As President Biden, Vice President Harris and advocates across the country continue to push for federal action to safeguard the freedom to vote, Equality California announced its endorsement of California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber on Tuesday. Secretary Weber is running for a full four-year term in 2022, after making history last year as California’s first Black Secretary of State — following her appointment to the position by Governor Gavin Newsom.
“As other states attempt to roll back voting rights, Secretary Weber has used her office to protect and expand the freedom to vote — here in California and across the country,” said Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “LGBTQ+ Californians are lucky to have such a dedicated partner in the Secretary of State’s office. Throughout her career, Secretary Weber has been a committed ally and a champion for full, lived equality, and we look forward to helping elect her to a full term this November.”
Weber has helped lead the nationwide fight to protect voting rights — joining lawsuits against voter suppression efforts with other secretaries of state and advocating for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — in the face of undemocratic attempts to limit access to the ballot box. In the Assembly, Weber was consistently one of the most outspoken champions for LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice, helping to secure key nondiscrimination protections, criminal justice reforms and laws requiring LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum in public schools.
“I’m honored to be endorsed by Equality California, with whom I have had a strong relationship for many years –– as an Assemblymember, and now as Secretary of State,” said Secretary Weber. “I firmly believe California’s strength lies in our diversity, and our shared commitment to equality for everyone who calls our state home –– no matter their sexual orientation, gender identity or anything else. I am a proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ community and a proud partner of Equality California. I look forward to fighting for the civil rights of every Californian alongside EQCA’s leadership and membership for years to come.”
Weber is the daughter of sharecroppers from Hope, Arkansas, who moved to California after her father was threatened by a lynch mob. Weber’s father did not have the opportunity to vote until he was in his 30s, and her grandfather never had the chance to cast a ballot. Although her family moved to California when Weber was three years old, it was her family’s experience in the Jim Crow South that has driven her activism and legislative work.
In addition to Equality California, Weber has been endorsed by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla Governor Gavin Newsom, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis; Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Treasurer Fiona Ma, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Controller Betty Yee, the California Legislative Black Caucus and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, among dozens of elected and community leaders and progressive organizations.
After Vice President Kamala Harris left the U.S. Senate in January 2021, Governor Newsom appointed then-California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to serve the remainder of Harris’ U.S. Senate term; and then Newsom appointed then-California State Assemblymember Weber to fill the remainder of Padilla’s term. The primary election for the Secretary of State position will be June 7, 2022.
For a complete list of Equality California’s 2022 endorsements, visit eqca.org/elections.
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org
Welcome to the Rainbow Connection of the Sebastopol Senior Center! And don’t let that word “Senior” fool you, think of us as the Sebastopol FUN Center!
We are expanding our offerings to adults of ALL ages. We are a place to come to if you wish to THRIVE! Read on if you want to hear about local events offered by us (and others) for our Sonoma County LGBT+ community. Especially notice, that after a two year wait, we are hosting our famous Mardi Gras dance again on February 26th.
Check out these LGBT+ activities you can put on your 2022 calendar. Please don’t hesitate to call or email me if you need anything! Also, click HERE, for those of you new to this blog, and you can read a longer introduction about me and our LGBT+ goals. AND contact me if inquire about volunteering at our LGBT+ events or if you want to drive seniors to their doctors appointments.
Please note that all our Sebastopol Seniors Center events are subject to modification based on the state of the pandemic. As such, our dining room has closed for the month of January, but meals are still available for pick up.
Sincerely,
Scotty King Manager of Special Services Volunteer Driver Program ∙ LGBT+ Liaison 707-827-8429 direct 707-829-2440 main Sebastopol Senior Center 167 N. High Street Sebastopol CA 95472 “Remember when Giving a Ride was the Neighborly Thing to Do? It Still Is!”
LGBT+ Friendship Mixer Come meet your LGBT+ Friends and Neighbors
What: LGBT+ Friendship Mixer When: Monday February 7th, 2 – 4pm Where: Sebastopol Senior Center in person Why: Meet new LGBT+ folks Cost: Free to members, $5 non-members Go HERE to register This event is for everyone wanting to make a new friend. We will spend the first hour in a structured activity, “speed friending,” where you will get to talk with 10 new people (both men and women, all are LGBT+). You will spend 5 minutes in a 1 on 1 conversation where you can get to know each other a little better. After 5 minutes, when the bell rings, participants will move on to their next 1 on 1 conversation. During the 2nd hour, there will be an informal mixer game. You will be provided questions to ask other folks of your choice.
LGBT+ Mardi Gras DANCE
Come be Dazzled and Energized Outstanding Dance Music, Video DJ Wear Your Mardi Gras Fun Clothes
Snacks Provided Beer and Wine for Sale $5
Must show proof of vaccination at the door.
What: LGBT+ Mardi Gras DANCE When: Saturday February 26th 6:30 to 10 PM Where: Sebastopol Senior Center in person Why: Meet new LGBT+ folks & HAVE FUN
You must register in advance, as spaces might sell out. Go HERE to register (Available after January 6th) Email Scotty if you have any questions, Scotty. (scotty@sebastopolseniorcenter.org)
Cost: Pre-Purchase – $15 Each for Members; $20 for non-members
If you would like any information about volunteering for this dance, please email Scotty
Redwood Rainbows Square Dance Club Let’s Dance!
Come LGBT+ dancing with the largest Gay Square-Dancing club in the country! Meets in Sebastopol * Everyone is welcome * No partner needed. Beginners class is starting January 12th 2022 Give it a try—the first class is free! Gently exercise your body and mind while moving to music and having fun. Dance either role! For more information visit this website or email them at contact@redwoodrainbows.org
The 10 Warning Sings Of Alzheimer’s
This Alzheimer’s Talk is presented by an out gay man, (and Golden Guy), Gene Girimonte. He lives locally and is a Volunteer Community Educator for the Alzheimer’s Association. All LGBT+ folks VERY welcome. This program will help you recognize common signs of the disease in yourself and others and next steps to take, including how to talk to your doctor.
