June 22, 2023 PRIDE Edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Looking forward to SF Pride!

SF Pride Sunday offers options

by John Ferrannini

Once again, two marches will take place in San Francisco on Pride Sunday.

The San Francisco LGBTQ Pride parade will be kicking off at 10:30 a.m. June 25 from Market and Beale streets, celebrating the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that began the modern movement for queer civil rights in the United States.

Half an hour later, the fourth annual People’s March will process down Polk Street at Washington Street, providing a more strident alternative for those commemorating the city’s biggest weekend of the year.

Suzanne Ford, the executive director of the San

Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee that puts on the parade and celebration, told the Bay Area Reporter in April that for the first time, donations will be accepted on the parade route to help cover a budget shortfall. As the B.A.R. noted, SF Pride has an $800,000 budget gap.

Ford also announced in spring that some uniformed police will be allowed to march at the event this year, under the same conditions as last year.

A ban on uniformed officers from marching in the parade was going into effect for the first time last year, which prompted outrage from many quarters, including Mayor London Breed and gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who said they themselves wouldn’t participate if the restriction on police uniforms was enforced.

Breed and Dorsey reversed course when a compromise was reached whereby the police chief and command staff were allowed to march in full uniform while others would be allowed to march out of uniform. (As it turned out, Breed had COVID in late June and was forced to miss the parade and related activities.)

The compromise terms – which will be in effect again this year – allowed the city’s police, sheriff, and fire departments to march together, with command staff allowed in uniform but without visible weapons. Some adjacent officers were allowed weapons for security, but the largest group had to be out of uniform, in shirts with department logos.

Ford talked about the meaning of this year’s

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People watched last year’s San Francisco Pride parade.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Collage by Max Leger, of images generated by AI bot Midjourney

Diamond Heights neighborhood] and every November we have St. Dymphna, when we do fundraising dedicated to

St. Dymphna is the patroness of those suffering from nervous and mental afflictions as well as victims of incest, according to Catholic Online.

Part of that fundraising was a weekend of matinee and dinner performances written and performed by parishio-

“They wanted to write a drag character in there and I got my name from the script, and everyone liked my performance and I couldn’t believe that,” Sweetbriar said. “I hadn’t done drag before. The reason why I continue doing it is because I saw the power of drag at Sweetbriar said drag tapped into her

“I’ve always been an entertainer, interested in singing and dancing,”

But Sweetbriar’s favorite part of performing isn’t anything she does at all;

“Drag brings so much joy to those who come to see it, and I enjoy that,” Sweetbriar said. “All kinds of drag are valid and it’s because those who come to watch it get joy from everyone’s type of drag. From the shyest to the most outspoken member of the audience, they all have a great time.”

In 2016-17, Sweetbriar started performing professionally. She now has nearly two-dozen events a month.

“That’s all I do,” Sweetbriar said.

The recent vitriol against drag performances really picked up steam last year, with TikTok and Twitter accounts expressing outrage while sharing videos of drag events. Some Republican governors have channeled this indignation in recent months, with Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signing a law that bans staging “adult cabaret” on public property in the state as well as anywhere a child might be present. Several experts fear that could impact drag shows, as the state’s pre-existing law defines adult cabaret as “a cabaret that features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers.”

<<

(The law was recently ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, though an ap-

In Florida, the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis –who entered the 2024 GOP presidential contest in May – has gone after several establishments that hosted drag performances, threatening to take away their liquor licenses on the grounds that having minors present at drag shows “corrupts the public morals and outrages the sense of public decency.”

Most recently, DeSantis signed a slate of bills making the Sunshine State –home of Key West, Orlando, and Miami Beach – perhaps the most restrictive for LGBTQ people in the nation. These include a license to discriminate in health care; criminal penalties for gender-affirming care for trans youth; a bathroom bill that requires people to use facilities in public buildings in accordance with their sex assigned at birth; statutory expansion of Don’t Say Gay; forbidding of public funds for gender-affirming care for people of any age; and an “adult live performances” law that’s even more stringent than one passed in Tennessee.

Sweetbriar said that all this is “ridiculous” and “a way for those who are anti-gay, anti-trans, who don’t want to understand who we are and don’t want to take the time to understand. It’s a way to change the narrative and deflect from what’s going on in our country, so we become the problem.”

But, Sweetbriar said, there is hope.

“The new generation – it may be their first fight – but this isn’t new,” Sweetbriar said. “We’ve fought this battle before. The new generation are pretty vocal, as well, and we will fight and overcome this madness as well.”

Juicy Liu

Juicy Liu is the drag persona of Michael Trung Nguyen, 41, who is a former board chair of the GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance, or GAPA, a longtime Bay Area-based organization.

“The very first time was back in college – probably 2001. This is pre‘RuPaul’ era,” Liu told the B.A.R., referring to the popular “RuPaul’s Drag Race” show, which premiered in 2009. “My school had a drag week. I went to a small liberal arts school in Texas, and there were few of us, few gay folks. Did it again in law school, around Halloween; started professionally in 2016.”

Liu graduated from Southwestern University in Texas and UC Law in San Francisco.

At that time, Liu said that she “started

doing drag monthly with the Rice Rockettes at the Lookout,” a gay bar in San Francisco’s LGBTQ Castro neighborhood. Then, two years later, she pioneered her own show, “Juicy Thots,” also at the Lookout.

“I let go of my monthly show after the pandemic, to focus on other things. I did perform as part of Sister Roma’s birthday show at Oasis,” Liu said, referring to the LGBTQ+ nightclub in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. “I pull out my drag when requested for bigger shows,” such as the “Fight to Legalize Drag” benefit at Oasis in April.

When asked about the birthday performance, Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the long-standing drag nun troupe, told the B.A.R. that “I went to a campaign fundraiser for Honey Mahogany at Oasis organized by Juicy. She sang LIVE and I was so blown away I asked her if she would perform for my big 6-0 Diamond Birthday Celebration and she graciously accepted.

Juicy brought the house down!”

Mahogany, who was a contestant on Season 5 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” is a Black trans person who ran unsuccessfully for the District 6 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors last year. She is currently the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and district director for Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco).

Mahogany told the B.A.R., “I adore Juicy Liu and the work she has done with GAPA and her continued engagement fighting for our community.”

flawed but often amazingly accurate. While there are many concerns about how this technology

will

facsimiles of it.

Fred Rowe Foto

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Whirlwind reign so far for SF drag laureate Drollinger

by Matthew S. Bajko

It has already been a whirlwind reign for San Francisco’s inaugural drag laureate, D’Arcy Drollinger. Since being announced on May 18 as the first person to hold the position, she has raised the rainbow flag at San Francisco City Hall for Pride Month and threw out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants’ Pridethemed baseball game on June 10.

She has hosted environmental activist and award-winning actress Jane Fonda at her nightclub, Oasis, and helped say goodbye to her dear friend and fellow drag queen Heklina, who died suddenly in April, at a memorial celebration held at the Castro Theatre. Billboards around town feature her on one of the city’s historic cable cars wishing everyone a “Happy Pride From Your New Drag Laureate.”

Meanwhile, Drollinger was in rehearsals to reprise her role as Samantha Jones in “Sex and the City LIVE!,” the drag parody of the hit HBO series that began a limited run at Oasis on June 15. She is performing at the Pride kickoff party Friday, June 23, for Frameline, the city’s international LGBTQ film festival, and also the following night at Princess Pride, the disco dance party and drag speculator being held at Oasis.

On Pride Sunday look for Drollinger’s contingent in the parade.

“As the first drag laureate I am dedicated to continuing my mission to uplift my fellow members of the LGBTQIA+ community and spread joy throughout the city,” promised Drollinger. “This role builds bridges and creates partnerships while elevating and celebrating the art of drag. I am looking forward to the positive effects this will have on the community, on San Francisco, and the world at large.”

As an ambassador for the drag community and LGBTQ nightlife, Drollinger, 54, will serve for the next 18 months. She will receive a $55,000 hon-

orarium to help cover the costs of her duties in the position, which is modeled after the city’s poet laureate role.

“D’Arcy has been a community activist, a business owner, a true artist and a leader in this community for many, many years,” noted Mayor London Breed in introducing Drollinger last month as her selection for the first-inthe-world position.

Drollinger was “the perfect person” to serve in the role, noted Breed, “because even though the job description starts with ‘be fabulous all the time,’ it also is an important part of representing San Francisco. Representing San Francisco and our values for inclusion, making sure people know that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or who you love, you have someone who has a voice that will always represent you and speak on your behalf.”

Bobby Friday, the drag persona of Bobby Rivera, told the Bay Area Reporter that the first word to come to mind was “grateful” when asked about seeing the city establish the drag laureate position. It is especially important considering the laws banning drag

shows and targeting drag performers that are being passed in other states, noted Friday.

“I am super grateful to live in a place where I am appreciated and celebrated,” said Friday, hired to help co-produce a series of drag shows during June for the Downtown SF Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes businesses and provides services in the city’s Financial District and Jackson Square Historic District areas. “I couldn’t imagine living in a place like Tennessee and fearing I could get arrested for doing what I do. I love San Francisco and am super grateful for the Downtown SF Partnership for inviting me to do this activation.”

San Francisco was the second city in California to initiate having an official drag ambassador. In 2020, West Hollywood was the first known city anywhere in the world to approve the creation of a drag laureate but its rollout of the post was delayed in order for the Southern California city to increase its budget for it. Efforts to create a drag laureate for New York City, so far, remain in limbo.

In May, West Hollywood’s Arts and

Cultural Affairs Commission voted to recommend that the city councilmembers name singer and comedian Pickle, aka Joseph Marcellus Faragher, a Los Angeles native, as its inaugural drag laureate. The City Council is set to vote on doing so when it meets Monday, June 26.

If approved, Pickle will serve from July 1 through June 30, 2025, in the post. It now comes with an annual honorarium of $15,000 for appearances and a yearly event the drag laureate will be expected to host during their two-year tenure.

In a May 26 Instagram post, Pickle thanked the arts panel for selecting her and noted, if confirmed by the City Council, she would follow in the footsteps of the “phenomenal” Drollinger as the second drag laureate in U.S. history.

“Pending @wehocity city council’s approval I will assume this role. I would like to acknowledge the other fantastic applicants who would have done an amazing job in this position. I look forward to serving the city and the drag community,” wrote Pickle.

Drollinger had told the B.A.R. that she would like to collaborate with her Southern California counterpart on an event they could co-host. Though at her official introduction last month as drag laureate, Drollinger couldn’t help but take a victory lap at being the first such person to hold the position anywhere in the world.

“I am sorry L.A. and New York, but we beat you to it!” said Drollinger. Her drag name is the name she was given by her parents. Since D’Arcy works as a gender-neutral name, she decided to use it personally and professionally, though she acknowledges her doing so “gets a little bit confusing.”

Background

Born in San Francisco, Drollinger’s first time dressing up in drag came when she was 3 and donned an outfit similar to the one worn by the beloved nanny character Mary Poppins. When she was 7, her family moved to Stockton, California. They then relocated to Apia, the capital city of Samoa, due to her

mother, who was an anthropologist, being hired for a job in the Polynesian island country.

In 1980, at age 17, Drollinger moved again to Nevada City, California, where her parents taught at a Quaker boarding school. By the early 1990s, she was living back in San Francisco, working at the nightclub 1015 Folsom.

It was there, when RuPaul came to perform her dance hit “Super Model,” that Drollinger first dressed up as a drag queen in honor of the special guest. While her look was more that of a club kid, recalled Drollinger, she had “such a good time” she kept dressing up in drag.

She wrote and produced her own four musicals in San Francisco. Wanting to have a career on Broadway, Drollinger moved to New York City in 1998.

She landed a job with the production company behind “Hairspray” and worked on the out-of-town tryouts in Seattle. After it opened on Broadway, Drollinger landed a job assisting the production team behind the musical “The Producers.”

Through mutual friends RuPaul hired Drollinger to choreograph her Diva’s 2000 concert at Madison Square Garden. Drollinger’s last Broadway job was working for costume designer William Ivey Long.

“That was my stint on Broadway. It was exciting and very eye-opening,” recalled Drollinger, who moved back to San Francisco in 2011.

Heklina, the drag persona of Stefan Grygelko, and Drollinger became co-owners of Oasis, which opened on New Year’s Eve in 2014 at the corner of Folsom and 11th streets in a historic LGBTQ venue that was once home to a bar with an in-ground pool called The Plunge. Their doing so rejuvenated the city’s LGBTQ nightlife scene, particularly in the SOMA neighborhood.

“I saw a need for the community and lifting other community members up while doing my art,” recalled Drollinger. “It felt like the next step in this trajectory was the drag laureate program.”

Her tenure as drag laureate coincides with Drollinger working to open a film production studio in the city where she plans to shoot her new feature motion picture. Drollinger, via her nonprofit Oasis Arts, is renovating a large commercial space in the South of Market neighborhood on Fourth Street at Bryant.

It will have a 5,000 square foot sound stage that local queer filmmakers will be able to use. It is where Drollinger plans to shoot the sequel to her 2020 film “Shit & Champagne” starring her stripper character Champagne Horowitz Jones Dickerson White. Construction on the space should be completed in July.

“We are creating a fully functional film production studio,” said Drollinger. t

we mark the 50th anniversary of Pride, we are reminded that the fight for equality continues, and we are proud to be allies in the pursuit of justice.

San Francisco drag laureate D’Arcy Drollinger prepares to throw out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night June 10.

Bill Wilson

San Francisco drag laureate D’Arcy Drollinger throws out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night June 10.

Bill Wilson

San Francisco drag laureate D’Arcy Drollinger, flanked by state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), left, and Mayor London Breed, made remarks at the mayor’s City Hall Pride flag raising ceremony June 2.

Jane Philomen Cleland

SF, beacon for queer tourists, battles bad perceptions

by John Ferrannini

They came from Russia, South Africa, Brazil, Japan, and Australia –on almost any given weekday at 10 a.m. they can be found at the rainbow flag pole at Castro and Market streets, ready for a two-hour walking tour of the crossroads of the queer world.

Or is it, still?

Kathy Amendola, a lesbian who has been running Cruisin’ The Castro Walking Tours for the past 18 years, told the Bay Area Reporter she will have to cut back on tours because of dangerous San Francisco street conditions.

“My tour members are appalled that outdoor drug use is acceptable,” Amendola said. “One member of my tour group said, ‘This would never happen in my city.’ It shouldn’t happen in any city.”

Amendola’s business is the city’s first and only legacy business tour company. Now, she’s announced she’s leaving the Castro Merchants Association for what she sees as a reluctance to be tough enough with the police and public officials.

“They have no vision of what we can be and it is frustrating for myself, knowing how great we can be, how we can be a heritage site,” Amendola said.

The news comes just as San Francisco works to restore its reputation, lowered by rampant property crime, open-air drug use and sales, and business woes.

According to a report (https://downtownrecovery.com/death_of_downtown_policy_brief.pdf) from the Institute of Governmental Studies released in the spring, downtown San Francisco ranked last among 62 North American cities in recovering from the COVID pandemic.

The pandemic exacerbated issues that had already been salient (https://www. ebar.com/story.php?ch=news&sc=busi ness&id=323292) in the Castro neighborhood – particularly empty storefronts, onerous regulation, and blight. And while progress has been made on the latter in recent years, even boosters of the city concede the needle has only moved so much.

The city that for decades was the gay Oz now asks how much more of its rainbow will fade.

Snapshot of SF tourism

Jane Natoli, a trans woman who’s on the commission that oversees San Francisco International Airport, told the B.A.R. that the dour public perception of the city can make it difficult to boost it.

“Our reputation matters,” Natoli said.

“It’s certainly a challenge – I don’t want to degenerate that, but I think what we’re seeing – is we’re still seeing strong travel, people who are coming here and seeing that’s not the entire story, but certainly when you’re thinking about and planning a trip from far away, it has an impact and that’s something we need to work on.”

Nonetheless, the city remains “a great place to come if you’re an LGBTQ+ traveler,” Natoli said. Between the site of Harvey Milk’s historic camera store, the GLBT Historical Society Museum, and the bars and clubs of the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood and South of Market, the city can offer visitors a unique opportunity to learn about the queer community’s past and present.

Indeed, LawnStarter (https://www. lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/mostlgbtq-friendly-cities/) just ranked the City-by-the-Bay as the most friendly in the country to LGBTQ travelers. Oakland, No. 9, was the only other California city in the top 10.

Natoli said she doesn’t know how many travelers to SFO are LGBTQ because “that’s not necessarily something we seek or collect, in terms of information.” The San Francisco Travel Association puts the figure at 7.5% of the total number of 21.9 million visitors the city saw in 2022.

SFO triumphantly announced May 15 that it expects 14.9 million travelers this summer, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, which would put it at

85% of summer 2019 numbers before the COVID pandemic hit in early 2020.

“We are certainly seeing strong recovery on flights, and considering the predominant drivers of what we saw prior to COVID – business travel and tourism – I think it has largely recovered,” Natoli said. “We still haven’t gotten all the way back to where we were, but we’re very close, actually, and in my personal experience we’ve seen an uptick.”

Natoli said she has queer friends coming for Pride this weekend.

“Looking ahead to Pride, anecdotally, I know a lot of people are coming to San Francisco soon and are planning to be here for it in a way I hadn’t heard for five years,” Natoli said.

Daniel Schwartz, a straight man who is the director of global tourism development for the Americas with San Francisco Travel, said that the LGBTQ traveler is “an important pillar for us.”

“Pride Month has always been an opportunity for us to push out an important message,” he said, adding that the association likes to highlight the “diversity in terms of entertainment we have here,” including nightlife.

Lynn Bruni-Perkins, a straight woman who is the executive vice president and chief marketing officer for San Francisco Travel, agreed that “from a marketing perspective, the LGBTQ visitor has always been an important segment of our target demographic.”

She said the association put a video online during the 2020 Pride season to highlight the community even though official, in-person Pride events did not happen that year, and that the association has an annual Pride sweepstakes.

Bruni-Perkins said that this year, the city is projecting two million more visitors total than last, putting the figure at 23.9 million.

“In 2019 we had a record-breaking year,” Bruni-Perkins said. “We had 26.2 million visitors. The recovery is somewhat being delayed because of visitation from China. China is one of our key feeder markets for international travelers but, because of travel restrictions, that has been slower to recover. We are projecting we will be closer to 2019 numbers in 2024-25.”

Thirty percent of the city’s visitors are international, Bruni-Perkins said. The top international markets are Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and Germany. Before the pandemic China had been No. 1.

Bruni-Perkins said the association doesn’t have data on the nationality of LGBTQ travelers, specifically.

“We don’t really cross-tabulate that against the LGBTQ audience,” she said.

“A couple of things from our study of pre-pandemic versus post is our demographic has gotten a bit younger, and the household income has also increased.”

Schwartz was on the same page as Natoli in terms of the city’s space in the tourism market – a strong presence, but with a tarnished reputation in need of restoration.

“We still have a really strong brand, and that brand continues to be enhanced by people’s experiences, but absolutely it’s a challenge,” he said, about being a booster for the city in 2023. “It’s something we are trying to combat and we are doing a number of things on the tourism team, as well to have people showcase the great experiences you can have in San Francisco, whether that’s working with influencers – because people trust their peers – or other tactics, to provide positive exposure to San Francisco.”

Bruni-Perkins said that the association’s media team pitches “positive domestic and international media outlets outside the region to “counteract and reclaim that narrative.”

The association took a step in that direction recently – a $6 million ad campaign with the city’s first-ever commercial for tourism. It features Lady Camden of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fame, the Castro Theatre, and a 21st century rendition of “San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate.”

Cruisin’ The Castro

It’s the open Golden Gate that still beckons those millions here, and to get up early on a vacation day for Amendola’s regular tours of the Castro.

This reporter attended a May 2 tour, which was attended by about a dozen people, most of whom were domestic travelers, though there were also tourists from the U.K. and Germany. (This reporter announced his presence and openness to interviews on several occasions, but none of the travelers took up the offer.)

Amendola began the tour with a few lines about the city’s interlocking homelessness and drug abuse crises, telling people to be aware that “this is San Francisco – we have a lot of unhoused individuals, unfortunately. We have a drug problem.” She then spoke about the history of her company, which started in 1989 and which she acquired in 2005 after the retirement of founder Trevor Hailey, who died in 2007.

Along the tour, Amendola discussed the hanky code (a non-verbal way for gay men to communicate), wearing an earring on the left earlobe (an early way to signify that they’re gay though it’s largely lost its sexual significance https:// www.sdlgbtn.com/what-side-of-theear-do-gay-men-wear-earrings/), the history of the rainbow flag – co-created by Gilbert Baker – the persecution of homosexuals in Germany during the Nazi era, the rise of Milk and his assassination, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

She also took the tourists to the Eureka Valley branch of the city’s public library, so they can learn about the many amenities libraries have to offer, and discussed in-depth the anti-LGBTQ backlash going on around the country, as well as the fact that LGBTQ people are two-and-a-half times more likely to experience “stress, anxiety, and depression, because of social oppression.”

Amendola told the B.A.R. she hopes people take that political message home with them when they vote.

“I utilize my tours to advance for positive social change,” she said. “Americans in particular have no idea that not all Americans are equal. I refer to it as the big white lie. So I try to inspire and educate people.”

And her tour company has only grown, with last year being her best, she said. She conducts tours people can sign up for online (https://cruisinthecastro. com/book-a-tour/) and also tours for private and corporate groups.

‘Post-traumatic stress’

But Amendola joins the growing chorus of people fed up with the city’s seemingly intractable status quo.

“Let it be known, that no other Castro business has been in direct interaction with the daily drug psychosis that has allowed vagrants to illegally block sidewalks, literally shit on historical LGBTQ sites, spit on me, throw things, scream at my tour members or openly smoke meth in front of my clients which include many schoolchildren,” she stated in a letter explaining her reasons for leaving the merchants group, which she said her company has been a member of for decades. “Most business owners are

safely behind their storefronts and can protect themselves and their customers. Mine are in the direct line of fire. Of course, I’m going to be vocal about advocating for my safety as well as my clients by holding useless politicians, mental health agencies and yes, SFPD [the San Francisco Police Department] responsible for their failure to successfully protect and serve.”

Amendola said that “many LGBTQ Castro business owners and employees suffer from secondary post-traumatic stress as again, the daily trauma imposed upon us by drug addicts and mentally unstable people who refuse services or upholding viable public health and safety codes are allowed to willingly break laws without any consequences. LGBTQ people suffer 2.5 times MORE from stress, anxiety and depression than heterosexuals. This alone is a community wide health crisis and should be treated as one.”

Amendola was up for election to the merchants’ group’s board last month, but was not among those selected.

The B.A.R. reported last year that Amendola stated in July 2022, a group of “five individuals – crazy, drug-infused junkies – walked up and stood with my tour group while belligerent, barefoot, smelly; one guy was taking a hit off his meth pipe and another was screaming bloody murder and pulling his pants down and mooning traffic. … I had my finger on my pepper spray each incident. Over the past few years, it’s been very dan-

gerous for me to operate walking tours, no matter what time of day it is.”

As the B.A.R. reported last week, Amendola disagrees with the assessment of gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and straight ally SFPD public safety liaison Dave Burke that street conditions are improving.

“If you stand at Castro and Market [streets] at 9-10 in the morning, just watch the psychosis going on all over the corners,” she said. “As a business owner, I am the only company exposed to drag my tour members through illegal drug encampments and psychosis and mental illness.”

Burke said he understands Amendola’s concerns.

“I know how Kathy feels and I respect that,” Burke said. He reiterated the responsibility of neighbors, landlords, and businesses to look out for each other.

Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who is the president of the merchants association and co-owner of Cliff’s Variety on Castro Street, responded to Amendola’s concerns in a statement to the B.A.R.

“We acknowledge the challenges faced by our community, including the ongoing issues related to public safety, vacant storefronts, and the impact of the drug and crime crisis,” Asten Bennett stated. “The Castro Merchants board is committed to taking proactive measures to address these concerns (such as our

Kathy Amendola points to the murals at the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy during a recent Cruisin’ The Castro Walking Tours.

John Ferrannini

Lady Camden of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is featured in SF Travel’s first television commercial promoting the city as a destination.

Courtesy SF Travel

The Lunar New Year parade is featured in SF Travel’s television ad campaign aimed at bringing tourists to the city.

Courtesy SF Travel

Mohamed is beacon of hope for LGBTQ Qataris

by Heather Cassell

Dr. Nasser “Nas” Mohamed could no longer stay silent as the FIFA Men’s World Cup ramped up for last year’s games in Qatar.

The Middle Eastern country continued to deny allegations of human rights abuses, especially against Qatari LGBTQ citizens. Qatar’s government refused to have a conversation about LGBTQ rights on the global stage with FIFA, some governments (even those participating in the global soccer tournament), and numerous human rights organizations.

Mohamed, who lives in San Francisco, is believed to be the first Qatari to publicly come out as gay, which he did last year when he spoke out about the abuses against LGBTQ Qataris in his former homeland in an interview with the BBC. In doing so, it thrust him into the global spotlight and strained his relationship with his family and the place of his birth and youth.

The 36-year-old primary care physician, who runs the LGBTQ-affirming Osra Medical in the city, can never return to Qatar, he said. If he did, he could face up to seven years in prison or even death, not only for publicly stating he is gay but also for speaking out against Qatar’s authoritarian government ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid1800s, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Living in the U.S. doesn’t guarantee safety, Mohamed, who received death threats after coming out, told the Bay Area Reporter.

Coming out is only one of the reasons why Mohamed is a San Francisco Pride community grand marshal at this year’s parade and celebration themed, “Looking Back and Moving Forward.”

SF Pride board President Nguyen Pham told the B.A.R. in a statement that the organization was “honored to count Dr. Nas Mohamed among our

ranks of queer luminaries” this year. Recalling last year when Mohamed marched in the parade for the first time, Pham called it a “watershed moment to uplift queer activism from the Gulf region” in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“We at San Francisco Pride are honored to provide a platform for Dr. Nas to spread his message of inclusion and liberation,” Pham wrote, stating the community elected him as one of the community grand marshals “for a good reason.”

“He’s doing something that no one else in the history of this world has ever done, not to mention at great risk to himself,” Pham wrote. “We are elated that he is so firmly embedded in this year’s events and in the SF Pride family.”

Mohamed didn’t simply say, “I’m a gay Qatari,” when he took his story to the media. Since coming out, he has actively worked toward building a community for queer and gender-diverse Qataris in the diaspora and back in the Gulf state, where the community is so repressed it is isolated and fragmented.

He started two virtual support

groups, one for LGBTQ Qataris and the other for Qatari women (including queer Qatari women), to connect and break down the isolation so many queer and gender-diverse Qataris feel.

“I always felt like I was alone,” Mohamed said, stating his feelings were echoed by other queer Qataris he has met. “Now I know hundreds of people like me from home.

“Being in that group, honestly, has been really helpful for all of us, me included, to just feel like we’re part of the community and share our moments,” he added. “We’re just sharing the moments with each other and celebrating the milestones.”

Mohamed grew up in a conservative family in a rural part of Qatar. He came to the U.S. to go to medical school in New York in 2015. In America, he was finally able to live openly as a gay man. He moved to San Francisco and found a thriving LGBTQ Middle Eastern community created by gay Iraqi American Ghazwan Alsharif’s ASHEq SF, a queer Middle Eastern community. He opened his medical practice in 2019.

Mohamed became a U.S. citizen March 20.

“San Francisco is the one right spot for me,” he said. “It just has this magic about it. It has this really strong, amazing community.”

Last year, when he was still seeking asylum in the U.S., he spearheaded a global petition campaign, “Love is Not a Crime” that received nearly 100,500 signatures ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. With $30,000 he raised through a social media campaign, he launched the Alwan Foundation with fiscal sponsor the LGBT Asylum Project to provide support, advocacy, and research to queer Qataris in the U.S., United Kingdom, Europe, and Qatar.

The LGBT Asylum Project’s cofounder and Executive Director Okan Sengun did not respond to a request for comment from the B.A.R.

This spring, the foundation granted its first $3,000 scholarship and raised an additional $3,000 for an anonymous transgender Qatari recipient in the U.K. to cover legal fees for their asylum case, he said.

Mohamed also assisted Human Rights Watch with its report, “Qatar: Security Forces Arrest, Abuse LGBT People: Discrimination, Ill-Treatment in Detention, Privacy Violations, Conversion Practices

He said he did this voluntarily with minimal financial support.

Qatar and FIFA

The global men’s soccer tournament shined a harsh spotlight on Qatar in 2022. The Gulf country received unrelenting criticism globally for its dismal human rights record from labor rights to LGBTQ rights to women’s rights to the lack of freedom of expression, the press, information, and association.

Mohamed decided to seize the moment but said he found it challenging and disheartening to engage and try to bring key players from soccer teams and celebrities who were willing to step up and challenge FIFA and Qatar’s government’s record on LGBTQ rights. He said he met with nine countries’ soccer teams who ended up not listening. Former U.K. soccer star David Beckham, who was a World Cup ambassador in Qatar, blocked him on social media. Brazilian queer singer Ludmilla, who performed in Qatar, ghosted him soon after he connected with her team, he said.

“They are one of the most powerful authoritarian dictatorships in the world,” Mohamed said about Qatar’s leadership. The country is “so tiny” yet it “can summon the entire world to go play soccer. It’s insane how powerful they are.”

It is estimated that FIFA’s revenue from the games was $7.5 billion, and Qatar’s revenue was $1.56 million, according to the Michigan Journal of Economics.

“Engaging with me publicly costs money and costs political relationships with our region,” he said about the “disappointing” lack of response.

“I know you want to make money ... but not at the price of you being slaughtered,” Mohamed said about Ludmilla. “I wouldn’t do that.”

Ludmilla did not respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference the day before the World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino dismissed concerns about Qatar’s human rights record, compared himself to marginalized people and took aim at critics of the country’s hosting of the tournament, the Washington Post reported.

“Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker,” Infantino told journalists in Doha, the capital.

As criticism grew ahead of the games, Qatar’s government sent

conflicting messages, the B.A.R. previously reported, The government attempted to reassure the Western world that LGBTQ players and fans would be safe during the games in the country but was silent about its queer citizens. At the same time, government officials publicly made antiLGBTQ comments in the media.

Things continued to heat up when Australian-British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell demonstrated outside the National Museum of Qatar in Doha, wearing a white T-shirt with the hashtag “#QatarAntiGay,” last October, ahead of the start of the World Cup in November. Tatchell could have been arrested and jailed. Instead, he was deported.

Some teams had planned to wear “OneLove” rainbow armbands on the field, but none did after facing heat from FIFA, as Time reported. Mohamed was critical of Tatchell’s blatant disregard for his and other LGBTQ Qatari’s requests not to protest in Qatar.

“It really didn’t serve us at all,” he said. “It just really shifted that attention to him. [Queer Qataris] all felt so betrayed when that happened.”

Tatchell disagreed, pointing to the attention generated in more than 5,000 media outlets that reached an estimated 1 billion people. That led to some backlash but also conversation within Qatar, he said.

“Through that coverage, I was able to highlight the human rights abuses of LGBTs, women, and migrant workers in Qatar as I had been requested to do by the Qatari human rights defender group,” he told the B.A.R. earlier this month.

Qatari human rights advocates who reported back to him since then have said the protests and Western attention on Qatar provoked conversations that hadn’t previously taken place “especially, among the younger Qataris in particular.”

“That is definitely a positive. I’m told those conversations are ongoing within quite strict parameters because of the very repressive regime,” Tatchell added.

Mohamed dismissed Tatchell, stating his actions were “provocative for the sake of being provocative and getting attention” and that he “does not strategically think about influencing long-term change or even short-term change.”

The two gay activists continue to disagree about how to handle LGBTQ rights when it comes to Qatar.

The other side of the rainbow Mohamed, who has given hope to queer Qataris around the world that they are finally able to see themselves reflected, made a crack in Qatar’s global public relations narrative around LGBTQ rights and made important relationships, he said.

There is no way LGBTQ Qatari’s can organize in Qatar, Mohamed said. “That would be extremely dangerous,” he explained, but he can be a beacon for them as an out gay Arab from the Gulf and an “immigrant/American.”

He said his coming out has changed things.

“My life is just different now,” he said. “I thought there was going to be this one campaign, but the work was just the momentum to start something and it just keeps growing.

“It was just really powerful to feel how the work we do here can really be global,” he continued.

Mohamed is proud and grateful that there is international interest in his activist work at San Francisco Pride and that he was selected to serve as a community grand marshal.

“The essence of pride is about universal human rights,” he said. “Looking back, if there wasn’t a fight here, I wouldn’t have a place … to do what I’m doing now.

“Pride is something that belongs to all humans, everywhere,” he said. t

Gay Qatari Dr. Nasser Mohamed wore traditional Qatari garb with a rainbow sash as he walked through the Castro District in San Francisco.

Dan Nicoletta

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DJ Hodel is back spinning, celebrating 40 years

by Heather Cassell

The music was pumping and the dance floor and bar were packed at Oakland’s White Horse Bar last month.

Veteran award-winning San Francisco Bay Area lesbian disc jockey Page Hodel was behind the turntables, keeping the energy upbeat. A diverse crowd – queer, straight, young, middle-aged, old, Black, Brown, and white – was at the sold out night to grind and groove, working up a sweat at the May 20 grand opening of JOYride.

JOYride is a weekly dance party every Saturday from 8 p.m. to closing time. In true Hodel style, this club is open to everyone who simply wants to dance to a mix of old-school and hip-hop dance classics, 1970s funk, and house music that brings people out onto the dance floor to have a good time.

The club also marks a new era as Hodel, 66, celebrates four decades of spinning the beats.

During the pandemic, Hodel took an extended break from getting people up on their feet dancing. COVID-19 put Hodel’s disc jockey business and working at Living Jazz , a jazz education organization, on hold for several years. The pandemic even kept her from celebrating her four decades of bringing the sounds and rhythm to all kinds of parties. For more than 40 years, Hodel has spun at every type of party, from private gatherings to bars and nightclubs (including promoting her own successful clubs, the BOX and Club Q) to the high seas. Wherever music was needed, Hodel brought the beat.

During the downtime, Hodel launched Page’s Carpentry School in the North Bay city of Sebastopol, where she lives. Being the businesswoman that she is, Hodel took advantage of the pandemic by nurturing her second love of building tiny homes and converting buses into livable spaces. Today, she spends part of her time teaching her building and carpentry skills to others.

However, the siren call of nightlife – music and people gathering in community on the dance floor – and an old friend, Patty Dingle, called with an opportunity to bring Hodelback to the DJ booth. Dingle recently bought the White Horse Bar in Oakland, which bills itself as the oldest operating bar in the nation, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

It is also an opportunity for Hodel to finally celebrate her years of spinning the music by partying it up during San Francisco Pride weekend at an extended dance party taking partygoers through four decades of dance music at JOYride at the White Horse, she said.

“She’s always going to bring it and she’s always going to create that environment for people where they’re gonna walk away and they’re gonna say, ‘Man, I had a great time,’” said Dingle, who has known Hodel for decades dancing at the BOX and sometimes at Club Q when she wasn’t behind the bar mixing and serving drinks at Townsend.

Dingle called Hodel a “unicorn,” spinning the hits at weddings, nightclubs, and street parties with thousands of people, which she said is “incredibly significant.”

“She’s a gift to the community,” she said. “We need to cherish that. We need to honor that.”

Inspiration

Hodel always knew that she was going to be involved with music. She entertained friends, business associates, and family, as music filled her father’s homes in Marin County north of San Francisco, where she and her three siblings – the late Mark Hodel, Ann Hodel, and Alex Hodel – were born and grew up.

“My father loved music,” said Hodel, who was close to her father, Eugenio “Dany” Hodel, who was from Romania. “As the alcohol would flow in our house, the stereo got louder.”

Then “my father would get out his guitar and start singing and playing,” she said.  Hodel said the kind, tender, and

warm man transformed “when he put that guitar in front of him. I just recognized it was like his whole being opened up and his emotions flowed through the guitar. I was very moved by that.”

Page Hodel’s sister, Ann Hodel, who is eight years younger, echoed her sibling’s memories of their father’s tenderness and love for the arts, recalling him playing music all the time.

“She just had it in her too,” Ann Hodel, who’s also a lesbian, said about her older sister, calling Page Hodel her “greatest hero.” She is not surprised that Page Hodel is still in the DJ booth getting people out onto the dance floor.

Ann Hodel recalled the energy in the nightclubs Page Hodel created when she worked for her for nearly three years between college and graduate school at the BOX and Club Q in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“It’s where she shines,” said Ann Hodel, 58. “She has that magic of creating incredible energy on the dance floor and bringing all kinds of people together.

“She just creates such a unique energy, that is such a celebration of life, people, and all the things that make us who we are,” she added.

