SF STI rates dip
Roem headed to SF
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 53 • No. 27 • July 6-12, 2023
SF leather district deals with alley vandalism by John Ferrannini
Gregory Sarris has been appointed to the UC Board of Regents.
Newsom appoints gay American Indian man to UC regents
by Cynthia Laird
G
overnor Gavin Newsom has appointed a gay American Indian man to a seat on the powerful University of California Board of Regents. Gregory Sarris, of Sonoma, told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview June 30 that he was “stunned” by the news, which came via a news release from Newsom’s office at 7:22 p.m. June 29. The appointment requires Senate confirmation, according to the release, and there is no compensation for the position. Sarris is chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, a position he’s held since 1996, and he serves as president of the tribe’s economic development board. He also is president of the Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park. Sarris, 71, said he was interviewed for the regent position over a year ago. “It was quite an extensive interview,” he said. But he heard nothing further until Thursday night, when he said Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis informed him. “I’m deeply honored and humbled,” Sarris said. “I feel a responsibility to do well and work well with the others.” The 26-member board of regents has authority over university policies, financial affairs, tuition, and fees. The board appoints the university president. The UC system has 10 campuses, stretching from UC Davis in Northern California to UC San Diego. Sarris received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and taught English at the university for 10 years. Last fall he served as a regent lecturer there, he said.
“I’m very familiar with the many issues of UC faculty and students,” he explained. Sarris earned a Ph.D. degree in modern thought and literature and a Master of Arts degree in creative writing from Stanford University, Newsom’s release stated. Sarris, a Democrat, will join one other gay man on the board – John A. Pérez (D), a former state Assembly speaker who was appointed by former governor Jerry Brown in 2014. Pérez’s term ends in March. See page 10 >>
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n impromptu street party in the South of Market neighborhood over Pride weekend left thousands of dollars in damage in its wake – including to an LGBTQ historic site. But even before Pride, leaders of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District have been dealing with vandalism to monuments along Ringold Alley. In the Pride weekend party, the plaque commemorating Ringold Alley was covered in graffiti and trash until it was cleaned by the West SOMA Community Benefit District. “We contacted the CBD first thing this morning and it appears they’ve been out there … all the trash has been cleaned up and some of the graffiti has been cleaned,” Robert Goldfarb, a gay man who is executive director of the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District, told the Bay Area Reporter on June 29. “There was no physical damage per se. There’s a granite plaque on the top of the monument – there was graffiti on that. The monument itself is physically intact.” The West SOMA CBD confirmed to the B.A.R. that it cleaned the site, but declined to comment further. A reader sent the B.A.R. a photo of vandalism from late May of the monument on the alley.
Brian Bringardner
An image of May vandalism to the leather monument on Ringold Alley was sent to the Bay Area Reporter.
As the B.A.R. previously reported, Ringold Alley was a beacon of sexual freedom for gay men in the 1960s, who’d cruise the dark, industrial alleyway looking to get lucky. In 2017, a monument
was installed by the developers of the LSeven apartment complex adjacent to the roadway commemorating the historic nature of the site. See page 9 >>
Opinions differ on impact of Supreme Court 1st Amendment case
analysis by Lisa Keen
S
ome believe the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision June 30 in 303 Creative v. Elenis may be one of the most consequential in LGBTQ legal history – a kind of “separate but equal” pronouncement on how the courts should treat LGBTQ people under the law. Others see a narrow injury to the right of LGBTQ people to equal protection of the law and one that will come into play very rarely. The actual consequences will likely take many years to realize. That was the case with the notorious and widely harmful 1986 decision in Bowers v. Hardwick. The 5-4 decision in Bowers said states could prohibit same-sex sexual relationships, and it was wielded against LGBTQ people both legally and socially. It took 17 years to overturn. During that time, seven of the nine justices who were on the high court and voted in Hardwick left the bench, including three of the five who had voted to allow bans on same-sex relationships. One of the five, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, changed her mind. So, when the vote on so-called sodomy laws came up again, in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, the vote was 6-3 to strike down such bans. Twenty years have passed since Lawrence, and only one justice who was on the bench in 2003 is still there now: Clarence Thomas. He and five of his conservative Republican appointees voted last
Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a website designer has a First Amendment right to discriminate against same-sex couples for her wedding website business.
Background
week to approve the first-ever exemption to state laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in the public marketplace. Thomas is 75; the other five range in age from 51 (Amy Coney Barrett) to 73 (Samuel Alito). If each current justice retires at 80 (the approximate average age that a justice retires these days), and if a pro-LGBTQ president is in office when each retires, and if nobody dies, the soonest 303 Creative might be overturned is 2030.
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First, of course, Republican then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) denied a confirmation vote for then-President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland, who is now the attorney general. As a result of that, former President Donald Trump nominated conservative Neil Gorsuch. A retirement (Anthony Kennedy) and a death (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) gave Trump two more nominations, which McConnell fast-tracked, creating a super-majority of six Republican nominees on the court. See page 9 >>
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“I’ve lost so much sleep ter thinking wher worr ying abou leave. I love e I might go. I don’t t it and this want to Yet Mooney city.” might have to leave if the efforts See page 12 >>
Report fl ags housi Castro, nei n ghboring g issues in commun ities
Rick Gerhar