Compton's eyed for historic status
Cultural dist. board elections
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'Vampire Cinema' centennial
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Queer for Fear
The
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Serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities since 1971
Vol. 52 • No. 43 • October 27- November 2, 2022
LGBTQ issues are a flashpoint in California school races by Matthew S. Bajko Rick Gerharter
San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip
SF to let MPX emergency expire Oct. 31
by Eric Burkett
T
hree months after San Francisco declared a state of emergency for the monkeypox outbreak, the first government in the country to do so, it’s now winding down. The San Francisco Department of Health will let the declaration expire October 31, officials said. The health department had been renewing the public health emergency monthly since this spring, when the MPX outbreak hit San Francisco, primarily affecting men who have sex with men. At that time, there was a scramble for vaccines, which were in short supply from the federal government. The Bay Area Reporter and other outlets reported on long lines at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center as men waited hours for the first of two shots of the Jynneos vaccine. Now, nearly six months later, health department officials said the city’s response, particularly that of the public, had played a major role in San Francisco’s ability to let the declaration expire at the end of the month. “The overwhelming community support and advocacy for critical resources such as vaccines from the federal government, coupled with early and strong action, drove San Francisco’s successful public health response and enabled the city to reach this milestone,” read an October 20 statement from DPH. MPX cases started to decline about a month ago, according to DPH figures. As of October 11, the department’s seven-day rolling average is at 0.3 cases per day, a remarkable drop from a few months ago when there were between 20 and 30 new cases per day. As of October 20, DPH reported 830 cumulative cases. The California Department of Public Health has reported one death that occurred in September in Los Angeles County. One aspect of San Francisco’s success in meeting the challenge of the outbreak has been a drop in demand for the vaccine. Two doses are required for maximum prevention, administered about a month apart. In August, the federal government increased vaccine supply by pivoting to split dosing whereby a single dose of Jynneos could be used to immunize five people. “The reality is the demand has dropped off,” Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco health officer, told the B.A.R. October 20, but the need for vaccination is still there. “MPX is still with us, and is still a threat to public health.” Philip acknowledged that this “was sending a complicated message,” particularly as the need for ongoing vaccinations hasn’t ended but “I think as health officer, I always want to be looking at the data to determine that it no longer requires the same levels of recognition.” That said, and despite the success of outreach efforts by DPH in San Francisco, Philip said MPX is likely to be present for the foreseeable future. In talking with federal coordinators and White House leaders, she said, “we really have seen that See page 14 >>
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cross California this election season LGBTQ issues have become a flashpoint in school board races. Policies aimed at fostering a safe environment for LGBTQ students, particularly transgender youth, have come under attack, while out candidates have faced homophobic broadsides. It is another manifestation of the concerted attack right-wing groups, Republican lawmakers, and conservative parents have launched across the country to forbid the teaching of LGBTQ curriculums in schools, ban LGBTQ books from libraries, and require trans youth, especially girls, to play on school athletic teams based on the sex they were assigned at birth, contend LGBTQ advocates. Despite the Golden State’s liberal reputation, and state legislators enacting a host of laws addressing the rights of LGBTQ students enrolled in public schools, the national debate over such policies hasn’t bypassed California. And the enactment of the pro-LGBTQ legislation by school district leaders continues to be lackluster. As the Bay Area Reporter’s online Political Notes column reported this month, of the 118 of the state’s 343 unified school districts that
Courtesy the campaign
Lisa Disbrow is a candidate for the Contra Costa County Board of Education.
