May 4, 2023 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

The San Francisco Department of Public Health is expected to offer mpox vaccines at community events leading up to Pride in June.

Experts urge mpox vaccination

by John Ferrannini

San Francisco’s public health community continues to urge people to get vaccinated for mpox after a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report concluded that the United States may see a worse outbreak of the disease this year than in 2022. Locally, mpox vaccinations are expected to be offered at community events leading up to Pride in June.

But both the San Francisco Department of

See page 19 >>

Gunned down SF Black trans activist remembered at vigil; DA drops charge

by John Ferrannini

The pain of a community mourning a young Black trans man who was gunned down outside of a San Francisco Walgreens made itself known Monday – with a hundred people showing up at a vigil to remember him.

Banko Brown, 24, was fatally shot the evening of April 27 as he walked out of the Walgreens at 875 Market Street, according to media reports.

The suspect, security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, was arrested and charged on suspicion of one count of homicide. His arraignment had been scheduled for May 2 at 1 p.m. at the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street.

However, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins opted not to prosecute Anthony, citing self-defense. Jenkins stated late Monday, “We reviewed witness statements, statements from the suspect, and video footage of the incident and it does not meet the People’s burden to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that the suspect is guilty of a crime. The evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense.”

The sidewalk on Market Street between Fourth and Fifth streets, near the Westfield Mall, was blocked by the May 1 vigil.

Krea Gomez told the crowd that was intentional.

“When people’s lives are taken from us, our lives are disrupted,” Gomez said. “It’s hard for us to get on with our day. What we ask you to understand is a life was lost here and at this moment, for the next two hours, we’re gonna be holding space.”

The Walgreens was closed.

“This is actually a good thing they closed –Walgreens should be ashamed of themselves,” said Julia Arroyo, the co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center, which hosted the event. “We’re not going to stop till Walgreens is held accountable for Brown’s death,”

In a statement Tuesday, a Walgreens spokesperson stated, “We are offering condolences to the See page 8 >>

CA lawmakers say bill needed to address SOGI audit

by Matthew S. Bajko

Ashland resident Jennifer Esteen, left, has announced her run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat currently held by Nate Miley.

Esteen takes on Alameda Supe Miley in 2024

by Matthew S. Bajko

Gay nurse and union leader Jennifer Esteen officially launched her campaign Monday to oust from office Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who will be seeking a seventh four-year term on the primary ballot next March.

Should Esteen win the race, she would be the first out LGBTQ member of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. If she and Miley remain

See page 19 >>

Two gay California lawmakers have told the Bay Area Reporter they plan to introduce legislation to address the issues impeding efforts to collect LGBTQ health data as detailed in a damning report by the state’s auditor. Meanwhile, the state’s health department is also working on a roadmap to address the findings of the audit.

Freshman gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-West Hollywood) plans to work collaboratively with gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) on a comprehensive bill aimed at fixing the myriad problems hampering the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, data by the California Department of Public Health. Rather than gut and amend a bill that was already introduced this session, as the deadline for new legislation has already passed, both legislators said they preferred filing a new bill at the start of the 2024 legislative session.

Having lambasted the state health agency for its lackluster SOGI data collection during the COVID pandemic when he lead statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California, Zbur told the B.A.R. he wasn’t surprised by the findings California State Auditor Grant Parks detailed in his 45-page report (http://auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2022-102.pdf)

titled “The California Department of Public Health: It Has Not Collected and Reported Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data as State Law Intended.”

“I think that we’ve known for a while now that the department of public health and other departments in California government have not sufficiently prioritized the needs of the LGBTQ-plus community,” said Zbur. “The report just made clear what we already knew.”

Wiener expressed disappointment that more legislation is even needed to get CADPH where it needs to be in terms of SOGI data collection. In addition to working on a new bill, Wiener told the

B.A.R. he also believes a hearing or some public airing on the issue is needed.

“Even before a bill is passed, my hope is this audit lights a fire in the department and the administration to get this done,” said Wiener.

As the B.A.R. first reported online April 27, Parks disclosed in his audit that 105 out of 129 forms used by CADPH are exempted from collecting SOGI

See page 20 >>

Women's weekend at the river Billy Porter

State Senator Scott Wiener, left, and Assemblymember Rick Zbur plan to unveil SOGI legislation next year.

Xavier Davenport, center holding microphone, helped lead a community vigil for Banko Brown, who was allegedly killed by a Walgreens security guard April 27 in San Francisco.

John Ferrannini

Gooch

Heklina memorial plans

Plans for expanded Heklina memorial unveiled

by Cynthia Laird

Due to overwhelming demand, organizers of the upcoming memorial for drag icon Heklina have announced that San Francisco’s Castro Street will be closed Tuesday, May 23, and the service projected onto screens outside so that more people can watch it.

There will also be a stage on Castro Street that will begin programming in the late afternoon for “Heklina: A Memorial (She Would Have Hated This).”

Drag artist Peaches Christ, aka Joshua Grannell, who was one of Heklina’s best friends, posted the changes on Facebook April 28. Stefan Grygelko died April 3 while in London, where she was to have performed “Mommie Queerest” with Peaches. She was 55.

Working with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Castro Street between Market and 18th streets will be closed at noon that day. At 5 p.m., entry into the Castro Street stage area will begin. There will be tributes to Heklina on stage from 6 to 8 p.m. The stage will be hosted by LOL McFiercen and Dulce De Leche, according to the announcement.

At 7 p.m., entry into the Castro Theatre will begin for ticketholders only. That event is sold out. The memorial will be from 8 to 10:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed onto Castro Street.

In the post, Peaches thanked SFMTA; Another Planet Entertainment, which manages the theater; and gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman for helping with

the revised memorial plans. When the event was announced a couple of weeks ago, the tickets were gone within hours and conversations began about how to accommodate the

Help Build Meaningful, Compassionate Connections in Your Community

many people who did not secure tickets.

In a brief phone call, Mandelman said April 28 that his office was “glad to help apply and get the street closure” and that a lot of people wanted to bid farewell to Heklina.

“We’re grateful to MTA,” he added.

Peaches noted that organizers have also started a GoFundMe campaign to help with expenses. “As you can imagine, this has added considerable expense including the cost of permitting, police officers, etc. and we are hoping friends and fans can help out and chip in so that we can cover expenses,” Peaches wrote.

The campaign has so far raised just over $6,000 of a $10,000 goal.

Heklina was a pioneering figure in the San Francisco drag scene and an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ lives, according to a statement released by her estate after her passing. She was the co-founder of the iconic and transgressive drag night Trannyshack, which became an important mainstay of the San Francisco nightlife scene in the 1990s and 2000s. (The name of the show was later changed to Mother.)

A longtime city resident, Heklina joined D’Arcy Drollinger and bought a stake in the San Francisco South of Market LGBTQ nightclub Oasis but later sold it and moved to the Coachella Valley in Riverside County.

The statement from Grygelko’s estate added that Heklina’s “work as a producer and performer included collaborations on stage and on film, with one of her best friends Peaches Christ. Heklina’s accomplishments as a performer, producer, and transgressive LGBTQ+ rights advocate have left an indelible mark on drag, the entertainment industry, San Francisco, and the queer communities worldwide.”

Heklina’s sudden death prompted an outpouring of support in the Bay Area and around the world. In her own statement she emailed to supporters of Oasis April 4, Drollinger called Heklina’s passing “a devastating blow to the community” that was personally heartbreaking.

Shanti’s LGBTQ+ Aging & Abilities Support Network (LAASN)

Since 1974, Shanti has trained over 20,000 Bay Area volunteers to offer emotional and practical support to some of our most marginalized neighbors. LAASN offers emotional and practical support to LGBTQ+ older adults and adults with disabilities who face isolation and need greater social support and connection.

Shanti LAASN peer support volunteers: Go through the internationally recognized training on the Shanti Model of Peer SupportTM

Make a commitment of 2-4 hours a week for a minimum of 6 months Get matched with one client, for whom they serve as a non-judgmental source of emotional support and reliable practical help Have one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences of their lives!

To learn more about how you can be a Shanti volunteer, contact Volunteer Services at 415-674-4751 or email acone@shanti.org. For more information about LAASN services, call 415-979-9950 or email djohnson@shanti.org.

“I have known Heklina for 34 years. Opening the Oasis was a crowning achievement we shared, after performing for so many years in other people’s venues, to create our own space was a dream neither of us believed we could do and yet we did it together,” wrote Drollinger. “She’s been my Carrie Bradshaw, my Janet Wood, my Darlene Conner, my Phoebe Buffay, and my Dorothy Zbornak. Heklina could push all my buttons and at times make me crazy and I still love her.”

Drollinger added, “I was there the very first time she ever did drag, it wasn’t a pretty sight. In my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have expected her to become such an icon. And yet she did.”

Tributes to Heklina in the form of placards and posters were visible at the “Drag Up! Fight Back!” protest march that was held April 8 in San Francisco.

On April 11, Nicole Murray Ramirez, a Latino drag queen and community leader based in San Diego, told the Bay Area Reporter that Heklina will be inducted into the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in June. Recently deceased Portland, Oregon drag queen Darcelle XV will also be inducted, said Murray Ramirez, who helps oversee the memorial project as a member of the Imperial Court System.

In accordance with Heklina’s wishes, Grygelko’s estate encourages those who wish to remember Heklina to support their favorite queer organization and/or the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. t

Plans are underway for an expanded memorial for the late drag artist Heklina.

