Bay Area Reporter - December 22, 2000
Katie Szymanski and Terry Beswick

On the news front for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, there was rarely a dull day; people fought against regressive policies and cheered simultaneous advancements, they pushed issues like AIDS and gender inclusion to the national forefront, started families, and lost some heroes along the way.

January

The year began with both tragedy and progress. On New Year's Day, the community lost Dick Pabich, a longtime activist, to AIDS-related complications. Pabich, a political strategist, was the architect of many campaigns over the decades to fight homophobia and AIDS and to elect openly gay people to office. He began his career in the 1970s when he walked into Harvey Milk's camera shop in the Castro and volunteered for Milk's state Assembly campaign; later, as Milk's supervisorial aide at City Hall, the pair became known for their joint efforts to establish gay power throughout San Francisco. In the 1980s, Pabich fought against efforts to quarantine people with AIDS when hysteria was at its worst, and more recently, he helped to spearhead statewide back-to-work legislation for people with HIV, legislation that took effect on the day he died.

After years of dealing with his own illness, Pabich died at a hospital in San Francisco. He was 44.

At the same time, the state of California saw its new domestic partnership law take effect, a long overdue piece of legislation that was finally championed by Assemblywoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco). As it stands, the legislation provides same-sex couples and heterosexual couples over the age of 62 with a registry, automatic hospital visitation rights, and health insurance for domestic partners of state employees. More benefits are expected to be added next year.

Blacks and Latinos now lead the nation in new AIDS cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on January 13. While they are only 25 percent of the population, 52 percent of AIDS cases among men who have sex with men occur in people of color, according to the CDC.

Locally, The San Francisco Department of Public Health announced that AIDS deaths were on the decline, with 236 reported for 1999.

The Oakland Police Department made some accidental progress just two months after participants of the annual Creating Change conference happened to catch officers harassing transgendered people on the street.

The conference - sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and in town for just a few days in November 1999 - staged an impromptu demonstration that demanded, among other things, an LGBT liaison. Police Chief Richard Word followed through, taking some dramatic steps at the beginning of the year.

On January 11, Supervisor Michael Yaki drew a firestorm of criticism when he announced on KTVU-TV Channel 2 that a helicopter crash that killed two San Francisco police officers could have been avoided if it weren't for the city's landmark domestic partnership law. According to Yaki, the doomed helicopter had to fly 200 miles away to find a maintenance service that complied with San Francisco's equal benefits ordinance; the copter crashed outside of Porterville, in Tulare County. The implication was that if it weren't for the law requiring companies that do business with the city to offer the same benefits to same-sex and heterosexual couples alike, the officers would still be alive. Not only was Yaki's assertion quickly deemed to be untrue, but community leaders said his announcement was inflammatory by calling on the public to review a population's civil rights.

The University of California at San Francisco announced the creation of the first-ever Lesbian Health Research Center to study diseases in lesbian, MTF, and FTM populations, and to create an information bank to store and share relevant data.

Robert Rosenkrantz, the gay man sentenced to 17 years to life for killing his gay basher in high school, was awarded a new parole hearing on January 20 by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. The victory was short-lived, however, as Rosenkrantz's battle for freedom continues to this day.

Activists fought to get San Jose police to recognize that a murdered transgendered youth was the victim of a hate crime. Police, who found a naked male body in the trunk of a young man's car on January 19, just couldn't understand the concept that the deceased had lived her life as a female named Alina; her friends at the local community center surmised that she was killed when alleged perpetrator Scott Santino took her home and discovered that she had male sex organs.

Supervisor Mark Leno had his medical marijuana identification cards legislation approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 24; the cards, available at the Department of Public Health, are meant to make toking easier for those with a medical need.

Recognizing the new manageability of HIV, several local AIDS organizations expanded their services to include people with other illnesses. The AIDS Emergency Fund started fundraising for its Breast Cancer Emergency Fund to help ailing women with medical costs, utilities, and rent, and to give back to lesbians what they gave to their male friends during the AIDS crisis. Project Open Hand also began to deliver hot meals to homebound people with critical illnesses in order to fulfill its mission to "serve those in need."

On a sad note, the month ended with the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 from Mexico to San Francisco. The plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean off the Ventura County coast on January 31, claiming the lives of all 88 people aboard. Several LGBT passengers from the Bay Area were among the victims, including gay men Will Byrant, James (Jay) Luque, and transgendered woman Toni Choate.

