March 24, 2022 Edition of the Bay Area Reporter, America's LGBTQ newspaper

Broad support for plaza

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Trans woman seeks CA office

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Vol. 52 • No. 12 • March 24-30, 2022

Activists stage ‘die-in’ to call for more HIV/AIDS funding Courtesy Blair Fell

Martin Greenberg talked about the impact of COVID on the Deaf community.

Life during COVID challenges LGBTQ deaf people

by Matthew S. Bajko

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hether when he lived in San Francisco or after moving to New York City, Martin Greenberg could always rely on strangers he encountered on the street to help him navigate either city. As a deaf, legally blind gay man, he would carry a written out message asking people for help, for instance, crossing the street.

But when COVID-19 emerged in early 2020, and New York City went into lockdown, Greenberg found it near impossible to leave his East Village apartment. If he did, he would often be the only person out on the streets of Manhattan, with no one to provide him assistance. Those he did encounter didn’t want to take his arm, preferring to remain socially distanced.

“I still go to the gym; I go to the YMCA. Before COVID, I was going all the time in New York, swimming and exercising. When COVID hit I was stuck; everything closed down. It was very frustrating,” said Greenberg, 69, who grew up in the Bronx and moved to the Bay Area in the late 1970s. “I gained weight as I didn’t have a lot of outdoor activities. I stayed home so much because of COVID.” Those first few months of the pandemic were a scary time, recalled Greenberg.

“It just changed everything in New York.

It doesn’t feel safe,” he said.

Greenberg recently spoke to the Bay Area Reporter via video conferencing with his partner of 13 years, Erich Krengel, 60, who is also deaf, using Tactile American Sign Language (TASL) to facilitate the interview.

Further translating the conversation was author Blair Fell, a gay man who is a sign language interpreter and has worked with Greenberg for several years.

Fell took inspiration from his work for his debut novel, “The Sign for Home,” being released April 5. It features as main characters Arlo, a striking 23-year-old deaf and blind man, and his new reluctant TASL interpreter Cyril, an agnostic, gay man entering into middle age.

See page 8 >>

Paul Aguilar, forefront, gets his body outlined as activists stage a “die-in” outside of San Francisco City Hall as part of a Back to HIV rally to highlight the continuing needs of HIV patients

by Eric Burkett

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voking memories of earlier angry protests, participants at a San Francisco City Hall rally for increased HIV support staged a dramatic “die-in” after speakers demanded political leaders recommit to fighting the disease with increased funding.

About 40 people met for the March 21 action.

Several speakers addressed the audience, all with passion but some with heartwrenching fervor, as members of wedding parties carefully slipped in among the protesters to climb the stairs to their events inside City Hall. One lone man, protesting who knows what, stood across the street from the rally, shouting through a bright orange construction cone about

the government, COVID, the EPA, the CIA, and California’s non-existent fleet of stealth bombers. His shouting continued throughout the demonstration but those addressing the rally from the steps simply raised their voices, never quite drowning him out but keeping the attention of the audience, nonetheless.

See page 8 >> Rick Gerharter

Lyon-Martin center breaks from HealthRIGHT 360, changes name

by Eric Burkett

A

lmost two years to the day when thennamed Lyon-Martin Health Services announced a massive potential cut in its services, the 43-year-old clinic for women and transgender people is striking back out on its own with a new name, severing a seven-year relationship with a statewide chain of medical centers.

Merged in 2015 with HealthRIGHT 360, a network of medical and substance-abuse counseling clinics that now has branches in 13 Bay Area and Southern California counties, Lyon-Martin leaders had hoped the merger would ease its ongoing financial instability. In 2011, just four years before the merger, the clinic was nearly shut down after its board announced the organization was nearly $1 million in debt. While HealthRIGHT 360 did bring in important logistical and structural changes, the hoped-for financial stability never panned out.

In 2017, HealthRIGHT 360 also acquired the Women’s Community Clinic, and eventually sought to merge the services of both clinics into a single location. That effort, however, came to a halt in 2020 with the COVID outbreak and subsequent lockdown. Despite its efforts, HealthRIGHT 360 was never able to turn Lyon-Martin’s financial fortunes around.

“Lyon-Martin and Women’s Community Clinic experienced very significant financial

Eric Burkett

Lyon-Martin Health Services has changed its name to Lyon-Martin Community Health and is now independent from HealthRIGHT 360.

losses over a five-year period,” stated Vitka Eisen, a lesbian who is HealthRIGHT 360’s president and chief executive officer, in an email to the Bay Area Reporter.

In fact, the losses were so bad, Lyon-Martin was facing a cutback of up to 90% of its services, as reported in the B.A.R. in March 2020, just a week before the COVID lockdown.

“At that time, the staff of Lyon-Martin and Women’s Community Clinic joined together with our labor partner [Service Employees

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International Union] Local 1021 to advocate for additional financial support from the San Francisco Department of Public Health,” Eisen stated. ”This was done to forestall reducing community health capacity during the pandemic – which would have been the result of the consolidated model – and to buy some time for key clinic stakeholders to determine the best path forward to support Lyon-Martin and Women’s Community Clinic’s enduring sustainability.”

See page 7 >>

<< Community News

2 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

Lesbian Iranian joins SF Arts Commission compiled by Cynthia Laird

SF LGBT center seeks muralists

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he San Francisco Arts Commission has welcomed a lesbian Iranian woman to the panel after Mayor London Breed swore her in earlier this month.

Mahsa Hakimi, who also identifies as queer, is an attorney who founded Hakimi Law in 2003 in San Francisco. She specializes in intellectual property issues and protecting the creative talent and business interests of artists and entrepreneurs, a news release from the mayor’s office stated.

She also served as the senior in-house counsel for the Amidi Group of companies, in charge of all legal aspects of business, corporate, employment, and general operation of entities.

From 2002-2013 Hakimi was an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law. She is currently on the advisory board of the UCSF Alliance Health Project, stated the release.

Breed swore in Hakimi March 7 during a small ceremony in the International Room at City Hall, the release stated.

Hakimi was mentored by Brooke Oliver, a lesbian and attorney who formerly served as counsel to San Francisco Pride and has represented groups like Dykes on Bikes.

According to the release, Oliver taught Hakimi how to practice law through a social justice lens, specifically in terms of protecting artists, the release stated.

Hakimi served as interim co-chair of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, she used her influence with the district to further a mural project in the LGBTQ neighborhood expressly addressing

Courtesy SF Mayor’s Office

New arts commission member Mahsa Hakimi

calls to diversify its narratives. Part of that was a mural by Haitian American artist Serge Gay Jr. that now graces the side of the Moby Dick bar at 4049 18th Street. Entitled “Gear Up,” the work represents “the entire community,” not just Harvey Milk or the rainbow flag, Hakimi noted in her personal background statement. Gay, who is a gay man, was also commissioned to complete a mural, entitled “Never Alone,” on the building at 401 Duboce Avenue that houses Maitri Compassionate Care, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Hakimi lives with her partner, Ghazal Karimpour, who is also Iranian. The release stated that the couple met during a meet up where Iranians from the LGBTQ community could connect, which Hakimi spearheaded. For most of her 20s and what she describes as her “coming out experience,” Hakimi stated that her “safe place was the Castro,” accordingto the release.

Sticking to its plan after controversy erupted in 2021 over the fnnch honey bear murals to feature a new mural on the exterior of the Victorian part of the building every year, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center has put out a call for muralists for 2022.

In an email announcement the center stated that submissions are open to professional mural artists living and producing art in the Bay Area. “LGBTQ+ muralists, BIPOC muralists, trans, nonbinary, and women muralists are encouraged to apply,” the email stated.

Artists are invited to submit an application that includes their resume and portfolio. From there, selected finalists will be invited to submit a mural concept proposal that is conceptually, aesthetically, and technically compelling, and reflects the center’s values and mission, according to the email. Concept proposals should be focused on inclusivity and represent the local LGBTQ+ community. An honorarium will be provided, the announcement stated.

The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 4.

For more information, go to https://www.sfcenter.org/mural/. To apply, go to https://bit.ly/3wm73dj.

For any questions, contact Rosemary Gardner, director of community programs, at rosemaryg@sfcenter.org or (415) 865-5619.

Trans visibility events

March 31 is designated as Transgender Day of Visibility and several local organizations are planning events around that time.

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center will hold a trans visibility event Friday, March 25, from 4 to 9 p.m. at the center’s new Town

Youth Club (TYC) space in the Oakstop building located at 1740 Telegraph (across from the Fox Theater.)

This event will honor transgender people who are surviving, thriving, succeeding, and maintaining visibility in the community, according to a Facebook post. It is sponsored by the center’s trans support group, Hey Queenz; CalPep, the California Prostitutes Education Project; and APEB, formerly AIDS Project of the East Bay. For more information and to RSVP, email Kayla@oaklandlgbtqcenter.org or call (510) 882-2286 and ask to speak with Kayla.

In San Francisco, a trans visibility event will take place March 31 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at SOMArts Gallery, 934 Brannan Street. For more information, see the Facebook event page at https://bit.ly/37OJKP4.

The San Mateo County Pride Center and the Redwood City Public Library will hold “Trans 101 – Beyond Trans Visibility: From Ally to Advocate” Wednesday, March 30, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The virtual event is free and open to all.

Register in advance at https://bit. ly/3D0O49d.

On March 31, the Pride center will hold an online discussion specifically for trans and gender diverse communities about available resources. Information will be provided on housing, health care, employment, and more. The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. Participants need to pre-register and can do so at https://bit.ly/3ubdYTQ. The Pride center is a program of Star Vista.

In the South Bay, the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center will hold an online day of visibility program Wednesday, March 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event is free.

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People can also watch the show at the center, 938 The Alameda, in San Jose. For more information, go to https://www.defrankcenter.org/.

On Sunday, April 3, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Parivar, a queer trans South Asian organization, will hold an in-person visibility event at the Sewa Center, 691 South Milpitas Boulevard in Milpitas. For more information, go to https://www. parivarbayarea.org/.

Horizons to hold forum on conversion therapy

Horizons Foundation will hold a virtual forum on conversion therapy Wednesday, March 30, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

“Deplatforming LGBTQ Hate: Stopping Conversion Therapy Online,” will feature panelists Heidi Belrich, Ph.D., chief strategy officer and co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism; Wendy Via, president and cofounder of GPAHE; and Francisco O. Butching, Ph.D., vice president of grants, programs, and communications at Horizons.

Conversion therapy attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice is widely debunked by the United Nations and medical associations around the world, with some organizations denouncing it as a form of “torture.”

Belrich and Via’s group recently published two reports on the issue, as the B.A.R. previously reported. One report looked at the ecosystem that enables conversion therapy misinformation to spread online, while the other looked at conversion therapy proponents who are key players in the campaigns.

The event is free. To register, go to https://bit.ly/3ue2IpP. t

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t Residents critical of SF district boundary proposal

March 24-30, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 3

by Cynthia Laird

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he San Francisco Redistricting Task Force is facing criticism for a preliminary map that divides supervisorial District 8, home to the Castro, Noe Valley, Duboce Triangle, Dolores Heights, Corona Heights, and other neighborhoods.

The task force convened a meeting March 18 specifically to take public comment on Districts 8 and 9, which includes the Mission, Bernal Heights, and Portola. More than 100 people addressed the body, with most critical of the proposed boundaries for the two supervisor districts.

Chair the Reverend Arnold Townsend noted that the draft map was developed by a consultant after the task force asked for a deviation of the current boundary lines to start doing its work. San Francisco’s 11 supervisorial districts are redrawn every 10 years based on census data so that they each have roughly similar populations.

Things the task force considers include boundaries, neighborhoods, and communities of interest. The task force is to submit a map to the Board of Supervisors by April 15.

“The map that came out was produced to have a map to work from,” Townsend said. “We have 10 straight mapping meetings. We asked for a 1% deviation for that map. The task force will not have a map until a final map.”

Task force member Jose Maria (Chema) Hernández Gil noted at the outset of the meeting that “District 8 needs to lose a few folks and District 9 needs to gain a few folks.”

District 8 currently has about 82,000 people while District 9 has about 75,000, according to figures presented at the meeting.

Under the draft map District 8 would gain the area west of Twin Peaks and remove the northern part of the Castro, which includes Duboce

Screengrab

The current map of Districts 8 and 9 was shown during a meeting of the San Francisco Redistricting Task Force.

