It's Transgender Awareness Month, with Mayor London Breed raising the trans flag Monday, November 16, ahead of a rally and march that evening.
Virtual events will mark the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Friday, November 20, allowing people to participate remotely.
The San Mateo County Pride Center will hold a vigil from 4 to 5:30 p.m. According to a flier, the event will include space for community mourning, reflection, and healing. There will be speakers, poets, and a community open mic. Counselors will also be available.
The free event will be held on Zoom and livestreamed on YouTube.
Registration is required and can be done at https://bit.ly/3pBvZHZ
The San Francisco LGBT Community Center will hold a Facebook Live event from 6 to 7:30 p.m. It is being organized by the center's SF Transgender Empowerment Advocacy Mentorship Program (SF TEAM). For more information, go to https://bit.ly/3kzKMiE
GAPA Runway moves online
The Gay Asian Pacific Alliance's Runway 2020, "Rise of the Immortals," takes place online Saturday, November 21, at 7 p.m.
Host for the evening will be Miss Gay SF 2013 Jezebel Patel. Past and current Miss and Mr. GAPA winners will share their drag, makeup, and talent.
Special guests include Cecilio Asuncion, founder and director of Slay Models, a trans modeling agency, and Lucy Shen, a nonbinary local politician who came up short in their recent race for Fremont school board.
Tickets range from free to $40. For tickets and more information, go to https://bit.ly/3ntaze6
Glide to provide Thanksgiving meals
Glide will hold its annual Thanksgiving celebration and meal Thursday, November 26. According to a news release, COVID-19 protocols will be in place to ensure safety and physical distancing.
"This year's celebration may look different but will include all the hallmarks of Thanksgiving at Glide," the release stated.
An outdoor dining room will be set up on the street in front of Glide, located on the 300 block of Ellis Street. Clients will have the option of taking their meal to go or using the dining room. Additionally, Glide will deliver 200 meals to encampments across San Francisco.
Glide Church, meanwhile, will offer its celebration service online from 10 to 11 a.m. A new feature this year will be a virtual "Live from Glide" Thanksgiving starting at 9:30 a.m.
For more information, visit http://www.glide.org
Glide recently reached a settlement and parted ways with the United Methodist Church after a lengthy dispute over Glide Foundation's assets and its Tenderloin property. The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that Glide Church and its nonprofit foundation are completely autonomous.
All-star lineup for DADT repeal celebration
The LGBTQ Victory Institute will honor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) at the 2020 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference during a virtual event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which had banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
An award will be presented to Pelosi by former Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy (D), an undersecretary of the Army in the Obama administration, for her leadership in repealing the law. The award ceremony will be followed by a distinguished hourlong panel with Admiral Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama; and Aaron Belkin, Ph.D., director of the Palm Center. The conversation will be moderated by gay Washington Post writer Jonathan Capehart.
The International LGBTQ Leaders Conference is the largest gathering of LGBTQ elected officials in the world and will take place virtually December 3-5. Registration for the conference and the "Ten Years Later: The Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'" event are free.
The DADT portion of the conference takes place Friday, December 4, starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Time.
The event's executive sponsor is the Tawani Foundation on behalf of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library.
To register, click here.
Operation Santa goes nationwide
Thoughts of kids, the holidays, and wondering how to provide for them may be weighing heavily on many. But Santa and the U.S. Postal Service are here to help.
The USPS Operation Santa program celebrates its 108th year in 2020 by opening up for nationwide participation. Now, more than ever, the program is needed to help less fortunate kids and families during the holidays, a news release stated.
The postal service established the USPS Operation Santa program to help those in need at the holidays experience the joy of opening presents — and to create special holiday memories. Since it began, millions of less fortunate children and their families have been helped by the kindness of others. The program is for every person of every belief, or non-belief. The purpose is to help as many deserving families as possible. And that can only be done if good-hearted adopters step forward.
To participate in the USPS Operation Santa program as a possible recipient of holiday gifts, all you have to do is write a letter, put it in a stamped envelope with a return address, and send it to Santa's official workshop address, 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888. Letters will be accepted now through December 15.
These letters are opened by Santa's Elves and, for safety reasons, all personally identifiable information of the letter writer is removed (i.e., last names, addresses, ZIP Codes) and uploaded to the website for adoption.
Beginning December 4, letters will be available for nationwide adoption by visiting www.uspsoperationsanta.com — all from the socially distant safety of your own home. Potential adopters can read the letters and pick one, or more, that they'd like to fulfill. For security reasons, potential adopters must be vetted by going through a short registration and ID verification process before they are allowed to adopt any letter.
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