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Bi flag dustup
'Stonewall' author dies
Milk Day plans altered
Arts
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Sabrina Elles
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 50 • No. 20 • May 14-20, 2020
Rick Gerharter
Jane Philomen Cleland
The San Francisco LGBT Community Center is one of many queer nonprofits that have closed offices and moved programs online during the shelter-in-place order.
Governor Gavin Newsom
Advocates blast Newsom for lack of LGBT COVID data
by Matthew S. Bajko and John Ferrannini
A
dvocates are blasting California Governor Gavin Newsom and state public health officials for not gathering data about the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the Golden State’s LGBT community. LGBT advocates had requested that people with COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, be asked about their sexual orientation and gender identity. Yet state and local officials have ignored their requests, even though laws have been passed requiring the collection of SOGI data in health care settings. As the Bay Area Reporter has previously reported, even in San Francisco health officials are not collecting sexual orientation data of those who test positive, only information on gender identity. Last week, fed up with having their entreaties for SOGI data collection to begin be ignored, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced legislation that would force state and county health officials to collect it among novel coronavirus patients. Newsom broke his silence on the issue when he responded to a question that the Bay Area Reporter submitted for his Wednesday afternoon news conference. “God Bless – I’ve been very clear that we want this information to be forthcoming. We’ve been in touch with Scott Wiener, who’s been an outstanding leader in this space, and have been in contact with the LGBT caucus on this,” Newsom said. “I’m very deferential to the work Scott Wiener is currently doing. Nobody wants to see this information more than (state public health director) Dr. Sonia Angell.” If passed, Senate Bill 932 would track how many LGBT people are being infected, hospitalized and placed in intensive care, as well as how many have recovered versus died. On a call with reporters Wednesday prior to the bill’s first hearing before the Senate’s health committee, Wiener expressed his frustration that Newsom had not issued an executive order requiring the SOGI data be collected. “Frankly, I will be honest. Frankly, I wish I wasn’t forced to introduce this legislation. This issue should have been taken care of already,” said See page 7 >>
Rick Gerharter
Salvation Army steps in
G
ay state Senator Scott Wiener, right, joined Salvation Army volunteers May 6 to help pack and distribute meals for the temporary Meals in Place SF project in tandem with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.
LGBT nonprofits struggle and adapt to new realities by John Ferrannini
According to Salvation Army spokeswoman Jennifer Byrd, the organization is delivering 1,400 meals a day to homeless people in the city so that they can continue to shelter in place.
T
he heads of LGBT nonprofits are certainly not sanguine about the likely impact of the novel coronavirus and its attendant recession on their organizations. See page 7 >>
Milk club may get new co-president by John Ferrannini
I
n the aftermath of an email sent by the president of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club that accused San Francisco Mayor London Breed of “hobophobia” regarding her homeless policies in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the organization may soon have a new copresident. Kaylah Williams, a longtime club board member and the manager of Chesa Boudin’s successful run for San Francisco district attorney last fall, will be nominated at the club’s next general membership meeting May 19, with a confirmation vote at the following meeting on June 16. Williams, who identifies as bi, will serve alongside Bard, a gay man who has been president of the club since last year. Bard and Williams will be the first black co-presidents in club history. “I look forward to getting the chance to run as co-president alongside Kevin Bard,” Williams wrote in a text message. “I hope to maintain the Milk club’s legacy of inclusive queer leadership. Especially now in light of COVID-19 we need to work together to protect our city’s most vulnerable, and I’m ready to keep doing that work with our EBoard and members.” The club’s May 9 email explained the leadership change. “After a long and healthy discussion among the entire board, including President Bard, we mutually agreed that pursuing a
Tumay Aslay
Kaylah Williams is expected to be nominated to co-lead the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club.
co-presidency and expanding our leadership structure was the best path forward, particularly at a time when many of us and our peers are struggling in various ways during the COVID-19 emergency,” the email states. “Having said that, further recourse is available to the membership should any member wish to pursue it. We are a ‘small-d’ democratic club and serve at your pleasure. Our bylaws provide a process for dismissal of club officers and other remedies that fall short of dismissal.” As previously reported, the leadership shakeup comes after a controversy Bard generated May 2 when he authored
an email from the club that, in criticizing Breed’s homelessness policies, accused her of “hobophobia” and “black on black crime.” Bard’s email hadn’t been reviewed by any other member of the club’s executive board before it was sent out. Bard and the club apologized for the email and, after a meeting May 3, delineated a new process for sending out emails from the club’s account. “The club correspondent will resume their lead role of drafting all emails – as is their responsibility – in collaboration with, and review by, other board members and mandatory sign-off by the board’s vice president of internal affairs or their designee,” the club stated in the May 9 email. The email repeated the club’s apology for the insensitive language in the email, but also made clear what it does not apologize for. “It is unacceptable that the mayor has been showered with praise for her administration’s response to this crisis while refusing to move swiftly to protect San Francisco’s houseless residents, people living in single-room-occupancy hotels, and black and Latino communities,” the email states. “These failures are the culmination of decades of anti-homeless policy, upon which San Francisco’s mayor, California’s governor, and members of our state legislative delegation have built their political careers.” Bard did not respond to a request for comment. t