Gooch

At Gilead, we understand that it’s going to take a combination of both science and social change to help end the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere. It’s only by collaborating with advocates and organizations across the country that we can reach this collective goal. Together, we’re working tirelessly to improve health equity and bring awareness to the HIV epidemic.

Oakland LGBTQ Community Center & Gilead

SF memorial set for slain bi transit advocate

by John Ferrannini

Acelebration of life for the 20-yearold bisexual transit advocate and Twitter employee gunned down in San Francisco three years ago will be held Saturday.

The memorial for Courtney Brousseau – “A life lost, legacy born” – will be held May 6 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

Brousseau’s mother Rekha Garg, 64, of San Diego, told the Bay Area Reporter that this will be an opportunity for Northern California friends and colleagues of her late son to gather and meet in remembrance, which couldn’t happen closer to the time of his death due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

“Because it was 2020, I couldn’t do anything at the time,” Garg said. “I wanted to do something to honor him given the high impact he had in a short

Musk completed the deal to purchase Twitter that month. After the company canceled on Garg, she said, “It was way too late for me to find a place and do everything I needed in a timely manner,” which led to the memorial being delayed till May.

The B.A.R. contacted Twitter to ask about this and seek additional comment. The Twitter press email responded with a �� emoji, which is its standard practice, since Musk instituted it March 19.

Brousseau’s brother Yvon, 30, of Seattle, told the B.A.R. he is not surprised but does not know if Musk was personally involved.

“Obviously Twitter has been going through a tumultuous time, and we had the wrong time,” Yvon Brousseau told the B.A.R. “They are no longer open to doing it. ... It’s unfortunate we are unable to do it at Twitter but, given what’s going on there, I’m not surprised.”

sion Dolores Park – where Brousseau enjoyed a burrito in the minutes before his death – as well as a plaque at the campus of UC Berkeley, where he went to school. The B.A.R. reported on the bench last year.

Garg is also seeking a memorial along John F. Kennedy Drive in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The thoroughfare was recently closed to vehicular traffic thanks to a ballot measure passed by San Francisco voters last year. For the memorial at the LGBT center, Garg said there will be similar features as there were for the Southern California memorial: a guest sign-in book, a sticker, and T-shirts inspired by one of her son’s favorite musicals.

“Courtney loved ‘Hamilton’ – absolutely loved it,” Garg said. “We have Courtney as part of the logo, with his bike at the top [of the star] and we have everything he loved. Everything he was passionate about and his qualities as a person. I gave that out as well as a sticker. Young people love these stickers: ‘A life lost, a legacy born.’”

The SoCal memorial featured appearances by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) and Marshall Tuck, a Democratic former candidate for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“When I was on the city council, Courtney was on the youth commission,” Irwin told the B.A.R. “I went to his Eagle Scout certification – he got that at a very young age. When he was on the commission, we worked together on an internship program matching students who are juniors with local businesses.”

Irwin said she advised Brousseau when he was editor of the high school newspaper and faced blowback from parents about an article regarding sex on campus.

When Irwin was in Sacramento, and Brousseau was at Cal, their friendship continued.

“We’ve always kept in touch,” she said. “A few months before he passed, he was going to visit, but I was busy that day. When I think about what happened, it still is really devastating.”

Tuck said that Brousseau joined him in Sacramento to advocate for legislation on teacher tenure.

“He was just a special young man,” Tuck told the B.A.R. “He realized lowincome schools weren’t treated the same as his and he felt it was unfair and he tried to change it. … I was so impressed by his passion and activism. … What I was doing as an adult, he was doing as a student.”

Yvon Brousseau will be acting as the master of ceremonies at Saturday’s “I’ll be there this weekend,” he said, “probably not speaking myself but talking about the other speakers.”

Among the other speakers, Garg said, will be Janice Li, a queer woman who serves on the BART board. Brousseau and Li served as co-organizers of Gays for Transit. Li did not respond to a request for comment for this report as of press time.

David H. Romer, an economics professor at Cal, will also be speaking at the “I co-teach principles of economics – 400 first-year students – and he took the class. There’s a handful of students who figure out nobody goes to office hours early in the semester and they can come in and ask about the material,” Romer told the B.A.R. “Courtney was one of those students. We’d hang out and talk, and I just thought he was wonderful. I thought he was fascinating – a great kid – and he showed up every week at office hours with interesting things to talk about.

“Why do I enjoy teaching at Cal? Because of students like Courtney,” Romer concluded.

t

Officer Robert Rueca of the San Francisco Police Department told the Cal memorial – one was held last May at Newbury Park High School in Thou-

A celebration of life will be held for Courtney Brousseau, who was gunned down in 2020.

Brousseau’s former Twitter page.

Volume 53, Number 18 May 4-10, 2023 www.ebar.com

PUBLISHER

Michael M. Yamashita

Thomas E. Horn, Publisher Emeritus (2013)

Publisher (2003 – 2013)

Bob Ross, Founder (1971 – 2003)

NEWS EDITOR

Cynthia Laird

ARTS & NIGHTLIFE EDITOR

Jim Provenzano

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Matthew S. Bajko • John Ferrannini

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Christopher J. Beale • Robert Brokl

Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth

Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell

Michael Flanagan •Jim Gladstone

Liz Highleyman • Brandon Judell • Lisa Keen

Philip Mayard • Laura Moreno

David-Elijah Nahmod • Paul Parish • Tim Pfaff

Jim Piechota • Adam Sandel

Jason Serinus • Gregg Shapiro

Gwendolyn Smith • Charlie Wagner

Ed Walsh • Cornelius Washington • Sura Wood

ART DIRECTION

Max Leger

PRODUCTION/DESIGN

Ernesto Sopprani

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jane Philomen Cleland

Rick Gerharter • Gooch

Jose A. Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja

Georg Lester • Rich Stadtmiller

Christopher Robledo • Fred Rowe

Shot in the City • Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson

ILLUSTRATORS & CARTOONISTS

Christine Smith

VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVERTISING

Scott Wazlowski – 415.829.8937

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE

Rivendell Media – 212.242.6863

LEGAL COUNSEL

Paul H. Melbostad, Esq.

CA DPH’s woes must be addressed

State Auditor Grant Parks released the long-awaited report on the California Department of Public Health’s abysmal effort collecting, reporting, and using sexual orientation and gender identity data and it’s as bad as we’d feared. Despite efforts going back to former governor Jerry Brown’s administration, CADPH is woefully unprepared to implement the SOGI collection task. This has taken on new urgency in the age of COVID-19. Despite a California law signed by Brown that had mandated the state’s departments of health care services, public health, social services, and aging begin gathering SOGI data in 2016, state health officials did not know how many LGBTQ residents of the Golden State were infected with the deadly coronavirus when it began ravaging the state three years ago. To this day, no such data is available, as we have reported for years.

Parks’ April 27 report was scathing, noting that CADPH “has been slow to adopt and enforce standardized definitions, guidelines, and training to ensure the consistent collection, analysis, and reporting of demographic data that details sexual orientation and gender identity.” And, “Despite their critical role in collecting SOGI information, Public Health has not provided guidelines, training, or resources to local health jurisdictions or health care providers regarding definitions for collecting SOGI information or for recommended questions and response fields,” Parks wrote in his summary.

In response, state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás J. Aragón pledged that the statewide health department would address the SOGI data issues raised in the auditor’s report with updates in 60 days, six months, and a year’s time. We hope so. Aragón used to be the health officer for San Francisco, and as we note, the city health department hasn’t done much better when it comes to SOGI data collection.

Regarding the audit, only a small number of CADPH forms – 17 – require SOGI data collection. The majority of the 129 forms that collect demographic data – 105 – are exempt, but not prohibited, from collecting the information, Parks noted, because

data is collected by a third party, such as a local health jurisdiction. That, of course, shines a light on the necessity for local jurisdictions to collect SOGI data, but even in San Francisco the health department has been criticized for its continued problems in SOGI data collection, as we reported two years ago.

Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) spearheaded legislation in May 2020 that would require the state to collect SOGI data of COVID patients. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 932, and yet, three years later, CADPH “has not provided guidelines, training, or resources to local health jurisdictions or health care providers regarding definitions for collecting SOGI information or for recommended questions and response fields,” Parks wrote in the report.

Parks also found that CADPH’s system for collecting data and reporting data on communicable diseases is inadequate for collecting and reporting SOGI data because the systems have technological barriers. We’ve reported on how those barriers, especially at the federal level, also impede SOGI data collection. In 2010, CADPH created the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE), a statewide database and surveillance system for reporting communicable diseases. But Parks reported that three of the largest local health jurisdictions in the state – San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco – don’t even use that system for some of their communicable disease reporting.

All of this is to say that CADPH is failing miserably when it comes to SOGI data collection. Parks’ report made several recommendations, including that it “develop a process to verify that all local health jurisdictions that do not use CalREDIE are reporting SOGI data to Public Health and are complying with SOGI data reporting requirements by October 2023,” and that “Public Health should develop an action plan to ensure that CalREDIE users and Public Health pro-

grams can extract SOGI data for all of the reportable disease conditions currently in CalREDIE by October 2023.” That is a best case scenario and one that is, in our view, likely not to be met. The bureaucracy in CADPH is overwhelming, and we don’t expect to see any real improvement this year.

The thing is that we’ve long known that health disparities exist in the LGBTQ community; that’s why we’ve been covering the SOGI issue so extensively. The data is critical in terms of allocating funds to hard-hit population groups and regions, and ensuring that the needs of LGBTQs are addressed, as Parks pointed out in the report.

