LGBT Committee Member Profiles
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Advisory Committee
Minutes of the April 19, 2005 Meeting
Committee Members Present: Commissioner Cecilia Chung, Commissioner Pat Norman, Whitney Bagby, Dora Balcazar, Cindy Dubuque, Julie Frank, Ted Guggenheim, Danny Kirchoff, Aidan Kotler, Nancy Lawlor, Ellise Nicholson, Ren Phoenix, Aleem Raja, Jorge Romero-Lozano, Stephen Schwichow, Jason Stein, Morningstar Vancil, Meredith Wood.
Committee Members Absent: Sally Buchmann, David Cameron (excused), Ben Chan, Becky Freund (excused), Ted Guggenheim (excused), Nancy Lawlor, Patrick Mulcahey (excused), Rebecca Rolfe (excused).
Staff Present: Marcus Arana, Larry Brinkin, Domenic Viterbo.
Guests Present: David Sims.
- Call to Order and Roll Call:
Commissioner Norman called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Mr. Brinkin called the roll.
- Approval of Minutes of March 15, 2005 (action item):
Mr. Kotler moved to approve the minutes as written. Mr. Schwichow seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
- Public Comments for Items Not on the Agenda:
No public comments were made.
- Discussion of Pride Day Activities:
Mr. Brinkin asked the Committee members to decide on what the HRC should do for this year’s Pride Day celebration. Three ideas were proposed: 1) to have a booth, 2) to march as a parade contingent, or 3) neither, but to have our literature distributed through another organization. A decision is needed because the deadline for submitting a booth application is Thursday, May 5, 2005, and the May meeting is after the deadline.
Mr. Brinkin said that booth staffing would be done by volunteer Commissioners, Committee members, and staff. He added that booth staffers’ duties would include acquainting the public with the services provided by the HRC by offering our literature, getting their contact information if they’re interested in becoming a Committee member, and having them sign a petition(s) supporting any new legislation.
Mr. Brinkin said that a parade contingent marched in past parades, but through the years there hasn’t been enough interest to do so. He added that perhaps a contingent could march with the Mayor’s contingent which would be at the beginning of the parade. Commissioner Norman suggested having a convertible with the HRC’s banner, but Mr. Schwichow said that there are things that need to be considered when having a vehicle in the parade such as having wheel monitors (two per axle) attend safety training, as well as trained safety monitors. Mr. Arana added that there is an additional charge for contingents with vehicles largely because of insurance fees.
All Committee members indicated that they are able to volunteer to help staff a booth at the parade for a one-hour shift on Sunday, June 26, except for Mr. Kotler and Mr. Raja; however, Mr. Kirchoff is uncertain. Mr. Brinkin added that Commissioners, staff, and interns will be canvassed for their availability to work the booth as well. A schedule for staffing the booth will be brought to next month’s meeting for Committee members to select a shift or more than one. Mr. Brinkin stressed the importance of being on time for the shift(s) selected.
- Retreat Follow-up: Discussion and approval of committee work plan (action item):
The Committee Work Plan was distributed to the members of the Committee. It lists in order the different panels, task forces, letters and resolutions on the topics that were voted on by the retreat attendees. Commissioner Chung asked for volunteers for these groups. The Committee Chair and Vice-Chair will appoint the Committee members to those groups:
Panels: Sex Workers: How They’re Impacted by City Government, September (volunteers: Mr. Bagby, Ms. Buchmann, Mr. Kotler, Mr. Stein); LGBT in Schools: Student Voices + Administrative, October (volunteers: Ms. Dubuque, Mr. Schwichow); Barriers to Transgender Healthcare: Impact Due to Budget Cuts, November (volunteers: Mr. Bagby, Ms. Frank, Mr. Wood); Women’s Health Issues, February 2006 (volunteers: Ms. Balcazar, Ms. Phoenix, Ms. Vancil); BDSM: Discrimination Issues, August (volunteers: Ms. Buchmann, Ms. Dubuque, Mr. Kotler, Ms. Phoenix, Ms. Vancil).
Mr. Brinkin said that he would provide some training on how to organize a panel at the May meeting.
Work Groups: LGBTAC Recruitment/Outreach (volunteers: Commissioner Chung, Ms. Dubuque, Mr. Kirchoff, Mr. Romero-Lozano, Mr. Schwichow) and Internal LGBTAC Communication and Racism (volunteers: Mr. Bagby, Ms. Balcazar, Mr. Kirchoff, Ms. Nicholson, Ms. Phoenix, Mr. Raja, Ms. Vancil).
Town Hall Forum: Future of the HRC: 1) Educate Community about HRC, 2) Solicit inputs from community on community issues (volunteers: Ms. Dubuque, Ms. Nicholson, Mr. Schwichow).
Mr. Brinkin said that he would work on writing a letter of recommendation/proposal to the Commission with 1-2 volunteers on promoting HRC visibility that will be presented at the first Commission meeting in May.
- Commissioner Report:
Commissioner Norman reported that there will be a stakeholders meeting at the Mayor’s office on Monday, April 25, in Room 278 at 3:00 p.m. regarding the future of the HRC and the proposal to have another office, or offices, handling the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. She said that the Commissioners who have been invited to attend this meeting will advocate for the continuation of the HRC in the same way it has been functioning. She added that the offices that are being considered to take over the program’s responsibilities do not have the experience nor the authority to be able to follow through in the same manner that HRC staff has. Commissioner Chung said that Supervisor Fiona Ma is drafting new language for the DBE program and that the stakeholders and others have offered recommendations to her office on how to change it to assure implementation by the HRC.
Commissioner Chung reported that the intersex report has been scheduled for reapproval at its next meeting. She had requested that all Commissioners be present for voting since there was barely a quorum when this item was introduced. She added that Dr. Larry Baskin had sent a written response and his new information will be incorporated into the report.
- Staff Report:
Mr. Brinkin reported that he will be speaking at the LGBT Senior Lunch Bunch in the Tenderloin tomorrow. He’ll be talking about himself as a gay senior and about their rights under City law.
Mr. Brinkin reported that he and Cynthia Goldstein will attend a three-hour sexual harassment training for all managers at the S.F. Public Library.
Mr. Brinkin reported that Yong Lee and Hadas Rivera-Weiss of staff will lead a Technical Assistance Project (TAP) training, or HIV in the Workplace Training, at the Positive Resource Center, Thursday, April 21, at 1:00 p.m.
- Old/New Business:
No old/new business was discussed.
- Announcements:
Mr. Kirchoff announced that he is a co-chair for the Host Committee for Creating Change, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s national conference, which is being held in Oakland this year and is trying to recruit others to be part of the Host Committee. The Host Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, April 26, at the Oakland Marriott at 7:30 p.m.
Mr. Arana announced that there will be a transgender symposium at San Jose State, Tuesday, May 3, at 2:00 p.m. where he will be providing a TG 101 training. A film by an FTM film maker will be shown along with a panel presentation leading up to an award-winning photo exhibition of FTMs called "Transfigurations". James Green is the keynote speaker.
Ms. Vancil announced that she will be taking part in Creativo, a collective of queer AP/I women, which will be presenting a program on Thursday, April 28, at Moonstar Restaurant at 5:30 p.m.
Commissioner Chung passed out copies of a pledge and postcards to announce that the anti-stigma campaign for AP/I HIV Awareness Day will be held on May 19 at The Forum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts from 5:00-6:00 p.m.
10. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.