PRIDE CANADA (continued from page 9)
FISCHER (continued from page 4) George Ridgely: I accepted a job with the City and County in the Recreation and Parks Department as the Manager of Permits and Reservations. I love the work I do, and this seemed like a natural next step. We have such a beautiful park system and there is so much joy in creating the space for people to come together to celebrate, relax, play and connect to the outside world. I’m excited to do that across the entire park system. Lou Fischer: What advice do you have for the next ED of Pride? George Ridgely: You have to be equal parts parent, diplomat, therapist, visionary, pragmatist—all with the occasional touch of magician. At times, the job is a very demanding commitment; as producers, we can create the physical stages, venues and platforms, but it’s the community that carries the message for full equality—our visibility is the key to meaningful and lasting change.
Lou Fischer: Any last words to share? George Ridgely: Yes, and it’s from a song called “Birmingham” by one of my favorite bands, Shovels and Rope. The line is: “It ain’t what you got, it’s what you make.” That lyric speaks to me. We all have a gift, something we are good at. Don’t just keep it for yourself; use it to make something for somebody else. Louise (Lou) Fischer is a Former Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and has served as an appointed and elected Delegate for the State Democratic Party. She is a proud graduate of the Emerge California Women’s Democratic Leadership program, was a San Francisco Commissioner and has served in leadership positions in multiple nonprofit and community-based organizations.
Our contingent partners include Gray Line Tours, Luky Tuk Tuk, Dan Ashley, Olivia Travel ( https:// www.olivia.com ), Extreme Pizza ( https://www. extremepizza.com/ ), La Mediterranée ( http:// www.cafelamed.com/ ), Crystal Geyser ( https:// bit.ly/2Y5Iygx ) and NAPA Cellars ( https://www. napacellars.com/ ). Special thanks also go to Christina Shamon of Gray Line, Contingent Manager Karen Bardsley, Vehicle Captain Warren Alderson, Steve Scheitlin and Hospitality Manager Phyllis Costa. You are invited to join us in the San Francisco Pride Parade, which is one of the oldest and largest LGBTQIA parades in the world! The Parade starts at 10:30 am on Sunday, June 30, and runs along Market Street from Beale to 8th Streets. Stonewall50 and SF
• Observed Trans Month with a flag raising; • Participated in the 2019 Pride kickoff and flag raising. The aforementioned is just a partial list of Mayor Breed’s LGBTQ-associated work these past 11 months. How you feel about all of this could relate to many factors, including political leanings and your present personal situation. For those who were Ellis Act-ed at some point during the past several years and lost their longtime San Francisco home, for example, it may be hard to have faith in any of the city’s leaders. It is also still too early to determine the actual effectiveness of many of the new initiatives and other programs. Mayor Breed is off to a running start, though, with daily packed schedules and an earnestness to solve numerous longstanding problems in what has been her home for 44 years—she will celebrate her 45th birth-
As SF Pride Executive Director George Ridgely says, “Our strength as a community is tied inextricably with visibility. The collective stories of our communities, those at the forefront and those who are historically marginalized, are an integral part of the cultural patchwork which makes the San Francisco LGBTQ+ communities great.” To be a part of the SFBT contingent, write to publisher@sfbaytimes.com or phone 415-601-2113. Thank you for your support and solidarity. Happy Pride!