Triangle, Corona Heights, and the area around Buena Vista Park – all have significant LGBTQ populations and would shift to District 5. Its eastern boundary along Valencia Street would also be changed under the current map.

It would result in gay Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who currently represents District 8 and is the lone LGBTQ member on the board, being drawn out of the district, as he lives on a block of Valencia that would move to District 9. If approved, it would mean he wouldn’t be able to run for reelection this year unless he moves.

“This map is ridiculous and offensive,” Mandelman tweeted earlier this month.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco) was also upset with the preliminary map, tweeting that “it completely screws over the LGBTQ community by chopping in half the precincts with the heaviest LGBTQ

populations – both progressive and moderate precincts.”

Wiener, too, would be drawn out of District 8, his electoral hub from his days on the Board of Supervisors, and end up in District 5 under the proposed map.

“It’s horrifying,” he wrote.

For District 9, the preliminary map would add parts of South of Market and lose the western half of the Portola.

Concerns

Residents of Forest Knolls told the task force that they did not want to become part of District 8 – right now they are in District 7.

“We’re on the back of Twin Peaks, a natural boundary,” said Walter Kaplan.

Many of the speakers commented about the preliminary map for District 8. Right now, one side of Valencia Street is in District 8 and the other side is in District 9. Some people wanted it to remain that way while

others advocated for the street to be in one district.

Jonah Buffa, president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association, said the task force “should unify the street with the district that includes the Castro.”

His comment was echoed by other speakers such as Manny Yekutiel, a gay man who’s owner of the eponymous cafe and event space at Valencia and 16th streets in the Mission district. Yekutiel is also on the board of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, though he stressed he was speaking as an individual. On communities of interest and economics, he said, Valencia Street more closely aligns with the Castro.

Alex Randolph, a gay man and former trustee for City College of San Francisco, lives in District 8 and serves on the board of Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ rights organization.

“The neighborhoods in District

8 cannot be divided,” he said, adding that the Board of Supervisors has had only one out member since 2017, down from three in the years before that. “We’re lucky that District 8 has consistently elected LGBTs.” But Randolph said that the number of LGBTQ residents would be diluted under the preliminary map if neighborhoods like Corona Heights are removed from the district.

Alex Lemberg, president of the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association, is a nonbinary queer person who said that they “work very frequently with leaders of Duboce Triangle and Corona Heights.”

“The LGBTQ community and economic survival of the Castro is linked to Duboce Triangle, Corona Heights, and Twin Peaks,” Lemberg said, adding that the LGBTQ vote should not be diluted.

Dave Karraker, a gay man who is on the Castro Merchants Association’s board, said that Duboce Triangle “effectively is a Castro neighborhood. I don’t think District 5 matches District 8. The north side of Market Street would be a tiny sliver of District 5.”

Betsy Eddy, president of the Diamond Heights Community Association, said the neighborhood wants to remain in District 8.

Frank Tizedes, president of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association, said that any move out of District 8 “would impact our community voice.”

Erick Arguello, a gay man who is president of the council for the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District along 24th Street in the Mission, suggested the boundary line be extended to Guerrero Street for District 9 so that Latinx businesses and the Women’s Building would be communities of interest with that district. t

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4 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

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Campos can deliver for AD 17

H

e may be the underdog in the race for the vacant 17th Assembly District seat, but former supervisor David Campos knows what it’s like to fight for causes he believes in. In this case, he’s fighting for not only the LGBTQ community – Campos is a gay Latino man – but for all of his would-be constituents in what has become in these closing weeks a slugfest between him and his opponent, District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney.

We wish that wasn’t happening, but negative attacks work, research has found, and candidates can’t seem to help themselves.

During last month’s primary, Campos and Haney were the top two finishers, resulting in their square off in the special general election April 19. Mail-in ballots have been sent out and early voting has begun at San Francisco City Hall.

The winner gets to finish the term – through December – of former assemblymember David Chiu, who resigned last November when he became San Francisco’s first Asian American city attorney. The 17th Assembly District covers the eastern side of San Francisco, including the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood, the Mission, Bernal Heights, South of Market, North Beach, Chinatown, Bayview, and the Tenderloin.

Both progressive candidates hold similar positions on a number of issues. We endorsed Campos ahead of the primary because we feel that he has always looked out for and advocated on behalf of our community. His lived experience is one that is familiar for many immigrants in this country; he was undocumented when he and his family came to the U.S. from Guatemala as a child.

Since then, he became an attorney, elected official, and is now vice chair of the California Democratic Party. A stint as a deputy county executive in Santa Clara County included overseeing several departments, including the Office of LGBTQ Affairs. Campos is now on leave as chief of staff to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who faces a recall in June.

A major issue in the race is access to health care and Campos supports Medicare For All. A similar effort to create a single-payer system in California, CalCare, went down in flames in February without even getting a vote. That signals

Rick Gerharter

17th Assembly District candidate David Campos, left, thanks Thea Selby for her endorsement March 15.

to us that there are not enough progressive lawmakers in the Legislature – Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), who carried Assembly Bill 1400, told supporters on a Zoom call that it was short of votes “in the double digits;” it would have needed 41 votes to pass. Credit opposition from the powerful insurance industry and California Chamber of Commerce, which called it a “job killer.” Campos would have supported the bill. “I will push for Medicare for All,” he said last week when he received the endorsement of Thea Selby, who finished fourth in the primary race.

“People have actually died because of no access to health care.”

Campos also supports more housing in the state and he supports gay state Senator Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) legislation that would allow local governments to upzone parcels for residential housing if they are near transit or an urban infill site. If elected, he said that he would continue to be a champion of affordable housing and transit. He wants to call for a statewide bond measure to fund affordable housing.

Last week Campos received criticism from Haney and others over a comment he made at a volunteer mobilization effort where he said, “There is some, you know, connection to Ukraine because we are fighting and running like Ukrainians. We are fighting against the

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odds, right, in the primary.” While it may have been a poor choice of words, Campos said that what he meant was that he’s fighting like an underdog in this race, and about that, he’s right.

“Let me get this straight,” Campos tweeted.

“My opponent’s supporters are attacking us because I expressed admiration for people fighting for democracy against a regime backed by oligarchs? I would never trivialize the suffering taking place in Ukraine.” Campos’ family twice fled civil war in Guatemala.

Campos has regional experience having served on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and has been endorsed by six members of the Board of Supervisors. We’re endorsing Campos not just because he is gay, although that aspect of him is important, but because he has the experience, qualifications, and commitment to progressive solutions for addressing the issues we face. Campos told us that he would be “relentless” in fighting for the LGBTQ community – that’s what we need, as we editorialized earlier. The 17th Assembly District will benefit from having Campos as the representative in Sacramento. He will bring his unique perspective and fresh ideas to tackle some of the state’s biggest challenges.

Campos finished about 700 votes behind Haney in the primary. This runoff will see fewer voters, and it’s all about turnout between now and April 19. It’s imperative that Campos’ supporters mail in those ballots now or show up in person on election day. t

Milk plaza plan has broad support

by Alex Lemberg

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Bay Area Reporter

t

hile longtime San Franciscans tend to loathe large capital infrastructure projects, there is one project that neighborhood groups and neighbors agree on that deserves public support: the long-awaited reimagining of Harvey Milk Plaza and the Castro Muni station, at Castro and Market streets.

As president of the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association since 2020, an involved Castro resident since 2013, and a former board member of the GLBT Historical Society, I’ve gotten to watch and participate as the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign project began in its infancy and has now progressed to a fully formed, ready-to-go plan.

The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza organization has engaged in a robust multi-year community engagement program that has unequivocally obtained and incorporated numerous layers of feedback from a wide swath of community stakeholders. I’ve watched FHMP take tough feedback and truly listen to the Castro community’s concerns and suggestions. What this process has created is a beautiful, popular, and most importantly usable space design that more than doubles the amount of accessible space in the plaza and creates a true public space for gathering, protesting, collective mourning, and many other functions important both to San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community and the Castro neighborhood in which it sits.

Two particular people made it their life’s work to convey a message that this project was controversial, that it violated environmental protection laws, that it was deeply unpopular. One of them is the original architect of the current iteration of Harvey Milk Plaza (as well as the much-maligned Civic Center Station and others). Neither of these people live in San Francisco, both have ulterior motives, and neither they nor anyone else has presented a viable alternative plan to the one presented by FHMP. They used misleading and allegedly illegal tactics to obtain signatures in an effort to prove that the community was united

Artist rendering courtesy SWA Group

“The Canopy” rendering of Harvey Milk Plaza shows the Castro Muni entrance and the new elevator in the background.

against the project, but the question presented on those signature-gathering sheets and the concept that those signatures were used to support were very different. Unfortunately, their words and actions have created a feeling among many in the community that this project is “controversial” or “unpopular.” I am here to tell you that these representations are flat-out wrong.

The plaza, as it sits currently, is constructed entirely of concrete. The staircase leading down is dangerous as the steps are all angled; I have personally watched (and helped) numerous elderly and disabled people who have slipped and fallen down these stairs, especially when it is raining. The bottom of the stairs floods whenever there is heavy rain, and there is no drainage.

Next to the bottom of the steps is a huge, completely fenced-off, sloping area that is not publicly accessible or particularly well-maintained.

The only nice feature is the escalator with colored lights, which was installed by the city a handful of years ago. And, worst of all, despite the name “Harvey Milk Plaza,” the only tribute to Milk, the Castro’s most beloved supervisor, is a small, unmaintained set of black-and-white photographs along a fence and a single bronze plaque.

Milk, whose legacy far outshines the confines of this opinion piece, was a tireless fighter for LG-

BTQ+ equality, equity, culture, and people. His fierce oratorical skills brought him international notoriety, before and after his death. His horrifying assassination by another member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors united the LGBTQ+ community in 1978 and Milk’s name is now an international symbol of the queer and trans liberation movements. But Milk centered his life on the Castro. His camera shop at 575 Castro Street was more akin to a community center than a business. His political power grew from the Castro and was centered in the Castro.

The Castro deserves a real monument that serves the memory of this great man. This is why a wide swath of Castro-based organizations, including the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, the Castro Merchants Association, the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, and the Castro/ Upper Market Community Benefit District have all voted to support the renovation’s current iteration. All of these groups, and more, want to see the creation of a fitting tribute to Milk and accompanying public park space that is in very short supply in the neighborhood.

If you have further concerns about the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign project, I strongly encourage you to reach out to FHMP; it is truly a grassroots effort and will be more than happy to hear your concerns. You can check out the project in its current form and see contact information for the group at https://www.harveymilkplaza.org/. t Alex Lemberg (they/them) is the president of the Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association, a resident of the Castro, and an attorney in private practice also in the Castro (with the world’s easiest commute). You can learn more about Lemberg at https://www.alexlemberg.com/ and more about the EVNA at https://evna.org/.

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Politics >>

March 24-30, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 5

Transgender nurse runs to be CA insurance czar

by Matthew S. Bajko

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P

ersistence has paid off for transgender nurse Veronika Fimbres, as the Green Party member has qualified to appear on the June 7 primary ballot as a candidate for California insurance commissioner. She is the first known transgender statewide office seeker to make it onto a general election ballot in California, as well as the first person living with HIV to do so.

Twice before she had attempted to qualify as a candidate, first in the 2018 gubernatorial race. She failed to raise enough money to cover the filing fee, however, so her name was left off the primary ballot that March.

Fimbres was certified as a write-in candidate for the race, which was handily won by then-lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom.

The San Francisco resident had tried to qualify as a candidate in the failed recall attempt of Newsom last year. But Fimbres did not turn in the required income tax forms and was rejected for the ballot, which did include transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, a Republican.

This time around Fimbres was successful in raising the funds required to be a candidate for the state’s insurance czar. She is one of several people challenging gay Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara (D), who four years ago became the first LGBTQ person elected to a statewide office in the Golden State.

“It feels pretty wonderful,” Fimbres told the Bay Area Reporter about making it onto the ballot on her third attempt. “I remember when I was running as a write-in candidate, a guy from the San Diego Union Tribune said I couldn’t be a serious candidate if I wasn’t on the ballot.”

Nonetheless, Fimbres still faces serious challenges in surviving the June primary, where only the top two vote-getters regardless of party will advance to the November election. She lacks name recognition and is not supported by the statewide Green Party, which as part of a left-leaning unity slate has endorsed Peace and Freedom Party member Nathalie Hrizi, who also lives in San Francisco and has run a number of times before for insurance commissioner.

