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Memorial for trans minister
Flag stolen in San Jose
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Berlin & Beyond
The
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Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Ridgely named Pride ED
LGBT historic sites garner park service’s attention by Matthew S. Bajko
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by James Patterson
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an Francisco Pride officials have named a veteran street fair producer as the next executive director of one of the world’s largest LGBT pride events. George Ridgely was the unanimous Jane Philomen Cleland choice of the San George Ridgely Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee’s board of directors. Board President Gary Virginia made the announcement at the group’s Tuesday, January 7 meeting, which was also Ridgely’s first day on the job. The organization is seeking to move forward from a financially successful but a managerially disastrous 2013. Ridgely served as executive director of the Castro Street Fair from 2005-2013. Currently, Fred Lopez is that fair’s interim executive director. In brief remarks, Ridgely said he “planned to work my butt off for you [SF Pride].” He called 2014 an exciting year for the organization. Ridgely is described in the SF Pride news release as bringing “11 years of event director and executive director experience in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors to the job [of executive director].” Virginia cited Ridgely’s positions with the Castro Street Fair and other outdoor events as “tremendous experience” for the annual Pride parade and festival. Ridgely said he “absolutely” supported the “democracy, accountability and transparency” platform Virginia and other board members pledged to the community after SF Pride’s convoluted reasoning for rescinding a grand marshal honor to Chelsea Manning last year. Manning is the Army private convicted of espionage for releasing classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks. Messages to Ridgely and Virginia seeking information on the new executive director’s salary were not returned by press time. Ridgely declined to criticize the previous board over its handling of the Manning controversy. Though he said he was in San Francisco all of 2013, he said he “didn’t follow it [the Manning controversy] closely.” Ridgely said if SF Pride made a decision under his leadership that was unpopular with the community, he would readily listen to community concerns and possibly reconsider such a decision. Other board members present at Tuesday’s meeting were Vice President Marsha Levine, and Jose Cital, Joey Cain, Justin Taylor, John Caldera, See page 3 >>
Vol. 44 • No. 2 • January 9-15, 2014
Josef Norris’s mural of the late Harvey Milk adorns the exterior of Milk’s former camera shop on Castro Street; the site could be nominated for federal landmark status. Jane Philomen Cleland
he lack of LGBT historic sites with federal recognition is garnering the attention of National Park Service officials. They are seeking nominations of sites to be added to the National Register of Historic Places and for consideration to be designated as a National Historic Landmark. “We are looking to preserve and protect sites associated with LGBTQ history,” said Alexandra M. Lord, Ph.D., branch chief of the National Historic Landmarks Program. To date just three sites, all on the East Coast, have received any federal recognition specifically due to their ties to LGBT history. In 2000, New York City’s famous Stonewall Inn, considered the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, became the first, and so far only, LGBT site to be designated a national landmark. Since then the Washington, D.C. home of the late gay rights activist
Frank Kameny and the Cherry Grove Community House and Theater in the gay resort enclave of Fire Island, New York were added to the register of historic places. The fourth site very likely will be the Henry Gerber House in Chicago. Given city landmark status in 2001, the residence is where Gerber lived in the early 1920s when he formed the Society for Human Rights, the first American gay civil rights organization, according to its listing on the Chicago Landmarks website. The federal landmarks program is working with University of Michigan at Ann Arbor Professor Michelle McClellan and her students this semester on the nomination for Gerber’s house. Once submitted the approval process is expected to take up to a year, with the final decision to grant landmark status up to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “We are historians so we tend to think of chronology. Let’s start as early as we can,” said Lord when asked why the property had been chosen. Another key reason landmarks staff selected the Gerber house, said Lord, is because the owners of the private residence See page 10 >>
AB 1266 repeal effort stays alive
by Seth Hemmelgarn
A
nti-gay activists working to repeal a California law designed to protect transgender students may get their chance to put a referendum before voters in November. On Wednesday, January 8, Secretary of State Debra Bowen issued a letter to election officials statewide notifying them that random samples have shown that Assembly Bill 1266’s opponents have gathered enough valid petition signatures to get a full count. The last county to report, Los Angeles, submitted its signatures Wednesday morning with a va- A full count has been ordered to see if a referendum lidity rate of 77.8 percent. That repealing a new law protecting transgender students meant that the statewide validity will qualify for the ballot. rate was 79.93 percent, with all 58 counties reporting. The meaMasen Davis, executive director of the Transsure needed a rate of 77.45 percent to trigger gender Law Center, a backer of AB 1266, said the full count, so it just barely met that threshin a statement. “Every parent wants to see their old, according to figures from the secretary of child have a fair shot at success, and that is state’s office. what AB 1266 is all about. It gives guidance to The law’s backers remain optimistic that the schools so that they understand their responsireferendum ultimately will not qualify. bility to ensure all students are supported and “We are relieved that the referendum has not able to succeed. qualified for the ballot and heartened that all “As we wait for a full count of the signatures students, including transgender youth, will be we will continue to help schools implement able to continue fully participating in school,” policies that ensure all students are able to par-
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ticipate, and we will continue to share the stories of transgender youth and their families,” Davis added. John O’Connor, executive director of Equality California, another supporter of the law, stated, “Californians are relieved that the referendum did not qualify for the ballot during the initial signature verification phase, but are alarmed that this harmful attack on transgender students is proceeding to a full count. We vow to defend this law so that all students, including transgender students, can fully participate in school and get a fair shot at an education. As the next phase of signature verification proceeds, we are treating this as a pressing threat and will work tirelessly with our coalition partners to defeat this measure.” In an email blast to supporters Wednesday, Karen England, who’s with the anti-gay coalition, said, “We wait with anticipation as we move into the next phase of the referendum process. We feel confident that a full count will result in us securing 100 percent of the signatures needed to put this referendum on the ballot.” The Privacy for All Students coalition has been working for months to repeal AB 1266, the School Success and Opportunity Act, which gay Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (DSan Francisco) authored and Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last August. The law went into effect January 1. See page 9 >>