Heklina memorial plans
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Women's weekend at the river
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Billy Porter
The
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 53 • No. 18 • May 4-10, 2023
Gunned down SF Black trans activist remembered at vigil; DA drops charge by John Ferrannini
Gooch
The San Francisco Department of Public Health is expected to offer mpox vaccines at community events leading up to Pride in June.
Experts urge mpox vaccination by John Ferrannini
S
an Francisco’s public health community continues to urge people to get vaccinated for mpox after a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report concluded that the United States may see a worse outbreak of the disease this year than in 2022. Locally, mpox vaccinations are expected to be offered at community events leading up to Pride in June. But both the San Francisco Department of See page 19 >>
T
he pain of a community mourning a young Black trans man who was gunned down outside of a San Francisco Walgreens made itself known Monday – with a hundred people showing up at a vigil to remember him. Banko Brown, 24, was fatally shot the evening of April 27 as he walked out of the Walgreens at 875 Market Street, according to media reports. The suspect, security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, was arrested and charged on suspicion of one count of homicide. His arraignment had been scheduled for May 2 at 1 p.m. at the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street. However, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins opted not to prosecute Anthony, citing self-defense. Jenkins stated late Monday, “We reviewed witness statements, statements from the suspect, and video footage of the incident and it does not meet the People’s burden to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that the suspect is guilty of a crime. The evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense.” The sidewalk on Market Street between Fourth and Fifth streets, near the Westfield Mall, was blocked by the May 1 vigil.
John Ferrannini
Xavier Davenport, center holding microphone, helped lead a community vigil for Banko Brown, who was allegedly killed by a Walgreens security guard April 27 in San Francisco.
Krea Gomez told the crowd that was intentional. “When people’s lives are taken from us, our lives are disrupted,” Gomez said. “It’s hard for us to get on with our day. What we ask you to understand is a life was lost here and at this moment, for the next two hours, we’re gonna be holding space.” The Walgreens was closed.
“This is actually a good thing they closed – Walgreens should be ashamed of themselves,” said Julia Arroyo, the co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center, which hosted the event. “We’re not going to stop till Walgreens is held accountable for Brown’s death,” In a statement Tuesday, a Walgreens spokesperson stated, “We are offering condolences to the See page 8 >>
CA lawmakers say bill needed to address SOGI audit by Matthew S. Bajko
Ashland resident Jennifer Esteen, left, has announced her run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat currently held by Nate Miley.
Esteen takes on Alameda Supe Miley in 2024 by Matthew S. Bajko
G
ay nurse and union leader Jennifer Esteen officially launched her campaign Monday to oust from office Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who will be seeking a seventh four-year term on the primary ballot next March. Should Esteen win the race, she would be the first out LGBTQ member of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. If she and Miley remain See page 19 >>
T
Courtesy Wiener’s office; Courtesy Zbur’s office California Department of Public Health
State Senator Scott Wiener, left, and Assemblymember Rick Zbur plan to unveil SOGI legislation next year.
“I think that we’ve known for a while now that the department of public health and other departments in California government have not sufficiently prioritized the needs of the LGBTQ-plus community,” said Zbur. “The report just made clear what we already knew.” Wiener expressed disappointment that more legislation is even needed to get CADPH where it needs to be in terms of SOGI data collection. In addition to working on a new bill, Wiener told the
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B.A.R. he also believes a hearing or some public airing on the issue is needed. “Even before a bill is passed, my hope is this audit lights a fire in the department and the administration to get this done,” said Wiener. As the B.A.R. first reported online April 27, Parks disclosed in his audit that 105 out of 129 forms used by CADPH are exempted from collecting SOGI See page 20 >>
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Esteen, courtesy the candidate; Miley, courtesy Alameda County.
wo gay California lawmakers have told the Bay Area Reporter they plan to introduce legislation to address the issues impeding efforts to collect LGBTQ health data as detailed in a damning report by the state’s auditor. Meanwhile, the state’s health department is also working on a roadmap to address the findings of the audit. Freshman gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-West Hollywood) plans to work collaboratively with gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) on a comprehensive bill aimed at fixing the myriad problems hampering the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, data by the California Department of Public Health. Rather than gut and amend a bill that was already introduced this session, as the deadline for new legislation has already passed, both legislators said they preferred filing a new bill at the start of the 2024 legislative session. Having lambasted the state health agency for its lackluster SOGI data collection during the COVID pandemic when he lead statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California, Zbur told the B.A.R. he wasn’t surprised by the findings California State Auditor Grant Parks detailed in his 45-page report (http://auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2022-102.pdf) titled “The California Department of Public Health: It Has Not Collected and Reported Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data as State Law Intended.”
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Rick Gerhar