By Peter DelVecchio

World AIDS Day Events

AIDS ain’t over; the meds don’t work for everyone and there’s no cure or vaccine in sight. That’s the bottom line. World AIDS Day, commemorated on Dec. 1 all over the world, is an opportunity to express grief and show up for those still fighting. Here are a few events of interest:

Nov. 30

Being Alive hosts a fundraiser with fun, fashion, music and models at Just One L.A. salon and lounge. 7 p.m. $20 suggested donation. 7978 Santa Monica Blvd., WeHo. www.justonela.com

ACT UP/LA marks its 20th anniversary with a photo exhibition and candlelight vigil. First is a 5 p.m. free reception in WeHo City Hall lobby to view Chuck Stallard’s photo exhibit, Silence = Death: Los Angeles AIDS Activism 1987-2007; 6:15 p.m. annual candlelight vigil leaves City Hall and ends at the Metropolitan Community Church; 7 p.m. Warrior Awards. 8300 Santa Monica Blvd. www.weho.org

The Highways Performance Space hosts Witness, with veteran activists revisiting ACT UP/LA’s history on its 20th anniversary. A gallery reception with a multimedia installation is followed by activists sharing their memories. 7 p.m. reception; 8:30 p.m. presentation. Donations requested. 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. www.highwaysperformance.org

Dec. 1

Playwright/activists Michael Kearns performs a reading of Going In: Once Upon a Time in South Africa, chronicling his month spent in South Africa as a volunteer in the sub-Saharan world of HIV/AIDS. 8:30 p.m. $15-20. Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. www.highwaysperformance.org

With the 11th annual Ribbon of Hope Awards, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and TV Cares honor In The Life, HBO, BET, here! Network and others for their commitment to HIV/AIDS awareness, education and prevention. 7:30 p.m. Seating is first-come, first-served. Leonard H. Goldman Theatre, 5230 Lankershim Blvd., NoHo. RSVP to ribbonofopersvp@yahoo.com.

The Bid 2 Beat AIDS eBay auction begins today, with 1,000 items of celebrity memorabilia up for grabs to benefit LIFEBeat, the music industry’s AIDS fundraising organization. www.bid2beataids.com.

Submit names of lost loved ones for AIDSWATCH 11, this year’s annual 24-hour telemorial on West Hollywood Channel 10 and Time Warner cable. Names appear for 3.5 seconds, the time it takes to take a breath. Names can be submitted free via the website. www.aidswatch.org

L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center raises $475,000

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s 36th Anniversary Gala, held Nov. 17 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, was more fun than fire and brimstone facing a year of electoral change. The theme throughout the star-studded evening, hosted by the very funny Alec Mapa, was that the future is full of hope. “The extremist right wing is on the way out,” said Center CEO Lorri L. Jean. “Increasingly, we are claiming the moral high ground.” The gala raised more than $475,000.

Icon Shirley MacLaine picked up the theme, introducing Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award honoree Jenifer Lewis. “I feel like I am in the room of the future,” MacLaine said. “We should speak to the soul here and the soul is a perfect balance of male and female … And what you people are doing is resonating in the body exactly what the soul wants.”

Hywel Sims, the saucy executive director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, accepted the Center Board of Directors Award, presented by Linda Ronstadt, with whom the chorus sang.

More than 1,000 attendees expressed their appreciation for Lewis, who movingly accepted the tribute. “I am so honored and humbled and moved to be receiving this award, and I mean that from my heart,” Lewis said before rocking the ballroom with her spine-tingling singing.

Assembly holds LGBT hate crimes hearing

The California Assembly’s Committee on Hate Crimes held an informational hearing on Nov. 15 regarding hate crimes against LGBT persons and safety in state parks, reports Equality California. The hearing stemmed from the killing of a gay man, Satender Singh, earlier this year at Lake Natoma. Tensions between a group of Fijian and East Indians, including Singh, and a Russian-speaking family allegedly escalated into gay and racial slurs, and culminated with Singh being fatally punched. Singh’s assailant remains at large. Committee Chairman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) said, “The Satender case is obviously the starting point.” He later added, “Are we doing all that we can to provide the resources to the public and to those who protect the public in a state park?”

