Ideas for Castro fair
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Rick Gerharter
Geoff Millard speaks to the Land Use Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in support of creating an LGBTQ and Leather Cultural District in the South of Market area.
City moves SOMA leather cultural district forward by David-Elijah Nahmod
T
he supervisors’ Land Use Committee voted Monday to move a plan to establish an LGBTQ and Leather Cultural District in South of Market forward to the full board for approval. Next week, gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy is expected to introduce a resolution to establish a Castro cultural district that would be included in Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s larger historic district legislation. Around 45 people from the leather community attended the land use panel’s meeting Monday, April 23. Speakers noted that SOMA was once home to a thriving leather community, including businesses and bars. The proposed LGBTQ and Leather Cultural District would run from Division to 7th streets, from Howard to Harrison streets, and along Harrison from 7th to 5th streets. Committee members Supervisors Katy Tang, Jane Kim, and Ahsha Safai all voted in favor of establishing the cultural district. “San Francisco’s SOMA district has been the center of gay leather culture for over 50 years,” Jonathan Schroder, general manager of Mr. S. Leather told the Bay Area Reporter. “But the area is changing fast. So fast that it’s hard to say what SOMA will look like in another five years. The leather district is essential to making sure our culture isn’t swept away as San Francisco rapidly transforms itself once again.” The Land Use Committee hearing followed a meeting last week of the Leather and LGBT Cultural District Community Group, which has been working toward making the cultural district a reality. According to Chair Bob Goldfarb, the group’s goals include revitalizing the area and bringing back leather and LGBTQ businesses. Goldfarb noted that, at its peak, the neighborhood was served by more than 30 businesses catering to the leather community. “That number is much smaller now,” he said. The group is also interested in making sure there is affordable housing in the area and will See page 10 >>
BALIF splits in SF judicial races
by Alex Madison
B
ay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom endorsed two deputy public defenders and two incumbents in the San Francisco Superior Court judicial race in the June 5 primary: Maria Evangelista and Nicole Judith Solis and Judges Curtis Karnow and Cynthia Ming-Mei Lee. Evangelista and Karnow are running
against each other. Solis, a lesbian, is running against Judge Jeff Ross. Lee is running against deputy public defender Kwixuan Maloof. BALIF did not endorse for Seat 4, where deputy public defender Phoenix Streets is challenging Judge Andrew Cheng. In Alameda County, BALIF voted to endorse lesbian Superior Court Judge Tara Flanagan for re-election.
Vol. 48 • No. 17 • April 26-May 2, 2018
The candidates for San Francisco Superior Court judge, from left: Judge Andrew Cheng, Maria Evangelista, Judge Curtis Karnow, Judge Cynthia Lee, Kwixuan Maloof, Judge Jeff Ross, Niki Solis, Phoenix Street, and Elizabeth Zareh, talked at a recent forum held at Golden Gate University.
The LGBT bar association endorsements were voted on exclusively by the BALIF Board of Directors and announced online Friday, April 20. BALIF declined to comment on the endorsements to the Bay Area Reporter and stated it would not comment further on its website. Incumbent judges in San Francisco and See page 10 >>
Prop I not an easy sell in SF
Rick Gerharter
by Alex Madison
T
he NBA champion Golden State Warriors are in the midst of another postseason run, with fans packing watering holes and holding viewing parties for the games. But some people are upset the Warriors will soon leave Oakland for San Francisco, and a June 5 ballot measure would ask the city to formally apologize for enticing the team’s move across the bay. To Allen Jones, a black, homeless San Francisco resident who identifies as a homosexual, it is a prime example of San Francisco City Hall’s greed and lack of compassion toward the city of Oakland, which will also soon see its pro football franchise the Raiders decamp to Las Vegas. “I am riding up as a sports fan and San Franciscan who knows right from wrong,” Allen said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “San Francisco has a $10 billion-a-year tourism industry and are taking Oakland’s jewel from the black community and giving it to a white community.” Jones is the author of Proposition I on the June 5 ballot. It’s a declaration of policy that states City Hall will “not endorse or condone the relocation of any team with an extensive history in another location.” The language also asks the city to submit a formal apology to the city of Oakland for wooing the Warriors. Although Prop I does not have the power to stop the Warriors from jumping ship, it will, in Jones’ eyes, demonstrate just how many people – presumably the 14,686 who signed the
Rick Gerharter
Construction continues on Chase Center, the future home of the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.
petition to get the measure on the ballot plus whoever votes for it – do not support the move and bring awareness to the negative impacts it will have on Oakland. “A lot of people look at the situation and realize what’s going on here,” he said. “[San Francisco] will squeeze the life out of the community. The policy is an apology and commitment to not act this way again and a record of how San Francisco City Hall conducted itself.” The Warriors soon-to-be home, Chase Center, is an 18,000-seat, multi-use arena on an 11-acre
plot in Mission Bay that is currently under construction. The land was purchased by the Warriors in 2015 from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. The project was unanimously approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in December 2015, and ground was broken on the site in January. The Warriors plan to start playing at Chase Center in 2019. It was an accumulation of events that inspired Jones to pursue the ballot measure. He said San Francisco City Hall has discriminated See page 13 >>
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