Long Beach's gay community faced good and bad news in '11

In Long Beach's sizeable gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, there was good and bad news - and newsmakers - in 2011.

Some made our "Fabulist," and others made the "Not-So-Fabulist."

The Fabulist

THE CARE PROGRAM

The program, which is based at St. Mary Medical Center, celebrated its 25 th anniversary. CARE is the largest nonprofit HIV-AIDS care provider in the Long Beach area.

LEE GLAZE

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence recognized the former Long Beach resident and Paramount native for "sainthood." Glaze, 73, an early gay-rights pioneer, was honored for his work in fighting gay discrimination.

JENELLE HUTCHERSON

The 26-year-old hairstylist and Long Beach resident was the first "out" lesbian contestant in the Miss Long Beach pageant, which was formed in 1950. Hutcherson was a finalist, but didn't win.

Hutcherson has her sights on another crown - being possibly the first "out" lesbian contestant in the Miss California USA pageant, which takes place Friday through Jan. 8, when it will be broadcast on NBC.

LAURA FARINELLA

The Long Beach Police Department reached a milestone in its 103-year history - it promoted its first female and its first gay or lesbian officer to the rank of deputy chief of police.

Farinella officially became deputy chief at a September swearing-in ceremony. Farinella had been a commander and chief of staff to Police Chief Jim McDonnell.

JULIO SALGADO

Salgado is out, proud and unapologetic - he's gay, and he's undocumented. The 28-year-old Long Beach resident, who came to the United States as a child, graduated from Cal State Long Beach in May 2010 with a journalism degree, but his immigration status makes finding work a frustrating challenge.

Earlier this year, Salgado and three other undocumented youths launched the website "Dreamers Adrift," where they share their experiences of life after college graduation.

THE SILVER FOX

This neighborhood watering hole at 411 Redondo Ave. celebrated its 30 th anniversary.

The Not So Fabulist

DISCRIMINATION SUIT

Two Long Beach women filed a lawsuit in December against a Hawaii bed and breakfast, saying the business denied them a room because they are lesbian.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the women by Lambda Legal, claims Aloha Bed & Breakfast discriminated against Diane Cervelli and Taeko Bufford.

9-11 SCAMMER

Patric Ian Henn - a convicted felon from Florida who scammed two relief agencies out of more than $68,000 in benefits following 9-11, and was known in Long Beach as the flamboyant, openly gay gossip blogger "Boy About Town" - was sentenced in September to a year in Los Angeles County jail by a Long Beach Superior Court judge.

Henn, 36, was sentenced for not appearing at the July 2010 restitution hearing. The judge also ordered Henn to pay $2,832.61 in damages for hitting a 1997 Toyota Camry while driving under the influence on Ocean Boulevard.

PAUL DUNCAN DIES

Duncan, director of community outreach for the Long Beach Community Business Network (aka, the Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce), was a tireless advocate. He helped new and existing gay and gay-friendly businesses create lifelong bonds with other members of the community, says Stacey O'Byrne, president of the LBCBN.

Duncan, 72, died Aug. 6 in Las Vegas. He had been representing the business network at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's weeklong conference there.

JEAN HARRIS DIES

Harris was a trailblazer. For more than 30 years, the former Long Beach resident was on the cutting edge of gay and lesbian politics.

She helped organize numerous campaigns in San Francisco and Long Beach. Harris also built grass-roots, nonpartisan LGBT political advocacy groups throughout California.

Harris, 66, died in June at her home in Palm Springs.

HIV/AIDS RATE

Seventy-three percent of HIV positive men in Long Beach contracted the disease through male-to-male sexual contact. The Long Beach AIDS incidence rate is 100 percent higher than Los Angeles County's and more than double the state's, according to the Health Department's HIV/AIDS Monitoring Report for 2011.

HATE CRIMES

Marquise Anton Lucas, 19, and Sierus Lamar Dunbar, 27, were ordered in December to stand trial in connection with a Halloween hate crime against two gay men.

Jorge Jhovanoy Ibarrias, 21, of Torrance was sentenced to five years in state prison for a July hate crime against a gay man.

Olivier Saintvictor was sentenced to prison for vandalism hate crimes in December 2010 of two well-known Long Beach gay establishments and one Redondo Beach gay bar. The 23-year-old Rancho Palos Verdes man also agreed to pay $2,607 in restitution for damage caused to the Gay and Lesbian Center of Greater Long Beach, Club Ripples in Long Beach and the Dolphin Bar in Redondo Beach and its owner.

phillip.zonkel@presstelegram.com, 562-714-2098

To read more about any or all of these stories, read Phillip Zonkel's Out in the 562 blog at www.presstelegram.com, follow him on twitter.com/outinthe562 or become a fan on Facebook by searching "out in the 562."

Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_19652842?source=rss_viewed

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