SF LGBT

SF LGBT

Julia's friends remember the support and advice she so willingly provided, whether it was nursing or financial. Her activism could be quiet and private, or public and loud. She believed in women's rights, quietly encouraged financial independence for her women friends, marched down Market Street in support of PFLAG, and was featured in the first statewide television commercial for the No on 8 campaign.

The NGLCC was founded in 2002 by Justin Nelson and Chance Mitchell with a vision to elevate the economic impact of LGBTQ+ business owners at a national scale. They recognized that, despite the significant contributions of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy and a handful of successful local chambers like GGBA, there was no unified national voice advocating for economic inclusion, supplier diversity opportunities, and business advancement.

Freddy Bray, a 60-year-old man who allegedly harassed an LGBTQ+-identified motorcyclist for about five minutes - even seemingly grabbing him in a shocking viral TikTok video that has been viewed over 1.8 million times - was reportedly convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge and punished with one year of probation.

Our Krewe de Kinque King & Queen XXII John M. Brett & Olivia Hart led our Second Line parade & we enjoyed John's plentiful snacks & Emily's Mardi Gras cupcakes. Thanks too to Brent Marek for the delicious Jell-O shots that helped us raise funds for Openhouse, the beneficiary for our March 15th Krewe de Kinque Bal Masque XXIII at The Cafe.

Our flag is red, white, and blue, but our nation is a rainbow-red, yellow, brown, black and white-and we're all precious in God's sight. America is not like a blanket-one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture. The same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.

Wilton Manors, which boasts a whopping 140 same-sex couples per 1,000 residents, is the gorgeous coastal small town known as the second gayest city in America, only out-gayed by Provincetown or Palm Springs depending on who you ask.

After completing her BA at Barnard and her PhD in French at UC Berkeley, she taught women's studies at San Francisco State University and Yale University before changing direction and earning her law degree at New College of California. Helene put French literature in conversation with feminism in her studies and teaching.

According to court documents, Winters looked up personal information about his victims and sent them hateful messages. He even went to the victims' homes and sent them pictures of their houses, and he threatened to kill some of his victims and gay men in general. He said that he wanted to make national headlines by repeating the Pulse nightclub mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people died.

Supportive comments generated by fake profiles were predominantly brief, repetitive, and low in semantic complexity, consisting largely of praising keywords and positive hashtags rather than original or substantive engagement. In general, Cyabra found a sustained and coordinated amplification of Minaj's political and cultural posts from November 11 to December 28, something which is rare for a musical artist on social media.

The debut event, featuring Queer Eye's Carson Kressley, will include the voices of Jim Obergefell, George and Brad Takei, Judy and Dennis Shepard, and many more from the 100 stories featured in the book. The beautiful LOVE book brings together vivid photographs and compelling stories to make you feel as if you're right there for each and every twist and turn of the many decades of queer and marriage equality activism that culminated in the 2015 nationwide marriage equality victory at the U.S. Supreme Court.

I've interviewed a lot of booze proprietors and given that many of the bars in this town are in old buildings, at some point I usually inquire if the place is haunted. But this is the first time that anyone has brought it up without me asking. In fact, Billie did so only 3 minutes and 24 seconds into our chat.

Hosted by drag entertainers Dirty Carol and Sister Roma, the reopening program-media sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Times-was a benefit for the Castro Community Benefit District (CBD) during its 20th Anniversary year.

This wasn't just another gig for Sam Smith. I can't believe we are finally here, the British pop star said on Tuesday night. I have to say, out of all the shows I have ever done in my life, this is by far the most special show. What made this night so special? Well, for one thing it was the start of Smith's 20-night To Be Free: San Francisco concert residency which, in and of itself, is special enough.

The world was a scary place for her, as a transgender, autistic woman. It should not have been. It should have seen her for the wonderful, radiant, and deeply empathetic person she was. Nothing can make up for Summer's death, but we hope that it at least can be used as a catalyst to make the world a kinder place, and to prevent anyone else from dying in this way.

"Oh god. Have you guys heard of XY magazine? This was the main gay magazine in the 90s," he wrote.

This Sunday, like so many other nights at the Mission District queer bar El Rio, the dance floor will fill up with partygoers getting down to a live set of Latin fusion beats. There will be a full lineup of all trans DJs. There will be homemade tamales. Since then, the collective has mostly focused on distributing food, clothing and other supplies to unhoused communities in Oakland and San Francisco.

The Frameline Award, which has not been given out since 2019, is given to a person or entity that has made a major contribution to LGBTQ+ representation in film, television, or the media arts. And this year it will be bestowed on filmmaker, writer, and visual artist John Waters during a special presentation on March 17 to kick off Frameline's 50th anniversary season. The event will also feature a screening of Waters's 1994 classic , starring Kathleen Turner, with live commentary from Waters and Peaches Christ.