Lara, despite his controversies related to initially taking campaign contributions from people with ties to the insurance industry, has the endorsement of the statewide Democratic Party and groups like Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization. But he is facing an intraparty challenge from North Bay Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Greenbrae), which Fimbres sees as potentially benefiting her candidacy.

“I think my chances are very good because the Democrats are going to split the vote,” said Fimbres, who so far has put together a six-person campaign team to help her run this year.

She has also secured endorsements from local Green Party chapters in Sacramento and Los Angeles counties, as well as from Veterans for the Green Party and the National Black Caucus Green Party of the United States. Fimbres, a Black Navy veteran, has pledged to use the bully pulpit that would come from being insurance commissioner to push for universal health care in the state.

“I would work with everybody to provide single-payer health care,”

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415.356.2260 kirk@yankeeclippertravel.com

Barry Schneider Attorney at Law Rick Gerharter

Courtesy the campaign

State insurance commissioner candidate Veronika Fimbres

Alameda County Board of Supervisors candidate Rebecca Kaplan

said Fimbres, currently between nursing jobs and focusing full-time on her campaign.

Having been the first out trans person appointed to a city panel, when she served on the Veterans Affairs Commission under the Board of Supervisors and former Mayors Willie Brown Jr., Newsom, and the late Ed Lee, Fimbres told the B.A.R. she knows “how to quote unquote commission” and is qualified to serve in the statewide position.

“It is not my first time at the rodeo,” said Fimbres, who last year withdrew from being considered for a seat on San Francisco’s police commission.

To learn more about her candidacy, visit https://veronika4ca.com

EQCA endorses Kaplan for Alameda supervisor

Bi candidate ends San Jose council bid

San Jose planning commissioner Justin Lardinois, a bisexual city native, has ended his bid for a council seat. He had been the first person to declare their candidacy for the San Jose City Council’s District 1 seat that includes the famed Winchester Mystery House, as the B.A.R. noted last April.

But in a March 12 email to supporters, Lardinois announced he was dropping out of the race. He cited personal reasons for leading to his decision.

“While I’m proud of the campaign I ran, it became increasingly clear to me that personal circumstances unrelated to the campaign necessitated my exit from the race,” wrote Lardinois, whose term on the planning oversight body expires June 30.

It has been 16 years since the LGBTQ community in San Jose has had out representation on the city’s governing body. Ken Yeager, the first and only out council person, was elected in 2000 and departed in 2006 when he became the first, and so far only, gay member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

Looking to end the drought in out representation on the City Council is gay Democratic Party leader Omar Torres. An elected member of the board of the San Jose Evergreen Community College District, Torres is seeking the District 3 council seat that covers downtown San Jose.

He will be taking part in a candidate forum from 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 14 that is being co-hosted by the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center. If no candidate secures a 50% plus one vote in the June 7 primary then the top two vote-getters will compete for the seat in the November general election.

To register for the forum go to https://bit.ly/D3PrimaryForum

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Oakland At-Large City Councilwww.SchneiderLawSF.com member Rebecca Kaplan, a lesbian and the body’s lone out member, won the endorsement of EQCA for her bid *Certified by the California State Bar to become the first LGBTQ person on the Alameda County Board of Super400 Montgomery Street, Ste. 505, San Francisco, CA visors. She is seeking the District 3 seat that includes the cities of Alameda, San Leandro, a portion of Oakland, and the unincorporated communities of San Lorenzo, Hayward Acres, and a portion of Ashland.

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Her former aide, Dave Brown, was appointed by the board to serve out the remaining 14 months of Chan’s term through January. He had ruled Call 415.829.8937 out seeking to be elected to the seat. advertising@ebar.com Those who did file for the race include former Alameda city councilmember Lena Tam, former San Leandro city councilmember Surlene Grant, and former Oakland school board member David Kakishiba.

Among the field of candidates, Kaplan is seen as the frontrunner and could possibly win the seat outright on the June ballot if she secures more than 50% of the vote.

“I am so thankful and honored to be endorsed by Equality California, which has been advancing vital issues for decades, and is the nation’s largest LGBT+ civil rights organization,” stated Kaplan. “I would be proud to serve all of our communities as County Supervisor, and to help ensure a stronger and healthier future.”

EQCA also announced March 17 endorsements of two gay supervisor candidates in the Bay Area region: San When you plan your life celebration and lasting remembrance in Francisco Supervisor Rafael Manadvance, you can design every detail of your own unique memorial delman, who hopes to be reelected and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead in November to his District 8 seat, When your celebration lasting protectsyou your plan loved ones fromlife unnecessary stress and and financial burden, and Watsonville City CouncilmemWhen you remembrance plan your celebration and lasting remembrance in allowing themlife to focus on what will matter most at that time—you. in advance, you can design every ber Jimmy Dutra, who is once again advance, you canofdesign every detail of your ownand unique memorial detail own memorial provide seeking the District 4 seat on the Santa Contact usyour today about theunique beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy at the San Francisco Columbarium. and provide your loved ones with true peace of mind.

Planning Cruz County Board of Supervisors. your loved ones with true peace of mind. Planning ahead In 2018, termed off the city counprotects your loved onesProudly from unnecessary stressunnecessary and financial burden, ahead protects yourserving loved onesCommunity. from the LGBT cil, Dutra lost his bid for the county them focus on whatburden, will matter most them at thattotime—you. stresstoand financial allowing board. Two years later he wasallowing reelected as a city councilmember and is focus on what will matter most at that time—you. now making a second bid to become Contact us today about the beautiful ways to create a lasting legacy the first openly LGBTQ member on at the San Francisco the county board.

Contact usColumbarium. today about the beautiful ways to create Also picking up EQCA’s supa lasting legacy at the San Francisco Columbarium. port last week was bisexual South One Loraine Ct. | San Francisco | 415-771-0717 Proudly serving our Community.

San Francisco City Councilmember SanFranciscoColumbarium.com James Coleman, who is running for Proudly serving the LGBT Community. the open 22nd Assembly District seat FD 1306 / COA 660 on the Peninsula, and gay Congressional District 23 candidate Derek Marshall, who lives in Victorville in San Bernardino County.

“These candidates understand the power of LGBTQ+ and pro-equality voters, and we have a historic opportunity this year to achieve proportionate representation and increase One Loraine Ct. | San Francisco | 415-771-0717 pro-equality support,” stated EQCA Executive Director Tony Hoang. “We SanFranciscoColumbarium.com are confident they will be an important voice in our work to achieve full, FD 1306 / COA 660 lived equality for all.” t

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<< Commentary

6 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

Of pandas and prepubescence

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

L

ike so many others, I recently sat down to watch the new Pixar movie, “Turning Red.” For those who may not be aware of the film, it is a coming-of-age movie about Meilin “Mei” Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl growing up in Toronto in 2002. The movie blends fantastical elements into the mix, with Lee transforming into a giant red panda whenever her emotions rise.

The story also gives a pretty accurate portrayal of a young teen’s life and crushes, and while not entirely a metaphor for menstruation, it does treat the topic with an honesty not seen in a lot of animated fare, let alone one with the Disney name attached.

Yes, that Disney, the one recently, rightfully criticized for its toothless, ham-fisted response to Florida’s House Bill 1557, aka the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, currently awaiting the signature of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R). While Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the bill in an internal staff memo, he has not publicly condemned the legislation, according to reports.

The Guardian reported that has led to staged walkouts by employees.

The company employs more than 75,000 staff members in Florida, including at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

This has led to a lot of critiques over the way Disney has courted the LGBTQ community, even while tiptoeing around LGBTQ content and donating to anti-LGBTQ politicians such as DeSantis and other Florida Republicans. According to Politico, the company did recently state it would stop campaign donations to Florida politicians over the Don’t Say Gay bill.

Illustration: Christine Smith

A red panda

At any rate, “Turning Red” opened via Disney+ to largely positive reviews from film critics. It has already made $8.4 millions for the mouse, and broke the global viewership opening record for the fledgling streaming service.

At the same time, it h a s faced some searing reviews from a number of viewers, who took to the usual parts of the internet to complain. Many saw the movie’s approach to menstruation, as well as the depiction of starry-eyed Lee and her friends toward numerous crushes over the course of the film, as somehow inappropriate for a young audience.

The general theme of much of these reviews can be summed up by Rotten Tomatoes user Jeana O, who was “shocked for the huge emphasis

n o p o H . . . r e v o

on periods and sexual obsessiveness with boys (not something this audience is even thinking about right now and doesn’t need to be concerned about).”

This is, of course, where I see a comparison between “Turning Red” and the issue of Don’t Say Gay bills, the onslaught of other bills across the country pushing back on trans rights, particularly among trans youth, and even fights over libraries carrying books that have somehow been labeled as inappropriate under the bogeyman of critical race theory.

(Critical race theory, as Education Week noted in an online explainer, is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.)

One of the big arguments against trans rights over the last few years – setting aside the mythology of the trans “bathroom predator” and the “trans woman dominating women’s sports” – has been that young, impressionable girls are somehow being seduced and “groomed” into becoming transgender men.

The use of “grooming” language should be familiar to anyone who recalls the battles over gay rights in the Anita Bryant years, as arguments then were that gays and lesbians have to prey on young children in order to “recruit” to their ranks.

It was a deliberate way to tie the gay and lesbian community to underage sex trafficking then, and the same implications are implied today.

The proponents of Florida’s HB 1557 would tell you that they are trying to prevent kids who are in kindergarten through third grade from being exposed to content that is not age-appropriate, but we have heard this song before as well. With an emphasis on limiting “discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity,” we know exactly who will be most affected. It will not be straight or cisgender discussions affected, but even the most innocent references to LGBTQ people will be frozen out.

Indeed, much like the aforementioned review of “Turning Red,” the belief will be that this isn’t a topic children should be thinking of or discussing, ignoring the fact that the kids themselves may be questioning how they fit in, and treating these topics as taboo will only reinforce shame and hurt for these very children.

In the era I was coming of age, the only depictions of transgender peo-

easter o t ff en stu thing d y r r a e g v e From ll find ’ u o y , kets. s s e i a l b p r p su you to stuff

www.cliffsvariety.com

ple like myself were in the tabloids and adult magazines. It was nothing discussed as a normal part of humanity, but was only to be viewed as freakish.

In “Turning Red,” Lee feels like a freak and an outcast when she first turns into a red panda. She fears ostracism from her friends, knowing this transformation is treated as a dark secret with her mother and other female family members.

Suddenly, this movie feels like something other than just a metaphor for coming of age as a 13-yearold girl, and hits how I felt as a 13-year-old trans teen realizing that her own dark secrets could lead to something more than merely social suicide.

This notion that allowing such information, to borrow from Jeana O’s review above, is not something that children are thinking about and don’t need to be concerned about, is foolish. This kid knew she didn’t fit into the gender box she was assumed to be in even from before she waved goodbye to her parents on her first day of kindergarten. Having the rudimentary idea that this happens, rarely, and is a normal – if uncommon – situation would have provided a lot of comfort.

It’s bills like HB 1557 that wish to doom such on all of us. It seeks to prevent students from obtaining vital information about who they are.

I feel that its proponents hope that, by withholding such information, their kids will not eventually come out as LGBTQ. Out of sight, out of mind, if you will. Yet, I also know there are likely just as many who support such bills knowing full well they could lead to an increase in self-harm and suicide – and applauding that.

Life is not a movie, not even one as adorable as “Turning Red,” and young LGBTQ kids deserve a fighting chance in this world. t Gwen Smith notes that Anita Bryant voiced Disney’s “Orange Bird” character created for the Florida Citrus Commission, while promoting Florida orange juice. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com

50 years in 50 weeks: 2001:AIDS marks 40 year

T

479 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114

t

Courtesy B.A.R. Archive

his is the final 50 years in 50 weeks of the News section looking back at the Bay Area Reporter’s half-century of covering the LGBTQ community. The Arts section’s finale commemorates the paper’s historic 50th anniversary issue of April 1, 2021 and the News section is highlighting the paper’s June 3 issue that marks 40 years of the AIDS epidemic.

Stories included a look at the National AIDS Memorial Grove, long-term survivors, the region’s Getting to Zero efforts, housing for HIV-positive people, and San Francisco’s response to the epidemic over the years, among other articles. Coincidentally, just this week activists held a rally outside San Francisco City Hall to demand an increase in funding in the city’s budget to recommit to fighting HIV/AIDS, as the COVID pandemic has resulted in what some demonstrators called a “lack of attention” to the disease.