When: Tuesday, January 18th, 11 – 12:30pm Where: Sebastopol Senior Center in person Why: Delay cognitive decline as long as possible Cost: Free to members, $5 non-members Go HERE to register
New GBT Men’s Group Forming in Oakmont Give Mike a call if you want to find out more and when the next potluck is happening. What: Silver Guys Where: East Rec Center, Oakmont Who: Mike Sotak 707.291.9724 sotak.michael@yahoo.com
Rainbow Women of Oakmont
A large number of lesbians live in the Oakmont community, about 200. For more information about this women’s group, please call: (707) 623-9097 Educational, social and community service group for residents of Oakmont Village in Santa Rosa.
Live Theater in Sebastopol: The Glass Menagerie
I am super excited to see this at our local live theater, Main Stage West! The manager there was so gracious to let me know that on Thursday nights, they have “Pay What You Can” or “2 for 1” night for those of us on budgets. The Glass Menagerie Jan 21 – Feb 12, 2022 Thurs, Fri, Sat @ 8pm; Sun @ 5pm Click here for more: Main Stage West
Senior Peer Counseling Starting in Sebastopol Needs More LGBT+ Folks!
I am very excited about this! They are looking for more LGBT+ folks to join the new class starting in late January 2022.
From: Melissa Fike, MFT Senior Adult Counseling Division Director West County Community Services
“West County Community Service’s Senior Peer Counseling Program has this VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY. Are you interested in giving back to the community while helping a population in much need of support & compassion? Consider becoming a volunteer Senior Peer Counselor. Our peer counselors, ages 55+, are compassionate individuals who give their time to help their peers navigate the challenges of aging. Isolation, grief, and depression are common struggles facing seniors. Our training program is provided by licensed clinical staff and is designed to give participants the tools necessary to recognize and assist with the stresses and transitions seniors experience.
Ongoing training and supervision are also a critical component for this program. West County Community Service’s Senior Peer Counseling Program reaches out to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Seniors to ensure these valuable services are also available to the LGBT+ community. LGBT+ community member volunteers enrich these services. We are currently recruiting for our next Senior Peer Counselor training which will begin in late January 2022. The training will run from late January through mid-May (35 hours total). We only offer this training every other year, and the class is limited to 8 participants. We have a great group of volunteers – compassionate and caring individuals who bring a wealth of experience from their own lives to the work. Some have experience in the counseling area, some not at all. They are people who want to learn and grow themselves, are interested in exploring their own aging process, and want to give back to the community. We have a lot of fun too. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Melissa Fike via email HERE, or call 707-823-1640 ext. 301″
LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000. Wednesdays 1:30-3pm. Online via Zoom. Spring semester 2022 begins January 19! Looking forward to seeing you there! Please contact me to enroll in this FREE class and receive a Zoom invite: cdungan@santarosa.edu
SRJC’s “Aging Gayfully!” From Gary “Buz” Hermes His next class will meet on zoom, on Saturday’s 11 am – 1 pm January 22 – May 28, 2022 For more information go to Gary “Buz” Hermes or contact Buz, or call (707) 227-6935 AND, Buz suggests this documentary film about LGBT+ Seniors “Hi! I thought you might enjoy this 14 minute film of Interviews of LGBT elders. LGBT+ seniors have demonstrated great resilience of humanity over hardship throughout the years, paving the way for a better and more accepting future for generations to come.”
Not Another Second – is the first in a national series of cultural campaigns from Watermark Retirement Communities – and tells the untold stories of 12 LGBT+ seniors and explores the years they lost due to societal constraints.
André Leon Talley, giant of the fashion industry, has died aged 73.
Talley, who was Vogue’s first Black creative director, and later editor-at-large, passed away on Tuesday (18 January), his literary agent confirmed.
He had been suffering from an unknown illness.
A pioneer in fashion, Talley passionately championed diversity and inclusion in an industry that for years resisted it. He was remembered by friends and fans for his glamour, grace and grit.
Talley grew up with his grandmother in the city of Durham in Jim Crow era North Carolina, and told NPR in 2018 that he first came across a copy of Vogue at his local library when he was nine or 10 years old.
He described it as a “rabbit hole” into “a world of glamour”, and added: “[Vogue] was my gateway to the world outside of Durham.
“It was the world of literature, what was happening in the world of art, what was happening in the world of entertainment.”
Talley went on to study French literature at Brown University, where he wrote his thesis on the influence of Black women in Charles Baudelaire.
He later moved to New York City, working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Andy Warhol’s Factory studio, and at Women’s Wear Daily, Interview, W, and the New York Times.
Talley finally made his way to Vogue, where he was fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, creative director from 1988 to 1995, and editor-at-large from 1998 to 2013.
The fashion icon became known for his signature kaftans and capes, and told NPR: “I went to [Morocco] and saw that the men in North Africa in Marrakech and Casablanca walked around in caftan shirts and loose-fitting clothes all day, every day… I decided: I want to be like that. I want to wear that instead of a suit because it’s comfortable. You are ventilated. You’re roomy. You’re cozy, and you can just stretch.
“I’m not a tall stick anymore! I’m a big, big guy of great girth and people think I look like maybe my clothes don’t look that important, but I have taken great time and [done] fittings for my capes and caftans made by the great designers.
“I will continue to wear these things for the rest of my life!
Talley published three books during his lifetime: A.L.T.: A Memoir in 2003, the photography book A.L.T. 365+, and in 2020, The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir, which became a New York Times best seller.
In 2010 and 2011, he had a place on the judging panel of America’s Next Top Model.
Diane von Furstenberg, the designer who was a close friend of Talley’s, wrote: “Goodbye darling André … no one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did. No one was grander and more soulful than you were.”
Bette Midler added: “I’m sorry to say the extraordinary André Leon Talley has died.
“He was such a force and believed in the magic of fashion and its illusions with all his being. His life was a saga of great highs, great lows, the dramatic, the ridiculous, and the endless pursuit of beauty. Love and RIP.”
Slave Play writer Jeremy O’Harris tweeted: “For a little Black gay boy who reached for the stars from the south there were few people I could look up to up there amongst the stars who looked like me just more fab except for you André.
