixon had been friends with the previous owner, Ray Allen, for four decades and was named trustee of his personal estate, which included his stake in the
R3. (The moniker is derived from it formerly being called the Russian River Resort.) Allen passed away in March 2020 right as the COVID pandemic began, and his partner of more than 25 years, Paul McBride, died on December 30 that year According to Dixon, the couple had been in talks to sell the resort in 2019, but when a flood damaged the property that February, the prospective buyers terminated the deal. See page 12 >>