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Can we have civil civic discourse in these fractious times? Manny Yekutiel, activist and owner of the cafe, bookstore and civic events space Manny’s, passionately believes so. Manny opened his “people-powered and community-focused meeting and learning place” in San Francisco’s Mission District on Election Night, 2018, to encourage civic engagement. He’s since hosted hundreds of events — initially in person, now virtually — on topics ranging from politics to climate change, criminal justice reform and LGBTQ rights.  On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, (Monday, Jan. 18), those events include six online sessions about the January 6 U.S. Capitol Insurrection with new Black gay Congressmember Ritchie Torres and other notable speakers. Past speakers have included Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, former President Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe and, during their campaigns, Georgia’s new US Senators, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Gay and Jewish, Manny says still loving and respecting his politically and socially conservative orthodox family — despite most of them voting for Trump twice and his father’s rejection when Manny came out — has helped Manny learn how to encourage civil dialogue among people holding different opinions. Manny talks about all this and much more on this week’s Out in the Bay with host Eric Jansen. He’s intelligent, inspiring, caring and compassionate. He’s on fire! Manny Yekutiel is owner of Manny’s. Learn more at WelcomeToMannys.com.

Blackmail, My Love is a noir murder-mystery novel set in San Francisco, 1951 – “The Dark Ages of Queerdom,” as author and illustrator Katie Gilmartin puts it – when cops raided gay and lesbian bars, beat up patrons and demanded “protection” money, and when lesbians and gay men were so afraid of public exposure they were easy blackmail targets. The book is illustrated with 21 of Gilmartin’s original prints, including “Miss Double Strand” above. Historian, printmaker, Queer Ancestors Project founder and first-time novelist Katie Gilmartin reads from her book and talks about San Francisco queer life in days of yore on this week’s Out in the Bay.  We also hear “The Widow Norton” herself (aka the late José Sarria, one of just two true-life characters in Blackmail, My Love) sing the 1950s anthem “God Save Us Nelly Queens” in his later years. Blackmail, My Love, is published by Cleis Press. Learn more about the Queer Ancestors Project, including upcoming art exhibits and free workshops for LGBTQQI people ages 18-26 at QAP’s website. (This feature updated Jan 12, 2021)

Happy New Year!? We all hope 2021 will be kinder to us than 2020 … but only time will tell. So this week: 2020 in the queer-view mirror and a look ahead into 2021 with national politics and legal expert correspondent Lisa Keen. 2020 brought hardships on many fronts — COVID sickness, death and economic upheaval; continued police killings and other violence against people of color, especially Black people; continued climate crisis evidenced by wildfires and other natural disasters, to name a few.   Yet for LGBTQ people in the USA, 2020 brought significant progress on some fronts, while bringing setbacks on others. Lisa Keen breaks down the top 2020 developments and assesses potential gains and losses for queer folk in 2021. Our expert guest Lisa Keen joined Out in the Bay last November to share her expertise on our national elections and the US Supreme Court. She’s been covering politics and federal courts for four decades for LGBTQ news publications nationwide, including the Bay Area Reporter online and print newspaper based in San Francisco. Here is her January 1 article, 2020: A harsh year with incredible LGBTQ milestones; read more of her reporting on the Keen News Service website. photo by Gage Skidmore: Then-presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg at a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, January 12, 2020.

In the Bay and across the country, we’re nearly 10 months into COVID restrictions. Some of us are skin-starved, many of us even love-starved. No hugs, no spooning, no sex. No Friends. No family. It’s a lot to deal with. But many of us felt lonesome even before the pandemic pushed us further into isolation. Getting what we truly need is always a challenge, so how are we coping now? To find out, Out in the Bay producer Truc Nguyen got intimate with Bay Area residents. Truc spoke with people dating non-monogamously, using dating apps and finding creative ways to stay connected to sexuality and community, and with Kristina Loring, head story producer for the feminist erotic audio app Dipsea. You’ll hear some steamy snippets from Dipsea stories and folks sharing their social-distance tales and offering sexy, sweet solutions to the lack of connection we all feel from time to time, pandemic or not.  Links to Music, Resources and Activities: Dylan Gallagher’s band Vverevvolf Olivia Lee’s band There’s Talk Dipsea’s free 30-day audio erotica subscription for Out in The Bay listeners. (See descriptions of some of Dipsea’s queer content here.) Year-end request: Please help us keep bringing LGBTQ news, voices and stories to the world by making a tax-deductible donation to Out in the Bay now. We’ve been pledged $2,000 from an anonymous donor who will fork over the $2k if we get that much from other donors by January 4. Thank you! (Clicking links above or any donate tab on our pages will take you to a Media Alliance donation page with the notation: “Purpose: Support Out in the Bay.” Your gift will be earmarked for Out in the Bay, which is under Media Alliance’s 501c3 non-profit umbrella. More info here.)