“For a generation of boys André Leon Talley was a beacon of grace and aspiration. RIP.”
Preston Mitchum, attorney and director of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, tweeted: “André Leon Talley made it possible for so many Black queer boys and men to express ourselves out loud. No reservations.
“A legend. An icon. May he rest in peace and power knowing that he paved the way for many people who looked up to him.”
As the beleaguered BBC faces backlash from government ministers, PinkNews takes a brief look back at the broadcaster’s track record on LGBT+ rights.
Tory culture minister Nadine Dorries fuelled alarm over the weekend after she questioned the BBC’s main source of funding, a license fee charged to all TV viewers in the nation.
On Monday evening (17 January), Dorries confirmed that the BBC budget will be frozen for the next two years, adding that the future of the public-owned broadcaster’s funding will be “up for discussion”.
It’s the latest salvos against the BBC fired by a minister in Boris Johnson’s government – one that has increasingly smeared the public broadcaster as a megaphone of the metropolitan elite that is anything but “impartial”.
Others, however, disagree. Stressing that right-wing opinions often receive more airtime than progressive ones, according to a Cardiff University study, among other concerns.
From airing the first same-sex kiss televised on a soap opera to the constant accusations of “transphobia” riddling its senior ranks, here are some of the good – and the bad – of the BBC’s history with queer lives and issues.
When the BBC aired the first televised gay kiss on Eastenders
(BBC)
In 1989, the BBC made history when it aired the first mouth-to-mouth same-sex kiss on British TV.
Kind-hearted Colin Russell, played by Michael Cashman, was the long-running show’s first gay character, a time when LGBT+ representation on prime-time TV was threadbare.
In 1987, a monumental episode of the soap opera saw Russell receive a kiss on the forehead from his on-screen boyfriend Barry Clark (Gary Hailes). Two years later, in 1989, Michael Cashman’s character made history yet again, with Russell and his boyfriend Guido (Nicholas Donovan) sharing the first mouth-to-mouth same-sex kiss on British TV.
Both landmark moments were inevitably blasted by the right-wing press – with Piers Morgan branding the latter as “a love scene between two yuppie poofs” in The Sun – and inundated with complaints from fuming viewers, but the show since been credited with helping to soften the public’s attitudes towards queer folk.
BBC’s Boy Meets Girl casts first trans actor in trans role on a British sitcom
Rebecca Root and Harry Hepple in ‘Boy Meets Girl’. (BBC)
Boy Meets Girl, a comedy-drama about two people falling in love, was the broadcaster’s first sitcom focusing on trans lives.
The show’s lead, Rebecca Root, became the first trans actor cast in a television soap opera, with both the programme and Root bagging a nomination at the British LGBT Awards in 2016.
“The BBC should be proud of its commitment to diversity and groundbreaking coverage of LGBT+ issues,” Sarah Garrett, who founded the awards, told the BBC at the time.
Strictly Come Dancing welcoming historic first same-sex pairings
John Whaite and Johannes Radebe. (BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing, a staple of many a Brit’s living room, broke ballroom ground when it finally welcomed its first same-sex dancers in 2020 and 2021.
Nicola Adams and Katya Jones and John Whaite and Johannes Radebe became the competition’s first all-female and male pairings respectively.
In the face of bigoted backlash from pearl-clutching viewers, the BBC continually refused to uphold viewer complaints and defended the simple act of two people of the same gender dancing.
A commitment to bringing LGBT+ stories to the forefront of its programming
Sheridan Smith as Sarah Sak in BBC drama, Four Lives. (BBC)
From the quietly subversive Everybody’s Talking About Jamie documentary,Drag Queen at 16, in 2011 to this year’s Four Lives, the BBC has in the last decade gone out of its way to represent LGBT+ lives beyond tired coming out plot lines.
BBC Three, the home of the network’s more off-the-wall, youth-focused shows, has been especially at the forefront of this.
The channel aired both Growing Up Gay with Olly Alexander and Transitioning Teens, which saw trans activist Charlie Craggs chat to trans teens who have waited years to be seen by the NHS.
The time BBC debated the ‘morality’ of LGBT+ lessons in schools
All of the Question Time panellists supported LGBT-inclusive education. (Screen capture via the BBC)
On Question Time, BBC One’s weekly political discussion show, panellists were posed the question of whether it is “morally right” to teach children about LGBT+ issues in 2019.
As much as the panel, made up of senior lawmakers, company bosses and journalists, agreed that LGBT-inclusive education is “morally right”, the episode drew fierce complaints online.
“The framing of this question is deeply worrying,” tweeted BBC presenter Sue Perkins. “Are we really here again, nearly two decades after Section 28 was repealed…?”
When the BBC ‘balanced’ its coverage by featuring a gay execution supporter
Elton John and David Furnish with their two sons. (Getty)
In 2010, seven million people tuned in to watch BBC’s flagship News at Sixbulletin as it reported on the birth of Elton John and David Furnish’s first child.
During the broadcast, the show interviewed a single person – Stephen Green, of right-wing group Christian Voice.
But it failed to mention that Green has previously supported the death penalty for gay men in Uganda, among other examples of small-mindedness. The BBC did so, it told PinkNews at the time, to add an “opposing viewpoint” to the subject of surrogacy.
The BBC once debated whether ‘gays should be executed’
Ugandan men hold a rainbow flag reading ‘Join hands to end LGBTI genocide’ (ISAAC KASAMANI/AFP/Getty)
As Ugandan lawmakers debated a bill that would introduce the death penalty for LGBT+ people in 2009, the BBC World Service asked: “Should homosexuals be executed?”
The backlash was swift. The radio station’s director, Peter Horrocks, apologised for the report in a statement published to the BBC Editors’ Blog.
“The original headline on our website was, in hindsight, too stark,” he said. “We apologise for any offence it caused.”
The BBC quitting a workplace Stonewall scheme over a ‘risk of perceived bias’
Stonewall is the UK – and Europe’s – largest LGBT+ charity. (Getty)
BBC bosses said that the departure was to “minimise the risk of perceived bias” when it comes to covering LGBT+ issues.