The collection shows how Fernandez used photography to explore and express her gender, identity, and personal life from the 1950s through the 1980s. Materials include photobooth strips, Polaroids, and personal snapshots, often capturing moments with partners, friends, and members of the queer communities she was part of. They offer a glimpse of everyday trans life across several decades, reflecting both private relationships and broader social worlds.

Doughty's introduction set an emotional register, describing a "fraught moment" marked by budget cuts, hostile federal actions, and escalating legal threats to the broader LGBTQ community. "We're seeing the weaponization of every part of the federal government," Doughty said. "I personally used to avoid the use of the word 'weaponization' because I always thought that it sounded often overstated. Now it is not overstated."

The 2025 San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular was widely celebrated as one of the Bay Area's standout cultural events of the season, reinforcing the chorus' reputation for musical excellence, community engagement, and joyful performance. Audiences packed iconic venues across the region-from San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre to Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, the Green Music Center in Rohnert Park and Home for the Holidays at Davies Symphony Hall-with most of the eight shows selling out, a clear indicator of the concert's popularity.

It's fair to say most of us don't think much about airport architecture when we travel. We're too busy making sure our suitcases are checked before the counter closes, our liquids are out of our carry-ons at security, and we reach the gate before boarding ends.

Professionally, the impact was absolute. For decades, I managed complex IT projects for global giants and, most recently, for Sanford Health. I am a builder of systems. But this year, I watched the federal government systematically dismantle the data structures that acknowledge LGBTQ+ people exist. When the administration stopped collecting Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) data, it wasn't just a policy change; it was an erasure.

The right-wing descent that took place during this long year was predicted by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, the Stonewall riot veteran and mentor to us both who passed this year. Queer and trans people like Major who were alive during the 1980s remember the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the reign of Reagan as a similarly bleak time, in jarring contrast to the revolutionary 1960s and '70s.

We've literally been counting down the final days until the closure of the popular queer nightclub and cabaret venue was scheduled to close down permanently, a closure that was announced way back in July of this year. But now, just six days before that final bow, the Chronicle reports that Oasis will actually be staying open, thanks to a last-second, multi-million-dollar gift from Bay Area arts benefactors.

As KPIX reports, San Francisco's new Rose Parade float, which is set to appear before a global audience on New Years Day, pays homage to several of the city's landmarks, including a 24-foot-tall Golden Gate Bridge, 8-foot Painted Ladies, a giant cable car, and the Chinatown Dragon Gate while capturing the "spirit, color, and creativity that make San Francisco one of the world's most beloved cities," per its website.

For its participants, Openhouse + On Lok Community Services is more than a day center. It is the place where they feel safe, supported, and seen. Over the past year, all of us at Openhouse + On Lok Community Day Services have taken time to deeply listen to LGBTQ+ seniors-to understand what people are feeling, what they are missing, and what they need to stay healthy, independent, and connected to the community they love.

The superb new Slate podcast When We All Get to Heaven tells the story of the pivotal role the San Francisco MCC (Metropolitan Community Church) played as a queer church and an indispensable part of the broader LGBTIQ+ community during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s. But the podcast is not just a look at the past; it is extremely relevant today. We cannot recommend it highly enough.

It was New Year's 2015 when SoMa nightclub Oasis opened in the former Club Caliente space at 11th and Folsom streets. But after 11 full years of on-stage drag parodies, provocative billboards, club nights, drag extravaganzas, celebrity visits from Lil Nas X and Doja Cat, and a global pandemic that threatened the club's survival, the wig is finally up. Oasis announced it will be closing on January 1, with its final show being a New Year's Eve blowout the night of Wednesday, January 31.

I'm always looking for great queer holiday events, especially in the Castro. Lucky for me (and you), Deck the Halls, one of San Francisco's original holiday pop-up bars, is returning for its ninth year through December 28, with the new addition of a weekend all-you-can-eat brunch buffet. Deck the Halls is open seven days a week from 4 pm to midnight, even on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year's theme is Naughty Candy Shack.

Held at Feinstein's at the Nikko on December 9 and 10, 2025, the 33rd Songs of the Season sparkled with an unforgettable lineup of San Francisco legends and powerhouse voices including the event's remarkably talented producer Brian Kent; Songs of the Season founder, San Francisco Bay Times columnist, and fundraising extraordinaire Donna Sachet; Sister Roma; Kenny Nelson; Charles Jones; Kippy Marks, who is also a Bay Times columnist; Brian Justin Crum; Meghan Murphy; Leanne Borghesi;