Feature Archives

6/27/04: As Pride festivities have been hitting the streets across the US this month, the battle continues to rage over corporate sponsorship of what started, at least, as a political movement. By far the most controversial corporate sponsor has been Coors, controlled by the Coors family, which donates millions each year to anti-gay and other right-wing causes, started the Heritage Foundation, and whose side ventures have ranged from the John Birch Society to the Nicaraguan Contras. Following the outcry from queer activists that Pride is about true liberation, not a marketing scheme for anti-gay corporations, there has been some progress: so far this year only three cities are helping Coors sell beer: Atlanta, Denver and Reno.
Peter Coors is currently on unpaid leave from Coors Brewing Company to campaign for US Senate as a Republican; according to Coors, during this time, Peter Coors' views, for instance supporting a constitutional ban on gay marriage, "do not reflect the views of the company." For several years, the National Lawyers Guild has been supporting a boycott of Coors, which has recently been renewed in light of Peter Coors' run for Congress.
Following a labor-backed boycott against Coors' union-busting policies, in 1978, gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk launched a boycott of Coors products that spread across the country—triggered by Coors' employees being forced to take homosexuality lie detector tests. Since then Coors has attempted to court the gay community. It extended benefits to the partners of gay workers and in 1999 hired Mary Cheney to help it gain access to the gay market. Cheney left the company in 2000 to work on her father Dick Cheney's campaign for Vice President.

6/27/2004: San Francisco's Pride Week has ended. This weekend, activists continued to rally for justice around the issue of gay marriage, as the Bush and religious right-backed constitutional ammendment redefining marriage is set to appear before the Senate by July 12, and the over 3,000 gay marriages performed in SF last February hang in the balance. Meanwhile, radical queer activists Gay Shame continue their campaign to expose marriage as a tool for patriarchy, covering the city with "Out for Blood" stickers. Many signs and banners at events during the weekend were related to the hung jury and mistrial declared earlier in the week in the case of Gwen Araujo, a murdered transgendered teenager from the Bay Area. Kate Raphael was one of the community activists who were chosen to be Grand Marshals for Sunday's Pride Parade. Not everyone experienced the right to march without trouble, though, as Fresno dealt with homophobic police forces earlier this month.
Events:
-There was a Tranny March on Friday, June 25th (Photos).
-The San Francisco Dyke March 2004 took place on Saturday, June 26. Its theme was "Uprooting Racism." The Rally and Stage Show were held at Dolores Park, from 3:00 p.m until the beginning of the march. The March left Dolores Park at 7:00 p.m. and wound its way through the Mission to the annual Pink Saturday celebration in the streets of the Castro. The march was stated to be "for all dykes and all women," and there were fewer men marching this year than in the past. Men were asked to stand and support from the sidelines. Photos
-Hundreds of thousands of people participated in Pride events over the weekend. The Out 4 Justice Celebration took place both Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Civic Center Plaza.
-The Parade took place Sunday, June 27 , traveling west along Market Street to Eighth Street. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Video: 1 | 2 Some organizers believe that this was the first-ever Pride March to include a Poly Contingent. Pacifica Radio had a bicoastal live Pride Broadcast
More Pride Events | API-LGBT | Gay Shame | Black Pride: SF/OAK | Past Indybay Coverage of SF Pride: 2003 2002 |
Global IMC Coverge of PRIDE/CSD 2004

Gloria Anzaldúa, who was a lesbian feminist Chicana/Xicana theorist and creative writer, succumbed to an illness that was apparently related to diabetes on May 15, 2004. She left this world at the age of 61, just weeks before completing her dissertation and earning her doctorate from UC Santa Cruz. Read more about her on the Web Altar for Gloria and on Indybay's Race Page

8/12/2004: The California State Supreme Court has ruled that Mayor Newsom lacked the authority to issue the more than 3900 same-sex marriage licenses that San Francisco approved in February and March of this year, and also that the marriages are void. Statement from Equality California, Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and ACLU of Northern California. Over 3900 same-sex couples were married at SF City Hall earlier this year. However, the court did not rule on the issue of whether or not same-sex marriages should be legal. Protests were held that evening in cities all over the state. Photos: Fresno | San Francisco: 1 | 2 | Santa Cruz | Audio from Santa Cruz List of cities in which protests were held. Equality California asked for same-sex couples to go to their local county clerk's office to request marriage licenses on Friday, August 13, 2004. They asked that when the couples were turned down, they turn in a Certificate of Engagement to express their commitment to getting married. For a list of action locations, see Marriage Equality California's website