Wiener is planning to introduce another bill next year with gay freshman Assemblymember Rick Zbur (D-West Hollywood), after thoroughly reviewing the auditor’s report. One thing they might consider is legislation to require CADPH to collect SOGI data when it is collected by third parties, including local health jurisdictions and health care providers. That would resolve one of the major problems we see now, and local health jurisdictions should be collecting it anyway. Getting all local health jurisdictions to use the CalREDIE system for reporting communicable diseases would also be a good idea, and Aragón should take the lead on this without legislation. These health jurisdictions all seem to have their own data collection systems that are unable to mesh with each other. Another issue involves laboratories, which are not required to submit SOGI data to CADPH and, Parks wrote in the report, are unable to do so.

Removing all these barriers was supposed to already be underway, but the state auditor’s report makes it clear that much of the work has barely begun. That needs to change. SOGI data is crucial, not only for COVID, but also for the next potential pandemic. t

To thrive, Castro Theatre must adapt

by Ralph Hibbs and Brendan Smith

In January 2022, Another Planet Entertainment announced an agreement with the Nasser family, which owns the century-old Castro Theatre. APE would take over management and programming of the magnificent but decaying venue at the heart of the Castro and invest $15 million to restore its historic features, improve its facilities and accessibility, and install removable seats on the main level to allow for a greater diversity of programming. Since that announcement, public discussion on the proposed renovation has been dominated by a vocal minority opposed to APE’s plans who claim to represent the neighborhood’s interests.

Bay area reporter

44 Gough Street, Suite 302 San Francisco, CA 94103 415.861.5019 • www.ebar.com

A division of BAR Media, Inc. © 2023

President: Michael M. Yamashita

Director: Scott Wazlowski

News Editor • news@ebar.com

Arts Editor • arts@ebar.com

Out & About listings • jim@ebar.com

Advertising • scott@ebar.com

Letters • letters@ebar.com

Published weekly. Bay Area Reporter reserves the right to edit or reject any advertisement which the publisher believes is in poor taste or which advertises illegal items which might result in legal action against Bay Area Reporter. Ads will not be rejected solely on the basis of politics, philosophy, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation.

Advertising rates available upon request.

Our list of subscribers and advertisers is confidential and is not sold. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, and writers published herein is neither inferred nor implied. We are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.

Yet over the last two months, the many Castro community members who back the renovation plans have made their voices heard. At an April 17 Board of Supervisors land use committee hearing on the theater, a coalition of Castro residents and merchants filled the meeting room to express support for APE’s proposal. They held signs that read, “Save Our Jobs, Save Our Neighborhood, Save Our Businesses.” During the public comment period, supporters of APE’s plan outnumbered opponents 85 to 58. They sent hundreds of letters to committee members prior to the hearing and submitted a petition signed by over 100 Castro business owners and managers endorsing APE’s proposal without conditions. Despite this broad support, the committee voted 2-1 to endorse historically landmarking the theater’s fixed seats, which would likely block APE from carrying out the renovation.

It’s not just APE’s renovation plans that have wide community backing. Its programming plans do as well. COVID-19 and competition from streaming services have caused movie ticket sales to plummet, and rather than bind the Castro Theatre to a declining industry, neighbors see expanding its uses to include live music events and comedy shows, among others, as both desirable and prudent.

Many queer people, particularly from younger generations, regularly travel downtown and across the bay to attend concerts at other venues. Sadly, the Castro Theatre’s previous programming largely failed to entice these same individuals to visit the historic venue in the city’s premier LGBTQ+ neighborhood. Were the theater able to host the acclaimed artists APE can secure, it would significantly broaden its appeal – giving residents access to diverse, high-quality entertainment options and bolstering its ability to operate sustainably well into the future.

Perhaps most importantly, increased foot traffic in the Castro would be a sorely needed boon for

the local economy. A 2019 study of arts and performance venues in Chicago found that every dollar spent on tickets generates about $12 of economic impact for the community. With between 51-55 retail vacancies blighting the footprint of the Castro Community Benefit District, a thriving venue that regularly hosts events with over 1,000 people could dramatically revitalize the neighborhood and boost our local businesses, including the many that are LGBTQ+-owned.

So how did we get embroiled in controversy over 20-year-old seats? In April 2022, a small union of groups joined together to demand that the Nasser family, who built and have owned the theater for the past 101 years, fulfill a long list of unreasonable demands. Little respect was shown for their past stewardship or their vision for the theater’s future. Even more importantly, they showed no understanding of the basic economics of operating an aging large-scale theater. Each had their own reasons for blocking APE’s proposal including nostalgic memories of past cinema experiences or a narrow view of what constitutes LGBTQ+ programming. What they lacked was a practical concept for operating an entertainment venue in the 21st century.

Unsurprisingly, there is not a throng of programming companies clamoring to take on this project. And the Castro Theatre Conservancy, a group intent on landmarking the movie-palace style seating, has not offered a viable plan. The plan released by the group on April 26 is aspirational, lacking firm funding commitments, a detailed financial plan,

and any evidence of a sustainable operating model.

The CTC plan demands that the Nasser family sell it the theater or lease it for at least 60 years while it attempts to raise $20-$40 million for renovations – with no guarantee of success. Because the Nasser family does not wish to sell, the CTC has backed the fixed-seating amendment as a way to doom any programming model other than the film-dominated one it proposes, in effect forcing the family to cede control of the theater their grandfather built. And the 250-plus days of film programming per year that the conservancy proposes is simply not viable in a 1,400-seat theater.

APE has made tangible commitments to address the concerns of opponents. It added $3 million to its investment budget to improve the film experience with a new sound system, screen, and automated raked floor that delivers improved sight lines and more comfortable seating. It pledged to make the theater ADA-compliant and accessible to all. It committed to a minimum of 33% film and 25% LGBTQ+ programming, as well as eight community days per year when it will be offered at greatly reduced cost to community groups. We believe APE respects the Castro Theatre’s history and understands its importance as a gathering place for our community.

As the Castro rebuilds from COVID-19, we need to welcome businesses that want to invest in our neighborhood. A bustling, restored Castro Theatre is essential to the long-term health of our businesses, our street life, and our neighborhood’s ability to remain a beacon of queer life for generations to come. Change is difficult, but the renovation plan presented by APE offers an opportunity for this venue to adapt and thrive in a new era, and we can’t afford to let that slip away. If the full Board of Supervisors votes to accept the Land Use Committee’s amendment landmarking the fixed seats, it could mean “lights out” for the Castro Theatre. t

Ralph Hibbs is a gay resident of the Castro who led the merchant petition effort for unconditional support of APE’s renovation plans. Brendan Smith is a gay resident of the Castro who has co-led neighbor mobilization efforts in support of the renovation plans. Both are part of a group of neighbors organizing local support for the project. They can be reached at restorethecastrotheatre@ gmail.com or on Instagram at @restore_the_ castro_theatre.

Another Planet Entertainment has pledged $15 million to renovate the Castro Theatre.

Rick Gerharter

SF GOP event to ‘detangle’ trans youth issues

by Matthew S. Bajko

With transgender issues a flashpoint in the country’s political discourse, as statehouses rollback rights for trans people, especially youth, and courts take up myriad trans-focused lawsuits, the San Francisco Republican Party is taking a more active role in the debate. It is particularly focused on matters relating to transgender youth.

In March, the local party urged its members to call into a legislative hearing in Sacramento to oppose Assembly Bill 957, dubbed the TGI (Transgender, Gender-Diverse, and Intersex) Youth Empowerment Act. Authored by Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (DSuisun City), who has an adult trans son, the legislation would allow courts to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity when making decisions about visitation and custody.

Co-authored by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill also would require courts to strongly consider that affirming a child’s gender identity is in the best interest of the child when one parent does not consent to a minor’s legal name change to conform with the minor’s gender identity. It passed out of the Assembly and is now before the Senate.

“This bill gives preference in custody battles to the parent who is willing to TRANSITION the child. Another horrible bill by Scott Weiner,” the local party had declared in its email, misspelling the legislator’s last name.

Now San Francisco Republicans are hosting an event next week promoted as a “Parental Rights Night” aimed at “detangling the transgender narrative surrounding our children.”

“We feel like there is something happening now that has increased the number of trans kids, especially in the teenage years, and needs to be addressed. It feels to many there is an ideology associated with it and that’s what we are exploring,” John Dennis, chairman of the local party, told the Bay Area Reporter.

An emailed invite for the dinner event, the exact North Beach location of which is only being disclosed to ticket buyers, said attendees will hear from “a detransitioner” but does not identify the individual by name. Dennis said both are being withheld due to safety concerns.

Also scheduled to speak is Brie Hanni, the San Mateo County chair for the group Moms for Liberty and Moms for America. The first group’s chapters have been chal lenging the inclusion of LGBTQ book titles in library collections across the country, and its leaders bristle at being accused of banning books.

Among the latter group’s core tenets, per its website, (https://momsforamerica.us/get-to-know-us/threefold-mission/) is honoring parental rights, which it defines as “the right and responsibility of parents to rear and cultivate their children educationally, socially, vocationally and in all matters of faith.”

Another speaker expected at the event is Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, a social worker who appeared in the 2022 film “Dysconnected: The Real Story Behind the Transgender Explosion” billed as helping to “make sense of” and “provide a way out” of what it terms “the transgender phenomenon.” GarfieldJaeger also sits on the advisory board of the group MOM Army, (https://www. mom-army.com) which asks parents if they are fed up with “the over-sexualization, grooming, and indoctrination is poisoning their young minds and

For those who seek to help us, the assumption is criminal. I fail to see this group assisting with actual parental freedom, but only regurgitated antitrans, anti LGBTQ, right-wing talking points,” said Smith, a trans woman who has long been an LGBTQ advocate.

