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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 53 • No. 10 • March 9-15, 2023
Gay lawmaker stands by CA travel ban by Matthew S. Bajko
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Rick Gerharter
Dr. Stephanie Cohen
Some STIs down in SF last year by John Ferrannini
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ates of some sexually transmitted infections in San Francisco declined slightly in 2022, according to yearend numbers released by the city’s Department of Public Health. The numbers came just before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned about an increase of “extensively drug-resistant” Shigella bacteria that can be spread sexually. See page 8 >>
Christopher Robledo
Parents, friends remember Jaxon Sales
J
im Sales, left, and his wife, Angie AquinoSales, attended a rally in memory of their deceased son, Jaxon Sales, at Civic Center Plaza in front of San Francisco City Hall Saturday, March 4. As the Bay Area Reporter has previously reported, Jaxon Sales, a gay man, was found dead in a San Francisco high rise in March 2020.
The medical examiner’s report listed the cause of his death as acute mixed drug intoxication, including gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The manner of death is listed as an accident. His family disagrees with that finding and wants a formal inquest into Jaxon Sales’ death.
ith San Francisco officials moving to repeal their restriction on taxpayer-funded travel to conservative states, the author of CaliforTia Gemmell nia’s travel ban policy Assemblymember has no plans to folEvan Low has no low suit. Whereas the plans to change municipal “no fly” list the state’s travel covers states that have ban law. adopted anti-LGBTQ laws, abortion bans, or restricted voting access in recent years, the state’s is only invoked when lawmakers in other states roll back LGBTQ rights. Gay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino) authored the legislation that established the state travel ban, which took effect in 2016. It restricts the use of Californians’ tax dollars to pay for non-emergency travel to states that have adopted discriminatory See page 2 >>
NCLR’s Minter begins cleaning up after tornado hits Texas home by Cynthia Laird
John Ferrannini
A complaint has been filed with the San Francisco Planning Department against MikroBlack, a clothing store and social club that opened in the former D & H Jewelers on Market Street.
Castro boutique denies nuisance complaint by John Ferrannini
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new boutique and social club that opened in the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood last December is now the subject of a nuisance complaint to the San Francisco Planning Department for allegedly playing loud music in the early morning hours and using power tools at night. For its part, MikroBlack, the boutique and social club, is denying the allegation. The complaint, available on the city department’s website, does not have a name attached to it. But it does purport to come from a resident of the same building, 2323 Market Street, and was submitted February 14. “Ths [sic] business, called Mikroblack at 2323 Market Street, has been a nuisance since moving into our building,” the complaint stated. “The business regularly plays loud, amplified music, including with full DJ set-ups (I have attached a picture from their own social media as proof). This will go well into the night, including at times well past 2AM.” See page 8 >>
N
ational Center for Lesbian Rights legal director Shannon Minter and his family have begun the arduous process of cleaning up after a tornado ripped through their rural Texas home last week. Minter, a trans man who has been involved in some of the country’s major cases for LGBTQ equality, including same-sex marriage and trans rights, has been the legal director at San Francisco-based NCLR for more than two decades. The tornado tore through Minter’s home on March 2, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. He wrote on Twitter that he was just about to take his dogs out when the twister hit. His wife, Robin Minter, was in California at the time but returned home the next day. In a phone call with the Bay Area Reporter March 6, Minter said that he and his wife are “nothing but grateful” for the support people have shown through donating to two GoFundMe campaigns that friends have established, as well as hundreds of messages on social media. “It’s making everything so much less stressful,” Minter said. Friends quickly rallied to help the Minters, who care for four dogs and 10 cats – most of them Minter has found abandoned near his home – by setting up a GoFundMe within hours of Minter posting about the disaster. They spread the word on Twitter, where Minter documents the lives of the pets on his popular feed, as the B.A.R. has previously reported. LGBTQ media outlets such as the Advocate and Los Angeles Blade also picked up the story, and those, along with the B.A.R.’s article, were shared widely. A friend known on Twitter as Cee Eyes (“Dr. Strange PhD Cat Lackey”) started the online fundraiser for tornado relief. It quickly surpassed the initial $10,000 goal, which Cee Eyes has since raised to $75,000. As of March 7, just over $62,000 had been raised. A separate GoFundMe had previously been started last fall by friend Laura McNamara to help the Minters care for their many
Shannon Minter
Before and after: The room NCLR legal director Shannon Minter was in when a tornado struck March 2; by March 6, he had been able to clean up his desk area, in spite of the severely damaged ceiling.
pets. It remains active and has raised $25,900 as of March 7. Cee Eyes noted that people can donate to either fund, and the money will go to Minter. “Shannon Minter and his wife Robin have given a loving home to so many stray kitties and pups. Many of us know Shannon for his big heart, kind words, and boundless devotion,” Cee Eyes wrote for the fundraiser. “Sadly, a tornado ripped apart the Minter home on March 2, 2023. Shannon and Robin have done so much for others – bringing light and joy to those who follow their Twitter adventures. Now it’s time for us to do whatever we can as they begin to rebuild a safe home for the Minter Babies!”
Dogs, cats adjusting
In his initial post, Minter told his followers that he and the dogs and cats were all OK. By March 3, the dogs – Onyx, Gaia, Albert, and Sister – had been relocated to a friend’s nearby home, along with Beulah, one of the older cats. And Minter spent part of last weekend working
with his cousin to reinforce his friend’s backyard fence so that the dogs can be outside, he posted. The other cats have remained at the Minter home, which was severely damaged and not habitable, as he previously wrote. One silver lining, he wrote on Twitter, is that a cat porch that Minter recently had constructed at one end of the house was not hit by the tornado so the “porch kitties” (Loretta, Sweetie, Hayley Mills, and William) have remained in that area. “The new kitty room was not damaged, so it’s been a godsend,” he wrote, adding that Robin has found it to be “her new happy place.” “She’s a trooper,” he told the B.A.R. Two of the other cats, mother and daughter Meow Meow and Pip Squeak, always had their own room away from the clan and continue to stay there. “A huge window was broken,” Minter said, but he and others were able to clean it up and barricade the area to prevent the cats from escaping. See page 8 >>