8/10/2004: The California Supreme Court has confirmed that it will release its opinion on SF Mayor Newsom's authority to issue marriage licenses this Thursday. That day's ruling will not address the legality of gay marriage in the state. That issue is still working its way through the lower courts and is expected to reach the high court later this year. The question of whether gay marriage could be legal in the state is still in the lower courts, and it is expected that the California Supreme Court will consider the issue later this year.
On May 25th, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments about whether or not the city of San Francisco had the right to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. There will be a rally outside the building during the time of the hearing. After two hours of testimony, the court will have up to 90 days to issue its decision. The battle for same-gender marriage in California is also being fought at the legislative level: Equality California's AB 1967, the Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act, which is under the sponsorship of San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno. The bill passed the Judiciary Committee, headed for the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The legislators who believed that the bill would not advance further this year were correct- in spite of lobbying efforts by California clergy and others, the bill was put aside until December and the next legislative session.
The internationally-sponsored National Marriage Equality Express will ride from San Francisco to Washington, DC from October 4-11, 2004.

5/21/2004: This week, Massachusetts Senate today voted to repeal the law that made it illegal for out-of-state residents to marry in that state. However, even if it passes the Senate, it would not be signed by Governor Romney. The state Attorney General has sided with the Governor and has said that any marriages performed for same-sex couples from out of state would be voided.
5/17/2004: City and town clerks in Massachusetts began to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples today. Annie Goodridge and Hillary Goodridge, amongst other couples, went to court to request waivers of the three-day waiting period, and they were married. Legal battles all the way up to the Supreme Court had failed to stop the licenses from being issued; Governor Mitt Romney had said that clerks will not be allowed to issue licenses to gay couples who are from out-of-state. Licenses are being issued to out-of-state couples in three cities, including Provincetown. As early as 2006, voters may be able to vote to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts.

How Same-Sex Marriage Became Legal in Massachusetts | Religious Tolerance Same-Sex Marriage Page | NGLTF Marriage Center | Freedom to Marry Coalition of Massachusetts | Mass Equality | Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders‘ Info on how to get a license.

Nationwide same-sex marriage activism: May 17th was a day of Equal Marriage Rights for All: End Discrimation, Bigotry, & Racism actions. In San Francisco, people gathered at Powell and Market and marched to a rally at City Hall. Photos | Audio
June 7th will be a National Anti Federal Marriage Amendment Meetup Day

8/10/2004: The retrial date for the criminal case against Jason Cazares, Michael Magidson and Jose Merel is set for May 9, 2005. Jason Cazares was set free on $1 million bail in early August.
7/01/04: The family of Gwen Araujo announced this week that Gwen's legal name had been officially changed to Gwen Amber Rose Araujo. Gwen's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, had requested this name change this year. Transgender rights activists hope that this will lead to the use of the correct name to refer to Gwen in the re-trial of three men who were accused of killing her.
6/22/04: After nine days of deliberations, the jury announced today that it was unable to come to a unanimous decision in the case of three men who are accused of murdering transgendered teenager Gwen Araujo. After questioning each of the jurors individually, the judge declared a mistrial on the basis that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked. Although this puts the proceedings on-hold, the case is far from over. The prosecutor has already announced that he will retry the case. This will involve empanelling a new jury for another complete trial, which will likely begin in several months.
Transgendered people and their allies have expressed fear that the inability of the jury to reach a verdict indicates that transpeople's safety and lives are not valued, even in the progressive SF Bay Area. However, interviews with jurors indicate that the principal split in the jury was not between guilt vs innocence, nor even manslaughter vs murder, but instead was whether the accused men should be found guilty either of first- vs second-degree murder. The split here hinges upon whether their actions were "willful, deliberate, and premeditated."
In California, a second-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory state prison term of 15-years-to-life, while a first-degree conviction raises the mandatory minimum penalty to 25-years-to-life.
An additional "hate-crime sentencing enhancement" [PC 422.75(c)] could add another four years to any prison term imposed. But crucially, for a first-degree murder conviction, the hate-crime element would effectively require "life without the possibility of parole, if the defendant intentionally killed the victim because of the victim's disability, gender, or sexual orientation or because of the defendant's perception of the victim's disability, gender, or sexual orientation." [PC 190.3(a)].

