Feature Archives

The 5th annual Trans Pride March took place June 27th in Dolores Park. The theme of this year's march was "Marching for a Gender Inclusive ENDA", with an objective to bring a focus on transgender civil rights and to celebrate the support of the LGBT family.

The Trans March kicked off a weekend of Pride events. The 16th annual San Francisco Dyke March took place Saturday June 28th in Dolores Park. The rally and stage began at 3pm with the march at 7pm. The 38th SF LGBT Pride Festival took place Saturday from noon till 6 in Civic Center Plaza and the Pride March took place on Market St from 10:30am through 7pm Sunday.

On June 21, local activists in the Castro district united, in an outdoor public awards ceremony to "honor" the greedy landlord speculators most responsible for the gentrification and destruction of San Francisco's communities. The event took place at Harvey Milk Plaza at Castro and Market in San Francisco, and the activists called on people to stand up against gentrification by landlord speculators who are destroying our neighborhoods and communities.

May 2008 marked 60 years of the Nakba, the catastrophe. Sixty years ago, 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and 350 Palestinian villages were destroyed by the Israeli army and militias. In the Bay Area, the Nakba was commemorated by numerous events and demonstrations. On May 10th at the Civic Center, a peace and solidarity festival took place with bands such as the Coup and Dam. Jewish groups also organized solidarity actions. The International Jewish Solidarity Network has circulated a statement calling on people not to celebrate, and Jewish Voice for Peace called on Americans to remember the thousands of Palestinians who have suffered in the creation of Israel. The IJSN disrupted an event at San Francisco's JCC called "Israel at Sixty."

On June 19th, between 2,500 and 3,000 people gathered for a very spirited "Heathcare-Yes, Insurance Companies-NO" rally outside the Moscone convention center in San Francisco. The largest contingents came from the California School Employees Association, the California Nurses Association, and the California Universal Health Care Organizing Project.

On June 16th, same sex marriages officially began in California. same sex marriages were officially held in San Francisco. In San Francisco, hundreds came to City Hall to celebrate. After being together for more than 50 years, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin were the first couple to be legally married. In Oakland, the first couples were married by mayor Ron Dellums, city council member Jean Quan, and congresswoman Barbara Lee. In Fresno, dozens of couples arrived early to get their marriage licenses Tuesday morning. Tinasha Broadus and Alicia Rice were the first in line and the first to be married.

A traveler who spends most of his time in SF and NY is being held at the Northwest ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. He is known locally from Food Not Bombs, Homes Not Jails, and various tenants' rights, homeless rights, bike rights and animal rights activities among other things. He was arrested at the end of May for trespassing to watch the sunset from a roof of a building in Seattle and spent some time in county jail. An ICE raid took place at the jail and he was transported to the Northwest Detention Center because his citizenship status is in question.

On May 31st, nearly a thousand protesters marched across the Golden Gate Bridge to protest the proposed spraying of the Bay Area for light brown apple moths. Groups gathered on both sides of the bridge and marched to the middle carrying signs protesting the proposed aerial spraying of a moth pheromone as part of a statewide campaign to wipe out the moth.