Ann Hodel, who lives in Colorado, won’t be able to celebrate her sister’s career milestone during San Francisco Pride weekend at JOYpride at the White Horse Bar, she told the B.A.R. But she plans to visit and dance to the beats her sister spins as soon as she can.

Their father went to boarding school in Switzerland. He later moved to Paris, where Dany Hodel met her mother, Peggy Hodel, an American. They moved to California, married, and settled. Her father ran a textile factory in San Francisco. Page Hodel and her siblings’ childhood was at times a “bumpy ride.” Their parents divorced. Her father remarried. A younger half-sister came into the family. Then Hodel’s mother suddenly died of a heart attack when she was 14 years old.

“Music was always a place that I could go and escape,” Page Hodel said about growing up in the 1960s. Fortunately, “music was everywhere here in California.”

When she was 16 years old, Page Hodel was sent to music school in Paris to learn classical guitar. Hodel was a selftaught funk guitar player. She pulled out her electric guitar in class and the teachers just looked at her.

“It was hysterical,” she said. “I’m not a classical guitar player.”

Paris ended up being a magical year for Page Hodel. Aware from an early age that she is a lesbian, she found community in the City of Lights. She immediately found herself adopted by a lesbian couple – Lucy Ap Roberts, an American from Berkeley, and Germaine Mendlshaft, her French partner – who were her neighbors and remain lifelong friends. She also fell into the circus crowd and fell in love with Robin Mide, a mime from New York City.

After a year in Paris, the couple returned to the states and settled in Oakland. It was the early 1970s, the Stonewall riots in New York City had just happened, and Betty Friedan’s book,

“The Feminine Mystique,” had touched a nerve, kicking off the feminist movement. The LGBTQ and women’s movements were emerging and so was Oakland’s women’s music scene, as the B.A.R. previously reported. Page Hodel joined a short-lived women’s funk band, Mama Says Funk, and other bands, playing rhythm guitar.

Page Hodel knew that she should have kept playing guitar and creating music. She feels the pull of it every day, she said. However, life intervened and she found her musical outlet in mixing and spinning music and throwing birthday parties.

“I’ve found the same voice,” she said.

‘She was the party’

Page Hodel ended up in San Francisco after she and Mide broke up after three years together. It was in the late 1970s, when Page Hodel, who was then in her early 20s, attracted the attention of legendary San Francisco lesbian bar owner Rikki Streicher, who owned Amelia’s and Maud’s, two of the city’s beloved bygone lesbian bars. Streicher’s bar manager, Susan Fahey, invited Page Hodel to spin at Amelia’s.

“Susan called me up and said, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing at your birthday parties, but we’re empty. So, why don’t you bring them over here?’” said Page Hodel, who was wowed that she was paid at the end of the night for playing music and having fun at Amelia’s.

Fahey, a 71-year-old gay woman, told the B.A.R. in a phone interview from the East Coast that she noticed a dip in business on certain nights. She asked around. That’s how she ended up at one of Page Hodel’s warehouse parties and invited her to spin at Amelia’s.

“She was so fresh and bright,” she said about Page Hodel, who also became a friend, recalling her energy “was just infectious” and “her music was also fresher, in my experience.” Fahey mentioned Page Hodel’s ability to mix genres and emerging artists with well-loved dance favorites the crowd sang along with.

“There was something about when Page started playing that people really came alive,” Fahey said. “She really was the music. She was the party.”

Page Hodel spun at Amelia’s every Thursday in the early 1980s for about four or five years, said Fahey, who retired in 2021 from the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, where she worked in communications.

Page Hodel also recalled the fun times at Amelia’s.

“It was just such a good fit. I just started DJing right then and there,” said Hodel. She immediately sold her guitar and bought turntables.

Soon after, Page Hodel befriended the mix master of the late 1970s and early 1980s the late disc jockey and producer, Cameron Paul, who taught her the ropes of how to mix and edit. That was the beginning. She didn’t look back. She worked other jobs, such as a bicycle messenger and at a phone company, during the day and spun at night and on the weekends.

Paul’s influence on clubgoers of the era from his master mixes on radio stations KSOL and KMEL and in the DJ

booth was the reason to head out to the nightclub at that time, according to 48Hills .

Page Hodel herself was the first woman mixer on local mainstream radio stations. She spun the noon mix on the Bay Area soul radio station KSOL and she was mixtress Page Hodel on LIVE105 doing the midday mix.

Page Hodel spun for anyone and everyone in San Francisco through the late 1970s and much of the 1980s. She stepped into the DJ booth as the resident disc jockey at the old Oasis in San Francisco in 1984, which at the time was straight-owned, as the B.A.R. previously reported. She DJed all over the Bay Area and in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Paris.

Running her own show

Toward the end of the 1980s, Page Hodel was restless. For a decade she conformed to what other people, such as nightclub managers, wanted her to play rather than what she wanted to play and what she felt the audience wanted.

“The one thing that was very hard for me was having to conform to somebody else’s palate, not playlist,” Page Hodel said, noting that back then the clubs were racially segregated meaning the Asians, Blacks, Latinos, and whites went to their own establishments – they didn’t mix. “Each club has its own sound, which is totally fine of course, but people wanted to hear what I was playing, and I knew what they wanted to hear.

“I wanted to have my own thing and play what I want and invite everybody and make everybody feel really welcome,” said Page Hodel, who not only kept the energy up in the DJ booth but also brought then-emerging artists, like Queen Latifah, who brought the late Oaklander Tupac Shakur, to perform at the BOX before he became a rap legend, she recalled.

The result was the BOX and Club

Q. The clubs were an instant hit. Page Hodel mixed hip-hop, soul, and house music and welcomed everyone to dance at the BOX at the Kennel Club, which is now the Independent, from 1988 to 1999. A year later, she opened Club Q, an all-women’s dance party at the former nightclub, Townsend, which ran from 1987 to 2003.

Former club owners all said there was always a big crowd when Page Hodel was in the DJ booth.

Jürg Spoerry, 65, who owned the Kennel Club with his wife, Brook Spoerry, said he will never forget the opening night of the BOX, calling it “nuts” and “crazy.”

“The place was drenched in sweat. It was so hot. The energy was off the charts,” he said, adding it was “unbelievable.”

“We are not prepared for such a success,” Spoerry said.

The couple loved hosting the BOX for the decade they owned the nightclub. Spoerry, who landed in San Francisco from Switzerland in the 1980s, said that there was never a fight. It was always a good time.

“It was a crowd: they came to celebrate themselves, they came to celebrate their lives,” he said. “It was an upbeat mood.”

Audrey Joseph, a lesbian who owned Townsend, a former nightclub in San Francisco’s South Beach neighborhood, hosted Club Q for a decade.

“Let’s just say she is the most famous lesbian DJ in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Joseph, a former San Francisco entertainment commissioner who now lives in Palm Springs. “There were other DJs that came around. I don’t think any of them had a name or reputation like Page.”

Joseph described Page Hodel’s magic as the danceable familiar songs that people sang along to while on the dance floor.

“If she did a Club Q reunion today, I think women would show up if they were in wheelchairs and on crutches,” Joseph said. It would remind older queer women of “some of the best times of their lives going out and what it was like to be in the midst of that many lesbians and to dance and to meet people, hook up, get a date.”

Others also had fond memories.

“It was just magical,” said one of Page Hodel’s good friends, Gia Giasullo, 56, who considers her sexuality as being fluid. She said Hodel had the ability to keep taking the crowd “up higher and higher and higher.”

Joseph added, “It was important. She was important.”

Lauren Hewitt, 67, the lesbian former owner of the Bay Brick Inn, the lesbian bar also known as The Brick and Clementina’s Baybrick, said Page Hodel’s DJing simply was “sheer joy and embrac-

Page Hodel was back in the DJ booth during opening night at her new dance party, JOYride, at the White Horse in Oakland on May 20.

Heather Cassell

Page Hodel, right, escorted Queen Latifah, center, who brought the late Oaklander Tupac Shakur, left, to perform at the BOX in 1992.

Courtesy Page Hodel

Clubgoers danced the night away at opening night of JOYride at the White Horse Bar, DJ Page Hodel’s latest dance party.

Heather Cassell

Ellie, Age 57 Her

Karen Florida

The village comes through for Minter family

by Cynthia Laird

Sometimes, it really does take a village.

It’s been just over three months since a tornado wreaked havoc on Shannon and Robin Minter’s lives, but the couple is making steady progress rebuilding their home in East Texas as they care for their menagerie of pets.

On March 2, Shannon Minter, a trans man who is the longtime legal director for San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, posted on Twitter that the twister had struck the home he and Robin have lived in for years. Formerly his grandparents’ home, it was built around 1937, he said.

Of immediate concern to Minter was the status of the four dogs and 10 cats he and Robin care for. Most of the animals have been rescued near their rural property over the years; thankfully, they were all fine. Shannon Minter, whose legal career has involved some of the country’s major LGBTQ rights cases, including same-sex marriage and trans rights, has been with NCLR for over two decades.

But it’s Shannon Minter’s Twitter feed that has captivated many; it has roughly 12,800 followers. While there are posts about the latest victory or setback in LGBTQ legal fights, there are also hundreds of photos of the animals. Many find looking at the pet posts to be a brief reprieve from the stress of everyday life, especially given the polarization of the country and conservative leaders’ assault on LGBTQ rights, particularly those of transgender people. Minter’s followers not only get to look at cute photos of dogs and cats, they also get a crash course in LGBTQ equality when he posts about various legal cases in which he is involved.

After the tornado struck, friends rallied around Shannon and Robin Minter, starting a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds. Combined with an already existing crowdfunding effort to assist with the costs of caring for the many animals, about $80,000 has been raised, said

a friend known on Twitter as Cee Eyes (“Dr. Strange PhD Cat Lackey”), who set up the tornado relief fund.

The $75,000 goal of the tornado relief fundraiser was reached June 19 but the account will remain open for a little while longer Cee Eyes said.

Now, nearly four months after the devastating tornado, Shannon Minter told the Bay Area Reporter that the renovation work on the house is going well, and it’s hoped that it will soon be completed.

“The crowdfunding has paid for most of the repairs,” he said during a recent phone interview. “If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think we’d be able to save the house.”

In the aftermath of the twister, Shannon Minter had thought he and Robin would get a trailer to park on the property while the reconstruction took place. That ended up not happening. Robin Minter spent some time at a hotel while Shannon Minter stayed at the damaged home with most of the cats. One cat, Beulah, and the four dogs – Onyx, Gaia, Albert, and Sister – remain at a friend’s place nearby.

Shannon Minter said that the dogs likely would return home after the backyard fencing is repaired; work on that has already started.

As for the home itself, Shannon Minter said the roof is back on – “that was the biggest thing” – and the walls have been repaired. A bathroom that was destroyed is back together, he said. Some painting remains to be done, and there is more cleanup outside. One of the interesting things he and Robin discovered – if there could be a silver lining to the whole catastrophe – was that old wallpaper was revealed behind plaster that had fallen off.

“We saved a little bit of it,” Shannon Minter said. “Robin made a canvas print of it.”

The couple also discovered some old board – called shiplap – “that was trendy then,” he said. “We’re leaving that up exposed.”

In an email, Robin Minter said that most of the couple’s belongings remain in

storage for now.

In addition to the roof, the house now has electricity and water, Robin Minter wrote.

She, too, was grateful for all the help she and Shannon have received.

“The community support has been critical to our being able to get things done,” she wrote. “We are using that money mostly to pay laborers and contractors. They have been able to help us with the tedious, painstaking process of clearing the felled trees, outbuildings, and literally putting a roof back over our heads.

“The damage inside our beloved home is pretty extensive. We have used the funding to remove storm damaged sheetrock, repair cracks, stabilize the back stairs, and paint,” she explained. “It’s mindblowing to me that we have the good fortune of a supportive community. I am humbled beyond belief.”

Cats are adjusting

The cats that have stayed in the house have mostly adjusted. As the B.A.R. previously reported, a cat porch that Shannon Minter had constructed at one end of the house was not hit by the tornado, so the “porch kitties” (Loretta, Sweetie, Hayley Mills, and William) have remained in that area.

Two of the other cats, mother and daughter Meow Meow and Pip Squeak, always had their own room away from the clan and continue to stay there. Piper, Squeaky, and Furby remain in the parts of the house with Minter and his wife.

As if there was not enough for Shannon and Robin Minter to deal with, there was a bad storm that hit the area near their home on June 15. It was not a tornado, but what Shannon Minter described as a straightline wind storm that caused significant damage in a nearby town, with tens of thousands losing power, he wrote on Twitter. He wrote that their house was OK.

But Shannon Minter and neighbors found an abandoned kitten hiding in the motor compartment of a neighbor’s truck after the storm. Grayson, as he has been named, has now joined the clan at the Minter home.

It’s that compassion for creatures that Shannon Minter’s friends praised when talking about the success of the crowdfunding campaign.

CeeEyes, who said they were on vacation when the tornado hit, set up the GoFundMe on their phone hours after the disaster.

“His dedication to these little critters is just amazing,” CeeEyes told the B.A.R. in

a phone interview, adding that Shannon Minter “has put out so much happiness and is generous with his critters and their stories” on Twitter.

“He is reaping what he has sown,” CeeEyes added. “When he needed it, people jumped in and helped.”

CeeEyes and their partner have some firsthand experience with Shannon Minter. They adopted Bobcat, an abandoned kitten Shannon Minter found, almost two years ago. They, too, have many cats that they have taken in over the years.

“I am so grateful to everyone who contributed, sent thoughts, or shared the fundraiser so it was seen far and wide,” CeeEyes said.

Working for trans rights

One of the things that has amazed Shannon Minter’s colleagues is that despite the major natural disaster that has affected him and his family, he has continued working on the various legal cases NCLR has in courts around the country.

“Shannon did not skip a beat fighting to protect transgender youth from harmful laws in states like Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, and Utah,” Imani RupertGordon, a queer woman who is NCLR’s executive director, stated in an email.

“Shannon’s expertise as our legal director for more than two decades has been unparalleled, as has been his commitment to fiercely fighting for the legal rights of the LGBTQ community and our families, despite any obstacles.”

Kate Kendell, Shannon Minter’s former boss, was not surprised that he kept working through the tornado’s aftermath. Kendell, who led NCLR for 22 years before stepping down at the end of 2018, is now chief of staff at the California Endowment.

“He didn’t miss a day of work,” Kendell, a lesbian, said in a recent phone interview. “He works far too much. I was his boss and I couldn’t stop him from working.”

Kendell described Shannon Minter “as being married to the movement.”

“Thank God he has Robin, the animals, and the homestead to be his heart,” she said.

For his part, Shannon Minter said there “was no time to rest.”

“NCLR and other legal groups have litigated more cases at once than ever,” he said. “We don’t have enough lawyers to challenge all these laws. We’ve been able to challenge about half of them, collectively.”

There have been some initial victories. In Florida, a federal district court earlier this month halted enforcement

of a transgender health ban. The Florida state boards of medicine and osteopathic medicine had issued rules banning established medical care for transgender adolescents. Provisions in Senate Bill 254, signed by Republican Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis in May, codified those rules into state law with added criminal and civil penalties, an NCLR news release noted.

In addition to NCLR, groups representing the plaintiffs in the case are Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, and the Human Rights Campaign.

In Kentucky, Shannon Minter said NCLR is challenging a portion of SB 150, which bans gender-affirming care for trans youth.

During what is a frightening time for many trans kids and their families, with laws in states that seek to ban access to care or keep trans girls from playing sports on girls’ teams, Shannon Minter said people in blue states like California can send a message.

“We need their voices to be louder than ever,” he said. “They can establish fundraising and lifelines of support with kids in red states and help people travel to other states to get health care.”

In fact, California is one of those states. Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that establishes the Golden State as a refuge for parents and their trans children.

SB 107 makes it California policy to reject any out-of-state court judgments removing trans kids from their parents’ custody because they allowed them to receive gender-affirming health care.

The law also bars state health officials from complying with subpoenas seeking health records and any information related to such criminal cases. Public safety officers will also be instructed to make out-of-state criminal arrest warrants for such parents their lowest priority.

As for trans people residing in red states, Shannon Minter said, “Don’t despair.”

“Don’t give up,” he added. “We’re with you; the whole community is with you. The tide will turn, maybe it already is. The public is starting to realize this has gone too far. We do have truth and facts on our side.” t

The crowdfunding campaign for Minter tornado relief is still active at http://tinyurl.com/553pdpbc

Albert struck a pose during his extended stay at a friend’s house while the Minter home is being repaired.

Shannon Minter

Backyard fencing repair work is underway at the Texas home of Shannon and Robin Minter.

Shannon Minter

Shannon Minter is the longtime legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Courtesy NCLR

Piper had something to say on June 13 as she sat in a chair in the Minter home.

Shannon Minter

William, left, and Hayley Mills relaxed in their special cat porch that survived a March tornado that severely damaged the home of Shannon and Robin Minter.

Shannon Minter

Be you. The Gender Institute

Surgeons and staff of The Gender Institute at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital are passionately committed and trained to provide individualized care that is inclusive and affirming of all gender identities. Because we believe the best outcomes can only be delivered when patients feel seen, safe and free to be their true selves.

SF State prof rethinks LGBTQ history

by Brian Bromberger

For Marc Stein, professor of history at San Francisco State University, queer history is a calling, realizing he is part of a network and a community of gay intellectuals. Many U.S. college history departments don’t even define queer history as a bona fide field or it’s been ghettoized to a few classes, despite the fact courses in the subject are very popular with students. Even Stein is technically a historian of constitutional law and politics at SF State.

Stein has become an evangelist for the promotion of gay and lesbian history, rooted in his orientation as an activist. His passion for the field is exhibited in his newest book, a totally revised second edition of his 2012 classic, “Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement,” (Routledge, $42.95) including a new chapter, “LGBT and Queer Activism Beyond 1990.” When he wrote the first edition his aim was to provide an up-todate account of the movement that was “national in scope, comprehensive in chronology, and synthetic in ambition,” he noted.

In his book’s introduction, Stein lists the reason why gay and lesbian history needs to be rethought: to help address the widespread lack of knowledge about that history; to serve the needs of today’s gender and sexual dissidents, along with everyone who identifies with the movement’s agendas and aspirations; and to teach people about some of the major political and philosophical questions that have absorbed the U.S., such as what is meant when referring to freedom, liberty, equality, and democracy, especially pertinent in these politically partisan and divisive times.

Stein mentions that studying this history can help readers reflect on why some people become activists, why movements develop when and where they do, why they adopt particular strategies and goals, and why they rise and

fall. He notes in the introduction that the book also underscores the historicity and variability of sex, gender, and sexuality, especially how these forces changed the movement and vice versa; shows how people can support those who are working to promote equality, freedom and justice in the 21st century; and finally, to show the interrelationship between political and cultural activism, which has promoted social change.

Stein, 59, discussed the new second edition with the Bay Area Reporter in an email interview, and explained why he decided to add the new chapter.

“As a gay man who was born in the 1960s and came of age in the 1980s, I’ve long been fascinated by the history of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the decades that most directly shaped the world I came to know in the 1980s,” Stein wrote.

“I don’t think historians are particularly good at analyzing the present or the very recent past. Other types of scholars, including sociologists and political scientists, tend to focus on the present. But many publishers and many members of the public commonly want historians

to include a ‘bring the story up to the present’ chapter or conclusion. I often teach my students that those chapters are commonly the weakest in historical studies. As I say in both editions of my ‘Rethinking’ book, that perspective haunted the writing of the book’s final chapter.

“In any case, I was pleased when Routledge informed me that my volume was one of the most successful in its social movements series and commissioned me to write a second edition. Since the original version was published before the U.S. Supreme Court’s samesex marriage decisions and before the Trump era, the 2012 edition was outdated,” he added, referring to the high court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015 that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016.

“I originally was only going to substantially revise the final chapter, but because there’s been such great LGBT history scholarship about the pre-1990 era published in the last decade, I ended up revising the whole book. Because the post-1990 period now includes the Trump era, I was able to strengthen my arguments against historical narratives that assume that progress is linear and inevitable,” Stein stated.

Stein writes that the gay and lesbian movement has been replaced or superseded by LGBTQ and other movements in the post-1990s era. There’s even been controversy in the title of his book.

“My book’s title has been misunderstood as implying that I am anti-queer or that I don’t appreciate the broader coalition that we invoke when we refer to the LGBTQ+ movement,” he wrote in the email. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I helped found an early queer activist group, Queer Action, in Philadelphia in the early 1990s. My first book, published in 2000, offers critically queer perspectives on the history of gay and lesbian politics in Philadelphia. I have commonly used LGBT, LGBTQ, and queer as key terms in other projects. But as a historian, I believe it’s important to be true to the historical evidence of the periods we’re studying.”

Stein doesn’t think there was an LGBTQ+ movement before the 1990s, but rather a gay and lesbian movement.

“For most of the period from 1950 to 1990, the gay and lesbian movement functioned largely as just that; it was commonly anti-bisexual and anti-trans, even as bisexuals and trans people argued for the gay and lesbian movement to change,” Stein explained. “Bisexual and trans people were part of the gay and lesbian movement, but that doesn’t mean the movement prioritized their issues. People with disabilities were part of the movement, but we don’t talk about the [lesbian, gay, disabled] movement because the movement did not organize or understand itself that way.”

Stein stated that a largely autonomous trans movement started in the 1950s and 1960s, which he discusses in the book.

“Starting in the 1970s, there was a

largely autonomous bisexual movement and I discuss that,” he stated. “We know of key episodes in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s when bisexual and trans activists pushed the gay and lesbian movement to be more inclusive; they commonly failed in those efforts until the 1990s.

‘Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement’ devotes lots of attention to these issues, in some cases more so than other books that purport to cover LGBTQ+ history, but I try to avoid the problem of projecting today’s favored terms and concepts onto historical periods when they don’t work particularly well.”

Political coalitions

Stein is interested in the ways in which political coalitions come together and fall apart.

“I think the LGBTQ+ political coalition is a remarkable achievement; we should pay attention to how, why, and when it happened (and how, why, and when it did not include other groups that might have become part of the coalition but didn’t),” he wrote in the email. “I’m glad that since the 1990s we’ve developed a stronger LGBTQ+ political coalition; I just don’t believe that we should minimize the efforts that it required to make that happen. As for the future, movements come, go, change, adapt, and reconfigure themselves. It would be arrogant for anyone to assume that today’s language and today’s way of thinking will be embraced by future generations; haven’t we learned enough from the past to know better?”

Queer activism today

In characterizing the new queer activism of today, Stein stated that he resists the tendency to consign the pre-1990 movement to the dustbin of history.

“It shows that much of what queer activism values – celebration of gender and sexual dissidence; rejection of gender and sexual privilege; critiques of racism, sexism, capitalism, colonialism, and ableism; intersectional multiculturalism – existed in nascent form in the pre1990 era,” Stein stated. “But something happened in the 1990s, when radically queer tendencies within larger LGBTQ+ worlds became more influential and powerful. This had happened before – in the immediate aftermath of Stonewall, for example, and in the second half of the 1980s, when radical AIDS activism emerged – but in the early 1990s there was a more sustained transformation, one that was significant enough that we now find it difficult to talk about the ‘gay and lesbian’ movement when we’re talking about post-1990 developments.”

Stein also talked about the gay and lesbian movement’s biggest success and failure.

“If we’re talking about the period from 1950 to 1990, I would say that the movement’s biggest success was changing mainstream and lesbian/gay ideas about lesbian/gay people,” he wrote in the email. “We could talk about concrete policy successes, including the 1973 declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness; the decriminalization of sodomy in half of

the states in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s; the passage of sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws in many local and state jurisdictions in the 1970s and 1980s; and the emergence of lesbian/gay people as an important part of the Democratic Party’s electoral coalition in the same period. But underlying all of those policy successes was lesbian/gay political mobilization, which transformed mainstream and lesbian/gay consciousness about gender and sexuality.

“As for the biggest failure, I think the movement was more successful at combating anti-homosexual bias, discrimination, and prejudice than it was in challenging heteronormative privilege,” Stein stated. “The movement succeeded to some extent at convincing many straight people to adopt ‘live and let live’ philosophies, but not at forcing straight people to renounce their special rights and privileges or encouraging everyone to come out. More concretely, I think the movement of 1950 to 1990 failed at transforming the country’s educational system, which continues to relentlessly reproduce heterosexuality, heteronormativity, and gender normativity.”

Current backlash

Stein was asked how to interpret the rash of anti-trans legislation sweeping across the country and whether it’s a backlash to the queer movement’s successes.

“I think in part we can see the rise of anti-trans legislation as an example of backlash politics, and the particular type of backlash politics that bullies some of the most vulnerable components of a disenfranchised community,” Stein stated. “Without the trans-affirmative reforms that occurred in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, I don’t think we would be seeing the anti-trans backlash that we are seeing in the 2020s. But, there’s also something else going on that relates to the politics of conservatism, populist conservatism, and fascism, in and beyond the United States.

“In the 1960s and 1970s, key conservative leaders in the United States made critical decisions about the future of their electoral coalition,” he explained. “Faced with the prospects of permanent political marginalization, foreign policy and economic conservatives formed coalitions with religious and social conservatives, most notably in the Christian right. By the Trump era, the culturally reactionary tail was wagging the economically conservative dog. Anti-trans politics, like anti-Black and Brown, antiabortion, and anti-immigrant politics, works by deluding working-class and middle-class white people into thinking that their interests are aligned with corporate America, traditional values, and strong-man authoritarianism rather than with broad-based democratic coalitions of the dispossessed.”

Stein also discussed the current effort on the right to ban books in schools and libraries, including many on LGBTQ topics.

“I think this is all about so-called child protection. For centuries, we’ve seen gender and sexual conservatives weaponize ideas of “child protection” to further their aims,” Stein wrote in the

San Francisco State University professor Marc Stein holds a copy of his new book, a second edition of “Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement.”

Brian Bromberger

People filled the Castro to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s samesex marriage decision on June 26, 2015.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Endowment honors pioneering HIV doc Conant

by Matthew S. Bajko

Anew endowment named in honor of the pioneering HIV physician Dr. Marcus Conant aims to help educate future generations of health care providers interested in caring for people living with HIV and LGBTQ individuals. It has a particular focus on those entering the field of HIV dermatology, which Conant had specialized in at his nowclosed practice in San Francisco.

“It is quite an honor. It is really very nice,” Conant, 87, told the Bay Area Reporter in his first media interview about the endowment.

Conant, a gay man, had earned his medical degree from Duke University in 1961 and by the 1970s was practicing in San Francisco. In 1981, he was one of the first physicians in the city to diagnose and treat AIDS patients.

He early on identified that many of his patients were infected with Kaposi’s sarcoma, a cancerous disease that causes tumor-like lesions on the skin. In 1982, Conant founded the Kaposi’s Research and Education Fund, a nonprofit organization that would later become the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Over the years Conant cared for nearly 8,000 people living with HIV or AIDS, until he shuttered his Conant Medical Group in 2010 due to rising costs and complications caused by health insurance companies, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. (https://www.ebar.com/story. php?ch=news&sc=&id=242399)

He was also a professor at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco and authored or coauthored more than 70 publications on how to treat AIDS. The UCSF Medical Center’s Department of Dermatology established The Marcus Conant, MD, Endowment for HIV Dermatology and LGBTQ Health last fall. Fundraising is

dowment in perpetuity.

“We want to foster a pipeline of physicians and researchers who are skilled in the work related to LGBT health issues, so this endowment will support the training of medical students and trainee doctors to conduct research that will ultimately hopefully lead to increased awareness and treatment of skin disease in the community,” said Dr. Kieron Leslie, a dermatologist who has practiced at UCSF Health for 18 years. “He is a towering figure in our community. We are so thrilled and pleased he is willing to partner with us on this endeavor.”

Leslie, 52, who is gay, trained in his native United Kingdom in dermatology, infectious diseases and HIV. He moved to San Francisco in 2005 when he joined the dermatology faculty at UCSF.

Several years ago he came up with the idea of founding an endowment for medical students interested in HIV dermatology. It grew out of his working with aspiring dermatologists in the summer, which he was able to secure some funding for from his department

“These students have done fantastic work and been published in important journals. They are climbing up through medical school and doing really well,” said Leslie. “All will be applying to become dermatologists. I thought wouldn’t it be fantastic to have something focused that would perpetually fund students in this endeavor.”

He could think of no one better to name the endowment after than Conant, someone he has admired throughout his medical career and knows professionally but isn’t a close friend. Leslie approached Conant about naming the endowment in his honor before officially launching it.

“With endowments you want to honor someone. I couldn’t think of someone greater than Dr. Conant,” said Leslie, who graduated medical school in 1996. “In our field he is a titan.”

Move to New York City

After shuttering his practice Conant moved to New York City in 2019. He now splits his time between Manhattan

for American Gene Technologies as its chief medical officer, assisting with its effort to use gene therapy to cure HIV.

The company recently had a successful trial in seven patients and is readying to do a second trial with 24 patients by next year, with some enrolled from San Francisco.

“It looks very promising,” said Conant, who plans to work until he turns 95 years old.

In a statement Jeff Galvin, CEO and founder of American Gene Technologies, praised UCSF for establishing the endowment in honor of Conant.

“His commitment helped find the first effective treatments that prevented AIDS and restored hope to millions. This scholarship is a fitting legacy to his life-long commitment to fighting HIV and AIDS, and ensures that there will be much more progress to come,” stated Galvin.

Should the fundraising effort for the Conant endowment be successful –UCSF development officials declined to disclose the exact amount raised so far or what their target goal is – the aim is to select at least two students each year to be financially supported for a number of months in a mentored research program. Leslie would like to have the first students selected for what he is calling the Dr. Marcus Conant fellows next year.

“The level of the endowment will dictate what you can do,” said Leslie, specifying that the money raised “is not for faculty salary. It is literally directed toward supporting students and training doctors to do research for diseases that affect our community.”

It is believed to be the first endowment that focuses on HIV dermatology.

“I am not aware of other university programs that have a LGBT focus as an endowment. If there are, I am not aware of them,” said Leslie.

Conant also told the B.A.R. the UCSF

necessary in a world that will continue to face global health crises, such as the COVID pandemic that broke out in 2020, said Conant.

“We should have programs like this program that will fund the studying of diseases in populations that are emergent so we can be prepared for the next epidemic,” argued Conant.

These days it is rare to hear about people living with HIV or AIDS infected with Kaposi’s sarcoma. Nonetheless, skin diseases continue to impact such patients, from syphilis and skin cancers to the recent outbreak of mpox.

“I think the community is always at risk of diseases that can be stigmatizing and, frankly, need the best treatment and care we can offer,” said Leslie. “It is why at the UCSF Department of Dermatology, we focus a lot on these diseases and their effects on the community.”

One ongoing issue for many of the HIV patients he sees is HPV, the human papillomavirus that causes warts in those infected. There is no cure for it, though nowadays young girls and boys can receive a vaccine that prevents most HPV strains.

“We see a lot of warts. Definitely, if you are living with HIV, you are at increased risk of warts and can be resistant to therapy,” noted Leslie.

And Conant noted that “here we are in the 21st century” without having discovered vaccines for other sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and gonorrhea.

“There is no vaccine for any STDs,” said Conant, adding that research is also still needed into the transmission of Kaposi’s sarcoma. “It was never really determined how the disease is transmitted. How does it get from one guy to another? So there is still work to be done.”t

Anyone interested in donating to the fellowship can do so online at

A fellowship has been named in honor of pioneering HIV physician Dr. Marcus Conant.

Courtesy Dr. Marcus Conant

“Juicy is someone who I know cares deeply for her community and is also someone who continues to be a model of what courage and allyship look like,” Mahogany continued. “I was honored to have her host a fundraiser for my campaign for D6 supervisor.”

Liu said that drag “gives me the opportunity to experience me in a different way.”

“Juicy Liu – my drag persona – is still me, but is a more highly-stylized version of me. I love singing – so I’m a singing drag queen, which is a little more rare here in the United States,” compared with British Commonwealth countries, Liu later clarified. “Through my drag, I’m able to transform.”

Liu helped select San Francisco’s first drag laureate, D’Arcy Drollinger. Mayor London Breed made the announcement last month. (See related story.) Liu said one of the big misconceptions about drag is that it is the same as being transgender.

“A lot of people when I first started doing drag more would ask ‘do you identify as trans?’” Liu said. “No, I am just a gay man who likes to perform, but I am not a trans person. I know a lot of trans people

<< Tourists

From page 6

vacant storefront grant program, which has already successfully helped one business open with more on the way).

We work with our district’s supervisor to relay our members’ concerns, and our local police captain attends our monthly member meetings.”

Asten Bennett recommended a number of proposed solutions.

With regard to the SFPD, she stated,

<< DJ Hodel

From page 12

ing of all people” and it “had a very rich joyful celebratory sound.”

She described Page Hodel as a “fantastic DJ” who set the bar very high.

“She came up through just an ocean of men and she took them on,” Hewitt said. “She could make a house get on its feet and dance faster than any other DJ I ever had in the club, male or female. She just could feel the human spirit, what that room needed.”

Brit Hahn, 63-year-old ally, who managed and now owns multiple San Francisco nightclubs – City Nights and the former Trocadero (a former legendary gay club), Dreamland, Club Rouge,

<< SF Pride

From page 1

theme.

“Over the past 53 years, many leaders of the LGBTQ+ community have been recognized by San Francisco Pride,” Ford stated in a news release.

“This year, our theme is ‘Looking Back and Moving Forward.’ And we want to honor all the work that went before us. And we look forward to the new leaders that are emerging in the queer community.”

Grand marshals

Some of those leaders are being honored in this year’s SF Pride parade. Dr. Nasser Mohamed was selected as community grand marshal by a public vote. Mohamed, who hails from Qatar but is now an American citizen, is believed to be the first native Qatari to publicly come out as gay, which he did last year when he spoke out about the abuses against LGBTQ Qataris in his former homeland during the World Cup, which was held there. (See related story.)

Mohamed said he was “profoundly indebted to San Francisco Pride and the city of San Francisco for amplifying my voice.”

“We can coexist harmoniously, transcending diverse cultures, traditions, religious beliefs, ethnicities, and

and I want to be respectful of that. Right now, there’s a purposeful misinformation campaign to classify trans people as drag queens. Drag is an art form, and all people can do drag.”

Asked about the crackdown on drag, Liu said, “I think it’s heartbreaking and makes me feel very upset and mad.”

Not only is freedom of expression, protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, at risk, Liu said, but state governments “very clearly having animus to a whole community feels hateful.”

“While we do not have direct control over the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), we actively advocate for enhanced public safety measures. This is a concern for all of us. We will continue to work with the appropriate authorities to ensure that our neighborhood receives the attention and enforcement it deserves.”

With regard to vacancies, Asten Bennett wrote, “The Castro Merchants support the implementation of the new law imposing fines on landlords who fail to

and others – and worked with Hodel for a long time, called her an “entertainer” long before DJs sold out stadiums.

“She was one of the few people that kind of took it to the next level,” he said, talking about the diversity of her music genres. On a professional level, he added, “One thing I loved about Page was, she was just so well-rounded, [talented, and easy to work with],” he said, talking about how “DJs are a unique breed.”

Aside from knowing how to throw a party, Hodel knew how to create community and “understands business,” said Hahn.

“It takes a very special talent,” he said about Page Hodel’s longevity in the business. “She really loves what she does.”

Fahey noted that Page Hodel always had day jobs, but it was to support her

sexual or gender identities,” he stated to the B.A.R. “With unwavering conviction, I believe that this year, the global LGBT community will find solace in the vibrant celebration of San Francisco Pride, igniting a revitalized flame of hope that will propel us all to persistently wage our battles for equality across the globe. Our collective fight is indivisible, interwoven, and interdependent, for when one of us triumphs, we all rise higher.”

Another community grand marshal, selected by the membership of the San Francisco Pride organization, is Honey Mahogany, the first transgender and the first Black chair of the city’s Democratic Party. Mahogany was also a co-founder of the world’s first trans district, in the Tenderloin, and was a contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” After falling short in last year’s election for District 6 supervisor, Mahogany is the district director for Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco).

“It’s an incredible honor to be selected by the hardworking members of the Pride board as a grand marshal,” Mahogany told the B.A.R. “As someone who was born and raised in San Francisco and worked so long in the LGBTQ community, I can think of no greater honor. Thank you.”

The board of directors also selected Laura Lala-Chávez, the executive director of the Castro-area LGBTQ

Still, Liu hopes it’s “the last stand” for the conservatives pushing these restrictions.

“They’re trying to pull things backwards,” Liu said.