took part in the Equality California Institute’s 2022 Safe and Supportive Schools Report Card, 48% had yet to adopt LGBTQ+-inclusive textbooks or other instructional materials for history and social studies classes at the high school level. And nearly half (47%) of the districts have schools without a gender neutral restroom facility available for students not located in a nurse’s office or faculty lounge. Samuel Garrett-Pate, managing director of external affairs for the statewide LGBTQ advo-
cacy organization, told the B.A.R. that EQCA is working with the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers to elect school board leaders “who are going to be champions for all students, including LGBTQ students,” this year and in coming election cycles. “These folks are running for offices in which they would actually have control over how a school board implements policies related to protecting students from bullying, harassment, and discrimination,” said Garrett-Pate. “This is not something we are gonna be able to deal with overnight. It is not an issue that is going to be resolved in one election.” Tiffany Woods, a married transgender mom of three school-age children who is the LGBTQ caucus co-chair for the California Democratic Party, told the B.A.R. that more attention needs to be paid to school board races, which are down-ballot contests that often don’t get much media coverage. “School boards are a battleground,” she said. “We know Republicans have targeted them.” The attacks against LGBTQ school policies are often cloaked in “parental rights” arguments, noted Woods. But rarely are the rights of LGBTQ parents considered, she noted. See page 14 >>
New leader settles in at LA LGBTQ archival group by Matthew S. Bajko
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s the ONE Archives Foundation marks its 70th anniversary in November, making it the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ organization in the U.S., its new executive director is settling into the role and introducing himself to the local community. Tony Valenzuela is helping the Los Angeles-based LGBTQ archival group rebuild after being impacted by the COVID pandemic and expand the histories it tells to be more diverse. The health crisis forced it to close its gallery space in the city of West Hollywood, though it now opens to the public when it mounts an exhibition or hosts an event. And although its platinum anniversary is next month, the nonprofit is planning to host most of its celebratory events in 2023. “Part of my vision is to increase our reach regionally in this community and cultivate this organization as one that is deeply engaged with our many communities. That will be reflected more in our programming,” said Valenzuela, who expects to announce the anniversary plans early next year. “I think that the ONE Archives Foundation is the authority around LGBTQ history, certainly in Los Angeles, and I want to continue cultivating that.” Valenzuela is only the second person to be executive director of the foundation, as the first, Jennifer C. Gregg, was hired in 2016. She officially stepped down on September 7, several weeks after Valenzuela began working at the nonprofit August 16. Speaking to the Bay Area Reporter in early October, at the start of LGBTQ History Month, Valenzuela said he sees the foundation as being a counterweight against the move to erase LGBTQ history from school textbooks and LGBTQ books from public libraries. He was “happy” to see the need to educate young Americans about the country’s LGBTQ history was an integral plot point in the recently released gay rom-com “Bros.” “There is that quote of ‘a people without a history is a people without a future.’ I believe the ONE Archive Foundation is an organization preserving and educating about our rich history so we can secure a just ... so we can work toward a just and secure future for LGBTQ people,” said
Courtesy Tony Valenzuela
Tony Valenzuela is the new executive director of the ONE Archives Foundation that is based in Los Angeles.
Valenzuela, 64, a gay man who has called West Hollywood home since 1998. He wants to ensure that LGBTQ history takes into account people of color and the diverse communities that makeup the broader LGBTQ community. It is about broadening the storytelling, explained Valenzuela, as opposed to erasing certain groups of LGBTQ people. “I have a vision for this organization, and I think the vision I have certainly is aligned with what this organization is already doing around expanding the narrative, so working across diverse communities and telling stories that haven’t yet been told,” he said. “It isn’t about erasing or ignoring or even to stop talking about the contributions of gay men and white gay men in the history of HIV/ AIDS activism. That is not the point, it is to expand the narrative.” Valenzuela is the second gay Latino in recent months to be the first hired to lead one of the state’s LGBTQ archival groups. As the B.A.R. reported earlier this month, San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society hired Roberto Ordeñana as its new executive director, making him the first Latino and second person of color to hold the post. “I am the first Latino executive director and our board chair is the first African American in that position,” Valenzuela said. “Those are im-
portant milestones, certainly to me and to many other people in regards to representation and who is in leadership positions.” Valenzuela said he looked forward to getting to know Ordeñana and his counterparts at the various LGBTQ archival groups across California. The organizations have an informal network among themselves and have banded together in recent years to push for state funding and other support. “Having just started here, it is on my agenda to do,” said Valenzuela. Unlike in San Francisco, where plans are in the works to build a large, freestanding LGBTQ museum and archival center, no such project is being discussed in Los Angeles, said Valenzuela. Though he didn’t rule it out becoming a priority in the future. “Who knows, maybe someday? That is the kind of endeavor that takes a lot of research to see if we are able to raise that kind of money,” he said. “It is not on the table currently. But who knows in the future, certainly there would be room in a city the size of Los Angeles for it.” The foundation does have its gallery space in West Hollywood where it can mount exhibitions and host events. Its next public programming there is scheduled for December, and it plans to continue hosting hybrid in-person and online events amid the ongoing COVID pandemic. The nonprofit operates on a calendar year budget between $800,000 to upward of $1 million. It has run deficits in recent years, according to its tax filings compiled by ProPublica, with an operating budget in 2020 of $749,831 but net income falling short by $148,964. In 2019, its expenses were reported as $1,164,448, causing a shortfall of $114,955 in its net income. Gregg’s salary was $142,000 according to the foundation’s 2019 990 tax filing, while Valenzuela is earning $150,000. He oversees a staff of three fulltime people and is in the process of hiring someone to manage education initiatives for the foundation.
History
The nonprofit traces its founding back to November 1952, when members of the early gay rights group the Mattachine Society incorporated that month as ONE Inc. in order to publish a magazine. The inaugural issue of ONE magazine See page 14 >>