New ED for Compton’s dist.
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Gay Dem seeks White House
ARTS
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Mostly British Film Fest
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The
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Gay man selected for arts post by Cynthia Laird
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a t t h e w Goudeau, a gay man who has worked in the City Hall protocol office for many years, has been named the new director of San Francisco Grants for the Arts. Goudeau, 41, start- Courtesy Matthew Goudeau ed his new position New Grants for Tuesday, February 5, the Arts director just as the city is gear- Matthew Goudeau ing up to determine the grant funding process under Proposition E, which voters passed last November. “The challenge is good. How to implement Prop E that sets aside a portion of the hotel tax,” Goudeau told the B.A.R. in an exclusive phone interview Monday. In addition to his experience in the protocol department, where he has served as chief deputy, Goudeau has served on the board of arts organizations and worked for a Texas museum for a couple of years as development officer. See page 14 >>
Wiener bill would ban most infant intersex surgeries
by Matthew S. Bajko
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alifornia would become the first state in the nation to ban medically unnecessary surgeries performed on intersex infants if state lawmakers approve a bill authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). At a news conference in San Francisco Monday morning, Wiener announced his
Vol. 49 • No. 6 • February 7-13, 2019
Hans Lindahl, director of communications and outreach for InterACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, speaks in support of state Senator Scott Wiener’s (standing behind Lindahl) legislation to prohibit medically unnecessary genital surgery on intersex infants at a Monday news conference.
Senate Bill 201, which is being referred to as the Intersex Bodily Autonomy bill. “It will ensure physicians in California move away from performing medically unnecessary surgeries on babies who are born as intersex,” said Wiener, chair of the Legislative LGBT Caucus. “Instead, it will allow people to make decisions for themselves when they are able to do so to have intersex surgeries.” Intersex people, who account for 1 to 2
percent of the population, are defined as those born with any variation of reproductive or sexual anatomy characteristics including genitals, chromosome patterns, and sex hormones. While some intersex people also identify as transgender or nonbinary and members of the LGBT community, not all do. According to a summary of the bill, which See page 14 >> Rick Gerharter
Supervised injection bill returns
by Liz Highleyman
J Courtesy AP
President Donald Trump delivers his second State of the Union address Tuesday in the Capitol, as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi look on.
Trump’s AIDS ‘plan’ met with skepticism
by Lisa Keen
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resident Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address painted a rosy picture of the United States Tuesday night: a country on the brink of an “economic miracle,” peace, and helpful legislation for things like the eradication of HIV/AIDS, which was met with skepticism from many LGBT HIV/ AIDS leaders. Trump said nothing to recognize the LGBT community or to repeat his 2016 campaign promise to protect the community. And while See page 13 >>
Besties
Best of the Bay 2019
BESTIES STRIP.indd 1
ust three months after a stinging veto by former Governor Jerry Brown, two state lawmakers reintroduced a bill that would allow a pilot supervised injection site to open in San Francisco. Lesbian Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced Monday, February 4, they had authored Assembly Bill 362, which is similar to last year’s failed AB 186. “Public drug injection reflects a failure in our health care system, and we have an obligation to try new approaches to help people get healthy,” Wiener said in a statement. “San Francisco has a long history of pushing the envelope on progressive public health solutions, including medical cannabis and needle exchange, before either was legal or broadly embraced. With AB 362, San Francisco, once again, can lead the way on progressive change for our community and for all of California.” Last year AB 186 passed the state Assembly and Senate, only to be vetoed at the last minute by Brown. A broader bill, which also applied to several counties outside of San Francisco, narrowly failed to pass the Senate in 2017. Supervised injection facilities allow people to use drugs under the watch of trained staff, reducing the risk of overdose deaths. They provide sterile needles to prevent transmission of HIV and hepatitis B and C, and offer clients an entry point for seeking
Liz Highleyman
San Francisco Mayor London Breed checked out an injection station at the Safer Inside demonstration last August that was set up to show the public what a safe injection facility might look like.
medical care and addiction treatment. Indoor sites also reduce street-based drug use and improper syringe disposal, a growing problem in the city. “San Franciscans understand how desperately we need these programs,” said Laura Thomas, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. “These programs will reach homeless people who use drugs, move them and their syringes off the
street, protect their dignity and health, and provide a pathway to drug treatment and other services.” There are currently around 120 safe injection sites worldwide. San Francisco is among several cities vying to open the first such facility in the United States, but all have faced legal and political hurdles. See page 14 >>
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