Liu spoke at a Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club event in March on this topic along with Roma, drag king Alex U. Inn, Office of Transgender Initiatives Executive Director Pau Crego, former Milk club president Gabriel Haaland, and Jackie Thornhill, a trans woman who is a legislative aide to gay District 8

fill vacant storefronts when there is interest from potential businesses. We have actively courted new potential tenants and businesses with our vacant storefront grant program. Forty applicants took the time to apply, and a committee is in the progress of review at this time.

“Kathy, your passionate advocacy for positive social change is commendable, and we encourage continued collaboration and open dialogue,” Asten Bennett concluded. “This board would love to welcome you back into membership

music.

“Her inner identity is someone who brings music to people,” Fahey said, explaining Hodel “embodies the best in that profession of DJing” because her goal was to “share love through music.”

Page Hodel said several years ago that she wants to keep going.

“I want to keep making people dance, even if I’m old and gray and with my walker,” Page Hodel told Girls That Roam, a women’s travel site, in 2015.

When Club Q closed and the BOX closed in the early 2000s, Page Hodel said that she went to live in the school bus she renovated in 1985 named Roxanne Roxanne, after the pioneer female rapper Roxanne Shanté.

She continued to spin and dance into the 2000s, throwing Girl Pride, her

youth center LYRIC, as a community grand marshal.

“I’m surprised and shocked to be selected as Community Grand Marshall of 2023 SF Pride,” Lala-Chávez told the B.A.R. “I’m deeply honored my community has selected me to represent them. As a first generation, Latine, nonbinary person I never dreamt that someone like me could achieve this honor. I couldn’t be here without the support of my family, friends and everyone at LYRIC, from the board to the staff and youth. This is truly a recognition of the work we’ve done together in the last year to support all LGBTQQ+ youth.”

Rounding out the community grand marshals are Breonna McCree, who currently works at Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at UCSF and who was selected by Pride’s board; and Drag Story Hour, which was selected by public vote as the organization grand marshal.

“Pride allows my tribe to be their most authentic selves, and reminds me that love is universal and unconditional,” McCree stated. “As a Black woman of trans experience, Pride encourages me to stand against levels of violence, discrimination, and oppression for my gender-expansive community. My Pride means love, solidarity, community, and resistance.”

Longtime gay AIDS activist Paul

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. “They’re going to ban us? Effectively make it illegal? It happens so quickly,” Liu said. “We have to fight for queer joy to perform.”

Amoura Teese

Amoura Teese is the drag persona of Jericho Maldonado, 32, who hails from Hayward but now lives in San Francisco. She has been performing in drag for the past eight years.

“I am of Mexican, Native American, and Swedish descent,” she told the B.A.R. “I started doing drag to be part of a community. I was first social in San Francisco at 24-25 and was looking for friends, and the people I came across in the gay community were into nightlife and drag and, as a performer as a youth, someone said I should do drag at a competitive drag show at a club, so I did, and I loved it.”

Teese does drag four to five days a week in Oakland (at The Port Bar), (https://www.portbaroakland.com/) San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento. She recently performed in Reno, Nevada, and Miami.

When asked about Florida being among the states that have recently impinged upon drag, Teese said, “I feel it’s a shame the conservative agenda is to

and community as we work together toward solutions to our problems as a business association. While we acknowledge that there are serious systemic issues in our community, we are committed to continuing to address the challenges we face and build a stronger, safer, and more vibrant Castro.”

When asked if any other merchants have left, Asten Bennett stated that since she took over last month, nine merchants have returned to the association.

Burke told the B.A.R. recently that

annual Pride party, from 1993-2013, producing Respect at Club Rouge, and DJing at the Starlight Room on Saturday nights and some Fridays and Sundays from 2010-2017.

She also spun at Christiana Remington’s Butta in Oakland in the 2000s and DJed Rockaway’s Play parties around the Bay Area from 2015-2017.

In 2007, she even briefly co-owned a queer women’s bar, Velvet, in Oakland’s Laurel District, as the B.A.R. previously reported .

At the same time, Page Hodel became an artist and author of “Monday Hearts for Madalene,”a photobook of a collection of hearts that she made every Monday for her partner, Madalene Rodriguez, whom she met when she was 48. Sadly, Rodriguez died in 2006

Aguilar is the lifetime achievement grand marshal.

“Receiving lifetime achievement as a community grand marshal for San Francisco Pride is something that I never expected. To be considered among the ranks of such icons as James Hormel, Cleve Jones, and Dr. Marcy Adelman is … well, let’s face it, those are pretty big shoes to fill. I just hope to do them justice,” he said, referring to previous honorees.

Diplomats

Among those marching in the parade will be Micheál Smith, the consulate general of the Republic of Ireland, who will be joined by other diplomats from across the Atlantic.

“As Ireland, we are doing a Team Ireland gathering for all members of the consulate and economic agencies here and other stakeholders of the Irish community,” he said. “I’m really excited.”

In 2015, Ireland became the first country to vote to legalize same-sex marriage; which surprised some because of its reputation as a Catholic bastion. Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, is gay and married to his husband.

“As a country we have come through a long, difficult journey of social change and transformation,” Smith said. “We have a very proud Irish LGBTQ+ diaspora here.”

always target a minority.”

“I’m grateful here in California we haven’t experienced something so hurtful toward our community,” Teese said. “I think it’s despicable.”

One of Teese’s favorite experiences in drag was performing at Oakland’s Pridefest the last couple of years. This year, Pridefest and the Oakland Pride organization have joined forces and will hold a single Pride event September 9-10.

“The owners [of The Port Bar] and other LGBT organizations have come together to do Pridefest the past few years,” Teese said. “Making an event out of thin air and allowing me to be part of it, post-pandemic, it’s opportunities like that that make me feel so thankful for the embrace of drag: the opportunities I hold close to my heart.”

Gay Port Bar co-owner Sean Sullivan agreed.

“Amoura was an amazing homegrown host since its [Pridefest’s] inception,” he said. t

This article was first published on News is Out, (https://newsisout. com/) of which the Bay Area Reporter is a member, and made possible with support from Comcast Corporation.

although things are improving from his perspective, other neighborhoods, such as the Lower Haight, are thriving, while the Castro – like downtown, which in recent weeks has seen a round of major store closures in the Union Square area – lags behind. The aforementioned Institute of Governmental Studies study puts downtown at 30% of pre-pandemic activity, which is unchanged from 2020. Mandelman and the SFPD did not return requests for comment for this report. t

from ovarian cancer at the age of 46, 11 months after the couple fell in love. Hodel continued making the hearts for years after Rodriguez’s passing.

Page Hodel is celebrating 40 years of spinning at a special JOYpride party at the White Horse, 6551 Telegraph Avenue, in Oakland, Saturday, June 24, from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Tickets are $15 per person, and can be purchased at https:// tinyurl.com/3hbvunv2.

For the B.A.R.’s 50th anniversary in 2021, Page Hodel was a panelist for the eighth episode of “B.A.R. Talks” talking about the San Francisco Bay Area’s queer nightlife. t

Full disclosure: Heather Cassell is the founder and publisher of Girls That Roam.

Celebration

The parade ends at Market and Eighth streets. The celebration at Civic Center Plaza is on two days: from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Donation amount?

The app Friendly Like Me is helping people with disabilities navigate Pride this year by providing venue ratings and lists of accessible venues.

“Once a place is reviewed, its scores become available to anyone on the platform, allowing users to see at-a-glance how ‘friendly’ a business is to specific communities, such as wheelchair users, or people of size,” a news release stated. “The app also delivers an ultra personalized search experience, and identifies how close the business comes to meeting the user’s individual preferences via a proprietary ‘Like Me’ score. Businesses can claim their listings, create a profile of their accessibility accommodations, and provide specific instructions and extra information to potential patrons. Brands and advertisers partner with Friendly Like Me to get access to accessibility data in real-time, so they can target customers with specific needs.”

It is available on Apple and Android devices.

Dee Snider will not be performing after all, as the B.A.R. reported earlier

Drag artist Amoura Teese performed at Pridefest Oakland.

Giotographer/Pridefest Oakland

<< SF Pride

From page 18

after the Twisted Sister singer got in hot water for liking a transphobic tweet. However, the celebration will feature Princess Nokia as the headliner on Saturday and Hayley Kiyoko as the headliner Sunday.

Princess Nokia, who is bisexual and lost her mother to AIDS, began her musical career in New York City’s gay nightlife. Kiyoko, a lesbian singer and actress from Los Angeles, had her first novel, “Girls Like Girls,” published earlier this year.

“Pride was founded as a riot and has since evolved into a celebration, which is a powerful mode of collective resistance,” stated Nguyen Pham, president of the SF Pride board. “We are thrilled to be celebrating these most honorable luminaries, all of whom reflect the evolution not only of the makeup of our community, but also of our broader movement and where we’re going.

SF State prof

From page 16

email. “We’ve also seen them instigate ‘moral panics,’ where popular sentiment is mobilized to address problems that are exaggerated far beyond empirically valid foundations.

“In the past, cultural discourses about sexual ‘perverts’ and gender ‘deviants’ played up the innocence of youth, who were seen as vulnerable to enticement, grooming, recruitment, and seduction,” Stein stated. “This led, for example, to the passage of ‘sexual psychopath’ laws in many states in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. In the 1970s, similar dynamics led to Anita Bryant’s ‘Save Our Children’ campaign against sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws and to California’s Briggs initiative, which targeted LGBT teachers and their allies.”

Stein talked about work he has done.

“The inclusivity of this group is an uplifting representation of our queer [people of color] community especially,” added Pham, the first gay Vietnamese man to hold the leadership position. Given the tidal wave of bigotry in red states, namely the record number of anti-queer and anti-trans legislative actions, this cohort of our honorees is at the leading edge of our fight – against the hate.”

“In one of my recent research projects, published this spring in the journal Law and Social Inquiry, I showed that in the 1970s, students at 14 U.S. colleges and universities, including two California State Universities, had to go to court when their institutions denied formal recognition to newly established lesbian/gay student groups; one of the common justifications offered by school administrators was that vulnerable young people might be tempted to try out homosexuality if there were officially recognized lesbian/gay student groups,” he explained.

Parallels

Stein sees many parallels between what is occurring today with what happened in the 1970s.

“In both cases, social and cultural conservatives responded to gender and sexual liberalization by attempting to freak people out with moral

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People’s March

The People’s March, which started in 2020 when the SF Pride parade was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in the thick of uproar following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, will have its fourth iteration this weekend.

“Last year someone thanked me for helping to organize the event and said, ‘Participating in this march and rally is the first time I’ve felt proud to be gay,’” organizer Juanita MORE!

panics,” he stated. “Unfortunately, many media outlets play into conservative hands by reporting relentlessly on issues that are framed in reactionary terms. Today, for example, we rarely hear about the seven states that have mandated LGBT history education in public education [including California]; we rarely hear empowering stories about drag queen story hours; we rarely hear about the joys of athletic competition from the perspectives of young trans people and their allies.

“We also don’t hear about the ways in which social and cultural conservatives want our children to be taught rigid and inflexible ways of thinking about gender and sexuality – we don’t hear, for example, about the ways in which traditional educational practices offer up narrow and propagandistic lessons about gender identities and sexual orientation,” he added. “It would be fascinating to see what

told the B.A.R. “It’s an important event that unites our community to protest all the hate and bigotry happening across our country.”

Alex U. Inn, an activist and drag king, told the B.A.R. that the march will go along Polk Street but will make a few detours on the way to Fern Alley, where there will be – in a People’s March first – a music festival. Admission is free.

“It’s going to be a preparation for the fifth anniversary to see if people like it,” Inn said.

One of the performers at the festival will be Ariel Bowser, who Inn described as an “up and coming artist with an incredibly beautiful voice.”

Bowser will be singing an original song, “Keep On,” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black national anthem.

“I’ve been performing with the People’s March for the last three years, and I cannot be more honored,”

Bowser told the B.A.R. “To be accepted as an ally and artist is beyond appreciated. Oftentimes, marginalized

would happen if the states that are banning public school lessons about gender identity and sexual orientation actually were true to that notion –imagine a future world in which ‘boys’ were not taught to be ‘boys,’ ‘girls’ were not taught to be ‘girls,’ and children were not taught to be straight!

“As for book banning in particular, this arises in all of the contexts I’ve just mentioned, but it also arises in the context of declining support for public education in the United States, attacks on colleges and universities, and anti-intellectualism in public discourse,” Stein stated. “LGBTQ+ liberals and leftists should be mobilizing to support public education, not just to defend LGBTQ+ interests. Beyond that, I would just add that it’s a little bizarre to be focusing on banning books at this particular historical moment, when information is increasingly shared in forms other than books.”

individuals are not able to hold space without stipulations.

“The People’s March allows those communities to hold space; it highlights that. It is one of the most important protests of this era and is a part of a historic continued movement,” Bowser added. “We have to be forever grateful and be reminded of that. We are still in a time of shackles in so many other places all over the world. Let our voice speak for those communities as well.”

Inn said the People’s March is a beacon of hope in an unjust society, and a sign of what could be.

“Pride is a protest,” Inn said. “We never want to forget that, and with all the laws and anti-laws on the books for women, trans people, drag performers, and Brown people, we just need to remember we are for the people. It’s not just that we’re representing the spectrum of queer people … we can’t separate ourselves because we’re queer. We can’t just isolate ourselves. We need to fight all the battles so we keep all of our rights intact. That’s why we’re the People’s March.”t

The future Stein discussed the future of the queer movement.

“I’ll say that asking a historian to talk about the future is like asking a doctor to draw up architectural plans for a new house,” he stated. “I know this: there’s much more work to be done. My book’s new conclusion references a whole series of recent commentators who contend that the LGBTQ+ movement is finished, having succeeded in accomplishing all of its major goals. And these are not comedians. I’d like to see the movement broaden out, forming effective coalitions with other gender and sexual dissidents. I’d like to see the movement more effectively utilize creative direct action protests and mass grassroots mobilization. I’d like to see the movement focus more on education.”t

A longer version is online at ebar. com.

A large crowd participated in the 2021 People’s March.

Rick Gerharter

Constructing crosswords

Merchants’ Family Pride to mark Pink Sat. in Castro

by John Ferrannini

There isn’t an official dance party planned for the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood on Pink Saturday, but families looking for Pride options are in luck with the Family Pride Block Party being hosted by the Castro Merchants Association.

Lauro Gonzalez-Arias, a gay man who is the CEO and founder of ArtyhoodSF, told the Bay Area Reporter that the event will be on Noe Street, between Market and Beaver streets, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 24. A similar event was held Easter weekend.

“There are a bunch of activities for families and kids, and also adults,” GonzalezArias said. “It’s really fun [and] for families to have a good time.”

This is the second year of this particular Pride event, Gonzalez-Arias said.  Separately, last year, it’d been expected that the Pink Saturday dance party in the Castro would be returning after the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence shied away from hosting the event in 2015, saying at the time it could no longer guarantee the safety of visitors.

That year the San Francisco LGBT Community Center oversaw Pink Saturday, but the unofficial kickoff to Pride in the Castro hasn’t been held since. Last year, Soul of Pride – which stepped up to offer the event – had its permit revoked by the city, which stated Soul of Pride failed to meet the city’s conditions.

This year Soul of Pride will be at the official SF Pride celebration in Civic Center Plaza hosted by the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee; this leaves the merchants’ event as the only outdoor event of its kind scheduled in the Castro for Pink Saturday.

See page 44 >>

Rainbow crosswalks latest way cities celebrate Pride

by Matthew S. Bajko

For years now practically every city in the Bay Area has issued a proclamation to declare June as Pride Month. And many cities and towns in the nine-county region fly some version of the Pride flag during June.

Now a growing number are installing a permanent marker of their embrace of the LGBTQ community via rainbow crosswalks. This month Sausalito joined the list, a few weeks after the town of Fairfax unveiled its rainbow crosswalk at the end of May.

“I think it is a beautiful, and frankly easy, way to signal that your community welcomes everybody,” said gay Sausalito City Councilmember Janelle Kellman, who will be welcoming attendees to the city’s inaugural Pride weekend events next week.

When Kellman served as the Marin County city’s ceremonial mayor last year, one of her priorities was to see that the bayside community host its first official Pride events. But the COVID pandemic derailed it from doing so in 2022.

Undeterred, Kellman and the city’s Pride committee sought to see that it happen this June. Various events have been taking place all

month, such as the opening of a Pride-themed show at the Sausalito Center for the Arts, which will host a kickoff to the Pride weekend festivities next Thursday evening.

Friday, June 30, the city’s annual Jazz and Blues by the Bay summer concert series will

host a special Pride night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Gabrielson Park. Saturday, July 1, will bring a drag-themed fundraiser for both the Pride committee and The Spahr Center, Marin County’s LGBTQ community center.

See page 43 >>

Gay CA legislator Jackson makes waves

by Matthew S. Bajko

For a freshman legislator in Sacramento, gay Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D., (D-Perris) has wasted no time in making waves in the Statehouse. He is carrying legislation this session that has generated national coverage and doesn’t shy away from calling out his Republican colleagues.

Jackson, 41, the first Black member of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, has made mental health and anti-racism the prime focus of his legislation this session. His Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7 aims to amend Proposition 209, adopted by voters in 1996, which ended race-based preferences in state programs and the admissions processes of California’s public colleges and universities.

ACA 7 would allow the governor of the state to issue waivers for research-based and culturally specific interventions funded by tax dollars aimed at “increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty” people of color or LGBTQ individuals. A recent committee debate over ACA 7, currently making its way through the Assembly, led to a heated Twitter exchange between Jackson and fellow freshman Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Corona), the first American Muslim to serve in the Legislature’s lower chamber.

After Essayli called ACA 7 “backwards policy” in a tweet, Jackson shot back that the GOP legislator is “a perfect example how a minority can become a white supremacist by doing everything possible to win white supremacist and fascist affection.”

It wasn’t the first time that Jackson has tangled with conservative critics of his legislative

proposals. After vocal backlash against his bill to restrict the use of police canines for arrests and crowd control, which led to him receiving death threats over it, Jackson pulled Assembly Bill 742 in May when it became clear he didn’t have the votes to pass it.

“I have some exciting anti-racism bills and exciting other things I am working on, but now I am being known as the canine guy,” said Jackson during a recent video interview with the Bay Area Reporter.

The attention the bill received came as a surprise, said Jackson. Even some of his Democratic colleagues had put up posters in opposition of AB 742 on their doors, he noted.

Yet, his ending up being the lead author of the bill gives some insight into how he approaches his job as a lawmaker. For the former Riverside County Board of Education member, who earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in social work from California Baptist University, statistical information is key.

“I think, at the end of the day, I am a data guy,” explained Jackson, noting he is the lone social worker serving in the Assembly. “Because I am a data guy, when I see a problem arising from data I believe I have a moral responsibility to address it.”

He didn’t enter the Legislature thinking he would carry a police canine bill. But after See page 36 >>

Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D.

Workers in the Marin County town of Fairfax in May put the finishing touches on a Progress Pride rainbow crosswalk between the Parkade and My Thai restaurant to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride.

Courtesy Town of Fairfax

A stilt-walker entertained the crowd at last year’s Family Pride Block Party in the Castro.

Lauro Gonzalez-Arias

From Jackson’s Facebook page

Dyke, trans marches to kick off at Dolores Park

by John Ferrannini

A mainstay of Pink Saturday, the San Francisco Dyke March returns to the city this Saturday to claim space for queer women. It will start at Mission Dolores Park, one day after the Trans March is slated to also kick off at the public greenspace near the heart of the city’s LGBTQ Castro neighborhood.

The Dyke March won’t be preceded this year with a rally at the park, an unnamed Dyke March spokesperson told the Bay Area Reporter.

“All are welcome, all dyke and all dyke allies, to attend,” the spokesperson told the B.A.R. over the phone. “We are happy to have people. We don’t have a permit or the organizing capacity to host the big event in Dolores Park.”

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NEARBY THE CIVIC CENTER PRIDE CELEBRATION

The march will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at the intersection of 18th and Dolores streets, at the foot of the park. The march will then move to Valencia Street, to 16th Street, and then up Market Street, ending in the Castro.

that the Dyke March is run by volunteers and the organizing committee that puts it on each year needs all the help it can get.

“We’re still here,” the spokesperson said. “We’d really love to see people get involved in our organization.”

People who wish to volunteer with the Dyke March can sign up online at https://tinyurl. com/4zsperxh. More information is available at thedykemarch.com.

More information is available on the organizing committee’s Trans March

people, that they have a community, that they aren’t alone, that they have someone who loves them,” Storment said.

The march began in 2004. Friday’s events will begin with the Señora Felicia Flames Intergenerational Brunch at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th Street, at 11 a.m., Storment said. While the brunch doesn’t have space left, the Trans March will be providing space for intergenerational conversation at the park, Storment said.

FIND US ON YELP!

inclusive of white, gay men while being more exclusionary toward the rest of the LGBTQ community.

CIGARETTES • SNACKS • CANDY

The Dyke March was first held in 1993. The Mission neighborhood has a storied history as a lesbian enclave, whose heyday was in the 1970s through 1990s. The Castro has often been criticized as being

Niko Storment, a queer trans man who is the head of marketing and stage manager for the Trans March, told the B.A.R. on Monday that the march would be proceeding from Dolores Park to the Transgender District in the Tenderloin at 6 p.m. Friday in an event expected to last about 90 minutes.

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lenging gender constructs and the social definitions of women: transdyke, MTF, transfeminine, transmasculine, genderqueer, and gender fluid dykes. We also welcome all women who want to support dykes to march with us. Celebrate dyke diversity!”

QUENCH YOUR THIRST AT PRIDE !

Then, from 3 to 6 p.m., there will be programming at the park before the march kicks off and heads to Turk and Taylor streets, the location where in 1966 the Compton’s Cafeteria riot became one of the first uprisings against police harassment of trans women and drag queens, occurring three years before the more famous Stonewall riots in 1969 that ushered in the modern queer rights movement.

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“Dykes gather at the Dyke March to celebrate our love and passion for women and for ALL dykes,” the Dyke March’s website (https://www. thedykemarch.org/dyke-identity) states. “We celebrate our queerness in all its manifestations. We understand dyke identity to include those of us who are questioning and chal-

Male allies are encouraged to “support us from the sidelines,” the Dyke March’s website states.

The spokesperson told the B.A.R.

Storment spoke to the importance of having the march considering the nation’s political environment, which is seeing a backlash toward trans rights in particular.

“I think it’s extremely important to celebrate trans visibility and joy, really to just ensure our people know there is a future for trans

The after-party at El Rio benefitting TGI Justice Project is sold out, Storment said. There will be a sober after-party at Wicked Grounds, 289 Eighth Street, according to the Trans March’s website at https:// tinyurl.com/2nnxyzdh.

TGI Justice Project did not return a request for comment. t

Gay man confirmed as federal judge in San Francisco

by Lisa Keen

The U.S. Senate this month confirmed a gay man to a federal district court seat in San Francisco – marking the first time an openly gay nominee has been appointed to the district court for what is often considered the world’s gayest city. It also marked the second confirmation this year of a gay federal judge in Northern California.

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The Senate confirmed P. Casey Pitts by a vote of 53-46 on June 14, with only two Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina – voting yes. The no votes included the Republican senators from Texas (John Cornyn and Ted Cruz) and Florida (Rick Scott and Marco Rubio).

The only Republican presidential candidate in the Senate, Tim Scott of South Carolina, did not vote.

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Pitts is a labor-side attorney and partner in the public interest law firm of Altshuler Berzon in San Francisco. He will now join the district court for the Northern District of California, covering the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma.

And in March, the Senate confirmed Jamar K. Walker, a gay Black man, on a 52-41 vote (seven not voting) to a district court seat for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Norfolk.

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NICK’S

Pitts’ confirmation makes him the seventh openly LGBTQ federal district court appointee nominated by President Joe Biden. Former President Barack Obama had named only three LGBTQ people to federal district court seats by his second year; but he eventually named 10 in all.

In February, the Senate confirmed three other LGBTQ judges nominated by Biden to a federal district bench: Daniel Calabretta, a gay man, to the Eastern District of California (based in Sacramento); Ana C. Reyes, a Latina lesbian, to the District of D.C.; and Gina R. Mendez-Miro, a Puerto Rican lesbian, to the District of Puerto Rico. Biden has also appointed two lesbians to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Beth Robinson and Alison Nathan). The Senate approved Calabretta on a vote of 51 to 45 (four not voting); it approved Reyes 51-47 and Mendez-Miro 54-45.

Biden nominated most of these district court judges last fall, and some court watchers posting comments on various websites predicted the nominations would fail. Many polls in fall of 2022 were suggesting Republicans would regain control of the Senate and reject Biden’s nominees. But Democrats held onto the Senate last November, and the nominations were resubmitted with the start of the new congressional session.

Six Republican senators posed 187 questions to Pitts through written queries, asking about various judicial issues and cases. Cruz asked Pitts to explain his understanding of several LGBTQrelated opinions at the U.S. Supreme Court, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado and Fulton v. Philadelphia. The court ruled for the anti-gay baker in the Masterpiece case (2018)

In the 2021 Fulton case, the court ruled that Philadelphia violated the First Amendment for requiring contractors to obey a non-discrimination ordinance.

See page

>>

People carried signs and umbrellas during last year’s Dyke March.

Jane Philomen Cleland

P. Casey Pitts has been confirmed as a federal judge based in San Francisco.

Altshuler Berzon LLP

SF commissions OK APE’s plans for Castro Theatre <<

by John Ferrannini

San Francisco’s historic preservation and planning commissions approved measures June 15 that pave the way for Another Planet Entertainment’s plans to make major changes to the Castro Theatre.

The move came two days after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave final approval, on an 8-3 vote, to landmark the theater’s interior without including the fixed, orchestra-style seating in the ordinance. APE wants to remove the fixed seating to make way for seating arrangements that can be moved in and out of the venue.

The proposed amendment for fixed seating, which would have complicated or obstructed APE’s plans, had failed 6-4, with one supervisor absent, June 6, as the Bay Area Reporter reported at the time.

The HPC and planning commissions both approved a zoning ordinance that allows a conditional use authorization for second floor nighttime entertainment throughout the Castro commercial district.

Gregg Perloff, APE’s CEO and co-founder, stated to the B.A.R. his thanks after the joint meeting.

“Our commitment to and celebration of the LGBTQ communities is long term and unshakable, especially in a time when these communities are under attack,” Perloff stated. “This project is a labor of love for us, and we will make everyone proud to be part of it. Thank you for giving us this stewardship.”

Joe Sangirardi, a gay man who is co-chair of Neighbors for a Restored Castro Theatre, told the B.A.R. after the meeting that “as residents of the Castro, today we’ve won ourselves a bright future.”

“The community came out 2:1 in support of a positive vision of the future of the theater and our neighborhood and we’re excited to welcome APE as valued members of our Castro community,” he continued.

Not everyone was so sanguine, but Peter Pastreich, a straight ally who is the executive director of the Castro Theatre Conservancy, told the B.A.R. that the forces opposed to change at the theater can claim a victory of their own, too.

“We are proud that in the last year, APE has made some important changes, including the motorized risers, and guarantees of minimum numbers of films and LGBTQ-related events,” he said. “That would not have been possible without the work of the Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition and the conservancy.”

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced the interior landmarking last year after APE took over management of the theater. District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston had proposed the amendment that would have required the orchestra seating to be included in the interior landmark ordinance. (The exterior of the theater was designated a city landmark in 1977.)

Mandelman did not return a request for comment for this report.

Votes

Regarding the theater itself, the HPC approved a certificate of appropriateness for APE’s proposed changes 5-0, and the planning commission approved a conditional use permit to change the allowed uses of the venue (such as the introduction of bars).

The HPC’s approval came with no new conditions. Planning added a condition that APE must meet with community groups once a year for guidance regarding its community benefits package (https://www.castrotheatre.com/renovation-communitybenefits-package/), and with the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District once a year. APE would also issue an annual report.

The conditions would start after the

certificate of occupancy, the planning commission determined.

The planning commission approved the conditional use authorization with conditions on a vote of 4-2.

Planning Commissioner Theresa Imperial strongly urged APE to work with the cultural district and other community groups.

Commissioner Sue Diamond said she supported the project for several reasons, including the renovation of the “gorgeous space,” and to make it a profitable enterprise with public access. She said the conditions imposed by the commission accomplish that.

Commissioner Kathrin Moore said she was disappointed in APE. She felt the community was speaking to a more emotional level. She said she would not support the project.

Moore and Imperial were in dissent.

The commissions’ decisions can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.

Tina Aguirre, a genderqueer person who is the manager of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, that they remain “deeply skeptical of APE’s ability to observe cultural humility or to center LGBTQ people, places and culture in the Castro Theatre.”

“The idea that APE can only agree to one meeting a year with the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District is very problematic,” Aguirre stated. “As Pride Month continues, it’s important to name that Pride is a Protest because the work we do remains critical to our future. We can’t put blind faith in forprofit corporations.”

Aguirre did concede, “if we look at where we started with APE a year ago, we’ve achieved a lot through our advocacy.”

“This advocacy work is very important and positive,” they stated.

At the start of the meeting, several commissioners disclosed they had toured the theater, met with APE representatives, met with members of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, or all three.

The imbroglio over the theater began in January 2022, when APE –which runs the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium downtown – was announced as the new operator of the 101-year-old Castro Theatre.

Some Castro neighborhood organizations, and LGBTQ and film groups – such as the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and the Castro Theatre Conservancy – formed the Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition in opposition to APE’s proposed changes.

APE has recently stated that it will screen films about one-third of the time the theater is open – about 175 days in total – which has dismayed moviegoers and many others.

Thursday’s joint planning-HPC meeting featured three and a half hours of public comment.

All told, of in-person public comment, 37 were in favor of APE’s plans and 20 were opposed, with one comment being ambiguous. Of phone public comment, 25 were in favor of APE’s plans, with 11 opposed, with one comment being too muffled for a B.A.R. reporter to hear.

“Don’t drive the last nail into the Castro’s coffin by preventing progress,” Zach Taylor, a gay man who spoke in favor of APE, said during public comment. “I’ve been a Castro resident for 10 years. I have seen a steady and, in recent years, sharp decline in our beautiful and once-vibrant sanctuary. Businesses are closing every month and few are being replaced. I walk around the neighborhood every single day. I implore you to do the same. A youthful injection of energy ... to the neighborhood [is] crucial to its vibrancy and sustenance as a queer neighborhood.”

Those who spoke against the plan countered that it’s APE that threatens

the Castro neighborhood’s LGBTQ character. They urged the commissioners to, at the very least, impose binding conditions on APE.

“Commissioners: you are in a position to reject APE’s mystifications and properly limit its plans to damage an LGBTQ historic site,” queer historian Gerard Koskovich said during public comment. “APE has asserted that movie palace seating is not a character defining feature of a movie palace. This is not factual, it’s an alternative fact or – to reference a classic film – it’s gaslighting. … APE has asserted that presence of seating is absence of seating most of all of the time. This assertion is not factual, it’s gaslighting.”

Terry Asten Bennett, a straight ally who is the president of the Castro Merchants Association, spoke from her family’s experience running Cliff’s Variety for decades. She is co-owner of the longtime shop.

“As the second-oldest business in the Castro – the theater being the only one older than me – I can tell you the only way to remain relevant and fiscally stable is the ability to pivot,” Asten Bennett said. “The viability of the theater is essential to the entire health and well being of the Castro. I understand many people fear change and the unknown, but running a business that has existed in the Castro for 88 years, the one thing I can tell you is change is constant and adjusting to change is necessary.”

Terry Beswick, a gay man who helped to start San Franciscans to Save the Castro Theatre, said that any assurances APE has made have been because of “community advocacy.” These, thus far, still come up short, he said.

“Unfortunately, in the past year I’ve experienced a lot of disappointment, not just with APE, but members of the community who I feel were basically persuaded by a high-powered PR and lobbying campaign,” he said. “What APE is proposing is to have 175 days out of the year, really nights, with programming. This means more than half of the year the theater would be closed, and every day during the day where there used to be one or two matinees the theater would be closed.”

The Nasser family’s attorney, Jim Abrams, attempted to speak during public comment but was told he should have spoken earlier, with the project sponsors.

“There are many opinions about how this theater could have been run, should have been, run both into the past and into the future,” he said before he was told he could not speak during public comment because he has a financial interest.

He was later invited back.

“The attendance was not there, and it was no one’s fault,” he said. “Given that fact, the family reached out, looked for an operator and found

Another Planet Entertainment. … They have already leased the building. The Nassers support the project and want to see the theater reopen and the neighborhood thrive. The success of the theater has occurred over the last century without the landmarking of the interior of the building.”

When the project sponsors spoke, at the outset of the meeting, they presented a vision of a revitalized and restored theater hosting a variety of events.

Jeff Greene of Evergreene Architectural Arts will be doing the restoration work, according to Carolyn Kiernat of Page & Turnbull.

Evergreene has previously worked on the United States Capitol, Radio City Music Hall, the Empire State Building and, in San Francisco, 450 Sutter and 140 New Montgomery streets.

“Jeff and his team will bring the same expertise and quality work to the Castro Theatre,” Kiernat said.

After public comment, the commissioners had the chance to offer their thoughts before voting.

HPC Commissioner Ruchira Nageswaran said that the commission can’t “speak to the vitality of the business” but, in terms of historic preservation, she is concerned about what would happen if APE pulls out. She brought up a speaker during public comment who included “the photographs of other theaters [in other cities] being reused as stores, gyms or any of those other types of uses.”

“Whenever we look at a project under the Secretary of the Interior standards, we are trying to find something compatible, to maintain the character of the place,” she said. “I feel like this use is compatible with the theater and I know the sensitive topic refers to the seats, [but] in looking at the presentation, furnishings are not part of the architecture but when you are looking at a theater, seats are an important part, which is why the presence of the seating is in the landmarking legislation.”

However, Nageswaran noted that

since “over time these elements have changed” – referring to the current seats having been installed in 2001 – “I just want to make it clear the integrity of the overall space is important but the seating is not part of that,” referring again to the present seating.

APE executive Mary Conde told the commissioners that the company is looking to have neighborhood businesses work with them as vendors. For example, sweets from queer-owned Kokak Chocolates were available at June 14’s opening of the Frameline Film Festival, she said.

Planning Commissioner Derek Braun, the only LGBTQ person on either commission who was present to vote on the matter, said the issue is “very important and meaningful to me, both as a gay man in San Francisco and as someone who’s lived in the Castro commercial district for most of my time in the city.” (He had lived near Spike’s Coffee till last year, he said.)

“It was my average weeknight movie house,” he said. “I’m trying to find the path forward here to allow the revitalization of the Castro Theatre to happen. … Speaking for myself, I am generally in favor of the nighttime entertainment ordinance and the bar use on the first and second floors.”

Braun said he nonetheless has “questions and concerns” about maintaining LGBTQ and cinema culture in the space. He questioned APE representatives to ask about what conditions they’d be willing to accept.

“We believe the outcome will speak for itself because our track record for the last 40 years, really 50 years, shows what we do,” Dan Serot of APE replied. “Movies just don’t have the same allure to the public as they [did]. We believe live events have a place with people, they have throughout my lifetime, but we don’t know if that will continue. That’s the reason why it’s difficult to give you certainty when it’s uncertain.”t

Planning Commissioner Derek Braun spoke at the June 15 Castro Theatre meeting.

Screengrab via SFGovTV

The San Francisco planning and historic preservation commissions paved the way for Another Planet Entertainment to proceed with its renovations to the Castro Theatre.

Scott Wazlowski

Volume 53, Number 25

June 22-28, 2023

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Sticking up for LGBTQ Hayward students

The Hayward Unified School District Board of Trustees stuck up for LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff last week despite the outrageous homophobic comments made by board member Joe Ramos. On a 4-1 vote, with Ramos in dissent, the board adopted a resolution declaring support for LGBTQIA+ youth, staff, and families. The resolution calls for fostering diversity, teaching an inclusive curriculum, and observing Pride Month in June, LGBTQ History Month and National Bullying Prevention Month in October, and Transgender Awareness Month in November.

According to a video of the June 14 meeting, the resolution had been pulled from the consent calendar and was thoroughly debated. Ramos has a history of anti-LGBTQ comments – he went off at the board’s May 24 meeting talking about how the district was trying to “indoctrinate” students and staff because of its pro-LGBTQ curriculum and policies, a video of the meeting showed. “If you’re homosexual, that’s your business,” he said. “Don’t bring it to the school house.” Ramos seems to be under the misguided impression that Hayward schools are teaching students about same-sex intimacy, which is not the case, as other board members pointed out. “I’m having a very hard time with this conversation,” Trustee and board Vice President April Oquenda said after Ramos’ comments, adding that she couldn’t let his “indoctrinate” comment stand. She explained that a lot of the district’s policies describe how it values diversity. “Not just inclusion, but a sense of belonging,” she said.

