SF Pride Names GM Nominees

Ten local community leaders have been nominated for grand marshals for the 46th annual San Francisco Pride parade, and public voting started this week.

The nominees, a diverse group of queer and straight people, were "selected for their contributions to the LGBTQ communities," according to officials with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee Inc.

SF Pride officials said that there were 50 people nominated, which the board whittled down to 10. The board also announced nominees for organizational grand marshal and for the pink brick, given to a person or group that has caused significant harm to the LGBT community.

This year's individual grand marshal nominees are Race Bannon, Queen Cougar, Pamela H. David, Deana Dawn, Bevan Dufty, Janetta Johnson, Joanie Juster, Mercedez Munro, Mia Satya, and Larry Yang.

Organizational grand marshal nominees are AGUILAS, Black Lives Matter, St. James Infirmary, Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, and UNITE HERE Local 2.

Bannon, a gay man, has been an organizer, writer, educator, speaker and activist in the LGBT, leather/kink, polyamory and HIV/STI prevention realms since the early 1970s. An author of two books and currently the leather columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, Bannon has been credited with creating the world's largest kink-friendly psychotherapist and medical referral service.

In an email to the B.A.R., Bannon said he's especially proud of the work he did "to begin changing the perceptions of kinky people in the world of psychotherapy."

Bannon, 61, said he led the first project of its kind that helped change the diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), which he calls the "bible of psychotherapy." The result, Bannon said, is that therapists "no longer assume that people into BDSM and other related sexualities were mentally ill."

"I have always worked hard to ensure that people from all walks of life could feel secure and informed in their sexual identity, erotic practices, and relationship choices," he added.

Cougar, also known as Colleen Small, co-chaired the Leather SM Roundup, a now-defunct clean and sober group for people in the SM community, in 1991 and has traveled the U.S. and Canada as a contest judge, emcee, BDSM workshop presenter, producer, entertainer, and fundraiser. She holds numerous community service awards and, in 2013, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors proclaimed March 1 "Queen Cougar Day." She holds the titles of Ms. Headquarters and Ms. SF Leather 1993.

Her day job is doing administrative and advertising work at the B.A.R.

In a telephone interview, Cougar, 60, who identifies as a leather dyke, told the B.A.R. that she was especially proud to have twice emceed International Mr. Leather, the huge annual leather contest in Chicago.

"As a woman of color to have been chosen twice is a high feat in our community," Cougar, an African-American, said.

When asked why people should vote for her, Cougar said, "The humble side of me says they don't have to because I've been picked" for honors so many times before. "But I am very proud that my name would be considered" for grand marshal.

David, 63, a progressive LGBTQ activist for four decades, helped organize the Lesbian Rights Alliance and Lesbians Against Police Violence. She was national outreach coordinator for the 1987 March on Washington. David was also the first out lesbian appointed to a mayor's staff and in that capacity, helped to launch the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

In a phone interview with the B.A.R. , David said she has been a "player behind the scenes ... making things happen for our community." For example, she said she was the first person to tell the founders of the LGBT senior housing program Openhouse that they "weren't crazy." Subsequently, she helped them "get their first dollars" to launch the program, she said.

The grand marshal nomination "was a total surprise to me," she said, "because I'm so used to being behind the scenes.

"I hope my nomination means the community is taking note of all the people" who they may not see on the front lines but who are organizing in less visible roles. "I have devoted 40 years to that," she said.

Dawn, a queer ally, is a performer, community leader, philanthropist, and cancer survivor. For decades Dawn, 44, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local HIV and housing charities and has mentored young people. She has held titles in the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association, Imperial Council of San Francisco, and sainthood with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

In an email to the B.A.R., Dawn said she is most proud of her work mentoring young people to become "ethical leaders."

"I thrive when our youth excel in roles like board member or elected official. Helping someone reach their full potential is my greatest pride," she said.

Dufty, a political and LGBT community leader for two decades, has been a leader with Castro Youth Supportive Housing, the GLBT History Museum, transgender employment programs of the LGBT community center, the city's crystal meth task force and the city's first LGBT shelter.

A gay man, Dufty, 60, is a former city supervisor and retired last year as director of Mayor Ed Lee's Housing, Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement program, where he worked on homeless issues.

Dufty was previously named a grand marshal by SF Pride in 2013 but then declined the honor. In an email to the B.A.R. , Dufty explained that he turned down the recognition because he was "troubled" by the SF Pride board's decision to rescind grand marshal honors from Chelsea Manning, "with uncertain authority." (Manning, a trans woman, was named a grand marshal but the board at the time took it away. She was convicted of violations of the Espionage Act and sentenced to 35 years in prison.)

"Being nominated as a candidate for 2016 community grand marshal brings it full circle," Dufty wrote. "If I'm chosen it certainly will be meaningful to have it come through election by our community and allies."

Dufty said he is proudest of his "accomplishments for LGBTQ youth, establishing Castro Youth Housing and a $750,000 budget increase for Larkin Youth Services; LYRIC, the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center; and Dimensions Health Clinic that has continued in future budgets.

"I hope people see me as someone who has served this community with energy, purpose, compassion, and an open mind," he added. "I care deeply about homelessness and championed LGBTQ services as we are disproportionately represented among those living on our streets."

