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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
For LGBTs with disabilities, virus brings challenges by Matthew S. Bajko
B
elo Cipriani vividly remembers the three days he had a fever of 102 degrees after contracting the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, back in 2009 while living in San Francisco. Legally blind, he likely Jane Philomen Cleland touched a staircase Belo Cipriani with railing or other surhis guide dog, face in a public space Oslo and didn’t wash his hands soon enough to prevent becoming sick. Now living in Minneapolis with his husband, James Kirwin, 37, who has partial sight, Cipriani quickly became alarmed when he first heard news reports about the novel coronavirus outbreak in China. His worries grew when he found out there were nearly a dozen Minnesotans stranded on the Grand Princess cruise ship docked off San Francisco’s coast due to several crew members and a few passengers testing positive for the virus. “I thought it is going to come here, so I decided to start early,” said Cipriani, 39, who began sheltering in place in early March, weeks before others in his state were ordered to do so. “For me, especially, I am completely blind and I need to touch things. It is one of the things I feel about my specific disability for why I am more vulnerable. I need to touch things to get around. James has some sight but he has to touch things to make sure things are there.” The couple is lucky that they have family members in the area to run errands for them if needed. And Cipriani joked the couple normally over-buys at the store to limit their need to shop, so when they heard about the run on toilet paper, their reaction was at least they were stocked up on the bathroom necessity. “We are pretty prepared. One thing about having a disability, we buy in bulk because we can’t always go to the store,” said Cipriani. “I feel like this may sound dramatic, but my husband and I are both blind, so we tend to stock up for three to four months at a time. We do a have big pantry.” San Francisco resident John Marble, a gay man who is autistic, was fairly certain he had contracted the coronavirus last month as he celebrated his 43rd birthday while severely ill. After he noticed a loss of taste, Marble started getting headaches and having digestive issues followed by difficulty breathing. “I felt winded doing anything. For about two weeks all I was doing was sleeping,” recalled Marble, who in consultation with his doctor opted not to get tested and remained at home. “My official diagnosis was highly probable.” More than a decade ago Marble had worked on the H1N1, and to a lesser extent, the Ebola See page 10 >>
Vol. 50 • No. 15 • April 9-15, 2020
Hunky Jesus joins Easter and Passover services online “Funky Jesus” Sean Lavelle, right, with his custom designed wooden cross, won the 2012 Hunky Jesus contest at the annual Easter Celebration in Dolores Park hosted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Lavelle crafted a functioning guitar onto a wooden cross, playing a few riffs in his winning bid.
by John Ferrannini
T
he novel coronavirus outbreak has moved much of life, both in the city and around the world, online – and celebrations of one of the holiest times of the year for Christians and Jews are no exception. For those not inclined to participate in a formal worship service, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s popular Hunky Jesus
and Foxy Mary contests will also be virtual this year. Many of San Francisco’s LGBT-friendly religious congregations have moved their Easter and Passover services online for the first time. The Sisters, a charitable drag nun group, made their announcement March 23, and it is the first time in the 25-year history of the event that it will be held online. The Sisters had initially announced March
10 that the event would be postponed, but that was before shelter-in-place orders left much of the Bay Area and the nation shut down for weeks. “The decision to make this contest online was because our Easter Celebration in Park has already become a cultural part of San Francisco. Every year we get thousands of visitors who are eager to have some fun and elect the new reigning Hunky Jesus and Foxy See page 10 >> Rick Gerharter
2020 San Francisco Pride ‘will look very different,’ ED says by John Ferrannini
S
an Francisco Pride is working with City Hall to make major changes to the 50th annual parade and festival, which is scheduled for June 27-28, in light of the novel coronavirus outbreak. “It is apparent that SF Pride will look very different from the two-day celebration that we initially envisioned, and we continue to work closely with our partners at City Hall to evaluate all available options,” SF Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez wrote in a Facebook post April 7. Lopez added that the organizing committee for the largest LGBT Pride celebration on the West Coast anticipates “being able to share what we’ve learned very soon.” The acknowledgement that this year’s twoday celebration and parade would not go off as planned came a day after the Bay Area Reporter reported Monday that SF Pride is facing growing pressure to postpone the event and that a meeting was planned this week between city officials and the organizers of not only the annual Pride celebration but also the Trans and Dyke marches. As other media outlets picked up on the story Tuesday, and organizers of Boston’s Pride scrapped their celebration in early June, calls
Jane Philomen Cleland
The Apple contingent sported rainbow-colored balloons in last year’s San Francisco Pride parade.
for changes in San Francisco Pride’s golden anniversary only grew louder. In his Facebook post, Lopez alluded to the internal debate SF Pride officials are having on how to mark the event’s milestone year while also taking into consideration the need to protect the health of participants and attendees. The event draws hundreds of thousands of
people from across the Bay Area, California, and around the country. “We know that many people want to see a commemoration of Pride50, and we also hold the safety and well-being of our LGBTQ+ communities at the highest priority,” wrote Lopez. “The global Pride network is responding in See page 11 >>
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