August 6, 2023 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Underhill

While there was no formal street party, revelers still gathered on Castro Street for Halloween in 2019.

Castro aims to reboot Halloween with costume contest, films

by John Ferrannini

After years of not having organized festivities, plans for Halloween in the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood are moving forward – but it won’t be the block party that was quashed by San Francisco leaders 16 years ago after violence marred previous events.

Instead, local merchants will be asked to activate their storefronts the weekend before –Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year – while the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host on October 28 a costume contest at the Castro Theatre, which itself will be showing that Saturday a marathon of five films culminating in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Manny Yekutiel, a gay man who owns an eponymously named cafe in the Mission and is a member of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board, and Sister Roma of the philanthropic drag nun group introduced the ideas for reviving the local Halloween observance at the August 3 meeting of the Castro Merchants Association. They stressed that there’s a lot to be fleshed out – it’s “all very up in the air,” Yekutiel said – but that there will be no planned street closure.

Yekutiel, a former member of the San Francisco Small Business Commission, said that he could provide funding to merchants who want to activate their businesses and storefronts for the day through the Civic Joy Fund, a $2.5 million project he co-launched to energize the city’s commercial corridors.

Yekutiel told the Bay Area Reporter August 7 that two-thirds of the funding comes from individual philanthropists, such as tech billionaire Chris Larsen. One-third comes from what he termed “institutional partners,” whose identities are going to be announced next week. Larsen did not immediately return a request for comment Monday from the B.A.R.

‘High queer holiday’

Halloween festivities in the Castro, which harken back to celebrations among queer people in the Tenderloin, North Beach, and Polk Gulch in the mid-20th century, became one of the premiere events of the year for the neighborhood by the 1970s, when it was known as an LGBTQ event.

by Matthew S. Bajko

When it comes to providing reparations to California’s Black residents due to the systemic discrimination and racism they and their ancestors have experienced for decades, LGBTQ leaders in the state are largely in support of doing so. But when it comes to offering cash payouts, there is less clarity among out electeds on how to do so.

The state’s Reparations Task Force in late June released its final report and recommendations for what next steps Golden State legislators can take to redress the historical atrocities perpetrated against African Americans in California. Among its suggestions was having the Legislature issue a formal apology and look at enacting 115 reforms to state laws and policies.

But the headline grabbing section of the report was the suggestion that Black Californians should be financially compensated. It recommended that the “community of eligibility” for reparations be “based on lineage, determined by an individual being a Black descendant of a chattel enslaved person or a descendant of a free Black person living in the United States prior to the end of the 19th Century.”

While news reports in the spring had suggested those eligible could receive a payout of $1.2 million,

the task force laid out various calculations in its final report for how to determine how much those eligible could be owed by the state.

“While below, the Task Force delineates methods for awarding cumulative compensation to the whole

of the class of eligibility, many African Americans in California have suffered particular injuries that can and must be addressed through restitution or particular compensation,” noted the advisory panel,

Pickle relishes role as inaugural West Hollywood drag laureate

by Matthew S. Bajko

She sings, has comedic chops, and is known for being a “powerhouse host” in the Los Angeles entertainment scene. Now Pickle can add another feather to her cap as West Hollywood’s inaugural drag laureate.

After being recommended for the advocacy role by the city’s arts commission in the spring, Pickle won unanimous approval in June from the West Hollywood City Council to serve as the LGBTQ enclave’s ambassador for all things drag. She was formally installed Sunday, July 16, on International Drag Day.

“When the opportunity came up, it sounded like a natural fit for me,” Pickle told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent interview at the West Hollywood location of local coffee chain Go Get Em Tiger. “I want to help drag artists spread their wings.”

She has also used her drag to promote educational initiatives with children by hosting local drag story hours in West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Since 2017, Pickle has led her local chapter of the national Drag Story Hour organization and is creating a drag-based curriculum tied to the state’s arts education standards so it can be used in schools.

“I find kids to be curious and open-minded, and the parents are so awesome,” said Pickle when asked why she got involved in the drag story hours.

“I meet a lot of queer parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds who are looking for fun things to do with their children.”

Speaking to the B.A.R. just over a week into being the drag laureate, Pickle had yet to determine much about her tenure other than knowing she wanted to host community meetings for drag artists who perform in West Hollywood to hear directly from them about the issues they are facing.

“I hope we can get on the same page and find some unity there. We are all very friendly mostly,”

said Pickle, 30, who attended Los Angeles’ Hamilton High School Academy of Music before graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York with a B.A. in liberal arts. “It would be great to have a space where people could express their concerns and talk about the art form and how it is working in the city and maybe not working.”

See page 11 >>

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Drag queen Pickle is the second drag laureate in California, having been chosen to represent West Hollywood.

Courtesy Pickle

Courtesy MONEY 4 04

the subjects

LGBTQ leaders back providing reparations

SF LGBTQ band appoints composer in residence

by Cynthia Laird

To hear Mattea Williams explain it, composing music for a band is different than writing a composition for an orchestra.

“With a band there are no strings,” Williams said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “The instruments you’re left with  – brass, percussion – are very loud.”

Williams will have an opportunity to experiment with that as she was recently named the first composer in residence for the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. The appointment for 2023-24 will see Williams compose two original pieces for the Official Band of San Francisco, as the band was formally recognized by the city in 2018. (https:// www.ebar.com/story.php?269783) It’s something the college music major and now music teacher is looking forward to.

“It’s interesting to think of and use a combination of instruments, like the French horn and oboe,” she said of her upcoming projects.

The SFLGFB created the composer in residence program for its Wind Band as a way to increase the diversity of voices composing music for it, a news release stated. The term wind band refers to the band performing in a concert setting, rather than marching in a parade or playing at street fairs, Doug Litwin, a gay man who’s director of marketing for the SFLGFB, wrote in an email.

“Another way to think of a Wind Band is as an orchestra without string instruments. In other words, it is our woodwind, brass, and percussion musicians,” he wrote.

The appointment of Williams, which was announced by the band on its website last month, (https://www.sflgfb.org/) is the second phase of the band’s Black,

Indigenous, people of color, or BIPOC, Commission Program. The first part occurred in May when composer Roger Zare’s commissioned work, “Awakening,” had its world premiere during the band’s “Spotlight on the 1970s” gala concert in Oakland, according to the release.

Williams, 26, is a Black woman who said that she identifies as bisexual. She said that she’s appreciative of the band’s efforts to diversify composers.

“I feel it’s a great program,” she said of the composer in residence. “I love ‘The Nutcracker’ and Tchaikovsky but I feel there is space for up and coming composers as well.”

Williams was born in Berkeley and currently lives in Napa. When she spoke with the B.A.R. she was getting ready for a performance of students in her band

camp through the Napa School of Music. She received her bachelor’s degree in music from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio and her master’s degree in music from the University of Texas, Austin Butler School of Music.

As composer in residence, Williams will write the two commissioned works, workshopping them with the band and its artistic director, Pete Nowlen. There will be three performances, with the first being this September where the band will perform one of her recently completed band works, “The MirageCaster.” Her commissioned pieces will be performed next March and September, the release stated.

Williams described “The MirageCaster” as a piece about a fictional character who “is a sorcerer who has the

magical ability to cast and manipulate mirages.”

“The conductor personifies the MirageCaster, using the baton as a sort of ‘magic wand’ while the music that is played by the band is the mirage,” she noted in the release. “In the middle of the piece, there is aleatoric notation that splits the ensemble into groups and each group has its own ostinato, or group of repeating melodic and rhythmic patterns that can be cued in whatever way the ‘MirageCaster’ or conductor decides in the moment.”

She explained that the rhythmic patterns are written “to purposefully obscure the beat such that when the musical groups are playing together or in combination with other groups, it creates the effect of an auditory mirage.”

Williams spoke about where she draws inspiration.

“I’m inspired by nature,” she said. “And finding a way to make instruments sound like nature and find a concept to tell a cohesive story.”

Nowlen stated that he is looking forward to working with Williams.

“I’m so excited that the band will have the experience of working with a composer for more than a year through performances of three pieces and the creation of two,” he stated. “For a young composer, the opportunity to hone one’s craft in workshops with live performers is invaluable. For the band, participating in this creative process results in a different perspective for learning and performing these new pieces.”

Julie Williamson, a longtime board member for the band, stated it was fortunate that “two outstanding composers” were identified through the BIPOC Commission Program in Zare, who is Chinese American, and Williams.

Williamson, a lesbian who’s a flute

player in the band, told the B.A.R. that she was on the selection committee that picked Williams.

“We’re really excited about working with her. She brings great new energy,” Williamson said in a brief phone interview. “The band’s excited to work with her. This is the first time a composer has been brought in to work with the band.”

Williamson said that Williams is expected to meet with the band next week. And she hopes that the band can fundraise to continue the program after Williams’ residency is completed.

“This is a new adventure,” Williamson said, adding that the band has looked at how it can diversify its own community for the last three years.

This is the first such residency program Williams has had.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “It’s a great organization to be working with.”

She was equally thrilled shortly after learning the news, writing on TikTok, “Can’t wait to share all of the music and world premieres with you!”

Williams will receive a stipend of $7,500, Litwin said. The composer in residence program is largely funded through generous individual donations made at the band’s annual “Dance-ALong Nutcracker,” with nearly 700 people contributing, the release stated.

According to Litwin, the band’s budget is $166,870. The musicians are all volunteers and pay dues of $75 per quarter, he added. There are three paid positions – artistic director, concert band; artistic director, pep and marching band; and production manager. t

People who want to donate to the band, which is a nonprofit, are welcome to do so by visiting sflgfb. org/donate.

DA Jenkins drops misdemeanor ‘hill bomb’ riot charges

by John Ferrannini

S an Francisco District Attorney

Brooke Jenkins announced she’s dropping misdemeanor riot charges against those arrested after chaos and violence related to the Dolores Street Hill Bomb skateboard event last month near Mission Dolores Park.

The DA said there was a lack of evidence regarding the riot charges stemming from the hill bomb, which refers to a skateboard maneuver where riders fly down a big hill via a city street. The annual ride on a street adjacent to the city park between the Mission and Castro districts isn’t permitted and has long brought complaints and calls for police intervention from nearby residents.

“The SFPD had probable cause to act to disperse the group, which had been declared to be an unlawful assembly,” Jenkins stated to the Bay Area Reporter on August 7, referring to the San Francisco Police Department. “But, the evidence does not clearly show which specific individuals were inciting a riot, heard the dispersal orders, and refused to comply with dispersal orders.”

However, those allegedly engaged in vandalism or other crimes during the event may be prosecuted at a later date, the DA’s office noted.

Not everyone is happy – the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and its president, Jeffrey Kwong, stated that “the decision to ‘discharge’ the citations means no charges are being filed right now, but we will not stand idly by as an investigation proceeds based on the identifying information the police unlawfully obtained during the mass arrests.”

“The SFPD’s wrongful arrest of innocent children and adults, detaining them to extract mugshots and fingerprints, is an egregious violation of their constitutional rights and cannot be tolerated,” the club added.

Kwong explained, “Our demand for transparency and a comprehensive investigation is a direct challenge to the DA and SFPD’s attempt to sweep this injustice under the rug.”

The club also noted that Jenkins’ statement “ignores the actions made by the SFPD trampling on the rights of young individuals who were indiscriminately arrested during the Dolores Park hill bomb.”

SFPD Chief William Scott previously told the Police Commission everyone who was arrested were given their Miranda warnings, as required by law.

Gunshots, smoke bombs, a stabbing, vandalism, the takeover of Muni light rail vehicles, and fireworks led to the mass arrest around 8:30 p.m. July 8 after dispersal orders from SFPD, authorities said. In all, 81 juveniles and 34 adults were arrested, according to police.

The arrests led to outrage at the department, and its chief, William Scott, who, as the B.A.R. previously reported, gave a dramatic presentation to the city’s police commission laying out the case for the arrests.

“Nobody was arrested for skateboarding,” Scott said at that time.

“Our No. 1 responsibility is to protect the safety of the people of San Francisco. On July 8, we deployed officers to do just that.”

Not everyone was quick to condemn the police – gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman told the B.A.R. he thought the arrests were an appropriate response to a dangerous situation.

“The Dolores Hill Bomb has been a problematic event for many years,” Mandelman stated to the B.A.R. at the time. “Property damage and injury to participants seems to have

been reduced this year, but plainly there’s more work for the city to do to prepare for next year. I’m grateful for the work of [the Municipal Transportation Agency] and the PD to contain the mayhem this year and wishing the injured officer a speedy recovery.”

Police investigation ongoing

Nonetheless, the department of police accountability is conducting an investigation into the SFPD’s actions.

Jenkins’ office had previously stated that juvenile proceedings couldn’t be commented on because of confidentiality. One case involving an adult arrested on a felony gun charge has been discharged for further investigation, according to her office, because the results of a DNA analysis are still pending.

Jenkins’ office stated that charges of inciting a riot could only be proved if an individual could be shown beyond a reasonable doubt to have acted to encourage a riot, and intended to cause one. However, at this time, the DA’s office can’t make that determination of any single individual.

Further, charges of failing to disperse could only be proved if an individual could be shown beyond a reasonable doubt to have assembled intending to disturb the peace or commit a crime, to have heard a dispersal order, and willfully failed to do so.

The DA’s office claims it also can’t establish this of any particular individual.