Malik Mays, who performs as Mahawam, tells Out in the Bay their music is “about resilience, it’s about power, it’s about beauty, it’s about sex.” Mays grew up between Arizona and Texas with a single mother. In their early twenties, Mays settled in Oakland where they’ve lived since 2013. Like many in the Bay, Mays shares living space with six other people, including their partner.  There’s a chicken coop in the backyard and a garden where Mays grows mugwort. “I got it because I wanted to try to be a psychonaut and kick up my dreamspace another level,” says Mays. “It’s supposed to induce vivid dreams if you make a tea of it, but I read up on it and apparently ingesting large enough quantities can be dangerous.” Mays released their first EP, Is An Island, two years ago, giving them the confidence to take their artistry to the next level and embrace aspects of their personality they had rejected. Previously, “wanting to be recognized as good took precedence over wanting to be recognized,” they say. “You weren’t seeing my queerness, my queer nature, you weren’t seeing the comedy, you weren’t seeing Blackness.” The intersection which Mays lives makes their work inherently political, but they say they “also just want to be a dope rapper.” Hear Mahawam’s music and their conversation with producer Truc Nguyen about the musician’s next project and more on this week’s Out in the Bay. You can watch one of Mahawam’s artistic music videos on YouTube (and hear and read the lyrics we couldn’t broadcast on terrestrial radio). Year-end request: Please help us keep bringing LGBTQ news, voices and stories to the world by making a tax-deductible donation to Out in the Bay now. We’ve been pledged $2,000 from an anonymous donor who will fork over the $2k if we get that much from other donors by January 1. Thank you! (Clicking links above or any donate tab on our pages will take you to a Media Alliance donation page with the notation: “Purpose: Support Out in the Bay.” Your gift will be earmarked for Out in the Bay, which is under Media Alliance’s 501c3 non-profit umbrella.) Photo of Mahawam courtesy of Malik Mays

Brandon Taylor’s highly praised debut novel, Real Life, gets deep into desire, intimacy, sex, abuse, homophobia, racism, misogyny, love, hate and the blurred lines between friends and lovers. Oh, and let’s not forget cut-throat scientific academia. Taylor’s novel is loosely based on his own experience as a Black gay graduate student navigating a predominantly white Midwestern campus.  In Real Life – over one intense weekend – readers follow protagonist Wallace and his friends as they navigate complex relationships and struggle with the question: What is real life?  Hear Taylor read from and discuss what O: The Oprah Magazine called a “blistering coming of age story”and that The New Yorker described as a “brooding campus novel,” and give us his takes on personal and societal challenges. Photo of Brandon Taylor by Bill Adams Real Life, Taylor’s first novel, was short-listed for this year’s prestigious Booker Prize, named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, NPR and many other media outlets. A feature-length film is in the works. Brandon Taylor’s short stories have appeared in many publications, including Guernica, American Short Fiction, The New Yorker online and The Literary Review. Taylor is the senior editor of Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading and a staff writer at Lit Hub. He has graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow. You can follow him on Twitter. Year-end request: Please help us keep bringing LGBTQ news, voices and stories to the world by making a tax-deductible donation to Out in the Bay now. We’ve been promised $2,000 from an anonymous donor who will fork over the $2k if we get that much from other donors by January 1st. Thank you! (Links above and donate tabs on our pages will take you to a Media Alliance donation page with the notation: “Purpose: Support Out in the Bay.” Your gift will be earmarked for Out in the Bay, which is under Media Alliance’s 501c3 non-profit umbrella.)

Meet Imani Rupert-Gordon, the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ new executive director. A long-time social worker and activist for LGBTQ people of color, Rupert-Gordon took the helm at the ground-breaking SF-based feminist LGBTQ legal organization in March, just as COVID-19 hit full force. She speaks with Out in the Bay‘s Eric Jansen about NCLR’s current priorities, her vision for NCLR, intersectionality, the USPS and voter suppression as mail-in voting for the 2020 presidential election is threatened. The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is the first national LGBTQ legal organization founded by women and has a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and our community’s most vulnerable. Since 1977, NCLR has been at the forefront of advancing the civil and human rights of our full LGBTQ community and their families through impact litigation, public policy, and public education. NCLR Resources Pages: Submit comments to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opposing the Trump administration’s proposed new rule to limit transgender people’s access to homeless shelters. Racial & Economic Justice Immigration & Asylum Youth

