News Briefs: Bay Area LGBTQ hockey club to host invitational

The San Francisco Earthquakes LGBTQ+ Ice Hockey Club will host its first ever California Pride Invitational 2025 on Saturday, August 23, at the Oakland Ice Center. Through the support of the Sharks Foundation, which is affiliated with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, four teams with queer players from throughout California will compete in a friendly, round-robin invitational tournament, a news release stated.

With all the teams – Coachella Valley, Los Angeles, Trans & Fans, and the Earthquakes – playing each other, the six-game competition promises an action-packed night of hockey, the release stated. Admission for spectators is free.

The California Pride Invitational 2025 marks the culmination of a nearly yearlong effort to elevate the profile of queer hockey in the Bay Area. In January, the Earthquakes entered what players have called “a new era for queer hockey” when the club received a $30,000 community assistance grant from the Sharks Foundation. The team used the funds for its Hockey with Pride program, allowing the Earthquakes to reach members of the LGBTQ community that historically have not felt welcomed or supported by sports organizations.

“We want to be a gateway for LGBTQ+ persons looking to play hockey or participate as fans,” stated Dominic Granato, a gay man who’s a member of the Earthquakes. “As young players, many of us chose to leave or never start playing hockey because we believed – and had plenty of experiences validating our belief – that sports were unwelcoming, or even hostile toward us. That doesn’t have to be the case anymore.”

According to Granato, whose aunt, Cammi Granato, won a gold medal with the 1988 U.S. women’s hockey team and whose father both played and coached professional hockey, “the Earthquakes support from the San Jose Sharks and the Sharks Foundation has not only been long-standing, but also outstanding. But this grant is next level.” (Cammi Granato, a straight ally, is now the assistant general manager of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks and was inducted into the International Hockey Hall of Fame.)

According to the Earthquakes, the grant from the Sharks Foundation for the Earthquakes’ Hockey with Pride program achieved three important goals: it built the foundation for a second Earthquakes team; it provided safe, welcoming events for queer hockey players, their families and fans at a time when the LGBTQ community is under attack; and it allowed the Earthquakes to recruit and include a diverse group of players from all skill levels.
 
“The grant is transformative for our team, helping us expand our reach in meaningful ways,” stated SF Earthquakes board President Kieran Flaherty, a gay man who’s been a member of the team since 2001. The Earthquakes used grant proceeds to fund a Hockey with Pride session in April, where queer players from throughout Northern California, many of whom did not know that an LGBTQ team existed in the area, joined members of the Earthquakes hockey club at a practice and scrimmage, helping to build interest in starting a second Earthquakes team.

The weekend starts Friday, August 22, with Beers with Hockey Queers – A Castro Bar Crawl and Social Hour, tentatively set for 7:30 p.m. Look for hockey players at Hi Tops, 2247 Market Street, and Rikki’s at 2223 Market Street. Other bars are likely to be included.

The California Pride Invitational takes place August 23 at the Oakland Ice Center, 519 18th Street, between San Pablo and Telegraph avenues. Doors open at 3 p.m., the hockey games take place from 4 to 10.

A post-tournament social hour will take place at the Night Heron bar, 1780 Telegraph Avenue. The queer-owned and -operated cocktail bar is one block from the ice center.

For more information on the weekend of events, go to sfquakes.org.

Valkyries block party in SF
In other sports news, Fridays on Front Street in downtown San Francisco will transform into a giant free block party celebrating the Golden State Valkyries on August 22. The Valkyries have had an exciting inaugural season, already the winningest for a WNBA expansion team, as it fights to make the playoffs.

Friday’s street party starts at 4 p.m. along the 500 block of Front Street. There will be a game-night watch party as the Valkyries take on the Phoenix Mercury at 7 p.m., live sets from DJ Lady Ryan, a queer woman who is the team’s official DJ, and other local acts, happy hours, and more.

Fridays on Front Street is presented by the Downtown SF Partnership, with support from Noise Pop Industries, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office, and the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

For more information, visit downtownsf.org.

Queer couple plan to open Oakland bar
Speaking of Lady Ryan, she and her partner, Dennise, are raising funds to open Golden Ratio, a women-owned bar in Oakland.

“We are an Oakland-based power-house team with a shared commitment to cultivating spaces that inspire connection, celebration, and self-expression,” the women wrote on their GoFundMe page. “One of us brings over two decades of experience in bar leadership and community programming. The other is a celebrated DJ and curator known for music-driven experiences that unite generations and backgrounds. We bring a rare combination of experience, blending industry knowledge, cultural insight and deep community roots.”

As of August 18, the fundraising campaign has raised almost $17,000 of a $75,000 goal.

The new bar is at 1517 Franklin Street in downtown Oakland, the site of the former Amber Lounge. The women wrote that Amber Lounge’s owner asked them to take over the night spot.

“We've chosen to name the venue Golden Ratio,” the women wrote. “It's a name that reflects our philosophy and is a natural blueprint found in everything from seashells to symphonies. It's the sweet spot where music slaps, cocktails hit right and community feels real.”

On August 1, the women wrote that the lease has been signed, the liquor license transferred, and they got the keys. They are currently working on getting the necessary permits and anticipate opening in several weeks.

To donate, click here.

Trans woman bounced from CDC panel
Tiffany Woods, a transgender woman who is the state transgender health manager at the California Department of Public Health, was bounced from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel due to its elimination as ordered by one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders. The advisory group had last met in October, according to the most recent meeting minutes posted to its website.

“Finally received final communication from the CDC confirming the termination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment (CHAC) and my 4-year appointment termination,” Woods wrote in a Facebook post August 15.

“The reason given is EO #14217 ‘Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,’ which is now a catchall reason for terminating anything they don’t like or provides actual evidence based and community informed guidance. That is not a current Public Health priority,” Woods added.

Woods wrote that she was only the third trans person and second trans woman to be appointed to the CHAC. She thanked Xavier Becerra, who served as Health and Human Services secretary under former President Joe Biden, for her appointment. (Becerra, a Democrat, is now running for California governor.)

As for Woods, she stated that she will continue to advocate for trans public health.

“No worries though, I am not going anywhere and they can’t stop me from serving on the Board of Directors of NASTAD or serving the State of California as the first state transgender health manager,” Woods wrote, referring to the National Association of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.

Before accepting the state job, Woods oversaw trans health programs at TransVision in the East Bay and produced the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance event in Oakland for several years.