“Misdemeanor citations presented to our office for failure to disperse and inciting a riot will be discharged at this time. If additional information is developed, charges may be filed for up to one year, consistent with the statute of limitations for misdemeanor offenses,” Jenkins stated.

“Discharging these misdemeanor citations does not involve or impact any current or potential investigations into vandalism, property crime or any other more serious crimes connected to the Hill Bomb event, as those alleged crimes remain a top focus for us to pursue. Should anything come to light connected to any of these specific individuals, our office has the ability to file charges in the future.”

The police investigation into vandalism that evening is ongoing.

“The San Francisco Police Department’s investigations into vandalism, property crime, and other crimes allegedly committed during the Hill Bomb event are ongoing,” Jenkins stated. “SFPD is reviewing voluminous evidence and investigating several suspects. If cases are presented to my office for prosecution, we will conduct careful individualized assessments to ensure there is accountability in each case that is provable beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Kwong stated that the Milk club condemns Jenkins’ statement.

“We adamantly refuse to accept any prosecution of the young people involved, as any such attempt would be based on unlawfully obtained evidence. The DA and SFPD must unequivocally acknowledge that the mass arrest was illegal and violate the youths’ constitutional rights,” Kwong stated.

The club stated via Facebook that it won’t “stand idly by as an investigation proceeds based on the identifying information the police unlawfully obtained during the mass arrests.”

“The Dolores Park incident serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to hold the DA and SFPD accountable for their actions, especially when they violate the rights of our youth,” the club added. t

Police in riot gear attempted to disperse people from the annual Dolores Hill Bomb event on July 8.

Courtesy Underscore SF

Mattea Williams is the composer in residence for the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band.

Courtesy SFLGFB

From Castro start, yoga practice spreads across SF

by Matthew S. Bajko

Twenty-five years ago David Nelson got his start as a yoga proprietor when he opened his first studio in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro district in 1998 with coowner Darren Main. It was simply called Castro Yoga.

They then acquired a building on Divisadero Street in NOPA, short for North of the Panhandle, in 2004

and relocated their business. They also renamed it Yoga Garden due to the tranquil outdoor environs at the new space.

“For a quarter-century, our yoga studio has been a beacon of mindfulness and self-exploration in the vibrant heart of San Francisco,”

Nelson recently reflected on marking the milestone anniversary for the business. Of its early days, he cherishes “the memories of intimate

classes in the 1990s, where yoga was not yet a trend, and people embraced the practice with curiosity and wonder.”

Main eventually departed as a coowner, though he still teaches classes, leaving Nelson in charge as CEO. When the COVID pandemic hit in early 2020, Nelson quickly moved to an online-only format for the yoga classes since they couldn’t be offered in person. While it helped keep his company afloat, Nelson knew remaining a virtual business wasn’t economically feasible because the video yoga classes weren’t bringing in the same revenue as in-person offerings had.

With the global health crisis ebbing last year due to the rollout of vaccines for the coronavirus, Nelson took a chance in acquiring another yoga studio, Moxie, that March. It brought six additional yoga studio locations in the city under his management just as he and his instructors were returning to in-person sessions.

“I took a bet that was the direction the community was moving in and that people were not going to stay in their apartments forever, so it was a gamble” said Nelson, 67, who lives in Tiburon. “It has been a slow build. It is definitely not back to where it was. We are at 50% overall, though some classes are packed.”

Earlier this year Nelson rebranded his seven yoga studios around San Francisco under the name of Folk Yoga. In addition to the NOPA location, the others are in Noe Valley, Nob Hill, the Mission, Bernal, the Richmond, and the Sunset.

He also had a designer create a new logo that includes a stylized version of a person. It is reminiscent of the people found in the artwork and graffiti of the famed late gay artist Keith Haring.

“As we looked at what made us and what we are, it boiled down to people and relationships with people,” explained Nelson of the new name and imagery. “What makes us what we are is the people.”

A special yoga class for queer and transgender practitioners takes place Thursday evenings at the Noe Valley studio on 24th Street. It is taught by one of the several out teachers whom Nelson employs.

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“We wanted to create a safe space for people who wanted sensitivity and to know it is a safe space for them, especially nonbinary or transgender people,” explained Nelson, himself a gay man.

While he came out in his late teens, Nelson ended up falling in love and marrying a woman with whom he had two daughters. His oldest studies art in college and the younger one is still in high school. The couple eventually divorced, leaving Nelson single again at the age of 59.

Before switching his career focus to yoga, Nelson formerly worked as the budget director at the University of San Francisco. A fitness buff and award-winning rower with the South End Rowing Club of San Francisco, Nelson took up yoga in the 1990s for his own health reasons.

“I started for my back and it has been doing wonders for me,” he said. Some other classes offered at Folk Yoga’s various locations include Foundations Yoga, which focuses on yoga asana (posture) and pranayama (breath regulation), and Prenatal Yoga geared for those at any point in their pregnancy. In addition to yoga, Nelson now also provides classes that incorporate weight training equipment and calisthenics aimed at building up participants’ body strength and mobility.

“This business has reflected the changes in my own life,” said Nelson. “We did prenatal yoga when we had our kids, and as I got older it became really important to take care of my body. We added fitness classes and strength-based classes for people of any age but at different difficulty levels.”

Need for instructors

One of the biggest challenges Nelson faces at the moment is hiring enough yoga teachers to meet the growing demand for classes. At the start of the summer he had 80 teachers offering a combined 200 classes a week at the various Folk locations, which could accommodate much more with an increased staff.

“The number of people we are hiring has just been crazy,” said Nelson, who particularly would like to employ more people of color and LGBTQ individuals as instructors. “We need around 150 people at minimum.”

To help fill the positions Folk Yoga runs a school to train instructors out of its NOPA location, with its fall course kicking off September 10. The trainings run a total of 200 hours and graduates gain listing on an industry registry for certified yoga teachers. (The state of California doesn’t have a license for yoga teachers as it does for other professions.)

Nelson has had to adapt his operations due to the hiring shortage. At the Noe Valley location, for example, no one works full-time there, since all payments and class signups are now handled online. Different yoga instructors will cycle in and out throughout the day, opening up the space for their classes. Walk-ins are currently not allowed.

“We do require pre-signups. It keeps it so much simpler,” said Nelson. “Everything is done online and you pay ahead of time.”

At the moment he has no plans to further expand since he can’t meet the current demand for classes at his present locations. Nelson had looked at returning to the Castro, but another yoga practitioner ended up renting the space he had also eyed.

One advantage for his business, ironically, is a faltering local economy, noted Nelson, who pointed out taking a yoga class is less expensive than going out to dinner with friends. Thus, he isn’t concerned about the recent wave of layoffs at local tech companies hurting his bottom line.

“It is the same thing with movies, when the economy tanks doing yoga is a relatively cheap activity,” said Nelson.

Folk Yoga offers a special deal of $15 for a person’s first class, and if they want to come back, they can apply it toward the cost of its All Access Membership that costs $79 for the first month and $199 thereafter.

Single classes normally run $30, though a 10-class pass that must be used within 90 days can be purchased for $260.

Classes are offered seven days a week, though the locations, times and focus for them vary.

To learn more about Folk Yoga, its class schedule and teacher training program, visit its website at folksf. com. t

Got a tip on LGBTQ business news? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail m.bajko@ ebar.com.

Folk Yoga’s David Nelson stands in one of his studios.

Rick Gerharter

by John Ferrannini

The rainbow Pride flag that new landlords had wanted removed at the start of this month from an apartment building in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro neighborhood is still flying.

Henry Walker, a tenant of the property who has been maintaining the flag since moving there four years ago, told the Bay Area Reporter August 8 that it’s still up, and that he hasn’t heard back from the new owners after the office of gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman had reached out to say they’d be in touch.

As the B.A.R. previously reported AA Property Rentals, which had purchased the building at 3991 18th Street effective August 1, wrote the tenants an email demanding the standard come down.

“I would like to inform you that displaying flags on our rental properties is not allowed due to safety & liability concerns. Whomever put it up please have it removed by the 1st of August or we will remove it and dispose of it,”

the email – the first communication from the new landlords to the tenants – stated. “Thank you for renting with us.”

Walker took exception to the demand.

“Initially it was a little startling because it was a ‘safety and liability’ concern,” Walker said. “That’s vague and ambiguous — because I was not sure what safety concern there would be. ... The tone was very harsh, particularly for the first communication we got from the new company.”

Walker said that all of the building’s tenants are LGBTQ community members and support the flag. He said he has actively maintained the flag and flagpole.

He also reached out to Mandelman’s office, which told the B.A.R. that the supervisor shares the tenants’ concerns and is committed to ensuring the flag continues to fly outside the building.

Adam Thongsavat, a legislative aide to Mandelman, told the B.A.R. July 31 that he had a fruitful discussion with AA Property Rentals on July 28.

The company assured him that the issue wasn’t the content of the flag that was a concern but, rather, fears about the stability of the flagpole that led to the email, Thongsavat said.

The company pledged to Thongsavat that it would send a crew to assess the flagpole’s safety, reinforce it if necessary, and keep the supervisor’s office apprised of the situation.

The company also told Thongsavat it would reach out to the tenants; as of August 7, this hasn’t happened, Walker said, and the company did not return a request for comment from the B.A.R. August 8.

Thongsavat told the B.A.R. on August 8 that there’s been no communication since July 28, though he has tried to get in touch. He said he’d try again August 8.

“He [the owner] was super receptive,” Thongsavat said. “I want to make sure he upholds his commitment.”

Section 1940.4 of the California Civil Code protects political speech by tenants in some circumstances.

California law specifically protects tenants’ rights to place signage inside

their unit related to an election, legislative vote, initiative, referendum, recall, and “issues that are before a public commission, public board, or elected local body for a vote.” The law “permits a tenant to post or display political signs in the window or on the door of the premises leased by the tenant in a multifamily dwelling,” though it doesn’t protect signage that is over six square feet.

That said, the flag is affixed to the building’s exterior, not on a door or in a window.

Landlords who don’t put an outright prohibition on signs, flags and decorations in their lease agreements are on murky legal ground, according to civil rights attorney Edward Forman, who answered a similar question from a viewer in Ohio on WBNS 10TV. t

Volume 53, Number 32 August 10-16, 2023 www.ebar.com

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SF Supervisor Dorsey steps in it

Ifa San Francisco supervisor has a complaint and wants changes made to the city budget, the time to do that is before the spending plan is adopted, not weeks later. Yet, here is gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey issuing a news release and lengthy letter to Mayor London Breed, dated August 4, basically stating that he wants to see drug users jailed and that they can get services behind bars for their addictions. Dorsey wants Breed, who signed the 2023-24 budget July 26, to reallocate the entire $18.9 million budgeted over the next two years for the city’s planned Wellness Hubs for Jail Health Services.

Dorsey, a recovering addict himself, claims to still be a “staunch supporter” of supervised consumption sites, whereby people can use drugs on site under the supervision of trained staff. But his news release and letter to the mayor call that into question. He wrote that the reason for his about-face is that the city’s plan has shifted from opening three Wellness Hubs to only one, which would be in his South of Market district.

In fact, the city has budgeted for three such facilities, with the SOMA location being the closest to opening. We should also add that the Wellness Hubs won’t provide safe consumption services – that will have to wait until nonprofits get such programs up and running as public funds cannot be used for them, per City Attorney David Chiu.

We’re skeptical of Dorsey’s motivations. Instead, we see Dorsey, who used to be San Francisco Police Chief William Scott’s communications director, attempting to remove drug users from the streets by jailing them. That won’t make things better on San Francisco streets. And as a person in recovery, Dorsey should know that people don’t change their habits or seek treatment for addiction until they are ready.

In other words, you can make someone who’s in jail stop using drugs in that controlled environment, but that may not stick once they’re released. Under

that scenario, there would be no Wellness Hub for them to avail themselves of harm reduction, counseling, or other services after incarceration because Dorsey would have cut all the funding.

It’s a head-scratcher.

District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen issued a blistering news release of her own in response to Dorsey’s. She calls him out on the points we mentioned above, like waiting until the budget has already been signed and not speaking up about his concerns during the numerous budget sessions convened by the Board of Supervisors – exactly the forum for such debates to occur.

“Politicians like Supervisor Dorsey are why we can’t make headway on the overdose crisis in San Francisco,” Ronen stated. She also pointed out the seven “well researched and vetted plans to address the drug crisis on our streets.” These include: Mental Health SF, which Ronen and Breed are collaborating on and which is making headway; the Overdose

Prevention Plan; Treatment on Demand; Supervised Injection Task Force; Methamphetamine Task Force; Drug Dealing Task Force; and the Tenderloin Emergency Center.

“Each of these laws, task forces, or emergency interventions have implementation plans – not one of which has been completed,” she wrote. All involve time, money, and expert input to create. None of the plans have been given sufficient time or resources to fully implement, she added.

Ronen wrote that Dorsey himself supported the Wellness Hub plans when he voted for the budget last month. “Had Supervisor Dorsey paid attention at the appropriate times, he would know that the request for voluntary services at the one harm reduction center that currently exists have risen from 150 people a day to 500 people,” Ronen wrote. “These are 500 individuals with a drug addiction illness seeking voluntary help every single day from just one center in his district that cannot meet the demand. The funded Wellness Centers are designed to meet that demand.”

