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CCSF gender policy
Oakland LGBT bars closing
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Randy Rainbow
Lea DeLaria
The
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 49 • No. 51 • December 19-25, 2019
Happy holidays from Noe Valley! Courtesy NCLR
Incoming NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon starts in March.
Rick Gerharter
Jacqueline “Jackie” Fielder speaks to her supporters at her state Senate campaign kickoff December 6 at El Rio.
NCLR names new ED
Queer opponent faces gay SF senator
by John Ferrannini
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by Matthew S. Bajko
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queer Native American activist and educator is mounting her first campaign for elected office against San Francisco’s lone out representative in the state Legislature. Jacqueline “Jackie” Fielder, 25, who graduated from Stanford with degrees in public policy and sociology and moved to San Francisco in 2018, is running against gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). A former city supervisor, Wiener, 49, won a hard fought campaign for his Senate District 11 seat in 2016 against fellow former supervisor Jane Kim. In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Fielder acknowledged she would be seen as an underdog candidate in the race. But she pointed to the outcomes of the November races for the city’s district attorney and District 5 supervisor seat, where progressives defeated establishment candidates, as buoying her own chances of winning come November 2020. “I’m definitely coming in as an outsider to the, the general SF political spheres, but I think that a lot of our city is energized and ready for new leadership,” said Fielder, who grew up in Long Beach, California. “I am willing to put in a lot of volunteer time into door knocking and canvassing and phone banking. ... However, I’m under no illusions that Scott is the most well-funded politician in the city.” Known to be a formidable campaigner, Wiener already secured the endorsements of the California Democratic Party and the city’s Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, which he used to co-chair, before Fielder entered the race in late November. Until then it had looked like Wiener would cakewalk into a second four-year term. This month, Wiener announced a slew of endorsements from other California Democratic politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco), Governor Gavin Newsom, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and Supervisors Rafael Mandelman, Ahsha Safai, Catherine Stefani, and Shamann Walton. Mandelman, a gay man who is the sole LGBT member of the board, told the B.A.R. that despite their differences on certain issues, he believes Wiener has represented the city well in the Statehouse. “I think Scott is a tremendously talented and effective state senator,” said Mandelman, who like
Rick Gerharter
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ust for Fun and Scribbledoodles, located at 3982 24th Street in Noe Valley, had Santa on hand December 11. He was joined by his elf, “Bobby Penny,” and doggie Caspian for a fun-filled afternoon and eve-
ning greeting kids, who also got to see some reindeer that were outside. David Eiland, a gay man who co-owns the shop with his business partner, Robert Ramsey, who’s also gay, said it was a jam-packed shopping day.
Buttigieg tops national LGBT stories of 2019 analysis by Lisa Keen
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ne might argue that 2019 was a pretty good year for LGBT people. A gay man rose to the top tier of a large field of Democratic presidential candidates. A second openly LGBT person, bi woman Kyrsten Sinema, was sworn into the U.S. Senate. A record number of openly LGBT candidates won office to Congress. Lesbian icon Ellen DeGeneres shared a box seat with former Republican President George W. Bush at a football game. And Republican President Donald Trump issued a statement to “celebrate LGBT Pride Month.” Others might argue that 2019 was a year of looming and unresolved battles over the heart and soul of American democracy and the harbinger of uncertainty about the future for the political and legal movements for LGBT equality. However one assesses the year in LGBT news, here are some of the year’s most headline-grabbing news stories to consider.
Buttigieg surges to the top
See page 5 >>
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s success with his long shot bid to win the Democratic nomination for president could probably take up all 10 slots of any “LGBT top stories” list for 2019. He became
Rick Gerharter
Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg
not only the first openly gay person to seek the Democratic presidential nomination, he raised enough support to participate in the first official Democratic debate, quickly surged to the top five in a field of more than 20 viable candidates, and held onto to that position while candidates who were much better known fell away. His success continued throughout the year, helped by staking out a moderate posi-
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he National Center for Lesbian Rights, a nonprofit public interest law firm based in San Francisco, has chosen a new executive director after a lengthy search. Imani Rupert-Gordon, 40, was selected to be the new executive director effective March 16. She will succeed Cindy L. Myers, Ph.D., who has been serving as interim executive director since the departure of Kate Kendell in late 2018. Kendell had led the agency for 22 years. “I’m thrilled to join the team at NCLR and to help expand their incredible work,” RupertGordon said in a news release Tuesday, December 17. “There has never been a more important time for NCLR’s approach to advancing LGBTQ equality and liberation, and I am grateful to be a part of the team as we meet this challenge.” See page 9 >>
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tion early on just as progressive candidates were taking heat for appealing for dramatic changes, such as Medicare for All. Buttigieg pitched “Medicare for All Who Want It,” spoke openly about how his religious faith informs his views, and proved to be a respectful but formidable contender in the debates. By December, he held first place in Iowa polling, second place in New Hampshire polling, and fourth place in national polling. But with success in any presidential bid comes additional scrutiny and challenge. In May, two Republican operatives tried to promote a false accusation that Buttigieg had sexually assaulted two men, but both of those men denied the claims. In October, he was criticized for being too straight-looking and derided as “Mary Pete” by a gay writer. And at year’s end, Buttigieg was still struggling to prove he could win support from African American voters and fending off suggestions that his post-graduate work for McKinsey, an elite management consulting firm, included work that led to the loss of jobs for many. So far, he has astutely navigated a daunting landscape and blown through a wall that most LGBT people expected would block a path to the White House for any gay person in their lifetimes. Win or lose, he could well become 2020’s top story, too. See page 9 >>