LGBTQ community leaders became alarmed after that May meeting, and last week, several East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club members held a rally outside the district’s offices before the start of the meeting. Ramos has reportedly expressed interest in running for Hayward City Council; that would be a disaster for the East Bay city, which held the first gay prom in the country back in 1995, as school board President Peter Bufete said. He and several other board members had LGBTQ flags draped over their chairs as a way to show support for the resolution;

Ramos pointedly did not.

Ramos’s comments echo those made by antiLGBTQ school board members in other parts of the state, as we’ve reported. In the Southern California city of Temecula, the board, with its anti-LGBTQ majority, voted against a textbook because information about slain gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk was included in supplemental materials. Board President Joseph Komrosky even called Milk a “pedophile,” to the anger and shock of Governor Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, and LGBTQ elected officials around the state. While Ramos did not go that far, it’s clear where he stands. When you start your public remarks with “to my homosexual friends and lesbian friends,” as Ramos did, well, you know where he’s going. And he did not disappoint: “The point is we’re not against you – we just don’t want you telling us how to treat our children.” (It’s unclear what he meant by “we,” as every other board member disagreed with him.)

Trustee Sara Prada forcefully pushed back. “As a mother, I will do anything to protect my children.”

She said that while she understood some who disagreed with the board might think what they’re doing is right, problems arise for students when they’re in an environment where they feel “othered” and are bullied because of who they are. The district is trying to be inclusive, she said, and “having parents be part of that so you can support your children and they know how to accept all children and all people.”

Trustee Ken Rawdon, a former longtime teacher in the district, alluded to the anti-LGBTQ decisions made by the Temecula school board. At one point in his career, he said, he left Hayward for a year to take a teaching job in Southern California. While he said he would not name the city, he did say, “I commuted from Temecula everyday. The community was not very welcoming,” he said, and he came “screaming” back to Hayward to get his job back. “A lot of school boards out there are not very civil right now,” he added.

We should note that this resolution is not new for the Hayward school district. As Oquenda said, the district has been flying the Pride flag for the past three years and is one of 13 school districts in Alameda County to do so. Bufete said that non-discrimination appears in the district’s various policies “over 100 times.” What is new is the pushback by Ramos, who apparently is galvanized by what has been going on in other school districts.

Tom Temprano, a gay man who’s managing director for external affairs for Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ+ rights group, spoke during public comment by phone, urging the board to adopt the resolution. “This policy would have changed my life when I was coming out 25 years ago,” he said.

We’re glad the Hayward school board did the right thing in passing the resolution. The four trustees were adamant that the district be welcoming to all, no matter someone’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, race, religion, and a host of other criteria. And we hope that the divisiveness that has been exhibited at recent school board meetings will dissipate. It’s clear that a majority of trustees are pro-LGBTQ. As Bufete said, “I want our community to heal from this division and I think empathy is needed all around.” t

LGBTQ+ youth + mental health is top priority for Pride 2023

by Juanita MORE!

I’ve been a San Francisco resident for all of my adult queer life. Thirty of those I’ve spent inside my current tiny Tenderloin apartment – when I swing open the door, I pass by 20 feet of salon-style, self-commissioned artwork, images of adoring fans, and reminders of the community I call home. Yet, drag is more than just art and entertainment; it’s about chosen family, political activism, and a conduit for change.

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My annual Pride Party (https://juanitamore. com/pride) is the most anticipated event during June in San Francisco. This year will mark the 19th year of throwing one of the most significant nonprofit events in the city. The parties always focus on supporting some of San Francisco’s most impactful organizations. For example, over the past few decades, the community has helped me to raise over $1 million for the LGBTQ+ community.

For my annual Pride Party beneficiary this year, I have chosen Queer LifeSpace (https://www.queerlifespace.org/), a San Francisco-based mental health nonprofit serving the LGBTQIA+ community. It has invested in keeping our community healthy with effective, affordable mental health and substance abuse services. It helps clients from all walks of life, regardless of their ability to pay, in a safe, non-judgmental environment for fellow members of the queer community.

As Queer LifeSpace points out, “Queer people often struggle with suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trauma, and loss of family.

Queer LifeSpace exists to be a solution to these problems by offering clients cutting-edge, queer-affirming care.”

The issue is accessing mental health care can be incredibly challenging for LGBTQ individuals, particularly for younger members of our community. According to a recent survey by the Trevor Project, two out of three LGBTQ youth have reported a decline in their mental health due to negative news about anti-LGBTQ laws, like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The same study also found that 56% of those surveyed who sought mental health services in the last year could not access them, which is concerning.

I have struggled with the issues I’ve listed above in my youth and as an adult, and the COVID lock-

down years didn’t make it any easier. During that time, we all know that social restrictions helped mitigate the spread of the virus. Still, they had severe psychological consequences, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and isolation. Of course, we are a social bunch; many of us have spent much time inside bars and nightclubs; these places have historically been our safe havens. But, these conditions disrupted our social presence, communication, and daily routines, a big part of our community’s mental health. Now that the bulk of the pandemic is over, I see many people struggling to regain their old social habits, leaving them isolated and alone. The rise in extreme anti-LGBTQIA+ hate rhetoric, and the laws rapidly evolving around them across the United States from far-right extremists, is ugly and unrelenting. Their message is poisonous and a sideshow to distract from more pressing issues. We must be vocal and diligent about fighting for the rights of our LGBTQIA+ community. These bills endanger the safety of all queer people – and, especially, our mental health.

Yet, as if these issues weren’t problematic enough, government funding for nonprofits dealing with mental health issues has dramatically decreased. The decrease in funding is because their new model needs to address long-term-based services. That is what I think is so crucial about Queer LifeSpace. It also provides free services to some of the most marginalized members of our community – queer

transitional-age youth and older adults.

I am excited that Queer LifeSpace has two unique programs explicitly geared toward LGBTQIA+ youth. The new program, Outlandish, aims to bring LGBTQIA+ youth into nature for daylong hikes and other activities. The participants, accompanied by qualified adults, will be immersed in the natural world, where they can learn about themselves and the complex ecosystems around them. And the Rural Youth Outreach Program provides support for LGBTQIA+ youth in areas of California where there is limited or no access to queer-affirming resources in the local community. In addition, the program aims to connect with students who feel isolated and supports them by providing access to individual and group counseling.

Thanks to the heartfelt generosity of our community, including the monies raised at this year’s Pride event, Queer LifeSpace will be able to expand services later this summer. This heightened capacity is presently under development and signifies its commitment to better serve the community’s mental health needs. Earlier this month, Queer LifeSpace reopened its intake process for adults and anticipates being able to provide placements by August; you can get more information online here: https:// www.queerlifespace.org/contact.

Queer LifeSpace recognizes that some community members urgently need help, and sometimes the best support might be found outside its agency. With this in mind, it makes thoughtful referrals to other trusted groups within its more comprehensive network. For this list, you can find more information online here: https://www.queerlifespace.org/resources.

Though San Francisco seems safe for the LGBTQIA+ community, we must stay diligent. We must be strong to help our brothers and sisters across the country. A healthy queer community is a productive one. t

This year marks Miss Juanita MORE!’s 31st year as an active member of our community as a mother, civil rights activist, and philanthropist. She has long been a soldier in stilettos fighting on the frontlines for awareness and LGBTQ+ rights. Sharp and gorgeous, she pulls all those around her into her fashion fantasy for raising visibility and funds for queer community charities.

Juanita MORE! co-hosted Queer LifeSpace’s “Truth in Pink” fundraiser in May.

Gooch

Members of the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club held a rally outside the Hayward Unified School District office prior to the June 14 school board meeting.

Ryan LaLonde

Gay political pundit Lovett kicks off new show in SF

by Matthew S. Bajko

Yes, Jon Lovett has seen the media headlines about San Francisco’s descent into an ever-worsening “doom loop.” No, it doesn’t make him afraid to visit the City-by-the-Bay.

“When I was a kid, we would go to this Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. My father would always say, ‘No one goes there, there is always a line.’ I feel like that in a way, more broadly, is how conservatives make people fear the cities and make them seem like unlivable hellholes,” Lovett, a gay man and former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, told the Bay Area Reporter.

Lovett, 40, grew up on Long Island in New York. Now a Los Angeles resident, Lovett does consider the lack of affordable housing across California “a massive failure” that conservative critics of the state can rightly point to when talking about Golden State residents leaving to find cheaper accommodations in other states.

“A big and legitimate problem is the way that California has managed its growth,” said Lovett. “Our failure to build housing on a massive scale is one of the great political sins. It is one that rests entirely at the feet of Democrats.”

It is an issue “we should own,” argued Lovett, “and build as much housing as fast as possible.”

Another priority needs to be reducing the cost of the state’s infrastructure projects, said Lovett, a co-founder of Crooked Media where he co-hosts “Pod Save America” and hosts “Lovett or Leave It,” two popular podcasts.

“It is an issue that is really pernicious,” he said. “The fact we have spent decades to build high-speed rail that runs from San Francisco to Los Angeles – the same distance as between Madrid and Barcelona but with 10 times the people – and the only thing we get is a train from Bakersfield to Merced is a fucking embarrassment.”

The B.A.R. recently spoke with Lovett by phone ahead of the kickoff of his new “Lovett or Leave It 2023 Errors Tour” at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco Thursday, June 22. He added the date after the Friday, June 23, show basically sold out. (As of last week just six tickets were left for it.)

“We really take a lot of pride in making sure we don’t let it get stale and are always trying to keep this show fresh,” said Lovett. “We make sure we are not bored by what we are doing.”

He also enjoys bringing a comedy and variety show before a live audience, as it presents an opportunity for likeminded people to find a sense of community and laugh together at the state of affairs in the country.

“People, I think, who were all having the same sense of frustrations, worries, fears, and furies over the last, whatever, six years can be in one place and commiserate together,” said Lovett. “What I enjoy is we all have the same sense of humor about it.”

Letters >>

Attendees of the tour shows shouldn’t expect to hear Lovett wager a guess on who will be elected president next year, as he told the B.A.R. he is no longer in the prediction business. Nonetheless, he does believe President Joe Biden deserves to be reelected in 2024.

“Could Biden be doing more? Of course; I think we all could be doing more. Democrats can be doing more,” said Lovett. “Do I believe Joe Biden deserves a second term? I do. The reality is with a very difficult hand of a pandemic and all the economy issues and with a tiny, tiny Senate majority, which is a very difficult hand, it is hard to argue anybody could have played it better.”

As for the focus on Biden’s age, as he turns 81 this November, Lovett said it isn’t reason alone for him to face a primary challenge next year.

“If he were five or 10 years younger, there would be no question in people’s minds that he had won a right to a second term,” said Lovett.

He plans to remain in town throughout the weekend in order to take in the San Francisco Pride parade Sunday, which he has never attended before.

Lovett told the B.A.R. he wanted to kick off his new tour in the city due to the positive reception he has received from local audiences during previous tour stops in San Francisco.

“One of my favorite shows ever was a show we did in San Francisco at the Castro Theatre,” recalled Lovett. “The crowd is always amazing there. The crowd just gets the show and they always have a really good time.”

The reason being “the audience is gay and smart,” added Lovett. “Gay and smart is our sweet spot, I guess.”

Lovett was taken aback a bit when asked to confirm how he identifies under the LGBTQ umbrella, a question the B.A.R. routinely asks interview subjects. Taking a moment to answer, Lovett said how he describes his sexual orientation likely would be different were he coming out of the closet now.

“What an interesting question. No one has asked me in so long,” said Lovett. “I am gay, obviously. But it is something I have been thinking about a lot lately and why I paused. When I was talking about this

Remembering SOMA of the early 1980s

I moved to SF back in 1982 after graduating from college. I had taken a job with a financial firm, and as soon as I was settled, I went to the Castro. This was when the “Castro Clone” look was in full swing. And for a 21-year-old closeted gay man, I was in heaven.

I soon discovered the leather scene in the South of Market neighborhood, and I went all out. FeBe’s, The Ambush, The Slot, the Handball Express, Folsom Hotel, The Eagle, as well as cruising at “Hibernia Beach” on 18th Street in the Castro.

It truly was a great time for me, but that’s when the AIDS epidemic was starting as well, and unfortunately, I lost many friends, including my first boyfriend. Somehow I survived, and lived to tell the tale.

Those wonderful, carefree days are long gone, and occasionally in my mind’s eye those ghosts from the past appear like the fleeting fog that creeps over the San Francisco hills in the late afternoon.

yesterday with someone, I mentioned how the distinction between gender identity expression and sexual orientation was not one available to me when I was figuring this out. There weren’t as many letters that I was aware of as a kid when I was realizing, without a doubt, I was not straight.” At that time, recounted Lovett, there was a lot of stigma against saying you were bisexual. It was culturally treated like a joke, he said.

“It was a gag that women who were bisexual were really straight and men who were bi were really gay. It was a punch line to an assumption,” said Lovett. “So given the option between straight and gay, I was unabashedly sure I was gay. I wonder now if I had been a kid in a world where people are more honest and open and thoughtful and aware of the relationship between, and distinction between, sexual orientation and gender expression and gender identity maybe I would be more drawn to being queer.”

With the increased vitriol being spewed against LGBTQ people and the rollback of LGBTQ rights in statehouses across the country, Lovett said he does worry about it leading to stochastic terrorism and seeing someone turn their hatred into action by targeting a Pride parade or celebration.

“My feeling about this, generally, is I think we should all be worried when we have a vast apparatus communicating hateful, bigoted, incendiary rhetoric to millions and millions of people everyday. Among them, some subset will take it very seriously,” said Lovett. “Some will take it to its logical conclusion. Someone broken, angry, alone and fantasizing about being part of this struggle.”

As for how the city and the state of California are depicted in the news media, Lovett said it reflects “a real imbalance” in the viewpoints covered by the country’s news outlets. He pointed out it is rare to hear similar depictions of major cities in red states.

“There is a real imbalance in our media around who gets to be criticized and who doesn’t. It is just taken at face value when conservatives do smear campaigns against progressive-led cities and lie about them,” said Lovett. “The aim is to make people have no intention or desire to go to Los Angeles or New York or San Francisco or Philadelphia and to make them think those cities are broken beyond repair.”

Yet the reverse isn’t true, pointed out Lovett.

“Imagine if Elizabeth Warren was going on Chris Hayes’ show and saying, ‘I just went to this rural part of North Carolina. What a bunch of fucking losers! What a backwater, broken down, shitty place!’ It is inconceivable that a liberal would do that. If they did, they would be attacked mercilessly,” said Lovett.

For every ticket sold for his “Lovett or Leave It 2023 Errors Tour,” a dollar will be donated to the Vote Save America F*ck Bans: Leave Queer Kids Alone Fund. People also can make donations via the website votesaveamerica.com/fuckbans

To purchase tickets to the tour, visit https://crooked.com/events/ t

Planning Ahead is Simple

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

The benefits are immense.

ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress

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.

I’d go up to the restaurant on the second floor and have a bowl of delicious Bill’s Beans, then head up to the third floor and buy a couple bottles of the real poppers and some lube just in case.

Now, I’m 62 and trying to figure out just where in the hell those years went to. And it truly breaks my heart to see what has become of my once beautiful and vibrant city.

I moved away back in 2005, and it was really difficult to do so. And a lot of my friends have either moved away as well, or have passed.

But seeing that article brought back a flood of bittersweet memories. Thanks

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.

The reason for this convoluted email was the article that was done on the old Ambush Bar.

Dave Hanson Peoria, Illinois

Podcast host Jon Lovett brings his “Lovett or Leave It 2023 Errors Tour” to San Francisco June 22-23.

Kit Karzen

Girls Inc. helps teens thrive in challenging time

by Heather Cassell

Daisha was in a dark place when she found Girls Inc. of Alameda County four years ago.

The 17-year-old Black nonbinary bisexual person seriously considered suicide in middle school, they said. They moved in with their aunt and grandmother in Oakland when they were about 12 years old. Daisha’s relationship with their aunt wasn’t good, they said. Daisha only wanted to use their first name used to protect their privacy.

Somehow, they found the support they needed, which eventually led them to Girls Inc. in Alameda County.

Girls Inc. is a national organization with affiliates throughout the United States. Girls Inc. of Alameda County is the largest affiliate in the nation, according to Jeri Boomgaarden, chief development officer of the organization. The organization’s mission is to empower girls to be “strong, smart, and bold,” by teaching them skills and supporting them as they navigate the challenges they face in life. Girls Inc. of Alameda County is an $8.4 million chapter of the national organization, according to the organization’s 2021 IRS Form 990.

Many of the teens the organization works with have “a lot of adult responsibilities in their home,” they live in multigenerational households and are working supporting their families, Gabriela “Gabi” Reyes-Acosta, high school programs manager for Girls Inc. of Alameda County, told the Bay Area Reporter.

“They don’t have a lot of privacy sometimes,” said Reyes-Acosta, a 31-year-old bisexual nonbinary professional who uses she/they pronouns.

Leaders at Girls Inc. of Alameda teach participants about relationship violence, social media, social justice, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and how LGBTQ people are portrayed in the media, among other conversations about issues that are affecting them. Staff have also discussed the recent legislative assault on LGBTQ rights.

There are currently over 400 antiLGBTQ bills facing legislative action across the country, with many focusing on trans youth like a recent law in

Montana that blocks gender-affirming care. A similar law was recently signed in Oklahoma.

Girls Inc. also helps the youth participants prepare for college or other educational or work plans after high school and takes them on trips.

Earlier this year, Reyes-Acosta hosted a conversation about reproductive rights with the teens in the program and the connection to LGBTQ rights, especially transgender rights.

“We can’t have this conversation without talking about a connecting issue, which is how our country and many states are trying to legislate trans people and queer people out of existence,” said Reyes-Acosta.

The youth are using maps prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union to track assaults on reproductive rights and LGBTQ rights.

One girl blurted out in the classroom, “I don’t want to live here,” and put her head down on her desk, Reyes-Acosta recalled.

Being real about the situation for girls and nonbinary people, Girls Inc.’s team is working to fight dire statistics about girls and LGBTQ youth. Earlier this year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that girls are experiencing greater sadness and violence than they did a

decade ago.

Girls feeling a sense of hopelessness increased from 36% to 57%, according to the report. Sexual violence against girls increased by 20%. LGBTQ youth faired worse, with nearly 1 in 3 (30%) seriously considering suicide, up nearly 60% from a decade ago, the report stated. A large number of queer youth (18%) experienced sexual violence, up 20% since 2017, when CDC started monitoring this measure.

“Truthfully, the report didn’t shock me. It just made me sad,” Reyes-Acosta said.

The numbers “reaffirmed why I do this work and why we do the work that we’re doing at Girls Inc.,” she continued.

“I also see the effect of counteracting these messages that our young people are receiving and being in a space where nearly all of our staff members are also BIPOC, also from the communities that we engage with, and our youth get to see themselves reflected in us,” Reyes-Acosta said, referring to Black, Indigenous, and people of color. “I think that is so important for them.

“I mean, it’s hard to be a teenager in any era. I think it’s really hard to be a teenager right now and in so many different ways,” she added.

Shaping lives

When the B.A.R. asked Daisha what their life would be like if they hadn’t found Girls Inc., they responded, “I honestly just can’t really imagine that because it’s just such a crucial part of my life.”

“I feel like Girls Inc. has shaped a lot of who I am, and it has helped me figure out what my values are and things along those lines,” they said.

They now have the support systems and have matured through the years, “which has, like, kept me from, like, reaching that point again,” they added, referring back to when they were considering suicide.

Coming from a mostly white school where most of the queer kids were white, it was a big deal for Daisha that the queer Black and Brown program leaders at Girls Inc. mirrored them, unlike the white queer kids and administrators and teachers at their school.

The Girls Inc. team were “the first queer people who were sort of mentor figures for me who weren’t, like, just like people on the TV,” Daisha said.

Girls Inc. helped Daisha “figure out” their identity, learn about healthy relationships, set boundaries, and envision their future, they said.

Daisha trusts the staff at Girls Inc. They might talk to some of their friends about issues, but “it depends on the people,” they said.

Daisha explained that they talk to some of their friends about school and applying to college, but when it comes to talking about family issues and “stuff that is causing stress and unhappiness, I tend to not talk to my peers.” They turn to the team at Girls Inc., they said.

One of the reasons Daisha doesn’t turn to their friends to talk about their deeper personal issues is because their friends come from so many different backgrounds, making it challenging to find someone who relates to them.

“Everyone’s home situation is different,” they said. “When I talk to my peers, I’m generally looking for someone to relate to what I’m going through, and no one else is going through the exact same thing as I am.”

That’s not the case at Girls Inc. where Daisha is able to express themselves along with other girls and non-

binary youth in the programs. Daisha’s relationship with their aunt improved when they were 15 years old, they said.

“My aunt is a really big support person for me,” they said.

Hopeful future

Today, Daisha, who lives in Oakland, just graduated from high school. They want to become a journalist and write about social justice issues. In the fall, they are heading to UC Riverside.

It also means that they will graduate along with 23 of their cohorts from Girls Inc.’s College Access Now program and go out into the world. College Access Now is a two-year college prep program where 100% of the youths graduate and go on to college. Out of Daisha’s class, there are about four who identify as LGBTQ, said Reyes-Acosta. Boomgaarden wrote in a text message they anticipate the 2023-2024 cohort to be more than 25 youth.  Girls Inc. works with 1,400 youth – including transgender girls and nonbinary people – a year throughout multiple programs, starting with transitional kindergarten through the 12th grade, Boomgaarden said in a phone call May 24.

The Alameda County affiliate is in 14 Oakland Unified School District schools every day that school is in session and also has a downtown center.

The Alameda County affiliate follows the national organization’s pledge to LGBTQ youth rights and its policy about transgender youth.

Every Girls Inc. graduate goes on to higher education at four-year colleges, community colleges, some other post-high school education, or into the workforce.

“Everyone goes on to college or university after they graduate,” Reyes-Acosta said about the College Access Now program. t

This article was first published on News is Out, (https://newsisout.com/) of which the Bay Area Reporter is a member, and made possible with support from Comcast Corporation.

Book celebrates queer historical figures

by Brian Bromberger

As people gather this weekend for San Francisco Pride, many can’t help but remember past friends, loved ones, and community leaders who have helped to make the LGBTQ community the vibrant one that is being celebrated. The tagline on the back cover of William Lipsky’s new book, “LGBTQ+ Trailblazers of San Francisco” (The History Press, $23.99) reads: “Famous or forgotten, they’re all our fabulous ancestors ... whether fortyniners, bohemians, beatniks, boomers, hippies, clones, or conformists, they all contributed to the development of a vibrant community, many simply by being themselves.”

Lipsky, a gay man, is the author of “Gay and Lesbian San Francisco” (2006), a docent at the GLBT Historical Society Museum, and a member of the board of directors of the Rainbow Honor Walk, which pays tribute to deceased LGBTQ leaders with sidewalk plaques in the Castro neighborhood. Some of the profiles are derived from his monthly column, Faces from Our LGBT Past, published in the San Francisco Bay Times, while others were written for the book.

Lipsky, 76, covers queer people in San Francisco from the Gold Rush to today, noting, “we’ve always been here.” A few were open about their sexuality

but many were not. LGBTQ people met each other mostly through social networks, friends, shared interests, and yes, even chance encounters, often using veiled references or symbols (i.e. green carnations, red neckties) so they could identify each other. Lipsky includes many well-known figures one would expect in this compendium, such as Oscar Wilde (visitor to San Francisco), Gertrude Stein/Alice B. Toklas (lecture tour to SF), assassinated gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, and Imperial Court founder José Julio Sarria.

But the exciting part of the book is meeting the lesser-known figures who made contributions to the queer community.

In an email interview, Lipsky explained what inspired him.

“Everyone has a history,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, for too long and for too many of us, our history and the stories of the women and men who contributed to our world was unavailable to us. Too many of us grew up believing we were the only LGBTQ individual in the world. I wanted to know who I was. I wanted to know I was not alone. Discovering that some of the most important and admired people of the past also were LGBTQ helped me understand an important part of myself, showed that I was someone who belonged to a vital community with deep roots in the past, and gave me pride.”

Lipsky said he is fond of the story of Charles Stoddard, an author best known for his travel books about Polynesian life and his gayish autobiographical novel, “For the Pleasure of His Company.”

Another story recalls January 23, 1849, when 27-year-old carpenter Jason Chamberlin and 25-year-old wheelwright James Chaffee boarded a ship in Boston Harbor and sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco and the gold mines in the Sierra. They had met and become “dear friends” in Worcester, Massachusetts. They didn’t find great fortune but settled at Second Garrotte in Tuolumne County. They built a house and took up farming, growing vegetables and apples

and manufacturing cider and vinegar. They opened a way station for visitors traveling to Yosemite Valley. They were together, almost every day, for the next 54 years. Friends and neighbors considered them a couple in every way and a double biography in the “History of Tuolumne County” (1882) described them as “an example of lifelong friendship between men, that is as interesting as it is rare.”

Esther Eng was born in San Francisco in 1914. She was the first woman to produce and direct Chinese-language films anywhere, but also the first to do so in Hollywood. She was the first woman to direct a film in Hong Kong, and the first woman to film in color. Work ing only for independent film studios, she didn’t have the re sources to make a major Hol lywood motion picture, but positively, she was free of any Hollywood restrictions.

Tragically, most of Eng’s films are now considered lost, including “Golden Gate Girl,” the first feature-length Chinese-language film made in San Francisco, in 1941. She was a celebrated public figure but she never hid her love of women, especially Wai Kim-Fong, “the Chinese Sarah Bernhardt,” who starred in three of Eng’s films. Later in life she opened two Chinese restaurants in New York,

dying at age 55 in 1970.

Lipsky was asked about why younger readers should be interested in these historical figures.

“Learning about the LGBTQ people who have gone before us helps us to understand how our own lives fit into the human experience,” he stated. “It helps us to realize that as different as our world appears to be from theirs, we are very similar in our values and goals. Their lives provide insight into ourselves and our world, which they created, and which we are recreating for those who will follow us.”

Lipsky said the lessons from these trailblazers are relevant today.

“Because our shared memory is the foundation of a strong, vibrant community, learning the stories of the women and men of our past is more relevant than ever,” he wrote. “Now more than ever, when our LGBTQ communities are under attack, knowing who they were and what they accomplished will keep us united to defend ourselves against those who would do us harm. In their own ways, all the trailblazers fought for the right to be their authentic selves. So will we.”. t

Girls Inc. of Alameda County client, high school senior, Daisha, is graduating from the program this year and going on to attend UC Riverside to study journalism.

Courtesy of Girls Inc. of Alameda County

Author William Lipsky holds a copy of his book on LGBTQ historical figures.

Brian Bromberger

Crosswords feature more LGBTQ constructors <<

by Matthew S. Bajko

S olvers of the New York Times Magazine’s weekly Sunday crossword puzzle discovered a special Pride-themed edition June 4. Its grid included six across answers related to the colors of the rainbow flag adjacent to eight-letter answers entered into boxes shaded to match the corresponding flag colors.

Rafael Musa, a gay San Francisco resident, had created the puzzle and submitted it months ago, with it coincidentally appearing in a special issue of the magazine devoted to stories about California. The idea came to him while sitting at the traffic light at the intersection of Castro and Market streets with the gigantic Pride flag flapping overhead in the wind.

“It was very exciting to see it in person out in the world. It’s been really great,” Musa, 27, who works as a software engineer at Airbnb, told the Bay Area Reporter the Monday after his puzzle’s publication.

He had gone down to his local corner store in the city’s North of the Panhandle district to buy a few copies of the Sunday paper with the magazine inserted inside. Musa joked that the printed version of the rainbow colors the New York Times had used didn’t exactly match those found on Pride flags, “but we will allow it.”

The response to the puzzle has been overwhelmingly positive, said Musa, with people he hasn’t spoken to in a while reaching out to him to offer congratulations. Having an LGBTQ-inspired puzzle published in such a visible outlet was a fun way to kick off Pride Month, noted Musa.

“I would love to have gotten even more LGBTQ stuff in there,” he said. “We don’t usually get our cake and eat it too!”

From Brazil, Musa moved to the Bay Area a decade ago to attend Stanford, where he earned his B.A. and master’s degrees in computer science. He has called San Francisco home since graduating in 2018, which is the same year he started solving crosswords. Musa now solves up to six a day.

“I got hooked quickly,” recalled Musa, who a year later started making his own puzzles. “I would make my friends solve them. Then, once the pandemic happened, a lot of people – myself included – found themselves with a lot of free time and looking for something to fill that time with.”

As he got better at creating crosswords, Musa tried his luck with getting one published by the New York Times, which has an open submission process. The one published by the magazine was his third to be ac-

cepted, with five more in the pipeline that should reach print over the next nine months. His first debuted on October 20, 2022, which was a Friday and won Musa praise for his “fabulous colloquial entries.”

“I feel like I am always trying to put things in puzzles that matter to me and that I like,” said Musa, which can vary from LGBTQ pop references to geography and foods he enjoys.

Two years ago Musa also had a special Pride-themed puzzle published during June. It was part of a monthlong initiative that featured LGBTQ constructors and was Musa’s first one to be professionally accepted.

“It helped my puzzle career take off,” said Musa, as until that happened, “I wasn’t sure if this was a space for me or if I was any good.”

30 days of queer puzzles

The 30 days of LGBTQ puzzles, which were syndicated via Universal Crossword and ran in USA Today and other publications, was the brainchild of David Steinberg, 26, a straight ally who resides in Pacific Grove along California’s Central Coast. Steinberg, who had his first puzzle published by the New York Times at age 14, is the puzzles and games editor at Andrews McMeel Universal, known as AMU for short.

He has edited the company’s Universal Crossword, a daily and Sunday internationally syndicated feature, since his senior year at Stanford in 2019. Seeing few constructors who were not straight, white men, Steinberg began working to raise the profile of a more diverse group of puzzle makers, particularly women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals.

A mentorship program he launched in 2019 paired experienced constructors with seven underrepresented puzzle makers, all of whom ended up being published. The next year Steinberg published 30 days of puzzles made by women during Women’s History Month in March, followed by the Pride Month initiative in June 2021.

“I just thought it would be nice to have more voices,” recalled Steinberg. “It has been nice, especially in the last two years, to see a huge influx of constructors from different backgrounds. Puzzles have gotten more interesting as a result.”

When the LGBTQ-constructed puzzles ran in USA Today, Amanda

Rafkin was serving as the associate puzzle editor for the crosswords that appear in the nationally distributed newspaper. This spring, Rafkin became the editor.

“As more people from all walks of life started making them, the direct consequence is more people are reflected in these puzzles,” said Rafkin, 35, who identifies as both lesbian and queer and lives in Los Angeles near North Hollywood.

Growing up in the West Palm Beach area of South Florida, Rafkin started solving puzzles as a teenager. In 2018, she found a mentor in constructing crosswords in Ross Troudeau, who in April became the puzzles editor at Apple News.

“Sometimes something gets its hooks in you and you go off the deep end getting into it. I made a bajillion puzzles,” recalled Rafkin, who during the summer of 2020 had a number of crosswords published in various outlets, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

These days she is submitting fewer puzzles due to the demands of her new position, though one of her crosswords ran in the June 10 edition of the Los Angeles Times. Constructors usually are only given a few days to a weeks’ notice of the publication date for their puzzle.

A renaissance

The COVID pandemic, said Rafkin, resulted in “a renaissance of sorts” for the crossword puzzle field.

“Some people made sourdough and some did crosswords and some did both,” she told the B.A.R. Steinberg has been a serious solver of crosswords since the seventh grade. It wasn’t until seeing the documentary “Word Play” in 2006 that he was inspired to make his own, with the board game “Clue” the theme of his inaugural puzzle.

The New York Times accepted his 14th submitted puzzle as the first it published from Steinberg. After Steinberg gave it a requested rewrite, it came out on a Thursday, considered one of the tougher days for solving a crossword.

As he grew up in Irvine, the Orange County Register profiled Steinberg, with him telling the reporter that his “dream job” would be Will Shortz’s as the crossword editor of the New York Times. A few weeks later the Southern California newspaper hired Steinberg as its freelance crossword editor at the age of 15.

“I didn’t think it could be a career for me. It is such a small industry and was even smaller back then,” said Steinberg, who interned over several summers with Shortz while

See page 32 >>

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Rafael Musa holds his Pride-themed crossword puzzle that appeared in the June 4 issue of the Sunday New York Times Magazine.

Rick Gerharter

David Steinberg is the puzzles and games editor at Andrews McMeel Universal.

Courtesy David Steinberg

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in college. “I got my degree in 2019 from Stanford – I couldn’t major in crosswords – so I did it in psychology and a minor in computer science. I thought I would be one of those tech bros but I wasn’t really good at it.”

During his junior year at Stanford Steinberg edited The Puzzle Society Crossword, which AMU later merged with its syndicated Universal Crossword. He continues to edit the company’s daily puzzles and also oversees the teams supplying crosswords to USA Today and the digital site The Modern Crossword.

He told the B.A.R. he is unsure if the company will do another series of Pride Month puzzles with LGBTQ constructors. But due to the positive reception the one in 2021 received, Steinberg is open to reviving the idea, especially since there is an even larger pool now of diverse puzzle makers.

“We had a huge influx of new people making puzzles during COVID. That was really exciting; we also have a lot more solvers,” noted Steinberg. “It has breathed new life into the art form and brought a younger audience than we have ever had.”

One of the people who works at AMU with Steinberg and Rafkin as a puzzle editor is Anna Gundlach, 41, a transgender lesbian who has lived in Portland, Oregon roughly six years now. A native of Washington state, Gundlach had her first crossword published in the Los Angeles Times in 2010. She started solving crosswords as a child, helping her mom and grandmother complete them.

“I would grab the latest New York Times and my smoking jacket at the age of 10 and solve a puzzle. It has just been a lifelong nerdy pursuit, I guess,” recalled Gundlach. “I have always been into puzzles and wordplay and that kind of thing.”

She, too, first thought of it as a professional pursuit after seeing the “Word Play” film.

“It was a light-bulb moment. Oh, wait, I could probably do that too,” said Gundlach, who created her first puzzles using graph paper. “I didn’t have the assistance software I do now. I made a lot of terrible puzzles.”

Back in 2018 Gundlach contributed a puzzle for The Queer Qross-

words that compiled those created by LGBTQ constructors into a collection to raise money for LGBTQ nonprofits. It put out two such editions of crosswords, raising more than $60,000 to date, according to its website.

“It definitely, for quite a while, used to be a white, middle age, male kind of pursuit. What is funny, too, is the first editor for the New York Times ... who codified all of modern crosswording was a woman,” noted Gundlach, referring to Margaret Petherbridge Farrar, who oversaw the paper’s crosswords in the 1940s through the late 1960s. “She brought them to the mainstream. After that, every editor at any big venue was a cis-het white person ... and references in puzzles used to really reflect that much more.”

Moving to mainstream

But over the last decade more queer, female, and people of color constructors have crossed over from the underground crossword scene into the mainstream, said Gundlach. It is reflected in the cultural references seen in their puzzles, she noted, which largely has been celebrated among the crossword-solving community.

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“You can definitely go into the comments sections of any blog about a crossword and find some anonymous trolls. Outside of that, the person really into crosswords is generally a kind, intelligent person, not just mentally intelligent but emotionally intelligent and open,” said Gundlach. “The kind of person solving a puzzle is generally interested in learning about new ideas and new things.”

Looking up answers

Speaking of which, all four puzzle creators told the B.A.R. that if someone is stuck on a crossword, there is no rule against looking up the answer to a clue. Doing so not only will teach a solver something new, it may open up their solving other words that cross that answer in the puzzle’s grid.

“I don’t take it that seriously. Who cares if I have to look something up?” asked Rafkin. Added Gundlach, “There is no such thing of cheating at crosswords. Solving them is a conversation between you and the constructor, and you might not know everything. I have done crosswords a long time now, and I still sometimes don’t know a reference or the word.”

Crosswords published by newspapers do get progressively tougher to solve between Monday and Sunday. As people solve more puzzles, they pick up on oft-repeated words and catch on to gimmicks and tricks used by constructors that can be confounding to beginners. One example is a rebus square, which will contain a full word or several letters rather than a single letter.

Since being included in the Pride Month puzzle series in 2021, Musa said he has noticed more LGBTQ references included in crosswords. It is a striking change from years past, he said.

“I think a huge part of that is more diverse people are making the puzzles, and that is wonderful,” said Musa, who constructs his crosswords mostly at night after having dinner. “That is a result of initiatives like that plus the whole pandemic effect of people having a lot of time. New people are getting involved.”

Musa recently submitted a puzzle for the syndicated Universal Crossword that should show up this August, he hopes, in newspapers across the country. It was inspired by one of the TV shows he enjoys.

“The other day I realized ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ is 15 letters and thought that is perfect. It took a Sunday and took a couple hours to build a grid around that and send it to David,” said Musa.