Speaking to the Bay Area Reporter Tuesday, Ronen noted that the three Wellness Hubs budgeted for this fiscal year – in SOMA, the Mission, and the Tenderloin – ideally would open at the same time. That is not possible, however, and in fact a site in the Tenderloin hasn’t yet been secured. The SOMA and Mission facilities are closest to opening, she said, and she would support those two locations starting services simultaneously as a way to lessen the impacts on a single neighborhood.

Broad condemnation

Ronen, HealthRIGHT 360, and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club all stated they were appalled at Dorsey’s idea, which is a remnant of the War on Drugs strategy that proved spectacularly unsuccessful and has been discredited. “The War on Drugs, which this regressive law enforcement-first approach represents, and the criminalization and stigmatization of

See page 10 >>

5 tips to save money without

sacrificing your fabulous lifestyle

by Joey Amato

Saving money is a crucial financial skill that can lead to greater fiscal stability and the achievement of long-term goals. However, the idea of saving money can be daunting for many LGBTQ individuals, as it may seem to involve significant sacrifices and changes to one’s lifestyle. We love to indulge by dining out at fancy restaurants, going on exotic vacations, and wearing the hottest fashions, but we need to sacrifice some things today in order to build a brighter future. In reality, saving money doesn’t have to be a painful process; it can be accomplished by making simple adjustments and adopting smart habits. In this article, we will explore five effective tips to save money without compromising your lifestyle.

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Create a budget and stick to it

One of the fundamental steps toward saving money is to create a budget that outlines your income and expenses. Start by recording all your sources of income and then track your spending for a few months to identify where your money goes. Categorize your spending into essential (i.e., rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries) and discretionary (i.e., dining out, entertain ment, shopping) expenses. Analyze your spending patterns and identify areas where you can cut back. Set realistic financial goals, allocate a portion of your income to savings, and ensure you stick to your budget. Use an Excel spreadsheet to track your expenses each month and compare them throughout the year.

Pay off high-interest debts

High-interest debts, such as credit card balances and personal loans, can drain your finances over time due to the accumulated interest. Devise a plan to tackle these debts strategically. Prioritize paying off high-interest debts first while making the minimum payments on other outstanding payments. Consider consolidating debts or transferring balances to lower interest rate accounts if possible. Once you free yourself from high-interest debts, you will have more money available for savings and investments in the future.

Automate your savings

Automating your savings is a powerful way to ensure you consistently save money without having to think about it actively. Set up automatic transfers from your checking account to a dedicated savings account on a regular basis, preferably right after you receive your paycheck. By making savings a priority and treating it like any other bill, you’ll be less likely to spend that money impulsively. As your savings grow, consider exploring options for higher interest savings accounts or other investment vehicles that can help your money grow over time such as putting money into the stock market.

Embrace thrifty habits

Adopting thrifty habits can significantly impact your ability to save money. Look for ways to cut costs without compromising on quality. For instance, consider buying generic brands, using coupons, and shopping during sales to save on groceries and household items. Opt for energyefficient appliances and turn off lights and electronics when not in use to reduce utility bills. Explore more affordable entertainment options, such as free community events, outdoor activities, or borrowing books and movies from the library. Small changes in daily habits can add up to substantial savings over time.

Build an emergency fund

Having an emergency fund is essential to protect yourself from unexpected financial setbacks. Aim to set aside three to six months’ worth of living expenses in a separate savings account. This fund will act as a safety net during emergencies like medical issues, car repairs, or sudden job loss. With an emergency fund in place, you won’t have to rely on credit cards or loans during tough times, helping you avoid debt accumulation.

Saving money is a prudent financial strategy that can pave the way to a more secure and stressfree future. By following these five effective tips, you can save money without making significant sacrifices to your fabulous lifestyle. Remember, every small step you take toward saving contributes to your financial well-being in the long run. Start today and watch your savings grow steadily over time. t

Joey Amato, a gay man, is the author and publisher of “Everyday Investing,” a book dedicated to helping people learn the ins and outs of investing and saving for early retirement. “Everyday Investing” is now available for purchase on Amazon. Amato is also the publisher of PrideJourneys. com, a website focusing on LGBTQ travel. You can reach Amato at joey@ pridejourneys.com.

Supervisor Matt Dorsey Courtesy the subject

Author Joey Amato offers tips on saving money.

Courtesy Joey Amato

Gay former congressional staffer Ratevosian vies for LA House seat

by Matthew S. Bajko

Years before being appointed by President Joe Biden as the most senior Armenian American official at the State Department, Jirair Ratevosian, Ph.D., had served as legislative director to Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland). Now, the gay Los Angeles native is looking to serve on Capitol Hill himself.

Ratevosian, 42, is vying for the 30th Congressional District seat being vacated by Congressmember Adam Schiff (DBurbank) next year. Both Schiff and Lee are running next year to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (DCalifornia).

“When the seat opened up I entered because there was nobody in the race who looked like me or who could bring different communities together like I can and or who have the experience I have,” Ratevosian told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent phone interview to talk about his candidacy.

In May, having decided to enter the race, Ratevosian moved back to Southern California after quitting from the State Department, where he was a senior adviser for health equity policy and had also advised the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy. In that role he had helped oversee PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

“I am unemployed and 100% focused on my campaign,” said Ratevosian, noting it is the first time he has not had a paying job since the age of 15, when he was hired as an ice cream scooper at a Baskin-Robbins near where he was living then in Sun Valley, a working-class neighborhood of Los Angeles.

While his parents now live in the San Fernando Valley outside the congressional district, Ratevosian is renting an apartment in the city of Burbank. The House seat also includes the cities of Pasadena, Glendale, and West Hollywood, plus a number of Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Echo Park, Hollywood, Silver Lake, Sunland, Tujunga and Hancock Park.

“I quit my job and moved out here to Burbank in order to bring my experience to making Congress work better and work better for the people here in the district,” said Ratevosian.

First, he has to survive what is shaping up to be a crowded primary race next March, where the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation will ad vance to the November ballot. Nearly 20 people have pulled papers to seek the seat, including lesbian West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne, who is Iranian, and nonbinary transgender drag queen Maebe A. Girl, an atlarge representative on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council who has sought the seat in the last two elections.

Another gay Armenian American, Dr. Alex Balekian, has also jumped into the race. The ICU physician had filed as noparty preference but recently switched to run as a Republican.

As last week’s Political Notebook noted, Balekian came under fire from Maebe in July for misgendering her and using her deadname. Both Shyne and Ratevosian expressed support for Maebe after she posted about it on Instagram.

So far, most of the attention on the race from the mainstream media has gone to actor Ben Savage plus several current and former elected officials who are also

Letters >>

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AIDS Research. In May 2011 he went to work for Lee in her D.C. office where he also focused on HIV policy as well as foreign affairs.

“I would come to Oakland from time to time. Those were my favorite years,” recalled Ratevosian.

Congressional candidate Jirair Ratevosian, Ph.D., joined health care workers demonstrating for better conditions outside Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles on July 29.

In August 2014 he took a job with Gilead Sciences as head of its corporate social responsibility. That year he also came out of the closet and participated in his second AIDS/LifeCycle ride that raises money for the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Courtesy the candidate Barry Schneider Attorney at Law

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aiming to succeed Schiff in the House.

To date, they include straight allies Assemblymember Laura Friedman (DBurbank); former state senator Anthony Portantino, who lost his 2022 county supervisor race; and former Los Angeles city attorney Mike Feuer, who had served in the state Assembly and on the Los Angeles City Council and dropped out of the mayoral race last year.

Most LGBTQ groups have yet to endorse in the House race, though Shyne does have the support of LPAC, which works to elect lesbians, queer women, and nonbinary people to office. Several of the out candidates hope to secure endorsements from the national LGBTQ Victory Fund and statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California.

As for Ratevosian, he told the B.A.R. he hopes to also be endorsed by Lee, though she has yet to do so. Like the other out candidates who would break through pink political glass ceilings if elected, so too would Ratevosian as one of the few LGBTQ Armenian elected officials.

“You don’t meet a lot of gay Armenians to begin with, let alone those in office,” he said. “This district is one of the most diverse and has the most Armenians of any district and is one of the queerest districts in the country.”

Long ties to the Bay Area

His parents both immigrated to the U.S. His mother was born and spent her childhood in Lebanon until the country’s 1976 civil war, when her family left for America.

His father was born in Siberia where Ratevosian’s paternal grandfather, who was also named Jirair, was sent due to being an anti-communist activist when Armenia was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. They also sought asylum in the U.S. and ended up in Hollywood, where Ratevosian’s parents first met.

“They both have an amazing story of resilience and it has rubbed off on me. They came here speaking no English with no money in their pockets,” he said. “I was raised by my grandparents, as my mom worked at McDonald’s and my dad was a banker.”

After graduating from UCLA in 2003, Ratevosian was accepted into a two-year medical post-baccalaureate program at UCSF and spent a year living in San Francisco before moving to Daly City. He left for Boston University in 2005, where he graduated two years later with a master’s degree in international health.

He then worked on HIV and AIDS policy issues, first with Physicians for Human Rights then as a public policy deputy director at amfAR, the Foundation for

“I didn’t realize the ride was shaping who I was,” recalled Ratevosian, explaining that the love and support he received from his fellow riders allowed him to be public about his sexual orientation. “It pushed me out of my comfort zone physically and emotionally. It opened up my eyes.”

A cousin of his had already come out as gay, nonetheless Ratevosian found it hard to do so himself having grown up in a conservative culture. Yet his friends and sister “were incredibly supportive” of him, as were his parents, though it took them a few months to get there, said Ratevosian.

“Right now, they are champions of queerness and of love and of Michael,” he said, referring to his fiancé, Michael Ighadaro

While the position at Gilead had him traveling to Africa and Asia, Ratevosian was based in the company’s Bay Area offices and briefly owned a home in San Leandro, though he sold it in late 2015 when he relocated back to D.C. when Gilead opened an office there.

While campaigning on behalf of Biden as an Iowa precinct captain in January 2020, Ratevosian met Ighadaro, a gay Nigerian granted asylum in the U.S. who is director of global policy advocacy at the Prevention Access Campaign.

(Ighadaro, who is living with HIV, was named a “2015 Champion of Change” by then-President Barack Obama and was featured in the 2021 HBO documentary “The Legend of The Underground.” He has been splitting his time between Burbank and D.C. to care for the couple’s dog since Ratevosian launched his House bid.)

During his time at Gilead then the State Department, which he joined in 2021, Ratevosian was also enrolled at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Last year, he earned his doctorate in public health.

“I have worked on HIV my whole life,” he noted. “I have also worked on politics, social justice, all sorts of human rights issues.”

Ratevosian reported raising more than $100,000 during his first 30 days as a House candidate. He will be coming back to the Bay Area for several fundraisers he has planned between September 17 and 19.

Events are set to take place in downtown San Francisco and the East Bay, one of which will be in Berkeley. Anyone interested in attending can email an RSVP to hello@jirairforCA.com in order to receive the exact locations and times for the fundraisers.

“I am the only candidate in the race who has the necessary experience to bring different communities together and stand up to Republican extremists, and do that on day one,” said Ratevosian. “There is no time for learning in this job, especially when we have big shoes to fill in Adam Schiff’s.”

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When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress and financial burden, allowing them to focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in advance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress and financial burden, allowing them to focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

Contact us today about the beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy at the San Francisco Columbarium.

To learn more about his candidacy, visit his campaign website at https://jirairforca.com/t

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of profiles of out 2024 congressional candidates in California.

More on former mayor Christopher Evelyn Rose, in her opinion piece in the August 3 edition of the Bay Area Reporter [“Mayor George Christopher: A man misunderstood,” Guest Opinion], tells one story about former mayor Christopher. Randy Shaw, in his 2015 book “The Tenderloin,” tells a very different story about Christopher and his attempts to destroy and gentrify that San Francisco neighborhood. The way Shaw tells the story, attacks on gays, lesbians, and trans folk were part and parcel of that campaign. Shaw’s book is worth checking out.

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Barbie, through a trans eye

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

In the early 1970s, Mattel partnered with United Airlines to enter Barbie into one of her many careers.

They packaged a replica of the bold colored, brightly-patterned flight attendant’s outfits of the time for Barbie and a more demure gray pilot’s uniform for Ken. Capping off the collection was a plastic-overstiff cardboard airplane play set called the Barbie Friend Ship.

I was busy scheming for Christmas presents when I spotted the play set in the Sears “wish book” of holiday toys, trying to figure out the best way to put this on the list for Santa – and my parents – that year. I decided to sneak it – with a Barbie and the flight attendant outfit, of course – on the bottom third of the list, assuming it would not draw so much attention that far down.

Even then, I had a strong suspicion I should not have been asking for Barbies. None of the boys I knew had any, and as everyone assumed I was a boy, I knew the toy request was more than a long shot. Rather, I tended to be given the “Big Jim” dolls, which were the alternative that Mattel packaged up for boys, and who often used the very same play sets and objects as Barbie.

In fact, I did eventually end up with the Friend Ship in its repackaged-for-Big-Jim-variety, called the “Sky Commander.” It wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for.

Even then as a fairly young child, I knew what I wanted: her name was Barbie. Well, me and just about every other young girl at that time. While this wasn’t my first memory

that shows a distinct identification with other girls and women, it’s close.

Let’s not forget, however, that Barbie is a doll that was initially patterned after a German, adult doll named Bild Lilli that was sold for the male gaze versus the early tween girl market. Barbie rightfully has been critiqued over the years for focusing on traditional, white, cisheteronormative social moresparticularly when presented as subservient to her biggest accessory,

the Ken doll.

