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Rabbi in residence at USF
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West Edge Opera
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Veronica Klaus
The
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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 49 • No. 34 • August 22-28, 2019
At City College, gay men helm the board by Mathew S. Bajko
Rick Gerharter
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shown at the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club’s Pride breakfast in June.
Pelosi wants name off Shanti award by Meg Elison
H
ouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants her name taken off a Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Shanti Project as this year’s honoree is Dede Wilsey, a philanthropist who this summer hosted a re-election fundraiser for President Donald Trump. Shanti, which suffered last year when its fall gala was canceled due to the hotel workers’ strike and fundraising was moved online, is now under fire from agency clients over its decision to honor Wilsey. Pelosi’s (D-San Francisco) office told the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday that the speaker wanted her name removed from the award because it could “cast a partisan and political shadow on an occasion meant to celebrate Shanti’s compassionate care in our community and the recipient’s generous support of their work.” Kaushik Roy, Shanti’s executive director, told the B.A.R. that Pelosi, who is in town this week to attend the Democratic National Committee meeting and other events, cannot attend this year’s gala. She asked Shanti Tuesday to just call the recognition a “lifetime achievement award” without her name attached, which Roy said the agency will honor. Wilsey, who has been a generous donor to Shanti and its Pets Are Wonderful Support program, is slated to receive the award at the nonprofit’s Compassion is Universal gala in October. She received an award from PAWS at its 2016 fundraiser. An August 3 email invitation from Shanti still had the award named for Pelosi above Wilsey’s photo, as did its website as of Wednesday morning. Some people reacted to the announcement with the sentiment that Shanti, which provides practical support and other services to people living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, is out of step by recognizing someone who fundraised for Trump’s re-election. The president and his administration have struck blows against health care coverage for millions of Americans and devised rules for providers to allow refusal of care for LGBTQ people due to their religious beliefs. Local author Robert Strom expressed his outrage at the agency honoring Wilsey. See page 14 >>
Y
ears ago, Alex Randolph and Tom Temprano both benefited from attending community colleges in Southern California, in San Diego and Ventura respectively, prior to enrolling at fouryear universities in the Bay Area. Today, they are leading one of the largest community colleges in the country. Earlier this year Randolph, 36, became president of the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees, while Temprano, 33, became vice president of the governing body. It is believed to mark the first time that the two leadership positions have been jointly held by gay trustees as well as by two millennials. (Shanell Williams, a bisexual woman, also serves on the board.) Ahead of the start of the fall semester, which began August 17, the Bay Area Reporter sat down with Randolph and Temprano to talk about the challenges they have faced leading the community college board, from addressing multimillion-dollar budget deficits and hiring a new college chancellor to implementing a free tuition program for full-time students paid for by the city. “For me personally, I’m excited to be here, because it’s not been an easy year at
Courtesy Facebook
Tom Temprano, left, and Alex Randolph smiled after their first City College of San Francisco board meeting as vice president and president, respectively.
City College, definitely, to take the presidency,” said Randolph, a former City Hall aide who now works for Uber handling policy and public affairs. “We have a lot of challenges that we still need to address and
are addressing. But I think we’ve made a lot of good progress toward achieving the goals the board has set.” Added Temprano, a legislative aide to gay See page 15 >>
Silicon Valley Pride to tout its diversity by Heather Cassell
T
he South Bay will tout its diversity and resistance at the 44th annual Silicon Valley Pride this weekend. This year’s theme is “Diversity in Action.” Pride festivities will take over Cesar Chavez Park in the heart of San Jose August 24-25. It’s expected that several thousand people will be celebrating. The weekend’s events will kick off Saturday with the Transgender and Friends Rally, followed by the Night Festival. The festival will turn back the clock 50 years with a disco-themed dance party in commemoration of the Stonewall riots, according to a July 1 news release from Silicon Valley Pride. The parade will step off at 10 a.m. Sunday from Market and Julian streets, winding through downtown San Jose toward the park. “I always look forward to the parade,” said Adrienne Keel, director of LGBTQ programs at the LGBTQ Youth Space, a program of Family and Children’s Services of Silicon Valley, which is a division of Caminar. “It’s cool to see allies on the sidelines and little kids waving Pride flags. It’s important for caretakers to show kids that there are all kinds of ways to exist. That is really meaningful to me.”
Still resisting
The celebration has added importance due to the political climate in the country and the 50th
Jo-Lynn Otto
Maribel Martínez, right, director of the Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs, marched with the office’s contingent in the 2016 Silicon Valley Pride parade.
anniversary in June of the Stonewall riots in New York, which ignited the modern LGBT movement. Keel and Maribel Martínez, director of the Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs, recognized the importance of this year’s Pride festivities, noting the underlying rebelliousness of Pride’s foundation in protests and resistance. “From Stonewall to 2019, the LGBTQ community has been fighting for equality, equity, and fairness. Especially, this year, with the recent wave of hate crimes, coming together is paramount to
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the health of our community,” wrote Martínez, a 38-year-old indigenous queer woman of color, in a statement to the Bay Area Reporter. One of those incidents, while not designated as a hate crime, was the vandalism of the LGBTQ Youth Space’s drop-in center earlier this summer The space’s door and windows have since been repaired with the assistance of local businesses and community members. Cameras will soon be installed outside of the building and will operate only when the center is closed, Keel said. See page 14 >>