This is the city of Harvey Milk, of hope, of the “us’s,” of the possibility that we didn’t need to ask for permission, that we needed a seat at the table. That we could win political power, and stand up to the City Hall establishment. That it was about a movement and a fight bigger than our own. This is the city ravaged by the AIDS epidemic, that lost thousands of neighbors, friends, boyfriends and lovers. This is the city of ACT UP, of Ward 5B at San Francisco General Hospital, whose nurses revolutionized patient care during the height of the AIDS epidemic and loved us and took care of us when no one else in the world seemed to care. This is the city of lavender ceilings shattered, of radical queer progressive politics, of domestic partner benefits and universal health care access—now commonplace policies throughout the country. They started here because queer elected leaders dared to demand them. This is the city that believed “Love is Love” long before it became a social media hashtag or a t-shirt slogan, that defied state law and started marrying samesex couples in 2004 when few thought we deserved that right. 22
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PRIDE MEXICO (continued from page 9) The Consulate’s staff has also received training about how to properly serve members of the Mexican and in general LBGTQ communities. In this sense, in the day to day activities, the staff is inclusive and respectful, explaining that the Consulate is a safe space and their identities are respected and protected, regardless of that person’s legal name or physical appearance. The Protection and Legal Affairs Department has a close relationship with several non-governmental and nonprofit organizations that support LBGTQ communities and rights, such as El/La Para Translatinas. The Consulate has participated in the San Francisco Pride Parade for two consecutive years. This will be the third year and the second one where it will march together with the Consulate General of Canada. The Consulate supports the promotion of Latino and Mexican LGBTQ forms of art and this year has the honor of co-present[ing] 4 Mexican films that will be featured at the Frameline Festival, the most important and largest LBGTQ film festival in the U.S, which will run until June 30th. ROSTOW (continued from page 16)
day on August 11. Her charisma and power are palpable, as is her genuine affection for the LGBTQ community. Members of our San Francisco Bay Times team will never forget the year when our Pride Parade contingent wound up side-by-side with that of the then Supervisor, awaiting the turn on Market Street. Her contingent featured a bevy of buff go go dancers, but all eyes were on electrifying Breed (video of this 2013 contingent is at https://bit.ly/2KGIJf4 ). She had only been a supervisor for 6 months at that point. Breed inspired confidence then, as she does so now. Although the following words concluded her State of the City Address in January, they also seem appropriate for June Pride: “I hope you believe with me. That you hold your head high and take pride in our city and what we can do together. Because we are San Francisco! We will meet our challenges. We will light the way.”
GALLOTTA (continued from page 12) city of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots, where one night in August 1966, trans women of color said enough is enough and resisted arrest by the police, pouring into the streets in heels and gowns and looks to kill, fighting back against police brutality, sparking the transgender rights movement in San Francisco.
Canada has a role to play in these celebrations and action. As the Bay Area Council Economic Institute noted in their recent Hemispheric Partners ( https://bit.ly/2ICYWzG ) report, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley continue to play a vital role for Canada as a global economic hub and technology connector. This role is supported by an alignment of Canadian values and priorities with those of the Bay Area and California.
Happy Pride 2019! Pride’s 2019 theme of Generations of Resistance make this year even more important, giving us the opportunity to honor and continue the important work of those who, in prior generations, fought for basic human rights for all—and not just for some.
LONDON BREED (continued from page 14) • Broken ground at Eagle Plaza, a new focal point for the Leather Community that she helped to spearhead;
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed that no matter who we love or how we identify, all of us deserve to feel safe and secure, live free from discrimination and persecution, and express ourselves fully. Canadians fully support gender expression, gender identity and sexual orientation rights for people in Canada and around the world, and to challenge stigma, violence, and prejudices wherever they occur. We must continue to fight against homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia, and to defend gender expression, gender identity and sexual orientation rights.
We are proud to participate in the Pride season in San Francisco, and intertwine our efforts with the rich history of LGBTQ2 activism and inclusion in this city.
PRIDE CONTINGENT (continued from page 8) Grubstake Diner: http://sfgrubstake.com/ Marcum LLP: http://www.marcumllp.com/ Rhoda Goldman Plaza: https://www.rgplaza.org/
ambitious approach to making North America, and the world, a better and safer place.