Barbie herself has gone through a lot since her beginnings, replacing her flight attendant gear for a role in the captain’s seat. She’s been a member of the military, a rapper, a doctor, a member of Starfleet, and even a presidential candidate. Now, she is the subject of a movie directed by Greta Gerwig starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time rehashing and reviewing “Barbie.” It’s a box-office smash that has

topped $1 billion in ticket sales. It’s worth it, too.

It’s a film that is self-aware of the doll’s history, as well as the critiques of the same, and Gerwig deftly creates a movie about Barbie and Ken that doesn’t entirely shy away from examining feminism and feminist ideas.

Gerwig said that her mom was not a Barbie fan. She spoke about this to the New York Times, (https:// www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/ movies/greta-gerwig-barbie-movie.html) where she discussed the controversies around the doll, how those touched her own life and led her to make a film where she could be “doing the thing and subverting the thing.” It makes the movie somewhat unique in both celebrating the consumerist, plastic, and pink world that is Barbie, while being very clear on its critiques of that.

If nothing, the movie maybe could have gone further – but in doing so, it also may have lost some of the charm, and some of the draw.

You will see Barbies of color in the movie, and Barbies who are not waif thin or exceptionally busty. You will see Barbies in a number of their high-profile positions, including president, physicist, Supreme Court justice, and doctor.

Let me add that doctor Barbie is played by a trans woman, Hari Nef.

I feel it noteworthy that Nef did not play this character as “Trans Woman Barbie” and, in fact, there is nothing in the film that draws attention to her transness. You won’t find a sly trans flag motif snuck in,

or any other blink-or-you’ll-missit trans references surrounding the character. She is just another Barbie, even if she is one of the Robbie Barbie character’s closer friends as portrayed in the movie.

Yes, I’m happy with this. I don’t feel the need to see Nef have to play a very distinctly transgender Barbie in the movie. Her just being part of the cast of dolls is plenty. In fact, I might even say it’s better this way, as she is simply another one of the women who make up this cast –and in a year where being trans has served as a reason to attack beer companies, shoe sellers, and major retailers, it is refreshing to see a trans voice just, well, existing with her peers.

This, of course, hasn’t stopped bigots from learning that there is a trans woman in the movie, nor has it stopped their attacks. It has, however, led to many humorous moments on social media as they continually try, and fail, to determine which Barbie was played by a trans woman in the first place.

That, too, may go a long way toward explaining why she didn’t need to be specifically called out in the movie as being a trans woman, and even reinforces one of the main themes of the tale, “just be yourself and know that that’s enough.”

So it is, Barbie. So it is. t

Gwen Smith never did get that flight attendant Barbie, and she’s OK with that. You’ll find her at www.gwensmith.com

Woods to speak on anti-LGBTQ legislative assault

compiled by Cynthia Laird

Tiffany Woods, a trans woman and chair emeritus of the California Democratic Party’s LGBTQ Caucus, will speak at the Commonwealth Club on the current legislative assault on LGBTQ+ Americans. The in-person program takes place Monday, August 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the club’s offices, 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco.

Woods, who is state transgender health manager for the California Office of AIDS prevention branch for the state public health department, is a former Bay Area resident who for many years organized the Transgender Day of Remembrance in the East Bay.

According to a program description, Woods, who is a mom, will speak about the unprecedented number of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills being presented in state legislatures across the country, and why it’s important that people stand up and fight for trans, nonbinary, and LGBTQ+ people. According to national LGBTQ and civil rights organizations, in 2023, more than 500 anti-trans bills have been introduced in 36 states across the country, rolling back decades of progress on trans rights fueled by transphobia, deliberate misinformation, discrimination, and misplaced fear under the false guise of “protecting children, girls and women.”

These bills by GOP lawmakers across the country have been focused on prohibiting trans health care for youth, and at least 10 states have already passed such bans. Proposed bills range from gender-affirming care bans, bans on transgender youth participating in sports, bills that bar trans people from using bathrooms that correspond to their gender, and LGBTQ school censorship on what

schools can say about LGBTQ people, to drag bans and bans on name and pronoun changes on governmentissued documents.

The cost for the program is $10 for club members, $20 for non-members, and free for Leadership Circle members and for students with valid ID.

For tickets and more information, go to https://tinyurl.com/2y7fwkcd.

Oaklanders asked to take survey Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is asking city residents to take an online survey dubbed Talking Transitions that will be used to gather insights that will help shape the agenda of her administration and the future of the city. The survey focuses on three areas: housing, community safety, and economic development.

A news release stated that as part of the effort and to encourage the next generation of civil servants and community organizers, the city is employing Youth Data Fellows, ages 16

through 24, to help spread the word about the survey and drive responses in underrepresented communities.

“I am proud to lead a city that has a powerful tradition of engage ment – we speak truth to power in The Town,” Thao stated. “I want to take that energy and local knowledge and put it into an all-hands-on-deck initiative to create a collec tive agenda for Oakland. I also recognize that many voices have still not been heard. This is why a big part of Talking Transitions involves engaging young Oaklanders as we launch this solutions-based survey – empowering our next generation to be engaged in developing a relationship with their community and building their advocacy muscle.”  In addition to the survey, city leaders invite residents to a series of Town Talks public forums. The events are scheduled for three Saturdays on Sep-

tember 9, 16, and 23. Attendees will be able to meet government officials, learn how city government works, and share experiences and ideas to make Oakland better for all, the release stated. Locations and times will be posted closer to the dates.

To take the survey, which is offered in multiple languages, and for information on the forums, go to https:// tinyurl.com/3xffmde3.

Bark in the Park at the Presidio

The Guardsmen, a group of young professionals that raises funds for scholarships and other programs for at-risk youth, will host Bark in the Park, Saturday, August 19, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Presidio’s Civil War Parade Ground in San Francisco.

The dog-friendly event will feature dog shows and competitions, games, and vendors with the latest in pet accessories. There will also be food and beverage trucks offering human treats as well as local brews and cocktails. IDs are required for VIP tickets as well as drink passes.

Tickets are $35 general admission or $115 for VIPs. General admission includes a person and a pooch plus two drink tickets. All proceeds benefit The Guardsmen. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://tinyurl.com/yw2ap2u8.

EQCA to hold advocacy day

Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ rights organization, will hold an in-person advocacy day in Sacramento Tuesday, August 29. It will be the first time the group has

returned to the state Capitol since the COVID pandemic upended inperson events in 2020.

“We’ll be advocating to preserve access to gender-affirming care, increase safety and support for LGBTQ+ students in schools, reduce health care inequities, and more,” Craig Pulsipher, EQCA’s legislative director, stated in a note to supporters. “Participants will receive advocacy training on LGBTQ+ legislative priorities and have an opportunity to meet with California legislators and their staff.”

As the Bay Area Reporter has been reporting, conservative school districts in Southern California have recently taken action against LGBTQ students. The school board in Temecula voted against an inclusive textbook while the school board in Chino Valley adopted a policy that would require the forced outing of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students to their parents without their consent.

State leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond have all condemned the actions.

Bonta has launched an investigation into the Chino Valley school board. Newsom has said the state will purchase textbooks for students in the Temecula district that meet state standards on inclusivity and other matters. Bonta and Thurmond support that effort.

Those wishing to participate in EQCA’s advocacy day need to provide their own transportation to Sacramento. EQCA stated it has some limited travel assistance available via reimbursement. For more information and to register, go to https://tinyurl.com/md8r4w4d t

Trans health leader Tiffany Woods

Courtesy Tiffany Woods

Christine Smith

HIV confab hears news about heart disease, mpox

by Liz Highleyman

The International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science, held recently in Brisbane, Australia, included new findings on a medication to prevent heart disease and the risk of severe mpox among people living with HIV.

REPRIEVE trial results

HIV-positive people who are at low to moderate risk for cardiovascular disease can reduce their risk even further by taking a daily statin medication, according to results from the large REPRIEVE study. Statins have been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular problems and death in the general population, but their benefits for people living with HIV were uncertain until now.

“People with HIV are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and therefore [the findings] could have very significant real-world impact,” IAS president and conference co-chair Dr. Sharon Lewin of the University of Melbourne said at an advance media briefing.

The international phase 3 trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, enrolled nearly 7,800 HIVpositive people ages 40 to 75. They were on antiretroviral therapy and most had an undetectable viral load. They had no prior history of cardiovascular disease, and their demographics, comorbidities and laboratory values reflected low to moderate risk. But standard cardiovascular risk scores developed for the general population tend to underestimate

From

whose full name was the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.

Rather than coming up with a lump sum payment, the task force suggested a new entity be established by the Legislature that could receive claims for compensation due to various discriminatory policies faced by eligible individuals, process them, and render payments “in an efficient and timely manner.”

the risk for people with HIV.

“We targeted a group that would not ordinarily have been prescribed a statin, or any therapy, who would have been simply told to go home,” lead researcher Dr. Steven Grinspoon of Massachusetts General Hospital said at the briefing. Study participants were randomly assigned to receive oral pitavastatin (brand name Livalo) or a placebo. In addition to bringing down LDL cholesterol, statins also have anti-inflammatory properties. Pitavastatin was chosen because it does not interact with antiretrovirals.

The trial was halted ahead of schedule in April after an interim analysis found that pitavastatin showed a significant benefit. The drug reduced the risk of

It also offered suggestions for what payments eligible people could receive, such as $13,619 being its “estimated value of health harm to each year of life an African American individual has spent in California, to which an eligible descendant would be entitled.” The task force report also included a way to compensate Black non-Hispanics for the excess drug felony arrests they have faced that it estimated would cost the state $228 billion (in 2020 dollars) to pay out in reparations.

At the time of the task force report’s

heart attacks, strokes, severe chest pains, heart surgery and cardiovascular death by 35%.

The researchers calculated that, overall, 106 HIV-positive people would need to take pitavastatin for five years to prevent one major cardiovascular event. But for those with a higher cardiovascular risk score, that number fell to 35. The size of the effect was “very consistent” for men and women, across racial/ethnic groups and regardless of CD4 T-cell count or baseline LDL level, Grinspoon reported.

Pitavastatin was generally safe and well tolerated with no unanticipated safety concerns. People who received the drug were more likely than placebo recipients to develop diabetes, but the rates were low (about 5% versus 4%). Muscle-related side effects were also uncommon (about 2% versus 1%) and mostly mild.

“We would highly recommend that guidelines be changed” to recommend statin therapy for HIVpositive people with low to moderate cardiovascular risk, Grinspoon said. “Pitavastatin is effective, prevents major adverse cardiovascular events and will save lives.”

Grinspoon noted that statins are cheap once they go off patent – as is expected for pitavastatin in early 2024 – which will help ensure equitable access. He stressed that statin use should be part of a broader cardiovascular disease prevention plan that emphasizes a heart healthy lifestyle.

release, Governor Gavin Newsom avoided directly answering reporters’ questions about the idea of cash payments. In the spring he had made headlines for saying about reparations to the descendants of enslaved people that “dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments.”

While hailing the task force for issuing its final report, lesbian Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) made no mention of any cash amount for reparations in her statement she had issued June 29. She did say the document

Breed opens Transgender History Month

Mpox and HIV

Mpox has declined dramatically since the outbreak peaked late last summer, and it remains at a low ebb in the United States, including San Francisco. To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 30,647 cases and 46 deaths in the U.S. and 88,600 cases worldwide. Most cases outside of Africa have been among gay and bisexual men, usually linked to sexual contact.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s database, there hasn’t been a reported mpox case in the city since June 30.

Around 40% of people diagnosed with mpox in the U.S. were living with HIV, but HIV-positive people accounted for more than 80% of those hospitalized, and most people who have died of mpox in the U.S. were Black gay men with AIDS, according to the CDC.

Earlier this year, Dr. Chloe Orkin of Queen Mary University of London reported that mpox can be much more severe for people with HIV who have a very low CD4 count, leading her to call for mpox to be classified as an AIDSdefining opportunistic infection.

At the IAS meeting, Dr. Ana Hoxha of the World Health Organization presented findings from a larger analysis based on global surveillance data reported to WHO. Among the more than 82,000 mpox cases reported between January 2022 and January 2023, about 40% had available information on their HIV status, and of these, just over half were living with HIV.

would “deeply inform” state legislator’s conversations on what policies and legislation were needed to address the issues the report detailed in specific arenas, from housing and health care to education and the legal system, plus the vaguer “and more” catchall phrase.

“I fully recognize that my experiences as a white woman are different than those of Black Californians, but I share the goals of equality, equity, and justice that this report seeks to advance,” stated Atkins. “We all need to read this report, truly reflect on the pain and inequality it so clearly details, and take action. We can’t lose this moment.”

Black LGBTQs could play roles

In interviews with the Bay Area Reporter two out Black elected officials who could play key roles in the statehouse in coming years on

Overall, people living with HIV were more likely to be hospitalized than HIV-negative people with mpox (4.3% versus 3.0%) and they had a higher risk of death (0.3% versus 0.03%). But while immunocompromised people with HIV were about twice as likely to be hospitalized, the risk for HIV-positive people with an adequate CD4 count was similar to that of HIV-negative people without immune suppression.

These findings indicate that HIV treatment that leads to viral suppression and CD4 cell recovery can help prevent severe mpox. Therefore, people who present for mpox testing or treatment should be tested for HIV if they do not already know their status and should be linked to care if they are not already on antiretroviral therapy.

