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San Mateo sheriff under fire for antigay texts by John Ferrannini
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he San Mateo County Sheriff ’s Office is in turmoil after a report revealed Sheriff Christina Corpus used homophobic and racist slurs in text messages, and that there was a Courtesy San Mateo County scheme to conceal San Mateo rifles. The Board of County Sheriff Supervisors is tak- Christina Corpus ing steps to amend the county charter to empower it to remove the sheriff if voters pass the measure next year. Corpus has not resigned as of press time November 22, though all five captains in the sheriff ’s office have called for her ouster, alongside all of San Mateo County’s state and federal representatives, and numerous local representatives. Elected in 2022, Corpus has been the first woman elected sheriff of San Mateo County since taking office in 2023. She has been with the department since 2002 and is one of the first Latina sheriffs in California. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted November 19 to place a charter amendment on the ballot in a special election March 4 that would allow the board to remove the sheriff. It needs to be passed at a second meeting December 3, according to a news release from the county. The charter amendment would authorize the Board of Supervisors to remove an elected sheriff for cause, which means violation of any law related to the performance of sheriff ’s duties, flagrant or repeated neglect of the sheriff ’s duties, misappropriation of public funds, willful falsification of official statements or documents, or obstruction of any investigation into the conduct of a sheriff, according to the release. “Such an extraordinary move could take place only after a four-fifths vote by the Board of Supervisors and only after giving the sheriff written notice and an opportunity to be heard publicly,” the release stated. “These safeguards mean the board could only apply the charter amendment to a sheriff that egregiously violates the public trust and the oath of office.”
Damning report
The 400-page report, released November 12, was compiled by retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, a lesbian, who declined to comment to the Bay Area Reporter. Cordell’s report painted a damning picture of Corpus, KGOTV reported. Corpus has denied the allegations she has used a homophobic slur. The report states, “On July 13, 25, 2022 and August 15, 2022, Sheriff Corpus sent the civilian employee (#3) text messages criticizing a local City Council member by calling her ‘Fuzz Bumper,’ a homophobic slur directed at lesbians.” The same civilian employee states that in 2022, Corpus used the N-word twice in reference to then-Sheriff Carlos Bolanos, whom the civilian employee was speaking with on a Zoom call (the civilian employee’s audio was muted and so the others in the meeting couldn’t hear the slur). “The civilian employee’s adult son is biracial – (African American/Caucasian) and identiSee page 10 >>
Vol. 54 • No. 48 • November 28-December 4, 2024
Long-term survivors to be honored at SF World AIDS Day events by John Ferrannini
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GBTQ, health care, and AIDS activists will be commemorating the 36th annual World AIDS Day Sunday, December 1, with events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The observances come ahead of President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House and fears among many advocates about what his administration might do in terms of budget cuts or other changes to public health matters. Chief among the events is a ceremony from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the only federally designated memorial to those who died in the epidemic. John Cunningham, a gay man who is the grove’s chief executive, told the Bay Area Reporter that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Vince Crisostomo will be honored with the Thom Weyand Unsung Hero Award “for his decades of selfless service to improving our community and the lives of which it is made.” “Vince is truly an example of selfless service and we are so honored to bestow this award on him,” Cunningham said. Crisostomo, a gay Chamorro, told the B.A.R. that he’ll be uplifting those who’ve died as he receives the award. “The end of 2024 has been a really emotional
Courtesy NAMG
A person looks at names inscribed in the Circle of Friends during last year’s Light in the Grove benefit.
time of sadness and joy,” Crisostomo stated. “I feel that this recognition is not just me but all the people I have served and those lost to HIV who are the true unsung heroes.” Cunningham said that at the event, Crisostomo will be participating in a conversation “focused on the nearly four-and-a-half decades of HIV and its impact upon the world” moderated by infectious disease expert and advocate Larkin Callaghan, Ph.D., and also featuring
Percy Vermut, a trans tutor and mentor with BreakthroughSF, the San Francisco chapter of a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting lowincome students in pursuing higher education; and Kimberly M. Canady, who is HIV-positive. Canady was born with HIV and was unaware she was living with HIV until her 10th birthday, according to her bio on The Well Project. See page 4 >>
Report details needs of Bay Area Two-Spirits, Indigiqueers by Matthew S. Bajko
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new report said to be the first of its kind has documented the needs of the Bay Area’s Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer communities. The findings show that an overwhelming majority of respondents are able to access health care but struggle to pay for their everyday needs. Called “Living in Abundance: Report on the Needs and Strengths of Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ Communities in the Greater Bay Area,” nearly 30% of the 222 people whose survey responses were used for the needs assessment feel connected to their Indigenous community “all of the time,” while 83% said they felt culturally connected to their Indigenous community through dance, ceremonies, spiritual practices, storytelling, food, music, language, arts, and medicinal herbs. While 1,500 people responded to the survey, only responses from 2SLGBTQIA+ people, with the 2S shorthand for Two-Spirit, living in the nine-county Bay Area could be used for the findings in the report. Conducted by BAAITS, Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits, it is the first such report the nonprofit has compiled in its 25year history. The response, said BAAITS Executive Director Dr. Angel C. Fabian, “reinforced the fact we exist and there is a lot of very beautiful strengths in the community but also a lot of very deep needs.” More than half of respondents were between the ages of 25 and 44, with 50% identifying as male. Three identified as nonbinary and five as Two-Spirit. Almost 80% were American Indian/Alaska Native or First Nations. The rest were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Indigenous people from the Americas, according to the report. “We serve a very particular niche, which are the Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer community. And it is through culture that we are kind of highlighting their role in the community,” said Fabian, whose agency annually hosts the biggest powwow gathering for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, with the
Rick Gerharter
Dr. Angel Fabian, the executive director of Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits, stands in the new offices of the organization, located on Valencia Street.
next one set for February 1 at Fort Mason in the city’s Marina district. The survey finding that around a quarter of respondents struggle with housing and employment, and that more than 4% are uncomfortable with their use of alcohol and drugs, didn’t come as a surprise, Fabian told the Bay Area Reporter during a phone interview on the eve of Native American Heritage Month, which is celebrated in November. “We knew that by word of mouth. What we were able to do with this particular community assessment is quantify it,” said Fabian, 52, who is Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer and was brought in to lead BAAITS close to two years ago. Fabian was born into the Ben’Zaa or Zapotec Indigenous group of Mexico and grew up in the Central Valley’s migrant labor camps. They first came to the Bay Area in 1991 as an undergraduate at Stanford University. Many 2SLGBTQIA+ Two-Spirits and Indigiqueers move to the Bay Area to find the ac-
ceptance they were not receiving in their own nations or the communities they grew up in, said Fabian, who in ceremonial spaces is known as Tlahuizpapalotl, which translates as Butterfly of Light. Others end up coming to the city due to the community resources that are available via different nonprofits or city agencies. It is captured in the data from the survey responses about feeling a sense of belonging to their Indigenous communities here in the Bay Area, said Fabian. “What that tells me is that the trajectory of the past 25 years has worked or is working,” they said about the various programs BAAITS and other groups have been able to offer. “What that tells me is the labor of love is working.” In terms of medical care, 92.3% of the respondents said they could access the care they need. But 6.7% had problems finding the mental health, medical, or vision care they required. See page 2 >>