Home Start, Inc. aims to bring healing to some of San Diego’s most disadvantaged children and families through their annual fund-raiser, Harvest Fest. The event is a popular neighborhood celebration that unites local businesses and community members in the cause of preventing child abuse and domestic violence.

All proceeds from Harvest Fest 6 will benefit Home Start programs that promote healthy parent-child relationships, improve poor children’s access to health care and strengthen family support systems.

The event takes place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, at Bourbon Street, located at 4612 Park Blvd. in University Heights. Tickets are $30, which includes food, entertainment, an auction and beer sampling. All proceeds will benefit Home Start and help children in San Diego.

For more information, contact Anna Clevenger at (619) 692-0727 ext. 121, or e-mail aclevenger@home-start.org.

The Center’s Transgender Community Advisory Committee will host an ongoing series of workshops designed to offer information and support to members of the transgender community. Workshops begin on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7:00 p.m. and will take place on the third Thursday of each month through March. There is no cost to attend.

The workshops will consist of two separate meetings. One workshop, “Transition: The Beginning, Tools, Tips and Tricks,” is geared toward individuals that are transitioning from female-to-male (FTM). The other workshop, “Becoming My Own Woman,” is geared toward individuals transitioning from male-to-female (MTF).

For more information on this workshop series, contact AJ Davis at (619) 692-2077 ext. 212, or e-mail adavis@thecentersd.org.

AB 228, authored by Assemblymember Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, has been signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill was passed by the Legislature in August with bipartisan support and is the first in the nation to prohibit insurers from denying coverage for organ transplants based solely on a patient’s HIV status.

“The passage of AB 228 sends a message to the nation that patients with HIV should not be denied access to organ transplantation simply because of their HIV status,” Koretz said. “There are many reasons why a patient with HIV may not be suitable for a transplant, but the sole fact that they are HIV positive is no longer considered a legitimate reason at many transplant centers.”

Historically, HIV-positive patients have not been considered suitable candidates for organ transplantation due to their relatively shortened lifespan. Today, anti-retroviral medications have greatly extended the life expectancy of persons living with HIV infection, and studies have shown that organ transplants in qualified patients with HIV lead to outcomes similar to patients that do not have HIV.

Over the past few years, California health plans and health insurers have been paying for transplants in patients with HIV who are deemed suitable by transplantation specialists. Outside of California, however, some health insurers have continued to deny coverage because the procedures are deemed to be experimental in nature. Since these transplants have become possible, coverage denials in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey and California have been overturned through internal reviews or appeals to government authorities. Supporters of the AB 228 say that because there have been only 44 transplants in patients with HIV in California, not every insurer in the state has encountered this situation and may repeat the mistakes that continue to occur in other states.

“These denials are based on outdated views of HIV as an imminently terminal illness and a lack of awareness about the rapidly advancing science in organ transplantation and HIV. Unfortunately, patients in need of a transplant simply don’t have the time and energy to appeal an unnecessary denial,” said Ruel Nolledo, co-chair of the Southern California HIV Advocacy Coalition, a group of AIDS service providers and HIV-positive individuals who sponsored AB 228.

San Diego’s mayoral candidates, Donna Frye and Jerry Sanders, will speak at The Center’s next Community Coalition Breakfast, which takes place Friday, Oct. 21, from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. in The Center’s auditorium.

Frye and Sanders emerged as the top two candidates in a special mayoral election this past summer. Now they are facing each other in the Nov. 8 run-off election.

A full breakfast will be available for a $10 donation; coffee and tea are complimentary. For more information, contact AJ Davis at (619) 692-2077 ext. 212, or e-mail adavis@thecentersd.org.

For the past two years, the Community Coalition Breakfast has been a monthly staple for members of San Diego’s GLBT leadership, politicians and candidates, and for organizations collaborating with The Center.

The Community Coalition Breakfast takes place on the third Friday of every month. ASL interpretation will be provided upon request. Requests must be sent to AJ Davis at least seven working days before the event.