It was the upshot of a divisive culture war that had pelted the programme, with many taking aim at the scheme in what Stonewall has described as part of a “coordinated attack” against the charity.
Fran Unsworth allegedly telling LGBT+ staff to ‘get used to hearing views you don’t like’
Fran Unsworth, head of news at the BBC. (BBC)
The BBC’s director of news Fran Unsworth reportedly told the corporation’s LGBT+ network to “get used” to hearing opinions they do not agree with.
“You’ll hear things you don’t personally like and see things you don’t like – that’s what the BBC is, and you have to get used to that,” Unsworth allegedly said at the meeting.
The meeting had been called following weeks of tension within the BBC surrounding the broadcaster’s handling of LGBT+ issues, mainly trans rights.
‘We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women’
Trans rights protestors gather outside the BBC building. (Hollie Adams/Getty Images)
Among the laundry list of criticisms from LGBT+ people: How it relied on a survey of just 80 people, how the survey was conducted by an anti-trans group, how Lily Cade, a porn star interviewed in the article, had called for trans women to be “lynched” and “executed”.
Some former and current BBC staffers even quit the organisation, citing a “hostile” environment against LGBT+ people – with the podcast being the final straw.
“We really need to start looking internally at ourselves as the BBC,” said one staff member in a leaked document, “and ask a very simple question.
A bomb threat was phoned in Wednesday afternoon to the Wilshire Boulevard Koreatown offices of the TransLatin@ Coalition, Bamby Salcedo, the president and CEO of the non-profit organization told the Los Angeles Blade.
According to Salcedo, an unidentified male caller told the staff person who answered at approximately 3 p.m., while delivering the threat said; “You’re all going to die.” The staff immediately evacuated everyone from their offices and then contacted the Los Angeles Police Department for assistance.
Officers, specialists and detectives from the Rampart Division of the LAPD responded and swept the building. A spokesperson for the LAPD confirmed that the incident is under active investigation but would make no further comment.
On a Facebook post immediately after the incident the non-profit wrote; “To ensure the safety of our clients and staff members, we ask that you please NOT come to our office.”
In a follow-up post, Salcedo notified the organization and its clientele that the LAPD had given the all-clear and that their offices would resume normal operations Thursday at 9:00 a.m. PT.
“Thank you for your messages and concern for our staff and community,” Salcedo said.
“No amount of threats can stop us from our commitment to the TGI community,” she added.
The TransLatin@ Coalition was founded in 2009 by a group of transgender and gender non-conforming and intersex (TGI) immigrant women in Los Angeles as a grassroots response to address the specific needs of TGI Latino immigrants who live in the U.S.
Since then, the agency has become a nationally recognized organization with representation in 10 different states across the U.S. and provides direct services to TGI individuals in Los Angeles.
In 2015, the TransLatin@ Coalition identified the urgent need to provide direct services to empower TGI people in response to structural, institutional, and interpersonal violence, and the Center for Violence Prevention and Transgender Wellness was born.
Since then, the organization has secured funding from the state and local government sources as well as several private foundations and organizations to provide direct services to all TGI individuals in Los Angeles County.
The TransLatin@ Coalition’s primary focus is to change the landscape of access to services for TGI people and provide access to comprehensive resource and services that will improve the quality of life of TGI people.
As we mark one year into the Biden administration, Lambda Legal reviews the progress made (or not) on ten asks from a year ago to rectify the harms done by the Trump administration and to address the ongoing inequities experienced by LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV.
The Trump administration damaged the integrity of our federal judiciary by packing it with right-wing extremists who oppose LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, and civil rights more broadly. We called on the Biden administration to make the restoration of fairness and impartiality to the courts one of its highest priorities.
What the administration accomplished
The administration has worked with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to confirm more judges in its first year than any president since Ronald Reagan; a record-tying 40 lifetime appointments to the federal bench. Of these 40 judges confirmed, 32 are women; 27 are people of color; 21 are women of color; 27 add professional diversity, including 15 former public defenders; and one is the first openly gay or lesbian circuit court judge in the country.
What more we need
The administration must nominate more openly LGBTQ+ people, and particularly LGBTQ+ people of color, for judicial vacancies, focusing on the five circuits—D.C., First, Fourth, Eighth, and Tenth—that do not have a single openly LGBTQ+ judge on the bench of either the circuit court or the district courts in its jurisdiction.
Specifically, the administration should nominate the country’s first transgender or nonbinary judge and the first openly bisexual judge. To be legitimate, the judiciary should reflect the society it serves.
With the new majority on the Supreme Court created by Trump and increasingly hostile lower court appointments, we have every reason to believe our opponents will seek to undermine marriage equality for same-sex couples. Now more than ever, we need a robust ally in the White House who will vigorously defend and fully implement marriage equality, including things like the right of LGBTQ+ widows and widowers to access Social Security survivor’s benefits. The Biden administration must ensure that marriages between same-sex couples are respected and that LGBTQ+ families are treated like all other families.
What the administration accomplished
Lambda Legal won victories that allow the surviving members of same-sex couples who were barred from marriage in the past to access a key protection of marriage: Social Security survivor’s benefits. The administration chose the right side of history in standing down from appeals of these victories, which unlock millions of dollars in benefits and give a piece of dignity to thousands.
What more we need
The vestiges of marriage discrimination still live on, and they have yet to be fully remedied. From survivor pension benefits to veterans’ benefits, there are still ongoing inequalities that persist today because same-sex couples were barred from marriage in the past. We need to see a deeper commitment and proactive engagement throughout the federal government (including agencies like the IRS) to address these lingering inequities.
At every turn, the Trump administration granted licenses to discriminate to health care providers, social service agencies, and private businesses, but we know that religious freedom does not include the freedom to harm people because of those beliefs. The Biden administration must reassert protections for LGBTQ+ people when we are at our most vulnerable; in hospitals, homeless shelters, nursing homes, and foster care, and end the effort to grant a “license to discriminate” in the name of religion.
What the administration accomplished
The administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) withdrew broad exemptions from nondiscrimination requirements in federally-funded child welfare programs granted by the Trump administration, based on the religious objections of child welfare agencies that did not want to have to work with same-sex couples. Lambda Legal is still working to undo some of the harms caused by these waivers.
