Communities across the Bay Area will observe the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance this week. This year will also mark the first time that Governor Gavin Newsom will issue a declaration.
In June, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1741, authored by gay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell). As the Bay Area Reporter noted at the time, it adds California to the list of states that annually proclaim November 20 as Transgender Day of Remembrance. The law requires the governor to officially recognize the date each year as a day of special remembrance in the Golden State. The event, started in 1998 by B.A.R. Transmissions columnist Gwen Smith, commemorates those transgender people lost to violence in a given year.
The Human Rights Campaign issued a report November 16 that stated at least 32 trans and gender-nonconforming people were killed in 2022. The nationwide LGBTQ rights organization has been tracking violence against those communities for 10 years, it stated in a news release.
In addition to Newsom's expected proclamation, several Bay Area jurisdictions and organizations have events planned.
In San Francisco, there will be an observance Sunday, November 20, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at La Cocina Municipal Market, 101 Hyde Street. The event will also be streamed at www.tdorsf.com. There will be a march from City Hall to the market beginning at 3 p.m., according to a news release.
The march, which starts on the Polk Street side of City Hall, is sponsored by the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives, and will include speakers Levi Maxwell, Victoria Castro, and Anjali Rimi.
The commemoration is being organized by a group of trans and gender-nonconforming folks and LGBTQI organizations from San Francisco, the release stated.
Guest speakers scheduled to appear include Sylvia Guerrero, the mother of Gwen Araujo, a trans teen who was murdered in Newark, California 20 years ago; trans activist Janelle Luster; and Cecilia Chung, a trans community leader and member of the San Francisco Health Commission. The invocation will be by Holy Old Man Bull, and there will be performances by New Voices Bay Area Ensemble and Tory Teasley.
The Rainbow Community Center in Concord will observe TDOR Sunday, November 20, with a remembrance vigil from 6 to 7 p.m. at Todos Santos Park, 2175 Willow Pass Road. The center, which just saw the departure of trans executive director Kiku Johnson, urged people to join in the observance.
"Transgender folks oftentimes face the most barriers within the LGBTQIA+ community, including transphobic hate violence, as well as a lack of access and resources," the center's board stated in an email announcement. "Specifically, nationally, Black and Latinx transwomen face the highest rates of violence and hate out of any single demographic in our country. These conditions and systemic issues can prevent trans community members from being able to live the full, healthy, and comfortable lives that they deserve."
To register for the event, which is free, email [email protected]
On the Peninsula, the San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission will hold its TransACTION Day of Change Friday, November 18, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Courthouse Square, 2200 Broadway in Redwood City.
According to an email announcement, the event will include booths specifically with trans and gender-diverse resources and services, an Allegiance Wall, reading of names of those lost, and a candlelight vigil.
People can also sign up in advance for COVID and MPX vaccinations here.
For more information, click here.
The Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center in San Jose will honor TDOR with a special display in the center's ballroom. The pictures and stories will be unveiled November 20 and remain up through the end of the year for people to access. The center is located at 938 The Alameda.
The California Democratic Party and its LGBTQ Caucus will observe TDOR Saturday, November 19, from noon to 1 p.m. with a special virtual public program featuring Smith, the TDOR founder.
"With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice," Smith stated in an email message from caucus Co-Chairs Lester Aponte and Tiffany Woods, a trans mom who used to organize a TDOR event in the East Bay.
To sign up, click here.
SF supes panel advances update to prohibited bias definitions
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors rules committee on Monday advanced changes to the city's administrative code that will update definitions of prohibited discrimination in contracting ordinances.
Sponsored by Mayor London Breed and gay supervisors Rafael Mandelman (District 8) and Matt Dorsey (District 6), the proposal now heads to the full board. The rules committee, made up of Mandelman, who is vice chair, District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, chair; and District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, unanimously approved sending the item forward. There was no public comment.
During their brief discussion on the matter, Jude Diebold, with the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, said that they had gathered input from a variety of sources, including the commission's LGBTQ advisory bodies. Diebold said some definitions contained in Chapters 12B and 12C of the administrative code were outdated. Those chapters deal with contracts, including property contracts, that the city enters into. In addition to revising the definitions of gender identity, sex, and sexual orientation, the term gender expression will be added.
The definition of age will be revised in Chapter 12A, which is the Human Rights Commission ordinance.
"It will clean up some problematic definitions of age," HRC staff member Matthew Oglander said.
As an example, Oglander said that in the HRC ordinance that established the commission, age is currently capped at 65 under the code as that was the case in federal and state law at the time. Now, however, state and federal language increased the age cap before removing it altogether, Oglander said.
Disability, too, will be more broadly defined under the revisions. Oglander said the definition had followed the narrower federal law and would now be updated to the broader state law.
The Mayor's Office of Disability is supportive of the changes, Peskin noted.
Dorsey told the Bay Area Reporter he was pleased the item, which was first proposed earlier this year, got a hearing.
"The updated language in our municipal code reflects a more enlightened take on gender identity and sexual orientation, which I think is more worthy of San Francisco's inclusive values." he said. "Language updates that pertain to age and disability status are really about harmonizing local provisions with their state and federal counterparts."
Newsom accepting applicants for racial equity panel
This fall, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order directing state agencies and departments to take additional actions to embed equity analysis and considerations in their mission, policies, and practices. The executive order also established a new Racial Equity Commission in the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Newsom is now seeking applicants for his seats on the panel.
According to an announcement, the new commission is charged with creating a racial equity framework consisting of resources and tools to promote racial equity and address structural racism. The commission will also recommend tools, methodologies, and opportunities to advance racial equity, and will provide direct assistance to state agencies in reviewing and updating policies and practices upon agency request.
The commission will be comprised of 11 individuals, with seven appointed by Newsom, two by the Senate Rules Committee, and two by the Assembly speaker, the announcement stated. Applicants should have demonstrated expertise in the following: developing public policies impacting racial equity; developing or using data or budget equity assessment tools; providing technical assistance in developing and implementing strategies for racial equity; and/or being a member of or working with impacted communities whose lived experience will inform the work of the commission.
The commission will hold quarterly meetings to engage stakeholders and community members on its work, and will engage, collaborate, and consult with policy experts to conduct analyses and develop tools that advance racial equity, the announcement stated.
To apply to become a member of the Racial Equity Commission appointed by the governor, click here. Once in the application form, make sure to click "Racial Equity Commission" in the position fields' drop down menu.
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