“For individuals with unknown HIV status, mpox testing can be an opportunity for HIV testing, prevention, and care,” Hoxha said at the IAS news briefing.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, IAS conference participants heard about global progress toward ending HIV, another person cured of HIV after a stem cell transplant – the sixth such case ever – and a new World Health Organization brief reaffirming that people on antiretroviral treatment with an undetectable viral load have zero risk of transmitting HIV to their sex partners t

Gay state Assemblymember Corey Jackson, Ph.D., (D-Perris), the first LGBTQ Black member of the Legislature who notes he is a direct descendant of slavery, has made anti-racism a main focus of his freshman term this year. Speaking to the B.A.R. in the spring, he said he supports “any and all reparations.” But providing reparations “is not just a dollar amount,” Jackson also stressed.

“It means to me dismantling current systems to ensure future generations of African Americans are not being harmed by the state,” said Jackson. “I think reparations means a series of policies, investments and, yes, it could also mean financial recourse as well. But that is not the totality of what reparations is.”

He noted that few of the task force’s recommendations will require “writing out a check to people.” As for how much he thought eligible Black Californians deserve in fiscal compensation, Jackson

See page 10 >>

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, center, was joined by trans performer and activist Donna Personna, second from right, in raising the trans flag Wednesday, August 2, to open Transgender History Month. “San Francisco has been, and always will be, a place where we embrace our diverse communities to ensure everyone has the freedom to be who they are,” Breed stated in a news release. “Last year we declared August Transgender History Month in San Francisco, making it the country’s first of its kind. We are proud of what this city stands for, and today and the entire month of August reflect the resilience of the transgender community and San Francisco’s commitment to supporting and protecting the rights of trans people.”

Transgender History Month honors the 57th anniversary of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots, which occurred in August 1966 in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, marking the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco. A response to violent and constant police harassment, this incident, the date of which has

been lost to history, was one of the first LGBTQ uprisings in United States history, preceding the better-known 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.

Breed has budgeted city resources to help the trans and gendernonconforming communities, including funds for behavioral health programming and housing, the release stated.

Trans people praised the city’s recognition of trans history month.

“Transgender history should not be understated. Now, more than ever, it is imperative to lean into transgender history to understand the reemergence of extremist and violent antitransgender rhetoric. It is rhetoric that is not new - in fact, it draws from the tumultuous decades of the 1970s and 1980s that led to the pathologization of transness which resulted in devastating consequences for the safety and livelihood of trans people,” stated Jupiter Peraza, transgender activist and manager of statewide coalition at Openhouse SF.

Let’s talk cannabis.

Rick Gerharter

Dr. Sharon Lewin is president of the International AIDS Society.

Courtesy IAS

But with the large crowds descending upon the Castro – including gay bashers – it became hard for the city to ensure public safety at the street party. In 2002, four people were stabbed on Halloween night in the Castro; but the death knell for the old-time Halloween festivities was in 2006, when nine people suffered gun-related injuries in a mass shooting while a 10th victim was trampled in the melee that marred the annual street party.

A heavy police presence stopped the event from occurring again, and by 2011 stakeholders agreed that the Castro shouldn’t be the focal point of a region-wide celebration. Government policy became to direct people, as much as they’d listen, to diverse events in other neighborhoods, as well as to strictly enforce alcohol consumption and sale laws in the Castro.

Over the years, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has spoken positively about bringing the old Halloween back – or something like it; he told the B.A.R. in 2021, “I’ve always felt it’d be great if we could figure out a way of how we can do these great parties,” referring to Halloween and Pink Saturday. (The party held in the Castro on the eve of Pride Sunday in late June was also shut down after the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which produced it, cited safety concerns and pulled the plug in 2015. An effort by the San Francisco LGBT Community Center to produce the event lasted one year.

Yekutiel agreed; he told the merchants that he participated in a meeting at Queer Arts Featured, the gallery that is located at the site of gay slain supervisor

<< Reparations

From page 9

“I don’t have a dollar amount to argue for. I don’t have enough expertise to say that,” said Jackson, adding that he would look to the financial remedy that the task force came up with and the formula it used to determine such payments. “Certainly, it is not a subjective thing. It has to be more objective.”

Lesbian AC Transit board member and former Richmond city councilmember Jovanka Beckles, who is both Black and Latina, has made her support for reparations a key talking point in her 2024 campaign for the East Bay’s open 7th Senate District seat that spans western Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

Highlighting the issue of reparations in an email she sent out ahead of the first observance of Juneteenth as a state holiday in June, two years after it was designated an official federal holiday, Beckles argued, “We will never achieve the equal society so many of our forebears dreamed of without them.”

Harvey Milk’s camera store, where reviving the Halloween party was broached.

“The original idea was to bring Halloween back,” Yekutiel said, adding that he sought advice from Mandelman, gay former District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty, the merchants’ group, the Castro Community Benefit District, the GLBT Historical Society, and the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District.

Mandelman is pleased with the plans being proposed for this year’s holiday.

“I’m excited to welcome Halloween back to the Castro,” Mandelman stated to the B.A.R. August 7. “This year’s Halloween will focus on our Castro small businesses and family-friendly activities for all ages to enjoy. I want to thank the Civic Joy Fund, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Castro Merchants, the LGBTQ cultural district, and APE for their hard work and leadership.”

Dufty declined a request to comment for this report.

Those at the business group’s meeting last week agreed that “it’d be cool to bring something back,” but Yekutiel acknowledged there wasn’t an appetite for the Halloween block party of years past.

“There was a spirit of Halloween when it started in the Castro that was a community feeling, so we thought how could we bring that back,” Yekutiel said. “And that is what we’re talking about today.”

Yekutiel said that Another Planet Entertainment, which manages the Castro Theatre, proposed having a fivefilm “long, queer Halloween marathon” October 28, with tickets costing $5. Yekutiel said the proceeds will go toward the merchants association so it can host more events.

APE spokesperson David Perry, a gay man, told the B.A.R. that the costume

U.S. with her parents in 1972, took part in local listening sessions that the state reparations panel held. She told the B.A.R. she made it a point to bring up that it is not just Black people born in the U.S. and descendants of slaves who have been impacted by the country’s systemic racism.

“We talked about the African diaspora and the ways Black people throughout the world have been subjected to oppression and racism,” said Beckles, adding that the reparations conversation needs to include people regardless of which country they were born in. “We were born in Black skin and it was still used ... even in countries like Panama and Latin American countries Black folks experience racism. When we come to this country, we still experience racism.”

She noted that the same discriminatory policies faced by American descendants of enslaved Africans, such as redlining laws that restricted where they could own homes or bias in workforce hiring, impacted Black immigrants to the country.

contest run by the Sisters will be held inside the theater at 8 p.m. that Saturday, followed by ‘Rocky Horror’ at 9, with further “details and specific films will be announced in the coming days.”

“October 28 will be a wonderful day in the Castro,” Perry stated August 7. “Another Planet is working with the Castro Merchants, the Civic Joy Fund, Sister Roma, and the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District to produce a day of community-focused activities and film and 100% of the proceeds will benefit the local Castro Merchants.”

Tickets are $5 per film, while attendance at the contest is free with a costume, according to Roma.

As for the Sisters, they had initially planned on hosting the costume contest atop a flatbed truck outside near the theater but that has now changed. Sister Roma stated August 7 that half of the proceeds would benefit the Sisters.

“Anyone in a fabulous costume will get into the theater for free, and the Sisters will be walking around the Castro with a golden ticket to entice people in,” Roma stated. “Dress fabulously: there will be prizes!”

“We really wanted to make sure this goes back to our roots – queer people coming together to celebrate Halloween – high queer holiday,” Roma said August 3. “We want to keep it contained while still welcoming people.”

Ideas for merchants

Ideas Yekutiel suggested the merchants could participate in included pop-up drag performances, face painting, and dry ice.

“You can do whatever you want,” Yekutiel said August 3.

Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who is president of the Castro Mer-

final report issued by the Reparations Task Force, Jackson said he endorsed and stood behind its findings. While he didn’t specify any dollar amount owed to the state’s African American community, Jackson pledged to champion the task force’s recommended measures in the Legislature.

“These findings not only resonate with my personal experiences, but they reflect the lived reality of the African American community,” he stated. “Now that the task force has finalized its recommendations, it is incumbent upon California to take decisive action and rectify the deeprooted systemic racism that has permeated our state’s institutions.”

Talking to the B.A.R. Jackson said that reparations are “absolutely” in order due to the discrimination African Americans have faced for generations.

chants Association and co-owner of Cliff’s Variety, suggested specialty cocktails.

“If you’re a bar and want to do over 21, that’s in the realm too,” Asten Bennett said.

Pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, a petting zoo, sidewalk chalk, and drag queer ghost story hour were also proposed, potentially for a family-friendly Sunday event October 29.

Patrick Batt, a gay man who owns Auto Erotica on 18th Street, questioned the marketing strategy – how was it possible, he asked, to get the word out without drawing a crowd? Castro Halloween had been a “victim of our own success,” he said.

“The only events we are actually going to plan are the costume contest and the Castro Theatre, opening the doors of the Castro Theatre for a movie marathon,” Yekutiel said. “The beauty of this is that it’s going to be by the people in this room.”

Yekutiel and Roma said they were not planning to speak to the media to promote the event.

“There’s a lot of events going on that weekend,” Yekutiel said. “We’re not doing big interviews, paid ads, or anything like that.”

Yekutiel said there will be paid security, and advised merchants who want to request funds from Civic Joy to do so by mid-September. He told the B.A.R. August 7 that Civic Joy Fund is willing to spend $100,000 to $150,000 on the project, and said Asten-Bennett would be a liaison to individual merchants.

“There is so much excitement about this activation,” Asten Bennett told the B.A.R. Monday. “It is really taking Halloween back old-school, and we think it will create positive buzz

African American could get themselves,” said Jackson. “If they even got one, there were clear advantages and disadvantages based on your skin color. For the majority of the existence of this nation, that has put African Americans in the type of dire situations we find ourselves in.

“So, if you ask, ‘Are reparations in order?’ Absolutely, yes,” he added. “If you don’t say yes then you have no clue about the history of this nation whatsoever or worse.”

Beckles told the B.A.R. she supports direct payments for those who qualify but also acknowledged that checks of $1 million or more are likely “not going to happen so let’s be realistic about it.”

in the neighborhood without being overwhelming. We think we noted concerns in the meeting and want to keep it positive, upbeat and safe.”

Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is the executive director of the Castro Community Benefit District, is also supportive.

“I hear from residents all the time that they want Halloween to come back on a small neighborhood scale,” she stated to the B.A.R. on August 7. “The idea for Halloween proposed by Manny Yekutiel and the Castro Merchants just might work. People come out for experiences. What better holiday to celebrate with unique experiences be it retail, food or drink than Halloween in the Castro!  Keeping it small but busy is the key. It’s time we step our toes back into a fun and celebratory Halloween.”

Tina Aguirre, director of the cultural district, told the B.A.R. that “it promises to be a fun day in the Castro.”

“We acknowledge that Halloween has a long history in the Castro as a time to celebrate, dress up, and have fun,” Aguirre stated to the B.A.R. August 7. “I look forward to the Halloween costume contest … and will work with Sister Roma on how to make sure that underrepresented groups are centered at the contest.”

Yekutiel said he hopes it harkens back to the Castro’s early days.

“It really was an opportunity for folks in this community – merchants, families, the LGBTQ community – to come together as a community to celebrate itself,” Yekutiel told the B.A.R. August 7. “The idea is to go back to that original spirit of being a community gathering while meeting the moment.” t

people, and the issue of providing people with quality health care always is an issue,” said Beckles. “If we all make health care a human right and provide free health care for all, I believe that just in those savings alone that will help us be able to provide other social safety nets.”

As for requiring any reparations cash payouts be spent on certain purchases, Jackson told the B.A.R. he was open to such a stipulation. After all, he noted generational wealth for American families has long been gained via property ownership or financial investments like stocks.

Beckles, who was born in Panama City, Panama, and immigrated to the

“We still feel the oppression that all descendants of enslaved Africans are experiencing,” said Beckles.

In a statement responding to the

“Mind you, if you are white and have ancestors who have been here since the Louisiana Purchase, many got free land as their economic foundation. If you were white before the 1960s, or during the 1960s and 1970s, the likelihood is that you got a good mortgage loan or business loan that was way better than any

Recognizing any payments will be dependent on the state’s budget, Beckles suggested it could start out with smaller amounts that assist those eligible in building up their self worth. She pointed as an example to a $400,000 reparations housing program approved by Evanston, Illinois leaders last year that gives qualifying households up to $25,000 for down payments or home repairs.

“In America, the best way to build wealth is to own assets, such as to own land or own property, and that was denied to African Americans for centuries,” said Jackson. “Not just denied, it was even taken away and stolen. And so I think that at the minimum it should be a part of reparations.”

The Milk club echoed those sentiments in its statement and called out Dorsey for a recent interview in which he compared the city’s fentanyl crisis to the AIDS epidemic. (Dorsey is HIV-positive.) “It was both stunning and painful as many of us remember the push from Lyndon LaRouche in 1986 to put people with HIV/AIDS into quarantine camps,” the club stated.

