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Summer deals in Palm Springs
Lyon-Martin director quits
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Mike Mills on 'Beginners'
The
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CDC: Stigma hurts LGB youth
Lee open to reducing Pride’s debt by Matthew S. Bajko
I
nterim Mayor Ed Lee is willing to discuss ideas on how to reduce the amount of money Pride organizers still owe the city for services rendered during the 2010 celebration. As Rick Gerharter of June 1, the San Francisco LGBT Interim Mayor Pride Celebration Ed Lee Committee had yet to repay nearly $51,000 to the Department of Public Works for last year’s event. Pride recently paid the remainder of $1,200 it had owed the Recreation and Park Department when it submitted its deposit payment to use Civic Center Plaza for this year’s event, which takes place Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26. Its total debt load for accounts payable to various vendors and
by Dana Rudolph Lydia Gonzales
LifeCycle riders on the move T
he 10th annual AIDS/LifeCycle ride left the Cow Palace early Sunday morning, June 5, as 2,350 bicyclists and 600 volunteer roadies began the weeklong, 545-mile trek to Los Angeles. The ride, a fundraiser for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, broke its fundraising record this
year, officials with both agencies said, with more than $13 million raised for the two organizations. The opening ceremonies, occurring on the 30th anniversary of the first reported AIDS cases, were heartfelt, as people honored those who have died and celebrated their commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS.
See page 20 >>
New SF police chief discusses Pink Saturday, gay officers
Lee says he doesn’t S want full term
by Seth Hemmelgarn
by Matthew S. Bajko
W
ith the filing deadline to run for mayor two months away, pressure continues to mount to see interim Mayor Ed Lee jump into the race and seek a full term. But Lee insisted during an interview in late May with the Bay Area Reporter that he isn’t interested in occupying Room 200 at City Hall for the next four years. His focus, he said, is on working with supervisors to pass a balanced budget by July 1 and then convincing voters to adopt a pension reform measure he hammered out between city leaders, union officials, and business interests. That task will be easier, said Lee, by his not seeking the mayor’s post this fall. “I think people, and I understand if we See page 21 >>
Vol. 41 • No. 23 • June 9-15, 2011
Bryant Street. He referred to Pink Saturday as “a pure event” that doesn’t really draw “a lot of bridge and tunnel folks.” Outsiders “stick out” there, he said, and cited as an example someone who doesn’t appear to be enjoying the event. Suhr indicated more officers will be assigned to the annual street festival this year, and he encourages partygoers to talk to police if they see anything suspicious. Police have indicated they suspect people from outside the neighborhood were involved in the Powell shooting. The investigation remains open.
an Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr is looking forward to a safe Pink Saturday and the eventual promotion of out gay officers, he told the Bay Area Reporter last week. Discussing plans for Pink Saturday Suhr, 52, who was once the captain of Mission Station, which oversees the largely gay Castro neighborhood, said, “I consider myself somebody from the community,” and “I wouldn’t miss” the event. Pink Saturday is held on the night before the city’s LGBT Pride Parade and Gay promotions celebration and falls on June The issue of gay male 25 this year. officers earning promotions Safety concerns around has long been an issue the evening have been an Rick Gerharter in the SFPD. Currently issue, especially after last San Francisco Police Chief there are no out gay male year, when Stephen Powell, Greg Suhr officers above the rank of 19, was shot to death around sergeant. Out lesbians in the time the street party the department have been regularly promoted. ended. Suhr, a 30-year veteran of the department “It’s all about making sure it’s as safe an who was appointed chief by Mayor Ed Lee in event as it’s ever been,” said Suhr during the interview, which took place at his office at 850 See page 21 >>
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esbian, gay, and bisexual youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to be at increased risk for unhealthy behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use; sexual behaviors that could lead to infection with Researcher HIV and other sexually Laura Kann transmitted diseases; attempting suicide; and violence, according to a groundbreaking new federal study. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released the results of the study, “Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12 in Selected Sites – Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, United States, 2001– 2009,” on Monday, June 6. It represents the first time the federal government has conducted such a far-reaching analysis of LGB youth. Laura Kann, chief of the Surveillance and Evaluation Research Branch within the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, said that she attributes the “disproportionate” risks of LGB youth to the social difficulties they face, such as stigma, discrimination, and rejection by their families. This creates an environment that contributes to their “disproportionate” health risk behaviors. “If these kids had physically, emotionally acceptable environments – home, school, community, it’s unlikely that they would be practicing health risk behaviors at these rates,” she said. She noted that their increased risk of being involved in violent behaviors is “not because of who they are, but because of what they’re pushed into.” She explained, “It’s a response” to the social disapproval, rejection, and bullying they may face. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also addressed the CDC report at Monday’s LGBT Youth Summit in Washington. “A study our department is releasing today found heightened levels of ‘unhealthy risk See page 20 >>