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Fable comes to Castro
GMC plans Milk show
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Asian American film
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SF DP tax break now law
Vol. 43 • No. 11 • March 14-20, 2013
High fives all around Patio could
reopen this summer by Matthew S. Bajko
by Matthew S. Bajko
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ith the stroke of a pen, Mayor Ed Lee signed into law this week a health care tax break for city workers in same-sex unions. San Francisco is only the third municipality in the country to offer such financial assistance. Due to federal rules barring recognition of same-sex marriages, when a city employee adds their same-sex partner to their health plan they are penalized by the Internal Revenue Service. The employer contributions for the partner’s or spouse’s health Supervisor insurance premiums Mark Farrell is deemed taxable income, resulting in tax bills totaling several thousand dollars. To offset that cost, the city will now pay 20 percent of the portion of the employee’s health insurance premiums attributable to the same-sex spouse or partner. It is estimated it would cost the city slightly more than $500,000 to cover the tax bills incurred by the more than 350 same-sex spouses and/or same-sex domestic partners enrolled in the city’s Health Service System. Lee called the policy another “shining example” of how San Francisco continues to take a lead in fighting for full equality for the LGBT community. “While it does have us pay out, we are glad to do so as we are making sure our city is standing up for equality,” Lee told a small audience invited to his City Hall office Tuesday, March 12 for a private signing ceremony.“I’m very glad to see this happen.” District 2 Supervisor Mark Farrell, the author of the legislation, thanked the mayor for backing what amounts to a “grossing up” of the pay for those city employees impacted by the IRS’ antigay policy. “We are not going to stop here. We want to make sure San Francisco continues to take leadership on these issues and we will,” said Farrell, who is backing a state law that would prevent California from taxing the grossed up pay employers are now providing to address the antigay federal taxation. Among those at the ceremony were gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos; Earl Plante, the new CEO of the city’s Pride Committee; Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club co-chair Martha Knutzen and former co-chair Reese Aaron Isbell; and Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club board members Laura Thomas and Alex Walker. “It is really an issue whose time has come,” said Walker, who works for SF Beautiful. “It is time for the government to close these loopholes” that unfairly cost LGBT households.t
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Jane Philomen Cleland
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here were plenty of high fives at the Gay Softball League’s opening day March 10, including this one by Vanessa Albright, left, and Raelyn Walsworth as the women soundly defeated the women of the San Francisco Police Department 27-5.
he long-shuttered Patio restaurant in the Castro could finally reopen this summer, more than a decade after it served its last customer. Owner Les Natali plans to submit paperwork with the city’s Planning Department Friday, March 15 to receive the necessary permits to open the eatery at 531 Castro Rick Gerharter Street. His land use attorney, Andrew Junius Les Natali of Reuben, Junius and Rose LLP, estimates it could take at least three months to navigate the approval process. “I am hopeful we will be open soon,” Natali told the Bay Area Reporter in an exclusive interview Monday, March 11. “I have been See page 2 >>
LGBTs, allies unite on immigration reform by Elliot Owen
W
hile the national conversation around comprehensive immigration reform continues, the undocumented LGBTQ community grows more visible as the link between immigration and LGBTQ rights continues to be emphasized by activist groups across the country. Last week, several Bay Area and national organizations teamed up with local immigrant leaders and elected officials for a news conference on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to underline how current immigration law explicitly discriminates against LGBTQ families. The rally’s speakers included representatives from Out4Immigration, Just Cause/Causa Justa, Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education, San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos, and several individuals personally affected by immigration regulations. San Francisco resident Chris Barnett, 50, was one of them. Barnett has been in a binational (one native-born citizen and one noncitizen) samesex partnership for 20 years and, although legally married, is prohibited from sponsoring his husband for citizenship. The Defense of Marriage Act specifies that for purposes including immigration, marriage is between a
man and woman. “We’ve been challenged by this circumstance,” Barnett told the Bay Area Reporter. “I’ve had no way to legally sponsor my husband for residency and for many years this meant living in fear of his deportation.” As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments on two same-sex marriage cases at the end of this month, including one on DOMA, Congress is debating the Uniting American Families Act – a bill introduced last month that would allow sponsorship for noncitizen same-sex spouses in addition to permanent same-sex partners who aren’t married. There are an estimated 32,300 same-sex binational couples living in the U.S. according a UCLA Williams Institute study released last Friday. The same study said these couples are raising more than 11,000 children. “We need to acknowledge that the system needs fixing,” Avalos, a straight ally, said at the rally. “The only way we’re going to achieve that is by working together, forging alliances, building allies and making sure we have inclusive immigration reform that looks after same-sex couples who are seeking status.”
Dreamers
Another segment of the undocumented LGBTQ community has recently garnered at-
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Elliot Owen
San Francisco resident Chris Barnett speaks of being barred from sponsoring his same-sex spouse for U.S. citizenship during a rally last week calling for comprehensive immigration reform.
tention from immigration and LGBTQ organizations. Last June, President Barack Obama signed an executive order called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The initiative offers temporary deferment from deportation and work permits to undocumented people who were brought here under the age of 16. To qualify, one must currently be in high school, have earned a high school diploma or equivalent, or served in the military. These undocumented immigrants are comSee page 12 >>