Matthew S. Bajko

Entrepreneurs find support via SF LGBTQ center program Madison Eker, founder and CEO of Altogether Agency, sought to refresh and rebrand her firm, which works with companies to enhance their workplace culture.

Launched seven years ago the SF LGBT Community Center's New Entrepreneur Training Program is one of the few programs in the country aimed at helping queer and transgender people open their own firm or expand and retool an existing business...
www.ebar.com/story/159776...

Political Notes: Redistricting win could usher in a new LGBTQ CA congressmember With even Republicans acquiescing to the fact that California voters are set to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts for the 2026 midterms, the passage of Proposition 50 in Tuesday’s special electi...

With even Republicans acquiescing to California voters redrawing the state’s U.S. House districts for the 2026 midterms, the passage of Proposition 50 in Tuesday’s special election could result in a third LGBTQ member of Congress hailing from Southern California...
www.ebar.com/story/159778...

SF trans sex worker convicted of Crissy Field manslaughter sentenced to 5 years A transgender sex worker convicted of voluntary manslaughter was sentenced to five years in prison by a federal judge October 31, as she and the victim’s family spoke out.

A transgender sex worker convicted of voluntary manslaughter was sentenced to five years in prison by a federal judge October 31, as she and the victim’s family spoke out....
www.ebar.com/story/159777...

Story Hour co-founder named SF’s 2nd drag laureate Per Sia, a Latina trans drag performer who is one of the founders of Drag Story Hour in San Francisco, has been selected by Mayor Daniel Lurie as the city’s second drag laureate.

Per Sia, a Latina trans drag performer who is one of the founders of Drag Story Hour in San Francisco, has been selected by Mayor Daniel Lurie as the city’s second drag laureate....
www.ebar.com/story/159708...

Political Notebook: Gay attorney Dixit wages history-making House bid Should gay attorney Anuj Dixit win election next November to a Southern California U.S. House seat, he would bring to at least three the number of out members among the Golden State’s congressional de...

Should gay attorney Anuj Dixit be elected next November to a Southern California U.S. House seat, he'd bring to at least 3 the # of out members among the Golden State’s congressional delegation and make history as the first LGBTQ Indian American elected to Congress...
www.ebar.com/story/159706...

Castro history plaque unveiled Michael Smith, left, the Irish Consul General in San Francisco, and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled the newest plaque on the Rainbow Honor Walk honoring Irish human rights activist Roger Cas...

Michael Smith, left, the Irish Consul General in San Francisco, and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled the newest plaque on the LGBTQ-focused Rainbow Honor Walk in the Castro district honoring Irish human rights activist Roger Casement....
www.ebar.com/story/159705...

News Briefs: Commonwealth Club launches LGBTQ series Commonwealth Club World Affairs is launching a new LGBTQ+ cultural series with a special election night event featuring drag horror icon Peaches Christ.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs is launching a new LGBTQ+ cultural series with a special election night event featuring drag horror icon Peaches Christ in downtown San Francisco Tuesday, November 4....
www.ebar.com/story/159666...

SF bookstore warns of transphobic stickers, pamphlets A San Francisco bookstore has been targeted with transphobic stickers and pamphlets, it has announced via a social media post.

San Francisco bookstore is the second in recent months to be targeted with transphobic stickers and pamphlets tucked into its books ....
www.ebar.com/story/159693...

AIDS activist Mary Fisher to speak at Belmont church Mary Fisher, a straight white woman, stunned thousands of Republicans when she spoke at the party’s 1992 presidential convention in Houston about living with HIV.

Mary Fisher, a straight white woman, stunned thousands of Republicans when she spoke at the party’s 1992 presidential convention in Houston about living with HIV. Today, the long-term survivor & activist continues to speak out, and will be in the Bay Area next month....
www.ebar.com/story/159669...

LGBTQ History Month: SF filmmaker plans doc on late gay activist Kohler Among those at the forefront of New York City’s gay rights movement in the 1970s and 1980s was the late activist Bob Kohler.

