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ICE detainee makes bond
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Gay dad pens memoir
Comic bites
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 50 • No. 17 • April 23-29, 2020
2020 LGBT celebrations in doubt amid virus outbreak by John Ferrannini Courtesy NCLR
NCLR Executive Director Imani RupertGordon
NCLR ED takes helm amid health crisis by Matthew S. Bajko
U
sually the first month for a nonprofit’s incoming chief executive is spent meeting one-on-one with staff and hosting get-togethers with board members and donors of the agency as part of an introductory tour. That playbook had to be jettisoned by Imani RupertGordon, the new executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Since starting in the position March 16, Rupert-Gordon has been sequestered in her Oakland home she and her wife, Derah RupertGordon, moved into after relocating to the Bay Area from Chicago due to her being hired to lead one of the nation’s most prominent LGBT rights groups. “There is no rule book on how to step in to an organization and become an amazing executive director and certainly not one during a global pandemic. I am trying to be as authentic as possible,” said Rupert-Gordon in a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter about her first four weeks on the job. The day prior to her succeeding Cindy L. Myers, Ph.D., who had served in an interim capacity following the 2018 departure of Kate Kendell after leading NCLR for 22 years, Rupert-Gordon had called her management team to inform them they were likely going to have to close NCLR’s San Francisco office for the time being. “We were having most folks working from home already. The day before I started we had decided not to have anyone in the office and the next day we had the shelter-in-place order issued,” said Rupert-Gordon, who turned 41 April 16. “It was definitely not the first decision one thinks you will make on your first day.” Her first 30 days have been a whirlwind of online video conferences and phone calls instead of in-person meetings. The agency has continued its advocacy efforts and legal work remotely, and it recently learned two of its immigration clients had been granted asylum in the U.S. It joined with GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders to file a lawsuit March 18 in federal district court in Massachusetts on behalf of an anonymous transgender U.S. Navy officer, referred to as Jane Doe, facing involuntary discharge due to her gender identity. The case, known as Doe v. Esper, is the first challenge to President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members since it went into effect last April. “Everything we are doing is being done teleSee page 9 >>
T
he novel coronavirus pandemic has left the future of large-scale and outdoor events the world over for at least the rest of the year in doubt – and these include longtime LGBT celebrations and festivals throughout the Bay Area. Within days of the April 14 cancellation of the 2020 San Francisco LGBT Pride parade and Civic Center Plaza festival, the Dyke and Trans marches followed suit, as the Bay Area Reporter noted online. Those events are organized in coordination with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, but not under its auspices. On the same day, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said that it is unlikely any large-scale gatherings will be possible until a vaccine for the novel coronavirus can be widely distributed. A vaccine is not expected until 2021, according to federal health officials. “The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” Newsom said. The Dyke March has occurred each year on the Saturday before the Market Street parade since 1993, but will not this year.
Participants took part in last year’s Trans March in San Francisco.
“Given the current pandemic, we cannot in good conscience plan for an in-person event in 2020,” Christine Graham, co-chair of the San Francisco Dyke March Organizing Committee, stated after the B.A.R. asked the organization about the status of the event. “We must acknowledge our community’s higher risk and protect the vulnerable amongst us. The economic impact to local businesses is significant,
Rick Gerharter
and we regret our need to cancel yet another event. The Dyke March remains grateful for the many local businesses, artists, venues, organizations, and individuals whose generosity and support have been essential to past marches. “While we all organize separately, but in the same spirit, Dyke March is in agreement and supportive of Trans March and SF Pride’s decisions to also cancel their in-person events. See page 8 >>
New head of Peninsula LGBTQ center takes it virtual during pandemic
by Heather Cassell
S
tarting a new job at the beginning of a global pandemic is not an ideal situation. However, Francisco “Frankie” Sapp, the recently-hired program director of the San Mateo County Pride Center, is leading it through the crisis in stride. The disabled, biracial, queer, transgender man is a 20-year social justice veteran and expert in crisis management and harm reduction. Sapp, 42, began his new job February 12. The center didn’t announce his taking over the position until a March 4 blog post. News outlets picked up the story earlier this month. “We are so grateful to have Frankie working with our incredible team at the Pride center,” wrote Stephanie Weisner, 41, chief program officer at StarVista, the organization that oversees the center. She praised Sapp for his “passion, warmth, experience, finesse, and humor” along with his ability to step “in with such compassion and strength during the COVID-19 pandemic,” referring to the illness caused by the virus. “We are not sure what we would do without him!” she wrote in an email. The novel coronavirus outbreak has upended Sapp’s initial plans, as the state is in the midst of a stay-at-home order for nonessential workers
Courtesy Francisco “Frankie” Sapp
Francisco “Frankie” Sapp is the new program director of the San Mateo County Pride Center.
that began just over a month ago. Sapp credits his previous experience to deftly manage transitioning the physical center, located in the city of San Mateo, into a virtual one. “The fact that this crisis is happening and I’m in this position ... having that harm reduction experience ... I think that I’m where I need to be,” he said about quickly identifying priorities and setting up policies informed by community and staff feedback during the process. “Fortunately, I’ve had the amazing privilege to work with a wonderful team who is so kind,
so caring, and so thoughtful,” he added. Sapp, who has Tourette syndrome and mobility issues, has been managing the center from the distance of his Fairfield home, where he recently spoke on the phone with the Bay Area Reporter. Sapp said that he was drawn to the center because when he first stepped into the building its staff reflected the community and instantly felt like a safe space. “I think that there are a lot of organizations that talk about representation, but don’t actually represent the communities that we serve,” said Sapp. “That is not true about the Pride center. We have such a diverse staff. “Moving forward that is everything that I want to maintain,” he continued. “I hold that very sacred.” None of the staff have been laid off or furloughed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
A virtual space
The center opened to serve the Peninsula’s LGBT community in 2017. Sapp replaced the center’s founding program director Lisa Putkey, a 33-year-old queer woman. She stepped down in December and moved to Marin County.
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