Migden being investigated

State Sen. Carole Migden, the openly gay powerhouse from San Francisco who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus, is being investigated by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for allegedly failing to itemize and properly disclose $397,000 charged on her credit cards for political expenditures, a violation of campaign finance laws, the Los Angeles Times reported on Nov. 13.

The investigation was launched after openly gay Assemblymember Mark Leno filed a formal complaint. Leno is challenging Migden’s re-election bid next June.

Migden told the Times that any campaign reporting failures were inadvertent, and that she is cooperating with the commission “to address some issues, to resolve some errors that were self-reported.” Migden faces up to $60,000 in fines if she is found in violation. Migden has been previously fined $110,600 for failing to meet deadlines for donation disclosures.

Grobeson trial starts

Former LAPD Sgt. Mitch Grobeson, the first openly gay officer on the Los Angeles Police force, took his 20-year fight with the LAPD to court Nov. 19. He is seeking re-instatement and damages.

On Oct. 31, the L.A. City Council settled part of a second lawsuit brought in 1995 over discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation. The city agreed to strengthen protections for LGBT employees of the department and to pay Grobeson’s attorney fees. Grobeson’s first lawsuit was filed in 1988 and was settled in 1993 with historic mandated sweeping changes.

“It is a shame that the LAPD is forcing this case to go to trial,” Jon Davidson, legal director for Lambda Legal and longtime Grobeson supporter, told IN. “If they would reinstate Sgt. Grobeson or allow him to retire honorably, this case could be resolved quickly. Instead, hundreds of thousands of dollars of city money are being expended fighting this lawsuit, which only seeks to make Sgt. Grobeson whole for the discrimination, harassment and retaliation he suffered after the settlement of his first lawsuit.”

The Trevor Project honors DeGeneres and Clear Channel

On Dec. 2, the Trevor Project will host its 10th annual Cracked Xmas fundraiser at the Wiltern Theatre, this year honoring Ellen DeGeneres with the Trevor Life Award and broadcasting giant, Clear Channel Communications, with the Trevor Hope Award.

The Trevor Project is the nation’s only 24/7 helpline for LGBT and questioning teens considering suicide. The nonprofit also helps educators and youth service providers with the Trevor Survival Kit.

The Trevor Project was the ingenious inspiration of filmmakers James Lecesne, Peggy Rajski and Randy Stone, who created the Academy Award-winning short film, Trevor, about a gay 13-year-old who attempts suicide. The helpline was created to help youth who might need to talk to someone after seeing the film, which aired on HBO in 1998. The annual Cracked Xmas event was created to help sustain the project.

“Ellen’s groundbreaking career and her historic, extremely public, and truly courageous coming out process continue to inspire LGBT youth and demonstrate that their lives do have value,” said Executive Director Charles Robbins, adding that “Clear Channel Communications is a shining example of what it means, from a corporate perspective, to be committed to LGBT causes.”

For more information, visit www.thetrevorproject.org.

San Francisco to issue ID cards to transgenders and immigrants

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a program Nov. 13 to provide identification cards to illegal immigrants, transgenders and others who might be unwilling or unable to obtain driver’s licenses or other state-issued IDs, reports the Advocate. Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who introduced the measure, said, “Our city just can’t stand by while our federal government takes no action to address the safety needs of our community,” adding, “If our friends and neighbors are not fully able to participate with us in civic life, we all lose in the end.” Government agencies and nonprofits receiving city funding must honor the cards.

National Adoption Day highlights gay issue

November is National Adoption Month, and Nov. 17 was National Adoption Day, described at www.nationaladoptionday.org as, “A collective national effort to raise awareness of the 114,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families.”

Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, a national organization that advocates for LGBT family equality, said, “More than two million gays and lesbians want to adopt and/or foster, and more than 25 years of scientific research show that we are capable parents whose children do equally as well as children raised by heterosexual couples. … While allowing qualified gays and lesbians to foster and adopt children will not end the child welfare crisis in this country, it will help.”

A 2007 Urban and Williams Institutes report states that LGBT “prospective foster parents report agency discrimination as a major barrier to becoming a foster parent.” While several states prohibit or restrict LGBT persons from fostering or adopting children, more, including California, permit them to do so. Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services is a licensed foster and adoption agency. For more information, visit www.glassla.org.