Suffice to say, AIDS is not over, and disparities continue to exist, especially for Black and Brown people and members of the transgender community.

Community News>>

t Bill would provide refuge for out-of-state trans kids

March 24-30, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 7

by Eric Burkett

S

tanding in front of a background of fluttering pink, white, and blue transgender flags and signs held by a crowd of young people from the Sacramento LGBT Community Center on the steps of the state Capitol, gay state Senator Scott Wiener announced he would introduce legislation to make California a refuge for trans kids and their families persecuted by their own governments in states such as Texas and Idaho.

Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, was joined at the March 17 news conference by numerous supporters including three Assemblymembers and representatives from Equality California and Planned Parenthood. According to an earlier news release from his office, Wiener said the planned legislation would provide protection to trans kids and their families if they come to California from states “criminalizing the parents of trans kids for allowing them to receive gender-affirming care.”

Wiener’s move is a direct rebuke to Texas and Idaho, where trans kids and their parents have found themselves vilified by hostile state governments seeking to prosecute parents for providing health and other forms of gender-affirming care for their children.

On February 22, Governor Greg Abbott (R) sent a letter to the commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, calling on the agency to “conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the state of Texas.” The letter followed an opinion issued the previous week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), in which he equated treatment for trans kids with child abuse.

The Texas Tribune reported March 11 that a state judge has temporarily blocked Abbott’s directive, stating that it is “beyond the scope of his authority and unconstitutional.” The statewide injunction will remain in effect until a July hearing on the matter, the paper reported.

On March 8, the Idaho state House of Representatives passed House Bill 675, which would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to transgender youth. The party-line vote was 55-13. That bill has since moved to the state Senate but Reuters reported March 16 that the Senate has blocked the bill. According to the news agency, Republican lawmakers said the bill undermined parental rights even as they affirmed their opposition to any kind of trans-related medical care. “We know other red states will, no doubt, be considering these bills as well,” Wiener told the crowd. As soon as one state considers adopting

<<

Lyon-Martin

From page 1

Over the past year, Eisen added, staff and key stakeholders of both clinics determined that separating from HealthRIGHT 360 would provide Lyon-Martin a better opportunity to define its services and brand, and allow it to more successfully pursue funding. Now renamed Lyon-Martin Community Health Services, the clinic formally opened as an independent facility March 16.

These changes now provide the clinic and its staff an opportunity to make Lyon-Martin even more responsive to the needs of its transgender patients, said JM Jaffe, a transgender person who is the clinic’s CEO, in a phone interview.

Now, Lyon-Martin is hiring more staff and increasing its service offerings to include specialty care such as speech therapy and hair removal, services that – in the past – might have had to be referred out to clinics that weren’t as trans-supportive as Lyon-

Courtesy Sen. Wiener’s office

State Senator Scott Wiener held a news conference March 17 to introduce a bill to provide refuge to out-of-state trans kids and their parents.

anti-LGBT legislation, “They all copy each other and it spreads like wildfire around the country.”

Such legislation, he added, “means death for transgender kids.”

Other speakers also spoke. Gay Assemblymember Evan Low (DCampbell) reminded the proponents of anti-LGBTQ legislation that trans kids are “not a statistic. These are people. These are human beings. This is about gender-affirming care to be true to ourselves.”

Lauren Polido, a trans person who is co-executive director of Gender Health Center in Sacramento, told the assembled crowd that he could not imagine not having access to the kind of care being denied to trans kids in other states.

“I know how life changing this experience can be,” Polido said. “Our trans siblings in Texas deserve that freedom.”

Alexis Sanchez, director of advocacy and training for the LGBT Community Center in Sacramento urged people to oppose the attacks on transgender care in other states.

“Every day we see the impact that anti-LGBT legislation has on youth locally,” she said. “The purpose of this bill is to keep families together and save transgender lives.

In an earlier email to the Bay Area Reporter, bi Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose), a co-author of the proposed legislation stated, “The rights and lives of trans youth are under attack throughout the country by bigotry. With this bill, we are making it clear that California will not abide to out-of-state subpoenas, and that we will continue to welcome trans, gender-nonconforming, and intersex people.”

At the news conference Lee said that trans kids “should be able to make these decisions on their own terms.

We are making it clear that this state

will not be complicit in the assault on trans youth and their families.”

Wiener’s bill, as planned, will primarily address three areas of concern.

It would reject any out-of-state court judgments removing trans kids from their parents’ custody based on the parents allowing their kids to receive gender-affirming health care, per California public policy, and would prevent those judgments from being enforced in California courts.

Families who come to California will be protected from having their trans children taken away from them.

While some states are considering legal moves that would extend their reach to their residents who go out of state for gender-affirming care, Wiener’s proposed legislation would “bar compliance in California with any out-of-state subpoena seeking health or other related information about people who come to California to receive gender-affirming care,” according to the release, “if the subpoena relates to efforts to criminalize individuals or remove children from their homes for having received gender-affirming care.”

And, finally, the planned legislation would declare it “California’s public policy that any out-of-state criminal arrest warrant for someone, based on violating another state’s law against receiving gender-affirming care, is the lowest priority for law enforcement in California.”

Wiener’s legislation will be cosponsored by Equality California and Planned Parenthood and co-authored

by Senators Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), a lesbian, and John Laird, (DSanta Cruz), a gay man. In addition to Lee, out Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-Campbell), Chris Ward (D-San

Diego), and Sabrina Cervantes (DCorona) are co-authors, along with straight allies Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), and Mia Bonta (D-Alameda).

Trans youth already face numerous barriers to receiving the health care they need, the release stated. Studies have shown that access to genderaffirming care for trans kids reduces risk for depression, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation.

“With this bill, California will continue to be a leader in protecting the civil rights and basic dignity of LGBTQ people and will help trans kids and their parents have a safe place to go if they are threatened with prosecution or criminalization for being who they are and seeking the care they need,” the release stated.

Equality California Legislative Director Tami Martin, one of the last to address the crowd, said, “We will not allow other states to hunt our community within California’s borders…

This new legislation is a rejection of discriminatory legislation everywhere.”

This story includes updates following the news conference. t

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Martin. The clinic sees some 3,000 patients each year, primarily from San Francisco, as well as Oakland, with a fair number coming from other countries where finding supportive trans care is nearly impossible, Jaffe said.

According to Lyon-Martin, a majority of its clients come from the Tenderloin and Mission districts in San Francisco. Currently located at 1735 Mission Street, it is subleasing from HealthRIGHT 360, and Jaffe expects the clinic to remain there for the foreseeable future.

“We’ve been expanding and hiring over the past two years,” said Jaffe, who has been with the clinic in various capacities for 12 years. “I don’t know that today is much different from yesterday but we are continuing to hire people from our own community.”

Lyon-Martin’s staff now stands at more than 70% trans, they said, with six out of seven of its medical providers trans, and seven out of nine mental health providers trans. According

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<< Community News

8 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

<<

HIV/AIDS funding

From page 1

Organized by Paul Aguilar, HIV chair of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, Monday’s event was a call to the city’s Department of Public Health to return to its earlier, pre-COVID focus on HIV. Over the course of the pandemic, San Francisco’s promising HIV statistics began to slip, and Aguilar, in an earlier interview with the Bay Area Reporter, decried what he said was the city’s “lack of attention.”

Statistics from the city’s 2020’s HIV Epidemiology Annual Report, issued last year by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, show some alarming numbers concerning HIV, particularly in regard to the impact of COVID on HIV care in the city.

Compared with 2019 – before COVID – screening for HIV fell by 44% from March 2020 to March 2021. Viral suppression fell from 75% of people living with HIV to 70%; for the city’s homeless, those figures are even more dramatic with viral suppression rates falling to just 20% from 39%.

Those who turned out for the rally, including gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the board’s only LGBTQ member who represents the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood, and District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the Mission (their attendance was unexpected, Aguilar later told the B.A.R.), as well as gay former supervisor David Campos

<<

Lyon-Martin

From page 7

to a news release, 100% of the leadership at Lyon-Martin is now trans.

With its independence, LyonMartin will also see more funding from the city go toward its more than $5 million budget. More than half of

<<

LGBTQ deaf people

From page 1

At the B.A.R.’s request Fell arranged for the paper to speak with Greenberg and Krengel about how their lives have been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, now entering into a third year.

While a student at Catholic University in Washington D.C., Fell learned sign language at Gallaudet University, the internationally renowned college for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

“I lived with deaf people and took classes with a deaf teacher,” recalled Fell, 59, who formerly lived in Los Angeles and wrote for television and now resides in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, New York. “The book is dedicated to two teachers I had there, two deaf men.”

Prior to COVID, when he would meet up with Greenberg, he could rely on the fact that when they parted ways, there would be someone to help Greenberg, such as by tapping him on the shoulder when his bus arrived to take him home.

That went away in March 2020.

“With COVID, no one wants to touch anyone,” noted Fell. “There really was no one on the street at the height of COVID. I would go on the subway at rush hour and I was the only person on the subway car. No one was out; the streets were empty.”

It created a scary situation, noted Fell, for deafblind people like Greenberg.

“When you are deafblind it is really scary not to have anyone around if something happens,” said Fell, adding that deafblind people can’t use online platforms on their own. “Deafblind people can’t use Zoom. They need someone for tactile ASL.” Greenberg told the B.A.R. he,

t

who is currently campaigning for the 17th Assembly District seat, called upon city officials to not only increase funding for HIV care but also other issues such as housing and safe consumption centers.

Some attendees, like Bruce Ivie, who came with his husband, David Bowers, were there to show support, despite trying to prepare for a trip out of the country for several weeks.

“HIV and AIDS is still just as big an issue in the city,” said Ivie, sitting on a portable stool as he watched the event come together.

Others like Megan Rohrer, who is a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was present because, they said, as a transgender religious leader “we have to continue to remind people of the importance of HIV and AIDS and the ways that we still need a cure, still need treatment, and in particular, we need treatment and care for people who are low income and homeless.”

Although she was last to address the crowd, and probably gave the shortest remarks, Dr. Monica Gandhi, director of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital’s Ward 86, was the event’s keynote speaker.

Her message was direct.

“I’m so happy we’re all here to bring attention back to HIV,” Gandhi said. “Essentially there are 37.7 million people still living with HIV worldwide, and we have always done great with HIV in this city but, understandably, the COVID pandemic distracted us from other goals.”

Gandhi has also been in the fore-

front of medical voices during the city’s COVID crisis.

In order to get back on track, she called on the crowd to return their attention to “the four pillars of HIV control” including testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, treatment, and outbreak testing and outbreak control, particularly in light of “increasing substance use in the city and the increase in overdose deaths.”

Gandhi said she hoped to work with everyone in the crowd, as well as the city’s myriad HIV organizations, to bring attention back to the disease.

“This is a city that has always worked so well together on HIV,” she said, “and now this is the day that we start bringing our attention back to this.”

Mandelman acknowledged the decline in the city’s promising preCOVID statistics.

“We also know that, in our response to COVID, some of our very important other priorities have been pushed aside,” Mandelman said during his remarks. However, despite advances made before the pandemic, he noted, rates of transmission among Latino and Black men, as well as transgender women, “were not matching the progress that we were having among other subpopulations of folks who were at risk for HIV, and we had tremendous work to do before the pandemic.

“We need to make sure that HIV is funded in the mayor’s budget and then gets funded in the supervisors’ budget,” Mandelman added.

Memories

“When we’re in silence, it’s a form of prison,” she continued. “And that prison leads us to death. But I believe we can break that silence and today we are here breaking that silence!” she cried out to cheers from the audience.

As Junebug continued speaking, her voice rose with passion, and she grabbed the microphone, shouting out to the audience, “But sound and support and treatment and a cure equals what?”

“Life!” the crowd fired back.

“Equals what?” she demanded.

“Life!”

“So let’s end HIV! Let’s end Hep C! Let’s end stigmatism! Let’s end discrimination! Because it leads to death.”

Junebug’s voice fell, trembling, as she told the audience her father had died the previous week, and she believed if he had gotten treatment, he’d still be alive. “If that’s the reality, our communities are living in silence and dying alone.” She sobbed. “People are living in garbage and it’s not OK. It’s our responsibility to take care of each other. We are each other’s keeper. I’m your keeper and I’m here to break the silence. And I’m going to do something. I will break the silence.”