Dennis said he couldn’t recall the last time the local GOP had hosted an event focused squarely on an LGBTQ topic. With several members of the committee that oversees the San Francisco Republican Party parents of high school students, there was a consensus for addressing what is “obviously a sensitive topic,” explained Dennis.

robbing them of their innocence.”

The main speaker for the event is Erin Friday, a member of the group Our Duty, which describes her on its website as a San Francisco attorney and mother of a formerly trans-identified child. While the group (https://ourduty.group/about/our_duty/) says it takes no issue with a child who is gender non-conforming, it does have problems when “such a child starts believing that they are not of their sex.”

The local party claims the event is the “first of its kind” it has hosted. In addition to highlighting various bills passed or under consideration by state lawmakers, the event is geared toward helping parents “advocate for your child,” per the emailed invite.

“The evenings’ program will address gender instruction in the classroom and the transgender agenda in our culture. We hope to spread awareness of this vital issue affecting children and young adults in San Francisco, around the state and across the country,” states the email.

San Francisco Democratic Party Chair Honey Mahogany, who is transgender and nonbinary, told the B.A.R. she isn’t surprised to see the local Republican Party focus on culture war issues. It is emulating what the national party has been doing, said Mahogany, in trying to turn people’s focus away from how to solve important issues impacting youth like gun violence, school hunger, access to broadband internet, clean drinking water, homelessness, and mental health.

“This doesn’t come as any surprise to me. I understand that not all Republicans are alike, but unfortunately it does seem like the Republican Party has chosen instead of finding solutions to many of our nation’s problems. ... San Francisco Republicans are turning to instigating culture wars as a way of distracting attention away from the important work that needs to be done,” said Mahogany.

Jason Clark, a gay man who is president of the San Francisco chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, an affinity group for LGBTQ members of the party and their allies, told the B.A.R. he wasn’t sure if he would attend the local party’s event. He did speak with the organizers, who had reached out to him regarding it and the program.

“Parental choice is important,” argued Clark, whose mother is a schoolteacher. “In general, we believe parents have a right to know about what is going on in their kids’ lives and at their schools.”

B.A.R. Transmissions columnist Gwen Smith questioned how the event would help parents advocate for their child.

“It fascinates me that the debate over parental rights is never about the parents of transgender youth, and is never about their needs to assist a trans child.

“Sometimes you have a feeling among a lot of people on the committee and outside the committee that transgenderism is becoming something of a mania in high school age kids. It is a concern, it is a fear,” said Dennis. “Maybe it is unfounded, but we felt we should have a discussion about this and about some of the experiences some of the parents have had.”

Asked about using a term now seen as being derogatory toward trans people, Dennis replied, “We are just trying to get through life here” and noted that the “cultural lexicon changes every day.”

As for the lack of any trans speakers at the event, Dennis told the B.A.R. that the viewpoints and positions of trans advocates are frequently heard and easy to find in San Francisco. But the voices of those on the other side of the discussion are “rarely heard,” he said, which is why the local committee decided to invite them to speak.

“We want to have a reasonable conversation for parents who have concerns,” said Dennis.

Locally, the Republican Party has supported transgender adults who choose to transition, noted Clark. Four years ago GOP voters in the city elected Erin Smith, a transgender woman, to serve on the local oversight committee for the party, which had endorsed her candidacy in the primary that March for Wiener’s Senate seat.

But, when it comes to trans youth transitioning, Clark argued there are legitimate concerns about children doing so before turning 18.

“The question about children transitioning is still scientifically and medically under examination. There are also concerns about some of what is going on at schools,” said Clark. “As someone who is gay, I am concerned some kids who might identify as gay are being pushed to identify as transgender instead. For kids who may have body or gender dysphoria issues, they are being pushed to be trans instead of being pushed to have mental health services or mental therapy help first.”

Mahogany refuted such assertions, adding that the recent push by Republican lawmakers to deny genderaffirming health care to trans youth will have dire consequences for children already disproportionally at risk for being ostracized by their parents, ending up homeless, and attempting or dying by suicide.

“At the end of the day every single reputable medical association and the medical establishment – every single one of them – understands that access to gender-affirming care leads to better outcomes for the vast majority of transgender people and the vast majority of trans children,” said Mahogany, a former social worker who is now the district director for Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco).

As studies by the Family Acceptance Project based at SF State have showed, noted Mahogany, LGBTQ children supported by their families have better health outcomes and are less likely to attempt suicide.

“So what Republicans are doing rolling back these laws and spewing harm-

See page 20 >>

Planning Ahead is Simple

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

The benefits are immense.

burden, allowing them to focus on what will matter most at that time—you.

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

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

SF Republican Party Chairman John Dennis

Courtesy campaign site

APE, Nassers hit back at conservancy’s theater plan

by John Ferrannini

The company that manages the Castro Theatre in San Francisco’s LGBTQ neighborhood and the family that owns it have balked at a proposal from a conservancy group to buy or lease the space and operate it as a moviehouse with its own programming.

Another Planet Entertainment, which is leasing the theater from the Nasser family, told the Bay Area Reporter in an April 27 statement that while it appreciates “everyone’s passion for saving the Castro,” the plan from the Castro Theatre Conservancy is “neither feasible nor funded.” In a letter dated May 1, Chris Nasser stated that “CTC’s latest proposal ... does not meet the minimum expectations for investment, rehabilitation, and preservation of the building.”

The conservancy’s plan, announced April 26, would “fully activate the theater within 60 days of purchasing or leasing the historic venue,” according to a news release.

The conservancy proposes in its 15page plan that it acquire the theater’s operations from APE by either buying or leasing the theater and within two months operate it “every day of the year, including 200 days of repertory, first run, and other films that CTC itself presents, 52 days of film festival presentations, at least 24 days of LGBTQ+ focused programming, and 24 live performance events.”

But Another Planet stated that it has no plans to abandon its management of the theater, which began in January 2022.

“Another Planet has presented a well researched and well funded plan that has been available for the public to peruse for over a year, and updated five months ago to include valuable input from the film and LGBT communities, including the Conservancy, individual Castro businesses, and residents that have made it even better and more adaptable,” David Perry, a gay man who is a spokesperson for APE, stated to the B.A.R.

“We stand behind our plan and are grateful to our many and growing supporters,” Perry added. “We are saddened that the Conservancy has rejected our repeated and multiple good faith efforts to work with them in a realistic and forward looking manner.”

The conservancy differs with that assessment.

“The Conservancy’s plan shows that we can preserve the intrinsic values and crucial features of the historic building, while restoring it as an active business operating 365 days a year,” stated Peter Pastreich, executive director of the Castro Theatre Conservancy. “The Castro Theatre is a beloved and integral part of the Castro neighborhood, and it must maintain LGBTQ+ and community programming.

“The Conservancy’s plan is to operate the Castro as a financially sustainable community resource without desecrating a national [sic] landmark,” Pastreich added. “While Another Planet Entertainment insists that they must remove the orchestra floor seating of the Castro, we know the theater can accommodate

diverse and varied programming – and real community benefits – without demolishing its interior.” (The theater’s exterior was designated as a city landmark in 1977.)

In a statement to the B.A.R. April 28, Castro Theatre Conservancy President Rob Byrne responded to APE’s statement by saying the company “has failed to negotiate in good faith.”

“We seek to preserve this irreplaceable landmark – not to destroy it,” Byrne stated. “We want to operate the theatre for the benefit of the community – not to maximize profits for a single, private corporation. We want the Castro Theatre to be open every day, not a handful of days per month.“

Separately Pastreich told the B.A.R. that the conservancy has not been in touch with the Nasser family since its plan was released, but knows they prefer APE unless its plans are obstructed.

“We have been in contact with members of the Nasser family and their attorney, but not since the plan was issued,” he stated. “We are certain that they are aware of the conservancy’s desire to purchase the theater, and have told us they prefer to lease it to APE. What we don’t know is how they will feel if APE is not permitted to destroy the Castro’s historic and beloved orchestra floor.”

The Nasser family’s attorney, Jim Abrams, who has spoken at several public meetings in support of Another Planet, did not return a request for comment.

The interior of the theater, particularly the orchestra level, is the subject of much disagreement between the two sides. Last year, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman proposed landmarking the interior of the theater. That process has gone through various local government bodies and now rests

before the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee, which on April 24 delayed a decision for two weeks. Before the committee is an amendment by District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston that would declare “fixed seating” be maintained in the orchestra.

Another Planet prefers the “presence of seating” that the Historic Preservation Commission recommended in February, and has proposed replacing the current fixed orchestra seating with a motorized floor that’d make both raked seating and tiered standing arrangements possible.

The land use committee is expected to take up the matter May 8, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

It would then go to the full Board of Supervisors, which has final approval over the local landmark designation.

Long road

The imbroglio over the theater began 15 months ago, when APE – which runs the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium near San Francisco’s Civic Center, and the Fox Theatre in Oakland – was announced as the new operator of the 101-year-old Castro Theatre.

Some Castro neighborhood, LGBTQ, and film groups – such as the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and the Castro Theatre Conservancy – formed the Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition in opposition to the proposed changes, which would allow the theater to sometimes operate as a concert venue.

Tina Aguirre, a genderqueer Latinx person who is manager of the cultural district, stated to the B.A.R. that they are pleased with the conservancy’s “promising approach” that “sets a standard of community engagement.”

come in and have this bright smile all the time and, even with the hard things, have moments of joy and spread his good energy.