Through a generous grant from the Comcast Foundation and in partnership with the California LGBT Legislative Caucus, the Equality California Institute – Comcast Fellowship brings LGBTQ youth and allies to Sacramento to learn about California politics, the legislative process and civic engagement. The annual fellowship is an intensive four-week program for students who have completed at least their first year of undergraduate studies at a college or university.  Fellows gain first-hand experience and leadership skills working with legislators, policymakers and staff, and meet with LGBTQ leaders to learn about how advocacy and public service can fuel meaningful policy change. On this podcast-only edition of Out in the Bay, hear details about the Equality California Institute–Comcast Fellowship – including how to apply – from Comcast California Director of Community Impact, Lorena Hernandez, who created the fellowship in 2010, and Equality California Legislative Manager Tami Martin, who previously managed the fellowship and continues to work with fellows each year. With over 900,000 members, Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization and is California’s only LGBTQ+ civil rights organization working at the local, state and national levels. Links to fellowships, internships and mentorships discussed on this episode: Equality California Institute–Comcast Fellowship Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project-Comcast Fellowship Capitol LGBTQ Association Victory Fund A national organization devoted to electing LGBTQ leaders

On top of the health risks and financial hardships individuals face, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to overwhelm critical Bay Area non-profits, from social service providers to cultural outlets. Horizons Foundation says by late August, it will have granted nearly $900,000 from its LGBTQ COVID-19 Response Emergency Fund to scores of organizations. How are our non-profits and the folks they serve managing through COVID? Hear first-hand from leaders of two Horizons grantees — Barbara Hodgen of New Conservatory Theatre Center and Joe Hawkins of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center — with Horizons President Roger Doughty. While clearly feeling the pinch, they’re also finding creative ways to address current challenges. We also hear from Comcast California Community Impact Director Lorena Hernandez on corporate help to individuals and organizations. Guests and Resources: Roger Doughty, President, Horizons Foundation; Barbara Hodgen, Executive Director, New Conservatory Theater Center; Joe Hawkins, Executive Director, Oakland LGBTQ Community Center; Lorena Hernandez, Community Impact Director, Comcast California. Comcast has extended its offer of two months of free Internet Essentials service for low-income residents who qualify, and has relaxed some eligibility requirements, through Dec. 31, 2020. Internet Essentials is discounted home internet service for low-income residents who qualify. See website or call 1-855-8-INTERNET (1-855-846-8376) for qualifications. Although Ms. Hernandez did not mention this in our recorded conversation, we want to acknowledge and thank Comcast California for its support of Out in the Bay’s relaunch. Without that support, we would not be here today bringing you queer voices and stories. It’s a meaningful contribution to California LGBTQ culture and connection, one we especially appreciate in this stressful time of social distancing.

“Upon This Rock” is a tangled-web murder mystery set in Italy and Vatican City, with Catholic corruption, hidden homosexuality, the international refugee crisis, and much more in the mix.  Long-time PR maven and Rainbow Honor Walk co-founder David Perry reads from and discusses his first novel and shares his take on how Bay Area hotels and small businesses are surviving the COVID crisis. Among Perry’s many accomplishments, he’s founder and CEO of the successful PR firm David Perry & Associates and co-founded the Rainbow Honor Walk that features LGBTQ heroes on educational plaques embedded in the sidewalks of San Francisco’s Castro district.  He was host and producer of 10 Percent, the longest running LGBTQ television interview program in California history, which aired for a decade on Comcast’s San Francisco public access channel until 2018.  More recently, Perry has hosted “The Great Pause” and created and hosts “Ahoy” internet TV programs, featuring diverse insights on coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. He also serves as the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s small business chair and is a member of the San Francisco Hotel Council. Upon This Rock is on schedule to be published Sept. 1. It has already earned glowing praise—including from acclaimed Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin, who writes: “Perry has written an elegant, twisty thriller in which a gay couple investigates a mysterious suicide in a scenic Italian hill town.  It’s not hard to imagine that this book could do for Orvieto what Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil did for Savannah.” Guggenheim Fellow and author Fenton Johnson describes Upon This Rock as “The gay DaVinci Code, but a lot better.” Follow these links to learn more about David Perry and Upon This Rock

