Three prominent Southern California LGBTQ+ health advocacy organizations have banded together to call for an end to the relentless push for late last calls. In an August 26th, 2022, letter to California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, the organizations–The Wall Las Memorias, Access to Prevention Advocacy Intervention & Treatment, and the Minority AIDS Project–decried the bill as “an affront to LGBTQ communities of color which suffer from harm due to overuse of alcohol and other substance uses.”
SB 930, proposed by State Senator Scott Wiener and State Assemblymember Matt Haney (both D-San Francisco), would extend bar last call times out to 4 a.m., starting with three specific cities: San Francisco, West Hollywood, and Palm Springs. All three of these cities are notable both for prominent LGBTQ+ communities, and for being “party towns” which draw commuters from all around the areas.
The authors themselves tout the money it will bring to LGBTQ+ bars in these cities, although extended last call times also come with a raft of overconsumption-related theats, including dangerous driving, violence and injury, and ER admissions. Even without last call extensions, LGBTQ+ individuals experience higher rates of alcohol-use disorder, and experienced worse alcohol use and mental health outcomes during COVID-19. “This bill,” the organizations write, “would create even more damage to our already marginalized communities.”
