LGBTQ

Activists join the ACT UP 30th anniversary gathering rally in March 2017 at St. Vincent Triangle Park in New York City.

Long-Term AIDS Survivors Launch Advocacy Movement

09.17.2020

By Hank Trout

AIDS2020: Virtual, the biannual conference of the International AIDS Society, held in early July, marked a turning point for long-term HIV/AIDS survivors — and not a good one. Five of us in San Francisco who have been on the front lines of the fight for our LGBTQ and HIV communities from the very beginning, left the event feeling sidelined and fed up. So, we met to discuss the myriad issues confronted by us long-term survivors. The result: The San Francisco Principles 2020, which we hope will be the seed for a new movement.

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Goes Virtual

The subjects of “Unsettled”: Junior, Mari, Cheyenne and Subhi. Photo courtesy of Open Door Productions

LGBTQ Refugee Doc Debuts on Public Television, Streaming

Pandemic and Protest: How AIDS and LGBTQ Activism in the ’80s Informs the Present

LGBTQ Show Returns, Explores Lessons for Activists

human rights

San Francisco Pride Goes Virtual Because of Pandemic

05.27.2020

By Mel Baker

Every year, San Francisco Pride events bring hundreds of thousands of people to the city during the last week of June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York City, which kicked off the modern LGBTQ movement. This year was expected to be larger than ever, marking the 50th anniversary of San Francisco’s first march, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced its abrupt cancellation on April 14, 2020.

Community

Latinos in This Liberal City: From San Francisco’s Big Strike to Gay Liberation

07.09.2019

By Eduardo Contreras

Years before charting the evolution and diversity of Latino political life in the city, a historian came here to become an activist. His book recalls major battlegrounds from the 1930s to the 1970s: union campaigns; civil rights organizing; elections; Great Society mobilizations; and feminist, gay and lesbian activism. Read an excerpt from “Latinos and the Liberal City” by Eduardo Contreras.

City Hall

Spare Room? Mayoral Challenger Zhou Says You Could Help Homelessness Crisis

05.21.2018

By Noah Arroyo, Assistant Editor

Ellen Lee Zhou has a plan to help end San Francisco’s homelessness crisis. And it could involve you. Zhou, a public-health worker, said that if elected mayor, she would pay homeowners monthly stipends to house and mentor some of the city’s estimated 4,300 unsheltered residents. Interested? Sixth in a series analyzing the mayoral candidates’ records and pledges on housing and homelessness.

Community

Host Homes Could Get Young Adults Off Streets

10.26.2017

By Sarah Asch, Reporting intern

San Francisco has the highest percentage of unsheltered youths in the nation — more than 1,200 between 18 and 24 years old, at last count. Host homes could get many off the streets. Would you welcome a homeless youth into your home?

Education

Activists Call for Revival of Harvey Milk’s Anti-Speculation Proposal

02.10.2014

By Josh Wolf, Reporter

Before his death, Supervisor Harvey Milk introduced an “anti-speculation” proposal that would have heavily taxed profits generated by quickly flipping properties in San Francisco. Now Brian Basinger, a housing activist and former president of the nostalgically named Harvey Milk Democratic Club, is pushing for the city to resurrect it. The proposal was one of seven considered at Saturday’s citywide Tenant Convention at the Tenderloin Community School auditorium. Participants were able to rank their preference for various proposals by ballot. The event was the culmination of a series of neighborhood tenant conventions that aimed to generate ideas to solve the city’s affordable housing crisis.

Government & Politics

Gay Rights, San Francisco and the Media

06.26.2013

By Kevin Forestieri, Social Media and Content Partner Team, Chorel Centers, Reporter and Yoona Ha

The coverage following the two Supreme Court rulings for same-sex marriage reflects the jubilant celebration of gay rights advocates, eclipsing dissenting opinions on the Supreme Court decision.

City Hall

Same-sex marriage takes the day as court calls Prop. 8 unconstitutional

02.08.2012

By Kristine Magnuson, Distribution Manager and Assistant Editor

Same-sex marriage proponents celebrated an important victory Tuesday in San Francisco following the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. Backers of Proposition 8 were expected to appeal, either by asking for a review by a full panelof the court or by appealing directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Health

California drugmaker’s HIV prevention pill sparks public health debate

01.30.2012

By Bernice Yeung, Freelance writer

Foster City drugmaker Gilead recently updated its application with the federal Food and Drug Administration for approval to market its HIV treatment medication Truvada as an HIV prevention pill. If the FDA approves Truvada for preventive use, it “would be the first agent indicated for uninfected individuals to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV through sex,” according to a company statement at the time of the filing in December 2011.

City Hall

Ordinance would put restrictions on Castro District plazas

01.26.2012

By T.J. Johnston, Reporter

A proposal to regulate two popular Castro District hangouts by restricting chairs and shopping carts is a step closer to becoming city law. The Board of Supervisors will decide Tuesday on an ordinance, which passed the Land Use Committee this week, that would ban nighttime sitting, sleeping, vending, smoking and even pushing a shopping cart in Harvey Milk and Jane Warner Plazas.

HIV & AIDS

“Visual Aid” offers outlet, insight into artists with AIDS

09.22.2011

By Ambika Kandasamy, Reporter & Assistant News Editor

Group archives, displays works of hundreds from Bay Area
To help artists who were suffering from life-threatening illnesses, a collective of artists, art collectors and gallery owners began convening at local art spaces in the city in late 1980s. Their mission was to find a means to record the existing works of artists with AIDS and provide them with the materials they needed to create new ones. The group grew into a fullfledged nonprofit called Visual Aid in 1989, and the organization has been supporting hundreds of Bay Area artists since then.