February

The campaign against Proposition 22 - the anti-gay ballot initiative created by right-wing state Senator Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) that defined marriage as between a man and a woman - began to heat up, with No on Knight raising millions in an effort to defeat it. Many gay activists also became involved in the fight against Proposition 21, a hateful ballot measure designed to imprison a young generation, mainly youth of color, for crimes as benign as graffiti.

Jurors cannot be dismissed from a trial because of their sexual orientation, a Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled on February 1. The state court's decision said that gays and lesbians constitute a "cognizable" group and therefore cannot be excused from a jury based on their membership in that group. The ruling also affirmed that LGBT representation on a jury could be a benefit to deliberations and positively affect society as a whole.

San Francisco is a designated safe haven for binational LGBT couples, the Board of Supervisors said in a resolution passed on February 1. While largely symbolic, the resolution, introduced by Supervisor Leslie Katz, announced that the city will not cooperate with federal immigration investigations.

Charges were dropped in the "San Diego Six" case, a horrifying scenario whereby police raided an SM party and arrested participants for "lewd behavior" and "nudity." After one trial was won outright when a jury found in favor of the defendant, the district attorney announced on February 1 that the office would not pursue the case further.

A gay-straight alliance in Orange County was granted permission to meet during a court trial that challenged its very existence. Students at El Modena High School were victorious, but school officials retaliated by requiring parental consent to join the club.

St. John's wort may interfere with AIDS drugs, scientists announced in a report issued February 12. The herbal remedy for depression speeds up the way the liver metabolizes protease inhibitors, greatly reducing the amount of HIV treatment in the blood, according to researchers.

The drug GHB took center stage again when a rash of incidents prompted Supervisor Mark Leno to propose "safe haven" laws for clubs that are under increased police scrutiny for illegal substances. Under the proposal, club owners could not be penalized for calling an ambulance when a patron is suspected to have overdosed on drugs.

Castro gentrification was epitomized as Pottery Barn prepared to move into its new space at 2390 Market Street despite neighborhood objections.

In the midst of a booming economy, DPH announced some drastic cuts to its public services, including the elimination of San Francisco General Hospital's pharmacy and the slashing of mental health beds at the facility. Expressing concerns over the availability of care to city residents in need, Supervisor Tom Ammiano called for an audit of SFGH to see what was happening with its finances.

Protests against Dr. Laura Schlessinger got into full gear; on February 24, dozens of LGBT people gathered in front of KGO radio in San Francisco to oppose the right-wing "therapist" and her anticipated television show, now doing delightfully miserable in the ratings.

March

Inevitably, Proposition 22 won big on election night in California on March 7, and the millions of dollars spent by both sides did absolutely nothing to change the approval ratings over the months of campaigning: 61 percent of voters decided that marriage was too sacred for same-sex couples, while 39 percent voted against the divisive measure. Proposition 21 was also approved by a wide margin.

Things could have been worse, of course, especially of you were one of the mice or humans subjected to the experiments that determined nonoxynol-9 as an HIV risk. According to a report issued at an international conference entitled Microbicide 2000, the jelly cream hailed as a sperm killer and once thought to aid in HIV prevention actually appeared to cause an irritation in subjects, leaving them even more vulnerable to infection.

It was a busy month for AIDS dissidents and the subsequent backlash; South African President Thabo Mbeki began to question the cause of AIDS, inviting prominent dissidents to July's International AIDS Conference. The result, as we know, was not pretty. Here in San Francisco, ACT UP/Golden Gate changed its name to Survive AIDS in order to avoid being confused with the dissident group ACT UP/San Francisco.

San Francisco crowned a new Mr. Leather on March 10 when the honors were bestowed upon local talent Lance Gear.

Community United Against Violence named Terry Person as its executive director; Person, a lesbian of color, replaced the ever-elusive Ruth Bukowiecki who headed the organization for less than a year.

In national news, for the first time ever, the census included LGBT families by allowing couples to check an "unmarried partner" box for each other, thereby recognizing and counting this important demographic. AIDS Benefits Counselors (now the Positive Resource Center) co-founder Audrey K. Doughty died on March 20. She was 79.

The Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously on March 29 in favor of an ordinance that will allow patients to grow and use medical cannabis. Elizabeth Farrel Kaiser passed away at her home in Port Costa, California on March 30 after a long struggle with breast cancer. Her lover, Dr. Margaret E. Poscher, was by her side.

Jews gave gays and lesbians a thumbs-up on March 29 when the Rabbinical Body of Reform Judaism declared that same-sex Jewish relationships are worthy of ritual celebration.

