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TDOR observed in SF, SJ
LGBTs return home after fires
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Robert Rauschenberg
John Waters Christmas
The
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Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community
Vol. 47 • No. 47 • November 23-29, 2017
Farley named new trans adviser
Covered CA enrollment underway
by Sari Staver
by Matthew S. Bajko
C
D
lair Farley, the director of economic development at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center for the past 11 years, has been named the mayor’s senior adviser on transgender initiatives, replacing Theresa Sparks, a trans woman who is retiring. Farley, 34, is a transgender woman and will begin the position December 4. “Clair Farley has been an inspirational leader in our city on LGBTQ economic and social rights issues,” Mayor Ed Lee said in a news release. “In her new role she will carry on the important work that Theresa Sparks set Clair Farley in motion and will assure that San Francisco continues to pioneer policies and programming that inspire the rest of the country to follow suit. “San Francisco has a long-standing commitment to advancing and protecting the rights of the transgender community and with Clair’s leadership we will continue our work to make San Francisco a safer, more diverse, and more equitable city,” the mayor said. In an email to the Bay Area Reporter, Farley said she was honored to have been appointed to the job. “This has been a remarkable month despite these challenging times, with over seven transgender candidates winning elections across the country and the passing of vital trans policy in California,” Farley wrote. “I am looking forward to new challenges,” she wrote. “I will be working with my new team conducting a broader gap analysis of resources and services. It is important that we are listening to the needs of our community members and leaders as new policies and programs are developed.” Farley said that she will also be working with other cities and local departments “to make sure that we continue to be a safe haven for all marginalized communities; and that we are doing the work to model innovation and best practices in housing services, violence prevention, youth services, healthcare, employment, and community empowerment.” Sparks told the B.A.R. this week that she doesn’t like the word “retirement.” “I’m leaving full-time from the city,” she said. Sparks has worked for the city for two decades, spending much of that time as executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. She also served on the Police Commission, becoming the first trans president of the oversight body. See page 16 >>
Jane Philomen Cleland
A helping hand for Thanksgiving
O
akland City Councilman Abel Guillen, left, hands a turkey to Sarah Huang and Gordon Wu at his third annual Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway that
took place Saturday, November 18 at Roosevelt Middle School. Guillen, who identifies as two spirit, and volunteers distributed 500 holiday dinners to 2,000 people at the giveaway.
espite the uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act due to President Donald Trump’s desire to end the federal health insurance program, health officials in California have mounted a marketing blitz to enroll residents of the Golden State in insurance plans for 2018. Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, has blanketed the state with advertising to alert people who are required to buy health insurance on their own that they must enroll by December 15 so their coverage will begin on January 1. Signing up by that deadline will also avoid any gaps in coverage or a tax penalty for not having health insurance. The final day to renew or enroll in Covered California health insurance is January 31. Now in its fifth enrollment period, the state-run exchange has already seen a brisk pace in signups this year. During the first two weeks of November, Covered California saw 48,000 new customers purchase one of its plans it offers. According to the See page 17 >>
Events set for World AIDS Day by Seth Hemmelgarn
E
vents are planned around the Bay Area next week to mark the 29th annual World AIDS Day (December 1), which commemorates the lives lost and the work that remains to be done in fighting HIV and AIDS.
Grace Cathedral
San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral will be recognizing the 30th anniversary of the Names Project, with panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on display. The exhibit, which can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, will culminate on World AIDS Day at 7:30 p.m. with an event that will include the rededication of the cathedral’s newly renovated AIDS Interfaith Memorial Chapel. The cathedral is at 1100 California Street. Call (415) 749-6300 or visit https://www.gracecathedral.org for more information.
National AIDS Memorial Grove
The National AIDS Memorial Grove will host its annual Light in the Grove fundraising gala from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, November 30. The event will include a candlelight reflection in the Circle of Friends and a walk through Redwood Grove to the banquet. Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a buffet dinner will be served, and there will be special musical and artistic performances.
Rick Gerharter
Panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt from the Names Project hang in the main nave of Grace Cathedral on San Francisco’s Nob Hill.
“Light in the Grove’s theme this year is ‘Bending the Arc Towards Justice,’ capturing the spirit of hope, determination, and resistance that has been at the foundation of the National AIDS Memorial – and our community’s response to the AIDS pandemic – since the beginning,” organizers said in an email to supporters. Gay former San Francisco supervisor and state senator Mark Leno, who’s running in the city’s 2019 mayoral race, will be honored at the event for being “a longtime friend of the
memorial and tireless champion for civil rights, the LGBT community and HIV/AIDS organizations,” organizers said. The grove is located in the eastern end of Golden Gate Park at the intersection of Bowling Green and Middle Drive East, across from the tennis courts. Tickets start at $250 and are available at http://www.aidsmemorial.org/ events/2017-light-in-the-grove/. See page 16 >>
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