OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU

UCSF is deeply committed to providing care for LGBTQ+ people and their families that isn’t just equitable as crucial as equity is.

We’re committed to giving you care that’s warm, welcoming, and knowledgeable, too.

That’s why we’re a longtime Equality Leader in HRC’s Healthcare Equality Index and why we offer a uniquely wide range of support for our LGBTQ+ patients and employees.

We look forward to warmly welcoming you and offering the great, supportive care that you and your family deserve.

ucsfhealth.org/lgbtq-care many LGBTQ people are estranged from their biological families and have households comprised of close friends they may need to care for during times of illness.

Another bill signed into law last year by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate Bill 951 by Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), boosts leave benefits for lower- and middle-income employees to cover more of their regular income while they take time off to care for loved ones. LGBTQ family advocates, such as the San Francisco-based Our Family Coalition, had supported the bill. It extends increased wage replacement rates for State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave (PFL) that were set to sunset last year. Under the legislation’s phased-in increase in benefits, by 2025, workers earning less than the state’s average wage could receive up to 90% of their regular wages while taking leave.

This legislative session Wicks is carrying two new bills to further strengthen the state’s paid leave provisions for workers and ensure LGBTQ people who provide care to their family and friends are not discriminated against by employers.

The Family Caregiver Anti-Dis- last time he saw Dille, he “gave me the biggest hug.”

When Dille went missing, Lavarias thought “Oh my God – was that the last hug?”

Lavarias, a gay man, described Dille as “super positive.”

“He never said anything bad about anyone,” Lavarias said. “He always made and the very words we use are being weaponized, putting understanding and kindness at the forefront is more important than ever.”

Atkins added that the goal of her legislation “is to speak to people’s crimination Act, AB 524, would make it unlawful for employers to refuse to hire, fire, demote, or take other adverse employment action against workers because of their responsibilities to their biological or chosen family members. It passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee this month and awaits a hearing before the Committee on Labor and Employment.

AB 518, dubbed Paid Family Leave for Chosen Family, would give workers the right to receive Paid Family Leave wage replacement benefits while on leave. Currently, most California workers pay into the Paid Family Leave program through automatic paycheck deductions, but those with chosen family cannot currently access the program when they need to take time off to care for those loved ones.

Thus, advocates of the legislation argue it will ensure employees can afford to care for their chosen family members. It is awaiting a vote by the Assembly Insurance Committee.

“Who we count as members of our family and choose to care for includes so many more Californians than what our current laws recognize,” stated Wicks. “Employee protections must continue to the day fun. He was like my work roommate in the salon, making chit-chat.”

Lavarias’ clients were sad to hear of Dille’s disappearance, he said, as the latter had made conversation with them and gave tarot card readings.

“He talked about portals, energy, the Grand Canyon, and rock formations,” Lavarias said, adding that to hear Dille hearts and open minds. That’s a pursuit that would have made teen Toni –that southwestern Virginia girl afraid to be herself back then – so proud.”

Low’s office told the B.A.R. it didn’t have a comment “at this time yet” as evolve so workers can care for those they love, and not get punished for it. AB 524 and AB 518 are important next steps to making that happen.”

Equal Rights Advocates is supporting both bills. Jessica Stender, the organization’s policy director and deputy legal director, told the Bay Area Reporter that it is confident the legislation will be passed by the Legislature because of the support for last year’s bills.

“I think the Legislature showed the need and an understanding of having a more expansive definition for family to take into account workers who don’t have close family or family that is not related by blood,” said Stender, a straight ally.

In a recent video interview with the B.A.R. Coronado-Acuña noted that the concept of carrying for one’s chosen family is not well understood. They added that they have been lucky to work for employers who do understand it.

“I feel like most people would be ‘It’s not your responsibility. It is not your blood relative, so you shouldn’t have to take care of them,’” they said. “My response again would be that your family isn’t always blood. Family is what you make it.” t died in the Grand Canyon “gave me chills.”

“For his last breath he went to the Grand Canyon, where he always wanted to go,” Lavarias said. “I hope he found peace, and what he was looking for.” t of the paper’s noon print deadline Wednesday.

SF policy

San Francisco’s policy known as

See page 12 >>

From page 1

She moved into the Bobbie Jean Baker House, an 18-bed transitional house for trans, gender-nonconforming, and intersex people in the Mission. It’s part of Our Trans Home SF, a city-funded coalition that includes St. James and works to address homelessness and housing instability in these populations.