And Catholics came out of the closet about the sexual abuse endured by many at the hands of the holier-than-thou priesthood; on March 29 the Oakland Archdiocese apologized on behalf of all the troubled souls in hopes of nurturing a "reconciliation." Nationally, the church has spent $1 billion settling sexual abuse lawsuits. And this is the institution that says we need help.

April

While murder rates fell nationally, murders against LGBT people increased dramatically, with California seeing a 200 percent increase in 1999, according to a report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released April 6 by Community United Against Violence. Anti-LGBT assaults were down, but the violence occurring within these assaults were up. For example, 325 incidents were reported in San Francisco in 1999, down 18 percent from 1998. However, 60 percent of those assaulted in 1999 were seriously injured, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. With a $3,000 grant from the Castro Street Fair, Gilbert Baker restored the rainbow flag that has come to symbolize gay freedom flying over Harvey Milk Plaza at Castro and 18th Streets to its original eight-color design, adding back fuchsia and turquoise.

After an investigation and autopsy, San Francisco Medical Examiner Dr. Boyd Stephens determined that Jeff Goring, the 35-year-old San Jose man who collapsed at Club Universe February 13, likely died of a heart attack. There was no evidence that drugs played any role in Goring's death.

Longtime disability rights activist Bill Hirsh was named executive director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, the leading provider of legal services to people with HIV in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Several members of AIDS dissident group ACT UP/SF violently disrupted an April 17 public educational forum co-hosted by Project Inform and Survive AIDS (formerly ACT UP/Golden Gate), screaming, throwing hard pills at attendees, and spitting. One Project Inform staffer was injured when she tried to break up a melee between audience members and the HIV denialists, who fled before police arrived. Meeting organizers promised to pursue restraining orders against the activists.

No on Knight/No on Proposition 22 campaign officials revealed that about $250,000 was left over from their $7 million attempt to defeat the anti-gay statewide proposition. No on Knight officials said the money would be used to help expand legal protections for gay and lesbian couples and their families through a fund administered by the nonprofit Horizons Foundation.

The Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco celebrated 30 years of "making things happen" on April 26 with a special evening service.

Edgard Mora was sentenced to five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter after accepting a plea bargain offered by the San Francisco District Attorney's office, including a two-year hate crime enhancement for the one-punch death of openly gay Brian Wilmes outside a San Francisco bar on March 12, 1998.

After failing to gather 670,000 signatures by April 20 to put their proposal to legalize gay marriage on the November 2000 ballot in California, openly gay brothers Tom and John Henning of Californians for Same-Sex Marriage announced a new campaign to try again for November 2002.

About 75 medical marijuana activists picketed outside the San Francisco Department of Public Health on April 20, concerned that DPH officials had failed to consult them on the design and implementation of a planned medical marijuana identification card program.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," responded one of the seven individuals who had secretly formed the GTT Trust to borrow $800,000 from venture capitalist and fellow HIV denialist Robert Leppo and close the $760,000 purchase of the 1884/1886 Market Street building where they operate a medical marijuana dispensary under the name ACT UP/San Francisco.

Chuck Frutchey, former president of the board for the Stop AIDS Project and a co-founder of the Coalition for Healthy Sex, died April 6 of AIDS-related causes. He was 46.

May

At a City Hall meeting with Supervisor Mark Leno on Wednesday, May 3, the Bechtel Group announced that they would begin offering equal benefits to all domestic partners of their 9,500 salaried employees throughout the United States. Subsidiary Bechtel Infrastructure, which was in final negotiations with the city Public Utilities Commission to help run billions of dollars worth of construction projects, had been in compliance with the city's DP ordinance while the parent Bechtel Group was not.

"They like me!" exclaimed San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano. "They really like me." Ammiano and lesbian icons Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were announced May 3 as the community's picks for the LGBT Pride Parade's 2000 grand marshals. The AIDS Emergency Fund won the organizational marshal position. Ellen DeGeneres was selected to be the celebrity grand marshal, but when she did not respond to an invitation, the honor went to fellow comedienne Margaret Cho.

Temporary restraining orders were issued by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alfred G. Chiantelli on May 5 and May 9 against five members of ACT UP/San Francisco, an HIV denialist group, requiring them to stay at least 100 yards away from Project Inform employees and volunteers. And on May 15, the judge issued arrest warrants for four of the ACT UP/SF members, who were being charged with trespassing at an April 17 forum. Two of the warrants included charges of misdemeanor assault.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance on May 8 that added body size to the city's non-discrimination code. The body bias ordinance proposed by board President Tom Ammiano gives people a legal basis for challenging discriminatory treatment due to their weight or height.

