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Nob Hill Theatre closing
Breed names policy panel
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Alan Cumming
MORE! Stuff: Moving Forward
The
www.ebar.com
Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community
Vol. 48 • No. 27 • July 5-11, 2018
In short span, Farrell made LGBT mark as mayor Bill Wilson
Justice Anthony Kennedy
5 seen on short list to replace Kennedy
by Lisa Keen
J
ust two days after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court, President Donald Trump told reporters that he had already narrowed his choice for Kennedy’s replacement to “about five” people, two of whom are women. He said he would interview “six or seven” candidates, all from among the 25 candidates he had previously identified as likely nominees. Trump said he would announce his choice July 9. Court observers have been parsing the potential nominees, looking at where they stand on LGBT-related and other issues. National Public Radio’s Nina Totenberg called them “far right” conservatives. Jeffrey Toobin, a legal analyst for CNN, said on Anderson Cooper’s “360” program June 27 that there is “not a hint of moderation” in the candidates Trump is most likely to nominate. “They are stone-cold conservatives,” said Toobin. They are “definitely not Anthony Kennedy’s tradition.” Kennedy’s tradition, when it came to laws regarding LGBT people, was one that provided the fifth critical vote and an eloquent voice in support of equality and dignity. Kennedy penned the court’s major pro-LGBT decisions on marriage, sodomy laws, anti-gay initiatives, and federal benefits. With the voting records of the remaining eight justices evenly split between those who vote mostly pro-LGBT and those who vote mostly anti-LGBT, Kennedy had become the reliable saving grace. And, being a Reagan appointee, he bucked the expectation that only a justice appointed by a Democratic president would understand and defend the rights of such a stigmatized minority.
The likely short list
The following are five candidates from the list of 25 who are most often identified by major media analysts as the judges Trump is most likely interviewing for the current Supreme Court vacancy. Among the men are: Brett M. Kavanaugh, 53, a former clerk to Kennedy and a George W. Bush appointee to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Kavanaugh also clerked for progressive 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (retired). He married a woman who worked as Bush’s personal secretary at the same time Kavanaugh worked in the White House as staff secretary. He was a key player in choosing U.S. Supreme Court See page 11 >>
Twelve Days, Twelve Pianos, One Garden & You!
Mayor Mark Farrell, and his wife, Liz, wave to spectators as they ride in the San Francisco Pride parade June 24.
by Matthew S. Bajko
D
espite his brief tenure in Room 200 at City Hall, Mayor Mark Farrell leaves behind a lasting LGBT mark on San Francisco. During his 168-day mayoralty, Farrell enacted first-of-its kind legislation protecting transgender residents of single-room-occupancy
hotels in San Francisco and renamed a terminal at San Francisco International Airport after gay icon Harvey Milk. He also further cemented the city’s role as a supporter of LGBT rights on the global stage during a visit by a delegation from Cork, Ireland. “As a native San Franciscan, I am very proud to maintain the city’s leading role in fighting for LGBT rights and moving that legacy
forward as mayor,” Farrell told the Bay Area Reporter last week during the dedication of a signpost heralding San Francisco’s 19 sister cities around the world. All three of the LGBT initiatives were begun during the administration of the late mayor Ed Lee, whose sudden death on December 12 led to Farrell’s becoming the city’s mayor See page 10 >>
Oasis helps LGBTs seek asylum
Rick Gerharter
by Alex Madison
T
en years ago, Jessy D’Santos made the decision to come to a place where she could be herself, a transgender woman. She fled Mexico City, where she faced daily persecution for then being a gay man. With one reference to visit Oasis Legal Services in Oakland, her life changed forever. Today, D’Santos is a United States citizen and a proud transgender woman living openly and freely in San Francisco. “It was impossible for me to be a trans woman in Mexico,” D’Santos, 42, said. “It was something I really wanted, but I was afraid to do.” She crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2000, landing in San Francisco. She lived in the United States for eight years, everyday fearing she would be discovered and deported back to a country that has one of the highest rates of murder of trans people in the world. That day came. D’Santos was visiting relatives in Los Angeles in 2008 when her ex-boyfriend’s family called police, people she said were homophobic. She went to jail for a few days before being moved to what she called an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) cube: a freezing, small room where she was held in solitary confinement due to her gender identity and the increased chance of violence against her by other detainees. “I had a really hard time in that place,” she said. After two weeks there, she was deported back to Mexico City. She decided to take the chance and travel back to the U.S. only two months later in a friend’s car.
Courtesy Oasis Legal Services
Staff and supporters of Oasis Legal Services continue to help LGBTs seek asylum.
She made it. It was then she had the courage to transition. During this time, a friend referred her to Oasis Legal Services, a nonprofit that provides legal services to low-income LGBTs seeking asylum in the U.S. “Everything changed for me then,” she said. “This meant I wouldn’t have to live in the shadows any longer. I could go to school. It opened my world.”
Today, D’Santos has two associate degrees from Canada College in Redwood City, in interior design and art, and is a board member at Oasis Legal Services. She also is a program director at San Francisco’s El/La Para TransLatinas, an organization offering resources for trans Latina women. This was all made possible by Oasis Legal Services, D’Santos said. The Oakland-based See page 10 >>
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SUNSET PIANO & SAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDEN PRESENT
FLOWER PIANO JULY 5–16, 2018
And get tickets now for NightGarden Piano—July 12, 13 & 14!