Transgender community leaders and allies will facilitate a public forum on the often-overlooked roles of transgender individuals in debates about marriage equality. The forum, entitled “Where’s the ‘T’ in Marriage Equality?” will be hosted by the Lambda Letters Project at the Malcolm X Library from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27.

Facilitators include Julia Legaspi, a San Diego city commissioner; Tracie Jada O’Brien, project coordinator for Project STAR (Supporting Transgender Access to Resources); and Kelley Winters, Ph.D., founder of GID Reform Advocates and a member of the board of advisors for the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

A focal point of discussion will be the interrelationship between the movements for transgender rights and marriage equality, as well as the necessity of broadening the debate to strengthen alliances within both the GLBT communities and the community at large.

H. Alexander Robinson, executive director/CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition will join facilitators to discuss NBJC’s efforts on behalf of marriage equality.

A longtime advocate of transgender equality, the Lambda Letters Project is a statewide organization that offers Californians direct access to the legislative process in order to affect public policy in four areas of concern: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex issues; HIV/AIDS issues; people of color issues and women’s issues. For more information, visit the Lambda Letters Project Web site at www.lambdaletters.org.

The Malcolm X Library is located at 5148 Market St. downtown. All Malcolm X Library events are free and open to the public. Call Pat Washington at (619) 582-5383 for more information.

Zydeco Sunday, a fund-raising concert and Cajun-style dinner to help victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, takes place at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23.

The Cajun group Theo & The Zydeco Patrol will perform. Theo Bellow, who leads the group of six musicians, grew up in Lafayette, La.

In addition to music and dancing will be a variety of Cajun food, including gumbo, red beans and rice, boiled potatoes, corn on the cob, bread pudding, pecan pie and lemonade.

Proceeds from the concert will support a partner church near New Orleans as well as a family now living in Escondido that the Palomar UU Fellowship in Vista adopted. During the event, candles will be lit to remember family members and friends affected by the hurricane. The event is open to San Diegans of all ages, and child care will be provided.

A minimum donation of $25 is required; young people 12 and under are encouraged to bring any donation they want in the form of pennies, nickels, quarters, half dollars and dollar bills. For more information about Zydeco Sunday, contact Martin Kruming at (619) 233-5114 or e-mail mkruming@aol.com.

The next San Diego PFLAG meeting will take place on Monday, Oct. 24, at 7:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church located at 4190 Front St. in Hillcrest. The meeting will consist of support groups followed by a cookie social and a presentation by Jonathan Goetz. His talk is entitled “Growing up in a Christian family.”

The Carlsbad PFLAG meeting will be held on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2:00 p.m. at the Pilgrim United Church of Christ located at Pilgrim Hall, 2020 Chestnut St. in Carlsbad.

Approximately 120 gay, bisexual and straight men will gather near Julian the first weekend in November for a series of creative workshops and outdoor activities at the California Men’s Gathering, held at Camp Stevens near Julian.

Over two dozen workshops will be offered. Topics include: storytelling, art therapy, building cooperation and trust through ropes courses, massage, cooking to relieve stress and empowerment through improvisation.

CMG attendees will enjoy communal gatherings, great food, fireplaces, yoga, drum and heart circles and mountain hikes in the Julian hillside. Self-awareness, acceptance and community are ongoing themes during the weekend. Nationally renowned speaker Ric Giardina of Spirit Employed will lead communal gatherings.

“While our theme is serious, the focus of our gathering is fun,” said Robert Gunnlaugsson, chair of the San Diego volunteer planning committee producing the event. “We expect 120 guys to venture to the beautiful Julian woods for a wonderful long weekend. It’s an experience not to be missed, and men return year after year to recharge their energy with other men.”

Registration fees, which include food, lodging and all workshops, start around $195. Limited scholarships are available. First-time participants are welcome and mentors are supplied to help them settle in. All 120 men are invited to participate in a talent show, a disco night, a square dance and an auction.

To learn more, visit www.TheCMG.org or call (619) 491-3949.