The audience was visibly moved.

The event wrapped up with a group photo and the die-in. Several people found themselves laying on the sidewalk before the City Hall steps as others drew bright yellow outlines around their prone bodies and then added their names. And, then, the crowd drifted away. Even the lone protester had left. t

that, however, comes from insurance reimbursements, and Jaffe is at work to make the clinic a federally qualified health center, which would allow it to claim higher reimbursements from Medi-Cal and Medicaid.

Rafael Mandelman, District 8’s gay supervisor, expressed relief at LyonMartin’s recent changes.

“Lyon-Martin is one of our essen-

tial queer institutions,” he stated in an email to the B.A.R., “and it was my privilege to be able to work with them during the last city budget process to secure $2.4 million over two years to help stabilize the clinic during their separation from HealthRight 360.

This funding was crucial to help keep the doors open, and beyond that, I understand that Lyon-Martin has

been able to expand their programming and return to serving clients at their full capacity. I was glad we could be helpful in supporting Lyon-Martin through this difficult period. “ Beyond that, there’s the issue of where the clinic will eventually end up. Moving would allow Lyon-Martin to expand not only in physical space, but also in its offerings to its

clients. The city has already allocated $750,000 to move and renovate a new location if one can be found.

“It’s been really important to us to provide as much care as possible in a way that they feel safe and seen,” said Jaffe.

For more information, visit the website at https://lyon-martin.org/ t

to this day, isn’t comfortable using Zoom.

“All those people on Zoom, it confuses me,” he said.

Both he and Krengel also limit their time on the platform to an hour or less to not overtax their hands and arms while using TASL. Meeting people in person who were masked also was a challenge.

“I hated the mask; I can’t read the lips. We would have to write back and forth,” said Krengel. “I point to my ears, ‘I am deaf. Can you lower your mask for me or something?’ We did a lot of writing back and forth.”

Greenberg has been spending most of the past two years in Hartford, Connecticut where Krengel lives. He works full-time as a social worker for a state-run mental health program for deaf and hardof-hearing people. Prior to COVID, Greenburg would visit Krengel every two weeks.

At the start of the pandemic, the visits stretched into two to three weeks, with Greenberg eventually deciding to remain in Connecticut. They both tested positive for the antibodies for COVID so expect they caught the virus at some point but were never seriously ill.

“At the start of COVID in March 2020 I felt sick. It wasn’t serious, thank god,” recalled Greenberg.

For Krengel, the toughest aspect of life during the pandemic has been feeling more isolated from people.

“Having to write back and forth more, I felt a lack of socializing,” he said. “I couldn’t lip read people.

I felt like I was stuck and more isolated.”

Biden administration announced it was taking additional steps to address the needs of people with various disabilities and older adults recovering from COVID-19.

“The administration recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous impacts on dis-

abled individuals and has resulted in new members of the disability community,” it acknowledged.

It committed to ensuring disabled individuals, regardless of where they live or the level of community transmission of the virus, have equitable access to COVID-19 testing, masks, and other

critical mitigation strategies. One step it took was to launch via the Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL), at 1-888-677-1199, support for disabled individuals needing assistance in the use of at-home COVID tests distributed

Federal help to address needs

Some estimates peg the number of deaf LGBTQ Americans at 2.8 million people. In February, the

Despite the numerous calls for additional funding and greater focus on HIV care, others sought to remind the crowd what the early days of AIDS had been like and what they hoped to avoid repeating. Harry Breaux, a gay man and long-term HIV survivor, dressed in a dazzling white sport coat spotted with blood-red roses and a floppy white hat to block the sun, read the poem “Tornado,” by his friend Hank Trout.

“The 80s were one, long violent tornado/lightning seared our eyes with the sight/of lesions, purple brown yellow volcanic craters on tissue-thin flaky white skin/veined red and blue like hellish roadmaps,” Breaux began and, a few minutes into the poem, the lone protester fell silent. It wasn’t, as one might have thought because of the mournful beauty of Breaux’s reading but, instead, to have a drink to ease his, no doubt, hoarse throat.

Another speaker, identified only as Junebug, climbed the stairs to speak when it was announced that Gandhi was running late but had found parking and was on her way. Junebug, who had come to the event to do outreach for hepatitis C awareness, was filled with fury and drive and despair.

Small, wiry, dressed entirely in black with a black knit cap, she called out to the audience.

“Silence is a form of violence,” she told the crowd. “We need support, we need healing, we need our community, we need to stop stigmatism because that kills us and keeps us in isolation.”

See page 9 >>

Cynthia Laird

Take virtual tour of Lyon-Martin House

A

ndrew Shaffer, interim co-executive director of the GLBT Historical Society, introduced the new virtual tour of the Lyon-Martin House in San Francisco’s Noe Valley to a small group of invited guests March 22. Late lesbian pioneers Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin lived at the home for decades. It’s where they held social events with the Daughters of Bilitis, the early lesbian group they co-founded, as well as many other gatherings. Following Lyon’s death in 2020 (Martin died in 2008), the Friends of Lyon-Martin House sought city landmark status for the home, which the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved last year. (The property, which includes a large lot and the small home, was sold in 2020.) CyArk, (https://www.cyark.org/) a Bay Area nonprofit that pioneered the application of 3-D

recording technologies to the preservation and celebration of cultural heritage, designed the virtual tour. John Ristevski, CyArk CEO, told the Bay Area Reporter that the project includes interviews with Lyon and Martin’s daughter, Kendra Mon. Whitney Peterson, CyArk program manager, said Mon shares “very personal memories” in the virtual tour. CyArk created the 3-D model for the tour using thousands of photographs and laser scans to accurately document the home as it exists today. The rendering additionally incorporates digital versions of several of Lyon and Martin’s possessions currently housed at the historical society’s archives to provide a sense of the interior when they lived there.

To take the virtual tour, go to https://bit.ly/36GWTc9

t <<

Community News>>

LGBTQ deaf people

From page 8

by the administration or support in finding alternatives to at-home testing.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released “How to Interpret Positive Self-Test Results” guidance in American Sign Language as a first step toward ensuring that deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals have access to key information about how to protect themselves and their communities. The federal government also pledged to work with state governments and community groups in distributing

high-quality protective masks to homebound people with disabilities.

As COVID cases ebb across the country and more jurisdictions lift their masking mandates, Greenberg told the B.A.R. he remains hopeful that the worst of the pandemic has passed and the rhythms of life will return to what he was used to navigating.

“I hope it gets back to the old time and like normal. I am praying that happens,” said Greenberg, adding he is looking forward to visiting the Bay Area again. “My heart is still there; I never stop being there in San Francisco.”

There are various resources across the country for those in the

March 24-30, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 9

Courtesy Blair Fell

Sign language interpreter and author Blair Fell

deaf queer community. The Deaf Queer Resource Center, which maintains a Facebook page at

https://facebook.com/deafqueer, created a directory of various organizations providing help that

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039636900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PIE PUNKS, 145 2ND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed ASCLEPIUS BEVERAGE CO. 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 02/22/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556962 In the matter of the application of ABIGAIL TRINIDAD FUENTES, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ABIGAIL TRINIDAD FUENTES is requesting that the name ABIGAIL TRINIDAD FUENTES be changed to ABIGAIL TRINIDAD BADILLO. 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 19th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

can be downloaded at bit.ly/dqrclist.

The nonprofit, which lists its mailing address as being in San Francisco, asked the B.A.R. to send questions for this article by email but did not respond by the deadline to do so. It alerts people via an automated email reply “that at this time, due to the sheer volume of email we receive each day, it’s not possible for us to immediately reply to messages sent to us.”

Additional resources can be found at https://thedeafhotline. org/resources/lgbtqia/ or on the website of the Florida-based Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf at https://www.deafrad.org/ t

Legals>> FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039637700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SANDY’S FAMILY DAY CARE, 793 O’FARRELL ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SANDRA GUTIERREZ FLORES. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039634500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KONA LINEN AND DECORS, 429 BUSH ST #21, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SAFIAH BINTI BOYONG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/17/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039639600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BIG CITY SOFTWASH, 1263 16TH AVE #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DANIEL THOMAS CAREY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039639900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as RALEY’S INTERIORS, 1339 10TH AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PATRICIA LOUISE RALEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039636600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as NURTURED BEING MENTAL HEALTH, 2211 POST ST #300, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed DENNICE IBARRA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/28/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/22/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039641000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BRIGHT SERVICES, 349 SAN CARLOS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EDGAR S. MOSQUEDA CRESPO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/24/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039630300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HOOD TABLE TALK, 128 BLYTHDALE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed COMELIA JOHNSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/12/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/11/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039640900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE SCENT LIBRARY; VENICESA, 671 38TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed VANESSA TAM. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039641800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as AEG7, 90 NIDO AVE #1, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ANDREA GAFFNEY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/25/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/25/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039643200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EASY ACCOUNTING, 240 2ND AVE #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed KA KIT LEE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/25/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/28/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039630600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SUGAR BY JENNIFER, 1618 UNION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JENNIFER SANCHEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/10/17. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/11/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039643300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as INKSPRITE DESIGN, 30 MARGARET AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CESAR RAMIREZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 12/01/08. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/28/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039624100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SPLENDIFEROUS BUSINESS SERVICES, 2865 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed TIA MARIE PAQUIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/07/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039640300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BLACK GOLD GRIPTAPE, 801 BURNETT AVE #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed GARY ROGERS & JOHN GRIFFIN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039642800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EVERYDAY, 801 BURNETT #5, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed JOHN A. GRIFFIN & JENNIFER CURIEL. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/22/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/28/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039643100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as IZAKAYA DASH, 294 9TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed H24 SUSHI LOUNGE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/28/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/28/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039643900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as APRIL REALTOR; APRIL DISTRIBUTOR, 204 VALENCIA ST #6, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed APRIL FINANCIAL, INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/28/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/01/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039637300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE COFFEE BERRY, 1410 LOMBARD ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THREE BEANS COFFEE 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 02/22/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039636700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE GEEZ FREEZE, 3750 18TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE 3 G’S INVESTMENTS LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/02/19. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/24/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039634200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAN FRANCISCO DASH, 737 DIAMOND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SUSHI NOE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/16/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556960 In the matter of the application of ASTRID CHRISTIANE BECKER-CELIK & CAN SABRI CELIK, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ASTRID CHRISTIANE BECKER-CELIK & CAN SABRI CELIK is requesting that the name CHIARA FRANCESCA CELIK be changed to CHIARA FRANCESCA BECKER. 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 19th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039628900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MAYS TRANSPORTATION, 19 BARTOL ST #999, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MAYS TRANSPORTATION LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/09/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/10/22.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556944 In the matter of the application of ANTOINE RITZU, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ANTOINE RITZU is requesting that the name ANTOINE RITZU be changed to ANTON RITZU. 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 7th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE A-039419200 The following persons have abandoned the use of the fictitious business name known as PALM AND MILK, 350 JUDAH ST #503, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business was conducted by an individual and signed by GERALDINE LECUYER LOUVEL. The fictitious name was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 07/22/21.

MAR 03, 10, 17, 24, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039645100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HIWOT, 740 BUCHANAN ST #3, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HIWOT KASSA GEBREGIORGIS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/23/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556954 In the matter of the application of JIM BRICK, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner JASON SANT is requesting that the name JIM BRICK be changed to JASON SCOTT SANT. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 14th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039644900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as REV. LILI HIBARINO, 355 SERRANO DR #11H, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94132. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed LIANA YUMI HIBARINO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/11/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556963 In the matter of the application of STEPHANIE ASHLEY NEVINS, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner STEPHANIE ASHLEY NEVINS is requesting that the name STEPHANIE ASHLEY NEVINS be changed to STEPHANIE ASHLEY NEVINS CLIFFTON. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 19th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039643600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MCGEARY PRODUCTIONS, 665 GEARY ST #304, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed RYAN MCGEARY. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/28/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/28/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039648700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MOON AND SUN, 780 24TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YOSHIKO MAEKAWA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/04/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039647900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BREE CHEESE MEDIA, 134 DUBOCE AVE #11, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed AUBRIANNE DEMASCO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/03/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039633500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as DYNA ELECTRIC, 401 CRESCENT CT #4308, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed DYNA MAIDS INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039645600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MONA LISA MARE E MONTI RESTAURANT AND BAR, 414 COLUMBUS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BUONVICINO INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/02/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039633400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CAMERA ZONE AND ART GALLERY, 662 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RED INC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/12/02. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/16/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039642100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as METAVENT, 2932 BAKER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ANNA MARIE EVENTS, INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/25/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039639300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as GROSVENOR COURT, 2055 SACRAMENTO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited partnership, and is signed MII, LLC, A CALIFORNIA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, GENERAL PARTNER (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/10/80. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039639400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as CARILLON TOWER, 1100 GOUGH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited partnership, and is signed CARILLON GP, LLC, A CALIFORNIA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, GENERAL PARTNER (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/10/80. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039645200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BLUE SPA, 2809 SAN BRUNO AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FIRST IMPRESSIONS BEAUTY SERVICES (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039643400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FLENOID JANITORIAL SERVICES, 38 MOSS ST #B301, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed FS&L REAL ESTATE GROUP, LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/28/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/28/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039646100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BERGSSEN, 775 47TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed PROJECT SKYLINE LLC (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/08/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039648100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FLUENT READERS SF, 469 FREDERICK ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94117. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MADRID FAMILY LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/02/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/03/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022

<< Legals

10 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039648800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE LAUNDRY CORNER, 700 7TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed NGO LAU LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/22.