“The BJB House offers an independent & supportive living environment with integrated case management services to help TGI individuals who are experiencing homelessness stabilize and begin a pathway to long-term housing,” St. James’ website states.

“Residents at the BJB house may stay up to 18 months and are not required to pay any rent, are provided with basic food staples, in-house supportive services, and case management. Our program has a waitlist, however, we encourage people to apply as turnover will happen over time,” the website states.

Creepy advances alleged

Kriege said that after moving there in August 2022, she was subjected to “a number of creepy advancements and touches” from one person who works there.

For example, Kriege alleges the first St. James employee repeatedly asked her to join him at the park, to which she repeatedly said no. But things became clearer to Kriege, she said, after he asked her on December 27 to join him and a second employee at a sex club.

“He drags me out and, when I get to the bus stop, he asks if I want to go to a sex club with him and [the second St.

Prasad

From page 1 ber 5 hearing in Van Nuys, California.

As the Bay Area Reporter has previously reported, Prasad, who told the court during that hearing that he identifies as a queer bi man, came to the U.S. from Fiji as a lawful permanent resident when he was 6 years old. But, at 22, he “made a horrible mistake in the heat of an argument and unfortunately took another person’s life,” as Prasad wrote in a Guest Opinion piece in the B.A.R. last year.

He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years to life, he said. Because of that conviction, he faced deportation to Fiji. He has an immigration court hearing in April to determine whether he would likely face danger if deported to the island country in the South Pacific.

Prasad was found eligible for release from prison due to his rehabilitation and remorse, as he told the judge in December. However, in August 2021, after being found eligible for parole, instead of being released to the community, he was directly transferred from prison to ICE custody at Golden State Annex. Shortly after he was detained by ICE, his mother died from COVID, and ICE denied him the opportunity to be released, even temporarily, to say goodbye or to attend her funeral.

From page 11

12X bans not only travel but also contracting with businesses headquartered in the 30 states now covered by it. It was expanded from targeting those states that had passed anti-LGBTQ laws since 2015 to also include those with restrictions on abortion access and voting rights.

This month a majority of San Francisco supervisors voted to allow city agencies and departments to enter into construction contracts with companies in the 30 states. And later this spring the board is expected to revoke the entire policy covering bans on travel and doing other business in those states.

“I had been toying with the idea of just dealing with the contracting and leaving the travel ban in place. But the more I heard from city departments on how the travel ban is working in prac-

Courtesy St. James Infirmary

Anita “Durt” O’Shea, the chief operating officer of St. James, has confirmed that an attorney is conducting an investigation.

James employee],” Kriege said. “I just said, ‘sorry, not my thing.’ Something like that.”

After she said no, it became harder for Kriege to get her needs met at the home, she said.

“When I first got here, when I asked for something, I got it right away,” Kriege said.

However, a mattress change Kriege requested was taking “a very long time.”

“I asked for one and every time they said ‘it’s in process,’” Kriege said.

Then, a third St. James employee told Kriege that the first St. James employee would be willing to give her his “old gross mattress,” however “there’s a little bit of cum on it, but you won’t care, right?” she recalled.

“That’s what I was told,” Kriege said.

Kriege said that on January 26, the first and second St. James employees called her into “an accusatory gas-lighting bully session.” Kriege said that she was told people had complaints against her, but when pressed they were too

Prasad, 51, was released from ICE custody December 6 and soon made his way to San Francisco, as he has been assigned to the parole unit here. He is currently living in transitional housing, but that will end in June. He recently started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to move into an apartment in the East Bay.

“It’s less expensive there,” he said, adding that he would continue working in San Francisco, where he is a social residence counselor for HomeRise, a nonprofit that works with people experiencing homelessness. “I like socializing with the residents. It’s really overwhelming to help people,” he said.

Prasad did just that while in custody, he explained. As he attended therapy and 12-step meetings to deal with his issues, he also found time to help other prisoners, as he wrote in the guest opinion. “I have stood up for my fellow detainees by speaking out about work conditions and safety with Cal-OSHA, the state’s occupational health and safety agency,” he wrote. “I have fought to protect the rights of people detained by ICE during the COVID-19 pandemic, by advocating for vaccinations for people who are detained by ICE and fighting for an end to transfers of people who served their time in California prisons, to ICE detention.”

“I have coping skills,” he said in the interview, adding he has learned what trig- tice, I don’t think it makes sense either,” gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who is the lead author of the ordinance to completely jettison the city’s 12X policy, had told the B.A.R.

