California’s 2022 Climate accomplishments – Los Angeles Blade
LOS ANGELES – A war in Ukraine, the mid-term elections, a near pandemic of a highly infectious disease impacting men who have sex with men, the 2022 Beijing Games, a WNBA star imprisoned by the Russian government and then a carefully negotiated release, the election of the first Black woman as mayor of Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States and third-largest city in North America all marked 2022 as a unique year.
For Angelenos, the slow recovery from effects of the coronavirus impact coupled with an uptick in hate crimes, seemingly out of control gas prices, high inflation and election races dominated headlines.
In the late fall, allegations of corruption in the LA Sheriff’s Department, a significant increase in hate-related incidents coupled with higher crime rates and a crisis in LA City government, after a scandal involving three city council members heard in a leaked audio recording making racist and homophobic remarks, along with a tight mayoral race between a billionaire real estate tycoon and a popular Black woman member of the U.S. House of Representatives were the critical stories the Southland’s attention was focused on.
Monkeypox became the primary focus of the LGBTQ+ community as it spread with lightning speed as the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, elected officials, and LGBTQ healthcare providers struggled first to diagnose and treat burdened by a federal and state bureaucracy unprepared to address vaccine supply shortages and implement vaccinations quickly.
Incidents of hate dramatically increased in California in 2022 as acts of anti-Semitism, threats of violence including death threats against LGBTQ-affirming businesses and public libraries for holding charitable drag events, and attacks on elected out LGBTQ lawmakers drew headlines.
Monkeypox
Monkeypox vax outages and bureaucracy impedes healthcare providers the Blade published 4 months ago on August 12, 2022. Frustrations mounted as the campaign to vaccinate people against infection of the monkeypox virus is derailed by a critical supply shortage of vaccine doses with added bureaucratic obstacles in getting financial reimbursement to the healthcare providers and clinics dispensing the vaccine.
From the initial reports of the outbreak in May of 2022, the global spread of the disease was astonishingly rapid. By the middle of the summer monkeypox became a worldwide public health crisis, with more than 23,200 confirmed or presumptive positive cases reported across more than 70 countries where it is not considered endemic. Declared a public health crisis by the World Health Organization and then by the Biden administration, in Los Angeles, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to declare an emergency the day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency to combat the outbreak.
Political scandal grips LA City Hall
As the 2022 mid-term election races entered the final stretch in the fall, published accounts of an audio recording with three city council members, one of whom was council president, and a prominent labor leader rocked the political world in Southern California. The Los Angeles Times and Knock LA published articles and audio of racist comments regarding gay LA City Council member Mike Bonin’s Black son and other city and county officials.
In the aftermath, Nury Martinez announced she was resigning as president of the LA city council and then later from her seat. The chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Michel Moore in a tweet referred to the scandal as “a dark day for our City of Angels.”
The scandal continued as one of the other two elected officials, Council member Kevin de León refused to resign his seat after public outcry and protests against his remaining on the council disrupted regular sessions of that elected body.
Bass sworn in as LA mayor
Thousands gathered in downtown L.A. on December 11, 2022 at the Microsoft Theatre to witness the historic inauguration of Mayor-elect Karen Bass. Many danced in the aisles to the upbeat music pouring into the theater through the loudspeakers.
Bass was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black and first woman American ever elected to hold that office.
Bass, 69, no stranger to pioneering women’s and African-American rights, is now Los Angeles’ 43rd mayor and the first woman and second African American to be elected to this position after the legendary Mayor Tom Bradley, in the city’s 241-year history. She won the election against billionaire businessman and developer Rick Caruso in a neck-and-neck race.
“Making history with each of you today is a monumental moment in my life and for Los Angeles,” said the new mayor in her inauguration speech.
The State of Hate
Reported hate crimes in Los Angeles County grew 23% from 641 to 786 in 2021. This is the largest number recorded since 2002. The crimes overwhelmingly included acts of violence, and more than half were spurred by racism. Blacks, Latinos, Jews and LGBTQ individuals were the most-targeted groups. While Black residents only make up 9% of the county’s population, the report showed that they comprise 46% of hate crime victims.
Amid an increase in hate-fueled violence across the country, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation to equalize and strengthen penalties for using hate symbols and bolster security for targeted religious and community-based nonprofits.
Newsom also announced his appointments to the Commission on the State of Hate including longtime Trans Latina advocate and Los Angeles community leader Bamby Salcedo who heads the [email protected] Coalition.
Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate
For the LGBTQ community in Southern California, in fact across the state, 2022 saw an escalation of anti-LGBTQ+ threats of violence, attacks on the drag community, and against individuals. One openly gay senior at El Toro High School in Orange County has had it with homophobia, especially when it appears at his front door, literally. 18-year-old Landon Jones posted video captured from his family’s ring.com surveillance camera that displayed the homophobic abuse that occurred, which has now gone viral.
Politicians’ were also targets of anti-LGBTQ animus. The most recent example occurring on December 6th, when San Francisco police responded to a bomb threat at Calif. State Senator Scott Wiener’s home. Wiener is an openly gay champion for queer rights, who represents San Francisco’s Senatorial District 11 in Sacramento.
This also marks the second time this year that a bomb threat targeting him resulted with police searching his residence and professional workspaces. Both times the threats were laced with profanities that denigrated his sexuality.
Transitions
Out actor Leslie Jordan died in a Hollywood car crash after suffering an unspecified medical emergency the LAPD said. The 67-year-old beloved actor and comedian saw a resurgence of fame with his viral and hilarious videos on social media during the lengthy coronavirus pandemic. Jordon was best known for his roles as Lonnie Garr in Hearts Afire (1993–1995), Beverly Leslie in Will & Grace (2001–2006, 2017–2020), and several characters in the American Horror Story franchise (2011–present).
Jordan was also devoted as an advocate for LGBTQ+ equality rights.
Thomas Senzee, a California native whose award-winning career spanned nearly thirty years in media, writing for outlets including The Huffington Post, The Advocate/OUT, The Fight Magazine, The Washington Blade, The Los Angeles Business Journal and other publications, was found deceased on Thursday, March 24, 2022, in Palm Springs. The former Editor-In-Chief of the San Diego LGBT Weekly webzine and frequent contributor to The San Diego Reader, an alternative press newspaper, died at age 54.
She was a staple at hundreds of LGBTQ+ events, often performing around her beloved Chicago, over the years and a staunch defender of LGBTQ+ equality. Often referred to as “The Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” comedian Judy Tenuta died at her LA home, also in October, at age 72 from ovarian cancer.
California leads the way in LGBTQ+ legislative efforts nationwide
Providing safeguards to block out-of-state attempts to penalize families that come to Calif. seeking medical treatment for trans children, a first-in-the-nation law will help create a more inclusive and culturally competent healthcare system for TGI (transgender, gender diverse, and intersex) people in California, and laws to allowing cities to adopt the new regulations for multi-stall gender-neutral bathrooms plus legislation to Protect Sexual Assault Victims’ DNA were signed into law this past year by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
2022 Midterm Elections
For LGBTQ+ Californians, this election cycle brought a number of significant advances as more openly LGBTQ+ officials were elected or reelected to local, state, and federal offices. In the election cycle, California became the first state in the nation to achieve 10% LGBTQ+ representation in its state legislature.
Rick Chavez Zbur (AD-51) — the former executive director of Equality California was sworn in to represent West Los Angeles County to include the LGBTQ+ enclave of West Hollywood.
Representative Mark Takano who was the only LGBTQ+ Member of Congress, found himself joined by former Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia in turn himself becoming the first openly gay immigrant elected to the U.S. House.
LA County DA addressing the needs of the community
Last April, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced the creation of the office’s first-ever LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, one of several Advisory Boards that will provide valuable community input into his work building a safer and healthier county for all. The Board will advise the District Attorney’s Office regarding policies, priority issues, and best practices related to LGBTQ+ Angelenos and the criminal justice system.
District Attorney Gascón and his staff have been criticised for the way cases are handled including those cases dealing with members of the trans community.
LGBTQ+ representation and community service
LA City Fire Department’s 1st woman & Out firefighter was sworn in as chief. Kristin Crowley, a 22-year veteran of the LA City Fire Department was sworn in as the city’s 19th fire chief this past March by the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti surrounded by her wife and other family members.
Crowley made history within the LAFD when she became the city’s first female fire marshal in 2016. But, as she was sworn in Friday Crowley garnered the distinction of becoming the first woman and first openly Out firefighter in the history of the 136-year-old department.
Chief Crowley was nominated by Garcetti in January to lead a collective of 3,246 uniformed fire personnel and 353 professional support personnel. Crowley took the firefighters’ exam in 1998 and placed among the top 50 scores out of 16,000 applicants, according to the department.