Park has gone to the dogs
15
Sasha Velour
ARTS
Gay man solves cold case
06
ARTS
04
15
'Locusts Have No King'
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 53 • No. 13 • March 30-April 5, 2023
CA Senate leader Atkins moves to end state’s LGBTQ travel ban by Matthew S. Bajko
Hair stylist Michael Dille
Gay Castro hair stylist found dead in Grand Canyon by John Ferrannini
A
gay man who had worked at a Castro neighborhood hair salon was found dead in the Grand Canyon in Arizona earlier this month. The body of Michael Lee Clayton Dille, 51, of San Francisco, was found March 12 after it’d been “discovered by a bystander,” according to Joelle Baird, who is a public affairs specialist for the National Park Service. See page 10 >>
D
espite LGBTQ rights coming under attack in statehouses across the country, lesbian California Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) is moving to end the Golden State’s ban on using taxpayer money for travel to 23 states that have passed anti-LGBTQ legislation over the past eight years. It comes as San Francisco leaders are also expected to lift the city’s similar travel ban policy. But it is in contrast to the stance the author of the state’s travel ban policy, gay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino), had taken earlier in March. He had told the Bay Area Reporter at the time that he remained convinced his Assembly Bill 1887 establishing the ban on all but emergency travel to states on the “no-fly list” remained effective policy. “We don’t have any intentions of backing down and changing our position on the statefunded travel ban,” Low had told the B.A.R. Atkins on Wednesday announced her Senate Bill 447 called the BRIDGE Act, which stands for Building and Reinforcing Inclusive, Diverse, Gender-Supportive Equality. It would scrap the travel ban policy for a marketing program in
Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins
those states attacking LGBTQ rights that Atkins said would “encourage acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.” How much money would be allocated toward the marketing effort is to be determined, according to Atkins’ office. In a statement provided to the B.A.R. ahead of its official release
late Wednesday afternoon, the 60-year-old Atkins noted how “the idea of being accepted as a lesbian was a foreign concept” when she was growing up in rural Virginia. “Times have changed, but for so many in the LGBTQ+ community, the feelings of isolation See page 11 >>
Trans woman alleges sexual retaliation by St. James Infirmary staff by John Ferrannini
Cynthia Laird
Salesh Prasad stands outside a South of Market coffee shop during a recent interview.
Prasad settling in after bond granted in immigration case
by Cynthia Laird
S
alesh Prasad, who was granted bond by an immigration judge late last year, has settled into transitional housing in San Francisco, where he also now has a job. “I’m enjoying my freedom,” Prasad said during a recent interview at the office of the San Francisco Public Defender, which is representing him. Prasad had been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Southern California for 473 days when immigration Judge Kevin Riley granted a $5,000 bond following a lengthy DecemSee page 12 >>
T
he San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development has ordered St. James Infirmary to investigate a claim by a trans woman that she is a victim of sexual retaliation by some of the nonprofit’s workers. Blanche Kriege, 31, told the Bay Area Reporter she lives at the Bobbie Jean Baker House in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood. She said she is being kicked out of the transitional housing facility at the end of the month after refusing to accompany two St. James workers to a sex club. (The B.A.R. is not naming the two accused staffers because no criminal charges have been filed.) “This complaint was forwarded to MOHCD staff this morning,” MOHCD communications manager Anne Stanley stated to the B.A.R. on March 16. “Shortly after receiving the complaint, MOHCD staff directed St. James Infirmary’s acting executive director and board president to conduct a full investigation into the allegations.” Stanley’s statement added, “We are staying apprised of the situation as additional information is made available and cannot offer further comment at this time.” Anita “Durt” O’Shea, the chief operating officer of St. James, confirmed the existence of the investigation.
John Ferrannini
A transgender woman has complained she’s being told to vacate her transitional housing provided by St. James Infirmary after refusing to go to a sex club with staffers.
“St. James has hired a third-party investigator to investigate this grievance,” O’Shea stated to the B.A.R. “Because it is an active investigation I cannot comment on it.” O’Shea confirmed that attorney Karen Carrera is the third-party investigator. Carrera did not respond
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to a request for comment for this report as of press time. Kriege told the B.A.R. that she is a Bay Area native who became homeless after losing her apartment during the COVID-19 pandemic. See page 12 >>