Atkins authors 2 LGBTQ bills

Atkins’ bill to end the state travel ban is the second piece of legislation she is carrying this year that directly addresses LGBTQ rights. She also is the author of a bill aimed at protecting access to gender-affirming care for transgender individuals.

Last week, Atkins announced her SB 487 that is largely focused on protecting providers of abortion in California from various legal repercussions but also includes providers of gender-affirming care services. It would ensure that a health insurer, or health care service plan, couldn’t penalize a licensed California health care provider who performs such services.

In addition, the bill would restrict vague or nonsensical to respond to.

“There’ve been issues and concerns against you but we can’t explain them without violating HIPAA,” Kriege characterized St. James staff as saying at a subsequent January 30 meeting, referring to the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

After receiving “heavy breathing voicemails” in the early morning hours of February 5 from the first St. James employee’s phone number, Kriege said she went to the San Francisco Police Department’s special victims unit South of Market. Eventually getting in touch with SVU over the phone, she was told to file a police report, which she did February 11 and provided to the B.A.R.

After the police report was filed, SVU and SFPD did not get back in touch with Kriege, she said.

When asked, SFPD Public Information Officer Niccole Pacchetti told the B.A.R., “We are unable to locate an incident report with the information you have provided.” When asked about SVU not getting back to Kriege, SFPD told the B.A.R. that a computer automated dispatch number is not enough to find a documented incident to refer to.

Kriege said she ran into San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin on February 21 after a meeting of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and told him about her plight; Peskin, she said, was upset at what he heard and asked her to contact his office. The office subsequently told Kriege that because the house is in Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s district, she should contact Ronen’s office.

Kriege said that she “never got anything” from Ronen’s office after calling. Peskin’s office did not respond to a re- gers him and now can work around that. He also talked about the communication skills he learned while in custody.

“I had negative communication skills,” he said, attributing that to his past use of alcohol and crack cocaine. He said that he has been sober for many years.

San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Friedman, who is now representing Prasad, sat in on part of the interview. She said that Prasad’s embrace of therapy during his imprisonment was a positive thing.

“A lot of stable people do talk therapy because it is helpful,” she said.

Prasad does wear an ankle monitor, and checks in with his parole agent.

“It sucks,” he said of the device, which he explained rubs against his skin.

But he acknowledged that it’s a small price to pay for the freedom Prasad now enjoys.

“I enjoy life now and don’t let anything bother me,” he said.

His transitional housing is located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, which is often abuzz with activity, both legal and otherwise. Sixty people live in his building where he has a bathroom with a shower in his room but no kitchen, he said. Meals are provided, he said.

“I know a lot of people in there and I help a lot of people out,” Prasad said. “I’m cordial.”

Medi-Cal from automatically suspending a provider’s license should another state’s Medicaid program suspend them for performing abortion or gender-affirming care services.

Atkins’ office noted that SB 487 would not shield a provider from facing suspension or other consequences for any other wrongful or illegal acts, as determined through existing law.

With other states moving to criminalize the offering of abortion and transgender health care, SB 487 would protect providers from facing additional retaliation and repercussions in California should they face civil, criminal, or other punitive actions because of services provided in another state, or because they provided services to a person from out of state.

“SB 487 would shield our providers from sanctions so that there is no disruption in their ability to perform abortion care in California, where abortion is legal, and was enshrined quest for comment for this report as of press time.

Santiago Lerma, a legislative aide with Ronen’s office, stated to the B.A.R. that “I have not received any phone calls regarding this. I have sent emails to [Department of Public Health], HSH [Homelessness and Supportive Housing], and the mayor’s office about this issue and so far I don’t have any information. I just contacted the mayor’s Office of Transgender Initiatives and so far have not heard back. I am happy to share any information once I hear anything.”

Eventually, on March 9, Kriege was informed in a letter physically handed to her by staff that she would have to leave by the end of the month.

On March 15, Kriege complained to the Shelter Monitoring Committee, which she said informed her it does not have regulatory oversight of the house. However, the day after her public remarks at the committee’s meeting, MOHCD received the complaint and ordered the investigation opened.

Pau Crego, the executive director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, told the B.A.R. that his office does not have oversight over the program.

“The Office of Transgender Initiatives does not issue any grants, so we are not in charge of oversight, compliance, or reviewing complaints for any city-funded programs,” Crego told the B.A.R. When asked March 28 if he or his office has any more comment on this case, Crego did not respond as of press time.

Kriege said she intends to stay at the house. She said she has health problems that moving would exacerbate.

“Who do these people think they are?” she asked. “Then they go out and march for people’s rights? It’s disgusting.