His advice to crossword solvers is to embrace one’s curiosity and allow puzzles to open new doors of exploration.

“Be willing to let puzzles expand your horizon instead of getting angry a puzzle is trying to show you something you didn’t know. It should be celebrated and shouldn’t be shunned,” he said.

Musa told the B.A.R. he is grateful to be a part of a new generation of crossword makers bringing a more diverse perspective to the field.

“It is exciting to see. I am honored to help be a part of that and one of the people who gets to put things like that in their puzzles,” said Musa. “Some people do ask if I am trying to push an agenda. I tell them, ‘No, I am putting this in because it is something I care about, like musical artists I enjoy or a TV show I watch.’ I am not trying to spread the gay agenda; I am just making puzzles I love. That is the beauty of it for me. t

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Amanda Rafkin is the puzzle editor for USA Today.

Courtesy Amanda Rafkin Anna Gundlach has been solving crossword puzzles since she was a child; she now constructs them as well.

Courtesy Anna Gundlach

Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) returned to the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park June 17 to help pull weeds during a monthly work day at the site. Pelosi has participated in many grove workdays over the years. The former House speaker was accompanied by her daughter, Christine Pelosi (wearing hat). Nancy Pelosi has still not said whether she will seek

reelection next year. If she chooses to retire, Christine Pelosi has been frequently mentioned as a candidate, while gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) earlier this year formed an exploratory committee to raise funds for a campaign if Nancy Pelosi opts not to seek reelection.

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South Bay youth center continues out leadership

by Heather Cassell

Anew era is being ushered in at the Bill Wilson Center , a youth and family housing, education, counseling, and advocacy organization in Santa Clara County that also works with LGBTQ people.

Earlier this year, longtime South Bay youth and family homeless advocate Sparky Harlan, 70, the center’s bisexual CEO, retired. The center has its headquarters in the city of Santa Clara and also has programs in San Jose.

Josh Selo, 47, a gay man, succeeded Harlan in taking the helm of the more than $30 million organization that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. He is the former executive director of West Valley Community Services .

The Bill Wilson Center serves nearly 5,000 youth, young adults, and families annually through 30 programs supported by 218 staff, according to the executive search firm, Oppenheim, hired by the center’s board to search for Harlan’s replacement.

Santa Clara City Council members celebrated the center’s 50th anniversary with a ceremony and honored the award-winning Harlan with a plaque at its meeting earlier this year.

According to a news release from the city of Santa Clara, the center was founded by Bill Wilson Jr., a former councilmember (1963-1971) and mayor (1965). He launched the organization as the Webster Center in 1973. The center combined counseling for students in local and secondary schools with a family therapy program. In 1977, the center’s name was changed to its founder’s namesake after his passing. Wilson’s son, Alex Wilson, who serves on the center’s board of directors, was also present at the anniversary ceremony.

The Bay Area Reporter recently spoke with Harlan about her accomplishments over her 40-year career, and Selo about his vision for the center’s fu-

ture and tackling the South Bay’s homeless youth problem. The United Way ranked San Jose #1 for youth homelessness in the United States, according to a survey released in January, The survey’s key findings noted the tech capital has the highest population of Generation Z youth experiencing homelessness, with nearly 85% unhoused Gen-Zers per 100,000 residents in the U.S. The survey also pointed out that Pacific Islanders and Black Americans are most at risk to experience homelessness.

The nonprofit United Way of the National Capital Area analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on the number of people experiencing homelessness and vacant housing units in 100 major cities.

Voice for homeless youth for four decades

Born in Oakland and raised in Hayward and Tuolumne County, Harlan said her background “partially” drove her to her career. She found herself in

trouble often in her teens, when she was spending time on the streets and was arrested several times for what was then termed as “status offenses,” which encompassed curfew violations and “out of parental control,” she said.

However, she was smart and good in school, Harlan said. She left home and moved to San Francisco when she turned 17 in 1970.

“I was unstably housed between the street and housing [and] going to college at the same time,” she said, noting back then students couldn’t self-declare their independence and obtain student loans on their own like they can today. They were at the mercy of their parents signing the paperwork to get funding to pay for college.

“My parents didn’t believe in college,” she said, so she was on her own choosing affordable San Francisco State University over the more expensive UC Berkeley. She later attended St. Mary’s College where she earned her graduate degree in nonprofit management. She struggled, finding herself on the streets off and on,

until she found a live-in work situation at the now-defunct Damien House, an organization for street youth in San Mateo, when she was 18 years old, she said. Her career working with substance abuse issues and street youth was born. At the same time, the women’s and LGBTQ movements were emerging. She started discovering her identity, identifying as “bisexual, but more lesbian,” in the 1970s, she said.

“Wow, I’m in San Francisco, all these women and it’s like, it’s like I’m in heaven,” Harlan said. “It’s like I’ve found my people … it’s really that time when I started discovering my identity.”

Harlan quickly moved up at Damien House. Within a year, she was director of the 24/7 hotline. She became a counselor at Huckleberry Youth Programs in San Francisco (formerly Huckleberry House) in 1972. In 1976, she was appointed director of Huckleberry Youth Programs, which was founded in 1967.

“Huckleberry House is probably really where we started doing extensive services for LGBT-identified youth big-time,” Harlan said about her work with Brian Slattery, a gay man who was co-director of Huckleberry. “We were all about, ‘Let’s do more services targeted toward LGBT kids.’”

In 2019, Huckleberry Youth Programs was damaged in a fire, the B.A.R. previously reported. The space served as the organization’s administrative offices. The organization relocated to a new building not far away from its former office. The burned-out building on Geary Boulevard is currently up for sale.

Harlan and Slattery started applying for grants and developing programs targeting queer youth.

“We got into trouble on a couple of our programs because we were getting federal funds specifically placing LGBT kids into jobs,” she said. She recalled using funding from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, known as CETA, to place young gay men in paid internships in the late gay San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt’s office in the 1970s. Britt was appointed to the board by then-mayor Dianne Feinstein after the assassination of gay supervisor Harvey Milk. (Feinstein is now a U.S. senator and recently announced she will not seek reelection in 2024.)

“In the late 1970s, and being in San Francisco when Harvey Milk was shot, we didn’t feel safe at all,” Harlan recalled.

Yet, she and many others weren’t willing to back down. Harlan became a thorn in the side of late North Carolina conservative Republican Senator Jesse Helms in 1976. (Helms held his seat in Congress from 1973-2003. He died in 2008.)

“[Helms] killed CETA,” because her program was placing gay men into housing and helping them get jobs, she said. He “cited our program and San Francisco as the reason why the program shouldn’t exist.”

“We were doing a lot of work educating people as we are doing this research and studying around it,” she said.

“Huckleberry was in the forefront of this whole movement,” Harlan said, noting that Huckleberry helped launch

Larkin Street Youth Services in 1984 when the organization was then known as Youth Advocates. Heather Mathews, Huckleberry’s director of marketing and events, confirmed the organization’s linked history. Harlan said a lot of work around sex work, domestic abuse, and sexual identity overlapped at the time.

“A lot of these early services called ‘sexually exploited youth services’ were really focused on LGBT-identified kids,” she recalled.

The B.A.R. was unable to locate Slattery for a comment for this article.

Harlan continued to rock the boat in the South Bay with her advocacy and policy work for homeless youth and families when she took the helm of the Wilson center in 1983. She built coalitions with organizations and South Bay leaders and funders for the center’s programs, and created policies that became a national model for working with homeless youth, especially LGBTQ youth, and families. She also joined boards and volunteered for other nonprofit organizations.

Highlights of her career included opening Peacock Commons to provide permanent supportive housing in 26 apartments for clients ages 18-24.

In 1999, the Bill Wilson Center bought a building in downtown San Jose where its LGBTQ drop-in center for youth ages 16-25 is housed.

The center’s headquarters in Santa Clara provides housing, basic needs, and counseling for nearly 5,000 residents, according to its 2022 annual report. The center provides shelter to more than 900 unhoused youth nightly, Harlan noted to the B.A.R. That doesn’t include the thousands of people helped by the center’s outreach efforts.

Her early experience in San Francisco informed her leadership style and hiring practices when she took the helm at the center in 1983. Throughout her tenure she staffed the center with talented youth who were clients and diversified the staff by hiring queer people and people of color to reflect the center’s clientele, she said.

No one like Sparky

Harlan put the spark into people’s interests for homeless youth and families in the South Bay, colleagues observed.

“[It] is a testament to what an incredible manager, fundraiser, CEO, and advocate she is,” said gay retired Santa Clara County supervisor Ken Yeager, 70. He described Harlan as direct and “adamant about what she wanted” for building and funding a safe haven from housing to employment services for homeless youth and families, especially LGBTQ youth, and got it for four decades.

“I’m not sure who else could do it,” he added. “I think that’s why she was so successful for over 40 years.”

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez called Harlan “our beloved fearless leader,” describing Harlan’s “legacy” as one of “total commitment to young people whom others have walked away from.”

Chavez said Harlan demonstrated “a fierce strategic approach” to fight for resources “for the young people of our community.”

Congressmember Anna Eshoo (DPalo Alto) agreed, stating, “There are thousands of reasons that her legacy is that of a genuine hero of Santa Clara County,” expressing that Harlan’s 40 years of commitment to homeless youth “won’t end with her retirement.”

“I’m confident that Sparky will continue to be committed to ensuring that every youth has what they need to be healthy and self-sufficient,” she said.

Chavez expressed sadness about Harlan, whom she described as a colleague and a friend, stepping down.

“I’m very sad about her leaving, but I’m also excited about Josh,” she said, referring to Selo. “He’s stepping into an incredible agency, and I think he’s ready to take the helm.”

Sparky Harlan, who retired earlier this year as executive director of the Bill Wilson Center in Santa Clara, reviewed a collection of photos and newspaper clippings through the four decades she worked advocating for Silicon Valley’s homeless youth and families.

Heather Cassell

Josh Selo, the Bill Wilson Center’s new executive director, is shown here at a Rotary Club of Cupertino event a few years ago.

Courtesy Rotary Club of Cupertino

Don’t let mpox be part of your Pride celebration

by Liz Highleyman

Mpox is at a low ebb in San Francisco, but public health experts caution that the virus has not gone away, and they urge gay and bisexual men to take precautions, including getting both doses of the vaccine.

“Cases of mpox in San Francisco remain low, however, we remain watchful as we want to make sure that everyone can enjoy a happy and healthy Pride and summer,” San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip told the Bay Area Reporter. “As the summer months and celebrations surrounding Pride approach, now is the ideal time for people to ensure they are protected.”

Mpox cases declined dramatically late last summer, thanks to a combination of behavior change, vaccination, and natural immunity after infection. Since May 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied 30,487 mpox cases in the United States, including 846 in San Francisco. But only four cases have been reported in the city this year, two in January, one in April, and one in May.

However, a recent uptick in cases shows that the virus continues to circulate at a low level.

As the B.A.R. previously reported, health officials in Chicago have identified a cluster of 45 mpox cases, mostly among men who have sex with men, starting in late April, with five new cases last week. France, Spain, and the United Kingdom have also reported small increases in recent months, but no similar clusters have been reported this year in other U.S. cities.

While anyone can get mpox through close contact, the virus mainly spreads through sex. The overwhelming majority of cases in the United States have been among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men and their sexual partners.

Mpox causes a rash that can occur anywhere on the body. Many people develop sores – sometimes extremely painful – on the genitals or in the rectum or throat. Some also have flulike symptoms and swollen lymph nodes. People with HIV who have a low CD4 T-cell count are particularly prone to severe illness. A majority of the 42 people who have died of mpox in the United States have been Black gay men with AIDS, stated an article on AIDSMap. (https://www.aidsmap. com/news/apr-2023/most-peoplewho-died-mpox-us-were-black-gaymen-advanced-hiv)

Mpox vaccines

The best way to prevent mpox, experts say, is to get two doses of the Jynneos vaccine administered at least a month apart. It takes about two weeks after the second dose to develop maximum immunity. People who received their first dose last year can still get the second dose now.

“It’s never too late to get the second dose or start the series,” White House mpox deputy coordinator Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a gay man, told the B.A.R.

Vaccine supplies were extremely limited last summer, leading providers to switch to an intradermal technique

that allows a single subcutaneous injection to be split among five people. But supplies are now ample, and most providers are again offering traditional subcutaneous vaccines.

More than half of the people in the Chicago mpox cluster were vaccinated, raising concerns about effectiveness and how long protection lasts.

A recent analysis in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that vaccine effectiveness was 75% for one dose and 86% for two doses, with “substantial” and “comparable” protection regardless of administration method. Other studies, however, have seen lower effectiveness, especially for immunocompromised people. Given when these studies were conducted, they can’t say much about whether vaccine protection wanes over time.

A bigger concern is that many people at risk for mpox have not yet gotten vaccinated.

More than 1.2 million Jynneos doses have been administered in the United States, but only about a quarter of eligible individuals are fully vaccinated and 37% have received one dose, according to the CDC. Black and Latino men who have sex with men, transgender people, and people experiencing homelessness are less likely to be vaccinated.

The vaccination rate is higher in San Francisco, with 42% of HIV-positive people and 65% of HIV-negative people on PrEP having received at least one dose, the DPH told the B.A.R. in April. But this leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Health officials strongly urge those at risk to get vaccinated, or to get their second dose if they’ve only had one. At this point, experts do not recommend boosters, nor do they recommend subcutaneous shots for those who received intradermal vaccines. This advice includes people who have already had mpox, as there have been some reported cases of reinfection after recovery.

Even if the vaccine does not provide complete protection against infection, it is likely to prevent serious illness. What’s more, increased vaccination not only protects individuals, it also helps keep mpox under control at the community level.

From page 21

meeting with representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, who provided him with figures  on how many people are injured by the law enforcement dogs, Jackson decided to take the issue on.

“I was blown away by it. I had no clue it was even an issue,” recalled Jackson, who agreed to author the bill since “I am seeking to solve problems up here.”

Book bannings

One issue he is trying to address is public school officials banning books and curriculums with content about the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities. On Wednesday, Jackson took part in a special hearing of the Task Force on Inclusive Education convened by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

Earlier in the year Jackson had introduced AB 1078 with an eye toward ensuring the state’s school districts were teaching about LGBTQ+ Americans and people of color. But the bill has proved to be controversial, prompting Jackson to make various amendments to it, with reports noting that he had watered it down in May in order to get it passed out of the Assembly by the deadline to do so.

But then the Temecula Valley Unified School District’s conservative-led school board rejected a

“Vaccination makes getting and spreading mpox less likely and may decrease the chances of severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” Daskalakis said during a May 18 media briefing. “Though no vaccine is perfect, even imperfect immunity in many people means a lot of immunity in the population, and the result is that we are less likely to have outbreaks.”

DPH recommends two doses of the Jynneos vaccine for all people living with HIV, anyone taking or eligible to take PrEP, and “all men, trans people, and nonbinary people who have sex with men, trans people, or nonbinary people,” according to Philip. Anyone outside those groups who wants protection can also request the vaccine.

Vaccines are available through local health systems and community clinics, such as City Clinic and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Strut clinic. Go to sf.gov/information/ mpox-vaccine for more information about vaccination sites.)

Health officials do not advise avoiding events or closing venues, but they do urge people at risk to take precautions, such as limiting the number of sex partners and not sharing sex toys or fetish gear. Condoms may offer some protection.

“Since no vaccine is 100% effective, it is important for individuals to reduce their risk of potential exposures to mpox both before and after being vaccinated,” Philip said.

Regardless of vaccination status or prior infection, people who have a rash, sores, or other mpox symptoms should get tested and refrain from sex and other close contact. Most people with mpox recover without treatment, but the antiviral medication TPOXX (tecovirimat) can be used for more severe cases. People diagnosed with mpox should avoid contact for about three weeks, until the sores fully heal.

“Mpox transmission in the United States continues to be low, but people at risk for mpox should use the full toolkit to prevent the disease: vaccine, testing, and good information,” Daskalakis said. Plus, he added, “People should make sure that they are up to date on other items on the sexual health checklist, including HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing, treatment, and prevention.” t

state-approved history textbook due to inclusion in its supplemental materials of slain gay rights leader and San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, the first LGBTQ elected official in California. It led Jackson to announce June 6 revisions to his AB 1078, so it would mandate that any school district within the K-12 education system must secure a super majority on its school board to vote in favor of banning a book.

He also announced that the bill would allow parents the right to appeal such decisions to the countywide Board of Education. Yet a hearing on AB 1078 in the Senate Education Committee was recently postponed because negotiations are ongoing over Jackson’s two amendments to it.

“It is disheartening to witness the rise of white Christian nationalist extremism, which seeks to erase the invaluable contributions and narratives of marginalized communities.

As a Christian myself, I am deeply appalled that these individuals are perverting our faith to sow division and suppress the histories of others. This will not happen on my watch,” stated Jackson in announcing the proposed bill revisions.

His being on the frontlines of the fight over educating kids about LGBTQ topics, a legislative battle taking place in statehouses and school districts across the country, is a somewhat surprising position for someone who did not really cam-

See page 44 >>

San Francisco and federal health officials urge men who have sex with men and others to get vaccinated against mpox.

Gooch

Equity. Respect. Pride.

San Francisco Police Officers in solidarity with our LGBTQ community.

Congratulations on the 53rd San Francisco LGBTQ Pride celebration and the Bay Area Reporter’s annual Pride edition.

SAN FRANCISCO POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

Oakland Black Pride returns with expo, brunch

by John Ferrannini

Pride Month doesn’t end with the last Sunday of June this year –across the bay from San Francisco’s parade and celebration, Oakland Black Pride will be just about to get underway.

This year will be the third iteration of the event, which was launched in 2021, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Nonbinary and queer Oakland Black Pride Executive Director Olaywa K. Austin spoke with the B.A.R. to walk through this year’s events taking place next week.

Austin said their goal is to create a safe space for the vulnerable within the LGBTQ community.

“I hope people see it’s an inclusive thing,” Austin said. “We put this on to uplift the marginalized within the LGBTQ community. We want folks to see the necessity of safe spaces for us and that we are a fun group of folk. Come support us and hang out with us. See what we’re up to. It’s a movement, and every year it grows, and we get some good feedback about what we’re doing.”

Austin said that they’re “really excited about the program we’ve put together, starting off with our benefit dinner fundraiser.”

The Breaking Bread fundraiser will be Wednesday, June 28, at 6 p.m. at Forage Kitchen, 478 25th Street. The $250 tickets are still available online (https://www.simpletix.com/e/ breaking-bread-a-beneift-dinner-tickets-132256). Helming the kitchen will be chef Preeti Mistry, a queer, lesbian, and gender-nonconforming resident of Sebastopol in the North Bay who formerly owned an Oakland restaurant.

Mistry will be “preparing a seven course tasting menu and a three cocktail pairing, so super super excited about that,” Austin said. (Vegetarian

options are also available.)

“The objective of Breaking Bread is to make the culinary contributions of queer people of color more visible; to exhibit the many ways that QPOC have been a meaningful part of the restaurant industry,” Oakland Black Pride’s website states. “To offer the dining public in the Bay Area, cuisines and perspectives of folx that have largely been muted. Breaking Bread is a nod to QPOC in fine dining who are rarely seen as next in line to be restaurateurs or executive chefs.”

The next event is virtual, “Navigating Grief + Loss Through Joy,” which is Thursday, June 29, at 5 p.m. and is being offered through partnership with creative wellness agency GetSomeJoy.

“Through grounding activities, reflection, introspective writing, and group discussion in a safe, affirming environment, we unpack emotions related to grief and mourning and collaborate on tools and strategies for moving through spiritual ashiness,” the website states.

People interested in signing up can do so online.

Bar crawl and more

“And then Friday we do the fun stuff – Friday’s our bar crawl, one of the most exciting parts of the festival,” Austin said. “We’ve got some new bar partners this year, starting with High 5ive, inside the Kissel Hotel in uptown Oakland, which is our host hotel.” (The hotel is at 2455 Broadway.)

The other participating watering holes are alaMar at 100 Grand Avenue, Town Bar at 2001 Broadway, and Amber Lounge at 1517 Franklin Street. The event starts at 6 p.m. A $30 ticket is required to participate, but this includes a signature cocktail at each stop and a raffle entry. People interested in signing up can do so online.

Then, Saturday, July 1, comes the Queer Expo at Agency Oakland at 2150 Lexington Street from noon to 8 p.m. Austin called the expo “my baby.” It will feature “a little over 50 queer vendors of color – everything from nonprofits to artists to merchants to crafters. So that’s going to be a big event. It’s growing every year: the first year we had maybe 20 [vendors], last year 30; this year we’ve tapped at 50. We’re incorporating a kids zone to the expo.”

Austin asks people to “show them

<<

Federal judge

From page 22

Each time, Pitts simply relayed the basic points of the majority opinion. Cruz also pressed him repeatedly on decisions involving religious views, such as on the Supreme Court’s approval of post-game prayer on a public high school football field. Pitts again simply restated each opinion’s basic points.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) made note of a paper Pitts had co-authored. Entitled “Applying Bostock to Bargaining, Benefits, and Litigation,” the paper discussed the landmark Supreme Court decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch that held “an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies” Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. Lee quoted a line from the article that stated that the opinion was based on Gorsuch’s “belief that the meaning of ‘sex’ had to be determined by reference to its ‘original public meaning ... at the time of [Title VII’s] enactment’ in 1964.”

“Do you agree with Justice Gorsuch’s ‘belief’ that words should be defined according to original public meaning? Or should meaning change as social norms and linguistic conventions evolve?” asked Lee.

Pitts replied that the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County held that courts “normally interpret a statute in accord with the ordinary public meaning of its terms at the time of its enactment.”

“If confirmed, I will faithfully apply binding Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedents regarding statutory interpretation, including Bostock,” Pitts stated.

[vendors] some love, especially with storefronts shuttering and malls and stuff closing.”

One of those vendors is Krystal Cade, who told the B.A.R. that this is her third time at the expo.

“I love these expos because as a queer Black business owner, it’s a unique opportunity for me to connect with my people,” Cade stated. “Supporting Black businesses is important to me and OBP’s Queer Expo is an effective way we can offer that support to each other and to our community.”

The final day, Sunday, July 2, will see three events. The first is the queer kickball tournament, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Raimondi Park at 1800 Wood Street.

The cost to participate is $12 per player or $120 per team. Each team must consist of between nine and 11 players. Interested players can sign up online.

“We didn’t do it last year,” Austin said. “That’s going to be fun, so if you know anyone who wants to play kickball tell them to sign up.”

For those less athletically inclined on a Sunday morning, Oakland Black Pride is offering brunch – “Biscuits and Bellinis” to be exact - at Otto’s Uptown Kitchen, 2455 Broadway, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The first course will consist of biscuits and gravy, jams and honeys; the second a choice of shrimp, pork belly, or a vegetarian option; and the third a chef’s dessert. Other brunch items, such as fruit and French toast sticks, can be added optionally. Vegan options are also available. The $60 tickets are available online.

The final event is a cookout from 3 to 8 p.m. the same day. The exact location will be sent out closer to the event. Tickets are $15 online and will be $20 at the door.

Austin said it’ll be “a big queer party,” but won’t go too late for those who need to get up early Monday for work or school. t

Pitts graduated from Yale University and Yale University Law School. He clerked for Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt, and then joined the Altshuler Berzon law firm. Pitts participated in activities of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, the LGBTQ bar association based in San Francisco, and helped the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights represent a trans man in Louisiana whose employer ordered he present as female at work. Pitts was also lead author of a brief in the Sixth Circuit, opposing a law banning same-sex marriage. And he has been a member of San Francisco’s LGBTQ running group, the FrontRunners, since 2013. The American Bar Association rated Pitts “qualified” for the job.

Biden has now appointed a total of nine LGBTQ judges to the federal bench (two appeals court and seven district court). Obama appointed 11 (one appeals court and 10 district court); former President Donald Trump appointed two (one appeals, one district).

While Pitts is the first openly gay nominee to be confirmed to the federal district court in San Francisco, Judge Vaughn Walker came out as gay after retiring from his seat on the San Francisco federal district court. Walker presided over and ruled in the 2010 case challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, a voter-approved initiative to ban same-sex marriage. He ruled the initiative to be unconstitutional. That ruling was upheld on appeal, including by the Supreme Court, and same-sex marriage became legal in the Golden State in June 2013. t

now live in a community that offers a unique place where we feel welcome, can be ourselves, live among friends and experience new adventures, with the peace of mind for our future.”

- Brian H., resident

James Cox, second from left, Oakland Black Pride treasurer; joined others, including DJ Nina Robinson, fund director-Runway at Oakland Black Pride’s 2022 benefit dinner at SobreMesa in Oakland.

Courtesy Bryon Malik Photography

SFMOMA offers free day for Pride Month

compiled by Cynthia Laird

To celebrate Pride Month, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will hold a free community day open to all Saturday, June 24.

A news release stated that people can enjoy seven gallery floors of art, including works by LGBTQ+ artists. Among the exhibitions currently on view are “Kinship: Photography and Connection;” “Frank Bowling: The New York Years 1966-1975;” “Wu Tsang: Of Whales;” “Corporeal;” and the brand new “Scrappy Chair Challenge.”

SFMOMA is open that day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 151 Third Street. To reserve free tickets in advance, go to tickets.sfmoma.org. For more information about visiting the museum, go to sfmoma.org/visit

People can also explore the intersections of art, activism, and queer identity on SFMOMA Stories at sfmoma.org/stories.

Pride NightLife at Academy of Sciences

Oaklash, a drag collective from Oakland, will headline Pride NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse drive in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Thursday, June 22, beginning at 6 p.m.

A news release stated that the event is a celebration of love, acceptance, and the power of people being themselves.

Oaklash will bring its “jaw-dropping drag performances, stunning lewks, and legendary music that will have you on your feet,” the release stated. “All hosted by Oaklash’s board members and the House of Pack’s own Lotus Boy and Vera.”

Additionally, attendees can enjoy “Queer from Here,” a powerful photography project by Lauren Tabak that explores modern queer identity through captivating portraits.

Local organizations will be on hand such as Bridge HIV, a San Francisco Department of Public Health office leading in HIV prevention, research, and education; ABO Comix, a collective of creators and activists working to amplify the voices of LGBTQIA+ prisoners through art; Fluid Cooperative Cafe, a trans and nonbinary-centered cafe and event space; and Rainbow World Fund, an all-volunteer LGBTQ humanitarian organization.

NightLife is 21 and over only, with valid physical ID required. Tickets are $27.95 and can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/2s3w6825

Alameda County elections commission

After a snafu last November that had the wrong candidate declared the winner in an Oakland school board race, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has established an elections commission and county residents can now apply.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, trans dad Nick Resnick had been declared the winner of the

District 4 seat and even certified. But Alameda County Registrar of Voters

Tim Dupuis disclosed December 28 that his office had not properly counted the ballots in the contest and three others decided by ranked choice. While the error didn’t affect the outcomes of any of the other races, it did result in Resnick incorrectly being declared the winner of his race. Nevertheless, Resnick was sworn into office in January.

In February, rather than continue to contest the results, Resnick resigned from his seat, and the true winner, Mike Hutchinson, was seated. He is now board president.

Resnick’s being declared the winner and sworn into office means he will maintain the distinction of being the first transgender person to serve on a board overseeing a K-12 public school district in California.

The error by the registrar’s office did not go over well with the supervisors, who then established the oversight commission.

Those interested in serving can submit an application via https://www.acgov.org/bnc/#/home.

D8 town hall with city attorney Chiu

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu will be the featured speaker at a District 8 town hall Thursday, June 29, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez Street.

Joining Chui will be gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and leadership from the San Francisco Police Department’s Park Station, which has jurisdiction over part of the district.

According to a flyer, Chiu will discuss his office’s efforts to tackle public nuisances and code violations in neighborhoods; ensure accountability, public integrity and civil law enforcement; and champion workers, consumers, environmental justice, reproductive, and civil rights.

To sign up, go to https://bit.ly/d8town-hall.

Summer music series in Union Square

The free Union Square in Bloom Summer Music Series kicks off Saturday, July 8, in the famous San Francisco shopping district in an effort to bring visitors to the area that’s been beset by store closures as the city works to recover its commercial centers after the COVID pandemic.

A news release stated that the concerts will take place every Saturday through midOctober from 1 to 4 p.m. Beginning in August, the series will also take place every third Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The outdoor concerts will celebrate legendary sounds and transform Union Square Plaza into a thriving hub of music and entertainment, the release stated. The lineup boasts a diverse range of talented artists, including local songwriters,

Rainbow Skies Ahead!

solo musicians, up-and-coming stars, electronic dance music, dance DJ sets, jazz renditions, and Latin rhythms.

“The Union Square in Bloom Summer Music Series is here to take center stage,” stated Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of Union Square Alliance. “The plaza and its surroundings hold a vital place in the city’s history, representing a thriving hub of vitality.”

She added that the concert series is in alignment with the goals of the alliance’s strategic plan that defines Union Square’s resurgence as part of the city’s economic recovery.

Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, added that the city’s public plazas and parks are places of connection.

“Dancing to live music in a historic public square is a spectacular way to spend a summer evening,” he stated.

Attendees are encouraged to enjoy food and beverages at the numerous local restaurants and bars surrounding the venue. Some concerts will also include food trucks and a beer garden, the release stated. Familyfriendly activities will be highlighted that align with the blooming of the neighborhood and the musical themes of each concert.

The Union Square summer music series is a pilot supported by SF Live, a $2.5 million investment in San Francisco’s live music and entertainment sector and was made possible by state funding secured by  Chiu when he served in the Assembly, according to the release. It is a collaboration between the Union Square Alliance, Rec and Park, and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. t

SFMOMA’s Howard Street Entrance features artwork by Susan O’Malley.

Matthew Millman Photography

Fate of gay bathhouse chain Steamworks hangs in balance amid ongoing legal fight

by John Ferrannini

The fate of the Steamworks Baths chain hangs in the balance, as two companies with ownership stakes duke it out in a court battle that includes allegations of impersonation, attempted poisoning, and requested drug delivery.

The suit, Steamworks Management LLC v. Great Works Inc., was set to have a case management conference in late April; however, this has been pushed back to August 23.

The Steamworks chain is a group of five gay bathhouses in the United States and Canada with locations in Berkeley, Chicago, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. It was founded by the late Rick Stokes in Berkeley in 1976.

The Berkeley, Chicago, Seattle, and Vancouver Steamworks locations did not respond to requests for comment for this report. The Toronto location declined to comment when reached by phone.

Stokes, who died in 2022 at the age of 87, is perhaps better known as the other gay man who ran for the seat that the late Harvey Milk won on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Stokes was backed by the more moderate Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club (now known as the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club) and was portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie “Milk” by Italian actor Stephen Spinella.

In about an hour Tuesday evening, a B.A.R. reporter spoke with 13 men leaving or entering Steamworks Berkeley. Only one agreed to speak, but did not give a name. He said he hopes the gay bathhouse industry survives in spite of the challenges it’s faced in recent years.

“All but one in San Francisco shut down over the last 20-30 years,” he said, referring to the Eros sex club. “So, this is the spot, and it’s been an integral part of the sex-positive

community, since it’s a gay bathhouse.”

Bathhouses still not open in SF

Milk’s current successor in representing the Castro on the board, gay District

8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, successfully championed legislation opening the door to allowing bathhouses in San Francisco to operate more freely.

In 1984, a few months after the United States government announced the discovery of HIV as the necessary cause of AIDS, a San Francisco Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order that shuttered nine gay bathhouses and sex clubs in the city.

In late November of that year another judge lifted the restraining order but imposed new rules on how the bathhouses and sex clubs could operate: no longer could they rent private rooms, unless they secured a hotel license, and employees had to monitor the sexual

behavior of patrons. These were codified by the health department in 1997. Some sex clubs have been able to operate in the city over the years, like Eros (formerly in the Castro, now in the Tenderloin) and the now-defunct Blow Buddies (South of Market). Neither provided locked rooms for rent, a policy Eros has maintained in its new location.

In recent years, Mandelman helped steer to passage an ordinance asking the health department to change its policies, which it did in 2021, and another changing zoning rules to allow for bathhouses to open in some historically-LGBTQ neighborhoods such as the Tenderloin, South of Market and the Castro.

Mandelman told the B.A.R. in May that he knows of at least two groups looking to open a bathhouse in the city.

“I believe people are mostly looking in SOMA,” he said. “I’m hopeful, but only time will tell.”

Mandelman said he doesn’t think that either of the two groups are

Steamworks proprietors.

Ken Rowe, co-owner of Eros, told the B.A.R. that San Francisco is a particularly difficult market, in spite of demand.

“I have always said that traditional bathhouses will have a hard time in SF because real estate is so high,” Rowe said. “Last year, there were supposedly two to three interested parties, who once it was reported in the press, they backed out. Yes, Eros is still the only seven days a week club for queer men. We are open to all queers, but generally it’s men who have sex with men.”

Regarding the Steamworks suit, Rowe said he had been “wondering why they were operating with two distinct websites, with some clubs on one, and some on the other.”

“At least Steamworks is more transparent than the other corporate baths,” Rowe said. “Or maybe it’s just because SF is closer to Berkeley, they are more on my radar.”

Initial Steamworks complaint

The Steamworks complaint was filed in San Francisco Superior Court on August 3, 2018. Stokes was the president and managing employee of Great Works Inc., the complaint states. Laurence Hickey was the chief financial officer.

Ross Moore, a former lover and business partner of Stokes, is the co-manager and 50% owner and member of Steamworks Management LLC. Both Great Works and the Steamworks LLC have Moore and Stokes’ estate as shareholders, but Great Works was in Stokes’ sphere of influence and the Steamworks LLC is in Moore’s, court documents state.

The complaint identifies Great Works Inc. as the corporation that owns the Berkeley bathhouse location but states that until February 2018, Steamworks Management LLC provided “all management, operational,

and administrative services” for it.

However, starting that month, “Great Works interfered with and misappropriated Steamworks’ prospective business advantage in continuing to provide management, operational, and administrative services” at the Chicago, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver locations,” according to the complaint.

“Steamworks [Management, LLC] was the owner with the right of immediate possession of personal property consisting of intellectual property, trademarks, logos, physical assets including furniture, computers, office equipment, and physical files, and accounts receivable having an estimated market value of not less than $650,000, subject to proof at trial,” the complaint states.

“On or about February 8, 2018, in violation of Steamworks’ ownership and possessory rights in such personal property, defendants seized control of and converted to their own use said personal property. Defendants have continued to maintain their unlawful control over Steamwworks’ personal property at all times since the foregoing date. ... Such acts are reprehensible and known to defendants to be reprehensible.”

The Steamworks LLC claims Great Works converted all the employees from the Steamworks LLC to Great Works, misappropriated the LLC’s business relationships, and converted its contracts with third parties from the Steamworks LLC to Great Works, causing damages not less than $1,784,000. The suit names Stokes and Hickey as the forces responsible.

At around the same time, Moore was fired as vice president of Great Works, though he retains a 25% ownership stake.

See page 45 >>

The Steamworks bathhouse in Berkeley is involved in a complex civil lawsuit pitting two companies with ownership stakes against each other.

Jane Philomen Cleland

Richmond marks Pride with message there’s more to do

by Ana Tellez-Witrago, Richmond Pulse

[Editor’s note: This article was first published in Richmond Pulse, (https://richmondpulse.org/) a community news and media outlet committed to amplifying the voices of the city’s under-served residents. Reporting is led by young people, with the intent of serving the entire community. This Pride project was in collaboration with the Bay Area Reporter.]

WhenRichmond Rainbow Pride held its ninth annual event June 4, the message from many attendees was that more work needs to be done regarding equality and the LGBTQ community.

The festival at Civic Center Plaza included drag, comedy and musical performances, speeches by elected officials, community organization resources, and HIV testing by the Contra Costa Health Department.

The theme was “Pride and Joy.” It was the organization’s first in-person Pride event since 2019, according to Ashley Scarborough, a Richmond

resident and member of Richmond Rainbow Pride.

“Richmond has been very supportive, with over 200 people coming out to celebrate,” said Scarborough.

The event, previously held in Marina Bay, was moved to Civic Center Plaza “to make the event more accessible to everyone,” gay Richmond Rainbow Pride co-founder and City

Councilmember Cesar Zepeda told the Pulse via text message. “Marina Bay was a little out of the way and not as transit friendly as Civic Center. We had a lot more people coming out to celebrate.”

The master of ceremonies for the day, KaiKai Bee Michaels, shared what the LGBTQ+ community and Pride means to them.

“The LGBTQ+ community means family,” said Michaels. “My blood family has not always been supportive, but this community is chosen family, and Pride gives us the opportunity to look at the struggles of the past while also enjoying where we are now, understanding that we have a long way to go.”

The Bay Area, including West Contra Costa County, is typically open to LGBTQ+ people.