Johnson, an Afro-American trans woman, is executive director at the Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project. Since 2006, she has been organizing around the intersections of violence faced by herself and the broader gender non-conforming and transgender communities of color. As a formerly incarcerated trans person, Johnson has faced adversity and this has formed her community work as well as her deep investment in the liberation of all black trans and gender non-conforming people.

At press time, the B.A.R. was unable to reach her for a comment on her nomination.

Juster, 62, has been volunteering since the AIDS epidemic struck in the 1980s. Her work has involved fundraising, event production, and grassroots community organizing for programs fighting AIDS, breast cancer, poverty, and social injustice. She is best known for her work with the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, AIDS Emergency Fund, AIDS Walk, Shanti Project, Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, and Marriage Equality USA.

In an email to the B.A.R., Juster said that of all the work she has done in the fight against AIDS, she is most proud of "providing help and solace to those who were dying, and those who were grieving." The work, she said, also "transformed" her life.

Juster, who is straight and has been "happily married" for 35 years, said that "volunteer" is the best job title she has ever had.

"Life is challenging: we need to stand by each other, and work together with joy and understanding to make the world a better place for all," she said.

Munro, the first gay national titleholder from California, is a former Miss Gay San Francisco, Miss Gay California, and Miss Gay United States.

Munro, also known as Lonnie Haley, considers himself an "old school" female impersonator and an entertainer, community leader, housemother, and businessperson.

In an email to the B.A.R., Munro, 44, said he is "most proud of being the first drag queen, in the history of national pageantry, to win a national title in the entire state of California."

"I exemplify the California dream," Munro said, "and I'm proof positive that the California dream does exist."

When he moved to the state, "I foresaw a new life for myself ... a life of prosperity, personal expression, and happiness."

Munro said that through his production company, Beatfish Productions, he's been able to send numerous drag performers to national competitions "so that their dreams can be realized as well."

Satya, 25, who prefers to be known as Mia Tu Mutch, has been empowered by her own experiences with homelessness, discrimination, joblessness, and violence. She served on the San Francisco Youth Commission and has worked to provide direct services, including health care and employment, to underserved communities, including homeless LGBTQ youth. She helped secure free Muni for 40,000 low-income youth, and co-created landmark LGBTQ diversity training for over 9,000 city employees.

As director of Transitional Age Youth San Francisco, she facilitates opportunities for underrepresented youth to give feedback to city leaders. Tu Mutch is also the first transsexual to be selected for Emerge California, the premiere political training program for women.

In an email to the B.A.R., Tu Mutch said that she is especially proud of "being one of the key leaders responsible for securing the renewal of the Children's Fund."

She said she worked on the campaign for two years to increase funding and strengthen the oversight body for the city fund. The legislation "guarantees over $100 million in funds each year for childcare, after school programs, and summer jobs that will benefit thousands of San Franciscan youth for the next 25 years," she said.

As far as her nomination for grand marshal, Tu Mutch said, "There are many LGBTQ activists, organizers, and leaders who equally deserve recognition and I trust the community to make the best decision to represent the full diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area.

"I only want this honor because getting the opportunity to wave from a fancy car will also provide me a vehicle to raise awareness on pressing issues in our city including income inequality, the housing crisis, the California drought, and the ongoing violence faced by trans people and people of color," Tu Mutch said.

Yang, 60, teaches mindfulness and meditation locally and nationally, and is committed to serving diverse multicultural, queer, and activist communities. An Asian-American queer man, Yang helped to start a variety of long-running LGBTQI meditation groups in the Bay Area, including at the SF LGBT Community Center and the annual LGBTQI meditation retreat in Garrison, New York.

Yang's current focus is training spiritual leadership within communities of color and LGBTQ communities. He is on the Teachers' Council of Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

In an email to the B.A.R., Yang pointed out that, "any accomplishment, especially around social justice and change, is never done in isolation. I am continually inspired by being part of efforts to create truly inclusive multicultural spiritual communities in all the directions of our lives - something that the world so dearly needs right now."

If someone voted for him to be grand marshal, "they would not be voting for me as an individual. People would be voting for the communities that I am connected to, and our vision of how spiritual communities can still create deep inclusivity, trust and respect, care and compassion, and equity and justice for all of us."

Organizational Grand Marshals

AGUILAS, short for Assembly of United Gays Impacting Latinos toward Self-Empowerment, is the oldest Latino LGBT organization in all of the Americas, according to the SF Pride news release. The agency is dedicated to creating a supportive, culturally sensitive environment for gay and bisexual Latinos.

Black Lives Matter is an international network of more than 30 chapters working for the validity of black life. It has taken a leading role in the national conversation around police brutality and officer-involved shootings involving unarmed black men and others.

St. James Infirmary is the only occupational health and safety clinic run by and for sex workers in the country. It offers free services such as medical care, mental health care, HIV services, transgender health care, education, and outreach.

The aforementioned Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project is an organization of transgender, gender variant and intersex people - inside and outside of prisons, jails, and detention centers - creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom.

UNITE HERE Local 2 represents over 12,000 workers in the hospitality industries in San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

Pink Brick

This year's pink brick nominees include the Liberty Council, an organization specializing in evangelical Christian litigation, advocating for anti-LGBT discrimination under the guise of religious liberty; One Million Moms, a parallel project created by the American Family Association (last year's pink brick recipient); and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who opposes same-sex marriage.

Public voting started this week online and runs through February 29. For ballots and more information, go to http://www.sfpride.org/vote. People can also vote at the SF Pride offices, 30 Pearl Street, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.