A San Francisco filmmaker is crowdfunding for a documentary he is working on about the late activist Bob Kohler, who was among those at the forefront of New York City’s gay rights movement in the 1970s and 1980s....
www.ebar.com/story/159662...

SF supervisors forward trans Latina immigrant activist’s nomination to full board A committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to forward the nomination of a transgender Latina activist to continue serving on the Immigrant Rights Commission.

A committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to forward the nomination of a transgender Latina activist to continue serving on the Immigrant Rights Commission...
www.ebar.com/story/159613...

Political Notes: LGBTQ groups all in on CA redistricting measure LGBTQ political groups are going all in on ensuring California’s redistricting ballot measure is adopted by voters next month.

LGBTQ political groups go all in on ensuring California’s redistricting ballot measure is adopted by voters next month. Yet, its impact on control of the U.S. House of Representatives should it pass remains to be seen as other states redraw their own House districts....
www.ebar.com/story/159536...

Gay SF cannabis and nightlife advocate Terrance Alan dies Terrance Alan, a gay man, longtime cannabis activist, nightlife advocate, and entrepreneur, died Friday, October 17, after difficulty recovering from surgery, according to his longtime personal assist...

Terrance Alan, a gay man, longtime cannabis activist, nightlife advocate, and entrepreneur, died Friday, October 17, after difficulty recovering from surgery, according to his longtime personal assistant Gary Driscoll. He was 73....
www.ebar.com/story/159483...

Political Notebook: Wiener launches bid for Pelosi’s SF House seat Thirty-eight years ago, Congressmember Nancy Pelosi first won election to her House seat by narrowly defeating the late gay progressive San Francisco supervisor Harry Britt.

In one of his first interviews to talk about his decision to run next year, CA Sen Scott Wiener tells the Bay Area Reporter why his calculus about when to seek the seat changed ….

www.ebar.com/story/159440

SF supervisors move forward set of LGBTQ sites to landmark One is where a pioneering LGBTQ synagogue first opened in San Francisco. Another was once home to a popular lesbian bar not far from the famous Haight Ashbury intersection.

A number of LGBTQ historic sites are among the 16 properties expected to become city landmarks next year due to gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman requesting city officials begin the process to grant the sites such local recognition....
www.ebar.com/story/159439...

News Briefs: Queer-owned hair care company opens SF store Bay Area Reporter

The Barb Shop SF, which is geared toward providing short haircuts for women and gender-nonconforming people, is opening its first brick and mortar store in San Francisco....
www.ebar.com/story/159438...

Political Notes: Historic home, studio of gay artist Demuth receives grants for upgrades A gay historic site in Pennsylvania has been selected for a competitive grant that will assist it in its effort to continue to upgrade its property and expand public access to it.

A gay historic site in Pennsylvania has been selected for a competitive grant that will assist it in its effort to continue to upgrade its property and expand public access to it. The Demuth Museum in Lancaster is the home of the late gay painter Charles Demuth...
www.ebar.com/story/159261...

More dangerous mpox variant spreading in CA, health officials say Three unrelated cases of clade I mpox have been found in Southern California, state health officials announced Friday.

Three unrelated cases of clade I mpox found in Southern California, indicating there is person-to-person community spread, primarily impacting communities of gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men and their social networks, health officials stated....
www.ebar.com/story/159302...

Breaking: Drag performer, Dem party leader Nguyen to seek SF D8 supervisor seat Patent attorney and Democratic Party leader Michael Trung Nguyen, who performs as drag queen Juicy Liu, is entering the 2026 race for the District 8 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Patent attorney and Democratic Party leader Michael Trung Nguyen, who performs as drag queen Juicy Liu, is entering the 2026 race for the District 8 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors....
www.ebar.com/story/159274...

Study finds LGBTQ youth mental health crisis worsens With their rights coming under attack at all levels of government, LGBTQ young Americans are facing a worsening mental health crisis, a new study has found.

