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Vol. 49 • No. 21 • May 23-29, 2019
White Night riots recalled Courtesy David Reed
David Reed, left, and his late husband, Donald Lee Gardner
Court rules for gay man in pension case by Meg Elison
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n a reversal of a lower court decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals awarded spousal survivor benefits to a gay widower whose spouse worked for years at a San Francisco television station. David Reed, 50, had sued KRON4 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 45 Pension Plan three years ago. His husband, Donald Lee Gardner, died in 2014. The pension plan did not provide Reed with a spousal survivor benefit, despite the couple being registered domestic partners. The men were together since 1998, became domestic partners in 2004, and were married for only five days before Gardner died, according to a news release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which represented Reed. Gardner had been a technical director of 30 years at KRON4. The May 16 decision restores benefits to Reed from the KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan that have been owed him since Gardner’s death. As previously reported by the Bay Area Reporter, Reed filed suit in 2016 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to enforce his rights and receive his spousal pension. In response, the plan argued that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act allowed it to refuse recognition of this union, and the district court granted a ruling in favor of KRON/IBEW Local 45 Pension Plan. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of DOMA. Reed could not be reached for comment, but in the NCLR release said he was “overjoyed” by the decision. “My husband and I did everything we could to protect each other, and I was devastated by KRON4’s refusal to recognize our relationship,” he said. “While no one should have to litigate a federal lawsuit for three years to receive spousal protections, I’m overjoyed by today’s decision.” Renaker Hasselman Scott LLP assisted NCLR in the case. “Although the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down in 2013, some employers See page 11 >>
by David-Elijah Nahmod
after a San Francisco Superior Court jury convicted disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White of voluntary manslaughter in the killings of Milk, a city supervisor, and then-mayor George Moscone. Police responded by raiding a Castro gay bar. Tuesday’s event began with a rally at Harvey Milk Plaza, followed by a march
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bout 100 people turned out on the eve of Harvey Milk Day to commemorate a dark day in San Francisco’s history: the 40th anniversary of the White Night riots. LGBTs took to the streets May 21, 1979,
to City Hall, where 40 years ago people smashed windows and set police vehicles on fire, angry that White had not been convicted of first-degree murder. “It was an important night for the community in which we stood up for gay See page 11 >>
Gooch
Housing dominates SF D5 supe race by Matthew S. Bajko
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ith Mayor London Breed facing little opposition, so far, in her bid for a full four-year term this November, the race for the District 5 supervisor seat has become a proxy fight over the city’s housing and homeless policies. That was evident during the recent debate between three candidates seeking the seat hosted by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. Dominating the 90-minute May 13 forum were questions about the astronomical price tag for homes in the city and sky-high apartment rents, plus the inability of city officials to keep people housed, with the city reporting last week a 17% jump in homeless individuals since 2017. Last July, Breed appointed Supervisor Vallie Brown to her former seat representing the Western Addition and Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods after being elected to Room 200 in City Hall. Brown, 62, is now seeking to serve out the remainder of Breed’s term through 2020. Her main challenger is tenants rights activist Dean Preston, 49, a self-described democratic socialist who founded the advocacy group Tenants Together and narrowly lost to Breed in 2016. The more progressive Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club is expected to early endorse him when it meets Tuesday, May 28. Also running are Ryan Solomon, a gay man who is a bartender at the Castro district bar Badlands, and film producer Nomvula
Jane Philomen Cleland
District 5 Supervisor Vallie Brown, right, speaks at a May 13 candidate forum sponsored by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. Candidates Dean Preston, left, and Ryan Solomon also took part in the debate.
O’Meara, who did not take part in the Alice debate. Whoever wins in the fall will need to run for a full four-year term in 2020. How the city can build more affordable housing, particularly for the middle class, and who is best equipped to open a navigation center for homeless individuals in the district were the key topics of discussion during the debate, moder-
ated by Alice club Co-Chair David Fujimoto. While Brown and Preston sparred throughout the forum, Preston was also critical of Breed. He was pointed in his criticism of the mayor for not backing last year’s Proposition C, which taxes large corporations in order to fund housing programs. It passed but failed to re-
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