May 25 2017

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Fun in the San Diego sun

ARTS

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The Roommate

The Mod Couple

The

www.ebar.com

Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community

Vol. 47 • No. 21 • May 25-31, 2017

Trump budget A dress fights worries HIV, homophobia hepatitis advocates by Liz Highleyman

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resident Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal released this week includes major cuts to medical research and health services for lowincome people that would have a devastating impact on people Courtesy of CNN living with HIV, advo- President Donald cates said. Trump Medicaid, disability insurance, food stamps, and children’s health coverage are all on the chopping block, while the $4.1 trillion budget would beef up spending for the military and immigration and border control. “The Trump administration’s FY 2018 budget is the first one since the president took office and as such it reflect his priorities for our nation,” Ernest Hopkins, director of legislative affairs at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told the Bay Area Reporter. “It is a messaging document, and the message is that President Trump is willing to gut essential health and social service programs for our most vulnerable citizens in exchange for missiles and bombs.” The new budget would slash Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California), which provides health care for low-income people, by $610 billion over the next decade. This comes on top of the $800 billion reduction achieved by repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with something like the American Health Care Act, as the House voted to do earlier this month. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the change could mean 24 million people will lose their health coverage over the next 10 years. Cuts would be especially burdensome for the 31 states – including California – that have expanded their Medicaid programs to include low-income adults up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicaid provides health coverage for more than 40 percent of people living with HIV, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. White House Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney denied that the budget proposal involves actual cuts to Medicaid in any given year, saying it will instead make the program grow more slowly over 10 years. The proposal does not include substantial cuts to Medicare, the federal health coverage program for seniors of all income levels, in keeping with Trump’s campaign promises. It also does not cut the broad Social Security See page 8 >>

Courtesy Twitter

Chelsea Manning’s new photo after her release from prison.

Kelly Sullivan

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lo Taylor from Look Models SF modeled Amsterdam’s Rainbow Dress during a ceremony in the City Hall Rotunda Monday, May 22 in observance of Harvey Milk Day. The dress’s skirt includes flags of all the countries that have criminalized homosexuality. When the law is changed, the country’s flag is replaced with a rainbow flag, as is evident at lower left, which represents Belize. A delegation of human rights and

LGBT activists from Amsterdam are visiting San Francisco this week, including Vice Mayor Simone Kukeheim and Arnout van Krimpen of the Rainbow Dress Foundation. LGBT local officials who were on hand included Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, former state Senator Mark Leno, and mayoral adviser Theresa Sparks. Stuart Milk, the gay nephew of Harvey Milk, was also in attendance and gave some gifts to the Amsterdam delegation.

SF celebrates Manning’s freedom by Heather Cassell

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helsea Manning’s release from a military prison last week was celebrated in San Francisco at the annual International See page 14 >>

Sausage Factory building for sale by Seth Hemmelgarn

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he Sausage Factory, an Italian restaurant that’s welcomed LGBT diners in San Francisco’s Castro district since 1968, will be closing, according to an ad that lists the eatery’s building for sale at $4.1 million. The potential sale of the building at 517519 Castro Street could also mean changes for people associated with the Radical Faerie group who live in an apartment above the restaurant. One of the group’s members is hoping to develop a community land trust to take over the property. The ad from real estate firm DeRose and Appelbaum says, “This well-located asset is situated in the prime retail corridor of San Francisco’s vibrant and historic Castro district,” and the Sausage Factory space “can be delivered vacant at close of escrow.” The listing, which notes the 5,340-squarefoot building has “vintage Victorian details,” also says that the “spacious” apartments on the second and third floors, which contain seven bedrooms altogether, feature “high ceilings, hardwood floors, and abundant sunlight.” The projected monthly rental income is $12,500 for the commercial space, and a total of $5,900 for the two apartments, according to the ad. Jesse Oliver Sanford, 39, who’s lived in the building for 12 years, is a Radical Faerie and said his roommates are also members or

Rick Gerharter

The Sausage Factory building on Castro Street is for sale.

“closely associated” with the group. (Radical Faeries “tend to be gay men who look for a spiritual dimension to our sexuality; many of us are healers of one kind or another,” the website http://www.radfae.org says.) “We have no intention of moving in the foreseeable future,” said Sanford, who identifies as queer and said he learned about the potential sale “within the last month.”

He said he wants to see the building used in a way “that really is inspiring and wonderful for all of us who share the Castro.” A shift in the building’s use to “formula retail and a bunch of condos can really affect the fabric of the neighborhood,” he said. Sanford talked about how many groups have used the Sausage Factory over the years, and he said people even prefer the space over the community room at the neighboring Bank of America branch, which “really speaks to the special role of the Sausage Factory in the neighborhood.” Sanford’s been working on “what is obviously a long shot” effort to establish a community land trust for the building. Such a trust would use “a nonprofit model of community ownership,” where tenants would “pay rent just like they would to any other landlord,” but it could be tenant-managed and there could also be “provisions for values-based housing” to make the space welcoming for artists and others whose access to the neighborhood is limited, said Sanford. The deal could also include “discussion around community management of the restaurant,” he said. He estimated $500,000 to $1 million would need to be raised to get started. Building owner Tony Azzolino couldn’t be reached for comment. Calls to the restaurant weren’t returned. Santino DeRose, whose firm is handling the building’s sale, didn’t respond to See page 13 >>

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