New Leaf, a 35-year-old San Francisco center that offered mental health and substance abuse services for low income, queer, and trans folks, has closed. The center's board of directors announced that it was financially impossible to continue to operate, but critics say that Executive Director Thom Lynch's six-figure salary for part-time employment and the non-profit's unsustainable top down model were behind the center's troubles.

In response to the closure, Gay Shame organized a protest in front of the Department of Public Health with large banners including one that read "DPH is Disordered". Protesters dramatized their frustration with the department's lack of support for New Leaf with street theater, saying, "The closure of New Leaf LGBTQ counseling center is just one symptom in the Social Identity Crisis Kontamination (SICK)".

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