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Oakland drag brunch
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Max von Essen
The
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 50 • No. 10 • March 5-11, 2020
Wiener to face queer progressive challenger by Matthew S. Bajko Bill Wilson
Senator Bernie Sanders won the Democratic presidential primary in California.
Sanders wins CA; Biden has big night
G
ay state Senator Scott Wiener will face off against queer democratic socialist Jackie Fielder in the November 3 election for his 11th Senate District seat covering San Francisco and parts of northern San Mateo County. In his bid for a second four-year term Wiener (D-San Francisco) took first place in Tuesday’s primary with 54.67% of the vote, according to unofficial returns Wednesday. Fielder, an educator who is Native American and of Mexican heritage, placed second with 32.52% of the vote. In third place was Republican Erin Smith, a transgender woman, with 12.66% of the vote. Both Smith and Fielder are political newcomers who had never before sought public office, and under California’s primary rules, the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation advance to the November 3 ballot. The election results were hailed by Wiener, who came in second place in the primary when he first ran for the Senate seat in 2016 against Jane Kim, whom he had served with on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. But Wiener, a dogged campaigner, went on to defeat Kim in the general election that fall.
by Lisa Keen
S
enator Bernie Sanders, the progressive self-described democratic socialist from Vermont, won delegate-rich California March 3, but former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr., the last moderate standing, scored a political comeback with victories in multiple states, including Texas, the second biggest prize of the night. Super Tuesday voting revealed that moderate Democrats across the country seem ready to embrace a strategy of getting behind one candidate to seek the party’s nomination for president. It was a strategy that began rolling on Saturday, when billionaire Tom Steyer dropped out after Biden’s landslide win in the South Carolina primary. On Sunday gay hopeful Pete Buttigieg ended his campaign. That was followed on Monday by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota withdrawing from the race. She and Buttigieg then threw their support to Biden. Unofficial returns as of Wednesday morning showed that Biden had won the popular vote in nine, possibly 10, of the 14 Super Tuesday states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Maine. Sanders won four: California, Colorado, Utah, and his home state of Vermont. California holds the lion’s share of delegates – 415 – for the Democratic National Convention, followed by Texas with 228, North Carolina with 110, Virginia with 99, and Massachusetts with 91, giving Biden the lead now on delegates. The strongest evidence for the get-behind-one-moderate strategy was Massachusetts – home state of presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren, neighboring state of presumed frontrunner Sanders, and native state of billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Massachusetts voted for Biden. Bloomberg quit the race Wednesday morning. The Democratic Party allocates its delegates proportionally, so candidates who garnered 15% or more of the vote in states will get a share of delegates. Other See page 12 >>
State Senator is the honor of my life, and I’m so appreciative of the support for continuing our work to create a brighter future for our community. Onward!” Fielder also touted her second place finish, noting in a statement that she had spent less than $130,000 on her campaign while Wiener benefited from more than $500,000 spent by his campaign and independent committees on his behalf. “Our opponent has been campaigning for three years. We’ve been campaigning for three months. Tonight, we blew past our goals and expectations,” stated Fielder, who entered into the race late last year mere weeks prior to the filing deadline to do so.
Rick Gerharter
State Senator Scott Wiener greets Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis at his election night party Tuesday.
In a Facebook post following Tuesday’s election, Wiener wrote, “What an Election Day! We campaigned hard all day and then celebrated. Thank you to the voters of the 11th Senate District for advancing me to the top 2 election in November. Serving as your
Other LGBT legislative races
A record 22 LGBTQ community members, three of whom are Republicans and one a write-in candidate, were known to be running for California legislative seats on the March 3 primary ballot. It was four more than the 18 candidates who ran in 2018, at the time the largest group of out legislative candidates in the state’s history. See page 11 >>
BALIF marks 40 years with gala by John Ferrannini
I
t was started 40 years ago to encourage LGBTQ legal professionals to apply for judgeships, and while there are many queer bench officers in California today, that’s still a core part of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom’s mission. To mark the milestone anniversary, LGBTQ judges, their straight allies, attorneys, and others will gather Friday, March 6, for BALIF’s annual gala. “We’ve had an annual event more or less for BALIF’s entire existence,” queer BALIF board co-chair Jeff Kosbie said in a recent phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “This is our main fundraiser of the year, but at the event this year we will also have a fundraiser for the BALIF Foundation.” The foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that supplements BALIF’s work by awarding scholarships to law school students, hosting educational events, and advocating for greater LGBT representation on the bench, Kosbie said. (BALIF itself is a 501(c)6, which means it can advocate similar to a chamber of commerce and make endorsements in judicial and other legalrelated races.) Today, BALIF’s mission has expanded beyond seeing community members appointed judges. According to its website,
Courtesy BALIF
BALIF supporters march in a San Francisco Pride parade.
the group takes action on questions of law and justice that affect the LGBTQI community; strengthens professional and social ties among LGBTQI members of the legal profession; builds coalitions with other legal organizations to combat all forms of discrimination; and promotes the appointment of LGBTQI attorneys to public agencies and commissions in the Bay Area. There is still work to be done regarding judicial officers. A report this week by the
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Judicial Council of California shows that for 2019, the number of LGBT judges in the state remained flat at 62. (See related story.) BALIF also submits amicus briefs in cases affecting the LGBTQI community, sponsors resolutions to the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations, and provides LGBTQI-focused continuing legal education opportunities. See page 12 >>