Castro elevator delayed
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Little Richard
ARTS
SF tenants win
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Mother Bar
The
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 53 • No. 15 • April 13-19, 2023
Drag march draws thousands in SF
“Drag Up! Fight Back!” demonstrators marched into Union Square from Powell Street in San Francisco on Saturday, April 8. Heather Cassell
by Heather Cassell
K
ye Timmons, 33, a queer transgender therapist who works with transgender youth, said they were marching because, “I want young people to grow up into adults.”
Timmons’ partner, Tara Fumi Apriletti, 34, a queer nurse practitioner, was demonstrating because, “I love my partner.” “The right-wing wants us to be afraid and we’re not gonna buy into it. We’re out here to stand up for what we believe in and say, ‘Hell yeah to queer
joy,’” Fumi Apriletti, whose parents, Asano Fertig and Jim Apriletti, were marching with the couple, said as the “Drag Up! Fight Back!” march got underway April 8 in downtown San Francisco. The Bay Area’s LGBTQ community and allies came out in force for the demonstration and rally
meant to send a message that anti-drag and antiLGBTQ laws passed or proposed in many red states are neither needed nor tolerated. A smaller group took part in a rally outside San Francisco City Hall before marching to Union Square. See page 14 >>
UC Berkeley employee pleads not guilty in Marsh killing
Bill that would have outed trans students dies in CA Assembly
As part of the discovery process, prosecutors must provide the defense attorneys with the evidence that it intends to use in its prosecution. Superior Court Judge James Cramer granted Briggs’ request for a preliminary hearing, scheduled for April 13 in Department 11 at the René C. Davidson Courthouse near Lake Merritt, so that the DA’s office can provide any witness statements, DNA evidence, and video it’s planning to use. The March 4 “disturbance” consisted of “reports of an individual screaming,” stated Paul Chambers, the strategic communication manager for the Oakland Police Department. When officers arrived, Oakland firefighters were on the scene extinguishing a fire. “Upon arrival, officers located an Oakland resident with multiple lacerations,” Oakland Police Officer Darryl Rodgers stated. “The victim succumbed to their injuries and medical units pronounced the victim deceased on scene. Investigators from the OPD Homicide Section responded to the scene to begin the follow-up investigation into the circumstances surrounding the homicide.” Neighbors told KTVU-TV that the perpetrator set the fire and left the front door and gate open when running away. No motive has been given, nor the circumstances of if - or how - the two men knew one another. Waterman is on administrative leave from his job as a senior custodian with UC Berkeley, the school told the B.A.R. on March 13. He has six prior convictions dating back to 2002, including felony evasion, forgery, robbery, and vehicle theft, according to Berkeley Scanner. A memorial was held March 11 at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center where friends remembered Marsh. Marsh is one of two gay Black men who were killed in Oakland last month. But, so far, no suspect has been found in the March 12 shooting death of Devonte Davis, police told the B.A.R. March 28. The two incidents are unrelated.t
bers Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) and James M. “Jamie” Gallagher (R-Chico) and - though it stood no chance of being passed in a Democraticcontrolled legislature - it had sparked an uproar, not the least of which came from gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). He had taken to Twitter to call it a “DeSantis-style bill,” referring to Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has signed into law several bills rolling back the rights of LGBTQ students. At least one Florida school district has adopted a policy requiring staff to notify parents if their pupil identifies as gay, or asks a different name or pronouns be used, according to them magazine. “Nope, not in CA,” Wiener tweeted March 13. Essayli, quote-tweeting Wiener, stated, “I encourage you to read the bill and my thread. My bill is aimed at supporting trans minors, not hurting them. The notification requirement is only triggered when a minor is already publicly identifying by a different gender at school.” “Children are the domain of their parents, not the government,” Essayli stated, defending the bill. “Schools cannot decide what information should or shouldn’t be shared with parents. Trans minors are higher risk for depression and suicide. More than 50% of trans minors have considered suicide.” Wiener told the B.A.R. on April 10 that AB 134 is “a dangerous bill, and we will do everything in our power to ensure it dies a quick death.” “Make no mistake, this bill would force teachers to out trans kids to their parents – whether or not the kid is ready to come out and whether or not that outing would put the kid at risk of violence,” Wiener stated. “This bill would traumatize thousands of trans youth, and it could put their safety at risk if they don’t have a supportive environment at home.” The bill’s quick demise happened the same day after Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (DTorrance), chair of the education committee, declined to schedule it for a hearing.
Courtesy Oakland LGBTQ Community Center
Curtis Marsh
by John Ferrannini
A
UC Berkeley employee charged in the stabbing death of a Black gay Oakland man pleaded not guilty in an Alameda County courtroom April 5 but his attorney is requesting documentation from the district attorney’s office to explain the charges. “So far, they [the DA’s office] haven’t given me anything to explain why my client is being charged here,” David J. Briggs, a private attorney with an office in Richmond, told the Bay Area Reporter. Briggs is representing Sweven Waterman, 38, of Oakland, who is in custody without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin after having been charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office with the homicide of Curtis Marsh, 53, also of Oakland. Marsh, who was also known as drag artist Touri Monroe, was a hair stylist and a Miss Gay Oakland emeritus who used to sing with the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus. Originally from Iowa, friends described him as fun, helpful, and active in his church. He was killed the morning of March 4, police said. Police responded to the 200 block of Vernon Street in the Adams Point neighborhood just before 8 a.m. after a report of a disturbance, Oakland Police Officer Darryl Rodgers stated in an email to the B.A.R.
Courtesy Essayli, Gallagher
Republican California Assemblymembers Bill Essayli, left, and James Gallagher saw their bill die in committee April 10.
by John Ferrannini
A
bill that would have forced the outing of trans students introduced by two California Republican legislators is dead for the year after the chair of the Assembly’s education committee opted not to schedule it for a hearing. Assembly Bill 1314 would have required that parents or guardians be notified “in writing within 3 days from the date any teacher, counselor, or employee of the school becomes aware that a pupil is identifying at school as a gender that does not align with the child’s sex on their birth certificate, other official records, or sex assigned at birth.” Under current law, school staff are required to use the pronouns and name a student requests, without official records being changed. Discrimination on the basis of gender identity is prohibited. Jennifer Chou, the interim director of the Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Justice Program at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, told the Bay Area Reporter that “recognizing that students have a right to privacy, many school districts have adopted policies prohibiting teachers and administrators from discussing students’ sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. Young people, not school staff, should decide if, and when, they come out to their parents.” The bill was introduced by Assemblymem-
See page 15 >>