News Briefs: AIDS Walk San Francisco returns in-person – Bay Area Reporter, America’s highest circulation LGBT newspaper
After two years of holding the event online due to the COVID pandemic, AIDS Walk San Francisco will return in-person Sunday, July 17, at 10 a.m. in Golden Gate Park.
The AIDS Walk follows a 6.25-mile trek through the park and raises funds for nonprofit organizations.
According to its website, AIDS Walk San Francisco makes available the successful infrastructure used by its teams department to organize corporate and community involvement in the event. These organizations participate as fundraising teams in AIDS Walk San Francisco at no cost to themselves, and they keep a majority of the funds they raise.
This year, the co-beneficiaries are National AIDS Memorial Grove, UCSF 360 Wellness Center, AIDS Legal Referral Panel, the Spahr Center in Marin County, Huckleberry Youth Programs, Face 2 Face in Sonoma County, Health Trust, the LGBT Asylum Project, Rainbow Community Center in Contra Costa County, La Clínica, Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, and the Ward 86 Pop-Up at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.
The AIDS Walk also has a community grants program.
People can participate on their own or as part of a team. They can donate in general to AIDS Walk San Francisco or to a team. There is no fee to register.
According to a tracker on its website, the AIDS Walk has raised $552,684 as of July 8.
To sign up, click here.
Precita Eyes to hold youth arts festival
Precita Eyes Muralists will hold its 26th annual urban youth arts festival Saturday, July 16, from 1 to 5 p.m. in Precita Park, 348 Precita Avenue, between Folsom and Treat streets in San Francisco.
This year’s theme is “Hella Future,” and the event will include collective spray painting, live entertainment, and a creative community celebrating youth-driven art, a news release stated.
The program features DJ JenSet; musicians Lil Beast, SFG, Ceez the Move, Frisco Baby, Lurks!, Bugseed, and dance group Feline Finesse. Five youth groups — United Playaz, 5 Elements SF, U Legacy, La Cultura Cura, and Precita’s own graffiti class — will have their own walls for a competition ranked on lettering and characters, the release stated. There will also be community painting, crafts for younger kids, and information booths on education.
The event is free. Precita Eyes Muralists is sponsored in part by a grant from San Francisco Grants for the Arts.
SFMOMA presents community day
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will welcome summer visitors with a free community day Sunday, July 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 151 Third Street.
People can celebrate the opening of “Diego Rivera’s America,” a news release stated. They can also experience the vibrant creativity of the city’s Mission district all day long with a low-rider display on Third Street; a mercado featuring crafts by local artisans; a digital mural installation by Lauren Rose D’Amato and Derek Holguin activated with a performance by musician La Doña; as well as music, comedy, and dance performances.
Admission for “Diego Rivera’s America” requires timed tickets and has limited capacity. If the tickets sell out online, a limited number may be available day-of on a first-come, first-served basis, the release stated.
For more information about the free community day of “Diego Rivera’s America,” click here.
In other SFMOMA news, starting this month, the museum has expanded its public hours by opening on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Beginning in August, it will offer extended First Thursday hours. This program welcomes visitors from the nine Bay Area counties to enjoy the museum for free the first Thursday of the month, from 1 to 8 p.m. (Children 18 and younger can always enjoy SFMOMA for free, the release stated.)
Reserving tickets online for SFMOMA is highly encouraged. For more information, click here. For information on current exhibits, click here.
Newsom allocates funds to combat hate crimes
In the wake of escalating violence, California has awarded $30.3 million to 12 organizations to aggressively address hate crimes by providing services to survivors and facilitating anti-hate prevention measures, according to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office.
A recent report by the California Attorney General’s office shows that hate crimes increased by 89% over the past decade. In particular, the report noted that anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 177% in 2021.
The same report showed anti-gay hate crimes saw a dramatic increase last year, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.
“It comes as no surprise that as the flames of hatred and bigotry have been stoked in our society, acts of cowardice and violence have increased at an alarming rate,” Newsom stated in the news release. “In California, we are investing millions to prevent this hate from taking hold in our communities. We simply will not tolerate intolerance.”
One of the organizations works specifically with the transgender community. The Translatin@ Coalition based in Los Angeles is getting $3,210,144.
The July 7 announcement doubles down on the $14.3 million in grants to 80 organizations for prevention and intervention services to groups at risk of experiencing bias and hate crimes announced this past March, the release stated.
The funds will be used for direct services, including mental health, legal assistance, and case management; prevention services such as youth development, senior safety, and ambassador programs; and intervention such as outreach, training, and services for survivors.
The grant funding has been made available over the next three years, from August 1, 2022, through July 31, 2025, to continue to support anti-hate efforts, the release stated.
Historian looking for info on SF LGBTQ role in Mariel boatlift
In the summer of 1980, San Francisco’s LGBTQ community helped resettle gay and lesbian Cubans who came to the United States during the Mariel boatlift. Historian Lynne Gerber is researching this period and looking for people to interview. In an email to the B.A.R., she wrote that the effort was based at Metropolitan Community Church-San Francisco, which at the time was located in the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood. The Gay and Lesbian Cuban Refugee Program helped gay and lesbian Marielitos find immigration sponsors in San Francisco, provided basic social services, and tried to connect them to the community, Gerber noted.
Gerber, an ally, is a historian of American religion with a focus on Protestantism and sexuality. Her first book, “Seeking the Straight and Narrow: Weight Loss and Sexual Reorientation in Evangelical America,” (2011) was on the ex-gay movement. Her current work is on the history of MCC-San Francisco and AIDS — and religious responses to AIDS in the city more generally.
She wrote that she learned about Cuban refugee resettlement in researching MCC-SF’s history. Last year she wrote an article about the Reverend Jim Mitulski, a gay man who was the former senior pastor at MCC-SF.
Gerber recently did a podcast episode with the director of the Netflix documentary “Pray Away” and reviewed the film for Religion and Politics.
Gerber is looking to talk to Marielitos, sponsors, volunteers, members of organizations that supported the program, or of one group that opposed it. She can be reached at l.gerber999@gmail.com
For more information on Gerber, visit her website.
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