News Briefs: Transit agencies embrace holiday cheer

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and BART are embracing the holiday season with gift ideas and events.

First up, the Merry Days of Muni includes holiday merch with SFMTA’s “Patchwork of the City” collection. A news release stated that a new Muni pullover is joined by a collection of holiday-themed items, such as a matching pajama set, wrapping paper, and a jigsaw puzzle of the Muni system. All of the items are located at themunistore.com, where there’s a Muni Metro wooden toy train and other items.

Additionally, several Muni vehicles are wrapped for the holidays. Look for special 49-Van Ness-Mission buses sporting the patchwork design. The release noted that more Muni lines will receive the patchwork treatment.

The Cable Car elves are also back for the 25th year of volunteering to deck the iconic vehicles with ornaments, lights, wreathes, and more, the release noted.

Over at BART, the Bay Area transit agency will hold its popular SweaterFest Saturday, December 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Rockridge Station Plaza in Oakland. This free, family-friendly event is a chance for people to show off their BART holiday sweaters, or purchase this year’s edition ($49.99 for the adult size, $34.99 for youth size), a release stated.

The festival will feature a Railgoods pop-up store, rides on the BARTmobile through a mini winter wonderland, live music, a giant snow globe photo op, transit-themed crafts, and more, the release stated.

At the end of the event, there will be a group photo for people wearing this year’s sweaters or vintage ones from previous years.

For more information, click here.

Howard Zinn Book Fair
Those interested in social justice can attend the Howard Zinn Book Fair Sunday, December 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at City College of San Francisco’s Mission Center, 1125 Valencia Street. Organizers noted that the book fair is named for Zinn (1922-2010), a historian best known for writing “A People’s History of the United States,” which was published in 1980 and became a bestseller. The book tells the history of the U.S. from the perspective of Indigenous people, enslaved people, women, poor immigrants, and others whose voices often aren’t heard in conventional histories.

The book fair will celebrate “the people’s history,” organizers stated, the practice of telling “history from below” of workers, LGBTQIA people, dissidents, and radicals. There will be over 50 panel discussions by authors on social justice issues and a vendor room with more than 65 small presses, artists, and community groups. Some of this year’s panelists are Keith Knight, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Tongo Eisen-Martin.

A donation of $10 or more is requested if attendees can do so, as the fair is volunteer-run, organizers stated. Masks are required and will be available.

For more information, go to zinnbookfair.org.

SF Street Fair Coalition party
The San Francisco Street Fair Coalition is teaming up with the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District to throw its inaugural “Festive As F*ck” party Saturday, December 13, starting at 5 p.m. at SOMArts, 934 Brannan Street. The coalition includes San Francisco Pride, Folsom Street Fair, Castro Street Fair, and TurnOut, an organization that recruits volunteers to support queer and trans grassroots events.

The street fair coalition started in 2024, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. https://www.ebar.com/story/76558
The upcoming party takes place as part of the leather district’s holiday market event. People can shop and enjoy a dance party. The event spotlights the performers, vendors, activists, artists, and drag and leather enthusiasts who keep the city’s queer street fairs thriving, an announcement noted.

The event is a benefit for the street fair coalition, and general admission tickets start at $35. Those who have volunteered with TurnOut or one of the street fairs can get free tickets, the announcement stated. Those who have supported an LGBTQ organization this year get 50% off general admission.

For tickets and more information, click here.

Horizons announces grant funding
Horizons Foundation announced December 1, which was World AIDS Day, a historic $1.46 million in grant awards to 66 LGBTQ nonprofits and programs across the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. A news release noted it’s the largest annual total in the LGBTQ philanthropic foundation’s 45-year history.

Through its flagship Community Issues funding program, Horizons is almost doubling last year’s amount, the release noted, with half of this year’s grants made as multi-year awards.

As is its policy, Horizons declined to release individual grant amounts, a spokesperson stated in an email.

The release did note that all 10 LGBTQ community centers in the Bay Area received grants, alongside dozens of grassroots organizations providing essential services, advocacy, arts and culture, health programs, youth support, trans and Black Indigenous and people of color-led initiatives, and more.

“This year’s Community Issues funding reflects a systemwide response to a systemwide crisis,” stated Roger Doughty, a gay man who is president of Horizons. “Our community’s nonprofits are facing mounting hostility and ongoing funding disruptions at the very moment their services are most urgently needed.”

Doughty was referring to efforts undertaken by President Donald Trump and his administration that have targeted transgender people, immigrants, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

Kenan Arun, a queer man who is the new executive director of the LGBT Asylum Project, indicated in the release that the organization received a grant.

“With rising anti-immigrant policies and increased asylum denials nationwide, our work is critical to safeguarding the lives of LGBTQ+ people who are fleeing violence and persecution and seeking safety in the United States,” he stated. “This funding allows us to continue providing 100% free legal representation to LGBTQ+ asylum seekers in the Bay Area, ensuring that some of the most vulnerable members of our community receive the protection and due process they deserve.”

For more information about Horizons, go to horizonsfoundation.org.

Nominations open for Sin City Classic award
Nominations are now open for the fifth annual Ken Scearce Leadership Award that is presented at Sin City Classic, the world’s largest LGBTQ sporting festival that takes place in Las Vegas next month. Scearce, a gay man who died in 2021, was the festival’s former executive director.

The award recognizes athletes, coaches, referees, officials, and other volunteers who dedicate their time and skills to promoting the value and importance of LGBTQ+ sports, a news release stated.

“Ken absolutely loved having the opportunity to bring together LGBTQ+ athletes, not only for a weekend of competition, but to also surround himself with friends from across the country who shared his passion for queer athletics,” stated Jason Peplinski, Sin City Classic’s co-executive director.

Sin City Classic will be held over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, January 15-19. As the B.A.R. previously reported, registration is now open at sincityclassic.org.

To submit a nomination for the Ken Scearce Leadership Award, click here . The deadline to make a nomination is Sunday, December 21.