MAR 10, 17, 24, 31, 2022 SUMMONS SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: JOHN REYNOLDS, JR., AN INDIVIDUAL, AND DOES 1 THROUGH 10, INCLUSIVE, YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF: RECOLOGY INC., A CORPORATION AUTHORIZED TO DO BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA CASE NO. CGC-19-578961 NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in the proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use with your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot play the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a non-profit legal services program. You can locate these non-profit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp) or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case.

The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case.

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERIOR COURT, 400 MCALLISTER ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102. Plaintiff’s attorney: TERESA M. BECK, ESQ. (SBN 149763), BUCHANAN INGERSOLL & ROONEY, LLP, 600 W. BROADWAY #1100, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101. Sept.

03, 2019, Bowman Liu, Deputy Clerk.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556965 In the matter of the application of CLYDE GILMORE JR, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CLYDE GILMORE JR is requesting that the name ROBYN EZRA WONG be changed to ROBYN EZRA GILMORE. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 21st of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556967 In the matter of the application of YI-HSUN CHEN AKA YI HSUN CHEN, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner YI-HSUN CHEN AKA YI HSUN CHEN is requesting that the name YI-HSUN CHEN AKA YI HSUN CHEN be changed to RICHARD YI-HSUN CHEN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 21st of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556969 In the matter of the application of VERONICA JOANN APPLEBERRY, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner VERONICA JOANN APPLEBERRY is requesting that the name VERONICA JOANN APPLEBERRY be changed to VERONICA JEANNETTE APPLEBERRY. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 26th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556968 In the matter of the application of KELLER CLIFFTON RINAUDO, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner KELLER CLIFFTON RINAUDO is requesting that the name KELLER CLIFFTON RINAUDO be changed to KELLER RINAUDO CLIFFTON. 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 26th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556970 In the matter of the application of TOINETTE TARA ROLLINS, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner TOINETTE TARA ROLLINS is requesting that the name TOINETTE TARA ROLLINS be changed to TERA TOINETTE ROLLINS.

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 26th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039652100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as VILLA GROUP, 891 BEACH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANK VILLANUEVA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/08/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039649600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as A&N LIQUORS, 1521 OCEAN AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed UDDHAB KC. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/01/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/07/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039652800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as G. ALEXANDER DESIGN, 838 22ND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEX NORWOOD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/08/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039653100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ART AND JEWELRY, 1012 GRANT AVE #3A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed EMAD DUAR. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039654800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LOLAMILO SALON, 1645 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SARAH BOWEN. 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 03/09/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039658000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LOVE LIGHT PROJECT, 1720 48TH AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed GERALDINE MASSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/13/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/11/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039658900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as RED ROCK HILL CONSTRUCTION, 2125 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed NICOLAS GOFFO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 09/23/20. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/11/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039660900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as ARIA PROPERTIES, 4406 18TH ST #B, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MASOOD SAMEREIE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/14/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039657900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KAMI SMOKE SHOP, 1838 DIVISADERO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a general partnership, and is signed VICTORIA HABASH, JOUNI ABU-ZAGHIBRA & LESLIE ABUZAGHIBRA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/10/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/11/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039652300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FACIAL PLUS – NORIEGA, 1322 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed REJUVE BEAUTY INC. (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 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039656900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SHIRTIQUE/KRAZY KAPS, PIER 39 N-1, N-2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed D AND D RETAIL ENTERPRISES, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039657000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as UNDER THE GOLDEN GATE, PIER 39 B-2, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed D AND D RETAIL

ENTERPRISES, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039659600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SPORK, 631 BROADWAY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TIPSUWON INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/14/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039655600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MIDPOINT SPORTS CHIROPRACTIC, 540 CASTRO ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed RIZZO CHIROPRACTIC CORP (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 03/09/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039650100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TBWBH PROPS & MEASURES, 50 OSGOOD PL, 4TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TERRIS BARNES WALTERS BOIGON HEATH LESTER, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039650200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TBWBHL, 50 OSGOOD PL, 4TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TERRIS BARNES WALTERS BOIGON HEATH LESTER, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039650300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PROPS & MEASURES, 50 OSGOOD PL, 4TH FL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TERRIS BARNES WALTERS BOIGON HEATH LESTER, INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/01/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/08/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039639700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as COTERIE CATHEDRAL HILL, 1001 VAN NESS AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed VAN NESS OPCO TENANT LLC (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/03/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 02/23/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039660400 The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE KITCHEN OF EVE, 2953 HARRISON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed THE KITCHEN OF EVE LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/29/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/14/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039641900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS, 1770 POST ST #236, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS 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 02/25/22.

MAR 17, 24, 31, APR 07, 2022 AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556951 In the matter of the application of WILLIAM JOHN MARSHALL, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner WILLIAM JOHN MARSHALL is requesting that the name WILLIAM JOHN MARSHALL be changed to SHILOH BEN ISRAEL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 12th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-22-556952 In the matter of the application of ADONIS J’QUAN MARSHALL, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner ADONIS J’QUAN MARSHALL is requesting that the name ADONIS J’QUAN MARSHALL be changed to ASA BEN ISRAEL. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Rm. 103N on the 12th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE

CNC-22-556978 In the matter of the application of CHAU LE NG, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appearing from said application that petitioner CHAU LE NG is requesting that the name CHAU LE NG be changed to LE CHAU NG. 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 28th of APRIL 2022 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039661800 The following person(s) is/are doing business as KAILI BEAUTY NAIL SALON, 2545 NORIEGA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed HUA JIANG. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/02/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/15/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039662300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as MATERIALIST, 2432 WASHINGTON ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CONOR WARD. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/15/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/15/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039649000 The following person(s) is/are doing business as WISHLIA, 160 BEMIS ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed CHRIS RICHARDSON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 01/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/04/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039656200 The following person(s) is/are doing business as PHO 808, 808 GEARY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed PAK S. WAN. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/10/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039662900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as HAIRCRAFT BY SERENA, 350 WEST PORTAL AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed SERENA R. GOMEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/16/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/16/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039664900 The following person(s) is/are doing business as FIRST PEAK, 516A DIAMOND ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOCELYN NEWMAN. 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 03/18/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039660600 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SAVOR, 401 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MOHAMED ABOGHANEM. 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 03/14/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022

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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039666700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as LUX BLACK RIDES, 2275 19TH AVE #7, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94116. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed MICHAEL MANGIAMELE. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/21/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/21/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039662500 The following person(s) is/are doing business as BEAUTIFUL HANDS JANITORIAL SERVICES, 929 CONNECTICUT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107.

This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BEAUTIFUL HANDS JANITORIAL SERVICES (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/16/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/16/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039656100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EL FAROLITO #9, 1230 GRANT AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed TAQUERIAS EL FAROLITO INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/10/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/10/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039658100 The following person(s) is/are doing business as OVERHEAD DOOR OF SANTA CLARA VALLEY; OVERHEAD DOOR COMPANY OF SANTA CLARA VALLEY, 1266 LAWRENCE STATION RD, SUNNYVALE, CA 94086. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ENGINEERED PRODUCTS, A PAPE COMPANY (OR). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/22/21. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/11/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039664700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as TERRACE CAFÉ, 2100 WEBSTER ST #108, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed LEE TERRACE INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 08/31/11. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/18/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039664300 The following person(s) is/are doing business as EMPIRE PIZZA, 688 MISSION ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed G680 GROUP, INC. (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 03/17/22.

MAR 24, 31, APR 07, 14, 2022 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-039662700 The following person(s) is/are doing business as SCOTT’S CHOWDER HOUSE, 1325 FILLMORE ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SCOTT’S CHOWDER HOUSE FILLMORE STREET LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/22. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/16/22.

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Bruce Gilkas

by Gregg Shapiro

O

Harvey Fierstein’s Better than ever

the son of Eastern European immigrants. My mother was born in Brooklyn and my father was born in the Catskills.

So, I wrote the book, and there’s a fact checker, of course. Every time I mentioned my age he sent back a note, “Wikipedia says you were born in 1954. This one says you were born in ’54,” I had to keep saying, “Why would I lie and make myself older? I’d only make myself younger!”

It’s another one of those examples of why you should never lie. I am indeed as old as the mountains. So, did I write the memoir because of the birthday? No. Like everybody else in the fucking world, this pandemic hit.

I was a very good boy. I sat down and did all the work on my desk.

Chapter 57 contains one of the most emotional sequences involving your parents. Would it be fair to say that writing the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns

by Philip Mayard

H

aving danced with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for an astounding 25 years, dancer Vernard J. Gilmore has been interviewed almost as many times as he’s performed the company’s signature work, Revelations. Yet his love and passion for the company, and in particular Revelations, is still radiant.

When asked what the secret to his longevity is, Gilmore says, “It’s pretty simple. I just love the art form. I love the Ailey company.

I love seeing how movement manifests you into different ways of being. This is a true gift that very few people are allowed to have. I believe in striving for perfection so you can achieve excellence.”

For Gilmore, physical and mental selfawareness have been key to his success. He says, “I wasn’t the most gifted dancer, I had to

work hard. I continue to work hard and to learn about my body. Like a musician, you need to understand your instrument and how to use it efficiently. That’s what’s created the longevity. I have built a reputation because of that commitment; my partners know they can trust me.”

Having grown up in Englewood on the south side of Chicago, dance has always been a part of Gilmore’s life. He said, “My mom took dance classes, so she would bring us along and every year she’d put us in the Englewood Back to School Parade. My mom’s teacher was constantly trying to get me to take classes, but I wasn’t really into it, until I got into high school.”

It was during that time that Gilmore also became more aware of his identity as a gay man. But he always had the unconditional support of his family.

“My mom is my everything,” he said.

“When I was a junior in high school, she and I had ‘the conversation,’ and all of that

www.penguinrandomhouse.com https://twitter.com/HarveyFierstein

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com

Although he has performed it thousands heaviness was lifted. My mom has always been supportive of the LGof times, one of the forces that continue to BTQ community. My grandmother inspire Gilmore is Ailey’s jubilant 1960 balsewed dresses for the drag queens let, Revelations, widely recognized as one of back in the day! They both had the most important dance works of the twenmany gay friends and mom always tieth century. “The ability to revisit that balsaid, ‘It’s your life, I want you to live let almost every day is such a joy,” he said. “I it. I just want you to be safe and never get tired of it. It continues to transcend take care of yourself.’” through time, through my own experiences, Gilmore studied in the dance and drive me forward.” program at Curie Performing and Gilmore also feels a great sense of duty to Creative Arts High School in Chicarry the torch that Ailey lit more than 60 cago, and earned a scholarship to years ago, saying, “I have a responsibility not Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance just to Mr. Ailey, but to all those dancers who Theatre’s Chance to Dance procame before me, and to the next generation. gram when he was 17.

They need to understand what it means to “When I was in high school, a bring yourself to the stage through movement, friend took me to see the Ailey to not just do the steps. Do the hard work, that company at the Shubert Theatre is your responsibility.’ It’s like Judith Jamison in Chicago,” Gilmore recalled. “I said, ‘Hold on to the past, live in the present, remember seeing Revelations and and reach fearlessly into the future.’”t it just floored me, I was blown away. I had never seen Black men Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and women dance like that, that Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley campus, March level of tenacity. I just knew that’s 29-April 3. $37-$95. calperformances.org where I wanted to be.”

