New approach to school bullying
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Paris readies for Gay Games X
ARTS
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Compton's Cafeteria
Star Trek Live
The
www.ebar.com
Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community
Vol. 48 • No. 8 • February 22-28, 2018
Sheriff Vicki Hennessy
SF sheriff implements trans inmate policies by Seth Hemmelgarn
S
an Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy this week announced that her agency has formally implemented its policy and procedures on transgender, gender variant and nonbinary, or TGN, inmates. The guidelines, which have been gradually introduced in recent years and are among the first of their kind in the country, were finally implemented Tuesday, February 20. They cover everything from where inmates are housed to which pronouns deputies should use to refer to inmates to which gender staff should perform searches. “Our number one priority is safety for all: staff, inmates, visitors, and service providers,” said Hennessy in a news release. “We thoughtfully and carefully considered and vetted every policy and procedure, which impacts our TGN inmates to ensure they feel protected, respected, and have full access to the county jail’s educational, vocational, recovery and life skills classes and services.” Former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, whom Hennessy defeated in 2015, first proposed revising transgender policies a few months before he left office. Less than 1 percent of the people in jail are TGN, but the sheriff ’s department noted that they face high rates of harassment, poverty, and unemployment across the country. “The sheriff ’s department goal is to help all inmates live successfully once they’re released from custody,” stated Hennessy. “Respecting TGN individuals, making them feel safe and facilitating their participation in the county jail’s rehabilitation programs will increase the chance [they] won’t come back to jail. And that’s an outcome we all want for all individuals in our custody.” Changes have included using TGN inmates’ preferred pronouns to address them, and moving them from a 12-person cell in County Jail #4, the men’s facility at 850 Bryant Street, to the re-entry housing pod next door in County Jail #2, the co-ed jail at 425 Seventh Street. There, they are able to participate in classes and services. Additionally, people who are booked into jail are now asked to use a Statement of See page 15 >>
Farrell supports Milk SFO terminal naming
A rendering of what signage might look like at the new Terminal 1 at SFO. B.A.R. ilustration/Rendering courtesy San Francisco International Airport
by Matthew S. Bajko
S
an Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell supports naming Terminal 1 at the city’s airport after slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. In 2013 gay former supervisor David Campos scrapped his idea to rename San Francisco International Airport after Milk due
to a lack of support. Instead, he and the late mayor Ed Lee compromised on naming one of the airport’s four terminals in honor of Milk. It was 40 years ago that Milk was sworn in as a city supervisor, becoming the first out LGBT individual to hold elective office in both San Francisco and California. Tragically, Milk and then-mayor George Moscone were
assassinated inside City Hall by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White the morning of November 27, 1978. After years of delays by Lee in naming his appointees to an advisory panel tasked with selecting which terminal should bear Milk’s name, it voted in June for Terminal 1. With the facility undergoing a $2.4 billion
Grants given out for Guerneville homeless services
See page 14 >>
by Charlie Wagner
W
hile Guerneville residents await the results of the 2018 Sonoma County Homeless Point-in-Time Count, scheduled for Friday, February 23, the county has distributed $450,000 in grants to several local nonprofit organizations. Giving added urgency to the homeless issue in the Russian River community is the fact that two people living on the streets of Guerneville have died since January 1. With 1 percent of the total county population, the 2017 count found the lower river area had 248 homeless individuals, more than 8 percent of the county total. Many of the housed know their unhoused neighbors by sight, and often by name. Metropolitan Community Church of the Redwood Empire hosted a memorial in Guerneville last month for all who died in the past two years. In early 2017, District 5 Supervisor Lynda Hopkins found $750,000 for West County homeless services. She formed the Lower Russian River Homeless Task Force, which included Environmentalist and Clean River Alliance founder Chris Brokate and 15 others. After a formal review process, the Board of Supervisors approved $450,000 in grants last December. The other $300,000 remains for future proposals.
Charlie Wagner
The new Homeless Healthcare Center on Third Street in downtown Guerneville, operated by West County Health Centers, is expected to open in April.
West County Community Services received $221,000 to identify housing and get homeless individuals housed; Russian Riverkeeper/Clean River Alliance got $100,000 for environmental education and trash collection to prevent waste from polluting the watershed, including regular trash removal from homeless encampments; Social Advocates for Youth was awarded $58,000 for outreach to young adults struggling with a lack of housing; Russian River Alliance/Guerneville Community Alliance received $50,000 for
emergency relief for local low-income workers; and Russian River Area Resources and Advocates got $20,000 for coordination of community efforts to housing access and to help local groups apply correctly for future grants. Tim Miller, WCCS executive director and a member of the task force, said the greatest need for their homeless services is in the Guerneville area. “Nine months ago homeless were 10 percent See page 14 >>
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