“It also provides clarity that there are multiple options in keeping the Castro Theatre open. This is important considering that the Castro Theatre Conservancy attempted to negotiate with APE and was precluded from sharing information about their negotiations,” Aguirre continued. “My understanding is that this was out of respect for Supervisor Mandelman, who facilitated them and APE’s request to maintain confidentiality of the negotiations. It is now clear that those negotiations failed. I am happy that the Castro Theatre Conservancy has shared their plan. I am especially encouraged about the LGBTQ+ Film Series and proposed community advisory board.”

According to the plan, that advisory committee would start in Year 1 and be comprised of key stakeholders, including representatives of the Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, SF Heritage, the Castro Merchants, the Art Deco Society of California, GLBT Historical Society, Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, the Roxie Theatre, and others.

Opponents of Another Planet are supporting a landmark designation of the theater’s interior that would landmark fixed orchestra seating, as introduced by Preston.

In announcing its plan, the conservancy stressed films. Another Planet has stated that under its management, movies would only be shown about one-third of the time. The conservancy also addressed the renovation work that is needed inside and outside the moviehouse.

“The conservancy will begin showing films virtually as soon as we gain control of the theater, hiring the required staff and making only the most urgent repairs to the building: stop the water leaks to the basement, improve the amplified and movie sound, improve fire safety – smoke alarm system, smoke exhaust, repair fire escapes and landings – and restore the famous ‘blade’ sign. We will also repair the HVAC equipment,” the plan stated. “Once the theater reopens, there will be something happening in it every day and/or evening of the year.”

According to the conservancy’s proposal, people in the performing arts and fundraising communities would draft a three-year plan that would lead to a $20-40 million capital campaign for the renovations and improvements.

Mandelman, who represents the city’s LGBTQ district, did not return a message seeking comment.

Terrance Alan, a gay man who is the Castro Merchants Association’s president, told the B.A.R. April 28 getting the theater open is priority No. 1.

“From the perspective of Castro Merchants, the important thing is to get the theater fully reopened as soon as possible and reactivated as many days and nights as possible. The theater’s closure has really been hurting our members,” Allen stated. “We’ve asked for an economic analysis of the impacts of APE’s plans for neighboring merchants, and

Arroyo said Brown did a lot of “streetbased outreach” and helped others get connected to housing and nonprofit organizations.

it would be interesting to study the impacts of the conservancy’s proposal as well. At this point, it’s all speculative, but obviously, the plan with the most activation is better for foot traffic.”

Another Planet is proposing $15 million in renovations, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

The conservancy plan has a threeyear phase-in.

“Five full-time staff would be engaged during Year 1, which will also see the most urgent repairs to the building made, and establishment of a nonprofit membership and contribution program,” the conservancy plan states. “During this time, the expectation is that the theatre will be immediately and fully activated. Year 2 will feature engagement of an architect and engineers, completion and city approval of plans, and the quiet phase of a capital fundraising campaign. The campaign will be completed in Year 3, as will any capital improvements that require the temporary closing of the theater.”

The conservancy’s plan proposes that Pastreich be the first executive director, to be replaced by a fully developed board of directors within six months.

“The Conservancy’s plan shows that we can preserve the intrinsic values and crucial features of the historic building, while restoring it as an active business operating 365 days a year,” Pastreich, a straight ally, stated.

“The Conservancy’s plan is to operate the Castro as a financially sustainable community resource without desecrating a national landmark … While Another Planet Entertainment insists that they must remove the orchestra floor seating of the Castro, we know the theatre can accommodate diverse and varied programming – and real community benefits – without demolishing its interior.”

The Castro Community Benefit District, members of which circulated a petition to neighborhood businesses in favor of APE’s plans without conditions, declined a request for comment.

“We have not had the time to review deeply or discuss as a board,” stated Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is the executive director of the CBD. “We do not have any comments.”

Jeffrey Kwong, a gay man who is president of coalition member Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, told the B.A.R. that “I don’t even walk on the theater side of Castro [Street] when I’m out anymore” because “it’s always dark – in Chinese ‘like squatting flies.’”

“It’s night and day when you see businesses like 440 [Castro] and [Cafe] Mystique hopping with patrons and the only thing lit on the other side are four of the six neon letters on the Castro Theatre,” Kwong said. “The theater has always been a vibrant queer cultural center and a plan to keep it alive and active 365 days a year gets the community out and about and into the streets.” t

victim’s family during this difficult time. The safety of our patients, customers, and team members is our top priority, and violence of any kind will not be tolerated in our stores. We take this matter seriously and are cooperating with local authorities.”

Walgreens did not answer a question about which private security company was used at this location.

Lateefah Simon, a straight ally who is on the BART board of directors and is running for Congress in the East Bay to replace Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who is running for U.S. Senate, led the vigil in prayer.

“Creator, I ask you to hold this man who was shot because of what he looked like and who we are,” said Simon, who is also Black.

For two hours, speakers remembered Brown. Arroyo told the Bay Area

Reporter he’d been involved with the Young Women’s Freedom Center since he was 12.

“Everybody just completely failed Banko,” Arroyo said. “Banko would

“He was shy,” she continued. “He was a person of few words, but he always had small children surrounding him. He was always with women and children, he was always a protector, he was the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his own back. That’s the character he came with. He was amazing and I just so deeply am hurt by this. He could’ve been a board of supervisor or anything because he had so many people surrounding him.”

Arroyo said that Banko had been struggling financially in recent weeks. Multiple speakers speculated that Brown may have tried to take food from the Walgreens, or that he was racially profiled by the security guard. They were adamant he should not have been “killed over a fucking sandwich,” as one person put it.

“Banko worked to advocate for some of the rights for housing but he actually talked about there not being safe housing for trans people,” Arroyo said. “The housing solutions available for young people in San Francisco were either men’s or women’s housing and he was not safe in either. He also advocated for the closure of juvenile hall and he also did participatory action research, collecting data from the community and assessing the needs of young people and asking what they actually needed in that time.”

After finding out Jenkins is not charging Anthony, Arroyo stated to the B.A.R. that she is “not at all surprised.”

“We are not under the impression that incarcerating the security guard is the answer,” Arroyo stated. “He is no more culpable than Walgreens and the city

itself. But we are deeply disappointed at the total lack of accountability. It should go without saying that Banko should still be alive. Being poor should not be a crime and, certainly, should not be a cause for murder.”

Arroyo said she also wants the security camera tapes released so that the community can see “the proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the DA’s office has.”

Banko also advocated for changes in restitution and probation law, Arroyo said.

Another person who spoke was Brown’s pastor, the Reverend Amos C. Brown of Third Baptist Church in the Western Addition. The Reverend Brown, a former San Francisco supervisor, said that Brown was a regular.

“One thing he heard was the Lord’s Prayer, where it says ‘give us this day our daily bread,’” Reverend Brown said. “We

See page 10 >>

The Castro Theatre Conservancy has released its own plan for the theater but has met resistance from Another Planet Entertainment.

Scott Wazlowski

BART board member and congressional candidate Lateefah Simon, center in glasses, leads a prayer for Banko Brown at a May 1 vigil outside the Walgreens where he was killed.

John Ferrannini

IN CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM WEEK!

Head to the Sunny side of the bay

You don’t need to go far to get a taste of real LOCAL California. Perfectly situated just 35 miles east of San Francisco, the Tri-Valley is friendly and welcoming, a hive of activity without the parking meters. Play all day and spend the night in one of our 40 clean and safe lodging options. Come on overit’s another world out here.

PLEASANTON • LIVERMORE DUBLIN • DANVILLE

by Gwendolyn Ann Smith

At the Montana Statehouse in Helena, history is being made.

Like so many others, the Treasure State has been caught up in the antitrans frenzy that the right has whipped up in the United States.

Of note is Montana’s Senate Bill 99, which will largely end genderaffirming care for trans youth in the state. The bill, which was signed by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte April 28, goes so far as to disallow state employees who work with minors –educators, child care workers, and any others – from even bringing up the existence of such care. Republicans dominate the Montana Legislature, so passing such a bill wasn’t difficult. Gianforte signed the bill over the objections of his nonbinary child, as the Montana Free Press reported. (https:// montanafreepress.org/2023/04/26/ montana-governor-gianforte-lobbied-by-son-to-veto-trans-bills/)

On the other side of the aisle, however, is Montana’s first openly transgender representative, Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat who represents the 100th District of Montana that includes Missoula. Zephyr, speaking in the statehouse on April 18, went on the offensive against SB 99, reminding law-

makers of the prayers used to open the House of Representatives’ workday.

Said Zephyr, “I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

In response, the GOP-dominated House voted to prevent Zephyr from participating in debate. Even as she stayed on the House floor, she was not called upon to speak.

In response, hundreds of Montanans took to the gallery just days

later, chanting “Let Her Speak!” as the House once again shunned Zephyr. This, too, led to further rebuke, as the gallery was cleared, seven protesters were arrested, and Zephyr was barred from the House floor. As a further punishment, Republicans removed her from all her committees.

Zephyr’s office is now on a bench outside the chamber.

Much like when Tennessee Democratic state Representatives Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones were expelled from their positions in that state’s House for taking on gun violence, Zephyr’s stand has brought her far more prominence than she may have ever had before. (Pearson and Jones were quickly reinstated by their respective county commissions and returned to the Legislature.)

More than this, in a year where hundreds of anti-transgender laws have steamrolled their way through state governments, Zephyr’s stand has brought the issue of anti-transgender rights back to the forefront of national discourse, and given us someone who – even as her state’s GOP has sought to silence her – has ended up with a far larger microphone than the one she held aloft on the House floor.

