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New ED at Maitri
Suicide prevention merger
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Ed Hardy @ de Young
Arts Events
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 49 • No. 29 • July 18-24, 2019
Rick Gerharter
Keri Vaca
Fred Lopez
Our Family Coalition marches in last month’s San Francisco LGBT Pride parade.
SF Pride names interim ED
AIDS Walk draws crowd
by Meg Elison
F
red Lopez, who has worked for the organization that oversees San Francisco Pride for the last several years, was tapped by the board to be its interim executive director. The July 12 announcement follows the departure of former executive director George Ridgely, who left after the June 30 parade and celebration. Most recently, Lopez served as the communications manager and contractor for the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee. He has primarily worked in LGBTQ and HIV/ AIDS nonprofits and is a former executive director of the Castro Street Fair. Earlier this year, Lopez responded to protest
East Bay programs go on hiatus
by Meg Elison
S Rick Gerharter
A
bout 10,000 people took part in the 33rd annual AIDS Walk San Francisco Sunday, July 14, and raised nearly $1.5 million for PRC, Project Open Hand, the POP-UP clinic at Ward 86 at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, as well as dozens of other Bay Area HIV/AIDS service organizations. Agency representatives said
they were grateful for the funds. “The joyful crowd today offers a welcome reminder that the Bay Area cares for our community and is committed to helping the critically ill,” Project Open Hand CEO Paul Hepfer said in a news release. This year’s amount was less than last year’s reported $1.8 million.
am Ames has now taken over as interim executive director at Our Family Coalition, and with East Bay programming on hiatus for the summer, they are working to familiarize themselves with the LGBT family agency and gear up for the fall. The organization serves people primarily in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. OFC’s website states, “In late spring, we were surprised to hear that our longtime funding for East Bay programs would not be renewed by the city of Oakland. Following much advocacy, on our part, and on the part of allies, community
See page 12 >>
See page 12 >>
Southern California dreaming
LGBTs flock to Palm Springs attracts downtown Long Beach younger LGBTs by Matthew S. Bajko
by Matthew S. Bajko
H
ention Palm Springs to most LGBT people and they will think of it either as a winter tourist hotspot or a retirement community for gay men. But those characterizations no longer paint as accurate a portrait of the Coachella Valley city in Riverside County. For years the joke was that Palm Springs was where older gay men go to die. Today, the city of 47,700-plus residents is increasingly where LGBT people become first-time homeowners. And many of those LGBT residents are in their 30s and 40s, said city leaders. Priced out of the Bay Area, they are turning to the southern California city in search of cheaper housing, as the median home price in 2018 was $395,000. “When I moved here the first time I was in my 30s. At the time that was very unusual,” recalled Geoff Kors, 58, a gay man who serves on the Palm Springs City Council. In 2011, Kors and his husband, James Williamson, left San Francisco to permanently move back to the desert city where they had maintained a parttime home. The couple, who married in 2014, no-
aving grown up in the East Bay city of Fremont, Antone Sylvia spent most of his early 20s living in San Francisco. A gay man and business analyst for Wells Fargo, he dreamed of owning his own home. Priced out of the city’s sky-high housing market, however, Sylvia decided to relocate to southern California four years ago. He transferred with his company and rented a place in Orange County until purchasing a three-bedroom condo for $425,000 in downtown Long Beach in 2017. “I wanted to try a different area in my life but didn’t want to leave California. Southern California was the only choice in my mind, and I wasn’t getting any younger,” said Sylvia, 37, who can walk to work. “San Francisco got so expensive, if I ever wanted to buy property I couldn’t be able to do it in the city. Southern California is a bargain compared to San Francisco.” Located along the coast in Los Angeles
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Courtesy Mayor’s office
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia speaks at a housing news conference.
County, Long Beach has a population of 467,354, according to 2018 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, making it the state’s seventh most populous city. In 2012 the city adopted a development plan to guide growth in its downtown core near the beach, calling
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{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }
SUNSET PIANO & SAN FRANCISCO BOTANICAL GARDEN PRESENT 5TH ANNIVERSARY
FLOWER PIANO JULY 11–22
And get tickets now for Flower Piano at Night on July 18–20!
sfbg.org/flowerpiano
Courtesy Matt Vandeberg
Palm Springs resident Matt Vandeberg
ticed right away there was a cohort of newer, younger residents calling Palm Springs home. It is evidenced in this year’s election for three seats on the city council, as a number of the candidates are in their 30s and 40s, noted Kors, who is seeking re-election come November. “There is so much more going on in Palm Springs,” explained Kors about the city’s changing demographics. “The city is really going through a renaissance with a lot of new restaurants, bars, and more job opportunities.”
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Twelve Days of Pianos in the Garden