What more we need
The administration must be a champion for robust nondiscrimination protections, including passing the Equality Act.
The Biden administration must begin enforcing robust nondiscrimination requirements for HHS-funded programs, which provide health and welfare services to millions of vulnerable people across the country. Lambda Legal filed suit to challenge HHS’s nonenforcement of the Obama-era rule and to stop the Trump grants rule from going into effect. Every day that HHS fails to either enforce the previous rule or establish new protections, vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth, seniors, people living with HIV, and others who rely on grant-funded programs may face denials of critical supports and services.
The Biden administration must end discrimination against LGBTQ+ prospective foster parents in federal foster care programs for immigrant children. Rather than ending this discrimination, HHS has facilitated it, authorizing the segregation of LGBTQ+ would-be foster parents and sending them to alternative providers, regardless of the harm this causes to both the adults and the refugee children, who deserve the chance to be considered for placement in all homes that would best serve their individualized needs. It is well past time for HHS to stop enabling discrimination against LGBTQ+ people by agencies receiving federal tax dollars to carry out functions on behalf of the government.
The Biden administration must eliminate the so-called “Conscience and Religious Freedom Division” at HHS and issue new regulations that safeguard the ability of LGBTQ+ people and people seeking reproductive health care to access the life-saving care that they need.
The Biden administration must revisit Trump-era rules lifting basic protections put in place by the Obama administration for people receiving federally-funded social services from religious organizations. To protect the religious and other interests of people receiving services, those protections included requirements that the agencies post notices advising people receiving services that they are protected against discrimination and may request a referral to an alternate provider if they are uncomfortable receiving services in that religious setting. Lambda Legal and our partners sued the Trump administration to block those rules and the litigation is ongoing.
In the final days of the Trump administration, the Department of Labor announced it was changing the rules that limit the freedom of companies receiving federal contracts to discriminate based on religion against their employees. The new Trump rules took effect in January 2021, and allowed nearly all such contractors to claim religious rights to discriminate, even large, for-profit companies with no evident religious aspects to the goods or services they wish to sell to the federal government. This type of contracting rule, which makes equal workplace opportunity a condition of receiving taxpayer-funded contracts, has been critical to efforts to reduce many kinds of discrimination against workers, including discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. The Biden administration has proposed rescinding the Trump rules but has not yet done so.
The Trump administration repeatedly relied on a distorted, legally mistaken interpretation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to justify many policies designed to facilitate special religious exemptions from rules that usually apply equally to everyone to protect others against many types of harm, including the harms of discrimination. The Biden administration should issue formal legal guidance correcting the prior opinions so that federal agencies and the general public have appropriate directions about the protections and limits of religious freedom under federal law.
The Trump administration called efforts to train medical and other personnel on the pernicious effects of systemic racism “un-American” and issued an executive order banning the use of federal funds for such training. The Biden administration must reverse and repudiate this order and the many other racist directives and policies of outgoing President Trump, such as the Muslim travel ban and other attacks on Black and brown communities.
What the administration accomplished
In September 2020, then-President Trump issued an Executive Order prohibiting Federal contractors and grantees from instituting diversity training programs that discuss implicit bias or other such “divisive concepts.” Understanding that there cannot be any LGBTQ+ equality without race equity, Lambda Legal obtained the only nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement of this racist executive order. On January 20, 2021, as one of his first acts in office, President Biden rescinded Trump’s racist executive order and replaced it with a new one, the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.
Also, on January 20, 2021, President Biden revoked then-President Trump’s Muslim Ban Executive Order, referring to it as a “stain on our national conscience” and “inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all.” Lambda Legal participated in multiple challenges to the Muslim Ban, because the LGBTQ+ community knows all too well that official government discrimination against a persecuted group contributes to irrational prejudice and violence.
On January 25, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce.
What more we need
The Biden administration must do all it can to encourage the Senate to pass the NO BAN Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion in numerous immigration-related decisions.
As commander-in-chief of the military, one of the world’s largest employers, President Biden must end the ban on open service by transgender people and ensure that Pentagon leadership understands that our patriotic transgender service members have a right to serve their country openly, as who they are, and free from discrimination.
What the administration accomplished
President Biden rescinded the Trans Military Ban on January 25, 2021 with an Executive Order. This action, taken in coordination with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, ended the years-long nightmare for the thousands of brave transgender people who were already serving or who wish to serve our country.
What more we need
The Biden administration should champion legislation prohibiting discrimination in the Armed Forces that would prohibit future administrations from reimposing a ban on open service.
School is tough enough without bullying from the federal government. The Biden administration must get the Department of Education back in the business of protecting the educational opportunities of all students, and in particular, should end its relentless assault on the ability of transgender students to be their authentic selves and to have equal opportunity.
What the administration accomplished
Consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling and analysis in Bostock v. Clayton County, the Department of Education published a notice of interpretation to clarify that Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, the Departments of Justice and Education issued a resource for students and families entitled “Confronting Anti-LGBTQI+ Harassment in Schools.” The notice of interpretation and fact sheet are currently the subject of ongoing litigation.
The Department of Education held public hearings regarding Title IX in June 2021 and invited students, educators, and members of the public to provide comments on steps the agency can take to address discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in educational environments.
The Department of Justice filed statements of interests or briefs in cases challenging laws or policies discriminating against trans youth in schools, including in Lambda Legal’s challenges to West Virginia’s ban on sports participation by trans youth (B.P.J. v. West Virginia) and a Florida school district’s discriminatory restroom policy.
What more we need
President Biden needs to speak out forcibly, and often, in staunch defense of trans and gender nonconforming youth. This administration should use all tools available, including the bully pulpit, to stem the tide of anti-trans laws.
The Department of Education is scheduled to issue proposed nondiscrimination Title IX rulemaking in April 2022. Proposed rules should revoke the 2020 Title IX final regulations on sexual harassment and sexual assault on college campuses and propose regulations expressly clarifying Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination protects transgender and gender nonconforming students in educational programs and activities.