With their rights coming under attack at all levels of government, LGBTQ young Americans are facing a worsening mental health crisis, a new study has found, with higher odds of later anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts than their heterosexual peers...
www.ebar.com/story/159242...

Business Briefing: Frozen treat brands scoop up SF locations Should everything go as planned for siblings Cielo Garat-Zanella and her older brother, Ignacio "Iggy" Garat, the third San Francisco location for their Angela’s Ice Cream will open in the city’s LGBT...

A number of frozen treat brands with LGBTQ ownership are scooping up vacant retail spaces in San Francisco and helping to bring foot traffic to commercial corridors in neighborhoods such as the Castro and Noe Valley...
www.ebar.com/story/159225...

BREAKING: Multiple cities, counties join San Francisco City Attorney Chiu in filing amicus brief in federal LGBTQ funding lawsuit A dozen cities and counties from across the United States have filed an amicus brief urging the 9th U.C. Circuit Court of Appeals uphold a lower court decision in favor of seeing nine LGBTQ and HIV or...

The office of San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu exclusively shared with the Bay Area Reporter the 23-page brief it filed on behalf of the coalition of municipalities in the federal lawsuit San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump.

www.ebar.com/story/159151

Newsom signs, vetoes transgender bills Transgender, nonbinary and queer Californians will see improved health care privacy and access due to a number of bills Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law.

Transgender, nonbinary and queer Californians will see improved health care privacy and access due to a number of bills Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law. Yet, Newsom also vetoed a bill aimed at improving health care access for intersex individuals and others...
www.ebar.com/story/159153...

Political Notebook: Newsom vetoes PrEP access bill Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill its author had hoped would give Californians easier access to HIV prevention medications as of January 1.

While he signed into law several HIV-related bills, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation its author had hoped would give Californians easier access to HIV prevention medications as of January 1....
www.ebar.com/story/159152...

Trans leader Miss Major Griffin-Gracy dies Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a Black transgender woman and longtime activist who once lived in the Bay Area, died October 13.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a Black transgender woman and longtime activist who once lived in the Bay Area, died October 13. She was 78....
www.ebar.com/story/159150...

SF’s Jazzie’s Place LGBTQ shelter triples in size San Francisco’s only queer adult homeless shelter has tripled in size.

San Francisco’s only queer adult homeless shelter has tripled in size....
www.ebar.com/story/159038...

‘Boots’ marches in with comedy and combat boots Netflix’s new eight-episode series, based on Greg Cope White’s memoir “A Pink Marine,” blends sharp humor and heartfelt storytelling to explore queerness and survival in the 1990s Marine Corps.

Buzzed about Netflix show "Boots" creator and co-showrunner Andy Parker knew from the beginning the series about a closeted gay teen who enlists in the US Marines had to sidestep the bleak tone of most military stories.....
www.ebar.com/story/159057...

Political Notes: October calendar chock-a-block with political events and queer surf fundraiser The month of October is filling up with various political events, including a Yes on Prop 50 virtual town hall, and a special fundraiser for a San Francisco-based queer surfing group being held at a c...

The month of October is filling up with various political events and a special fundraiser for a San Francisco-based queer surfing group being held at a city park that has made political waves of late...
www.ebar.com/story/159056...

Newsom enacts LGBTQ youth bills into law Fulfilling a promise he had made in the spring, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law legislation aimed at combatting the high rates of suicide and depression in LGBTQ youth.

Fulfilling a promise he had made in the spring, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law legislation aimed at combatting the high rates of suicide and depression in LGBTQ youth...
www.ebar.com/story/159034...

Guest Opinion: Universities are treading a dangerous path Several months ago, I felt compelled to write the author of the Bay Area Reporter’s article on the rescission of naming the LGBTQ+ center at Victory Valley College after José Julio Sarria because it ...

n a powerful guest opinion piece, gay Chicano Bay Area resident Brendan Sullivan-Sariñana explains why he stopped donating to his alma mater, Binghamton University in upstate New York, after it deplatformed a scholarship he had funded for LGBTQ students....
www.ebar.com/story/158962...