It also added that according to media reports, of the 191 people arrested from the Tenderloin and SOMA since June 1 solely for using

drugs in public, not one person accepted offers of services and treatment through Jail Health Services, which is where Dorsey wants the Wellness Hub money to go. Ronen said that Jail Health Services has 27 funded positions that are not filled, in part because it is so difficult to find qualified mental health workers for such jobs.

Elected San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju has also panned Dorsey’s proposal, stating that the city’s policy of arresting drug users has been an “utter failure.” “The city’s latest program of arresting and detaining individuals for public drug intoxication has been an utter failure by all accounts, and calling for increased funding of this cruel program defies all logic,” Raju stated. “These sweeps ignore evidencebased solutions to our city’s public health crisis and have not been successful in connecting people who have been arrested to treatment.”

Many of those who have been arrested have been forced to go through withdrawal in a cage, often in lockdown conditions, Raju added. Therefore, it’s not surprising that they haven’t accepted offers from Jail Health Services. Raju added that studies have shown that forced treatment can have negative effects.

That’s something Dorsey should be aware of.

In his letter to the mayor, Dorsey noted that supervised consumption sites are not part of the Wellness Hubs and that is correct. As we mentioned above, Chiu has argued that city funds cannot be used for the supervised consumption sites because of federal laws.

Another huge obstacle is Governor Gavin Newsom’s veto last year of a bill that would have created pilot programs for supervised consumption sites in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. (That veto, which we strongly opposed, has helped

“Money is always an interesting obstacle, whether talking about reparations or just feeding and housing

set the city up for failure in getting a grip on the overdose problems of today, as we have noted, and furthermore Newsom has sent California Highway Patrol officers to the Tenderloin, another example of over-policing instead of providing services.)

The state’s reparations report can be downloaded at https://oag. ca.gov/ab3121/report t people who use drugs, have resulted in generational harms, abhorrent racial disparities, overfilled our prisons, and led to increased distrust in police,” HealthRIGHT 360 stated. “Reallocating any funding designed for Wellness Hubs would be misguided and shortsighted.”

Yet, as we’ve also noted, several nonprofits are committed to working to get supervised consumption site(s) opened.

In the meantime, Mental Health SF and the creation of a network of Wellness Hubs crafted in the overdose prevention plan are meant to provide the infrastructure necessary to provide treatment immediately when needed for anyone who voluntarily or forcibly enters care, Ronen stated. That includes harm reduction supplies like clean needles and counseling.

Ronen stated that the three Wellness Centers in the budget that was just approved have the support of

the Department of Public Health, as does Mental Health SF. The Tenderloin Center provided services like food, counseling, and benefit application assistance to thousands of people during its 11-month run. One of the reasons the city is in such dire straits now is that when Breed closed the Tenderloin Center, she did so without another facility in place where people could go. The Wellness Hubs are supposed to be that plan, although they should have been operational when the Tenderloin Center was shuttered. Put another way, the closure of the Tenderloin Center shows exactly why the hubs are needed – people returned to the streets, where many of them use drugs. Carting them off to jail won’t solve the problem, but it will exacerbate the issues that are already present on the city’s streets.

Breed should reject Dorsey’s letter and the city needs to go about getting the Wellness Hubs open. t

by Gregg Shapiro

As a writer and director, Greta Gerwig

(whose best work is done behind the camera) has a history of making movies with strong messages of female empowerment, including the Oscar-nominated features “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.” So you can imagine the concerned murmurs that preceded the release of her latest movie “Barbie” (Warner Brothers), a live-action fantasia revolving around corporate toy giant Mattel’s legendary doll, especially since the notoriously litigious Mattel is one of the film’s producers. They’re exhaling, as the film has already taken in an alleged $1 billion in box office worldwide.

You can all exhale now because “Barbie,” while far from perfect, is an unexpectedly delightful breath of fresh and campy air with a reasonably well-delivered feminist message. Co-writers Gerwig and her life-partner Noah Baumbach have crafted a visually captivating, alternately hilarious

‘Barbie,’ what a doll

and serious, musically-driven summer entertainment that will have as much appeal to adults (especially those in the LGBTQ community) as it will to the younger set (although guncles should avoid taking nieces and nephews under the age of 13 to see the movie).

Beginning with an inspired homage to the opening of Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” featuring narration by Helen Mirren (who pipes in, sometimes hysterically, throughout the movie), followed by a fabulous Lizzo number that sets the tone for our arrival in Barbieland.

Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie, in a role she was born to play) rises and shines in her Dreamhouse and begins her day with greetings from the multitude of Barbie citizens. Representing all walks of life, these Barbies (including Dr. Barbie played by trans actor Hari Nef) are selfsufficient wonders to behold.

In addition to the Barbies, Barbieland is populated with a veritable Ken smorgasbord, led by bleach blond and beachy Ken (Ryan Gosling and

his abs and pecs). He’s as obsessed with Stereotypical Barbie as his best buddy Allan (Michael Cera at his deadpan best) is with him. His rival/buddy Kens include those played by Kingsley Ben-Adir and Simi Liu, to name a couple.

Life is good for Barbie as she tools around in her vintage pink and white Corvette, until it isn’t. To her dismay, she’s suddenly preoccupied with death and her tiptoed feet have gone flat.

Sent for guidance to Weird Barbie (scene-stealing queer actor Kate McKinnon), called that because she represents the Barbies abused by their human owners. In order to find the source of her trouble, at the risk of life and injectionmolded plastic limb, Barbie must venture into the real world. Unbeknownst to her, Ken, who can’t stand the thought of being apart from Barbie, tags along.

Unfortunately for both of them, Ken’s exposure to human males, ranging from the gay couple that cruises him at the beach to the Mattel CEO (played by Will Ferrell) has a negative impact on

him. Before you know it, he’s a raging testosterone monster (funny for someone without testicles).

Meanwhile, Barbie discovers the source of her trouble – a kind of psychic link to the Mattel CEO’s depressed secretary Gloria (America Ferrera, whose female-empowering monologue is worth the price of admission) and her moody and super-smart daughter (Ariana Greenblatt) – leading to wacky pursuits and big dance numbers. There’s also a showdown, involving deprogramming, in Kendom (the temporarily rebranded Barbieland).

As with so many current movies, “Barbie” is at least 25 minutes too long, giving viewers the impression that Gerwig simply didn’t know when and how to end it. Regardless, anyone looking for an alternative to the testosterone-fueled mayhem of the latest “Mission: Impossible” and “Indiana Jones” flicks will find escapism with a message in “Barbie.” Rating: Bt

www.warnerbros.com/movies/barbie

by David-Elijah Nahmod

For decades, GAPA Runway has celebrated queer and trans Asian Pacific Islander excellence with a dazzling pageant. According

to Emmett Chen-Ran, the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance’s Production Chair, it all began in 1988 as an underground dance party at a time when queer Asians were not allowed into white LGBTQ spaces. Over the years it has grown into what it is today. On August 19, this year’s contestants will

battle it out onstage at the Herbst Theatre for the title of Mr., Ms., or Mx. GAPA. In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Chen-Ran explained how the Mx. title became part of the pageant.

“Before me, the show was structured in such a way that there were half Mr. contestants and half

Ms. contestants,” Chen-Ran said. “Almost all the Mr. contestants were cis men and almost all the Ms. contestants were cis men in drag. I was honestly shocked to find out that there were almost no

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in ‘Barbie’

A moment from the 2022 GAPA

‘Passages’ Ira Sachs’ intense drama

by Kyle Amato

Director Ira Sachs returns with another incisive character piece, though this one is far meaner than usual. “Passages” (MUBI) focuses on Tomas (Franz Rogowski), a narcissistic film director who, on a whim, decides to sleep with a woman named Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos) at his wrap party. Much to the chagrin of his husband Martin (Ben Whishaw), Tomas claims this evening has awakened something within him. Tomas feels inspired for the first time in ages and decides this one-night stand could be so much more, abandoning Martin and pursuing a relationship with Agathe.

“Passages” feels like a particularly nasty French New Wave film, but one with a gay relationship at the center. I am always interested in any gay narrative that isn’t about coming out of the closet, as queer life is far more than just the decision to tell straight people who we are.

Tomas views straight life as transgressive and is trying it on like a fun

outfit, totally unconcerned with the people he’s hurting. The second Agathe starts to bore him or ask anything of him, Tomas goes right back to Martin and vice-versa. He cannot be sated by love, he needs the world to revolve around his happiness.

Rogowski makes this near-sociopathic man extremely compelling to watch, smooth and sensual enough that you believe his lovers would keep coming back to him despite his many flaws. His voice can go from a seductive whisper to a violent snarl in a moment, his body coiling like a snake ready to pounce.

Exarchopoulos and Whishaw are able to match Rogowski’s intensity while bringing different types of vulnerability to their roles. In many ways the film is a classic European marriage drama where jealous insults fly, sex is frequent, and dinners with the in-laws are made dreadfully awkward. Sachs is having too much fun indulging his acrid side for “Passages” to get too maudlin.

Though there is an explicit sex scene between Rogowski and Whishaw, the

film is passionate and intimate, not gratuitous. The MPA’s recent decision to give the film an NC-17 rating is ridiculous and bordering on homophobic, a decision which MUBI is rightly ignoring. There is no re-editing this story to have less sex, and any attempts would diminish it.

“Passages” can be understood by a single character detail. Although Tomas lives and works in Paris, he still does not speak a word of French. He deals with this language barrier every day and does not seem interested in changing it, even when meeting Agathe’s very French parents.

“Passages” is the story of a man who is only interested in what benefits him, never what he can do to benefit others. Spending time with him is to root for his downfall, and what a time Ira Sachs has given us.t

www.mubi.com

experience, different gender presentations, different aesthetic styles, different talents,” Chen-Ran said. “It’s important to me that Runway showcases what being queer and Asian in 2023 looks like, so I really try to draw from all parts of the QTAPI (queer and transgender Asian Pacific Islander) community, because it’s really so much more diverse than you might imagine.”

Chen-Ran feels that the kind of visibility that Runway offers is important, given the anti-Asian violence that the Asian community has been subjected to in recent years.

designated female at birth people in the history of the show who had competed.”

The people who ran the show before Chen-Ran had wanted to open

it up to more than just Mr. and Ms. candidates, but they weren’t sure how to go about this. In 2021 Chen-Ran decided it was time and ran a long campaign with surveys and town halls to discuss and figure out what the best format for Runway should be.

“And we landed on no more Mr. and Ms. categories,” he said. “Everyone announces what honorific we should call them if they win and the two highest scorers win. Last year it happened that both winners had chosen Mx. as their honorific, and so the 2022 winners are the first two Mx. GAPAs ever.”

The first category that the contestants compete in is the “Theme Wear Parade,” which is an opening number where the outfits must reflect the show’s theme in some way. This year’s theme is “Into the Looking Glass.”

“We want the theme this year to be about introspection, reflection, looking within,” Chen-Ran said. “What’s a

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theme that encapsulates that? And what are some of the visual elements that can represent that? A lot of people think it’s a reference to ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which it could definitely be interpreted in that way. But our intention is more like the scene in ‘Mulan’ when she’s looking at her reflection in the water.”

The contestants will also compete in a fantasy segment, which is where each contestant has two minutes to showcase a talent or fantasy. This is often the audience’s favorite part of the pageant because each contestant has such differing visions of what their fantasy looks like. This is followed by the evening wear/formal wear category. The pageant concludes with a Q & A segment in which queer Asian luminaries from the worlds of business, politics or entertainment ask the contestants a variety of questions. The contestants have to be on their toes and do some quick thinking in order to come up with good answers.

“I look for a diverse mix of people with different levels of performance

“It’s crazy to think that in a place like the Bay Area that has such a rich and diverse Asian presence that the mindless anti-Asian violence that peaked a couple of years ago even happened,” he said. “Awareness through arts, through advocacy, through just being loud and taking up space is so important for queer and trans Asian visibility. So I’m really proud to have Runway make a difference in advancing that visibility.”

And once the pageant winners are chosen, the new titleholders will find themselves in a very bright spotlight.

“The year of the titleholder’s reign is really what they make of it,” said Chen-Ran. “People have done everything from fundraisers to PR statements to going on tour. And that’s the beauty of being GAPA royalty, is that they’re able to harness the power of their new platform to spread any message or advocate for any cause that is important to them.”t

‘GAPA Runway 2023: Into the Looking Glass,’ Saturday August 19, 7pm, $40-$150, Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave. www.gapa.org/ runway www.cityboxoffice.com

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GAPA Runway’s 2022 crowned winners Obsidienne Obsurd and Siam Pussie

Ben Whishaw, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Franz Rogowski in ‘Passages’

Emmett Chen-Ran, the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance’s Production Chair

teeters but its star shines

by Jim Gladstone

The crowd roars. Backstage, crouching and red-meat-ready, Tina Turner prepares to tear it up, the iconic leonine wig of her 1980s solo stardom flaring in backlit silhouette.

We are in Rio de Janeiro, 1988, where the woman born Anna Mae Bullock is poised to perform for a record-breaking audience of over 180,000. And we are at the Golden Gate Theatre, where this moment still generates tingling electricity 35 years later, reenacted in “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” the biographical musical now playing through August 27.

The pre-show buzz and ecstatic opening number from Turner’s historic Rio performance are split into two scenes that bookend “Tina.” The latter, which comes more than two hours after the first, is an exultant, arena-scale rendition of “The Best” during which you feel Turner’s hard-earned triumph in every snarl and shimmy from Zurin Villanueva (who alternates performances of the title role with Naomi Rodgers).