Additionally, the proposed rules should add a new regulation clarifying that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the application of any rules of appearance; that dress and grooming codes shall not be written or enforced in a manner that disproportionately impacts LGBTQI+ students; and that dress and grooming codes shall not be written or enforced based on gender stereotypes.
With respect to school-based policing, the Department of Education should gather examples of quality, effective training for school-based police on child development, implicit bias, and reducing the disparate impact of school policing on: youth of color, youth with disabilities, LGBTQI+ and GNC children and youth, and children and youth at the intersection of those identities.
Every American needs access to affordable, quality health care. And the COVID-19 global pandemic has exposed how barriers to health care can put vulnerable communities at great risk. The Trump administration was relentless in its efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act and to restrict the ability of many—including LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV—to access care, regardless of who they are. The Biden administration’s Department of Justice should stop trying to undermine health care in our courts, and its Department of Health and Human Services should be fighting for quality health care, free from discrimination or harassment.
What the administration accomplished
The Biden administration appointed Rachel Levine, the highest-ranking and first Senate-confirmed openly transgender U.S. government official in U.S. history, to the post of Assistant Secretary for Health.
HHS announced that, consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock, it would interpret the health care nondiscrimination law, enacted as Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in health care programs that received federal funding.
The Biden administration issued proposed rules that prohibit qualified health insurance plans sold in the health exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity, or from adopting designs that exclude coverage of gender-affirming health care for transgender people.
President Biden issued an Executive Order on Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, which orders HHS and other federal agencies to examine policies or practices that may present unnecessary barriers to individuals and families attempting to access Medicaid or ACA coverage.
President Biden also issued an Executive Order on Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery, which establishes a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to develop recommendations for mitigating the health inequities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and for preventing future inequities.
President Biden revoked Executive Order 13828, which created barriers for low-income people to access federal benefit assistance, including Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in a case challenging Arkansas’s dangerous and discriminatory ban on the provision of medically necessary gender-affirming health care to transgender minors suffering from gender dysphoria.
The Biden administration supported access to abortion by suing Texas to strike down its unconstitutional abortion ban; defending the right to access abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, calling for passage of a federal law that would protect access to abortion; and removing the in-person requirement for dispensing mifepristone.
What more we need
In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration finalized a rule eliminating protections for LGBTQ+ people and people with limited English proficiency, among others, under the health care nondiscrimination law, enacted as Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Lambda Legal successfully stopped some parts of the Trump health care rule from taking effect. However, other parts remain in effect and the administration must issue new regulations reversing the Trump health care rule without delay.
And as previously stated, HHS must rescind the notice of nonenforcement of the 2016 rule prohibiting discrimination by recipients of HHS funding, and it has not replaced the 2021 rulemaking. The administration must move quickly to clarify that grant recipients are prohibited from using federal funds to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in need of those services.
We need the federal government to eliminate all discriminatory barriers to transition-related health care in the systems that it operates, including the VA health system, the federal employee health benefits program (FEHB), and TRICARE, the military health system. For example, in June of 2021, VA Secretary McDonough announced a process to remove the bar on surgical gender-affirming care for transgender veterans. There has been no movement and advocates are pushing for action. The VA expects to move forward with rulemaking in July 2022. It is important for the VA to implement this policy as soon as possible to ensure that transgender veterans can obtain the care they are currently being denied and to create sufficient infrastructure to withstand future partisan attacks. Across all of its programs, the federal government should operate at the gold standard, and use its position as a key provider of health care and insurance coverage to raise the bar for the health care industry as a whole.
The Trump administration showed total disregard for family ties when it did not approve of the families involved—such as immigrant families and those headed by LGBTQ+ people—and used the power of the government to separate and undermine such families. The Biden administration must respect—not target and persecute—all families by immediately reuniting families separated at the border, by creating a pathway to citizenship that allows families to stay together, and by ensuring that LGBTQ+ families are treated the same in the eyes of the law as all others.
What the administration accomplished
Lambda Legal and Immigration Equality won victories declaring as unlawful the U.S. Department of State’s policy of treating the marital children born abroad to U.S. same-sex couples as “born out of wedlock” because they were not biologically related to both parents and therefore ineligible for recognition as U.S. citizens at birth. The administration ended this unlawful policy in May 2021. With the policy change, children born abroad to married parents, at least one of whom is a U.S. citizen, are citizens at birth if they have a biological relationship to any one of their parents.
The Biden administration rescinded the Trump “Zero Tolerance” policy of separating immigrant and asylum-seeking families and established a task force to reunite separated families.
What more we need
The families separated by the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy are entitled to damages. The Department of Justice should cease arguing that the government does not owe these traumatized families compensation for the harms inflicted upon them.
President Biden must direct the Pentagon to end its discrimination against our patriotic service members living with HIV and ensure that our military’s policies are informed by science and not outdated and stigmatizing views about who can serve our country safely, with honor and distinction.
What the administration accomplished
President Biden appointed a number of strong leaders in the spaces of HIV-related medicine and policy, including Harold Philips, Director of The White House Office of National AIDS Policy, to the administration. These expert advisors to the President know that major scientific and medical advances have transformed HIV into a chronic, manageable condition that presents essentially no risk to the health or safety of other service members.
What more we need
The Biden administration needs to address, with an inclusive policy based on health metrics, the Department of Defense Instructions that prohibit the enlistment or commissioning as officers and exclude service members who are diagnosed with HIV in the course of their military careers from deployment opportunities, which, in turn, impacts eligibility to maintain a career in the military.
President Biden must rescind the discriminatory restrictions on the military service of people living with HIV by permitting them to enlist or commission in any branch of the U.S. Armed Services. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris committed to eliminating this type of discrimination within the military.
LGBTQ+ people from around the world come to the United States, sometimes literally running for their lives. But the Trump administration tarnished our reputation as a safe harbor by making it virtually impossible for people to seek refuge in the United States and enacted historically low ceilings on the number of refugees that can be admitted. The Biden administration must reestablish asylum rules to ensure those seeking safety from persecution because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status can find refuge in the United States.