This is the city with the only street named after a transgender person in the United States, the city where the first Transgender Cultural District in the world has been established—right in the heart of the Tenderloin. This is the city that I love. The city that lives beyond the tech IPOs and the Salesforce towers. That anchors our stories and our history in place. No one can argue that the Stonewall riots 50 years ago were a tipping point in queer herstory. But we can’t forget San Francisco. A city of queer and trans people who have led, built and sustained a movement, and given that movement a powerful, beautiful, irreplaceable home. We fought for our right to be in bars, to be at City Hall, for equal benefits, to be fully represented, seen and heard here. Queer and trans people helped to build this little city and the culture that many now want to consume. I despair the changes, but I refuse to only lament and say it’s all rotten and broken and forever lost. Peter Gallotta is a 30-something LGBT political activist holding on to the city that he loves thanks to rent control and two-for-one happy hour specials. He is a former President of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and currently serves as an appointed member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee and an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party.
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posed to the contenders by The New York Times. Warren liked chips and guacamole, Harris liked fries, Jay Inslee picked M&Ms, and the list went on. As for Gillibrand, her favorite comfort food was “whiskey.” You can see why her stock continues to rise in my eyes, even as I don’t see her as a Trump beater. Oh, and Julian Castro said “iced tea.” Really, Julian? That’s your “comfort food?” It’s one step up from tap water. Speaking of the Democrats, Mel and I are taking care of two of our Connecticut-based grandchildren, Jasper and Teddy (8 and 6), so we are trying to figure out how we will watch the debates without causing anguish. Bedtime at nine pm has not been a popular suggestion thus far in our visit, so I’m thinking roofies. I seem to recall being obliged to watch news on TV with my parents if I wanted to watch anything as a child. Yet Mel and I have seen Bolt, A Wrinkle in Time, Toy Story 4, Kung Fu Panda, Masha and the Bear, Peter Rabbit, something with a dolphin, and many others that I can’t remember. We have been inundated with kids’ programming, content to sip wine as our eyes glaze over rather than trigger a screaming fight over the remote. (Peter Rabbit was great, by the way.) At any rate, I’m not sure that our “debate nights” are going to be a big hit. P.S. As I write, my poor wife has turned on something to do with Christopher Robin. That was the compromise that she found when she insisted, despite tears from Teddy, on turning off an animated series about Barbie. I’d watch with them, but suddenly I must work on this column, even though it’s not due for another day and a half. [Editor’s Note: Rostow did indeed submit this column early!] What Else Is News? I see that the Senate has confirmed yet another far right antigay judge to the federal bench, Mark Kacsmaryk, who has distinguished himself by being even more antigay and nasty than the rest of the Trump nominees. I’m so depressed by this parade
of deplorables, if I may paraphrase Hillary, that I’m not sure what I can add. But it’s not just Trump; it’s the GOP Senate who deserve to go down in history en masse as a despicable collection of mindless cowards. In other news, a woman woke up in the middle of the night on an empty Air Canada plane somewhere on the tarmac of the Toronto airport after a flight from Quebec. She was freezing cold, and managed to call a friend before her cell phone died. The friend called someone else and she was rescued. I guess she will sue the airline, although I’d like to know the circumstances. How do you snooze through landing, deplaning and a few hours of further down time? Also, why was she freezing? I know it’s Toronto, but it’s late June; the night temperature is in the sixties. The woman says she has been terrified ever since the June 9 incident, which also seems like a stretch. Buck up, Lady. I’m not sure where that last story came from, but I thought you ought to know. I also can tell you that the American Psychoanalytic Association has apologized for keeping us on its list of mentally deranged people, or whatever it was. I have the feeling that there are more than a handful of psychological or psychiatric associations that all go by the acronym “APA.” I may well be wrong. Whatever they call themselves, I trust they are all sorry for their short-sighted treatment of the GLBT community back in the day. And in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Nat Werth—a gay valedictorian who was denied the chance to make a graduation speech once his school realized he planned to come out of the closet—was asked to speak at the local PrideFest. Very nice, guys. By the way, my top tipster cousin sent me a fascinating article about a study by the Yale School of Public Health that says 83 percent of GLBT people around the world are hiding their sexual orientation from the people closest to them. Even considering those parts of the world where being gay is a capital crime, I can hardly believe it. arostow@aol.com