Less than two years later, Read the full interview, with Gilmore was accepted into The Ailey School in New York. When dance videos, on www.ebar.com asked about his early years in the city he said, “It was a struggle. I received a scholarship, and someone found a little corner of their apartment for me. I was just 18, taking classes all day and working at Blockbuster at night.

Sometimes I wasn’t able to eat, but it was also a time of discovery, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

After two years in The Ailey school, and two years in the troupe’s junior company, Ailey II, Gilmore earned a coveted spot in the main company in 1997.

As an out gay man, he believes the company culture at Ailey is different than most ballet troupes, saying, “Mr. Ailey wanted us to be ourselves. He always talked about being truthful through moveAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Vernard ment. You can only do that when J. Gilmore in Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. you’re totally yourself.”

Dario Calmese

ne of the best things about reading a memoir by someone with a distinctive voice – both spoken and written – is that you hear them as your read their book. Let’s face it, award-winning writer and actor Harvey Fierstein qualifies as someone who has a distinctive voice and while reading his revelatory memoir I Was Better Last Night (Knopf, 2022), you’d swear he was in the room with you, dishing away.

Gregg Shapiro: Harvey, why was now the time to write your memoir, I Was Better Last Night, and does having a milestone birthday (70) in 2022 have anything to do with it?

Harvey Fierstein: What’s really funny is that so many sources, if you look online, have my birthday as 1954, even though it’s actually 1952. The reason is that when I turned 22, my friend Eric Conklin, who directed the original production of Torch Song, said, “You should tell everybody you’re turning 21.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Because if you lie when you’re older, nobody believes it.

But if you start at 21, who the fuck’s going to care!”

That year, I moved my birthday to ’53. The next year, we decided we’d do it again. But I never took it seriously. Things just get picked up by this one or that one. I think it was in New York Magazine that they got the facts wrong and said my parents were Eastern European immigrants. They were actually thirdgeneration Americans. But it got picked up by everyone, and everywhere it said I was

book was a cathartic experience?

Yes, the whole thing really is. When I started, I asked Shirley MacLaine because she’s written 300 books about her 700 different lives. She said, “Write what you remember because your brain has a way of editing, and it will give you what you need for this book.

You’ll remember things for other books and other things, but write what you remember and just be true to what comes up.”

I said, “Even about other people?” She said, “Yes. When you’re writing about other people, you’re really writing about yourself. Just trust that.”

That’s what I did. There were hundreds of stories that I could have told. I just tried to sort of follow a line of thought and let it be.

Chapters 19 through 22 give readers insight into the inspiration for and the writing of Torch Song Trilogy and then much later you write about the recent revival with Michael Urie. What was it like to revisit the creation and the revision of Torch Song Trilogy?

They’re your children, so they never really leave you. You may not think about them in the same way all the time, but they don’t leave you. You ask a mother about her son when he was six, and she can tell you a story about that time. It doesn’t mean you live with those stories every day. But they’re always there.

Unfortunately, as you get older and people die on you, you remember them, or you go back to those stories time and again to remember how you all met and all that. With something like Torch Song, which is so much a part of my life, there was no real shock to going back and looking at that stuff again.

Seeing Michael do it was not a shock either, because I cast all of my understudies. The show ran on Broadway for five years, but I didn’t play it all five years. There were other Arnolds and I saw all of them. There were matinee Arnolds, and then we had a bus and truck tour, and a regular tour.

I saw all of those guys play it. I saw it in London with Tony Sher, who died a few weeks ago.

He won the Olivier for Torch Song. Writing a memoir is not a time to blame other people [laughs]. When you’re writing plays, it is.t

<<TV & Film

12 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

And the Oscar goes to…

by Brian Bromberger

P

robably few people love films as much as Dave Karger, who has developed a career promoting them, especially the ones from Hollywood’s Golden Age. An all-around entertainment expert.

Karger is the host on Turner Classics Movies (TCM), having been named the official host in 2018, following the death of his legendary predecessor Robert Osborne. Like Osborne, Karger is gay. In 2014, he was named one of OUT Magazine’s “OUT 100,” acknowledging his sta-

tus as among the most influential people in the LGBTQ community.

In this Oscar season, TCM’s traditional “31 Days of Oscar” celebrated the winners, with each film having won an Oscar, thus 24 hours of Academy Award-winning movies every day. Karger is very familiar with the Oscars, having co-hosted ABC’s Live from the Red Carpet on Oscar night 2018.

Among his Oscar predictions is The Power of the Dog as Best Film.

However he’s reluctant to consider it a gay film, even though it’s the tale of a closeted homosexual

t

Dave Karger on film faves and Academy Award best bets

rancher in 1925 Montana.

“I think calling it a gay film limits its thematic ambition and impact.

I’d say (director) Jane Campion has bigger fish she wants to fry with this project. I also feel like a movie needs to have several LGBTQ characters to qualify and I’d argue this film has only one gay character.”

When asked why so few queer films are nominated for Oscars, Karger observed, “There still aren’t too many LGBTQ-themed films being produced to begin with. And the academy voting body is still an older group despite recent efforts to make it younger and more diverse. I remember well when (actor) Ernest Borgnine, who built his career on audiences’ willingness to accept atypical leading-man characters, refused to even watch Brokeback Mountain when it was nominated. So, LGBTQ films have a higher hurdle to jump simply because some people won’t even give them a chance.”

Karger isn’t sure if it’s easier for queer actors to come out now.

As for LGBTQ actors only playing LGBTQ roles, Karger responds, “I do agree that LGBTQ actors should be given more opportunities than they have in the past. But I’m not for a blanket rule that says only gay actors should play gay roles, just as I don’t think only straight actors should play straight roles. If straight actors weren’t allowed to play gay roles then we would have missed out on Christopher Plummer’s remarkable performance in Beginners (Best Supporting Actor, 2010). Straight actor Plummer played a man who comes out as gay at age 75 after his wife dies.

Turner Classics Movies host Dave Karger

Predict the picture

As for Oscar predictions, Karger believes Will Smith will win Best Actor as Richard Williams, father of tennis champion daughters Venus and Serena for King Richard.

Nicole Kidman will claim Best Actress for her performance as television doyenne Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos.

Relative newcomer Kodi SmitMcPhee will win Best Supporting Actor as the bullied and avenging Peter Gordon for The Power of the Dog. Ariana DeBose will pick up Best Supporting Actress for her sizzling Anita in West Side Story.

Jane Campion will be rewarded for her direction of The Power of the Dog, the first woman to be nominated twice in that category and according to Karger, will also win Best Adapted Screenplay. Also likely is British actor/director Kenneth Branagh getting another Oscar for his original screenplay in his own coming-of-age tale in 1969 war-

torn Ireland, Belfast.

Finally, Karger predicts Summer of Soul, which examines the forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival that lasted for six weeks and featured such eminent black musicians as Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Sly and the Family Stone, will emerge as Best Documentary.

For Karger, the biggest Oscar snubs this year were the omission of Lady Gaga as Best Actress for her campy performance as Patrizia Reggiani, who had her husband fashion designer Maurizio Gucci killed in House of Gucci, as well as Denis Villeneuve’s omission as Best Director for Dune.

“As for Lady Gaga, I’m not sure what happened,” he said, “aside from the fact that Best Actress was the most crowded category this year.”

Karger loves his job and adores movies.

“I am simply in awe of great actors and actresses. What they’re able to do is so miraculous to me.

I’m also a sucker for sentimentality so I find myself drawn to those types of films. I’ve loved my entire 27-year career because I’ve been able to talk to so many wonderful creative people. Critic Roger Ebert famously called films ‘empathy machines.’ I love that phrase so much and I think that explains why we all love movies and need them.”t The 72nd Academy Awards will air Sunday March 26 on ABC-TV, 5pm PT. www.abc.com/shows/oscars Turner Classic Movies: tcm.com

‘Two Girls’ rereleased

by Jim Provenzano

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emastered and reissued on Bluray, Maria Maggenti’s 1995 debut feature film, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love is now available from Strand Releasing. The writer-director shared her impressions on revisiting her indie classic.

The story of Two Girls involves Randy (Laurel Holloman), a teen baby dyke who lives with a trio of older lesbians, after being abandoned by her conservative mother.

She works at a gas station. She’s taunted at school, and may not graduate since she’s failing Math.

Randy’s also in the midst of ending a relationship with Wendy, an older married woman.

When Evie (Nicole Ari Parker) stops by the gas station to get air in a tire of her car, the two young women realize they attend the same high school, and soon become friends in an awkward way. After some mild flirtations and a dinner with Randy’s chosen family, the two begin an innocent romance.

More ‘adventures’ take place, but what’s amusing about the film is its innocuous and lightly comic edge, free of the angst of many coming of age queer features of the time.

Since then, Maggenti wrote the screenplay for Before I Fall (2017), and has been an executive producer, co-producer and writer for many hit TV series, including Motherland: Fort Salem, Supergirl, UnREAL, Finding Carter and the reboot of 90210.

In a phone interview from her home on Shelter Island, New York, where she’s lived for several years, Maggenti spoke about the original release of her film and what it’s like to have her movie re-released.

“It looks so beautiful,” said Maggenti after seeing the remastered version a few months ago at The Metrograph cinema in downtown New York City to an appreciative audience. “It’s really clean and

Laurel Holloman and Nicole Ari Parker in The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love.

clear and the colors are gorgeous.”

Originally shot in 16mm with a 35mm blow-up for theatres, the remastered version is available on BluRay and streaming on Strand Releasing’s website.

“I think the film holds up really well,” said Maggenti. “There are some ‘90s’ aspects, but it also feels like that’s how it was. It was hard to be a young lesbian. And yet, I had a lesbian family which is now much more common than when I thought of it.

“It really reflects a moment in time that is not just the world around me at that time, but the world in me at that time which was still very interested in being curious about romantic relationships. That was an interesting thing to look at; my own the film being a reflection of my own emotional preoccupations which were very much about relationships and my first girlfriend, who I’m still friends with, of course.”

Seen on screen

Maggenti agreed that her film holds a marked place in independent filmmaking.

“The film occupies an interesting spot in social history in terms of what it represents and how rare it was for there to be a movie like that in 1995. Lesbians were still in the place where there was no way to ‘see yourself,’ so the film had a huge

impact because of that.”

Maggenti told of how a young woman said at the Metrograph screening, “’I can’t believe I’ve never seen this movie before!’ and I said, ‘That’s because it came out before you were born.’ She was so effected by it, telling me it was so funny and it’s so sweet. Hopefully now more young lesbians will find it because it’s more accessible. The middleaged lesbians say to me, ‘I have that on VHS!’ One woman showed up with her videocassette. The out-ofprint DVD now sells on eBay for like, $99. It’s a collector’s item.”

Maggenti’s recent credits are equally impressive as a co-producer and co-writer for Supergirl, Motherland: Fort Salem, Finding Carter, and as the screenwriter of 2017’s beguiling Before I Fall.

At the mention of several of her credits being shows that feature empowered women, Maggenti said, “I’ve been very lucky. I had no idea I was going to go in that direction.

But the way you get jobs on television shows is you interview with the creators. Part of what you talk about is your relationship to the material.

They’re looking for a writer who can bring something to the room that’s relevant, and sometimes it’s something super personal.

Asked what she would say, and has, to aspiring filmmakers, Maggenti said, “You have to make something that matters to you. Making films and television is not easy to do. You have to really feel like what you’re doing matters and makes a difference. Don’t worry about what’s out there in the market. Some might say, ‘We need another Wes Anderson or Shonda Rhimes. But the reason they made it is that they are utterly themselves.”t www.strandreleasing.com

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com

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<< TV, Theatre & Film

14 • Bay Area Reporter • March 24-30, 2022

Captive audiences

The Lavender Tube on athlete controversies, funny pirates and taut thrillers

by Victoria A. Brownworth

W

hen we started writing this column in 1994, we had a segment we called “news you’re not seeing.” It was comprised of major LGBTQ stories that never made the mainstream TV news.

With the explosion of 24/7 cable news over lo these many years since, one would think that this was no longer relevant.

The story of Brittney Griner says otherwise. As you read this it will be five weeks since she’s been detained in Russia. In our other news that we have written several stories about her for Philadelphia Gay News, and have been interviewed by both BBC and CBC on her story, about which we are somewhat of an expert because, well, we are reporting on her and others are not.