In Rio and in San Francisco, the crowd is on its feet, shouting and singing along. They’re getting exactly what they want: The ferocious perpetual motion and sandpaper banshee cries of Tina Turner in concert.

The audiences clamor for more. But while the night is young in Brazil, the show is over in San Francisco, where audiences have to settle for less.

The unbridled live energy that will send “Tina” audiences home trilling the producers’ hoped for review –“Simply the best, better than all the rest”– is only intermittently part of the show.

All is well in that big finalé along with another handful of scenes in which Turner performs, records or rehearses familiar numbers, allowing Villanueva to play directly to the audience. Deftly evoking the legend’s spirit rather that attempting mimicry, Villanueva titrates just the right doses of Turner’s signature Southern twang, guttural growl and legs-first physicality into her portrayal.

In a command performance of “River Deep, Mountain High,” for an unctuous Phil Spector (Geoffrey Kidwell), a turbulent “Proud Mary” during the final Ike & Tina tour, an over-the-top 1978 Vegas version of the Trammps’ “Disco Inferno” Villanueva sizzles and burns in top shelf Turner-style.

But the show’s highlights can’t quite compensate for its misfires.

Contemporary folk hero

In this Beyoncé-besotted summer,

the essential story of “Tina” serves to remind us what a true career renaissance looks like compared to an already on-top star’s stylistic changeup. It’s also a story that, as with most bio-musicals, is already familiar to nostalgia-stoked audiences.

Anyone who has read the bestselling memoir “I, Tina,” seen the movie “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” or watched Turner’s harrowing interviews with Oprah, Mike Wallace and others knows that for 16 years, Turner, who died last year at 83, was savagely abused, physically and mentally, by her mentor/husband Ike Turner.

Turner’s growth beyond victimization into strength and self-possession has become a part of contemporary folklore. Like the start-up tone of an Apple computer, just a note or two in her throaty voice instantly shorthands an entire brand story.

And shorthand would be a better way to share Tina’s trials in a mainstream musical theater production.

Turner often said that she wrote her memoir to get Ike’s abuse out of her head. If you’re not keen on seeing it reenacted, much of the first act of “Tina” is tough to take.

In scene after scene, the reptilian Ike berates, humiliates and gutpunches Tina.

As Ike, Roderick Lawrence is so convincingly loathsome that you may feel a resistance to clapping at his curtain call.

We want to see Tina deliver the hits, not Ike.

Undercutting their subject

“Tina” being a jukebox musical, it’s no great surprise that the book, by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prince, is skimpier than a fringed mini-skirt. But it’s a big disappointment to find some of Turner’s most crowd-pleasing songs emotionally rejiggered and musically messed-with in deference to the script.

Turner’s original version of “Private Dancer” is a perfectly self-contained number; a dark character sketch (written by Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler) that gives voice to a world-weary stripper. It isn’t a chapter of Turner’s autobiography, it’s one of her greatest performances as an actor.

So, it’s particularly uncomfortable to see the song’s steeliness turned to maudlin teariness by director Phyllida Lloyd and choreographer Anthony van Laast. In making it into a pseudo-biographical production number about Tina’s post-Ike struggles as a working single mother, they ignore

Turner’s artistic ability to interpret a song that was not at all about herself.

The sensitive solitude of Turner’s “I Can’t Stand the Rain” is similarly inflated into a bizarre “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”-esque company number.

And while the book writers undoubtedly found it clever to connect lyrical snippets of “We Don’t Need Another Hero” –“We are the children… we are the ones they left behind” – to the funeral of Turner’s mother (Roz White), they inadvertently summon up images of Thunderdome’s arch villain during a scene that’s intended to elicit sympathies for the actress who played her.

In crazily mishmashing Turner’s life story and artistic output, “Tina” tosses audiences a ball of confusion. As it happens, “Ball of Confusion” –originally performed by the Temptations– was the first song that Turner record with members of synth-pop band Heaven 17 in 1982. It led to a

contract with Capitol Records for her comeback album.

The script switches that life-changing song to “What’s Love Got to Do with It?,” which Tina and the 17ers cut well after she’d been signed.

Different stages

Beyond Villanueva, the cast features several terrific vocalists: Nicole Powell’s oracular gospel tones go far in fleshing out Turner’s underwritten Grandmother Georgeanna. Ayvah Johnson gives young Anna Mae a spunky punch that makes you believe she could grow up to be Tina.

And Gerard Williams, who plays a bandmate of Ike’s and lover of Tina’s, has a creamy, dreamy baritone that makes his duet with Villanueva on “Let’s Stay Together” the show’s best non-solo number by a long shot.

But it’s the crackling fusion of Villanueva and Turner that intermittently lifts “Tina” above its flimsily

assembled foundation (Bruno Poet’s dynamic lighting and Jeff Sugg’s narrative-driving projections carry some weight as well).

In the end, there’s only so much authentic excitement one could reasonably expect from a Tina Turner jukebox musical. Even her own commercially successful studio recordings of the 1980s tamped down the feral magnetism of Turner’s concert performances. In that first scene of “Tina,” as Turner crouches downstage like a lion, a flashback scene begins to build behind a scrim. Churchgoers in Anna Mae Bullock’s childhood Tennessee are preparing for services hoisting chairs in the air, unwitting Turner tamers. For Tina in beast mode, turn to “Rio ’88,” on video.t

‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,’ through August 27. $43-$113. Golden Gate Theatre, 1 Taylor St. (888) 746-1799. broadwaysf.com

Zurin Villanueva (center) in ‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical’

Matthew Murphy/MurphyMade

“Burt Reynolds once asked me out. I was in his room.”

Phyllis Diller

Flown the coop The

on

Only Murders

In The Building

Season 3 of the stellar Hulu hit series, “Only Murders In The Building” began streaming August 8 and you will love it. This season Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd join Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) for a new mystery as they investigate a murder behind the scenes at a Broadway show. Yes, Meryl Streep.

If you somehow missed the first two seasons of this very good mystery dramedy, three strangers meet in the building in which they all live after a murder of one of the other tenants.

The trio has a shared interest in true crime podcasts and team up to investigate that death and ultimately start their own podcast.

Martin plays a semi-retired actor who was the star of a popular 1990s crime drama, Short plays an ambitious but financially struggling Broadway director who comes up with the idea of the podcast and becomes its director. Gomez is a maybe bisexual, maybe lesbian artist who is living alone in her aunt’s unit and who was friends with the first season’s murder victim.

by Victoria A. Brownworth

When we were young and full of wildness, Paul Reubens’ CBS Saturday morning children’s series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” was one of

those TV shows we were told was for kids, but every queer adult we knew was a devotee. When Paul Reubens died suddenly on July 30 after a secret battle with cancer, we were shocked and saddened.

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In his tight gray suits and red bow tie, with his vocal range from falsetto to baritone, Pee-wee Herman was an iconic comedic figure for us and other Gen Xers and late Boomers in the 1980s. While the character (and Reubens himself) were not gay, Peewee had such queer nerd vibes that we all were mesmerized by him.

Reubens’ stellar com edy cache included host ing “SNL” in 1985 after the wild success of his cowrittens film, the Tim Burtondirected “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”

Reubens did his whole “SNL” opening monologue completely in character (and a few years after being rejected from joining the cast). It was hilarious and vintage Pee-wee. At the end he put on The Big Shoes and did a dance across the stage and we were laughing and crying at the same time.

It will never not be priceless.

Reubens began his comedy career as a member of the historic Los Angeles comedy troupe, The Groundlings. It was there he developed the Pee-wee character with some support from fellow Groundlings member and friend, Phil Hartman. He began appearing on TV shows like “The Gong Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman,” doing his Pee-wee impersonation in the early 1980s. He then developed “The Peewee Herman Show,” a comedy routine that he toured in across country, culminating in an SRO crowd at Carnegie Hall in 1984.

Reubens acted in numerous TV shows other than his own over four decades, including “Murphy Brown,” “30 Rock,” “Portlandia” and “The Blacklist.” Reubens was nominated for an Emmy for his recurring role on “Murphy Brown.”

In 2010 he revived “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” which he performed in Los Angeles and on Broadway. In 2016 Reubens co-wrote and starred in the Netflix original film “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” reprising his role as Pee-wee Herman.

Following his death, a statement written by Reubens was released: “Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years. I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”

RIP, Pee-wee, and Paul. We loved you, too.

are fantastic.

Cooper travels across the U.S. and talks with experts who reveal fun and surprising facts about these creatures who survived the dinosaur age. Cooper is well-trained and well-versed in his chosen field and it’s a delight to watch him go to some amazing lengths to introduce us to a panoply of birds. He also has a surprisingly acute vocal skill for imitating birdsong, which is not common among birders.

Among the exciting events in the series are Cooper climbing the George Washington Bridge in New York City to visit a peregrine falcon mother and her chicks in a nest and his traversing volcanic terrain in Hawaii to pursue honeycreepers. He hikes through Puerto Rico’s huge El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System where we are blessed with parrots.

In season 2, out actress Cara Delevingne played Alice Banks, an artist and Mabel’s love interest. Out actor Nathan Lane plays Teddy Dimas, who has ties to organized crime and who agrees to sponsor the podcast.

“Only Murders in the Building” is very funny and at times very sad. It has some good scares, some really good whodunits and stellar acting from the principals and from the amazing list of guest stars. Will season 3 bring more queerness? Seems likely.

Extraordinary Birder With Christian Cooper

The new series on National Geographic Wild and Disney+ stars out Black gay ornithologist and comic book writer/ editor Christian Cooper. It’s a fabulous six-part series with all things birds and Cooper is just an extraordinary host and educator. His love of birds and all things avian is palpable. And the birds

Cooper made national headlines in 2020 after his video of a confrontation between him and Amy Cooper (no relation), a white woman with an unleashed dog in a section of New York City’s Central Park known as The Ramble, went viral on Twitter. Christian asked Amy to leash her dog as required by law, and she called 911 and said “a Black man” was threatening her. The video was a shocking display of overt racism.

Cooper has a long history of queer firsts. He was Marvel’s first openly gay writer and editor. He introduced the first gay male character in “Star Trek,” Yoshi Mishima, in the Starfleet Academy series, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 1999. He also introduced the first openly lesbian character for Marvel, Victoria Montesi, and created and authored “Queer Nation: The Online Gay Comic.”

Cooper’s birding obsession is lifelong. In the 1980s, he was president of the Harvard Ornithological Club, and is currently on the Board of Directors for NYC Audubon. Cooper also has a long history of LGBT activism, including having been co-chair of the board of directors of GLAAD in the 1980s. Now Cooper is making history again with the first Black birder series, which is just delightful and a must-watch.t

Lavender Tube

Paul Reubens, Christian Cooper and ‘Only Murders’

Paul Reubens in ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’

Warner Bros

Above: Martin Short, Selena Gomez and Steve Martin in ‘Only Murders In The Building’

Below: Christian Cooper

Nearer my god(s)

LGBTQ-inclusive spirituality books, part 2

their Buddha nature and embrace everyone with open hearts so as to transform suffering into liberation. Ballard’s vulnerability is moving and as a balm on the road to spiritual healing.

Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America by Gregory Smithers

$21.95 (Beacon Press)

by Brian Bromberger

Continuing my survey of spiritual resources that are affirming and accepting of LGBTQ people, these books can be used individually as well as in faith communities.

The previous roundup focused on Christian assets. This list focuses on nonChristian wellsprings. In the last decade there has been an explosion of queer interest in Buddhism, Native American, yoga and Wiccan traditions as they attempt to provide inclusive spaces where people don’t have to choose between essential parts of their identity.

Sex, Tech & Faith: Ethics for a Digital Age by Kate Ott, $22.99 (Wm. B. Eerdmans)

Ott is a straight Professor of Christian Social Ethics, but is very LGBTQfriendly. She presents a values-based, shame-free, pleasure-positive discussion of Christian sexual ethics in response to a range of pressing issues in our digital times including online pornography, dating apps, sexting, virtual-reality hookups (including Grindr), and sex robots.

You might not agree with all her conclusions, but her arguments are quite thought-provoking, as she asks what role spirituality plays in your dating profile, your app behavior, and how you understand your sexual self. She provides a very helpful Youth Study Guide to engage teens and young adults in the subject matter of the book, perfect for church groups, as well as those trying to integrate with integrity their sexuality and spirituality.

Dear Revolutionaries: A Field Guide for a World Beyond the Church by Lenny Duncan, $17.99 (Broadleaf Books)

Duncan is a queer, Black pastor of a non-denominational Jubilee Collective faith community in Vancouver, Washington. In previous books he had a vision for a church that could reform itself into something new, but since “the death of the republic” on January 6, 2021, he now believes we need another reformation, a revolution for a new generation of believers to deal with the catastrophes now facing our world.

The institutional church is concerned with reviving itself while God is concerned with reviving a community within and beyond church walls. Duncan’s ministry has always focused on those on the margins, so he envisions a community built on “the complex simplicity of the art of neighboring,” a radical egalitarian built on love, where waging peace is a way of life. It’s geared towards people who have left the church and wonder about their the next step. The book is brutally honest and full of raw emotions, but provides the tools for creating a new spiritual community beyond the church.