With this in mind, I want to offer some food for thought for those of us

who are trans, who are drag performers, and, yes, those who are LGBTQ people overall and facing the myriad attacks lobbed at us this year.

For many years I’ve heard homophobes and transphobes talk about how we’re “cramming our ideas down their throat.” Certainly, many have seemingly accused Zephyr of similar things in the last couple of weeks.

Yet, I’d be hard pressed to think of a time when we actually have done this.

I’d also say that the majority of such “shoving” of it was not done by trans people.

At best, it’s brands trying to market their prod ucts – see, for example, the current kerfuffle over Bud Light working with trans TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney leading to a mass right-wing freak out – though I think the reaction from the right has brought more attention, and by extension, more “cramming” than was ever expected nor intended.

More than this, some right-wing bigots know that pushing all this serves their main purpose – it’s the same point behind every bill in these

YOU CAN ALWAYS VISIT FOR THE VIEW...

statehouses, too, and the goal of anyone who is out there fighting against trans rights: they want to see us gone by any means necessary, and they never want to hear of us again.

If they can keep us small, and keep us complicit in our own silence, they can continue to oppress. In short, the smaller they make us, the smaller they can make us.

We often note, in trans circles, that we just want to be left alone. We’re just not interested in making half the stink we’re accused of. It tends to be our counter to the “stop shoving it” comments.

I get it and I feel the same. I really just want to be left alone. Unfortunately, I don’t think this ends up serving us well.

In the 1970s, “gay rights” faced similar hurdles. The reaction to the Stonewall Rebellion and related actions led to a much quieter attempt to gain rights. Queer elements (kink, trans, and even bisexuality) were purged or hidden within the movement. The rallying cry was that we should be seen as “just like” straight society.

The result of this, I would argue, was not a lot of movement forward. Not a lot of breakthroughs. The push may have been to show how we were “just like them,” but we also ended up being meek and subservient to “them.” We only were allowed to succeed when they let us.

This wouldn’t start to change until ACT UP and other groups were visible and active and angry during the AIDS crisis. Those who pushed buttons made change. Today, it is Zephyr and the people of her district who are showing us all how to do it once again. Zephyr could have stayed silent and not made the comments she did. She could have apologized, or taken the rebuke and resigned.

She did not, and instead has stood up for her constituents and for the community most affected by SB 99. She, like all of us, was not ready to be silenced.

For that, we should all be thankful. t

Gwen Smith applauds Representative Zephyr, and hopes this is the start of a very long career for her. You’ll find her at www. gwensmith.com

<< Trans activist

From page 8 must stand up and say let’s get rid of all these bastard guns and have a peaceful society.”

Banko Brown’s father, Terry, was there, but did not speak.

Xavier Davenport, a Black trans man, said San Francisco failed Brown, criticizing both Mayor London Breed – who has committed to ending homelessness in the trans community – and the city’s LGBTQ establishment.

“Look at this young man,” Davenport said, gesturing to a picture of Brown behind him. “He’s dark skinned. The reason he couldn’t get what he needed is because he is a young Black trans boy. … They have moved us out of the Castro because they only allow white people to dominate that space and they have continued to move us down the line for housing. These organizations need to be held accountable. London Breed needs to be held accountable. San Francisco needs to be held accountable. I want you to remember this boy’s smile, and remember that.”

Jeff Cretan, Breed’s spokesperson, stated to the B.A.R. that “San Francisco is deeply committed to our trans communities who experience much higher rates of poverty, violence, and discrimination.”

See page 19 >>

Montana state Representative Zooey Zephyr

Christine Smith

Drag entertainers seek to refresh Russian River Women’s Weekend

by Sari Staver

Two popular drag entertainers with years of experience producing queer events hope the 2023 Women’s Weekend Russian River, May 12-14, will mark the turnaround for an event that once drew thousands of women to Guerneville for the annual gathering.

Drag queen Miss Shugana (aka Jodi Goldstein) and drag king Madd-Dogg 20/20 (aka Tressa Young) have formed a new company, Shug-Dogg Productions, to produce the three-day event.

In promotional material, the organizers describe Guerneville, 90 miles north of San Francisco, as “one of Sonoma County’s natural jewels and a prime example of the region’s accepting West Coast vibe … that has also become a cutting-edge dining destination and burgeoning resort retreat.” It has long been known as a getaway for LGBTQ travelers.

The annual celebration, launched four decades ago, “has ebbed and flowed” over the years, Goldstein said in a telephone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, from as many as 5,000 in attendance four decades ago to several hundred in recent times.

“The weekend promises to provide a sense of community, connection, and celebration,” said Goldstein.

“We hope to bring back the tradition that drew thousands of women for decades with new features that will appeal” to the queer community, she added.

Everyone is welcome, said Goldstein, describing the event as a “LGBTQIA+ woman, queer femmecentered festival” including but not limited to trans women, trans men, nonbinary, and genderqueer people. Allies are welcome.

The program offers something for everyone, she said, including pool parties, live music, “rock star DJs, sexy body-positive burlesque, and smokin’ hot drag king shows.”

Entertainers include Alotta Boutté, Sydni Deveraux, RedBone, Smooth Daddi, Sadira Lady Liquid, Sgt. Die Wels, Angelique, The Front, and Erica Ambrin.

Passes for the three-day event are $100; tickets for individual events are $10-$40. Accommodations are available at over a dozen motels, resorts, and campgrounds, said Goldstein.

The weekend kicks off next Friday afternoon with a pool party at the R3 and a queer vendor marketplace. Other events include a trans meet-up, BBQ dinner at the Rainbow Cattle Company, evening karaoke at the R3, and a late night dance at the Main Street Bistro.

Saturday includes an afternoon pool party and evening drag and burlesque show. Sunday winds up with a music and mimosa brunch, an afternoon tea dance, and an evening karaoke party. For those who arrive on Thursday, May 11, a poolside movie party is planned.

Proceeds from the Women’s Weekend will be donated to The Living Room, an organization that helps women and children in crisis in the Guerneville area.

Vendors

A wide range of products and services will be available at the queer marketplace, open all weekend. Vendors include Dandy & Vixen, which creates a more visibly queer world by turning visuals from bygone eras, dandyism, and camp aesthetics into wearable drama, according to the website dandyvixen.com.

Justin Demeter is a queer, Oaklandbased artist who creates paintings, prints, and cards that “explore gender,

Attendees

love, mental health, nature, and the occasional mythical creature,” the website justindemeterart.com states. Unique jewelry by Ray Kaplan will be featured by Moonlight Dichroic Fused Glass

Jewelry.

OMG Witch Please at omgwitchplease.com cre-

ates laser engraved crystal grids, pendulum boards, spiritual tools, art, and jewelry by Sophia LaRosa.

Sacred Rose Tattoo will offer tattoos by Rachael Dobos poolside all weekend.

Deni Ratterree sells a variety of earrings and accessories as well as photography services and prints.

Laura’s Bling Bling is a “paparazzi

consultant,” selling $5 jewelry by Laura Flores.

New Paradigm Productions will offer 20-minute vibroacoustic treatments by Tami Gosnell on her custom built sound table. Gosnell also plays drums and sings in the all-female power trio The Front and will perform poolside May 12 from 4 to 5 p.m.

Prife will offer health and wellness

tools including terahertz frequency therapy devices, EMF shields, and Renew patches, the website states. Suzanne Ash Realty specializes in property in the Russian River community. t

Additional details for the weekend can be found at https://bit. ly/3HsNqop.

had fun in the sun – and at the pool – during last year’s Russian River Women’s Weekend.

Russian River Women’s Weekend

Miss Shugana (aka Jodi Goldstein), left, and Madd-Dogg 20/20 (aka Tressa Young) are gearing up for Russian River Women’s Weekend.

Courtesy the subjects

Savor the sights by driving to Fire Island

by David Taffet

Inever knew you could drive to Fire Island – not to Cherry Grove or The Pines, the two very gay towns farther out on the island, but to Robert Moses State Park and the western tip of the Fire Island National Seashore.

Typically, you take a ferry from Sayville, Long Island, to get to the bestknown settlements on the island. But for a quick trip and a deep dive into the island’s history, drive to Robert Moses State Park, where the dunes and beach of the national seashore begin.

The centerpiece of this portion of the 32-mile long barrier island, which protects Long Island from rough ocean currents, is the Fire Island Lighthouse. It was built on what was the western tip of the island in 1858, but sand deposits have lengthened the island westward by about five miles during the past two centuries.

To access the lighthouse and attached museum, drive to parking lot No. 5. Head toward the lighthouse to park for a dose of history or toward the beach if you’re there for a day of sun.

From the lot, walk down the boardwalk for the half-mile trek to the lighthouse, or take a pedicab, which will also go to Kismet, the first town on the island located about a half mile farther.

The original lighthouse, built in 1826 at a cost to the federal government of $10,000, stood 89 feet high and could be seen more than 14 miles out to sea. As shipwrecks continued to occur, the current black and white structure was built at four times the cost of the original, but it stands almost twice as tall with a light that can be seen more than 20 miles out to sea.

Robert Moses State Park occupies the first few miles on the western tip of Fire Island on land created by the

action of the ocean currents. The lighthouse and museum in the old lighthouse keeper’s quarters are operated by the National Park Service. Both the north and south shore from the lighthouse to the island’s eastern edge in Moriches Bay are protected as the Fire Island National Seashore. (Moses was a controversial figure in New York history; as an urban planner he oversaw the construction of highways, bridges, parks, and more. But he also destroyed communities, particularly those of people of color, as detailed in Robert Caro’s classic 1974 biography, “The Power Broker.”)

