The San Francisco County Clerk's office will make available extra marriage ceremony appointments Friday, June 22, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to celebrate LGBT Pride.
City Administrator Naomi Kelly and the clerk's office announced last week that couples can sign up now to tie the knot in City Hall. Appointments can be made online at www.sfgov.org/countyclerk. In addition, walk-ins will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for couples who have a California marriage license.
Officials said that the city is proud of the vital role it's played in the marriage equality movement and the actions local government has taken in its steadfast support of marriage equality for all.
The Pride ceremonies will be officiated in the North Light Court. Unique Pride souvenir marriage licenses will be offered to all couples who commemorate their union on this special day, and wedding parties will be invited to visit a photo booth to take keepsake pictures.
The fee for a ceremony is $83, and all couples must have valid current government-issued IDs. For more information, visit www.sfgov.org/countyclerk/marriage-general-information or call 311 for further information, including complete requirements for marriage ceremonies.
San Mateo Pride Center anniversary
The San Mateo County Pride Center will celebrate its one-year anniversary with a party Friday, June 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 1021 S. El Camino Real.
The evening's theme is "One Year of Queer" and will honor and celebrate the center's accomplishments. Those include the county's first queer prom, quarterly intergenerational dinners, an oral history project, and peer social and support groups for various queer identities.
The party will feature entertainment by drag queens, music, art, food, appreciations, and more.
There is no cost to attend, though donations are welcome. To RSVP, visit https://starvista.liveimpact.org/li/8032/sevent/evt/home/87448/69.
JCCSF celebrates LGBTQs
The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco will celebrate LGBTQ Pride throughout June with a variety of social gatherings, workshops, lectures, and free celebrations for all ages. Events below are at JCCSF, 3200 California Street.
Coming up Sunday, June 3, from noon to 4 p.m., the Transgender Law Center will hold a name and gender marker clinic, which will offer guidance for people in filling out legal name and/or gender change court forms, including fee waiver requests, as well as applications to change name and gender markers on Social Security cards, passports, driver's licenses, and birth certificates.
The popular "Saturdays Unplugged" at the JCCSF returns June 16 with a Pride celebration at 3 p.m. It will feature a family-friendly drag performance. The event brings families and friends together to celebrate Shabbat, with a screen-free afternoon of live music, sample cocktails, and happy hour specials, as well as hands-on activities for kids.
That same evening at 6 will be the Teen Pride Prom. The event is free, but advance reservation is required and interested people should email Jane Davis at [email protected].
This event is being produced with Keshet and will feature an evening of glitz, glam, and pride for Bay Area teens. Those in high school or entering high school in the fall (grades nine through 12) are welcome.
Finally, out author Lillian Faderman will discuss her new biography, "Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death" Thursday, June 21 at 7 p.m. The book looks at Milk's Jewish childhood on Long Island to his final years as one of the most revolutionary politicians of the 20th century.
Advance registration is required (https://www.jccsf.org/arts-ideas/lillian-faderman).
For more information and a complete list of events, visit http://www.jccsf.org.
LGBTQ senior prom
Openhouse, the LGBT senior agency, will hold its popular Senior Prom in a new and expanded location, the San Francisco War Memorial Green Room, 401 Van Ness Avenue.
The event, Saturday, June 9, from 4 to 7 p.m., is a celebration of older LGBTs and allies of all ages to get another chance at reimagining their prom - with none of the tradition or rules. No dress code, no need for a date, and no dancing required, organizers said.
For those who do want to hit the dance floor, a DJ will be spinning. There will be food and drink, and prizes for prom royalty.
Covia and the Institute on Aging are co-sponsors. The event is free; to RSVP, visit https://bit.ly/2J8ntgU.
Supes pick two for police oversight panel
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee nixed LGBT candidates for Police Commission vacancies, as it forwarded the names of two straight people to the full board for approval.
All three members of the board's rules committee, Supervisors Norman Yee, Ahsha Safai, and Catherine Stefani, forwarded the names of attorney John Hamasaki and former Deputy Public Defender Cindy Elias.
Elias was the attorney for the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program for the city for 12 years and currently the Bureau of Field Enforcement attorney for the Labor Commissioner's Office.
Hamasaki is the treasurer of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, as well as on the executive committee of the California Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
The two appointees will face the full board at its next meeting June 5.
Their appointments come on the heels of the board's rejection of Mayor Mark Farrell's request to reappoint Commissioners Joe Marshall and Sonia Melara at the supervisor's May 15 meeting, leaving the oversight panel without enough members to convene or take action.
The majority of supervisors felt that the next mayor should make the appointments.
The race to get commissioners appointed soon is propelled by the looming possibility that Police Chief William Scott will leave the San Francisco Police Department to become the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. The commission is also in the midst of implementing hundreds of reform recommendations from the U.S. Department of Justice, including use-of-force policies.
While gay District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy said he was "disappointed" with the rejections, he was excited to see so many LGBT candidates apply.
"A lot of policy decisions happen there," Sheehy said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. "The Police Commission is one that has a great deal of influence over the discipline of police officers, major policy issues like use-of-force and types of tools that officers can use, and it's important for us to have a strong voice at the table."
Among the four LGBT applicants were DeAnthony Daymone Jones and Sneh Rao, both gay men; Marilyn Murrillo, a transgender woman; and Linda Franklin, a lesbian. Rao has worked at the city's Human Rights Commission as director of policy since 2013. Jones, an African-American man, works as a teen program lead for Collective Impact. Franklin is a retired California Highway Patrol captain, and Murillo is a substitute high school and elementary school teacher, grant writer, and an intern for Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco).
Alex Madison contributed reporting. Contact the reporter at [email protected].