November 1st, 2018 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

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Meow reflects on SF Pride

National election preview

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Chita Rivera

Nightlife Events

The

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

Vol. 48 • No. 44 • November 1-7, 2018

SF LGBT data collection a work in progress by Matthew S. Bajko

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Bill Wilson

SF HRC staffer David Carrington Miree

SF LGBT panel on hiatus by Alex Madison

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he San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s LGBT Advisory Committee hasn’t had enough members to meet since March, and it’s due in part, a spokesman said, to the growing number of other LGBT organizations that do not have as many rules and regulations over convening as governmental agencies. The committee was established in 1975 to advise the Human Rights Commission on issues affecting the LGBT community. Since its inception, the panel has been partly responsible for the creation of the LGBT Aging Policy Task Force and the passage of gender See page 10 >>

Jane Philomen Cleland

Pedaling against gas tax repeal

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ay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), left, joined gay Emeryville Mayor John Bauters in drag Sunday, October 28, to bike in high heels opposing state Proposition 6, which would repeal the gas tax. Wiener came up with the event after a gas tax repeal supporter – and Orange County congressional candidate – said that

African American museum’s LGBT exhibits detailed analysis by Ed Walsh

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n a four-hour visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., I was struck that I didn’t see any exhibits dedicated to the unique cultural experience of LGBT African-Americans. One of the more prominent exhibits on author James Baldwin was titled: “James Baldwin Bearing Witness to the Truth”, but nothing in the exhibit mentioned what I thought was his truth, that he was an openly gay man during a time in the 1950s when that was a serious career risk. His life was reflected is his groundbreaking 1956 novel, “Giovanni’s Room,” based in part on a romantic relationship he had with another man while living in Paris. The $540 million Smithsonian Institution museum opened just two years ago and has a wide range of diverse exhibits: from an examination of discrimination within the African-American community over the shade of a person’s skin color to both a permanent and a large, temporary exhibit dedicated to the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” Glimpses of the Bay Area are included in the museum’s exploration of black migration to California and other Western states. An interesting exhibit recreates a porch in the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, which has long been a popular summer vacation spot for middle and upper income African-Americans. I wondered, did the museum short-change LGBT African-Americans? Is there a reason why not even a small corner in the massive 400,000 square foot museum could be devoted to explore the unique cultural experience of African-American LGBTs? Did it purposely leave out the identity of LGBT African-Americans even in cases where their sexual orientation influenced their work? Even in a four-hour visit, it was impossible to see and read all the exhibits, so had there been LGBT-related exhibits that I missed? In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, museum curator Aaron Bryant took those questions head-on. It turns out that the works and contributions of numerous LGBT

without Prop 6 she’ll be forced “to take bikes, get on trains, hose off at the depot and try to get to work ... That does not work with my hair and heels.” Wiener, Bauters, and other Prop 6 opponents called her on it and rode the streets of San Francisco in favor of the tax, which pays for road and infrastructure improvements.

B.A.R. election endorsements GENERAL ELECTION SF Supervisor Offices Dist 2: Catherine Stefani Dist 4: Gordon Mar Dist 6: Matt Haney Dist 8: Rafael Mandelman Dist 10: Shamann Walton SF Board of Education Martin Rawlings-Fein Mia Satya Faauuga Moliga

Ed Walsh

An exhibit on James Baldwin is featured at the African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington, D.C. but doesn’t mention that he was a gay man.

African-Americans are sprinkled throughout the museum’s various exhibits and their sexual orientation or gender identity are noted. Bryant said that it was not possible to include everything everyone wanted in the museum, but he did not rule out installing an LGBT exhibit in the future. He also noted the museum is taking on LGBT issues on social media platforms as well as LGBT events in the museum. He said there were a couple of LGBT events last month, including an LGBTfocused tweetup discussion October 4. On National Coming Out Day, October 11, the museum hosted a special program featuring black queer feminist Charlene Carruthers in a discussion of her new book, “Unapologetic;” gay comedian Sampson; spoken word poet 2 Deep; and DJ Jim Byers. As for including a mention of an LGBT person’s identity in an exhibit description, Bryant said that with only about 50-75 words to describe a person’s prominence and life’s work, being LGBT doesn’t always merit inclusion in the description. See page 19 >>

he collection of LGBT demographic data by various San Francisco city departments continues to be a work in progress a year after the agencies were required to track such information. According to reports filed by five city agencies, and shared with the Bay Area Reporter this week, work continues on updating the computer systems the departments are using to ensure they include questions about a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI for short. In addition, the reports indicate that asking about gender identity has proved to be particularly complicated. “I think the rollout has been challenging for some departments more than others, primarily because they are working across multiple different systems and platforms, some of which are state level and haven’t quite integrated the state-level SOGI requirements,” said Clair Farley, director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, which has been working with the departments on how to best collect the SOGI data. “Others tried to pilot it small so it was more manageable.” As the B.A.R. detailed in a three-part series last summer, six city departments began using See page 11 >>

SF City College Board Thea Selby, John Rizzo, Victor Olivieri Public Defender Jeff Adachi Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu BART Board, Dist. 8 Janice Li East Bay Assembly Dist. 15: Jovanka Beckles State Assembly (SF) Dist. 17: David Chiu Dist. 19: Phil Ting State Assembly (Bay Area) Dist. 18: Rob Bonta Dist. 28: Evan Low US Senate Dianne Feinstein

State Offices Governor: Gavin Newsom Lt. Governor: Eleni Kounalakis Attorney Gen: Xavier Becerra Secretary of State: Alex Padilla Treasurer: Fiona Ma Controller: Betty Yee Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond Board of Equalization (District 2): Malia Cohen Congress (Bay Area) Dist. 2: Jared Huffman Dist. 3: John Garamendi Dist. 5: Mike Thompson Dist. 10: Josh Harder Dist. 11: Mark DeSaulnier Dist. 12: Nancy Pelosi Dist. 13: Barbara Lee Dist. 14: Jackie Speier Dist. 15: Eric Swalwell Dist. 17: Ro Khanna Dist. 18: Anna Eshoo Dist. 19: Zoe Lofgren

OTHER RACES Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Oakland City Council District 2: Abel Guillen District 4: Pam Harris District 6: Marlo Rodriquez Berkeley City Council District 8: Lori Droste

Remember to vote on November 6!

Alameda City Council Jim Oddie Dublin City Council Shawn Kumagai El Cerrito City Council Gabriel Quinto Martinez City Council John Stevens Redwood City, City Council Jason Galisatus Richmond City Council Cesar Zepeda San Carlos City Council Laura Parmer-Lohan Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Dist. 4: Jimmy Dutra San Francisco Props Yes on: A, C, E No on: B, D California Propositions Yes on: 1, 2, 4, 10 No on: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12


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