About 20 local activists picked outside KPIX-TV's Battery Street offices on May 8 to protest the planned airing of Dr. Laura Schlessinger's television program in the fall.

South Africa President Thabo Mbeki appointed a 33-member panel to advise him on how best to handle the HIV/AIDS epidemic in his country, where one in 10 are infected with HIV. About half the panel's members, including Berkeley HIV denialist Peter Duesberg, were individuals who do not believe that HIV causes AIDS. The panel held its first meeting the weekend of May 5 in Pretoria.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health acknowledged that it had received only one application by the May 10 deadline to run the new transitional housing facility for LGBTQQ youth at 2500 Market Street. The application was from the nonprofit Ark of Refuge, which had run two previous shelters serving the Castro's queer youth.

Kiyoshi Kuromiya, a pioneering gay activist and AIDS treatment advocate, died May 10 from complications of AIDS and cancer in a Philadelphia hospital. He was 57.

According to IRS forms for fiscal year 1998-99 released by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in mid-May, SFAF Executive Director Pat Christen's salary and benefits totaled $201,320 that year. Board chair Lonnie Payne called the salary "well within the market range for large nonprofits."

Champion figure skater Rudy Galindo, who earlier in the year had learned that he was HIV-positive, led about 1,000 people in the 17th annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization in San Francisco on May 21.

Longtime AIDS and civil rights activist Eileen Hansen announced her candidacy on May 22 for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, challenging incumbent Supervisor Mark Leno for the seat representing District 8, which includes the Noe Valley and Castro neighborhoods.

June

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission staged a protest outside the Italian Embassy in San Francisco on June 1, protesting Mayor Francesco Rutelli of Rome's attempt to cancel World Pride Roma, slated for July 1-9.

The San Francisco Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force, created by legislation sponsored by Supervisor Mark Leno, was convened for its first meeting at City Hall on June 1.

The San Francisco HIV Prevention Planning Council decided, after some deliberation, that HIV does in fact cause AIDS, and issued a declaration in early June saying so.

America's three largest automakers announced June 8 that they would begin extending healthcare benefits to the domestic partners of all their employees. The announcement from General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler AG covered about 345,000 employees.

In a 2-1 decision released June 8, the Texas Court of Appeals struck down that state's sodomy law on the grounds that it violates the Equal Rights Amendment of the Texas Constitution on the basis of a person's sex.

Overturning two lower court decisions, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 19 that the Paul Revere Life Insurance Company had violated state law when it denied disability benefits to a Los Angeles-area man who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1994.

A poll released June 21 showed that a majority of California voters - particularly younger voters - believe that committed relationships between two people of the same sex should be legally recognized. The poll of 1,200 registered voters conducted by Washington, D.C.-based Decision Research was touted as evidence that while the campaign against the anti-gay Proposition 22 failed in March, it had succeeded in convincing voters of the inequities faced by same-sex couples.

On June 27, Governor Gray Davis signed legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) that bans the practice of excluding people from jury duty on the basis of their race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.

A 26-year-old Seattle man, Jason Scott Kohlnhofer, died of a drug overdose on June 23 in a private room at Berkeley's Steamworks, a gay bathhouse. Almost 1 million people flocked to San Francisco's 30th annual Pride Parade and Celebration on June 24 and 25, as well as to associated events including the Dyke March, Pink Saturday, and the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

UNAIDS, the umbrella AIDS organization of the United Nations, released its annual report on June 27. The death toll from the pandemic had climbed to 19 million in just two decades, and in 1999, 5.4 million people became infected with HIV.

A three-member panel of the California Board of Prison Terms ordered Robert Rosenkrantz, imprisoned since being convicted of the 1985 shooting of a schoolmate, freed. The prisoner said he expected Governor Gray Davis to block his release again.

Governor Davis signed the state budget for fiscal year 2000-01 on June 30. The $99.4 billion measure included a $12.7 million jump in funding for AIDS services and programs.

"The 900 number is not an official number ... the comparison to sub-Saharan Africa is unfortunate," Dr. Willi McFarland, an epidemiologist with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said, referring to quotes he had fed to daily newspapers. McFarland and other health officials were working overtime trying to explain how they had arrived at their conclusion that the HIV infection rate in San Francisco had doubled, a story they bungled just prior to a key vote in Congress over AIDS funding for the city, and also just prior to the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.

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Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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