“We are spoiled,” said Danu Calderon of Pinole.

But that doesn’t mean they take that for granted.

When Donald Trump was president, Calderon says she felt she had to be more cautious when moving to a new neighborhood. She wondered if her new neighbors were going to be accepting. She ultimately had no issues with them, but she worries about the anti-LGBTQ+ narrative the nation is still dealing with.

Over 540 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced and 45 anti-LGBTQ laws enacted so far in 2023, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization. Several LGBTQ+ community members expressed concern with the

attacks by extremist lawmakers across the country, but Calderon said the pushback was also a “badge of honor” for all the progress that has been made throughout the years.

“It makes me feel angry and disappointed in the general conversation, but I also take encouragement because it is a backlash against a lot of gains and an acceptance of people just living their lives – of people having the bravery and courage to live in their truth,” said Amber Hatfield of Richmond. “The LGBTQ+ community is a safe place for people who have been historically ostracized in our society.”

Irving, who asked that his last name not be shared, didn’t know about the Pride event but was walking past when he saw all the rainbow flags and decided to lay on the grass and enjoy the performances. He thought it was “cool” that Pride wasn’t only being celebrated in San Francisco but also in Richmond.

“Now, it is more important than ever to show up for one another,” Irving said. “I don’t believe in hate.”

Those interested in volunteering for next year’s 10th anniversary of Richmond Rainbow Pride, can email richmondrainbowpride@gmail.com. t

Young gay man had to leave Richmond to find community

by Natasha Kaye, Richmond Pulse

[Editor’s note: This article was first published in Richmond Pulse, (https://richmondpulse.org/) a community news and media outlet committed to amplifying the voices of the city’s under-served residents. Reporting is led by young people, with the intent of serving the entire community. This Pride project was in collaboration with the Bay Area Reporter.]

Growing up gay in a large Catholic, Latino family in Richmond, Carlo Figueroa often felt there was no one to show him how to “be gay.”

Lacking a community who could share this knowledge, he turned where many do when there’s no one to answer their questions: the internet.

“It kind of sucked because there was no one to tell me about it. I basically had to Google it,” he said. “There was sex ed, but we never learned about gay or lesbian or anything that wasn’t the heteronormative lifestyle.”

Figueroa, 23, always knew he was different. In elementary school, he grew frustrated by the other boys incessantly asking him which girls he had crushes on. Not only could he not give them an answer, he also couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t attracted to girls to begin with.

As he grew older and more comfortable with his sexuality, Figueroa realized he was gay and slowly began coming out to his inner circle. He first told his best friend in eighth grade. A few years later, he told his siblings and

cousins. By 10th grade, he had officially come out.

However, it wasn’t until he graduated from high school and moved away for college that he worked up the nerve to tell his parents.

“I was scared they weren’t going to accept it,” he said. “I mean, I knew they wouldn’t be the type of parents to kick me out, but I was a little afraid they weren’t going to love me as much anymore – that they were going to think there was something wrong with me because I was raised Catholic.”

Like many Latino families, Figueroa’s is deeply religious. He was raised being taught the values of the church, and with that came regular reminders that being gay is a sin in its view.

Fortunately, he said that when he did tell his parents, they accepted him and, for the most part, supported him.

“I think he always kind of knew,” Figueroa said with a laugh, referring to his father.

His mother had a bit more difficulty. For years, he said, she couldn’t bring herself to say “gay.”

Nowadays, Figueroa spends most of his time in Davis with his cat, Belle. He will soon graduate from UC Davis.

While he has found a community of LGBTQ+ people of color who embrace, celebrate, and support each other, he still wishes he could have some sort of support system growing up in Richmond.

Figueroa advised other LGBTQ+

kids in West County who feel they have nowhere to turn to just be themselves.

“It’s not worth it, living in fear of what your family or community might think of your sexuality or gender identity,” he said. “You’ll miss out on your life and your happiness to the expense of your mental health.”

But he said they might need to go elsewhere for that to feel possible.

“If you’re not convinced,” he continued, “get out of Richmond first –go to college, move out, or just meet LGBTQ+ people from other cities and see just how much better life can be when we’re surrounded by our community.“t

Toasting SF’s pink triangle

San Francisco Pride community grand marshal Honey Mahogany, center, pops the champagne atop Twin Peaks Saturday, June 17, as the installation of the pink triangle was celebrated at a ceremony. At left is city AssessorRecorder Joaquín Torres. The pink triangle reverted to canvas-only this year, after a few years of seeing it lit with LED lights. Patrick Carney, co-founder of the

project, said it’s important to remember that the pink triangle represents reclaiming a symbol used by the Nazis into international recognition of the LGBTQ community. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, members of the Board of Supervisors, SF Pride officials, and other grand marshals also attended the event.

Gay Richmond City Councilmember Cesar Zepeda, second from right, enjoyed the recent Richmond Rainbow Pride festival with friends.

Tony Tamayo, from Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez’s Facebook page.

Carlo Figueroa urges LGBTQ+ youth to be themselves.

Courtesy Carlo Figueroa

Bill Wilsom

Pride 2023>>

In planning for the Pride events, the idea of installing a rainbow crosswalk came up in the conversations, Kellman told the Bay Area Reporter a few days after cutting the ribbon for the crosswalks on June 13. Three were installed at the Bridgeway and Bay Street intersection in front of the Italian restaurant Poggio Trattoria, whose outdoor seating is popular with dog owners.

“There is no historic gay something there. It is one of the most well-trafficked areas in town,” noted Kellman.

Made with a high-quality thermoplastic, the crosswalks should last up to five years before needing to be repaired or replaced. Seeing them be officially unveiled, with all five councilmembers in attendance, “felt amazing,” said Kellman.

“We talk about diversity in our community and this is truly an example of that,” she noted.

Other cities

Nearby in the town of Fairfax, a crosswalk inspired by the Progress Pride flag, which in addition to the rainbow colors includes black and brown stripes to represent people of color and the pink, white, and blue colors of the transgender flag, was installed on Broadway spanning from in front of the My Thai restaurant across the street to the Parkade parking lot.

“If we can have fun in a way that doesn’t cost us a lot of money or staff time, it’s worth doing, so I appreciate that,” gay Fairfax City Councilmember Lisel Blash told the Marin Independent Journal after the governing body approved the crosswalk in April.

The LGBTQ resort town of Guerneville in western Sonoma County is likely to get a number of rainbow crosswalks this year. Supervisor Lynda Hopkins is working with resident Anamaría Morales, both longtime supporters of the LGBTQ community, to install a series of them throughout the town along the Russian River.

The first ones could be installed this summer at several intersections on roads overseen by the county. Hopkins’ office is also in contact with Caltrans about installing rainbow crosswalks at intersections along Main Street in Guerneville, which is also known as River Road and State Route 116, a highway overseen by the state agency.

“It is part of the overall umbrella of really trying to invest in downtown Guerneville and make sure the downtown showcases the beautiful vibrancy of the community,” said Hopkins, who along with her county board colleagues approved last week a major sidewalk improvement project for the town’s Main Street.

As for adding rainbow crosswalks, Hopkins told the B.A.R. “it is something I have heard kicked around town for a very long time.”

The idea gained steam this spring after someone tagged several rainbow murals in Guerneville with homophobic slurs, one of which was painted by elementary school students. Another tag appeared on a concrete street barrier near Morales’ home that she had painted a rainbow mural on as well as the rainbow gate she also painted in front of her house.

Morales called Hopkins that day and pitched her the idea of more rainbow murals and crosswalks in town. In a June 1 post on her Facebook page, Hopkins disclosed that at least three rainbow crosswalks were in the works.

“We need to do more rainbows and can’t let this hate speech stand,” she told the B.A.R. last week. “If people go after our rainbows, we are just going to come back with more and bigger in time.”

During the pandemic Morales organized her neighbors in Healdsburg where she used to live to transform

a fence covered with graffiti into a rainbow art installation. It was what sparked her proposal to do a similar public art project in Guerneville, having moved to town last August, via rainbow crosswalks.

“Rather than me being a onewoman show by painting the rainbow, we can respond with numbers and more kindness,” said Morales, whose grandmother and greatgrandmother grew up in the town.

Once given approval by the county, she wants to invite community members to help paint the rainbow crosswalks on the selected side streets as a show of support and response to the homophobic tagging, which also appeared this spring on LGBTQ-supportive signs on several businesses in town.

“I thought, yeah, rainbows bring joy and happiness. It is perfect,” said Morales, who owns College Confectionista, a cheesecake business she started in high school to pay her way through UC Berkeley.

According to LGBTQ advocates the B.A.R. contacted, it is believed that rainbow crosswalks can now be found in five of the nine counties that make up the Bay Area. Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Solano counties could join the list by Pride Month in 2024, leaving Napa County the lone holdout.

Last October, Petaluma in Sonoma County unveiled a Progress Pride flag crosswalk in its downtown. The nonprofit Amor Para Todos used private funds to paint it on Kentucky Street between Western Avenue and Washington Street.

In San Francisco, which is a city and a county, rainbow crosswalks were added to all four sides of the 18th and Castro streets intersection in 2014. They provided a colorful backdrop last September when Queen Máxima of the Netherlands visited the historic LGBTQ neighborhood, photos of which were published around the world.

As the B.A.R. noted in a 2013 story about seeing the Castro receive its own rainbow crosswalk, the streetscape features were beginning to pop up at that time in LGBTQ neighborhoods around the world, from Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada to Seattle and West Hollywood in Southern California.

San Jose saw one installed in 2016 near its Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center on The Alameda. Another Santa Clara County city, Cupertino, in 2021 unveiled a rainbow stripe adjacent to a yellow crosswalk across Stevens Creek Boulevard at Finch Avenue.

In a tweet about it, the city welcomed residents to “walk through Cupertino with pride” and noted it “installed the rainbow crosswalk to say that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is welcome in Cupertino.”

In Alameda County, the city of San Leandro dedicated a rainbow crosswalk in 2019 in its downtown at Parrott Street and Washington Avenue.

The year prior, a rainbow crosswalk was painted across Telegraph Avenue in front of Oakland’s White Horse Inn, one of the oldest LGBTQ watering holes in the country. A rainbow crosswalk was also painted near the site of the Oakland Pride festival at 20th and Franklin streets several years ago, but it has faded.

The city of Pinole in Contra Costa County may soon sport its own rainbow crosswalk. Gay City Councilmember Devin Murphy, currently serving as Pinole’s ceremonial mayor, told the B.A.R. he hopes to get one approved as part of a pedestrian improvement project being planned for the Tennent Street and San Pablo Avenue intersection.

“Who told you my secret?” Murphy joked when contacted by the B.A.R. to see if he knew of any city in his East Bay county with a rainbow crosswalk. “The answer (to the best of my ability) is no! But we are working on designs.”

Solano Pride Center Executive

Director Jonathan Cook, a gay man, told the B.A.R. no city in his county has a rainbow crosswalk.

“We are interested in exploring the possibility of bringing a permanent rainbow crosswalk to a city in Solano County,” said Cook.

The likeliest place to install one would be Vallejo, added Cook, since it is the only city in the county with a gay bar. Gay Vallejo City Councilmember Peter Bregenzer did not respond to the B.A.R.’s query about such a possibility.

Officials with Napa’s Pride committee did not respond to a request for comment about seeing a rainbow crosswalk installed in the county.

As for San Mateo County, LGBTQ officials there told the B.A.R. they don’t know of any such pedestrian pathways having been installed in a city on the Peninsula or heard of any plans to install one.

“I’m not aware of the county making any moves to paint a rainbow crosswalk,” said San Mateo County Pride Center Program Director Francisco “Frankie” Sapp, a disabled, biracial, queer, transgender man.

Jenny Walter, president of Coast Pride, which operates an LGBTQ community center in downtown Half Moon Bay and hosts LGBTQ events in the cities along the San Mateo coast, told the B.A.R. she would inquire about seeing a rainbow crosswalk be installed. One could go in at the Main Street and Correas Street intersection near the CoastPride Center’s building.

“I’ll advocate with the city of HMB and see, let you know how it goes,” Walter, who is bisexual, wrote in an emailed reply.

Tanya Beat, who identifies as lesbian and queer and is director of the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women and the LGBTQ Commission, told the B.A.R. the closest installation to a rainbow crosswalk on the Peninsula that she is aware of would be the entrance stairs to Aragon

High School in San Mateo. The school’s outdoor stairway received a makeover this past Memorial Day Weekend and now sports the colors of the Progress Pride flag. The school newspaper, The Aragon Outlook, noted in an Instagram post that the installation was a senior gift from the Class of 2022 but debuted this year, partly because the wet winter delayed the ability to paint the stairs.

When told of the Dutch queen’s stroll across the Castro rainbow crosswalk, Kellman noted to the B.A.R. that dignitaries often visit Sausalito. She said she would have to invite them to walk across her city’s rainbow crosswalks and do a “whole series” of photos of their visits.

“They are really festive,” Kellman said of the rainbow-colored pedestrian safety measures. t

Thomas V. Halloran General Manager

A native San Franciscan with 40 years of professional experience assisting families in need.

A longtime resident of the Eureka Valley, Castro and Mission Districts; a member of the Castro Merchants Association and a 25 year member of the Freewheelers Car Club. At Duggan’s Funeral Service, which sits in the heart of the Mission, we offer custom services that fit your personal wishes in honoring and celebrating a life.

We are committed to the ever-changing needs of the community and the diverse families we serve.

Please call for information 415-431-4900 or visit us at www.duggansfuneralservice.com FD44

Sausalito City Council members and other officials took part in the ribbon cutting for three crosswalks at the Broadway intersection earlier this month.

Courtesy City of Sausalito

The rainbow crosswalks at Washington Avenue and Parrott Street in downtown San Leandro have held up well since being installed in 2019.

Cynthia Laird

There had been some discussion among the merchants of having an event on Castro Street; but the logistics would have been too difficult to figure out in time, Gonzalez-Arias said.

“Everyone had been wanting to do that,” Gonzalez-Arias said. “I’d love to do an event on Castro Street but we were a bit late. We needed to do an application months before. Everything depends on the funding

<< Youth center

From page 34

The B.A.R. spoke with Kiwi, who chose to use a pseudonym to protect their and their family’s privacy, a former homeless client at the center. Now 28, the finsexual two-spirit person said they were lucky with each step of their journey through homelessness due to the center’s staff, services, and peer support. (A finsexual person is attracted to feminine-presenting people.)

The Native American started receiving free therapy services at the center when they were a teenager still living at home. When their situation at home became too much, their therapist connected them to a case manager who helped them get out of their situation when they were 22 years old. Their friends’ and friends’ parents temporarily offered couches and rooms around San Jose during the two to three months after they left their parents’ home and before they were placed into the center’s rapid rehousing program.

“I wasn’t sleeping on the street

and who can pay for that. It takes a lot to do an event like that, closing Castro [Street], but people need to come together and say it if they want it.”

Gonzalez-Arias normally does events for the merchants along Noe Street, adjacent to the gay bar Lookout. He said there will be no shortage of fun Saturday.

“We’re going to have drag story time, pictures with the Castro unicorn, arts and crafts and a drag performer of the year contest,” he said, adding the drag performer competition, which only adults can enter,

specifically. I was crashing at people’s houses, couch surfing,” they told the B.A.R. “I knew that it wasn’t going to be safe on the streets.”

Once Kiwi moved into their new home, they continued working, going to college, and participating in the center’s programs, including serving as chairman of the Youth Impact Partnership program, until they aged out of the program two years ago when they were 26 years old.

“It took a community for me to be able to exist here today, and it takes a community to make, I feel, other clients [to] feel loved enough to be able to take steps to start to go in the direction that they need to,” said Kiwi, who is now graduating from college.

While they never worked directly with Harlan, despite her open-door policy, it was the team Harlan put together and the peer community that helped them during the six years they were a client at the center to get to where they needed to be, they said.

When the B.A.R. asked Harlan what she planned to do in retirement, she asked, “What is any lesbian doing

will go through three rounds of voting before a final round.

People interested in entering the competition – which has a $1,000 cash prize – can do so online at https://tinyurl.com/38mer9b4

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be a petting zoo, costume contest, arts and crafts, balloon twisting, a drag story time, music and entertainment. Starting at 2 p.m. will be the drag competition and drag entertainment.

Mx Kiki Krunch, a Filipina trans woman and drag performer, will be one of those performing at the event.

in retirement? They hike, right?”

Vision for the future

Selo, 47, is keenly aware of what Harlan accomplished during her career. He is full of gratitude for being entrusted to continue the work she started leading the center into its future.

Harlan called Selo a “perfect choice” to succeed her, telling the Mercury News, (https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/02/18/newlos-altos-history-exhibit-uses-techas-a-window-to-the-past/) “He is a people-person and tireless advocate for those most in need in our community.”

“I’m excited to pick up at this time and lead us forward,” said Selo, stating that he looks forward to working with the center’s team to “commit ourselves to build on the foundation and the track record that we’re known for.”

During his tenure at West Valley Community Services, the Mercury News reported that he managed a $2,125,000 remodel of the organization’s food pantry, doubling its size

“As someone new performing here in San Francisco, I think this competition gives a bigger platform for newbies,” she told the B.A.R. “It is fun and at the same time relevant because it holds the name Castro, which is an iconic place here in the city. Castro symbolizes freedom of expression, love, and the beauty of the LGBTQIA community. As a transwoman in this competition, I hope to help raise and send the message that drag is not and will never be a crime.”

States such as Tennessee and Florida have passed laws targeting drag

allowing clients to shop for their own groceries like a market, and grew the organization in the heart of COVID-19. He also raised the funds to purchase the Park-it Market mobile food pantry. The mobile pantry currently serves more than 1,600 clients at schools and senior housing complexes.

Selo said his accomplishments were due to good relationships “with a broad spectrum of stakeholders.”

“One of the areas that I excel in is bringing people together to work towards advancing the mission and the work of the organization … to help them see the impact of investing in our vision of providing a greater range of access and services to our clients,” he said.

Selo is exhilarated to be at the center working with youth, an age group he hasn’t worked with since the beginning of his career, he said. At WVCS, he worked mostly with adults and seniors. He’s particularly thrilled to work with LGBTQ youth, something he hasn’t done before, he told the B.A.R.

He’s also excited about continuing

fornia is experiencing,” said Jackson. Not shying away

performances in public spaces and in the presence of minors. Tennessee’s law was ruled unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds earlier this month.

“We will also be holding an Art Mart throughout the entire day, along with other fun surprises,” a merchants’ news release states. “Bring the whole family down to experience Pride as only the world-famous Castro can! Afterwards, make sure to explore and support local Castro small businesses. t

the policy work started by Harlan.

“Public policy work is really at the heart of addressing the inequities in our society that make our services necessary at all,” said Selo, a selfdescribed idealist. “If we really want to see the world that our vision says that we’re trying to build, we have to look at what are the systems, what are the policies that are making our services necessary, especially here in Silicon Valley.

“What are the systems in place that are contributing to the homelessness crisis?” he asked.

“There’s not an easy answer. There’s not an easy solution,” Selo said. “But I do believe, I have to believe, that there are enough people committed to addressing the problem at hand. I also firmly believe that there is enough money to address this problem, if not here in Silicon Valley, then nowhere else.”

Selo optimistically added, “This is doable. This is possible.” t

For more information about the Bill Wilson Center, go to billwilsoncenter.org

paign on the fact that he would be the first out Black legislator elected in California. It was rarely brought up in media reports about his candidacy and didn’t get much attention until after he had been elected last November.

Ambivalent with ‘first’

In fact, Jackson wasn’t immediately aware he could break through a pink political glass ceiling with his candidacy.

“Interestingly enough, I was surprised when they told me,” recalled Jackson. “By that time, I had already developed my stump speech. I wasn’t going to change it, you know.”

There are no recognized LGBTQ neighborhoods where he lives in Riverside County, thus no pool of LGBTQ voters to focus on or court by touting his sexual orientation. Instead, he focused on the work he had done in the community as founder and chief executive officer of SBX Youth and Family Services, which provides services to youth, especially youth of color, and his serving as a trustee on the board that oversees the California State University system.

“I have a long record of service within the community, so that was what I was leading with so people understood the caliber of person I am,” said Jackson.

He told the B.A.R. he also isn’t comfortable with touting that he would be “the first” in order to secure someone’s vote.

“I think, at the end of the day, something that irks me is when people lead with I am going to be the first this or first that so that is why you should elect me,” said Jackson.

“I am not comfortable with saying, ‘because I am the first.’ That is not a reason to elect me. I am not sure it is a legitimate reason when we have so many crises in California.”

When asked by the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus if it could promote the fact that he was gay and would

become a member of the affinity group for legislators should he be elected, Jackson told the B.A.R. he was ambivalent about its doing so.

“I told them if it helps the caucus, fine, but I don’t feel the need for you to do so,” recalled Jackson, explaining that if he was running as an out LGBTQ candidate in a place like the Bay Area he might have thought differently. “In the Inland Empire me being LGBTQ certainly wasn’t in my top 10 reasons for why they should have elected me.”

Jackson had another reason for why he focused less on his personal background during his campaign and more on how his professional and volunteer work had qualified him to address the myriad issues confronting voters of his district.

“If you talk more about yourself than what they need, you will see yourself on a losing side of an election,” predicted Jackson.

One of three Democrats who sought the Assembly District 60 seat last year, Jackson landed in second place in the June 2022 primary

with 27% of the vote. He went on to easily defeat the first-place finisher, Republican Hector Diaz-Nava, with 54.5% of the vote in the November election.

“Who would have thought a nerdy Black kid on welfare would be able to make it to the Legislature, let alone the most powerful Legislature in this nation? I haven’t had a bad day yet, even though I have received death threats and all that kind of stuff,” said Jackson. “It is every Black person’s dream to just be at the table. I am not only at the table, I am leading some of the tables, so it is just a blessing.”

Jackson told the B.A.R. he decided to enter the race because of his belief in his ability to tackle the state’s most pressing concerns. Social workers, he noted, are trained to deal with very tough issues, and he saw serving in the Legislature as a way to be “hands on” in coming up with solutions at a statewide level.

“I think I have a unique set of skills to be able to deal with, quite frankly, very daunting crises Cali -

With LGBTQ rights coming under attack, even in liberal California, Jackson hasn’t shied away from standing up for the LGBTQ community as an out legislator. While it may not have been a role he was looking to take on, circumstances have upended that expectation.

“I have been very vocal on these issues because people have to realize this is the second civil rights and human rights movement we are living in right now,” said Jackson. “One day future kids are going to read about this moment in history. My question is are we going to beat it back like prior generations were able to do, or is it going to spread on our watch?”

The political moment the community now finds itself in is an “all hands on deck one,” argued Jackson, who has had to contend with being called a “groomer” targeting kids by homophobic trolls on social media.

“It might require us to put our bodies on the line, risk our financial security, and it might call upon us to risk our own political future. But history is calling on us to stand up, rise up and act,” said Jackson.

As for his own backstory, Jackson began coming out of the closet to friends when he was 19. An admittedly private person, he said his sexual orientation wasn’t something he went out of his way to talk about.

“If someone asked me, I wouldn’t deny it. It wasn’t something I would try to hide,” he said. “Some people feel the need to do that for the sake of liberation. That is fine if that helps with them being healthy, balanced, and free. I never felt that need myself.”

None of his family members shunned him when they learned he was gay, said Jackson.

“I have a pretty accepting family. Whether they totally agree with it or not is one thing,” he said.

He also never felt the need to leave the Inland Empire, traditionally a more conservative region of California, for a more liberal coastal city. Having grown up in Riverside

County, he has roots in the area and deep connections with the community, which has “stuck with” him, noted Jackson, as he has pursued public office.

“I am not an urban, big city kind of guy. But the number one reason I have remained in the Inland Empire is because of the people I have grown up with,” said Jackson, adding that, “I have been able to flourish here. I am not sure if I had went to live in a place with more of a LGBTQ community I would be where I am today.”

He believes the first Pride parade he attended was San Diego’s in either 2004 or 2005 when he was in his 20s. He told the B.A.R. he marched in one for the first time as a candidate in last year’s Palm Springs Pride parade, held in early November.

Now that he is an elected official, Jackson said he had no plans to march in a Pride parade this year.

“If I am invited, I will go,” said Jackson, though he questioned the merits of his doing so since most parade attendees would likely be asking “who are you?”

Even with the political attacks, be it personal or based on his bills, and having to confront a budget deficit, Jackson told the B.A.R. his time so far in Sacramento has been “extraordinary.” The fiscal situation does have an upside, he noted, as it has forced state leaders to think about what should be prioritized.

“What can we do not just for the future, but of course meet the moment of the day with the fentanyl crisis, the homelessness crisis, the mental health crisis?” asked Jackson. t

Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D., speaks at a committee hearing.

From Jackson’s Instagram page

Compromise reached in PrEP case, for now

by John Ferrannini

Apotential compromise would keep PrEP covered by insurers and employers as a case that would overrule federal protection for HIV preventative care moves through the courts. The agreement has been reached by the parties but must be approved by the federal judges overseeing the case.

As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, a group of business owners is suing the federal government on account of the United States Preventive Services Task Force’s requirements that preventative services such as sexually transmitted disease screenings, depression, and PrEP be covered.

In the case of Braidwood Management v. Xavier Becerra, the plaintiffs are arguing that covering PrEP makes them “complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman.”

PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, refers to the use of antiviral drugs to prevent people exposed to HIV from becoming infected. The pill Truvada was first approved for PrEP use in 2012 by the federal Food and Drug Admin-

<< Gay bathhouse

From page 41

Alleged poisoning attempt

On September 25, 2018, Stokes and Hickey filed a cross-complaint against Moore and Dominic Paramore, identified as Moore’s fiancé.

The LLC “was formed by Moore and Stokes solely to provide management, operational, and administrative services to five affiliated businesses owned in whole or in part by Moore and

Legals>>

istration; since then the FDA has also approved the pill Descovy for some groups, and the drug Apretude as an injectable treatment. According to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, only 25% of the approximately 1.2 million Americans who could benefit from PrEP had prescriptions in 2020.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor

Stokes, namely, Steamworks Berkeley (aka Great Works), Steamworks Chicago, Steamworks Seattle, Steamworks Toronto Gym/Sauna, and Steamworks Vancouver. … The LLC was not structured to nor did it generate positive net income,” the cross-complaint states.

Prior to the complaint, however, “irreconcilable differences had arisen by and between the Steamworks LLC’s two members [Stokes and Moore], the effect of which had rendered continued operations of the LLC difficult or impossible,” the cross-complaint states.

These included the creation by

of the Northern District of Texas, appointed by then-President George W. Bush, agreed with the plaintiffs, and in a March 30 judgment that shocked HIV advocates and others, blocked the requirement to cover preventative services nationwide.

O’Conner wrote that the “defendants have not shown that the PrEP mandate furthers a compelling governmental interest.”

Moore and Paramore of “false, fraudulent and unauthorized email accounts standing in the names of Stokes and Hickey” addressed to Great Works employees, which harassed and demeaned them, according to the cross-complaint. These included “must be nice to be the most hated and FATTEST ASSHOLE in San Francisco,” “You are a ‘STUPID low-rent ASSHOLE,’” “you are a FUCKING TOOL I look forward to the day you have to move back in with you homophobic parents,” “I was thinking of you and your disgusting body,” and “You are a ‘FAT FUCKING SLOB,’”

“Braidwood is not merely alleging a traditional ‘pocketbook injury,’” the judge ruled. “Distinct from his risk of pecuniary harm, [Braidwood Management owner Steven] Hotze asserts an ongoing dignitary harm, claiming that merely ‘providing this coverage in Braidwood’s self-insured plan would make [him] complicit’ in behaviors that violate his religious beliefs.”

The U.S. government appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The requirement to cover PrEP and other preventive services was temporarily reinstated by the appellate court May 15 while the court considered whether to issue a stay on O’Connor’s ruling for a longer period of time.

“They came up with this stay while the case is being litigated,” Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund HIV Project Director Jose Abrigo told the B.A.R. on June 14.

The deal, agreed to by the parties, has not yet been consented to by the court.

“In agreeing to this partial stay of the final judgment pending appeal, the plaintiffs are not conceding or acknowledging that the defendants are likely to succeed on the merits of their appeal,”

the cross-complaint states.

On another occasion, the cross-defendants “intentionally, maliciously and dangerously spray[ed] Windex on trail mix that an LLC employee stored in his personal desk in an attempt to poison and harm him,” according to court documents. At another time, the cross-defendants demanded that bathhouse employees “deliver to Cross-Defendants significant quantities of illegal drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamines, for the use of Moore, Paramore, and their guests,” the cross-complaint states. And, just before the initial suit,

the deal states, in part.

In addition to their First Amendment challenge on PrEP in particular, the plaintiffs are seeking to strike down the task force – which was created as part of the Affordable Care Act – entirely, as they argue it is unconstitutional.

Abrigo said that the plaintiffs deliberately chose the 5th Circuit to file their lawsuit.

“The 5th Circuit is the most conservative, unfriendly circuit in the nation,” Abrigo said. “That’s the reason why it was filed there.”

Abrigo said that for that reason, Lambda Legal’s input may not be appreciated or helpful. Nonetheless, he said the agency is helping “more neutral parties” stay on message in crafting their own amicus briefs, and helping them write in a way that won’t undermine the government’s own briefs.

Abrigo said, “we expect a final decision from the 5th Circuit at the end of the year, or the beginning of next year.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is the next court of appeal.

Braidwood Management’s attorney did not return a request for comment as of press time. t

$100,000 went missing from the Steamworks LLC’s bank account, the crosscomplaint states.

Since Stokes’ death, the Toronto and Seattle locations are controlled by Moore, according to Xtra* Magazine, which first reported on the legal battle. The Berkeley, Chicago, and Vancouver locations are still managed by Great Works.

Steamworks Management LLC is being represented by the law offices of Charles J. Wisch and Great Works, Inc. is being represented by Anderson Poole, and Couche, P.C. Neither responded to requests for comment for this report. t

BAMACA is requesting that the name OSCAR MIQUEAS GUTIERREZ HERNANDEZ be changed to OSCAR GUTIERREZ HERNANDEZ. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 25th of JULY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23-557998

JUNE 22, JULY 06, 2023

NOTICE OF HEARING – DECEDENT’S ESTATE OR TRUST OF KRISTINE B. MORGAN, DECEDENT CASE: PES-22-305349

This notice is required by law. You are not required to appear in court, but you may attend the hearing and object or respond if you wish. If you do not respond or attend the hearing, the court may act on the filing without you.

NOTICE is given the JASON ALLEN WAUGHTAL, executor of the will has filed a petition, application, report, or account: REPORT ON WAIVER OF ACCOUNTING AND PETITION FOR FINAL DISTRIBUTION. A hearing on the matter described will be as follows: AUGUST 14, 2023 at 9:00am in Room 204 at Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102. Party without an attorney: Jason Allen Waughtal, 21 Duncan St, San Francisco, CA 94110.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0400428

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KANGLE HEALTH CENTER, 1606 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHELLE C. HO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/2015. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/25/2023.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

FILE A-0400408

The following person(s) is/are doing business as CESAR’S KITCHEN ADVISING COMPANY, 309 RIO VERDE ST, DALY CITY, CA 94014. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CESAR VELASQUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/22/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/22/2023.

01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/2023.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400384

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LOYALTY CLEANING & MAINTENANCE SERVICES, 2274 26TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KWOK FAN LAU. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/01/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/18/2023.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400223

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ROMA CONSTRUCTION RESOURCES, 2782 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ROBERTO ESQUIVEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/03/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/03/2023. JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400398

The following person(s) is/are doing business as NATURAL ALIGNMENT ROLFING, 4224 CALIFORNIA ST RM 105, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual,

1840 HAIGHT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed 1840 HAIGHT, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/26/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/26/2023.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400427

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SALEEMA INTERNATIONAL SALON, 2418 SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a married couple, and is signed VINCENT JONES & SALEEMA MUHAMMAD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/13/2013. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/24/2023.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400400

The following person(s) is/are doing business as STOOKEY’S BLUE ROOM; BLUE ROOM AT STOOKEY’S; BLUE ROOM, 891 BUSH ST, SAN FRANCISCO,CA 94108. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed A. FRISCOVICH, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/19/2023.

JUNE 01, 08, 15, 22, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400465

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ENTERPRISE BREWING COMPANY, 1150 HOWARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed HAYTER ON HOWARD (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/2023. The statement was

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of WILLIE BEATRICE JACKSON-HENRY. A Petition for Probate has been filed by DOROTHY MAE WARD & LULA M. JACKSON in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Petition for Probate requests that DOROTHY MAE WARD & LULA M. JACKSON be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows:

JULY 03, 2023, 9:00 am, Dept. 204, Superior Court of California, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102.

If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing.

Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined by section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner: PAUL H. MELBOSTAD (SBN 99951), GOLDSTEIN GELLMAN MELBOSTAD HARRIS & MCSPARRAN LLP, 1388 SUTTER ST #1000, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109; Ph. (415) 673-5600.

In the matter of the application of DILPREET GREWAL CRONIN & PETER MICHAEL CRONIN, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner DILPREET GREWAL CRONIN & PETER MICHAEL CRONIN, is requesting that the name LIAM JAMES GREWAL CRONIN be changed to COOPER JAMES GREWAL CRONIN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of JULY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUNE 08, 15, 22, 29, 2023 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME

IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23-557984

In the matter of the application of NATHANIEL TYRAS CHENEY-BOOKMAN, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner NATHANIEL TYRAS CHENEY-BOOKMAN is requesting that the name NATHANIEL TYRAS CHENEY-BOOKMAN be changed to NATHANIEL TYRAS BOOKMAN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 17th of AUGUST 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

JUNE 08, 15, 22, 29, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400496

The following person(s) is/are doing business as JESSI’S NAILS SPA, 546 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed THANH HUU PHAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on N/A. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/31/2023.

JUNE 08, 15, 22, 29, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400467

The following person(s) is/are doing business as POLARIS PRODUCT MARKETING, 1943 15TH ST #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PATRICK BROWN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 05/19/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 05/26/2023.

JUNE 08, 15, 22, 29, 2023

A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated a rule that PrEP and other preventive services be covered by insurers.

There’s a gap in medical research that only you

can fill.

All of Us is a research program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is seeking one million or more people from across the U.S. More than 431,770 people have already signed up to take part, 42,876 of those identify as LGBTQ+. Joining the All of Us Research Program is your chance to help speed up medical research that will benefit you and your community.

All LGBTQ+ Americans deserve to be seen, heard, and understood—especially when it comes to medical research. #JoinAllofUsLGBTQ

To learn more: Visit: JoinAllofUs.org/BayAreaReporter

Email: allofuslgbtq@stanford.edu

Call: (650) 498-5010

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @AllofUsLGBTQ

by Christopher J. Beale

The San Francisco drag legend was in midpreparation for what is always, and promises to be, a wall-to-wall weekend of Juanita MORE! during this year’s San Francisco Pride celebrations.

The wall pun is intended, as it takes only a short walk through San Francisco to find Juanita MORE! the subject of a (growing?) number of murals around town. MORE! is both an icon and iconography.

Bay Area Roots

“I was born and raised in the East Bay and have been coming to San Francisco since I was a

Juanita MORE!’s Pride and joy

young queer kid,” More reminisced in an interview with The Bay Area Reporter. “Once I was old enough, I was running around SoMa and the Castro partying my ass off!”

MORE! wasn’t even Juanita then, but after trying drag on for size she was soon making her name, face and mission known in the City.

“I am heading into my 31st year of doing drag in San Francisco,” she said with a relaxed, mat-

Frameline47’s finest & finales

ter-of-factness.

Outside of Pride season, MORE! hosts club nights and happy hours all over San Francisco. She also deejays, appears at numerous charity events and works as an activist. Pride weekend is the centerpiece of her fundraising and visibility. It’s the weekend she prepares for all year.

See page 50 >>

by Brian Bromberger

Frameline47 emphasizes the interplay between past and present, in particular queer cinema history and the collective history of the LGBTQ community at large. This seems vital at a time when the Human Rights Campaign officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ people in the U.S. for the first time in its over 40-year history. We can’t plan for a future of equality without knowing the trials, struggles, and triumphs of the past, as told in many of this year’s films, many of which are available streaming online through July 2.

The introductory onscreen quote from Black poet Audre Lorde, “My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect me,” lays out the stark conundrum suggesting you can run but you can’t hide in the bristling thriller, Milad Alami’s Opponent.” Champion wrestler Iman (Payman Maadi) has fled Iran, presumably because he was a critic of the regime. In Sweden with his pregnant wife Maryam (Marall Nasiri) and their two daughters, they barely survive in meager accommodations. While they apply for asylum, Iman delivers pizzas by snowmobile to survive.