What the administration accomplished
In January 2021, just before the Biden administration took office, Lambda Legal won a nationwide injunction stopping the Trump administration’s “Death-to-Asylum” rule from taking effect. The “Death-to-Asylum” rule would have made it virtually impossible for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV fleeing persecution to secure asylum in the United States, as well as eliminated eligibility for asylum to anyone with a gender-based claim. Since then, the administration proposed a rule reversing some aspects of the rule in Fall 2021 and announced plans to issue a proposed rule addressing the remainder of the “Death-to-Asylum” rule in 2022.
What more we need
The Biden administration must issue new regulations to fully reverse the “Death-to-Asylum” rule and improve the ability of refugees, including those who are LGBTQ+ or living with HIV, to seek asylum within our borders.
The administration needs to end the “Remain in Mexico” Policy and stop deporting immigrants who are otherwise entitled to asylum or other forms of relief.
The administration must release from custody or detention people with underlying health conditions that make them susceptible to COVID-19. As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues, prisons, jails, and detention facilities are dangerous centers for the spread of the deadly virus.
There must be accountability when federal immigration officers and their agents engage in dangerous, dehumanizing, and often blatantly racist behavior, whether targeting LGBTQ immigrants in custody or Haitian refugees fleeing disaster.
YEAR TWO: A new year brings new concerns and goals. Therefore, in addition to the above, Lambda Legal calls upon the Biden administration to prioritize these five critical issues in Year Two.
Protect Voting Rights
Voter suppression tactics used in hostile states silence the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community, minimizing our political power and ability to inform conversations around policies that directly affect us. President Biden must convince Congress to pass the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act, and the Washington, D.C. Admission Act to ensure the integrity of our democracy, restore the efficacy of the Voting Rights Act, and enfranchise D.C. citizens, ten percent (10%) of whom identify as LGBTQ+.
Protect Black Trans Women
Hate crimes continue to rise and each subsequent year is the deadliest year on record for transgender people. The vast majority of transgender victims are Black and brown transgender women. To help ensure their safety, the Biden administration needs to champion legislation that works to decriminalize sex work; push Congress to repeal SESTA and FOSTA; invest in research showing the harms inflicted on transgender women of color as a result of criminalizing sex work; appoint Department of Justice leadership who will investigate the epidemic of violence against Black trans people and take guidance and direction from local and state LGBTQ+ anti-violence groups on how to begin to address the epidemic; and implement the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act, which was included in the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, by adopting a community-based approach that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ communities.
Protect the Constitutional Rights of Trans People in Federal Custody
Being in federal custody does not mean one loses all of one’s rights. The Biden administration must reverse the Trump administration’s changes to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Policy Manual regarding the housing of incarcerated trans people. Furthermore, it should establish policies and procedures ensuring that incarcerated trans people have access to gender-affirming health care, including surgical care, and establish policies and procedures that address names and pronouns, search protocols, and housing determinations. And finally, the administration must ensure that the constitutional and statutory rights of LGBTQ+ people in federal custody are protected in re-entry programs.
Collect Data on LGBTQ+ People and People Living with HIV
Systemic inequities in our society disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV in a myriad of ways, but the government does not have enough data on sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV status, and the intersection of other identities to adequately understand and address these inequities. The administration must collect additional data, provide analysis, and release to the public findings on HIV-related disparities in stigma, discrimination, new infections, knowledge of status, and more among marginalized segments of our society. Additionally, the administration should initiate new rulemaking to reinstate the national collection of data on tribal and LGBTQ+ foster youth and foster and adoptive parents and guardians; reinstate the collection of information about trans older adults in the National Survey of Older Americans; and develop best practices and technical assistance for schools for collecting sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression-related demographic information of youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and of youth experiencing homelessness or school arrests, and prioritize the safety and well-being of these youth, especially LGBTQ+ youth of color, in the data collection process.
Update HIV Policies to Reflect Science and Reject Stigma
Although we welcomed the FDA’s change in 2020 from a 12-month to a 3-month deferral for blood donations from men who have sex with men as a step in the right direction, the FDA can and should implement a policy that is based on a person’s actual risk behaviors instead of their sexual orientation or gender identity. For years, Lambda Legal has urged the FDA to adopt an approach that looks to actual risk factors based on a person’s sexual activity and safer sex practices rather than blanket approaches that disqualify gay men along with many trans people and others in our community who would welcome the opportunity to donate in light of our nation’s blood shortage.
Click here to download the full PDF of this report.
For over ten years, the GLBT Historical Society Museum has been a showcase for LGBTQ history, art and culture. Among our most beloved initiatives has been our Community Curator Program. This program invites members of the public, historians and curators to develop exhibitions under the guidance of GLBT Historical Society curatorial staff. As the society’s director of exhibitions and museum experience, I’m pleased to announce that after temporarily suspending the program in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have now launched a new format for our Community Curator Program!
Varied Approaches
Interest in community-curation models has grown dramatically in the museum and curatorial world over the past decade. Since we first swung open the doors to the GLBT Historical Society Museum in the Castro in 2011, about half of our temporary exhibitions have been conceived and curated by members of the public. Community curation has enabled us to mount unique exhibitions that reflect a wider variety of interests, approaches and topics than would otherwise have been possible.
While we temporarily paused new in-person exhibition proposals in 2020 and 2021, the break provided an opportunity for us to evaluate the program, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. We have now updated and relaunched the program, providing a more structured application process, a revised set of timelines, clearer expectations and better support. These changes are designed to assist prospective curators in crafting strong proposals and further developing their professional skills in the process.
In line with the society’s Five Year Strategic Plan, adopted in 2021, we are especially looking forward to receiving exhibition proposals that focus on people with disabilities; people and communities of color; Native American/Indigenous people and communities; lesbians and women; and bisexual, transgender and gender-nonconforming or nonbinary people and communities. To support this goal, the new exhibition application form will be available year round. We welcome and will consider all proposals that demonstrate alignment with our mission.
Since 1985, the GLBT Historical Society has been a labor of love rooted in the LGBTQ community, and our museum has likewise sought to embody the society’s community-centered roots. This is your museum. We hope you’ll participate in the curatorial process.