Of the more than 20 lighthouses along the shores of Long Island, the Fire Island Lighthouse is the tallest. Climb its 182 steps up the lighthouse to an open-air viewing deck. On a clear day, Manhattan’s skyline is visible to the west.

When it was built, the beam emitted through the lens was the first manmade light transatlantic ship passengers saw before landing at New York Harbor.

The visitor center, operated by the National Park Service, is where tickets can be purchased to climb the lighthouse stairs. It’s also a repository of historical information.

For instance, the name Fire Island seems to be a misspelling or perhaps a mistranslation. In its present form, the current name first appeared on a deed in 1789. Fire Island Beach appeared on charts dating from the 1850s. The legend was that pirates built fires on the beach to lure cargo ships toward shore to wreck on the craggy seabed.

More likely the name is a misspelling of the English number five or the Dutch word for four – vier –referring to the number of inlet islands in the area.

The area was declared a national seashore in 1964 to protect the only inhabited barrier island in the U.S. without roads for car traffic connecting the towns. In 1980, a seven-mile, 1,400-acre stretch of land was declared a national wilderness area. Seagrasses protect the dunes, as do the scrubby pines. Additional fencing has been placed across much of the sand hills to help protect them from wind erosion. Get a good view of the dunes from the boardwalk.

Take Long Island’s Wantagh State Parkway south to Jones Beach. Head east on Ocean Parkway to the Robert Moses Causeway and head south to Fire Island. Head east and park in Robert Moses State Park Field 5. Then walk or take a pedicab to the lighthouse. For more information, visit the Robert Moses State Park website at https:// on.ny.gov/44iImN9. t

The Fire Island Lighthouse can be seen from the boardwalk at Robert Moses State Park.

People walk along the boardwalk at Robert Moses State Park on Long Island.

David Taffet (taffet@dallasvoice.com) is a senior staff writer at the Dallas Voice, where this article first appeared. Republished with permission.

Cash-strapped Pride to accept donations on parade route

by John Ferrannini

S an Francisco Pride will be taking donations on the parade route for the first time because the committee that runs the annual event is strapped for cash.

Suzanne Ford, a trans woman who is the executive director of San Francisco Pride, said in an April 12 interview with the Bay Area Reporter that Pride is in need of finding $800,000. The lack of parades in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic was particularly hard on the organization’s coffers.

While city supervisors allocated $300,000 for the Pride committee in the fiscal budget they approved last summer, that money is separate from the current $800,000 shortfall, according to SF Pride spokesperson Shaun Leavy.

“COVID was devastating – we didn’t have revenue for a couple of

years but we still had costs,” Ford said. “In 2019, we had a half-million in reserve – [former executive director] George Ridgely had done a great job – Fred [Lopez] came on [board] and the pandemic hit. Last year it was a miracle we got it together. The city did help us with funding. Everyone helped. The price has gone up incredibly more, and we still have additional money to find … We’re working hard to find partners in the community. It’s a challenge. We do have some left in the reserve and we’re proud.”

One way Pride is seeking to fill the gap this year will be by raising money on the parade route itself. The committee has traditionally accepted donations at the festival’s gates.

“We’ve never taken donations on the parade route – how would you do that safely?” Ford said, before explaining, “we will have approximate-

ly 150 people on the parade route with devices with a preset amount.”

Attendees will be asked to tap their credit or debit card on the devices, which will be held with a selfie stick. The transaction should take two seconds, Ford said.

“I think it’s going to be important [that] people understand we’ve authorized this,” Ford added.

Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents part of the parade route, told the B.A.R. on April 13 that “I’m meeting with the mayor and will discuss it [Pride’s shortfall and the potential for city funding] with her tomorrow.” He did not respond to a follow up April 24 asking if that had happened.

Victor Ruiz-Cornejo, a gay man who advises Breed on LGBTQ issues, stated to the B.A.R. the same day that there is “no new update” to report on the issue. As of early April the city was projecting a $291

million budget deficit for next fiscal year, prompting concerns about what programs and services will end up being cut to balance the books.

Gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who is serving this year on the board’s budget committees, told the B.A.R. April 12 that “I am supporting Pride’s budget ask and am hoping the mayor will fund it in whole or at least in significant part.”

He updated the B.A.R. May 3 that “most big decisions have not yet been made” in the ongoing conversations with his office, Pride, and the mayor’s office. Dorsey and RuizCornejo did not reply to requests for comment Wednesday as to whether there’s been any update.

As for SF Pride, it has yet to respond to an inquiry as to Ford’s salary. According to its IRS Form 990 for Fiscal Year 2018-19 (the last year for which a 990 is publicly-available when an executive director served a full fiscal year), then-executive director Ridgely received $108,631 in total compensation.

‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ Ford, the first trans person who is paid to be executive director of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee, is promising a parade and festival that will speak to the city’s commitment to LGBTQ equality at a time civil rights are being threatened.

“The parade means everything to people from here, but there’s also the lens of how important it is to people across the country and the world,” Ford said in the interview.

The battle cry for this year’s event was going to be “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” the iconic 1984 Twisted Sister song, the San Francisco Chronicle reported May 2.

Dee Snider even agreed to perform the song on the main stage, however, this had to be scrapped after he liked a transphobic tweet from Paul Stanley of Kiss that stated, “There is a BIG difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children ... as though (it is) some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it” in reference to gender-affirming surgery.

Ford’s journey

Ford, 57, became Pride’s interim executive director in February 2022 and its permanent executive director this February; she agreed to speak to the B.A.R. in April about her appointment.

Ford moved to the Bay Area from Louisville, Kentucky, she said, and currently lives in Novato.

“In the 1970s, I, on national TV, saw San Francisco Pride on the news,” Ford said. “Once a year they would show it on the news and I knew deep down inside if I could somehow get here I could find my people. That’s what it meant for me.”

That dream came true in 2018, when she joined the board of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee, the nonprofit that puts on the parade and celebration. That year was also her first marching in the parade.

“When I marched with the board contingent at the front of the parade it meant everything,” Ford said. “It’s incredible and that’s why I know –especially right now for queer families, queer people in these red states – how important it is to know San Francisco exists; it’s a magical place – not that we have it all solved – and it’s a place we can go to be ourselves. It’s a tremendous responsibility.”

Ford is going to be the honorary starter for the Zappos Bay to Breakers run on May 21. Last year, after a public outcry to an SF Gate article that reported awards would only be

given to male and female runners, even though participants could register as being nonbinary, race organizers reversed course and awarded Cal Calamia as the first nonbinary winner of the event.

“I’m proud to run,” Ford stated in a news release. “Bay to Breakers represents the celebration of diversity that makes San Francisco San Francisco. Here we don’t run away from our challenges, we rush forward to meet them head on.”

Kyle Meyers, the CEO of Silverback, which puts on the event, stated that “In one sense, Suzanne is just one of our several thousand runners. … However, her participation is about much more than being a good sport. She represents everything that Bay to Breakers represents: a true reflection of the creativity, resilience and community that make San Francisco so special.”

It’s not Ford’s first tie to athleticism; she co-founded the world’s first and only PGA-endorsed LGBTQ+ golf event, SF Pride’s Pro-Am Golf Tournament Fundraiser, which has raised more than $200,000 over four years.

Police uniform controversy

When Ford took over last year, she had to address the controversy of how much, if at all, uniformed police should participate in the actual parade.

A ban on uniformed officers from the San Francisco Police Department marching in the parade was enacted in 2020 after officers detained protesters who blocked the 2019 parade, leading to allegations of excessive force, as the B.A.R. reported. One of the protesters, Taryn Saldivar, alleging violations of their constitutional rights, battery, and false arrest and imprisonment, later sued the city and the police department, receiving a settlement of $190,000 in September 2021.

Due to COVID-19, the Pride parade did not take place for two years. As a result, the ban didn’t become an issue until 2022, when it prompted outrage from many quarters including Mayor London Breed and gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who said they themselves wouldn’t participate if the restriction on police uniforms was enforced.

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

The compromise terms – which SF Pride clarified to the B.A.R. April 12 would be the same for the 2023 parade set to take place Sunday, June 25 – allowed the city’s police, sheriff, and fire departments to march together, with command staff allowed in uniform but without visible weapons. Some adjacent officers were allowed weapons for security,

SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford

Courtesy SF Pride

MORE!, Roma to headline benefit for mental health

compiled by Cynthia Laird

Drag artists Juanita MORE! and Sister Roma will co-host “Truth in Pink,” a benefit for Queer LifeSpace that takes place Saturday, May 20, from noon to 6:30 p.m. at The Terrace at 620 Jones Street in San Francisco.

The gala and tea dance will benefit QLS, a queer-affirming therapy agency. It celebrated 10 years of service in 2022, where MORE! and Roma, a member of the drag nun Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, emceed at the organization’s gala, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

QLS is the nonprofit arm of the San Francisco Therapy Collective, and also trains therapists. It started after the sudden 2010 closure of New Life: Services for Our Community, which provided queer mental health services.

MORE! has also chosen QLS as the nonprofit beneficiary of her annual party she hosts on Pride Sunday. Again taking place at The Terrace event space, Juanita MORE! Pride will run from noon to 7 p.m. June 25, and tickets are already being sold at various locations according to her website.

“They have invested in keeping our community healthy with effective, affordable mental health and substance abuse services,” noted MORE! in her most recent newsletter. “They help clients from all walks of life, regardless of their ability, to pay in a safe, non-judgmental environment for fellow members of the queer community.”

