3
8
Leno wins in redistricting
Meet EQCA's new ED
17
SF Ballet at Stern Grove
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 41 • No. 31 • August 4-10, 2011
Closure of queer API programs averted
Stop AIDS, SFAF talk merger by Matthew S. Bajko
T
alks of a merger between the Stop AIDS Project and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation have heated up again as funding for HIV programs has declined, the Bay Area Reporter has learned. According to sources, the two agencies’ boards of directors are once again seriously considering combining the two Jane Philomen Cleland agencies. Such a Kyriell Noon collaboration was first floated in the fall of 2008 as local nonprofits began to experience significant reductions in financial support due to the faltering economy. Should an agreement be reached, which could come as early as this month, it would be the third local LGBT agency to be consolidated into the AIDS foundation. See page 12 >>
Police still searching for gay man’s killer by Seth Hemmelgarn
L
ast weekend marked the first anniversary of the murder of San Francisco resident Philip DiMartino. The gay 36-year-old was found dead in his apartment, located at 138 Hermann Street, on August 2, 2010. The person responsible for DiMartino’s death hasn’t been caught, and police, family, and friends are Philip DiMartino hoping someone will was murdered in come forward with his San Francisco information. home just over a “This weekend year ago. was rough,” Lisa DiMartino, 39, DiMartino’s sister, said in an interview Monday, August 1. “My family and I think about Phil every day, of course, See page 12 >>
by Matthew S. Bajko
T Rick Gerharter
A flagging-good fair T
he Up Your Alley street fair Sunday, July 31 brought a taste of leather and more to South of Market ahead of the larger Folsom Street Fair coming up in September. Above, flagger Jen Neil lets loose at the fair. Demetri Moshoyannis, executive director of Folsom Street Events, which produces the event, said early estimates put attendance at
10,000, similar to last year. But a change in beverage pricing by offering $2 off when people donated at the gates, saw beverage sales increase by $10,000 “despite the less than stellar weather,” he said. Moshoyannis said there were no major problems at the fair, with only about two ambulance transfers. “It was a great weekend,” he added.
he pending closure of two programs aimed at LGBT Asian and Pacific Islanders in San Francisco is expected to be averted, as the city’s HIV Prevention Section has committed to keep them operating. Due to changes in how the health department funds HIV prevention services, set to kick in September 1, the API Wellness Rick Gerharter Center had expected to end its Aqua 25 Athila Lambino program for queer API youth and its Ramen program for LGBT API gay men. After center officials and its clients voiced an outcry over the funding cuts, See page 13 >>
DA candidate Onek seeks to bridge law enforcement, communities by Seth Hemmelgarn
O
ne of the top contenders so far in the race for San Francisco district attorney is criminal justice expert and former Police Commissioner David Onek, who recently told the Bay Area Reporter his campaign is about “building trust between law enforcement and the community.” He’s a senior fellow and founding executive director at the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice, where he’s worked to build partnerships between law enforcement and the community using what his website calls “innovative and research-based criminal and juvenile justice policy approaches.” The 41-year-old Onek also served in former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Criminal Justice. He sat on the city’s Police Commission from 2008 to 2010. In an interview last month at the B.A.R.’s offices, Onek spoke extensively about his background, which includes examining alternatives to incarceration, and counseling “delinquent kids” at Walden House, a substance abuse treatment center. He said it’s also important to “keep the kids of today from becoming the adult criminals of tomorrow.” Onek referred to the Hall of Justice, at
Rick Gerharter
David Onek, candidate for San Francisco District Attorney, speaks with supporters Zoe Garvin and Rebecca Johnson during a recent campaign event.
850 Bryant Street, as “a fortress.” He said the district attorney needs “to be out of the Hall of Justice all the time, in the community.” He said as DA he’d be out in the city “building relationships” with people. He said he’s not seen as “some hot-shot politician. I’m just seen as David.”
{ FIRST OF TWO SECTIONS }
Onek claims to have more than 1,900 public supporters. Many are considered progressives, including out gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Rafael Mandelman, a past president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. See page 13 >>