You may have seen Brittney Griner last summer at the Tokyo Olympics where she won her second gold medal. Or perhaps you have seen her as an All Star WNBA player for the Phoenix Mercury. Griner is arguably the greatest woman basketball player in history. But right now she is a political prisoner who has been

stars Academy Award-winner and Emmy-nominated Taika Waititi as Blackbeard, “history’s most feared and revered pirate.”

In addition to Darby and Waititi, the ensemble cast includes Nathan Foad, Kristian Nairn, nonbinary actor Vico Ortiz, Rory Kinnear, SNL alums Fred Armisen and Leslie Jones and Will Arnett. It’s hilarious.

Boldly go Brittney Griner report on MSNBC

denied consular access in Russia–despite working there since 2015 and leading the UMMC Ekaterinburg to victory in several championships.

On March 17, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency announced that Griner would be held at least another two months –until mid-May– while Russia tries to make the ludicrous charges against her stick.

As an out Black lesbian who has no embassy protection or intercession, Griner is in real danger in Vladimir Putin’s virulently anti-gay Russia. If LeBron James or Steph Curry were being held in Russia, it would be a daily news story. It’s disgraceful that

CNN devoted only 90 seconds to Griner on March 18. It’s up to us to keep her in the news. Do it.

Our Flag Means Death

Not a period piece comedy about pirates and toxic masculinity with some side queerness and nonbinaryness and Leslie Jones as a pirate captain with 19 husbands? Our Flag Means Death, HBO MAX’s new original series, is sheer fabulousness and just wildly, improbably funny.

HBO says the comedy series is “loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate.” The series also

Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard has a les-bi-fabulous relationship between beloved lesbian poster Borg Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Starfleet officer Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). More of this, please.

Ryan told Pink News that there “had long been talks of making Seven gay or bi, even back in her Voyager days.”

Ryan said, “I know that Jeri Taylor, who was one of the show runners at the time, was very interested in making Seven gay or bi or pansexual, and that was shut down. But it’s the character that would have made perfect sense –absolute perfect sense– from the get-go because she didn’t even grow up human.

Why should she have any preconceived notions about sexuality or any of it? It’s the perfect character

Shotgun Players’ ‘Passing Strange’

by Jim Gladstone

‘T

ear down this wall.’

You can feel strange echoes of that Reagan refrain these days.

Just as the restrictions that have held much of our lives at bay through the pandemic are dismantled, a brutal new Iron Curtain threatens to descend on Eastern Europe.

Passing Strange, a show that travels from Southern California to West Berlin, was originally mounted at the Berkeley Rep in 2006. It’s now playing in an invigorating new production at Berkeley’s Shotgun Players. Long delayed, it ironically arrives with impeccable timing, its form and content speaking –and squalling– to our current moment.

There’s no curtain or fourth wall here. And after so long sitting on the spectator side of boxy electronic prosceniums, it’s just what the doctor ordered. The exchange of energy between performers and audience that’s always part of live theater’s secret sauce is further amped up in a staging that’s more

like a rock club performance than a typical Broadway musical.

Instead of a pit orchestra, there’s a deft four-man band on stage from the get-go. Music director Daniel Alley is on keyboards, Michael ‘Tiny’ Lindsey plays bass, Vincent de Jesus drums, and riveting guitarist Bennet Hull, who seems slightly abashed in the spotlight, shreds to compensate for his shyness.

Albert Hodge, in the role of Narrator does double duty, functioning both as lead singer for the band and as a bridge between their in-themoment musical performance and the past-tense story played out by six additional actors, who perform alongside the musicians on risers and downstage, below them, on the multi-tiered space’s lowest level.

As envisioned by Stew, with original director Annie Dorsen and thrillingly refreshed by Shotgun director William Hodgson, this staging radically restructures the traditional relationship of instrumentalists to actor-singers in musical theater. The walloping blend of rock, soul, punk

Good to be BeBe

by Christopher J. Beale

“T

he next drag superstar…” pauses RuPaul as the music

swells.

It’s March 3, 2009 on the inaugural season finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race. That premiere season, when the show was on Logo, was before Drag Race was cool. The camera cuts around the room as Ru surveys the scene. It’s a perfectly executed, dramatic reality TV finish, designed to draw out the moment until everything goes quiet and RuPaul finishes, “...is Bebe.”

Cameroon-born drag performer BeBe Zahara Benet let out a scream at Ru’s pronouncement and drag herstory was made.

The person behind BeBe Zahara Benet is Nea Marshall Kudi Ngwa.

Born in 1980 in the Republic of Cameroon, he relocated to France as a child, then to the United States.

In 2000, BeBe Zahara Benet performed for the first time at The Gay 90s, a large LGBT nightclub in Minneapolis, alongside pop icon Cyndi

BeBe Zahara Benet

Lauper. Soon after, BeBe entered her first pageant and in the process met director Emily Branham.

“We threw some cameras at this first national pageant that she was going to,” said director Emily Branham in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “As we spent more time together I realized this (film) wasn’t just going to be about this pageant.”

t

Ben Krantz

Devin Cunningham as Youth; with (L to R) Myles Brown, Angel Adedokun, Chanel Tilghman, and Shakur Tolliver.

and new wave sounds in this show are at least as expressive as anything the actors say or sing in words.

Passing Strange is built around a familiar coming-of-age plot line (Misunderstood, middle-class American adolescent goes on a journey to make art and find meaning) with a few refreshing tweaks (The kid is a nerdy Black rock-star wannabe; he starts out in California and heads east to Amsterdam and Germany). The narrative is delivered loosely, in set pieces, more con-

cept album than musical comedy.

There are motivational gaps that would feel egregious in another sort of show, but work just fine in this format. The relationships between the protagonist Youth (Devin Cunningham, a bit mismatched with the far-more-intense Hodge, as his retrospective adult self) and his Baptist church-going mother (played with magnetic fragility by Rolanda D. Bell) is just roughly sketched by the script script.

The entire second act of this

to explore that storyline with.”

The first official teaser trailer for the new Netflix series Heartstopper is out where all the queer teen boys are peak adorableness and your heart will break with remembered gay adolescent longing. Netflix promotes Heartstopper as “Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love.”

It continues: “When gentle Charlie and rugby-loving Nick meet at secondary school, they quickly discover that their unlikely friendship is blossoming into an unexpected romance. Charlie, Nick, and their circle of friends must navigate the ever-relatable journey of self-discovery and acceptance, supporting each other as they learn to find their most authentic selves.” Heartstopper premieres April 22.

So for the relentless horror of the war in Ukraine, news of the looming next COVID surge and the much-needed self-care of scripted TV fare, you know you really must stay tuned.t

Read the full column, including coverage of trans swimmer Lia Thomas, news anchor Shepard Smith, and Toni Colette in Pieces of Her, on www.ebar.com.

singular work is set in the squats of West Berlin in the mid-1980s.

Huddled masses of rabble-rousing, multi-racial young people deploy an arsenal of rock music, ragged performance art and Molotov cocktails to express rightful dissatisfaction with the state of the world alongside their yawps of inchoate adolescent identity-seeking.

Amidst this setting of global unrest, Youth tries to make sense of himself and his place in the world.

He can never fully succeed. But in its riffing, ripping present-day finale, Passing Strange assures us that he also never stops trying. Those yawps are the music of perpetual motion, of the insatiable yearning to become one’s self and be free.

Sometimes there are no words.t Passing Strange, through April 10 at Shotgun Players, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. $7-$40. (510) 8416500. www.shotgunplayers.org

Read the full review on www.ebar.com

First ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ winner’s documentary and live concert The resulting documentary is Being BeBe. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and makes its San Francisco debut on March 31 at The Roxie. BeBe’s pageantry, chronicled in the documentary, gave the drag world a little taste of BeBe Zahara Benet. In 2009, the whole world was served.

“When Drag Race happened,” Benet, who sings live vocals, said, “it really helped to propel me forward. But I knew that my gift was bigger than what was being offered to me. I’m not just going to go to the club, and perform at 2 a.m. in a dark dungeon.”

This desire to perform her way, paired with the comparatively underground nature of RuPaul’s Drag Race in those days, allowed BeBe to forge her own path.

How she crafted her unique life and career are outlined in great personal detail in the documentary, 15 years in the making. In the years Branham has been documenting Ngwa, the director has managed to delicately peel back the layers of

the intensely private person behind America’s first-next drag superstar.

“Part of the challenge of making this movie,” said Branham, “is that it took so long to develop the trust that led to the depth and substance that you see in the film.”

In Being BeBe, the filmmaker weaves a wealth of live performances from every stage of BeBe’s career, and some deeply personal moments together and shows those finished chapters to Ngwa, who’s reactions were used to structure the film.

Ngwa said this part of filming was strange, “like you’re watching this replay of your life.” Though Ngwa says it was important to be open and honest, “I think a lot of people can connect with the more vulnerable side of me,” he added, “To see it is weird.”

On the subject of his own sexuality, Ngwa makes no bones about refusing to be labeled.

“How long are we going to be defining every letter of the alphabet?” he said. “We are where we are because of the label. We are being

defined by ‘the other side’ based on that label. I love who I love, and I accept you for accepting me.”

Ngwa last performed in San Francisco shortly after winning Drag Race and said he is looking forward to bringing the live Bebe show to Oasis.

“I’m bringing my musicians,” with local musical talent in the band as well. “So I want all the girls and the kids to come out and experience this. They better not be hibernating at home,” he said emphatically, “because jungle kitty is coming through, honey!”t Being Bebe screens Thursday, March 31 at the Roxie Theatre, 16th St., with Benet and director Emily Branson in person. $16-$25. www.roxie.com BeBe Zahara Benet performs live with a six-piece band Friday, April 1, 8pm at Oasis, 298 11th St. $25. sfoasis.com bebezaharabenet.net beingbebemovie.com

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com

t

50 in 50 & Benefit>> 50 years in 50 weeks:

2021's anniversary

by Jim Provenzano

F

or our final arts and nightlife-themed 50 years in 50 weeks tribute, we’d like to share our April 1, 2021 64-page special edition, which included more than a dozen expansive features on the Bay Area Reporter’s five decades of coverage in nightlife, music, theater, visual arts, and of course our sexy erotica uncoverage, including the 1990s’ pages upon pages of escort ads.

From highbrow to lowdown, the B.A.R. really covered the waterfront.Read and download the full issue at https://issuu. com/bayareareporter/docs/april_1_2021 Catch up on all our 50th anniversary tributes at www.ebar. com/special_issues/ And don’t forget to watch our twelfth and final B.A.R. Talks panel April 7, 6pm, on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, with Publisher Mike Yamashita, News Editor Cynthia Laird, Publisher Emeritus Thomas Horn, former arts editors John F. Karr and Chris Culwell, plus several current and former writers and photographers. www.facebook.com/BayAreaReporter/ www.youtube.com/c/bayareareportersf

10-hour star-filled marathon

Ukrainebenefit

by Jim Provenzano

S

tars in the House, the hit YouTube series hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, will host a 10-hour telethon to raise money and awareness for those affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Donations from the event will benefit the International Rescue Committee and their humanitarian efforts.

The show will air live on Saturday, March 26 from 9AM 7PM PT. It can be viewed and listened to on www.starsinthehouse.com, the Stars In The House YouTube channel, (www. youtube.com/c/StarsInTheHouse) as well as SiriusXM Stars109.

Rudetsky and his husband Wesley have already raised more than a million dollars for The Actors’ Fund and other causes on their popular YouTube shows that regularly feature performers from Broadwaays, TV and film.

The star-studded lineup of guests for the telethon include Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin.

Other actors and singing talents will include Steve Martin, Annette Bening, Billy Porter, Audra McDonald, Cynthia Nixon, Laurie Metcalf, Tituss Burgess, Kristin Chenoweth, Judith Light, John Stamos, Laura Benanti, Betty Buckley, Rosie Perez, Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, Rachel Bloom and many others.

In addition to the celebrity guests singing and reading donations, the event will also feature Ukrainian citizens who will speak and perform, including Ukrainian actor Oleg Karpenko, a Ukrainian theatre and film actor who co-starred with President Zelensky in the comedy series Servant of The People.

To donate please visit https://help.rescue.org/donate/ ukraine-web

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March 24-30, 2022 • Bay Area Reporter • 15