Letters to the editor

NorCal Pride events
While I know that B.A.R. stands for Bay Area Reporter, there are other Pride events north of the Bay Area. For example, in my neck of the woods we have Pride events in Redding, Chico, Mt. Shasta City, and Red Bluff. Just Google those cities and Pride events for June 2025 and you'll get all the details. Come on up, the weather is great and so are we.
 
Frank Treadway
Redding, California


Apply for SF school district QTPAC council
QTPAC, the Queer and Trans Parent Advisory Council, stands united with the San Francisco Unified School District to defend 2SLGBTQ+ inclusive schools. As chair, I want to invite interested SFUSD parents to apply.
 
There is no doubt SFUSD has been resolute in its commitment to 2SLGBTQIA+ students and families. In these volatile times when so much misinformation has infiltrated our lives, there are moments when hopelessness and despair have overwhelmed our senses and a looming threat to our families linger in the air. Yet, in the face of fearmongering and scapegoating of transgender people for political gain, queer and trans families are forging a future together to fortify SFUSD's core values for inclusive queer and trans positive learning.
 
These core values are not just for students; they are for teachers, school employees, and all queer and trans families. 
 
Since our first meeting in November, we identified three projects to prioritize and fortify immediately: safe facilities for our students, SFUSD teacher and staff empowerment training, and improved access to LGBTQ+ curriculum. 
 
The school year may be coming to an end but the attacks against queer and trans families won’t stop on the last day of school. QTPAC is convening our second year as a parent council and are opening up more seats for SFUSD families to participate on these priorities and more.
 
Add your voice with other brave queer and trans families working together to protect safe and supportive learning environments for all students. For more information about the QTPAC, please visit the SFUSD QTPAC webpage or email: [email protected].
 
The application deadline is 10 a.m. Monday, June 16. To apply, fill out the application form.
 
Together, we can ensure our schools are safe spaces for trans and queer families.
 
Please contact me at [email protected] if you would like to talk about QTPAC.
 
Esther Lee, QTPAC Chair
San Francisco

Spend some grant funds on mural
This is regarding the recent Lyon-Martin Community Health Services news of receipt of a $150,000 grant and proposed opening of a new clinic. We are neighbors of the new clinic to be opened at 255 Valencia Street.
 
For two years we have, with the support of merchants on the block, pleaded with Lyon-Martin to hire local queer artists to create a mural on the exterior of the building. Graffiti is regularly painted overnight, marring the exterior of this building, and someone (presumably Lyon-Martin) is having to repaint the graffiti every few days in response. Lyon-Martin has never responded to our suggestion. Experience elsewhere in the neighborhood proves that repeat graffiti is far less likely to be applied to structures that have a mural.
 
We ask that Lyon-Martin please spend part of the grant by being good neighbors and investing in a mural to beautify this long-blighted building.
 
Michael Merrigan
San Francisco

APE is on another planet
Is it true that the Castro Coffee Company is being forced out of business because its landlord, Another Planet Entertainment/Castro Theatre, decided they had something better to do with the space? If Another Planet is getting ready to finally reopen the theater, isn't this a bad way to start their new business, disrupting hundreds, if not thousands, of lives of people who live in the area and love the Castro Coffee Company?

Are they on another planet or what?

Anthony Rhody
San Francisco