An interpreter suggests his chances for approval might improve if Iman returned to wrestling and competed for Sweden. In desperation, Iman does start to train with a Swedish wrestling team, where he strikes up a passionate connection with local teammate Thomas (Bjorn Elgerd).

See page 50 >>

“My social life is just so busy, and at times intense,” joked Juanita MORE!

Juanita MORE! at her 2021 Pride party at Jones

Gooch

‘Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,’ the closing night feature of Frameline47

Frameline47

From page 49

The winter cinematography is stark, the white landscape acting as a blank slate metaphor for a new start but also unforeseen dangers. Maadi is thunderous and galvanizing, an erupting volcano that could descend into violence at a moment’s notice. Iman’s fiercest opponent is not on a wrestling mat but within himself, as he’s torn between his desires and his family ties.

<< MORE!

From

Asked when she finds time to sleep, MORE! joked, “Well, I’m not working on Pride Saturday this year, so sleep will be happening then.”

The team effort behind Juanita’s packed Pride weekend had already begun weeks ago. Most of that preparation is around logistics like travel, and costume changes.

“I have close to 5,000 outfits from Mr. David Glamamore,” MORE! beamed with pride. “We’ll stop at my apartment, I will jump into something else, then go on to the next place. I am a super organized person. I have all my dresses hanging in my apartment with the jewelry and shoes in a bag for each.”

Through all of her hustle and philanthropy, MORE!, whose recent highlight included reigning as SF Imperial Council’s Empress for a year with Glamamore as Emperor, seems to be working toward leave a lasting legacy in San Francisco, not just in murals but in lives impacted.

Helping out

“We as queer people have so many issues whether it’s depression, anxiety, substance abuse and trauma,” said

This is one of the top films at Frameline47 and essential viewing.

For anyone expecting a similar follow up to Emma Seligman’s thrilling debut feature “Shiva Baby” will be disappointed. “Bottoms” couldn’t be more different, trafficking in a send-up of high school comedies, though like “Shiva” it’s subversive, but also hilarious.

PJ (Rachel Sennott, “Shiva’”s Danielle) and Josie (Ayo Edebin, “The Bear”) are unpopular high school seniors who,

MORE! ”I have suffered with a number of those myself.” This year her Pride fundraising efforts are focused on raising money and awareness for an organization called Queer LifeSpace.

“I’m mom to so many people in San Francisco, and it’s a responsibility I do not take lightly,” Juanita said passionately. “I care about people’s wellbeing, I like people to go in the right direction.” That begins, according to MORE!, with good mental health.

“Queer LifeSpace is a nonprofit counseling agency that provides affordable, evidence-based mental health and substance abuse services to the LGBTQIA+ community in the Bay Area,” according to queerlifespace. org. The group also runs an internationally recognized clinical training program for the next generation of queer-affirming therapists. These causes are close to MORE!’s heart.

“Knowing there is a place where you can go be yourself and talk about your mental health in an affordable, non-judgmental environment is really important,” said MORE! “So that’s why I chose Queer Lifespace this year.”

Into the streets

One of her now-annual events was born out of anger.

in a quest to hook up with cheerleaders, decide to form a women’s self-defense/ empowerment class, actually a fight club for high-school girls. The film is a satire on high school from a queer perspective, like a lesbian revenge comedy on having to put up with all those years of abuse, similar to ’90s parodies, like “Clueless” and the “American Pie” series. This means the film is chock full of often politically incorrect gags.

So ‘Bottoms” is rollicking, raunchy, goofy, slapstick, irreverent, badass,

violent, lacerating, and over the top. With the exception of the leads, the side characters are all caricatures (i.e. the nelly quarterback). Similar to the late Joan Rivers comedy style, there are rapid-fire jokes, where maybe two in ten hit the bulls-eye, though planting bombs on campus even in jest seems in poor taste during these times of school shootings. 90 minutes of gags provide a brief respite and barbed reply to the anti-LGBTQ backlash currently sweeping the country.

Viewers will be thrilled with the beautiful elegiac documentary “Casa Susanna,” about a refuge in the rural Catskills region of New York for cross-dressing men and transgender women during the 1950s and 1960s. It was founded by Tito Valenti (who went by the name Susanna) and his wife, Maria (she owned a wig shop in Manhattan) as a safe place providing total freedom so its guests could dress however they wanted.

See page 51 >>

“The People’s March started out after the murder of George Floyd,” said MORE!, who has been front and center with the march’s organizers since

the beginning. This year’s march takes place on Sunday morning June 25, and is led by a group of Black, brown and indigenous queer and trans people.

More of a protest than a traditional pride parade, The People’s March will also include entertainment from DJ Black, Ariel Bowser, Lambert Moss, Khalibud, LBXX and Maya Songbird. The March itself will move down Polk Street, the city’s original gay strip, and this year will end at the Fern Alley Music Series.

Then it’s on to Jones, where Juanita’s parties regularly sell out.

“For my 19th annual Pride Party on Sunday afternoon we are focusing on the amazing talent that is here, or was born here, in the Bay Area,” said MORE!, who has stacked the lineup with DJs like Stanley Frank, Ana Matronic (Scissor Sisters), Sindri and LadyRyan.

“All of these performers are connected to me through the San Francisco club thing,” beamed MORE!, “so it felt like the right way to go.”

Pre-sale tickets for the day party are sold out, but there is one more opportunity to party for a cause with Juanita.

More MORE! Pride

For Pride 2023, Juanita is staying up late.

“I called Gina Milano who runs Halcyon,” MORE! revealed. She’d been hearing of a demand for even more (if you’ll forgive the pun) Juanita on Pride weekend, “and we weren’t a minute into the conversation when I told Gina I wanted to do it at Halcyon.”

MORE! said Milano was happy to open the doors of her SoMa nightclub for her unique brand of philanthropy. “Halcyon is basically able to stay open 24 hours if they want,” said MORE!, making it the perfect place for a party with a 6pm start that will pulse into the early hours of Monday morning.

“San Francisco doesn’t always feel safe,” she admitted. The news around drag bans and trans rights hasn’t been easy to digest, even in our queer bubble. “We have certainly seen incidents happen in the Bay Area already that have involved hate and violence.”

But San Francisco is still one of the queerest places around, and with that comes a united sense of pride beyond that of being LGBTQ, but more being together, right now in this place.

“We’ve gotta help queer youth find a way to survive this,” said MORE! “If you’re a gay person and you’re alive and you survived the AIDS crisis, you know what I’m talking about. There’s a lot of fighting, a lot of struggling, a lot of loss. To have to experience some of this all over again is exhausting, even defeating at moments, but it’s not enough to stop me.”t

The People’s March begins at noon on Sunday, June 25 on Polk Street.

Juanita MORE!’s Pride Party is 12pm-7pm June 25 at 620 Jones; limited tickets at the door.

Juanita MORE!’s Night Pride starts at 6pm June 25 and goes until late at Halcyon, 314 11th St. www.juanitamore.com www.queerlifespace.org

Juanita MORE!’s legendary ‘Ponys and butterfly’ entrance at her 2018 Pride party at Jones. Gooch

Left: ‘Opponent’ Middle: ‘Bottoms’ Right: ‘Casa Susanna’

Grandson Gregory, the defacto narrator of the film, reminiscences about his grandparents. Katherine and Diana, now elderly, spent time at Casa in the 1960s and describe their lives both before, during, and after they visited as well as fond memories. At that time they saw themselves as cross-dressing men but have since transitioned.

Through photographs and archival footage, we get a glimpse of a way of life, now vanished, that was a lifeline to its participants. This documentary is both thrilling and heartbreakingly sad but ultimately a celebration of courage.

There is much to admire in the gay Nigerian film “All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White.” In Nigeria, homosexuality is illegal, punishable for up to 14 years in prison, so any story that reveals the oppressive plight of LGBTQ people is by definition an achievement.

Bambino (Tope Tedela), a delivery driver in Lagos, during a photo competition, meets charismatic amateur photographer/betting shop owner, Bawa (Rivo David), striking up a friendship. Bawa asks Bambino to take him around the city so he can build up his photo portfolio.

The film charts Bambino’s journey of whether he can overcome his own repression and pursue an intimate connection with Bawa. The problem is the glacial pacing of the movie, com plicated by spare, almost minimalist dialogue, so even a 90-minute runtime feels like two hours. What saves the film is the Method-like interior sensational performance of Tedela. You can liter ally see the whole struggle of queer Ni gerian liberation projected on his face. Ultimately worthwhile, editing and a better script could have made “All the Colours” the cinematic juggernaut it could have been.

An offbeat low-key Danish lesbian rom-com, “The Venus Effect” is an unexpected total charmer. Liv seems to have the perfect life working in the fam ily greengrocer business on a farm, with a cute boyfriend who wants to marry her. But her ordered life is upended when free-spirited Andrea knocks on the door asking for gas. Before long the intrigued Liv is accompanying Andrea to her ex-girlfriend’s wedding. It’s wittily and intelligently execut

ed, aided by gorgeous nature cinematography tying Liv’s fate to the natural world. Audiences should love this poignant queer awakening in what, so far, is my favorite lesbian narrative at Frameline47.

Once again we are challenged by how we define family in the uneven English/Dutch lesbian drama “Silver Haze,” about a working class East London nurse Franky (Vicky Knight) who forms her first lesbian relationship with a female suicidal patient, Florence (Esme Creed-Miles) at her hospital.

Initially they bond, but both have demons they are battling, with Franky still suffering the trauma of being burnt in a house fire as a child, fifteen years previously, that may or may not be caused by her father’s second wife.

Besides suffering episodes of suicide ideation, Florence also copes with an eating disorder. Even in this brief description, there is so much going on, it overwhelms the romance that becomes secondary to both characters who are angry and deeply wounded.

It never quite gels together, but it is Knight’s superlative performance that brings a sliver of cohesion, as Franky attempts to bring some stability to her chaotic life. Good intentions abound here, but this scattershot effort misses more than it hits in this exceedingly

In “Commitment to Life,” director Jeffrey Schwarz (“Vito,” “I Am Divine”) has fashioned an affecting, emotional oral history of the AIDS pandemic through the lens of the AIDS Project Los Angeles, the equivalent of San Francisco’s AIDS Foundation and New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Founded partly through the auspices of straight woman Nancy Cole, it was born during a time when hospitals and mortuaries wouldn’t take PWAs, leaving them isolated to die alone while

people like Rev. Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority proclaimed that God was punishing them for their lifestyles.

One of the myriads of talking heads in this film is Rev. Steve Pieters, the first member of the clergy to get AIDS, the man who spoke in a famous interview with Tammy Faye Baker about his experiences with the disease, but also played a key role at APLA.

Because it’s LA, a large focus is on Hollywood’s response to AIDS, which was nonexistent, until actor Rock

Hudson was diagnosed with the disease and raised public awareness, putting a face to AIDS as well pricking the guilty conscience of Tinseltown.

The documentary is valuable as a crash course in AIDS 101. Parallels with COVID-19 are both striking and alarming, proving the dictum, ‘Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.’ The film is ideal for sex education and LGBTQ history classes.

See page 69 >>

Left: ‘All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White’ Middle: ‘The Venus Effect’ Right: ‘Silver Haze’

John Waters Filmmaker hosts

by Gregg Shapiro

You know that old Scott McKenzie song? The one that goes, “If you’re going to San Francisco…?” If you head east from San Francisco, across the Bay Bridge, then you’ll arrive in Oakland where, on July 1 and 2, “filth elder” John Waters will be emceeing the 2023 edition of the hip, queer, punk music festival Mosswood Meltdown (formerly Burger Boogaloo).

This year’s line-up is one deserving of Waters’ inimitable hosting and includes groundbreaking acts such as Le Tigre, Gravy Train (see Q&A in this issue), ESG, Bratmobile, JJ Fad, and Quintron & Ms. Pussycat, among others.

John Waters was gracious enough to make time to answer a few questions in advance of Mosswood Meltdown.

Gregg Shapiro: In early July, you will once again be hosting the Mosswood Meltdown music festival in Oakland. How did you become involved with the festival?

John Waters: I was asked to do it through my two music promoters who also promote the “John Waters Christmas” show and a lot of my different shows. Punks have always been

my people. I always felt at home in the punk world. So, I said yes.

Mark and Amy, who run the thing, liked it. It worked the first time and then it’s just become part of a tradition. I do it every year. I introduce all the acts. I’m writing the intros right now. I get a great education! I’m probably the oldest punk there. They treat me with great respect, even the youngest ones. It’s just a perfect place for a filth elder

Shows Weds–Suns

Drinks & Small Bites Available

to end up.

I love it because they’re all angry and funny and in a good mood. They love each other and they just hate everybody else in the world. It’s kind of funny because they’re good people. It’s a crazy couple of days, but it’s a peaceful one, even with all the slam dancing and all the music is about craziness. There’s a certain irony. They are good people; the punks.

The 2023 line-up is awesome and features Le Tigre, ESG, Gravy Train, and Bratmobile, to name a few.

It’s almost all women. There are a few men that we’re allowing in our liberalism to play [laughs].

Are there bands that you are particularly looking forward to hearing?

Well, I’d love to see the ones like Gravy Train because they haven’t performed in a long time. I get a great education in punk rock every year. My youth spies come through. But punk’s there, anywhere from 12 years old to 80. That’s what’s so amazing. Punk really has never died and it never feels dated.

Have you ever been invited onstage to perform with any bands, and if so, which ones?

[Laughs] I would not be out there pogoing. I strictly come on and they like to hear me do their introductions. Iggy (Pop) and I have never stagedived together. Even though he was really great; we’re the same age. He’s more adventuresome than I am, especially about being nude.

If you were going to form a band in 2023, with you as the front-person, what musicians would you want to enlist to perform with you?

Oh, God! Well, first of all, if I could sing, I would have exploited that a long time ago. I guess I would have a G.G. Allin cover band.

He was sort of Iggy-ish; the

stuff that he used to do on stage.

G.G. Allin used to throw turds (at the audience). He would be the opposite gay thing because he was known for having a tiny penis. It would be for reverse size-queens.

That would be a great name for a band, too. The Reverse SizeQueens.

It would be! John Waters and the Reverse Size-Queens.

I was thinking about the role of music in your movies, beginning with the “Polyester” theme song sung by Tab Hunter and Debbie Harry, and then the vintage tunes on the 1988 “Hairspray” soundtrack. Can you please say something about the role of music in your life?

In “Desperate Living,” I had a classical score. In “Cecil B. Demented,” we had noise punk bands playing. Stiv Bators (of the bands Dead Boys and Lords of the New Church) was in “Polyester.” Debbie Harry was also in “Hairspray,” and she started in the punk movement. I’ve always had punk attitude. “Pink Flamingos” was a punk rock movie before there was such a thing as punk rock.

The compilations “A John Waters Christmas” (2004) and “A Date With John Waters” (2007) featured a diverse selection of artists including Tiny Tim, The Chipmunks, Ike & Tina Turner, Edith Massey, and John Prine with Iris DeMent. Could you foresee putting together another such compilation, perhaps one for Pride?

A Gay Pride one? I guess. [Laughs] There was a hipster gay pride parade once in London, called the Gay Shame Parade. It was really funny. I must admit that gay music is kind of terrible [laughs]. Yes, I would like to do a gay one. “Jet Boy Jet Girl” would have to be on there. That was my favorite.

Yes, Elton Motello!

But I’ve already used that one on “A

Date With John Waters.” Now there are so many gay songs. I definitely could do a really good gay pride album! I’ll have to think about that one. Maybe that will come in the future.

Two of your movies, “Hairspray” and “Cry Baby” have been adapted into Broadway musicals. Is there another one of your movies that you think would make a good musical?

I always said “Pink Flamingos” would make a good opera. It was optioned once to be an opera, but it never happened. I think “Pink Flamingos” as an opera would work best of all the other ones.

In late May 2023, Leslie Van Houten, about whom you wrote in your 2010 book “Role Models,” had her grant of parole reinstated by a state appeals court panel. What does that mean to you?

I’m going to let the appeals court speak for themselves on that. I believe the most important thing to read is the amazing L.A. Times editorial that came out this week saying that they agreed she should be free.

Finally, John, we’re speaking during the first few days of Pride Month 2023. As you know, I live in Fort Lauderdale, which is kind of ground zero. Do you have any thoughts about the current state of Pride celebrations, especially since we are under attack more than ever?

It only makes you stronger! Remember Anita Bryant? She made the gay movement so strong. Didn’t she come from Florida? I want to have “Don’t Say Straight” in Florida, where you can’t do line-dancing. I think it’s a little late to attack drag queens. It’s a little late to attack gay anything because it’s so accepted now. They’re 30 years too late.t

Mosswood Meltdown, July 1 & 2, Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster St., Oakland. $40-$279. www.mosswoodmeltdown.com

Left: John Waters Right: John Waters at a recent Mosswood Meltdown

John Waters at a recent Mosswood Meltdown

Wild About You Photography

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Fluid510 Oakland’s fabulous new nightlife venue

by Heather Cassell

Oakland’s newest nightclub is one of the most exciting things to happen in the city’s nightlife in quite some time. Fluid510 is one of three new queer bars and the largest clustered in Oakland’s Uptown and downtown neighborhoods that opened within months of each other this spring. It completes a trifecta of rebirth for Oakland’s LGBTQ nightlife with an exciting new event space.

The Bay Area Reporter previously reported about the opening of Feelmore Social (which shares a wall with Fluid510) and Town Bar & Lounge.

The LGBTQ bars join the United States’s oldest LGBTQ bar, The White Horse Bar, Summer Bar & Lounge, and the award-winning gay bar, The Port Bar. The bar owners echo each other’s hopes that the new entertainment venues will give Oaklanders reasons to stay on this side of the bay and those in the “Gay Mecca” reason to cross the bridge to the sunnier side of the bay.

Another opening

Fluid510’s grand opening party at 1544 Broadway was a splashy Roaring ’20s-themed soiree attended by the who’s who of San Francisco and Oakland May 20, a little more than 20 days after it softly opened April 28.

Business and life partners Sean Sullivan, 48, and Richard “Ritchie” Fuentes, 40, welcomed guests into the bar and event space at 1544 Broadway following the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

They pulled back the curtain that closed off half of the 5,000-squarefoot, bi-level club, with 21-foot

ceilings revealing a stage with the Dewayne Oakley Blues Ensemble playing, a back bar, and another currently unfinished private lounge overlooking the main floor above the bar. Fuentes told the party attendees it should open in a year.

Aerialists Starya and Viva La Glam twirled about in loops above the floor as guests filtered by them toward the bar.

“Oakland is deserving,” Sullivan quoted Democrat Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife (D-3) during Fluid510’s grand opening speech. “Oakland deserves to have world-class entertainment every single week.”

Oscar Hernandez, 40, a gay man who has returned to Fluid510 several times with friends since its soft opening, was at the club for its grand open-

ing in May and called it “a beacon of queer joy.”

“It’s like stepping into a queer wonderland where everyone is welcomed and celebrated,” he wrote in an email interview, noting the drag shows, dance floor, and the atmosphere of “belonging. Trust me, once you hit that floor, there’s no stopping the queer magic!”

Lena Martin, 39, agreed. “I’m super excited. The drinks are great, and the atmosphere is amazing,” Martin told the Bay Area Reporter at Fluid510’s opening night. “I’m really excited for our community” and “to see how this place prospers and grows.”

Dynamic duo

Fuentes and Sullivan have plans for the bar and club to blossom at night with drag shows, live performances, art shows, dance parties, private events, or anything the community wants. As the name indicates, the shape-shifting space is fluid with its movable furnishings and stages, and curtain dividers to be. The community-minded duo has big plans to be a bar and restaurant open daily and an inclusive event space for the community to host gatherings.

The experience is different from the couple’s other gay bar, The Port Bar, which opened in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood in the summer of 2016. The bar bounced back quickly when COVID-19 hit in 2020, reopening to serve cocktails and partner with a food truck that parked outside the bar. Customers’ positive responses to the food truck inspired them.

The food truck and the seven-year conversation about the need for more queer venues and event spaces in Oakland inspired Fuentes and Sullivan to move ahead on opening Fluid510.

The duo didn’t want to simply find a bigger space for The Port Bar, which is a 2,000-square-foot venue. They envisioned a space the entire community could use that embraced Oakland’s spirit, signaled the city’s rebirth, and offered amenities that The Port Bar and other queer watering holes didn’t necessarily offer such as food and

space to host a variety of live entertainment performances.

They named it Fluid510. “Fluid” signals the multipurpose flexibility of the venue, Oakland’s diversity, and a nod to Gen Z. A Gallup survey in 2022 found 7.1 percent of U.S. adults selfidentify as LGBTQ or gender diverse, reported the Washington Post. The “51-0,” the East Bay’s area code signifies the bar and event venue’s location.

Material world

However, opening Fluid510 wasn’t easy. They hit some bumps in the road, from permit delays to supply chain issues that moved the event venue’s opening from late fall 2022 to its soft opening in late April.

But the delay didn’t deter the couple, who noted they had it easier compared to the challenges Feelmore Social and Town Bar & Lounge.

“That hasn’t stopped us from moving forward with Fluid510 because we really believe in this concept,” Fuentes said. “We’ve been very proactive and making sure that we also source some materials locally.”

They worked with local suppliers as often as possible, including the recycled redwood flooring that came from the old barracks at the former Oakland Army Base. The handmade 27-foot-long banquet table was crafted in San Francisco, and the partitions were made in East Oakland.

“Throughout the whole space, it’s all recycled material from the army base,” Fuentes said, adding that no other venue in downtown Oakland is constructed with the materials used to build Fluid510.

The menu, created by chef Alessandro Campitelli, formerly of Contrasto, currently offers bites, shared items, pizzas, and some vegetarian items. The Mediterranean pizza, an earthy pie topped with goat cheese, mushrooms, and arugula, is drizzled with truffle oil.

The cocktail menu offers spicy margaritas and classic cocktails like the Manhattan, to sparkling and red wine flights, beers of tap, and mocktails, such as a refreshing light mint berry fizz.

Community focus

Fuentes and Sullivan have raised thousands of dollars for community organizations throughout their careers as nonprofit and public service professionals and small businessmen. The couple have raised thousands of dollars for local organizations at The Port Bar’s Karaoke for a Cause events, that continues with regular events.

By opening Fluid510, the couple hopes that along with the city’s other new LGBTQ nightlife venues nearby, it will help revive Oakland’s downtown.

“We’ve always said, the more the merrier,” Sullivan added.

“I actually feel that our competition has always been San Francisco,” Fuentes continued. “Oakland has residents that live downtown. Oakland’s downtown is active.”

The couple is energized and believes that Fluid510 is going to be a part of downtown Oakland’s renaissance along with the other bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues.

They aren’t worried about Fluid510 taking business away from The Port Bar or other LGBTQ venues that opened recently, they said. The Port Bar will continue the programming it has now, especially the drag brunch on Sundays,

“None of that is coming over to Fluid. Fluid is going to be a new venue with new programming,” Fuentes said.

Fuentes noted what he sees working the door at Fluid510 and The Port Bar is that people are doing exactly what the couple and other new gay bar owners hoped they would do. They are barhopping from Downtown to Uptown.

“We used to see people leaving for San Francisco,” Fuentes said. “Now they’re staying the whole night, which is great for Oakland. There are enough customers to go around because people are coming from throughout the East Bay and the Bay Area to downtown,” he added. “It’s now a destination hub.”t

Fluid510 Lounge, 1544 Broadway https://fluid510.com

Oscar Hernandez, (right) with friends (left to right) Gloria Martinez, Noel Muniz, and Bianca Becerra at the bar and event venue’s opening party on May 20, 2023.

Heather Cassell

Left: Aerialists Viva La Glam twirled about above the crowd at Fluid510’s opening party. Right: Fluid510 owners Sean Sullivan (left) and Richard “Ritchie” Fuentes (right)

Both photos: Fluid510

Fluid510 owners Sean Sullivan and Richard “Ritchie” Fuentes officially open the new bar and event venue at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 20, 2023.

Fluid510

2017 Media Kit 0 a

Mission Statement

The Los Angeles Blade covers Los Angeles and California news, politics, opinion, arts and entertainment and features national and international coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting team. Be part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles from the team behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s first LGBT newspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered.

PRIDE2023

2017 Media Kit 0 a

Mission Statement

The Los Angeles Blade covers Los Angeles and California news, politics, opinion, arts and entertainment and features national and international coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting team. Be part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles from the team behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s first LGBT newspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered.

The Brave Bull

by Michael Flanagan

It’s not too often these days that we get to celebrate a lively gay bar reaching a milestone like half a century. Too often what we are reading about is quite the opposite, about some longtime institution closing or going straight and saying, “We don’t need gay bars anymore.”

So when I started seeing lively posts about Modesto’s Brave Bull online and found out that it was the first bar of San Francisco drag royalty, I was intrigued. That it has a tale to tell about the importance of faithful allies and has been in business for 49 years was icing on the cake.

Early years

The Brave Bull opened on Modesto’s South 9th Street in 1973, and became a gay bar in 1974. It was owned and operated by Mr. Casey Lubbers. According to the McHenry Museum & Historical Society of Modesto’s LGBT history accounts, resident Scott Pike said that The Bull was renowned worldwide for its early “super disco sound system,” as described an a 1977 Bay Area Reporter ad.

Pike also said in the bar history that people came from as far as Europe simply to get a Brave Bull T-shirt. Gay celebrities including drag performer Divine and San Francisco gay rights activist Harvey Milk were among the notable patrons of this bar.

Sing out

The good news about the bar’s continued existence came via the musician Moon Trent. Trent is former a San Francisco resident and was in the

Modesto bar’s still kickin’ at nearly 50

bands Pale and Brown-Star before going solo as well as being one of the cover boys (with Marcus Ewert) for the Pansy Division albums “Wish I’d Taken Pictures” and “Quite Contrary.”

I know him via his posts about his music and the music from his label Timmi-kat ReCoRDS which he runs with his music and life partner of 32 years David Cole (www.moontrent.com).

A few months back I started noticing Trent’s posts for Karaoke and Open Mic nights at the Brave Bull. Up until this point I had read about the Brave Bull in back issues of the Bay Area Reporter while doing research, but hadn’t really read much about the bar recently. I asked Trent how long he had been doing the night:

“We’ve been doing it four years, although there was a year and a half hiatus for COVID. We’re back and now it’s mostly karaoke. I started doing open mic back in 2019. DJ Evaluation is in charge of karaoke, but I’m still there every week. When we started doing it, the bar wasn’t open on Thursday night, so we added that night and now the bar’s open four nights a week.”

I asked whether the crowd was mixed and if they get tourists from the Bay Area.

Trent said, “It’s a friendly, respectful crowd. Occasionally we get people from the Bay Area. It’s only 90 miles away. Thursday nights are not as busy as the Sunday drag shows. They get 200 to 400 people. The place is packed!”

I asked Trent how he wound up back in the Central Valley (he’s originally from there). It’s a familiar story:

“We moved back in 2004. We were priced out of the Bay Area.”

He made the best of the move. Aside from the night at the Brave Bull, he also hosts Midnight movies and is performing at a Pride event on June 25 at the Denair Gaslight Theater (www.denairtheater.com).

I’d say that San Francisco’s loss is the Central Valley’s gain, but as we’re actually so close it’s more like this provides more entertainment options in different locales.

Marlena moves

I mentioned to author Larry-Bob Roberts that I was researching an article on the Brave Bull and he asked

if that wasn’t the bar Marlena helped start in Modesto. That’s when it struck me. Of course I had heard about the bar before. It was Marlena’s first bar.

Marlena (aka Gary McLain) was co-owner of the bar beginning in 1974 with friends Casey and Val Lubbers. From the very beginning it was a formative experience. Besides being Marlena’s first bar, it was the bar he was working at when he became Empress III of the Imperial Court of Modesto in 1976 (before becoming Absolute Empress XXV or the Imperial Court of San Francisco in 1990).

It was also where Marlena first tend-

ed bar (before the Cinch, Kimo’s, the Mint and Marlena’s). I asked whether or not the experience at the Brave Bull was a positive one.

Marlena replied, “Definitely. I was inspired by the Brave Bull to become a bartender in San Francisco and to get my own bar.”

I told Marlena about Moon Trent’s comment about the crowds at the Sunday drag show and he replied, “Drag has always been big in Modesto. There was a drag bar there before the Brave Bull opened.”

See page 66 >>

Right: The Brave Bull’s iconic sign Left: The Brave Bull in a recent photo

Left: A B.A.R. ad for a Candidate’s Night at The Brave Bull in 1977 Middle: Promo for The Brave Bull then-owner Casey’s birthday in 1985

Right: a B.A.R. ad for an October 1977 Halloween party at The Brave Bull

Left: Marlena (misspelled Marlana) as Modesto Empress in 1976

Right: B.A.R. write-up of a softball team benefit at The Brave Bull in 1983

‘In the Evening by the Moonlight’

by Jim Gladstone

Lorraine Hansberry is writing frantically throughout “In the Evening by the Moonlight.”

Now playing at Fort Mason in a premiere production by Hansberry’s namesake theater company, Traci Tolmaire’s drama imagines a single night of spiky conversation between the “Raisin In The Sun” playwright (played by Tolmaire) and two other queer Black giants of 20th-century American culture, author James Baldwin (Rotimi Agbabiaka) and musician Nina Simone (Ryan Nicole Austin).

The successes and failures of the U.S. civil rights movement, the trap of capitalism, and the persistent obliviousness of liberal white Americans to the realities of Black experience are

just a few of many subjects touched on in 90 brisk minutes that buzz with righteous indignation, fierce intelligence and grateful camaraderie.

Throughout it all, Hansberry writes.

During the show’s opening, closing and several mid-way moments, we see her at her desk, frustrated, trying to capture every detail of her thoughts and observations on paper. It’s 1963 and, as the script eventually reveals, she has recently endured several surgeries and is suffering with chronic illness (The real Hansberry succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 1965).

Designer Carlos Aceves’ clever set underscores Hansberry’s fevered wish to gather and synthesize every aspect of her world, to lock it down as literature in what time she has left.

The brickwork in her Waverly Place

apartment is transforming into books; the walls are papered with manuscript pages; calligraphic ink strokes sweep the floor.

In a script informed by extensive reading and archival research, playwright Tolmaire struggles with some of the same impulses that vex Hansberry: She’s trying to process so much input in such a short amount of time.

As her trio of characters zips from mourning the assasination of Medgar Evers, to debating the use of “Negro” versus “Black,” to examining racial stereotypes in the music business, to reprising a powerful confrontation with Robert Kennedy (a high point of Tolmaire’s performance), I found myself wishing for less breadth and more depth. Less primer, more drama.

Agbabiaka does an excellent job

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre brings its namesake to life

conveying Baldwin’s quicksilver toggling between plummy elder statesman and sassy sissy modes. As Simone, Austing is appropriately regal and self-contained, making it all the more touching when, toward evening’s end, she asks Hansberry about her health and they snuggle, platonically, on a couch. Her charismatic presence helps compensate for a role that is underwritten compared to Baldwin and Hansberry.

The most powerful moments of “In the Evening by the Moonlight” come not when its characters are sharing anecdotal accounts about past events but when they’re having fresh, personality-revealing interactions within the real time of the play.

In one scene, Baldwin and Simone, who both grew up poor, tease Hansberry about her middle-class upbring-

ing and financial security. In another, – disturbingly rendered by Agbabiaka and director Margo Hall – Baldwin, returning from a run the bodega to buy cigarettes, suffers a frightening anxiety attack which leads to a discussion about government surveillance of high profile Black citizens.

The bracing immediacy of these scenes, along with the palpable, desperate ambition Tolmaire’s Hansberry exudes from start to finish, help elevate “In the Evening by the Moonlight” above its occasional documentary doldrums.t

‘In the Evening by the Moonlight,’ through July 2. $15-$50. Young Performers Theatre, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D. www.lhtsf.org

Left: Ryan Nicole Austin as Nina Simone, Rotimi Agbabiaka as James Baldwin and Traci Tolmaire as Lorraine Hansberry in Tolmaire’s ‘In the Evening by the Moonlight’

Middle: Traci Tolmaire as Lorraine Hansberry and Right: Ryan Nicole Austin as Nina Simone ‘In the Evening by the Moonlight’

All photos: Alejandro Ramos

Rainbow reading

by Jim Piechota

T o help usher everyone into the Pride spirit, here is a selection of newly-published LGBTQ books for the ultimate rainbow reading audience. Assembled here are memoirs from a trans Filipino-American model, the historical stories of seven epic lesbian relationships, a pictorial book celebrating queerness through the ages from San Francisco to New York City, and a children’s book on friendship and loss. Our Pride shelves are brimming with delightfully diverse stories, guidebooks, and personal profiles. Happy 2023 Pride, literally!

FICTION

“Boys Weekend”

by Mattie Lubchansky

$28 (Pantheon)

This unconventional horrorsatire follows trans femme protagonist Sammie who is invited by some friends from their college days to join a group having a bachelor party weekend at El Campo, a remote, isolated floating island. The occasion is former bestie Adam’s impending wedding, and though Sammie is thrilled to attend, two dramatic things have changed since graduation. Their friendship with Adam isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be and Sammie has transitioned; one situation might even be causative of the other.

Still, Mattie treks off to the floating city to join a gaggle of postured ignorant hetero bros who guffaw and high-five together while ignor-

Pride books round-up

ing the fact that the island is slowly being infiltrated by a mysterious tech gathering and that there’s a monster lurking in the waters surrounding the island. Toxic masculinity meets bold defiant queerness in this hilarious and impressive amalgam of science fiction, horror, and graphic comic book.

MEMOIR

“Horse Barbie”

by Geena Rocero

, $28 (Penguin)

Upbeat and effortlessly suffused with grace and humor, Geena Rocero retraces her life having always identified as a female growing up in the Philippines up into her youth and adulthood in America. Though Manila open celebrates transgender youth, Rocero still yearned to free herself from the confines of life in her hometown.

Moving to San Francisco to be at her mother’s side at 17, she worked at Macy’s to save money for genderaffirming surgery, then moved to Manhattan to become a model, her life’s ambition. Tales of dating mishaps and successes fill in the gaps between her career and her eventual happiness and contentment as a trans model in America. This wonderfully immersive, multi-cultural memoir, detailed across 25 chapters, is sure to please and entertain.

“Lesbian Love Story”

by Amelia Possanza $27 (Catapult Books)

This book by literary publicist Possanza presents an impressive archive of lesbian relationships across

decades: information and material that helped her process her life in New York City when she searched for connection and community.

Experiencing great difficulty in finding lesbians to befriend, she became a “collector of lesbians” and her memoir displays the bounty of this research through the details of seven love stories between women.

Beginning in the classical Greek era with a romance between the poet Sappho and her lover Anactoria, the stories run on through tales of the drag kings of Coney Island and Harlem’s Black lesbians during the Great Depression. This is both an intelligent documentation of radical lesbian love as well as the author’s personal tribute to women who love women across history and how that research fit into and defined her own way of life.

“Bachelor Father”

by Bill W. Jones, $29 (self)

Bill Jones signed adoption papers in early 1969 through the San Francisco City and County Social Services Adoption Agency making his process the first single parent adoption in America. His memoir captures this life-changing adventure in vivid detail and gives the reader a full appreciation of the author’s life as a gay man prior to the adoption of his son Aaron, of the year-and-ahalf struggle to formally adopt him, and the medical challenges that his son faced.

Though Aaron would meet a young and tragically accidental death at age 30, Jones still grieves

yet insists that his son be remembered “not as a historical fact, but as the lovable, sweet, funny, and loving person he was.”

Written from the heart in a conversational, affable tone, this expansive, comprehensive, and spirited memoir reflects on the life of a single father, the passion and dedication it takes to be a parent, and how the loss of his only son proved essentially formative in his life going forward. Jones’s story of love and loss will resonate with readers who are parents or who have ever considered embarking on the adoption process for themselves.

NON-FICTION

“The Story of the B-52s: Neon Side of Town”

by Scott Creney & Brigette Adair Herron

$24.99 (Palgrave MacMillan)

Fans of the iconic New Wave rockers will find much to admire in this immersive biography of the band that surpassed expectations as just another “silly party band” and thrilled and embraced their legions of underdog followers.

Delving deep into the B-52s’ music like the smash breakout album “Cosmic Thing” and performer personalities, musicians Creney and Herron trace the band’s roots from Athens, Georgia to New York City where the sudden death of guitarist Ricky Wilson from AIDS complications rocked the group.

After that tragedy, it was the hit song “Love Shack” that resurrected

them and catapulted them up the pop charts and beyond. Profiles of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson, and Keith Strickland are all given respectful and immense credit in a book that B-52s fans will consider a must-have addition to their libraries.

