Queer Nightlife Fund details emergency grants, urges city to prioritize outdoor permits

A panel from the Queer Nightlife Fund urged the San Francisco Entertainment Commission to prioritize permitting and support for small-scale outdoor queer nightlife events as a way to preserve both livelihoods and culture during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fund’s Angel Garfold, Rayce Bannon and Shannon Amminton told commissioners the group formed during shelter-in-place to support workers in the queer nightlife economy and has "raised almost $300,000" and disbursed about $245,000 across two grant rounds to roughly 300 recipients. The panel said it is now distributing emergency grants and building programs — including online "quarantine" dance parties, a skills-development series and a podcast — to sustain performers, producers and behind-the-scenes workers.

"We have raised almost $300,000 towards this effort," Angel Garfold said, describing the Fund’s fundraising and grantmaking to date. Rayce Bannon emphasized the accessibility of online events: "A lot of people who have social anxiety or who are living with a disability find that the opportunity to interact with queer nightlife via online events is extremely positive." Shannon Amminton urged a "harm reduction approach" and asked the commission to prioritize permits that would let small promoters run structured outdoor events safely.

Executive Director Weiland described staff work on permitting: drive-in movie experiences are currently allowable with restrictions but do not include live performance, and staff are investigating permitting amplified sound where it relates to property boundaries. Weiland also announced that the commission's office has moved to 49 South Van Ness and said staff will follow up with more detailed proposals.

Commissioners asked the Fund to produce a concise set of practical protocols — for example, managing bathroom flow and ingress/egress — that could be adapted for other communities and shared with public health officials. The panel said the full report and community feedback are available in a distributed PDF and that the steering committee would consider producing a shorter, prioritized protocols list.

A caller, identifying herself as Shreya Myers, an event producer, told the commission that outdoor comedy and other performances can be staged similarly to restaurant dining and urged regulators not to overburden entertainers; she said, "in those 6 months out of that entire outdoor underground community, not 1 person has gotten sick." That claim was put forward as public comment and not substantiated during the meeting.

Commission President Ben Wyman thanked the presenters, said the commission is "very, very, open" to engaging on how to include queer nightlife in forthcoming outdoor-permit programs such as the city's shared-spaces initiatives, and cautioned that Department of Public Health guidance and state rules may limit what can be allowed before broader reopening benchmarks are met.

The commission did not take a formal vote on new permitting rules at the meeting. Commissioners agreed to continue engagement with the Fund and to consider sharing Fund content on commission channels; staff signaled they will provide further updates on permitting efforts at future meetings.

Earlier in the agenda the commission approved minutes from its 08/18/2020 meeting after a motion and second; the commission adjourned at 6:29 p.m.