Queer Notes: Join African American and LGBT community leaders at the Badlands Picket, protest Arnold, and Support Local 2

James Bryant, President of APRI, and David Turner, Officer of Local 790

Yesterday morning, James Bryant, president of A. Philip Randolph Institute, David Turner, an elected officer of Local 790, and I were talking about Badlands, the bar in the Castro that was found guilty of discrimination against African American gay men by the Human Rights Commission. Both James and David are straight men but they were aware of the discrimination that has been going on in the Castro for decades. They both had also heard about the finding by the Human Rights Commission and the organizing happening within the LGBT community against this discrimination.

Frankly, the discrimination in the LGBT community is shameful.

As a community that has experienced discrimination, we can and should do better. The fact that this has been going on for decades and we haven’t confronted it before in any sustained way is inexcusable.

Before anyone starts to talk about how the African American community needs to work on LGBT issues, let me just say that may or may not be true, but it doesn’t mean that this gets anyone off the hook in the LGBT community. And frankly, I have sometimes found that some of my brothers and sisters in the African American community treat me, as a transgender person, with more dignity and respect than some of my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community.

Yep. There is discrimination in the lesbian and gay community against transgender folks. And sometimes, just like most discrimination, it is more about the fact that people simply don’t care and would rather get a drink than think about the fact that someone else is being harmed.

So leaders from the African American, the LGBT community, and the Labor community will be picketing together on Saturday May 14 from 9PM-1AM in front of Badlands on 18th st, just up from Castro St.



Larry Roberts, VP, Harvey Milk Club, at the Badlands picket

The picket line will be sponsored by A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, SEIU Local 790. Let me know if you can come and be part of this momentous event. Contact me at rhaaland@seiu790.org

Protest the Governor and the Pharmaceutical Industry
Thursday, May 12 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Johnson & Johnson HQ, 595 Market Street, Near Montgomery BART station exit

Jane Morrison at the Schwarzenegger Rally, April 5th
photo by Ruben Garcia, SEIU Local 790



While in office, Schwarzenegger has “reformed” three major areas that hurt patients but financially benefited pharmaceutical companies, health care insurance companies, and hospitals. In the last year, Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that would have made it easier to buy prescription drugs from Canada, unilaterally changed nursing to patient ratios from 5 to 1 to 6 to 1, and changed workers compensation laws to make it easier for claims to be denied.
Rachel Brahinsky, a reporter at SF Bay Guardian, wrote a feature article critiquing the so-called reform effort of the workers compensation laws by Schwarzenegger. She also makes a strong case for universal health care as the better answer to the rising costs from worker's compensation claims. Schwarzenegger’s approach to the problem was to blame the patient, not the rise of health care costs, and he made it easier for patients to be denied care for their injuries by insurance companies and to limit care for chronic injuries.

When Schwarzenegger wants to reform something, follow the money.

After the veto of the prescription drug bill, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Alliance became one of Schwarzenegger’s key financial supporters. Schwarzenegger’s work on behalf of the insurance companies has netted similar results. Schwarzenegger is also getting substantial contributions from insurance companies and worker’s compensation firms for his ballot initiatives.
His various committees have taken in more than $1.2 million from insurance companies, including at least $560,000 from workers' compensation firms, according to an analysis by the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR).

and later she writes:

From this perspective, the "reforms" start to look more like a massive corporate-bailout scheme: keep rates unregulated and give the insurance companies the right to cut costs any way they can.

Real reform is on the way


Last year after Arnold vetoed the bill that would have allowed Californians to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, the drug lobby raised nearly $360,000 and Johnson and Johnson contributed almost $50,000 to his so-called reform initiatives. And although Arnold vetoed the bill, there is an effort to place an initiative on the ballot that would create drug price controls with real teeth. Not surprisingly, the pharmaceutical industry is gunning for the initiative. The industry has pledged $10 million to defeat the ballot initiative. Johnson and Johnson has already donated $1.3 million to the campaign and Pharma has vowed to spend “whatever it takes” to defeat the initiative.

Let the governor and Johnson and Johnson know what you think about their
drug profiteering, and that you won’t be bullied by their big money politics...
For more information, call 510-273-2240

Urge GLAAD to move their event

GLAAD has its annual media awards scheduled at the Westin St Francis (a Starwood corporation hotel) in San Francisco. The employees of the Westin St Francis and 13 other luxury hotels in San Francisco have been struggling for almost a year to win a decent contract. LGBT community leaders are urging GLAAD to move their event to another location. Those from San Francisco understand that Local 2 was the first union in the country to win domestic partner benefits and to force the hotels to contribute to an HIV/AIDS fund. Below is the text of the letter with the most recent signers. Email me at robert_haaland@hotmail.com to sign on!

Peter Zalabak

GLAAD

5455 Wilshire Blvd, #1500
Los Angeles, CA 90036

May, 2005

Dear Pete Zalabak,

We are writing to you to express our concern about GLAAD’s upcoming 16th Annual Media Awards San Francisco being held at the Westin St Francis. The Westin St Francis is one of 14 hotels currently engaged in a protracted labor dispute with its employees. . In the fall, the St Francis and 13 other Multi-Employer Group Hotels denied their employees access to their jobs, “locked them out”, trying to starve them into accepting a bad contract. All of this has happened at a time when hotel profits and occupancy rates are at a three year high and continue to climb.

GLAAD has the opportunity to help the hotel employees and the community of San Francisco in this struggle by sending a message to Starwood Corporation. When you move the Annual Media Awards from the boycotted hotels, you help bring the hotel employees one step closer to settling this labor dispute. When groups move their meetings, it shows Starwood and the other hotel corporations that the struggle of the hotel workers extends beyond our union, and that groups like yours do believe in justice. All of this means that GLAAD has the chance to play an instrumental role in ending these bitter contract negotiations. On behalf of all San Francisco hotel workers and their families, please stand in solidarity with us and move your convention out of the St Francis and into a non-boycotted hotel.

Thank you

New signers to letter to GLAAD
Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club
Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
Transgender Law Center
Tom Ammiano, SF Board of Supervisors
Bevan Dufty, SF Board of Supervisors
Harry Britt, Former Supervisor
Theresa Sparks, Police Commissioner
Robert Haaland, Democratic County Central Committee*
Michael Goldstein, Democratic County Central Committee*
Carol Stuart, Co-Author, Equal Benefits Ordinance
Saskia Traill, Vice-President, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
Debra Walker, Former President, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
Laura Spanjian, Co-Chair, Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club*
Rafael Mandelman, President, Noe Valley Democratic Club*
Dylan Vade, Transgender Attorney
Peter Wong, former V.P. Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
Esperanza Macias, former V.P. Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
Jerry Threet, former President, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club
John Newsome, And Castro for All
August Longo, President, FDR Democratic Club*
Howard Wallace, Pride at Work, National Co-Founder
Lisa Williams
Jim Rivaldo
Larry Brinkin
Tab Buckner
Calvin Gipson
John R. Selig, Activist, Writer and Photographer
Steve Walters, former host/producer of LGBT radio program, Lambda Weekly in Dallas, TX

Dallas, Texas