Nuala Bishari

Nov 7, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

On Thursday, San Francisco’s Department of Elections released another round of ballot results confirming what we already suspected: mayoral candidate Mark Farrell’s dismal fourth-place finish and the likely failure of Proposition D, which sought cap the number of city oversight commissions at 65 and increase the mayor’s authority.

Aug 3, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

Last month, California released its annual report on terminally ill Californians who took aid-in-dying drugs to end their lives. All told, 884 people died in California by using end-of-life medication prescribed by their doctors. I knew one of them. My partner’s mother, Linda, chose to end her own life in this manner last year after learning her colon cancer was terminal. In the weeks before her death, she got her affairs in order and said goodbye to her friends.

Jul 22, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

Three years ago, San Francisco launched an experiment to give 150 pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women $1,000 a month, no strings attached, for the duration of their pregnancy and six months after the birth. Half of all maternal deaths in San Francisco each year are Black women, even though they make up only 4% of births. The highest rate of infant deaths — more than 15% — are Black babies, while 10% are Pacific Islander American.

Jun 28, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

Since 1980, Lyon-Martin Community Health has been San Francisco’s most important health service provider to transgender, gender-nonconforming and intersex patients, and it is a refuge for people seeking gender-affirming care. It hasn’t been a smooth ride. For the past decade, every time I’ve heard about Lyon-Martin, it was accompanied by news that the organization was in financial trouble. The clinic nearly closed in 2011 when it buckled under $500,000 of debt.

Jun 22, 2024 | sfchronicle.com | Nuala Bishari

When people think of the history of HIV and AIDS on the West Coast, San Francisco is usually the first city to come to mind. Before the first case of HIV was discovered in the early 1980s, San Francisco had put itself on the map as the epicenter of California’s fight for gay liberation. The city held its first gay pride parade in 1970, and local activists successfully fought statewide anti-LGBTQ legislation.