Religious Trauma: Queer Stories in Estrangement and Return by Brooke N. Petersen, $95.00 har cover/$45 on Kindle (Lexington)

Petersen, a practicing psychotherapist and lecturer in pastoral theology, draws on current scholarship in trauma studies to make the case for religious trauma providing a framework to understand the experiences of queer people in non-accepting conservative faith communities and the harm done to them. He focuses on the stories of eight individuals who left their church, followed by a period of estrangement, and then rather than

rejecting religion totally, returned to accept congregations of welcome, inclusion, and healing.

Despite reading these disturbing acts of spiritual violence, what impresses the reader most is the resiliency of the survivors, who urge Christian communities to recognize through their intolerance the damage they do. “You can’t love people out of their trauma, but you can bear witness to the stories, do the work of repentance, and reimagine a new future together.”

Christianity, LGBTQ Suicide, and the Souls of Queer Folk by Cody J. Sanders $39.99 (Lexington Books)

With LGBTQ youth facing a higher risk of suicide than their heterosexual peers, this book investigating the role religion plays in queer suicides couldn’t be more timely. Sanders, an American Baptist chaplain to Harvard University, interviewed nine LGBTQ suicide survivors, “who voiced a desire to help churches to become safer, more lifegiving places for LGBTQ people,” by being in conversation with the literature of philosophy, theology, psychology, and other disciplines to make churches aware how poisonous theologies demean and devalue queer lives. Highly recommended for ministers, social workers, divinity students, as well as trauma survivors, it may help to understand and combat this disturbing phenomenon of soul violence.

Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel by Orit Avishai, $30 (NYU Press)

It has only been recently that Orthodox Jews in Israel could start embracing their LGBT sexual or gender identity and stay within the Orthodox fold, being accepted for who they are. Avishai, a Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Fordham University, has drawn on more than 120 interviews, illustrating how queer Jews accomplished this radical change through both political activism and personal interactions with religious leaders and community members.

This shift to create spaces so they could go about their daily lives has occurred in a relatively short time span. Rather than rejecting their religion, queer Orthodox Jews draw from their lived experiences as well as Jewish traditions, symbols, scriptures, and mythologies to embrace their sexual identity, so as to give their lives meaning. While scholarly, it’s approachable and touching at times.

The Wrong Kind of Jew: A Mizrahi Manifesto by Hen Mazzig, $18.00 (Wicked Son)

Mizrahim are the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa (particularly Tunisia and Iraq). Mazzig is an educator and founder of Mizrahi Heritage Month, and advocates on behalf of their history and culture.

Part memoir, part proclamation, he writes, “I’m a bad Jew. I’m bad at meeting expectations of what Jewish looks like, sounds like, thinks like, and means. But I have the audacity to know that I am a bad Jew and feel good about it.”

The same could be said for his proud secular, progressive, queerness. Last year he was named among the top 50 LGBTQ influencers. He not only breaks expectations of what many hold about Jews and race, but also their sexuality. Audacious is the word here with his incredible candor about a neglected and misunderstood minority in Judaism and the role queerness might play in it.

Fritz Bauer: The Jewish Proscutor who Brought Eichmann and Auschwitz to Trial by Ronen Steinke, $30 (Indiana University Press)

German Jewish judge and prosecutor Fritz Bauer (1903-1968) played a key role in the arrest of Adolf Eichmann and the initiation of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials. He was also a closeted homosexual. But he was brought up as a Reformed Jew, which emphasizes social justice. He was an early opponent of Nazism and when they came to power in 1933, he was sent to a concentration camp, but eventually released.

When he returned to Germany in 1949, after exile in Denmark, he made many contributions to the postwar German justice system so it would be more independent and democratic, as well as reforming the penal system. But it was his Jewishness that prompted him to prosecute Nazi war criminals. Later he tried unsuccessfully to overturn Paragraph 175, which criminalized homosexuality. A tortured figure, it appears he committed suicide in 1968, never able to reconcile with his sexuality, but is now considered a gay martyr in Germany.

Muslims on the Margins: Creating Queer Religious Community in North America by Katrina Daly Thompson, $30 (NYU Press)

Thompson, a Professor of Humanities and African Cultural Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison, offers vivid stories of real experiences and diverse perspectives of nonconformist Muslim communities who have reinterpreted their religion and created space for queer, trans, and nonbinary identities within Islam, both in North America and in several international communities.

There’s a critical questioning of established norms and the hope of creating more inclusive religious futures that engages tradition, but isn’t bound to it either. A local note: the book is dedicated to Jack Fertig (Perpetual of Indulgence Sister Boom Boom) who converted to Islam two years before his death. Again, scholarly but compelling and understandable.

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib, $18.95 (Viking)

This is a dramatic memoir with Habib growing up as an Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan, where they faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. The family fled to Canada as refugees, which meant dealing with bullies, racism, possible poverty, and an arranged marriage at age 14.

Fortunately when their prospective husband mentioned he could see occasions when it would be necessary to beat them, Habib’s family –because the Ahmadi sect believes in nonviolence– allowed them to refuse the marriage. They had to deal with men wanting to police them, women who only showed them pious obedience, and then an exploration of queer sexuality, as well as a developing interest in writing, photography, and activism. We find out how their family dealt with their queerness. Habib works with LGBTQ organizations internationally to raise awareness about issues impacting queer Muslims around the world. Habib was named one of the “21 LGBT Muslims who are changing the world” by The Advocate with their photo project, “JustMe and Allah” featured in The Washington Post. The book is a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one’s true self. Despite the anti-LGBT stance of her culture, Habib returned to their religion and helps other queer Muslims to do the same.

A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation by Jacoby Ballard $17.95 (North Atlantic Books)

This book adroitly interweaves the teachings of Buddhist meditation practice with yoga practice as it has impacted queer folk. Ballard is a social justice educator, yoga teacher, and Buddhist teacher-in-training, who uses the wisdom of his elders and stories from his own personal journey as a trans person, to offer tools for processing and healing from trauma individually and in community.

He explores questions like, “The world won’t stop being homo-and transphobic, so how do I encounter that in a way that does the least harm? How do we love what is uniquely queer about us?” Concepts like loving kindness, letting go, compassion, joy, forgiveness, and equanimity are explored through a queer lens, and each paired with corresponding meditations, practices, and beautiful line drawings of queer bodies.

He uses concepts from feminist, Black and queer theory to critique mainstream yoga and the mindfulness movement exploring how it intersects with capitalism, cultural appropriation, and sexual violence in perpetuating queer-and transphobia. Geared toward all marginalized people to summon

Two-Spirits is an umbrella term denoting feminine and masculine qualities in one person manifested in sexual and gender diversity. Prior to European colonization, Indigenous people in Native North America accepted and celebrated Two-Spirits by different names such as miati or okitcitakwe long before Europe did. After 1492, in order to safeguard their existence following violence and persecution, they took their culture underground so as to preserve them.

Smither, a professor of American History at Virginia Commonwealth University, uses archaeological evidence, art, oral storytelling, and some written sources to detail the history of this community and how they were denigrated and erased from history. However, because of their resistance and refusal to be silenced, they’ve reemerged in all their complexity.

While embracing tribal traditional roles, Two-Spirits have refused to be subordinated into Western LGBTQ identities. They adopt a non-binary point of view using gender-neutral terms to express their identities. Lucid and readable, with engaging stories about current Two-Spirits that recovers a lost history that seems even more relevant today, the book was a finalist for the 2023 Publishing Triangle Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction.

Queering Your Craft:

Witchcraft From the Margins by Cassandra Snow

$16.95 (Weiser Books)

“Witchcraft, like queerrness, is an orientation of otherness… not requiring an outside authority to intercede on behalf of them,” writes author Snow.

This book combines queer aesthetic and culture (DIY Culture and chosen family over formal covens) with pagan and metaphysical spiritual practice, for the beginning LGBTQ witch. Snow, a professional tarot card reader who also runs a queer and feminist theater company in Minneapolis, argues that even though witchcraft has always appealed to outsiders and outcasts in society, much of its practice still adheres to society’s binaries and prejudices. She sets out on how to make conventional prayer, words, and symbols work for the queer practitioner while still being true to oneself. The book covers the personal, the collective, and the political, arguing how deeply intertwined all three are in a ‘magickal’ practice for queer people. It serves as a queer introduction to witchcraft, learning the craft with lots of spells and rituals, covering topics such as meditations, altars, grimoires, divinity, shadow work, sabbats, astrology, and moon magick. Her Queer Witch Manifesto is radically inclusive, suggesting wicca is a highly individual spiritual path that looks different for each witch, exploring and celebrating one’s uniqueness with pride and compassion.t

Tim Murphy’s ‘Speech Team’

by Gregg Shapiro

If you have loved gay writer Tim Murphy’s books since his breathtaking 2016 breakthrough novel “Christadora” and its 2019 follow-up “Correspondents,” then you will be happy to know that his fourth novel, “Speech Team” (Viking, 2023) is being released in August.

A powerful story about the consequences of words and a quest for restorative justice, “Speech Team” follows four high school classmates who reunite more than 20 years after graduation following the suicide of a fellow speech team member.

Gregg Shapiro: Tim, if you don’t mind, I’d like to begin with the most obvious question. Did you compete on a high school speech team?

Tim Murphy: Oh my God, yes [laughs]! It was everything to me – it was a portal into literature and politics and journalism and poetry and drama and oratory and so much more. And it was a big collection of weirdo brainiacs, queers, and nerds who competed, both in our high school and other schools in Massachusetts and beyond.

You would stand up before a room of people with your little folder, unless you were doing oratory in which you had to memorize your speech, and do your little presentation, often in the most prissy, mannered, overrehearsed way, and it was just so much fun and so, so gay; one of my best memories of high school along with theater and lit magazine and newspaper and all those other nerdy queer brainy high school pursuits.

In the first chapter, you ask the question that sets the tone for the rest of the book, which is, “Do you think people remember the things they said or did to people that stayed with them their whole lives?”

Well, you’re right, that is setting up the question that drives most of the book. But it is something I think about so much. What is said to Tip by Mr. Gold in the novel was said to me when I was 15 by a teacher. Did that teacher ever think about it again? What would they say or think if they knew I’d never forgotten it?

A few occasions when someone reminded me of something really cutting I’d said to them a long time ago that I’d forgotten, I was shocked, so full of remorse and shame. All you can say is “I am so sorry I said that.” I think that’s all the characters in the book are looking for. And they understand that it is about more than just Mr. Gold having said it – it was that he, an adult, so incisively hit the nerve of a kind of ambient teasing or abuse or commentary they absorbed every day for being so obviously gay, or Black in a white town, or odd and unsociable in a way we would now call neurodivergent.

There is a distinctive shift in tone/voice at the beginning of chapter three in which you write about Tip being a teenager, being queer, and being bullied, during the 1980s, which was an especially difficult time for gay teens. Please say something about the progress, if we can call it that, which has been made following the 1980s, into the early 2010s (when part of the novel is set) to the present day.

My first novel, “Getting Off Clean,” came out in 1997, a decade after I’d graduated high school, and the newly formed gay/straight alliance in the school reached out and asked if I’d come speak to them. I, for my life, could not believe such a group existed – I literally could not fathom it. And I did not go because I was so traumatized by memories of those hallways, and I feel so badly about that to this day.

Obviously, we all know, a huge shift

started happening in the ’90s, and it probably started happening first in places like Massachusetts, which were soft ground for letting go of homophobia because evangelical Christianity is not really a big thing in New England.

Bill Weld in the ’90s was one of the first state governors to actually make LGBTQ students and anti-bullying programs a thing in public schools.

And now we are in this dark time of watching an enormous backlash to all that progress happen in about half of states, with trans and nonbinary kids taking the brunt. It is very infuriating

and heartbreaking and I am always so blown away by the courage of the queer kids who stand up in those states and speak their truth in the face of cynical right-wing lawmakers who use legislation denying their existence as campaign fodder. I think the kids will prevail and we should support them in any way we can.

Sobriety and substance abuse also figure prominently in “Speech Team.” Please say something about that. I have such a history with both.

And I would say I’ve landed finally realizing that 12-step total sobriety from all substances including pot is not for me, although I derived a great deal from that approach for many years and it connected me to some of the dearest friends in my life to this day. But I don’t want it and can’t sustain it, just personally speaking. I’ve learned I’ve had to take a new route of ruthless self-examination and almost of tracking my own subconscious mind in terms of what direction I’m pointed toward. Speaking strictly for myself, it feels more honest. This is such a complex topic.

“Speech Team,” like recent novels by Rebecca Makkai (“I Have Some Questions For You”) and Kevin Wilson (“Now Is Not The Time To Panic”), is about friends revisiting a traumatic event from their formative teen years. This feels like a trend to me. Why do you think it is occurring now?

Yeah, there is definitely this thing happening in literature of I would generally say Gen X or older millennial writers revisiting past events. Honestly, I think it is about how younger people have used social media to really bring this idea of trauma, in all its sizes, to the fore, putting words to

something that has always existed without language to work through, centering it as a thing to be talked about and processed, sometimes almost to an extreme degree.

I think these younger people have woken my generation up to all these things we experienced we thought we just had to push down and forget about and move on, and it’s producing interesting work. It’s about how mores of what is and is not acceptable are constantly changing, and how old ideas of “That’s no big deal, get over it” get interrogated and revised. Have you started working on or thinking about your next book project?

I have actually finished the first draft of a new novel, which currently is one big fat lump [laughs]! And I am happy to report it is not set remotely in Mendhem, Mass., or a place like it –well, except for one smallish flashback part that may well end up on the cutting room floor anyway.

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com.

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Tim Murphy