6/13/04: The world anxiously awaits the jury's verdict in the Gwen Araujo case. The jury has spent two weeks (aside from Fridays) deliberating. The only word from the jury in these two weeks has been a request to have the testimony of the pathologist read to them. The pathologist had concluded that Araujo had died of asphyxiation due to strangulation associated with blunt trauma to the head. Testimony ended in late May, and the closing arguments began on June 1st.
5/9/2004: In April, the trial of three young men (Michael Magidson, 23, and Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, both aged 24) who are accused of beating and strangling transgendered teenager Gwen Araujo (neé "Eddie," aka "Lida") to death began in Hayward. Another of the men involved in the October 3, 2002 murder, Jaron Nabors, aged 20, has received an 11-year manslaughter sentence in return for testifying against the other three. Nabors had also led law enforcement officials to the unmarked grave in which Gwen's body had been dumped. Normally progressive lawyer J. Tony Serra is representing Jason Cazares, who claims that he was not involved in the killing.

A fundamental question in this trial has been whether or not the killing was a hate crime. Defense attorneys unsuccessfully tried to use the young men's anger and sense of "betrayal" to justify the "rage" that led them to kill her, with hopes of lesser manslaughter convictions. However, Judge Harry Sheppard has refused to throw out a hate crime enhancement in this case. Michael Thorman, the lawyer for defendant Michael Magidson, had tried to argue that the men had killed Gwen because they were angry about her having hidden her biological sex from her partners, rather than because they generally hated transgendered people. Gloria Allred, the attorney who is representing Gwen's family, has said that any attempt to use rage to justify killing Gwen is an insult to the family.
The prosecution rested this past week and the defense started its arguments on Tuesday, May 5th. The defense successfully got Nabors to admit he had previously lied to police, and implied that he was trying to shift blame for the killing from himself to Magidson, Merel and Cazares.
On Monday, April 19th, Nicole Brown, the young woman who reached under Araujo's clothes to determine her biological sex, was expected to testify. However, she broke down in tears and said that she was unable to testify that day. A police detective who had accompanied Jaron Nabors to the scene where the young men had buried Gwen's body did take the stand on that day.

Much media coverage of the case focuses on the young men's sense of "betrayal," because Araujo had not told her murderers that she was not anatomically female, and the men, two of whom had had sexual relations with her, all identified as heterosexual. The media also is covering the right-wing christian group that has planned to protest homosexuality at the trial.
Past Indybay coverage of Gwen's story. | More coverage of the trial | Enemy Combatant Radio Headlines
Gay-Straight Alliance Network says more tolerance of transgenders needs to be taught in schools. | Not in Our Town
The Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund has raised nearly $10,000 to fund school programs that increase understanding of transgender people and issues. | TransYouth Network

3/17/04: The contingents that are taking shape for this Saturday's demonstration against the US wars and occupation show the political diversity of the LGBTQI communities. The Strength in Unity Contingent will gather early, at 10am at 24th St BART. "This is gonna be an amazing, beautiful and LOUD contingent representing people of Arab and Palestinian, Latino, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander communities, youth, elders, queer folk, and white allies." The Defend Equal Rights Contingent will gather on the front steps of the park, rising from Dolores Street near 19th Street. The Get Divorced from State Terrorism Contingent, which includes Gay Shame, sees marriage as the "central institution of that misogynist, racist system of domination and oppression known as heterosexuality." That contingent will gather at 11am at 18th and Dolores for a banner and fliering campaign to link marriage as an institution to war, classism, racism, and political opportunism. The Queers for Palestine Contingent with gather at the park at 11am with the Palestine Contingent.
See the anti-war page for more about the US wars and protests against them.