To learn more about the Community Curator Program,please visit our new webpage, where you will find extensive information. The application form is available on that page and will be accepting proposals from January 10. And finally, I’m always available to answer your questions!
Sex workers and strippers explained how the pandemic has forced them into unsafe working conditions and hit them financially.
United Sex Workers is a trade union branch organising for better working conditions and to change the sex work industry from within. Among its aims is to establish ‘worker’ status for strippers and sex workers, which bestows basic employment rights such as sick pay and annual leave.
Its work has become even more important during the pandemic, which has seen strip clubs fall quiet and close down, and has seen sex workers often forced to gamble with their safety in order to make a living.
While some people have been able to work remotely during the pandemic, many people’s livelihoods depend on in-person contact.
To make matters worse, sex workers are classed as self-employed, meaning they can’t access sick pay or other benefits. The result is that many sex workers are left struggling to make ends meet if they test positive for COVID-19.
That puts sex workers in a uniquely difficult position – how do you stay afloat when you have no guaranteed income and no safety net to fall back on?
We spoke to members of United Sex Workers to find out what it’s been like to work in the sex industry since the arrival of the Omicron variant. They spoke about financial instability, the fear that comes with being exposed to COVID-19, and working with riskier clients in a bid to make ends meet.
Surnames have been withheld to protect identities.
Audrey
December is always a slow month, yet the Omicron wave reduced it to a glacial pace. When I tested positive for COVID over Christmas it meant I had to take 10 full days off work, which only increased the anxiety I felt about not being able to make rent. When you’re self-employed, 10 days of work can mean the difference between paying bills or subsisting on super noodles. I had to take on potentially dangerous clients I would have usually refused to see just to make ends meet, alongside juggling the health anxiety of being so close to strangers in the middle of a global pandemic.
Being a hooker, I was unable to access any financial support from the government earlier in the year, and any savings I had at the start of the pandemic are now long gone, so all I can do is continue to see clients and hope I don’t fall ill again. The longer the pandemic stretches on, the more terrified I am of never being able to financially recover. I often wonder if this perpetual anxiety is how it would feel if sex work were criminalised; having to take riskier bookings due to there being less clients, knowing that with each booking I’m gambling with my own safety.
Ava
My work phone was quieter than usual and I needed to take any booking I could. This meant that I screened less than usual and men tried to push my boundaries a bit more I think because they knew I was desperate for the money.
This is what it might be like if we have the Nordic model, the nicer clients will behave and not come out and the bad clients will still be there and they will know that we need the money and push us.
Amelie
Omicron has hit the stripping industry really hard. November and December is usually the best time of the year for dancers, but this year it has been very quiet. We saw a massive decline in the number of customers visiting our clubs, as Christmas parties and stag dos were often cancelled. This, combined with the arrival of COVID passports has made it incredibly hard for strippers to make a decent amount of money. A lot of us also tested positive for COVID and have had to self-isolate and miss out on work. Due to being self-employed, we had no access to sick pay.
The last two years have been incredibly hard for the industry. A number of clubs did not get any financial support as a result of their local authority discriminating against them simply because of the nature of those establishments. This has led to the closure of some clubs which did not manage to make it through the pandemic. Some of them tried to recoup their financial losses through higher house fees, fines given to the workers for very arbitrary reasons, and booking more dancers than they usually would, making it harder for everyone to make money.
Many strippers are queer, and a significant proportion of the customer base also is.
Some cities such as Bristol, Edinburgh and Blackpool have used those difficult times to try and introduce nil-caps, essentially a ban, on strip clubs. Blackpool has unfortunately been successful, although the process they went through to achieve this was more than questionable. No decision has been made in Bristol and Edinburgh so far. Those decisions from local authorities have received a massive backlash from the industry itself, with us dancers in Bristol organising ourselves with the Bristol Sex Workers Collective and advocating against the ban, arguing it would push the industry underground and make us unsafe. We have been supported by our trade union United Sex Workers, which is also campaigning against nil-caps.
These caps would not only endanger the dancers, who would lose safe and regulated workplaces, but it would also be a huge loss for the LGBTQ+ community. Many strippers are queer, and a significant proportion of the customer base also is. Closing them down would once again be removing safe spaces for the community, due to the high security presence in those venues and the very strict licensing.
Alice
I tested positive for COVID along with many others in the week leading up to Christmas. This meant that I had to isolate and therefore couldn’t work. It was very stressful to be sat at home with no income worrying that if there was another lockdown I could be facing even more losses and that I could struggle to pay my rent and bills. There’s no furlough pay and no sick pay if you’re a sex worker. I just wish that we had access to these basic rights so that we can feel protected and supported along with other workers.
Amy
At the start of COVID, I managed to take a few months off sex work because I had a few days work each week in a civvie job. When money got tight I started seeing clients again and, perhaps due to their mental health being bad, and mine too, the sessions were so difficult, with clients pushing boundaries or being more emotionally intense than usual and less respectful of boundaries.
Touch also felt strange after so long avoiding human contact. I was missing the people I wanted to be close to so much, so the touch from those I didn’t love felt stifling. I also think, as sex work is so stigmatised and I have internalised some of that, I was worried about spreading COVID that I’d picked up via clients, as if this somehow was worse than if I’d picked it up working in an office.
You can join the United Sex Workers trade union or find out more about the work they do here.
The Castro Theatre, a San Francisco jewel that has hosted countless film festivals and premieres, is set to get a major makeover. The 100-year-old theater, known throughout the world as one of the symbols of San Francisco’s historic LGBTQ Castro neighborhood, will be renewed as a live events venue with music, comedy, film and more as Another Planet Entertainment takes over its programming.
The Castro will still screen select films, but the changes are sure to be earthshaking for many Bay Area film organizations and movie fans who have been filling the Castro for decades. “It’s heartbreaking, devastating, and not surprising,” said Marc Huestis, who has presented special events at the Castro Theatre for 40 years. “Even before COVID, it was like repertory (cinema) was kind of on its last legs,” Huestis continued.
