Online Event: The Bay Area Reporter At 50: Writing A First Draft Of History

For a half-century, the Bay Area Reporter (BAR) has provided coverage of San Francisco and the Bay Area’s LGBTQ community. In this special discussion commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publication that has become the community’s newspaper of record, a group of activists, writers and culture-makers will recount their relationship to and history of the BAR. The panel will be moderated by Terry Beswick, executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, and panelists include Gwen Smith, “Transmission” columnist for the BAR; Hank Plante, an award-winning, veteran Bay Area journalist; Paul Henderson, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability (SFDPA); Marga Gomez, an award-winning Latinx performer and comic; Sharon McNight, a Tony-nominated singer and performer; and Michael Yamashita, the BAR’s publisher.

 

SPEAKERS
Marga Gomez (she/her) is the writer and performer of thirteen solo plays that have been presented nationally, off-Broadway, and internationally. She is the winner of a GLAAD Media Award and Theatre LA’s Ovation Award. Her acting credits include theatre roles (most recently Campo Santos San Francisco’s production of "Translating Selena" in January 2020), television (including "Sense8"), and film (including "Sphere"). She teaches solo performance online and at the Kearny Street Workshop, A.C.T, and Brava.

 

Paul David Henderson (he/him) is a nationally recognized expert in criminal justice reform, a veteran prosecutor and progressive champion for social justice. The former chief of administration under Kamala Harris, and then deputy chief of staff for Mayor Ed Lee, Henderson currently serves as executive director of the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability (SFDPA).

 

Sharon McNight (she/her) is a multi-award-winning performer who began her career entertaining in the cabarets and gay bars of San Francisco in the late 1970s. In the mid-1980s she received an S.F. Critics Circle award for her performance in Nunsense and was one of two straight women chosen as Grand Marshal of the 1986 San Francisco Gay Day Parade for her dedication and fundraising efforts during the AIDS crisis. Sharon made her Broadway debut in 1989 in "Starmites," for which she received a Tony nomination, and is the recipient of the coveted Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. She has five solo recordings to her credit, one of those being "The Sophie Tucker Songbook," which contains the music of her one-woman Off-Broadway show, "Red Hot Mama." Her recent laurels include two-lifetime achievement awards: one from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets, and another from the Provincetown CabaretFest.

 

Henry A. “Hank” Plante (he/him) is an American television reporter and newspaper columnist. He is on-air at NBC Palm Springs and he is a member of the editorial board of Gannett’s Desert Sun newspaper in that city. Winner of the George Foster Peabody Award and multiple Emmys, he covered California for three decades for TV stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He now writes occasional columns for newspapers in California, usually focusing on politics or gay and lesbian issues. One of the first openly gay TV reporters in the United States, Plante is the recipient of various honors from LGBTQ rights advocacy organizations and trade groups. In addition, Plante was featured in the documentary 5B, which was selected for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

 

Gwen Smith (she/her) has been a transgender advocate for more than two decades. She is the writer of the “Transmissions” column for the Bay Area Reporter, which began in 2000. She founded the Transgender Day of Remembrance and was an early transgender internet pioneer. She is also active in virtual worlds.

 

Michael Yamashita (he/him) was born in Hawaii and graduated from Santa Clara University First hired as a copyeditor for the Bay Area Reporter in 1989, Yamashita was named general manager in 1995 under founding publisher Bob Ross. He subsequently served under Ross’ successor, Thomas Horn, and was named publisher in 2013. In 2017, after acquiring all shares held by investor partners, Yamashita became the first gay Asian-Pacific Islander owner-publisher of an LGBTQ newspaper. He serves on the board of directors of the California News Publisher Association and has been long involved in the Bay Area Hawaiian community as a teacher of history, music, culture, and hula.

 

Terry Beswick (he/him, moderator) has served as executive director of the GLBT Historical Society since 2016. At the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, he was a founding member of the local ACT UP and was the first national coordinator of ACT NOW, the national AIDS activist network. He advocated for HIV/AIDS research and treatment with Project Inform, the Human Rights Campaign, and the White House Office of HIV/AIDS Policy. After the advent of effective treatments for HIV, Beswick worked as a journalist for the Bay Area Reporter and other LGBTQ community publications. More recently, he spearheaded a successful campaign to save and renovate the Castro Country Club for the queer recovery community and co-founded the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. He holds an MFA in playwriting from San Francisco State University. Beswick served as a Community Grand Marshal for the 50th Anniversary San Francisco LGBTQ Pride Parade and Celebration in 2020.

 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
This event will take place online. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join the webinar as an attendee. The event will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page at 

 

ADMISSION
Free | $5 suggested donation
Register online here: http://bit.ly/3ub9mw1

ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of the event to leigh@glbthistory.org.

 

JOIN THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Become a member of the GLBT Historical Society for free museum and program admission, discounts in the museum shop, and other perks: www.glbthistory.org/memberships.

 

Image: Panelists’ headshots courtesy of same