The San Francisco Pride organization has reportedly denied a request from two longtime LGBTQ leaders asking that a gay makeup artist whisked to an infamous Salvadorian prison by the Trump administration be made an honorary grand marshal. The news comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom has written to federal officials asking for the man, Andry Jose Hernández Romero, to be returned to the U.S.
As the Bay Area Reporter reported April 11 , Cleve Jones, a gay activist who co-founded the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and Nicole Murray Ramirez, a San Diego-based gay activist who, as the Queen Mother I of the Americas and Nicole the Great, is the titular head of the Imperial Court system, had asked Pride organizations across the country to name Hernández Romero, 31, an honorary grand marshal.
Hernández Romero was featured on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on April 6. He was one of 238 Venezuelan migrants flown to the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, in El Salvador three weeks ago after the Trump administration made an agreement with Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele to house them there. Human Rights Watch reports that the prison is the site of human rights abuses. Hernández Romero had been detained in a San Diego immigration jail since last year, when he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to attend a pre-arranged asylum hearing in the Southern California city, the Daily Mail reported.
Jones told the B.A.R. on April 11 that San Francisco Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford told him, “There was pushback about grand marshal being used that way.” Ford had issued a statement to the B.A.R. April 10 decrying the treatment of Hernández Romero in response to a B.A.R. question about if Pride would be open to naming him an honorary grand marshal. According to Jones, she told him she hoped the statement helped.
“I am very disappointed that SF Pride has chosen to take no substantive action to try to save this man’s life,” Jones said. “It’s shameful and sad.”
Ford, a trans woman, did not return an April 11 phone call after Jones’ statement.
But she did post on Facebook Friday afternoon, seemingly referring to the issue.
“I am fucking exhausted,” Ford wrote. “The outrage that we have the audacity to not agree with someone’s preferred method of protest. Where was all of your methods and outrage when trans people were being killed? Will anyone be calling me tonight telling me how to resond [sic] to that? It is time that we quit cancelling each other over how we choose to fight. It is enough that we agree on what we are fighting. This division does nothing for anyone.”
Reached for comment by phone April 11, Murray Ramirez responded, “Are you kidding me? I think with San Francisco being, like, the gay capital of the world, it’s just a disappointment.”
Murray Ramirez said, “I’m very disappointed and hurt, to be honest.”
Murray Ramirez said other Pride organizations may be signing on to their request as early as next week.
Response has been “very positive,” but, “I respect they have procedures and all that,” Murray Ramirez said.
The Los Angeles Times reported April 10 that Newsom had sent a letter requesting that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem bring Hernández Romero to the U.S. for a judge to evaluate his case.
Relatedly, the group Gays Without Borders stated it would hold a rally in support of Hernández Romero outside the Salvadoran Consulate in San Francisco Saturday, April 12, from 3 to 4 p.m. It is located at 500 Golden Gate Avenue (at Polk Street).
Bukele, the Salvadorian president, is reportedly visiting the White House on Monday.
Supreme Court rules in another case
The detention issue comes as the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled April 10 that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of another immigrant, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom it conceded was deported by mistake. The Trump administration nonetheless argued in court that because he was no longer in U.S. custody, the judicial system could not order his return.
Abrego Garcia also had not been charged or convicted of a crime and is married to an American citizen. He also had a permit from the Department of Homeland Security to legally work in the country.
The justices also ruled that the administration “be prepared to share” the efforts it’s been ordered to make to return Abrego Garcia. The Supreme Court’s ruling sent the matter back to Judge Paula Xinis, a Maryland federal district court judge, who ordered that the government had to issue a release plan for Abrego Garcia by 6:30 a.m. Pacific time April 11. Xinis later extended the deadline to 8:30 a.m. but denied a government motion to push it to Wednesday. (Xinis was appointed by former President Barack Obama.)
WUSA-TV reported that an hour after the deadline the justice department stated, “Defendants are unable to provide the information requested by the Court on the impracticable deadline set by the Court hours after the Supreme Court issued its order.” In court Friday, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew C. Ensign stated that the department would be able to respond by April 15.
Nobody has ever been released from the CECOT, nor does the government of El Salvador have plans to do so.
“The other man [Abrego Garcia], who is married, he’s getting a lot of attention, and rightfully so,” Murray Ramirez said. “But people forget real quick. This situation is unlike any. I understand why his family fears for his life. We’re not gonna forget.”
The Trump administration is using a novel interpretation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as its legal basis, as its presidential powers had in the past only been thought to apply in wartime.
The high court ruled earlier this week that the act can be used to deport Venezuelan migrants, but that they must have “reasonable time” to get a court hearing beforehand. It did not rule on the flights that already transported the migrants to El Salvador, such as the one Hernandez Romero was on.
The B.A.R. reached out April 9 to organizations that are producing upcoming Pride festivities in San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, New York City, Chicago, and Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city. Only San Francisco Pride returned the abovementioned comment.
The Trump administration alleged that the migrants are members of the Tren de Aragua gang. (CBS News could not find U.S. criminal records in 75% of the cases.)
In Hernández Romero’s case, the government argued in court that crown tattoos he had were evidence of gang affiliation. Hernández Romero has a crown tattoo on each wrist, with the words “Mom” and “Dad.” His hometown of Capacho in Venezuela is known for its celebration of Epiphany, the Christian holy day when three wise men visited Jesus Christ.
Time magazine photographer Philip Holsinger told CBS News that he was at the prison site when the migrants arrived, and that he heard a young man say, "I'm not a gang member. I'm gay. I'm a stylist." He was crying for his mother while he was slapped and had his head shaved, Holsinger continued.
Hernández Romero left Venezuela in May 2024, citing his political views and homosexuality as reasons to seek asylum. Venezuela is run by a dictator, Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. contends illegally claimed the presidency of the country after losing an election.
The B.A.R. reached out to Hernández Romero’s attorneys but has not heard back. They contend their client is innocent and that it’s illegal for the U.S. government to deport anyone to a foreign prison.
Updated, 4/11/25: This article has been updated with A Facebook post by SF Pride ED Suzanne Ford.
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