It’s a different life from what he experienced while in custody.

“I hear fire trucks and ambulances all the time,” he said. “People have sex everywhere – on the side of the road, in an alley.”

For his court hearing, Friedman explained that it’s being held for a decision on Prasad’s application for protection under the Convention Against Torture, or CAT. It was previously denied but remanded from the Board of Immigration Appeals due to errors in the immigration judge’s decision, so it’s on for a new decision.

“The legal standard for a grant of CAT is establishing that it’s more likely than not that he would be tortured if deported to Fiji,” Friedman stated.

According to Outright International Fiji decriminalized same-sex relations in 2010 and is one of few countries in the world to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in its constitution yet does not allow same-sex marriages. The global nonprofit also noted in its report on the country that “hate speech from politicians and religious leaders remains prominent.”

And in 2020 the country’s Rainbow Pride Foundation issued a joint statement with the International Service for Human Rights calling on Fijian leaders to take a number of measures to protect the free- by voters in our state constitution,” stated Atkins.

The bill would also prohibit insurers from discriminating against, or refusing to contract with, a provider who may have been sanctioned in another state for providing prohibited or restricted services that are legal in California. With many states starting to restrict or outlaw gender-affirming care, such a provision “is needed now more than ever,” noted Atkins’ office.

“SB 487 will help ensure providers can continue to perform abortion and gender-affirming services without facing any penalties, even as other states continue to pass restrictions and outright bans on this type of health care,” stated Sacramento-based Dr. Kelly McCue, the District IX chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The two bills this legislative session mark a rare instance of Atkins authoring legislation focused on LGBTQ

And San Francisco is a sanctuary city, a haven of protection?”

While MOHCD said it had forwarded the complaint to St. James’ executive director, the website of the nonprofit has none listed. Stanley confirmed to the B.A.R. that O’Shea is the “acting/interim executive director.”

St. James had told the B.A.R. in 2021 it’d be moving forward without an executive director because it wanted to embrace “a new horizontal leadership structure.” Its last permanent executive director, Toni Newman, resigned in February of 2020 after deciding to move back to Southern California, as the B.A.R. reported (https://www.ebar.com/ story.php?288636) at the time.

MOHCD funds the Our Trans Home initiative to the tune of $900,000 per year, including funding of the Bobbi Jean Baker House “and a team of housing navigators that provide housing stability case management to program participants,” Stanley told the B.A.R.

“All city-funded nonprofits are required to have grievance policies and procedures in place,” Stanley stated. “We work closely with the city attorney and controller’s offices to ensure grantees are held to these policies, including those mandated through the whistleblower program.”

Kriege told the B.A.R. that she officially complained to St. James at the March 9 meeting. She said she was reluctant to do so earlier, concerned the nonprofit would “cover up [its] tracks.”

A transgender woman has complained she’s being told to vacate her transitional housing provided by St. James Infirmary after alleging sexual retaliation by some of the agency’s staff. t doms and rights of its LGBTQ citizens, among them was reducing “the targeting and harassment of LGBTI human rights defenders.”

Prasad has garnered broad support and has petitioned Governor Gavin Newsom to grant him a pardon, as the B.A.R. has previously reported. Last year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the San Francisco Democratic Party both passed resolutions urging Newsom to pardon Prasad. A coalition of human rights and faith-based groups has also put out a call to action urging the governor to issue a pardon.

While in prison, Prasad earned his GED and took vocational classes in welding, electronics, and roofing. “I was able to partake in mental health services for my childhood trauma and other forms of coping skills therapy,” he told the court at the December hearing.

Prasad told the B.A.R. he was grateful to his supporters and talks with them regularly. One thing that he hasn’t done yet is visit the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood. “I want to go,” he added.

He does plan to attend this year’s Pride parade in late June. t rights since she took over leadership of the Legislature’s upper chamber in 2018. She last authored LGBTQ-related bills the year prior.

To donate to Prasad’s GoFundMe campaign, go to https://bit. ly/42EQJBR.

In 2017, Atkins authored SB 179, which created a third gender marker on state-issued identification documents for people who identify as nonbinary or intersex. She also that year carried to passage SB 310, the Name and Dignity Act that made it easier for transgender people incarcerated in state prisons or county jails to change their legal name or gender marker. It also required corrections officials to use the new name of a person who obtains a name change and to list their prior name only as an alias.

This year and next are Atkins’ last chance to spearhead legislation in Sacramento, as she will be termed out of office in early December 2024. She was first elected to the state Assembly in 2010 and was elected to her Senate seat six years later. t