How do young LGBTQ Californians help shape state policies to make them more equitable and fair? On this week’s Out in the Bay, two Sacramento insiders working hard for equal treatment share their views on how the sausage is made — and how they help make it — in our state capitol. Tami Martin is Equality California’s Legislative Manager; Severiano Christian is Senate Consultant for the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and a recent Equality California Institute-Comcast Fellowship alum. Some of the issues they’re working on now and discuss in this week’s conversation are safety for incarcerated transgender people; the dearth of data on how COVID-19 affects LGBTQ people; and how teen sex is treated criminally — penalties are currently much harsher for same-sex partners than for their hetero peers. The Equality California Institute – Comcast Fellowship brings LGBTQ youth and allies to Sacramento to learn about California politics and the legislative process. Fellows gain first-hand experience and leadership skills working with legislators, policymakers and staff, and meet with LGBTQ leaders to learn about how advocacy and public service can fuel meaningful policy change. Links to other fellowships, internships and mentorships named in this week’s episode: Capitol LGBTQ Association Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project-Comcast Fellowship CA Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Capitol Internship CSU Sacramento Capital Fellows Programs

Are we in the midst of a national genocide? Disability activist Rabbi Elliot Kukla tells Out in the Bay that systemic racism, economic injustice and US government inaction to COVID-19 amounts to genocide against the chronically ill, disabled, elders and people of color. In a New York Times opinion piece, “My Life is More ‘Disposable’ During This Pandemic,” Kukla wrote that COVID-19 has unmasked the ageism and ableism that exists in American capitalist culture, and compared current attitudes and language used to address the pandemic to 1930s and ’40s Nazi Germany rhetoric. Rabbi Kukla, the first openly transgender rabbi ordained by a mainstream Jewish movement, is no stranger to sheltering in place.  He has been living with a chronic debilitating illness for years and spends much of his time at home.  In his talk with Out in the Bay host Eric Jansen, he not only highlights the discrimination embedded in US culture, policy and practices, Kukla also challenges Americans’ “myth of independence” and speaks about what we can all learn from people of color, the chronically ill, disabled and seniors during this time. He refers to the deaths of over 130,000 Americans from COVID-19 and specifically calls the disproportionate deaths of elders, disabled and people of color genocide, citing the lack of a strong public health response:  “There are a lot of health conditions that are connected to poverty, systemic racism and economic injustice so people of color are not able to shelter in place in the same rates as white people.  People of color are less likely to have the same kind of health insurance. It’s really a cluster of all of the deep, deep white supremacy of this country that’s leading to what I would really call a genocide.” Kukla says there is no “silver lining” to this pandemic, but that there may be opportunities for a new, better “normal.” Rabbi Kukla works at the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco where he has been providing spiritual care to the ill, dying and bereaved since 2008.  He has written on a wide variety of topics including spirituality, Judaism, gender diversity, healing and chronic illness.

It’s San Francisco Pride’s 50th Anniversary! But it won’t be the party planners imagined a year or even four months ago. The COVID pandemic means no huge parade up Market Street and no public parties. And the continued killings of Black people—many at the hands of law enforcement — have resulted in nationwide protests demanding racial justice and real police reform in this country.     Although less well known, the deaths of at least 15 transgender or gender non-conforming people in the first five months of 2020 have also highlighted the disproportionately high rates of violence affecting transgender women of color—particularly Black transgender women—and have resulted in the queer community examining its own racism, misogyny and transphobia.      While the focus of this year’s Pride has definitely shifted, there are still things to celebrate, including the recent Supreme Court ruling confirming that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay and transgender people from workplace discrimination. On this week’s Out in the Bay, Eric Jansen speaks with current and past San Francisco Pride presidents on what we’re celebrating, what still needs to be done and ways to participate. We’ll also hear from the president of Out@Comcast on employee resource groups (ERGs) and the complicated relationship between Pride and corporate sponsors.     The Human Rights Campaign has more information on the violence experienced by transgender and gender non-conforming people and you can help support change by donating to Black trans organizations here and by learning more at Color of Change, recommended by our guests this week. Guests:Cecilia Chung, Director of Evaluation and Strategic Initiatives at the Transgender Law Center; San Francisco Pride President in 2001Carolyn Wysinger, current San Francisco Pride PresidentJacqueline Chiang, San Francisco Market Development Manager at ComcastPlan Your Pride:     San Francisco Pride Online Celebration and Rally    Global Pride 2020    Illuminate the Pink Triangle, Saturday, June 27th, 2020    Trans March 2020, Friday, June 26th 11am-7pm    Dykes Go Digital, Saturday, June 27th, 2020    San Francisco’s Live “Pride is a Riot” March, Sunday, June 28th 2020    Frameline44 Pride Showcase, June 25- 28, 2020    EyeZen’s OUT of Site: SOMA, June 26-28, 2020    Oasis’s Pride Programming    Bay Area Reporter, for online updates and roundup of other things to do