Ex-49er and ex in alleged row
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Sundance films
VOTE!
Hit the slopes!
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ARTS
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The
www.ebar.com
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 43 • No. 05 • January 31-February 6, 2013
Castro Boy Scouts consider lifting gay ban crime concerns I by Chuck Colbert
by Peter Hernandez
P
olice officials and politicians were met with concern about a spike in crime in the Castro at a community meeting this week where a victim of a recent robbery and aggravated assault made a dire warning. Concerns of sophisticated tool-assisted breakins, rampant cellphone thefts, and unresolved late night noise complaints were relayed Monday, January 28 in the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, where police officials often mentioned what they describe as “career burglars.” Resonating through the evening were prominent cases like the recent stabbing at 14th and Noe streets and the November kidnapping and repeated pistol-whipping of a San Francisco resident named Rene Sedivy, who was in attendance. “Someone is going to get killed here if we don’t do anything about it,” Sedivy, 41, said. He and a friend were carjacked, robbed of their cellphones, and kidnapped around 11:30 p.m. on November 30, leaving Sedivy with a fractured See page 2 >>
n a surprising turnabout, the Boy Scouts of America is “actively considering” an end to its longstanding exclusion of openly gay boys as members and gay parents as scout leaders, according to NBC News, which broke the story Monday, January 28. The policy change, a move that reportedly may come as early as next week, would allow local groups – religious, civic, or educational organizations – to decide for themselves whether to accept gay youth or leaders. Confirming NBC’s reporting, the Boy Scouts posted a statement on its website later Monday. “The BSA is discussing potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation,” said Deron Smith, director of public relations for the Boy Scouts’ national organization. Absent a national policy on sexual orientation, he went on to say in the statement, “The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization’s mission, principles, or religious beliefs. BSA members and parents would be able to choose a local unit which best meets the needs of their families.” If the new policy is approved by the orgaSee page 12 >>
Jane Philomen Cleland
Eric Andresen, left, joined his son Ryan last fall outside the Mt. Diablo Silverado Boy Scout Council in Pleasant Hill where Ryan delivered 400,000 petitions after the Boy Scouts rejected his Eagle Award because he is gay.
Vote for the Best by Cynthia Laird
T
he Bay Area Reporter’s Best of the Gays contest is back and better than ever. Voting starts today (Thursday, January 31) and continues through March 4. The results of the popular poll for the best of LGBT offerings will be published in the paper’s anniversary issue April 4. This year’s third annual Best of the Gays readers poll is revamped and the online ballot is more user-friendly, utilizing Survey Monkey. The categories have been reorganized, including new entries like Best LGBT Nonprofit, best LGBT Activist Under 25, and Best Bang For Your Buck Bar. There are also returning favorites like Best Dance Company, Best DJ, and Best Local Politician You Love to Hate. In addition, the contest is stretching to the East Bay this year, with some fun categories, including Best Reason to Cross the Bay Bridge. There’s a ballot on the back page of this week’s arts section. Readers can also access the survey through the paper’s website (ebar.com), Facebook page (http://www. facebook.com/LGBTSF?ref=ts&fref=ts), or online at https://www.surveymonkey. com/s/BAR2013. Those who complete the survey are entered for a chance to win fabulous prizes, including lodging on Maui and San Francisco Giants tickets.t
Gay papers make Bowl wager
Jacquie Hansen and Brian Davis of Freedom from Tobacco, present an appropriate T-shirt to J.D. Petras, owner of Cafe Flore, for prohibiting smoking in the cafe’s outdoor patio.
by Matthew S. Bajko
Gay tobacco opponents aim at secondhand smoke Rick Gerharter
by Tom Kilduff
S
eeking to curb exposure to secondhand smoke in San Francisco’s gay bars that have outside patios where smoking is allowed, the Freedom from Tobacco group unveiled a new study last week that showed four bars they surveyed had “unhealthy” air
quality measurements. The study, conducted with UCSF in December 2011, found that the two bars had air quality measurements ranging from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” on the Environmental Protection Agency scale; one bar ranged from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “unhealthy;” See page 2 >>
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riendly rivals for decades over whose paper is the oldest, now their good-natured grudge match will play out during Super Bowl XLVII when the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens face off. The Bay Area Reporter and the Washington Blade are wagering on whose hometown football team will be victorious this Sunday, February 3. While based in Washington, D.C. the Blade covers Maryland news weekly and is distributed in Baltimore. Should the San Francisco 49ers win, as the Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s orangutan Siabu has predicted, then the Blade will make a $1,000 donation to a local San Francisco LGBT charity of the B.A.R.’s choosing. The See page 11 >>