State

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Gay San Francisco Supervisor candidate reveals he was the victim of alleged homophobic hate crime

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An out gay man said he was the victim of a frightening homophobic assault while campaigning for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Trevor Chandler said he was about to canvass a street in his Mission District neighborhood on Sunday, July 23, when a man started yelling homophobic slurs at him. He said he crossed the street to avoid a confrontation, but the man followed Chandler. The man then lifted what prosecutors described as a “four-foot A-frame sign” and hurled it at him. It was at this point Chandler understood the seriousness of the situation. “I realized it was […]

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Transgender business program honored for helping people build economic power

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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recognized a local trans nonprofit this week for its program supporting trans and nonbinary entrepreneurs. During its regular meeting at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday, the board bestowed its Certificate of Honor to Transgender District in recognition of the group’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, according to local LGBTQ+ outlet The Bay Area Reporter. Citing a 2021 Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research study, which found that only four percent of small businesses in the U.S. are owned by queer entrepreneurs, out Supervisor Rafael Mandelman applauded Transgender District for addressing the disparity “by providing valuable support to trans […]

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California is 1st state to ban school rules requiring parents be notified of child’s pronoun change

California became the first state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change under a law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child’s permission. Proponents of the legislation say it will help protect LGBTQ students who live in unwelcoming households. But opponents say it will hinder schools’ ability to be more transparent with parents. The legislation comes amid a nationwide debate over local school districts and the rights of […]

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Equality California on the Passage of AB 1955, the SAFETY Act

Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, issued the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to the passage of AB 1955, the SAFETY Act, through both houses of the California legislature following a successful 60-15 vote in the Assembly: “With LGBTQ+ young people under attack in California from extremist politicians and school boards seeking to prevent them from safely being themselves at school, the SAFETY Act could not be more timely or necessary. We are thrilled to see it headed to Governor Newsom’s desk. While today’s Assembly floor vote was successful, anti-LGBTQ+ politician Bill Essayli took […]

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Equality California on the Release of 2023 Hate Crime in California Report

Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, released the following statement from Executive Director Tony Hoang in response to the release of the 2023 Hate Crime in California report by the Office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta: “The report released today by the Attorney General reveals that, although overall hate incidents have decreased across our state, those targeting the LGBTQ+ community saw a sharp increase. Among the disturbing findings in the report are: • A 4.1% increase in hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias• A 10.2% increase in hate crimes motivated by anti-transgender bias• An 86.4% increase in hate […]

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This church has two giant red ribbons to let “the community know they were loved and accepted”

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If you’ve ever driven into Hollywood south on the 101 freeway, following signs for the Hollywood Bowl and Highland Avenue, then you were met with the sight on your right of the iconic Gothic bell tower at the Hollywood United Methodist Church. Dedicated in 1930, as Hollywood boomed and Los Angeles stretched west to the Pacific, the church has been “a sanctuary of hope” since the first congregants started to organize in 1909. That tradition famously took the form of two enormous red ribbons hung on the bell tower in the 1990s. “Our church has been proud supporters of our LGBTQIA+ […]

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Communities of Resilience: The Lived Experiences of LGBTQ Adults in Los Angeles County

Approximately 665,000 LGBTQ adults live in Los Angeles County. They make up nearly 9% of the county’s adult population, and they live, work, shop, and seek services throughout the county. This report presents information about their experiences with discrimination and harassment in the areas of education, employment, housing, health care, public spaces, and law enforcement, as well as findings about their health and economic well-being. The report uses representative data collected from 1,006 LGBTQ Los Angelenos who completed the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s 2023 Los Angeles County Health Survey (LACHS), including 504 LGBTQ Angelenos who also completed […]

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Los Angeles LGBT Center Condemns Supreme Court Decision on Homelessness

The Los Angeles LGBT Center has strongly criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of the City of Grants Pass vs. Johnson, which allows U.S. cities to criminalize homelessness. The Center’s statement highlights the detrimental impact of this decision on marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals. “The Los Angeles LGBT Center condemns the recent Supreme Court decision in City of Grants Pass vs. Johnson, enabling U.S. cities to criminalize individuals experiencing homelessness. This ruling not only perpetuates systemic injustice but also exacerbates the daily risks faced by marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals,” the statement reads. The Center argues that the […]

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A San Francisco store is shipping LGBTQ+ books to states where they are banned

 In an increasingly divisive political sphere, Becka Robbins focuses on what she knows best — books. Operating out of a tiny room in Fabulosa Books in San Francisco’s Castro District, one of the oldest gay neighborhoods in the United States, Robbins uses donations from customers to ship boxes of books across the country to groups that want them.  In an effort she calls “Books Not Bans,” she sends titles about queer history, sexuality, romance and more — many of which are increasingly hard to come by in the face of a rapidly growing movement by conservative advocacy groups and lawmakers […]

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