“A Very Gay Book”

by Jenson Titus & Nic Scheppard

$30 (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

What would the world look like if everything had gay roots? That’s the kooky premise behind the hilarious and immensely entertaining new book by joint authors Jenson Titus and Nic Scheppard.

Subtitled “an inaccurate resource for gay scholars,” this satirical textbook spotlights aspects of history, culture, and science where “everything is gay” and has that queer eye and edge. Silliness abounds here, but laughter is a requirement when discussing the concept of prehistoric gays, “the drama, the longing, and the desire” of the Oregon Trail, Paul Revere and “the rich history of gay yelling,” or how drinking smoothies and walking fast is essentially gay. The artwork is just as hilarious as the text in this friend-sharing satirical opus of all things queer (or imagined to be). This is funny fluff meant to tickle the funny bone and inspire featherweight giggles at dinner parties.

See page 60 >>

YOU’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE THIS IS SAN FRANCISCO

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Chanel Tilghman, Beth Wilmurt, and Courtney Walsh.

Photo by Kevin Berne.

“Rainbow Parenting”

by Lindz Amer

$19 (St. Martins/Griffin)

This immensely important book from nonbinary LGBTQ activist and YouTube host of “Queerkid Stuff” Lindz Amer, who delivers instruction and advice on how parents and teachers can create genderaffirming spaces for children of any age. Pushing past the traditional gender binary, the book offers tips and strategies for treating kids, from toddlers to kindergarteners

to school-age kids, with respectful “body kindness,” including asking pronoun-friendly questions and raising all children with the physical- and gender-affirming dignity they deserve.

“The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers: 26 Love Spells from Apples to Zinnias” by Chris Young & Susan Ottaviano

$22.99 (Skyhorse Publishing)

With a gushing introduction from Deborah Harry, this practical magical guide uses only natural organic greenery, flowers, plants, and herbs

in spells meant to conjure feelings of love, hope, honor, and desire.

Ottaviano, best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave band Book of Love, bewitches readers with an introduction on the essential meaning of Green Witchcraft, and moves on to ingredients, recipes, gardening essentials, advice on how to begin your own personal journey, and Ottaviano’s own colorful artistry gracing the front covers and throughout the book’s pages.

Fully detailed instructions on creating your own Power of Love Dinner for Two joins a chapter naming plants necessary for crafting “Love Magic,” and, conversely, a how-to guide on breaking a love spell. Tapping into the everyday magic of plants and organic energies that surround us, this is a book for queer witches who wish to expand their knowledge and their capacities to conjure goodness through greenery.

“Trans Children in Today’s Schools” by Aidan Key

$29.95 (Oxford University Press)

This important resource for teachers and school administrators is for those who might work with trans students on a regular basis. The book instructs and educates on the gender transition process, what it entails, and how adult individuals can affirmatively and proactively assist whenever and wherever possible.

Key’s book is written with authority and immense tact and offers limitless advice on handling the challenges brought forth by political and social detractors and offers parents resources and assistance when confronted with challenges and roadblocks regarding their trans children’s education. This is essential reading for educators and parents who want to make education available and non-discriminatory for trans children in every school system.

PICTORIAL

“Castro to Christopher: Gay Streets of America from 1979-1986” by Nicholas Blair $45 (PowerHouse Books)

This outstanding photographic retrospective features Nicholas Blair’s vibrant black and white photography and effectively illustrates those joyous years after the Stonewall age but before the AIDS epidemic raged and decimated our communities.

The images span west coast to east, San Francisco to Manhattan to Fire Island to the tip of Provincetown, and though they are primarily populated by white gay men, the scenes they portray are socially and culturally representative of the time, the places, the attitudes, the burgeoning freedom, and the love.

As noted in his introduction, culture critic Jim Farber writes about the significance of the race and gender of those participating in the events where these images were shot, commenting “should you fast-forward to today’s gay pride events, you would often see the opposite. Tens of thousands of people of color –perhaps even more– now take part.” He continues to note that the photographs also magnificently capture the general atmosphere and that “the sense of celebration in these photos is real and resounding.” This is a wonderfully nostalgic coffee table book that will amaze everyone who opens its covers.

GRAPHIC MEMOIR

“The Last Gay Man on Earth”

by Ype Driessen $21.99 (Street Noise)

This photo comic-formatted book from Dutch cartoonist Ype Driessen chronicles the fraught and anxiety-inducing relationship between himself and the world around him. Driessen worries about everything from gay shame, acceptance, aging, and general risk-taking, all of which wouldn’t be an issue if he lived on a desert island, as imagined in his wildest fantasies. His boyfriend

Nicky helps things along by offering an American vacation whereby the author can extract himself out of the bubble he has trapped himself in. This unique autobiographical fotonovela is funny, intelligently crafted, and filled with relatable scenarios.

YOUTH/KIDS

“My Friend, Loonie”

by Nina LaCour

$18.99 (Candlewick Press)

This tenderly written children’s story follows a girl’s friendship and emotional attachment with a balloon brought home by her queerpresenting parents. She names the yellow orb “Loonie” and integrates it into her life at home. When the balloon becomes detached and floats off into the sky, the girl’s sense of sadness and loss are palpably represented, as are the parents’ responsibilities in redirecting their daughter’s emotions into gardening, where beautiful new life blooms forth. Simply written and encompassing important issues facing young children, this book is an important addition to children’s bookshelves.

“Young Queer America:

Real Stories and Faces of LGBTQ+ Youth” by Maxwell Poth, $24.95 (Chronicle Books) Activist and queer portrait photographer and photojournalist Maxwell Poth traversed across the country to promote Project Contrast, a nonprofit initiative that enables queer kids and their families to connect to the resources they need to survive and prosper. There are seventy-three profiles in all, and each detail (in their own words) the life of queer youth, from fifteen different states (and small towns within those states), who have struggled with coming out, fitting in, their mental health challenges, affirming their own identities, and finding love and happiness. Through moving words and images, this book represents queer pride in its most intrinsic form.t

CELEBRATING

Holidays are here.

Show you care by always wearing a mask.

YEARS OF LGBTQ PHILANTHROPY

Thirteen years after the death of Bob Ross, the Bay Area Reporter's publisher and founder, the foundation that bears his name, established in 1995, continues to support a diverse range of local arts, HIV-related, LGBT, and other nonprofit organizations. During this time, these organizations need our support, and yours, more than ever.

Bob Ross

Chanticleer

GLBT Historical Society

Horizons Foundation

KDFC Classical Music

Larkin Street Youth

Meals on Wheels

New Conservatory Theatre Center

Openhouse

Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS)

a founding publisher of the Bay Area Reporter, America’s longest continuously- published LGBT newspaper, was also a gay community leader and philanthropist.

San Francisco Ballet

San Francisco Dance Film Festival

San Francisco Giants Community Fund

San Francisco Pride (Pink Triangle)

At the 20th Anniversary of his passing, the foundation that bears his name, takes this time to honor the hundreds of local community and arts organization this foundation has supported and the more than 9 million dollars of funding the foundation has provided to these organizations over the past two decades.

Shanti

Tenderloin Tessie Holiday Dinner Theatre

Rhinoceros

The Bob Ross Foundation continues his legacy of generosity and is proud to support LGBT community organizations in the San Francisco Bay

If you are able, please consider supporting these vital institutions. Rb

THE BOB ROSS FOUNDATION

(1934–2003),

Area.

Divas defined Black Music Archive explains

by Cornelius Washington

singing styles

n the original definition of ‘diva,’ she is described as a classical opera singer, usually a soprano. In that culture we see her onstage swathed in precise period costumes and/or tasteful gowns with sweeping trains and coats performing in grand hallowed halls.

I

In the worlds of pop, soul, R&B, hip hop, and rap, the definition of a diva suggests complete worlds of difference. In the first world, the diva is usually white, in the other worlds the divas are mostly Black. They warble about love, triumph, dating, dancing, trauma and transcendence, usually over the neck of some man in particular or men in general, quite possibly

the subtext of why so many divas have problems with men. We all sing along with them, knowing every syllable, sigh and scream. But what we really are not aware of is that music is arguably America’s biggest export, generating billions of dollars in revenue annually, and the LGBTQ community is the underpinning of it all.

From discovery, construction, acknowledgement, admiration and adoration, the quality, importance, impact, and longevity of a modern music diva’s careers depend on us. The creation of whole genres of music, disco, house, and EDM are by and for us and the creation of the dance mix and remix are mostly made by iconic LGBTQ artists, most notably by the

late Grammy winning Black gay DJ and music producer Frankie Knuckles. However, there has never been a serious examination, exploration, or celebration of the technical abilities and gifts of divas from a queer point of view and certainly not by Black queer people, until now.

Award-winning multi-talent Milik Kashad of the Black Music Archive is the man who writes, edits, informs, and entertains with lush visuals (stills and videos) and most stunningly in his deep, dark, mellifluous voice narrates clips on the most elegant channel on YouTube concerning the qualities of the Black female voice.

Kashad reveals how range, harmonic qualities, breathing, aging, plastic surgery, weight loss, lifestyle and (shudder) weight gain affect the women we all in the community know on a first-name basis: Whitney, Aretha, Anita, Toni, Chaka, Mariah, and the most recently deceased Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner.

Kashad also celebrates the unsung underrated outstanding divas like Melba Moore, Phyllis Hyman, Adeva, and Miki Howard. Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel and one of the most influential singers in the world, is given her due.

Groundbreaking Black opera singers Leona Mitchell, and the also recently departed diva Grace Bumbry, are given respect and reverence. Kashad’s educational videos are outstanding, and are categorized with different themes: ‘What is Supportive Singing?’ ‘What is Dynamic Singing?’

‘What are Riffs and Runs?’

He also gives excellent opinions on topics such as ‘Why Did Legendary Singers Smoke,’ ‘Can Big Voices Still Succeed in Music?’ and one of my personal favorites, ‘Is Pop Music Black Music?’

Kashad also serves irresistibly sly shade with ‘Why are Singers Mean to People?’ ‘Why the New Girls Can’t Sing’ and ‘Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Shade and Laughs.’

Also featured are wonderful interviews of several divas, most notably Bay Area native and Queen of Voice Martha Wash. He also does a truly lyrical chapter on Sylvester and the recent triumph of Alex Newell on Broadway.

Through their love and passion for music, Kashad and producer Matt Brown are creating work on par with MTV, VH1 and BET documentaries. The Black Music Archives are worthy of likes, shares, subscriptions and so much more.

As we celebrate the divas we will certainly dance to during Pride celebrations and in nightclubs, let’s acknowledge and support Milik and Matt with recognition, celebration and most importantly luscious donations for being on the cutting edge of what the LGBTQ community can do on social media. Bravo, Milik and Matt.t

Host Milik Kashad

Clips from the Black Music Archive

by Heather Cassell

California wine country’s premiere gay wine event, Gay Wine Weekend, will be hosted in a new part of Sonoma County July 14-16.

After four years of hosting the three-day wine event in Sonoma Valley in Kenwood’s at Chateau St. Jean, Out in the Vineyard, which produces Gay Wine Weekend, and owner Gary Saperstein are taking the event to the Russian River Valley and Healdsburg regions of Sonoma County.

Saperstein founded the LGBTQ wine event and travel company that’s now in its 14th year.

The nearly sold-out event showcases a new host hotel, the Vintner’s Resort Spa and longtime sponsor, La Crema Winery, which is the new premier wine sponsor this year that will host the Twilight T-Dance that will also host two live performances by Debbie Holliday and British singer Jamie Hannah.

Saperstein said Holliday has a “powerhouse voice. She is just going to really raise those vineyards,” since there is no roof, he said laughing. Hannah “has just one of the most beautiful voices I’ve heard in a long time,” he added.

The weekend event will also highlight many wineries and restaurants new to Gay Wine Weekend guests with wine tours and wine dinners including a plant-based dinner at Little Saint featuring wines by Head High

Wines and dinner with Equality Vines.

“To have the opportunity to move it around and introduce people to more of this region that I love so much is exciting to me,” said Saperstein. “Sonoma County is large,” he added. “Each region of our county is just so beautiful. In order to get to know more about the county you really have to stay in that area.

“It’s just really great just to be able to introduce people to all these new places that they haven’t been to,” he said. People have responded positively to the change.

“People are excited about the new venues,” Saperstein said, stating that past Gay Wine Weekend attendees have also expressed their excitement “to come and visit all new places.”

Out in the Vineyard was launched in 2009, as a local wine event gathering LGTBQ vintners, winemakers, chefs, and hundreds of queer people in the San Francisco Bay Area who love food and wine together in the Sonoma Valley for its signature event, Gay Wine Weekend.

Since then, OITV has grown year after year, attracting thousands of LGBTQ people and allies from all over the country, and this year as far-flung as Australia and England, to Sonoma and Napa counties to celebrate California’s LGBTQ wine industry makers.

In nearly 15 years since its found-

ing, OITV has hosted events starting in May with Pink Saturday through harvest season grape stomping in October. The events have included the former Big Gay Wine Train in Napa, wine cruises on the San Francisco Bay, a Caribbean cruise, a Pride Wine Fest celebrating diversity in wine with Black Vines, and smaller, more intimate wine events from Sonoma to San Francisco.

This summer, Gay Wine Weekend guests will enjoy staying at Vintner’s Resort Spa, a four-diamond California-certified green resort 78-room resort set on a sprawling 92-acre estate surrounded by vineyards, on the outskirts of Santa Rosa heading toward the popular LGBTQ resort town, Guerneville. The weekend’s closing pool party (July 16) will be hosted at

Guerneville’s Triple R Resort.

Some of the featured wineries guests will be able to experience are Balletto Vineyards, Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery, MacRostie Winery and Vineyards, Rodney Strong Vineyards, Silver Oak Cellars, Stonestreet Winery, and Trentadue Winery.

A percentage of Gay Wine Weekend proceeds will benefit Sonoma County’s HIV/AIDS organization, Face to Face, where Saperstein is the development director. In 14 years, OITV has raised more than $500,000 for the organization that provides HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services, drug education and prevention, and housing and income support.t

www.outinthevineyard.com

Gay Wine Weekend guests strike a pose for the camera at the Twilight T-Dance at Chateau St. Jean Winery in 2022.

Out in the Vineyard

Out in the Vineyard founder and owner Gary Saperstein, center, flanked by the “Pink” during Gay Wine Weekend.

Out in the Vineyard guests enjoy the Twilight T-Dance.

Both photos: Out in the Vineyard

Out in the Vineyard

All aboard! Chunx and Funx of Gravy Train!!!!

by Gregg Shapiro

Pitchfork.com’s review of Gravy Train!!!!’s 2003 Kill Rock Stars debut album “Hello Doctor” opens with a reference to John Waters. So, it’s fitting that Waters is hosting the 2023 edition of Mosswood Meltdown at which Gravy Train!!!! (Carolina Garza aka Funx, Heather Jewett aka Chunx, Brontez Purnell aka Junx, and Seth Bogart aka Hunx), who split up in 2007, will be reuniting.

Known for its explicit and humorous queercore rap style, Gravy Train!!!! ascribes to Waters’ trademark shock value code of ethics. Funx and Chunx recently made time for an interview in advance of the Mosswood Meltdown gig on July 2.

Gregg Shapiro: I’d like to begin by asking you to say something about how you became involved with Gravy Train!!!!

Carolina Garza / Funx: Chunx and I grew up in LA and became friends in high school. We moved to the Bay Area together at age 18 and our house was always full of music, jokes, and partying, and Chunx is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. We went to a lot of shows and parties and, for some reason, at some point, we got the balls to think we could start a band.

It really started as Chunx’s idea and she wrote such hilarious and genius lyrics that I tried to just do my best with my lil garage sale Yamaha. When Hunx joined the band, I think it really helped us musically because he’s also so brilliant and talented and funny. And then when the incomparable Junx joined it really completed the hilarity and creative explosion of our family of four.

Heather Jewett / Chunx: The idea for the band sprouted when a guy I was “dating” (made out with drunkenly twice) hurt my feelings and I wanted

revenge. I thought I could write some diss tracks about him, record them on cassette and leave a pile of tapes at Amoeba Records for people to take for free. It felt like it would be an empowering thing to do, and I thought it would make me feel better. Obviously, it ended up becoming so much more than that.

Gravy Train!!!! band members went by stage names such as Hunx, Funx, Chunx, and Junx. How did each of you get your names?

CG: I believe it’s because I made funky beats and songs, and by “made funky beats” I mean played eeny meeny miney mo with the buttons on my keyboard. But it could also be because I smelled funky, too [laughs].

HJ: If I remember correctly, I came up with the names one night at the Ruby Room and wrote them on napkins. But I might be mixing that up with another band’s origin story – it’s all kinda hazy! I knew my name was Chunx first, because I wanted to rub it in people’s faces that I loved fast food. Hunx because he was hunky, and Funx because she tore it up on the keyboard.

Seth Bogart: I got my name cuz I’m a hunk!!!!

How did the name Gravy Train!!!! come into being?

HJ: I actually took a poll on a lesbian message board. I had Party Train, Sex Train, Gravy Train, and maybe one more. So, extremely online lesbians came up with the name if we’re being honest.

Why the four exclamation marks? Is each one meant to represent a band member?

HJ: Keeping with the theme of radical honesty, there was a really cute band called the Blast Rocks!!! in the Bay Area at the time. There was a story

about them in one of the weeklies, and I thought it was so genius that they had exclamation points in their name. I stole the idea but added an extra one just to be a brat.

The band’s queerness has always been front and center. In what ways do you see Gravy Train!!!!’s influence on the bands that came in your wake?

CG: It’s surreal to think of us as having an influence on other bands. I think there were several queer influences that helped shape us so we’re one of the many marks on a line of where culture has progressed. I also think that we just are who we are, and we were young and fearless and sloppy and hungry for experiences so what came out of us just kind of happened. So, if we did influence some acts that came after us maybe it’s the spirit of

throwing caution to the wind and just shaking what your momma gave you.

GS: Gravy Train!!!! has reconvened and is playing July’s Mosswood Meltdown in Oakland. What does such an honor mean to you?

CG: It means the world to me. I’ve had some tough years with my health and mobility so being able to walk out on a stage to perform again is something I didn’t think would ever happen. And for our first reunion show to be in Oakland where we began and at Mosswood Meltdown, in particular, is really special.

HJ: I’m so excited to be on a stage performing with and for our people: funny gals, gays, and theys who know how to have fun, party, laugh, and dance! Even live music feels so corporate and uptight these days. Moss-

and ads about the bar indicate that there were parties to celebrate both Casey and Val’s birthdays. The B.A.R. ran an article on a celebration in May 1982 for Val’s 50th birthday.

And they raised their family there.

I spoke with Kaysi, the second generation of the family to run the bar, and asked when she started working at the bar. She said it was around age 10 and told me, “If you have kids and own a bar, the kids are going to be in the bar.”

She knows what she’s talking about. She raised her own kids, now in their 20s, around the bar. I asked what effect it had on them and she said, “It made them more open-minded.”

Asked what plans are in store for the 50th anniversary, Kaysi said, “We’re not sure, but I’ve told Casey we’ll have to do something big: maybe a mechanical bull?”

wood is old school, rock ‘n roll, and rough around the edges just like us!!! And, of course, it means the world to be playing with such legendary legends and to be in any proximity to John Waters.

Could the July Mosswood Meltdown show lead to new Gravy Train!!!! music, perhaps even a national tour?

HJ: We’re testing the (John) waters with this show! If it feels right, who knows? We’ve gone from sippin’ 40s to being in our 40s, though... So we’re going to need a full emergency medical team on standby on our rider, and they all have to be really hot.t

Mosswood Meltdown, July 1 & 2, Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster St., Oakland. $40-$279. www.mosswoodmeltdown.com

for 49 years. It has provided us with personalities like Marlena, who have helped make San Francisco what it is, and been there for economic refugees like Moon Trent, offering a venue for their creativity. And all the while its owners have shown us the importance of having good friends. As the Central Valley is one of the fastest growing regions of California, it not only reflects our past, it is a bridge to our future.

It seems like there was much more interaction between the Bay Area and the Central Valley in the 1970s and ’80s (so back issues of the B.A.R. would lead me to believe). But perhaps that allows this Modesto bar to now be more geared toward its Central Valley clientele.

It’s certainly worth a visit from the Bay Area and I look forward to hearing more about the upcoming 50th anniversary events.t

From page 56

That was the Mustang Club, which opened in 1970. So it’s not surprising that the Brave Bull was not the first place where Marlena did drag. But the bar did play a big role in Marlena’s Imperial year in Modesto. For example the Halloween Party at the Brave Bull also served as Marlena’s birthday party in 1977.

But in 1980 Marlena moved to San Francisco and the Lubbers took over as sole owners of the bar. The bar was in good hands. An article from the Modesto View in 2011 explains why they opened it in the first place:

“Casey originally launched the bar because his gay friends had nowhere to go.”

The Central Valley community obviously loved the family right back. In December 1976 in the B.A.R.’s “East Bay and Beyond” column Gene (no last name given) wrote:

“The Brave Bull in Modesto is fea-

turing Casey-style Christmas decorations, which means that if Casey hung them, there is bound to be one hanging upside-down.”

Family business

Along with news about Imperial Court goings on, the gogo boys and the expanded disco floor, both articles

One thing that is certain is that they’ve already done something big. Any bar that can last half a century, inspire new events, and have packed shows is doing something right.

The Brave Bull has been thriving

The Brave Bull is open 8pm to 2am Thursday through Sunday, 701 South 9th Street, Modesto.

www.facebook.com/TheBraveBull

www.instagram.com/bravebull209/

Gravy Train!!!! in the early 2000s.

Left: Moon Trent Right: Happy Brave Bull patrons David Cole

Left: Violetta’s drag show in 2017 Right: Gogo night at The Brave Bull in 2019

Pride sounds all year long

by Gregg Shapiro

Jake Shears, the hot front man of the fabulous queer band Scissor Sisters, made us wait five years

between his solo albums. On 2018’s eponymous record, it sounded like he made a conscious decision to focus on Scissor Sisters’ Elton John-inspired vintage-pop as opposed to its more

dance-oriented aspect.

On the cover of his wonderful new full-length “Last Man Dancing” (Mute), the porn-stache is gone and in its place a more youthful pic of the ageless Shears. “Last Man Dancing” is an entirely different animal too, with its joyful, youthful, exhilarating, and forward-thinking dance energy. And, yes, dancing is required. Opener “Too Much Music” manages to be both retro and of the moment. “Do The Television,” co-written by Shears, and Scissor Sister bandmates Scott Hoffman (aka Babydaddy) and Ana Lynch (Ana Matronic) is mesmerizing.

Kylie Minogue duets with Shears on the irresistible “Voices” and we get a good measure of Big Freedia on “Doses.” Beginning with “8 Ball,” and continuing through “Devil Came Down The Dance Floor,” as well as “Mess of Me,” “Doses,” and “Radio Eyes,” there’s a nice use of the old-school continuous mix groove, giving the listener the feeling of being at their own private dance party or club.

Michael Angelakos hadn’t yet come out as bi when his band  Passion Pit  released its second album “Gossamer” (French Kiss/Sony Music), newly reissued in a tenth-anniversary pink splatter vinyl double LP edition. This might explain some of the tension and serious subject matter throughout the album.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition because Passion Pit’s trademark sound is one of colorful and bouncy electrodance pop. This duality, on songs such as “Carried Away,” “Hideaway,” “It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy,” and “I’ll Be Alright” and “Love Is Greed” (both featuring queer musician Nico Muhly), eases the impact without diluting it. While six years have passed since the previous Passion Pit album, fans have a chance to become reacquainted with “Gossamer” while they await new music from Angelakos and company.

Even the most casual  Rufus Wainwright  listener probably knows that he is the son of folk musicians Loudon Wainwright III and the late Kate McGarrigle. Nevertheless, the out singer/ songwriter’s musical taste runs more toward opera and theatrical pop as is evident from his 10 previous studio albums.

But a shift has occurred on “Folkocracy” (BMG), Wainwright’s new star-studded recording, available on double-LP vinyl, as well as CD. With the exception of a new rendition of his song “Going To A Town” (presented as a breathtaking duet with Anohni), the other 13 tracks are covers, from traditional songs to folk and pop tunes. Madison Cunningham joins him on Ewan MacColl’s “Alone,” and that’s John Legend performing Peggy Seeger’s “Heading for Home” with Rufus.

A rousing rendition of The Mamas and The Papas’ “Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon),” features Susanna Hoffs, Chris Stills, and Sheryl Crow. Out Grammywinner Brandi Carlile provides duet vocals on “Down In The Willow Garden.” David Byrne can be heard on “High On A Rocky Ledge,” and that’s Chaka Khan on “Cotton Eyed Joe.” All in all, “Folkocracy” is a rewarding experience.t

“In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast. Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis.”

—Quentin Crisp

Party with Pride

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Here we go! The last week of June is full-on LGBTQetc. Pride. It’s time to stand out, be out, and go out to arts and nightlife events all over the Bay Area. We’ve got a special Top 20 Pride events list, plus our weekly expansive ongoing arts, bars and nightlife listings, all on www.ebar.com.

June 20

Infinite Pride @ Oasis

The SF Neo-Futurists present Infi-

Fun things to do for this Pride season

nite Pride, their annual benefit show featuring thirty queer plays presented in sixty queer minutes. Opening act: Ray Ray the Homey, the nonbinary best friend you never knew you had, with a quick and dirty ten minute stand-up set. Benefitting the Transgender Law Center. 21 and older. $2050, June 20, 7pm, 298 11th St. www. sfoasis.com

Pride in Gotham

@ The Hibernia Peaches Christ hosts this Batmanthemed immersive theater cosplay

soiree. Explore the underground vaults of the Hibernia where Gotham’s notorious villains have prepared a party you’ll never forget. Live music from Rahni NothingMore, with a special appearance by D’Arcy Drollinger. 21+. $75-$295, June 20, 7pm, 1 Jones St. www.eventbrite.com

The Wizard of Oz

@ Toni Rembe Theater

Journey down the Yellow Brick Road with this updated super-queer live stage production of the L.Frank Baum classic, featuring the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Wicked Witch of the West on a journey to a magical world. Music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg. $25-$110, thru June 25, 415 Geary St. www.act-sf.org

June 22

A Chorus Line

@ SF Playhouse

The classic musical about would be Broadway hopefuls auditioning for a new show. Original director Michael Bennett conceived the show based on interviews he conducted with actual gypsy dancers. Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. $15-$100, June 22-Sept 9, 450 Post St. www.sfplayhouse.org

Provocateur Pride Party @ Audio Nightclub

An all-gender-inclusive party that celebrates creative self-expression, individuality, art, and music. With DJs BigDumpTop and Boyfriend Dick. $35-$60, June 22, 9pm, 316 11th St. www.eventbrite.com

Sandra Bernhard

@ Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Sandra breezes into town for Pride with her show, ‘A Spring Affair.’ Stroll down the Champs Elysees, lounge on the beach at Ipanema, or have a brief interlude with an international playboy. Sandra will take you on the best getaway in years. $125-$135, June 22 and 23, 8pm (June 23 sold out)

June 24, 7pm & 10pm, 222 Mason St. www.feinsteinssf.com

June 23

Bearracuda @ Public Works

Pride edition of the popular bear dance party, with DJs David Harness, Paul Goodyear and Philip Grasso. $30-$60. June 23, 9pm-3am. 161 Erie St. at Mission. www.bearracuda.com www.eventbrite.com

Heat @ The Great Northern Superstar DJs Eddie Martinez and Isaac Escalante, hot gogo dancers and more. $20-$79, June 23, 10pm, 119 Utah St. www.thegreatnorthernsf.com

Pride Shabbat @ Congregation Shaar Zahav

Celebrate Pride with a special Pride Shabbat (Sabbath) at Congregation

Shaar Zahav, San Francisco’s synagogue for the LGBTQ communty, allies, friends, and families, followed by a rainbow-themed oneg (coffee and snacks). Service led by Rabbi Mychal Copeland and Reuben Zellman. Free, June 23, 7:30pm, 290 Dolores St. www. shaarzahav.org

SF Pride Pink Party @ Space 550

Join Club Papi and Valentino for their official SF Pride Latin Stage Kickoff party. Featuring sexy Papi dancers, two dance floors, and a Mariah Carey tribute by Tik Tok star Aurelio Sanchez. $20-$25, June 23, 10pm, 550 Barneveld Ave. www.clubpapi.com

SF Trans March @ Dolores Park

Join the trans community and allies for a rousing march through iconic San Francisco neighborhoods. Celebrate visibility! Followed by a rally at the march’s end and an after party at El Rio. Free, June 23, 6pm, Dolores Park. www.facebook.com/transmarch

June 24

Freequency: BIPOC Pride Party @ First Edition

A high energy dance party curated with the intention of being a space to align with those on the same wavelength. Featuring DJ HunnyBee, Michatron, Lexapeel, fiveminusdeuce and DJ Kream. $20-$75, June 24, 9pm, 1915 Broadway, Oakland. www.eventbrite.com

Princess Pride @ Oasis

A disco dance party and drag spectacular. Hosted by Kochina Rude and Lisa Frankenstein, and DJ Rubella Spreads, featuring a live set by Freddie. $20, June 24, 10pm, 298 11th St. www. sfoasis.com

SF Dyke March @ Dolores & 18th Sts

Celebrate lesbian visibility with a fun and exciting march through the Mission. Free, June 24, 5pm, Dolores & 18 Sts. www.thedykemarch.org

Tenderlove @ Record Bar

Party from the afternoon into the night. Featuring Cakes Da Killa, Uffie, MJ Nebreda, Jasmine Infiniti. $20$35, June 24, 3pm, 163 Eddy. www. eventbrite.com

Us 2 Year Anniversary @ Beaux

A celebration of BIPOC excellence in LGBTQIA nightlife. Hosted by Mercedez Munro and Terrill GrimesMunro. Featuring Sybil Severe, Alina Malletti-Galore, DJ Kidd, and DJ Ms Jackson, go-go dancers and performers. $10-$25, June 24, 4pm, 2344 Market St. www.beauxsf.com

Can’t Stop My Shine @ White Horse Inn

Oakland’s historic bar offers a postparade Pride Party. DJ’s Massii and Faerie b will be hitting the decks! Free, June 25, 6pm, 6551 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. www.facebook.com/whitehorsebar/

June 25

Juanita MORE! Daytime Pride Party @ 620 Jones Party on Pride Sunday with hostess Juanita MORE! Four bars, two levels, and an expert sound system which ensures that the party goes on all afternoon. Featuring Ana Matronic, Black, Charles Hawthorne, Josh Cheon, LadyRyan, Rolo Talorda, Sindri and Stanley Frank. June 25, 12pm, 620 Jones. www.juanitamore.com

Juanita MORE! Nighttime Pride Party @ Halcyon

The party continues until late at night. MORE! brings the party to SoMa for the evening. $42.06, June 25, 6pm, 314 11th St. juanitamore.com

People’s March & Rally @ Polk and Washington Sts.

Led by an all Black and Brown committee of queer and trans community leaders, artists and performers. Join Juanita MORE! for an alternative to the SF Pride Parade. This march for human rights follows the original route of the first Pride Parade. Free, June 25, 10:30am, Polk & Washington Sts. www.juanitamore.com

Snaxx’s 3rd Annual Pride Pool Party @ Oasis

Celebrate Pride Sunday from the roof at Oasis. OK, so they don’t really have a pool, but this party pays tribute to Oasis’ storied history as a bathhouse. Free, June 25, 12pm, 298 11th St. www.sfoasis.comt

Left: Bearracuda @ Public Works, June 23

Right: Sandra Bernhard @ Feinstein’s at the Nikko, June 22-24

Quirky and bold are the best modifiers pertaining to Japanese writer/ director Tsuyoshi Shoii’s drama “Old Narcissus,” an honest depiction of the final days of a 74-year-old author of children’s books, the narcissistic Yamazaki (Tajiro Tamura). He’s diagnosed with cancer and there’s treatment but he refuses it. He’s more concerned about his creative block that prevents his completion of an overdue book for his publisher.

He’s lonely and hires 25-year-old sex worker Leo (Atomu Mizuishi), who’s willing to cater to Yamazaki’s S&M fetish to be tied up and spanked.

Yamazaki and Leo take a journey to see Yamazaki’s first boyfriend whom he treated poorly and now wants to apologize. This is a beautiful intergenerational story in which each character helps the other discern who they are and what they want. This small gem should not be overlooked.

It seemed inevitable that once the Supreme Court okayed marriage equality in 2015, there would be divorces as well, which is the subject of the bland, restrained “Our Sons.” It’s the story of stay-at-home dad Gabriel (Billy Porter, sans drag) and wealthy publisher Nicky (Luke Evans), married for 13 years, and parents of 7-year-old son Owen.

Gabriel’s affair, which ends quickly, is a betrayal for Nicky, but leads Gabriel to seek a divorce, fed up with workaholic Nicky. The question becomes who will get custody of Owen.

Yes, this is the gay version of “Kramer vs. Kramer,” a far superior movie. Even though we loved Porter in “Pose,” he’s so subdued, he’s not well cast here. Evans, however, is excellent in the presumably less showy, semi-bad-guy role. It’s not a failure, but a dull and hackneyed missed opportunity.

22-year-old Moritz (Lorenz Hochhuth) moves to Berlin to live with his photographer boyfriend Jonas (Gustav Schmidt). But after a while, Jonas loses interests and asks a heartbroken Moritz to leave, in the German film “Drifter.” Thus begins a journey of self-discovery as he drifts alone passively in the city into queer hedonism, exploring his repressed desires, testing his own boundaries.

He cuts his hair, changes his clothes, starts to exercise, gets tattoos, goes

clubbing, uses drugs, engages in new sexual acts, such as hooking up with a bisexual couple and becomes a temporary sex worker performing BDSM humiliation acts on a client.

There’s no real storyline here, which is frustrating. At times the film feels more like a cinema verité documentary. Hochhuth conveys the vulnerability and fleeting nature of someone trying to find their true self to break free of cultural expectations. Audacious, almost experimental, it’s still unsatisfying on a deeper level.

The sensitive Canadian drama This Place” features two lonely queer college students in Toronto who meet and fall love, but must confront family difficulties rooted in immigration and cultural struggles.

Kawenniiohstha (Devery Jacobs) leaves behind her notebook in a laundromat which Malai (Priya Guns) finds. They meet for coffee so she can return the book. They become friends and then something more, but their romance is complicated by the fact they each have Daddy issues.

Malai is a math prodigy with her professor pressuring her to apply to grad school, but she finds out her alcoholic, absentee father is dying. He was unhappily married to her mother, when they escaped Sri Lanka (they are Tamils) during their civil war.

The lesbian connection here seems peripheral and isn’t as arresting as the family dynamics of each woman. The film is adept at revealing how the intersection of family, ethnicity, and identity can lead not only to displacement but be passed onto future generations. The notion of forgiveness not only to parents but countries of origins is central here. What’s also refreshing is we get to hear about queer Mohawks or Tamils whom we almost never encounter. There’s a tenderness in this feature that is appealing.

“Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” is unlike any concert film you will ever see. It was literally performed in a 24-hour marathon by Taylor Mac where he never leaves the stage and sings 246 songs from 1776 to 2016, with the audience undergoing a panoply of emotions, not just as spectators but participants in certain exercises along the way, staying there the entire time at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, October 2016.

It’s a musical oral history with lots of narration by Mac, so it’s much

more than a drag queen doing cabaret, as we go from “Yankee Doodle Dandy” to Pansy Division, including nods to Stephen Foster’s minstrel songs, sailors’ ditties, disco, Ted Nugent’s “Snakeskin Cowboy,” about gay bashing, and David Bowie’s “Heroes.” Not surprisingly, such an overwhelming enterprise was five years in the making.

of Harvey

“The Celluloid Closet”) they had the unenviable task of cutting this revue down to two hours while conveying the full range of this cathartic, psychedelic experience. Mac is a queer theater artist treasure who received a MacArthur Genius Grant and his play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in

Drama. With plenty of humor and tears, words cannot do this artistic masterpiece justice. A fitting closing film for Frameline47, it will be shown on HBO at the end of this month.t

www.frameline.org

Read the full feature, with trailers, on www.ebar.com.

Filmed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (“The Times

Milk,”

Left: ‘Old Narcissus’ Middle: ‘Our Sons’ Right: ‘Drifter’

Frameline47

Broadway BaresSan Francisco Strips VI @

DNA Lounge

Photos by Steven Underhill

More than 50 dancers stripped down to jock straps and sports bras –and even less– at the sixth incarnation of “Broadway Bares/San Francisco Strips” at DNA Lounge on June 17. The “ChampionStrips” theme was athletically explored in the rousing dance numbers, with guest singers Iris Vazquez and Nick Cearley. Proceeds will benefit Project Open Hand.

See plenty more photos on BARtab’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife. See more of Steven Underhill’s photos at StevenUnderhill.com.