At Truth in Pink, or “La Verité en Rose,” guests will be able to view the Pink Triangle Exhibit, a queer history of pride and resilience. There will also be live entertainment with all-star drag performances, local DJs, and dancing.

The event includes a three-course luncheon, cocktail reception, and a tribute to Heklina, the drag persona of Stefan Grygelko who died April 3 in London. Recently, expanded memorial plans for Heklina were announced, as the B.A.R. reported. (See story, page 2.) Tickets are $240, $300 for VIP, or $30 for artists and students. For tickets and more information, go to truthinpink.org.

Our Family Coalition to hold Night Out

Our Family Coalition will hold its annual Night Out benefit Saturday, May 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Mimi Demissew, a queer woman who’s the nonprofit’s executive director, stated that one of the evening’s honorees will be state Senator Maria Durazo (D-Los Angeles). Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Durazo’s Senate Bill 951 that boosts leave benefits for lower- and middle-income employees to cover more of their

regular income while they take time off to care for loved ones. LGBTQ family advocates, such as the San Franciscobased Our Family Coalition, had supported the bill.

Tickets for Night Out start at $250. For tickets and more information, go to https://bit.ly/3LkgrE5.

SF LGBT center to hold job fair

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center will hold its TLGBQ+ job fair

Tuesday, May 16, from noon to 3 p.m. at the center, 1800 Market Street. A quiet sensory-friendly hour will precede the job fair at 11 a.m.

According to an email announcement, the center has historically hosted one of the largest TLGBQ career fairs in the country. This is the first one since the COVID pandemic brought an end to the program, the announcement noted. The job fair will showcase leading Bay Area employers from a wide range of industries who are dedicated to providing, and learning to provide, safer and more supportive workplace environments for the TLGBQ community as well as opportunities for gainful employment, the announcement stated.

Some of those employers will include the Arc of San Francisco, Goodwill, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Hamilton Families, U.S. Bank, United Airlines, Pet Food Express, and the San Francisco Community Health Center.

Attendees can also get free professional headshots taken and access the center’s Cyber Center to print out resumes or apply online for jobs.

In consideration of public health and the safety of immunocompromised community members, attendees are asked to wear well-fitting masks.

The event is free. To sign up and for more information, go to https:// bit.ly/423U5NS

SFAF panel on harm reduction

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation will hold a panel discussion on harm reduction Thursday, May 18, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Strut, its health center at 470 Castro Street.

An email announcement from the foundation’s CEO, Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., noted that the agency distributed over 41,000 doses of the overdose reversal medication naloxone in 2022, has counseled thousands of people on overdose prevention services, rolled out a new drug-checking program, and fought for safe consumption services.

TerMeer will moderate the panel, which will feature SFAF’s Laura Thomas, director of HIV and harm reduction policy; Ro Giulian, senior director of people who use drugs health; and Kyle

community that offers a unique place where we feel welcome, can be ourselves, live among friends and experience new adventures, with the peace

MORE!, Gooch; Roma, Roma

Pastor pushes ahead after right-wing attacks

by John Ferrannini

An LGBTQ-affirming church

near Sacramento is back to inperson worship weeks after attacks from right-wing groups forced it to switch to virtual services. The onslaught from conservatives also led to a school district canceling a drag show and two districts cutting ties with an LGBTQ youth organization.

The Reverend Casey MartinezTinnin, who is gay, of the Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ in Placer County, told the Bay Area Reporter that the congregation started meeting virtually March 26 after his life was threatened.

“I’ve had Proud Boys outside my home calling me a groomer and a pedophile,” Martinez-Tinnin said, referring to the right-wing extremist group. In a statement, he said two Proud Boys showed up outside his home for 45 minutes on March 22 and 23, though he was not home at the time.

Martinez-Tinnin said he and his neighbors called the police.

“I am saddened that our community feels as though it has hit a boiling point. I am sad that so many people will choose fake news and hate over the life-saving work we have done,” Martinez-Tinnin stated.

“I am angry that they claim ownership of the same Christianity as I do but chose to twist it with hate.

“I am worried for our LGBTQ+ youth who must live in a world so riddled with disdain for them, Martinez-Tinnin, 36, added. “I did not grow up in a world with social media, and I feel like now I am experiencing what so many of our queer youth go through every day. But we will not be silenced, and we will not be moved.”

According to Sara Bocciardi, one of the leaders at the church, in-person services have been taking place since April 26, though livestreaming has not.

Some “people showed up” at the church who were “affiliates of Proud Boys” in prior weeks, Martinez-Tinnin said, and there were protesters down the street from the church.

“One man said he came due to the controversy but left in peace because he was impressed how kind UCC was,” Martinez-Tinnin said. “I hope eventually everyone will realize we are not the problem here.”

Martinez-Tinnin said he reached out to the UCC NorCal Nevada Conference, which he said was helpful, as were other congregations.

“They have been very supportive,” Martinez-Tinnin said. “We’ve had a lot of outpouring from churches in the UCC throughout California. We are a welcoming denomination so the thinking is if this happens to us this can happen to any of our progressive, queer-friendly churches.”

The conference has not returned

Overnight Pet Sitting

serving the San Francisco Bay Area, Palm Springs, and beyond Live-in pet and home sitters keep pets on their regular routine, in their familiar, comfortable environment. Your pets will be less stressed than if they were to stay in a boarding facility. We are bonded and insured. Your home will be continually occupied, providing safety and security. Mail and packages will be brought in daily. The former owner of a highly respected pet grooming business in the Bay Area, Pet Daddy Wayne has more than 20 years of experience working with animals. Call 415-301-1909 or visit ThePetDaddies.com

DUGGAN’S FUNERAL SERVICE the DUGGAN

3434 – 17th StREEt SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110

Thomas V. Halloran General Manager

A native San Franciscan with 40 years of professional experience assisting families in need.

A longtime resident of the Eureka Valley, Castro and Mission Districts; a member of the Castro Merchants Association and a 25 year member of the Freewheelers Car Club. At Duggan’s Funeral Service, which sits in the heart of the Mission, we offer custom services that fit your personal wishes in honoring and celebrating a life.

We are committed to the ever-changing needs of the community and the diverse families we serve.

Please call for information 415-431-4900 or visit us at www.duggansfuneralservice.com

a request for comment as of press time.

The imbroglio began back in February, Martinez-Tinnin said, when two people who said they were parents moving to Placer County from the Bay Area contacted him and said they needed support.

It turned out the couple were from Project Veritas, a right-wing group that secretly records videos of conversations but deceptively edits them to discredit liberal groups or people. The group posted a video of Martinez-Tinnin on its site.

Project Veritas first gained wide public attention after videos secretly recorded at a Planned Parenthood location in 2015 and purported that the reproductive services agency trafficking fetal organs and tissue, which would be a federal crime. A complete view of the video showed the Planned Parenthood doctor explicitly stating that tissues are not for sale, as the Atlantic reported at the time.

It seems that Project Veritas is continuing its deceptive efforts.

“These people say they are somebody else and edit it for a far-right agenda,” Martinez-Tinnin said.

The video clip shows MartinezTinnin saying, regarding discussions with parents, “it’s not lying but it’s not fully telling the truth.” The video also shows him saying he’d call Child Protective Services if a trans child is misgendered.

Project Veritas did not respond to a request for comment for this report as of press time. Its founder, conservative provocateur James O’Keefe, was forced out of the organization in February, according to an NPR article.

The Western Placer Unified School District, and the Roseville Joint Union High School District responded to the release of the video by cutting ties with The Landing Spot, a secular organization that Martinez-Tinnin also leads that would send volunteers to support LGBTQ youth in schools.

The two districts did not respond to requests for comment for this report as of press time.

“They threw us out of all the schools and said we were not allowed back,” Martinez-Tinnin said. “These young people are now left in the dark. … Placer County has no support for LGBTQ youth outside the Landing Spot, a non-religious support group we’ve been hosting for seven years.”

Martinez-Tinnin said that the Landing Spot, which meets every month, provided an alternative to what he experienced during his own youth, in which he said that he felt isolated as a gay child.

“We had to learn how to grow up on our own,” he said. “You don’t get to move through adolescence until you’ve had one. We had to learn heartache and friendship later in life. The Landing Spot is trying to create a space for young people to have an adolescent life.”

Asked if he’s set up any meetings to get the Landing Spot back in the schools or if there is any hope of the Landing Spot returning, MartinezTinnin said, “I would say it is important for community members to express to school boards how essential this life-saving work is. Only the school district and school board can make those decisions but there are no other primary resources in Placer County other than the Landing Spot.

“Anybody and everybody who has had experience with the Landing Spot has spoken highly of it,” he added.

Drag show canceled

Around the same time that the school districts cut ties with the Landing Spot, the Roseville Joint Union High School District decided to cancel a drag show March 31 that the Landing Spot was going to host at Roseville High School as a fundraiser “to raise money for our second-ever summer camp, Camp Fruit Loop,” Martinez-Tinnin said.

“It was intended very purposefully to be on Trans Visibility Day because 98% of the youth we serve are trans,” he explained.

The district did not respond to a request for comment about why the drag show was canceled.

Meanwhile, Martinez-Tinnin made the decision to stop in-person services, just before Easter, after the Proud Boys incident.

KCRA-TV reported that a selfproclaimed Proud Boy, Jeffrey Perrine, went to a Roseville Joint Union High School District board meeting to speak and was arrested after the meeting for showing up at Martinez-Tinnin’s residence, cited, and released.

An attempt to reach Perrine on Twitter has been unsuccessful as of press time.

Martinez-Tinnin said the experience has left him and his family shaken.

“I ask for your prayers as Jose and I feel fear, anger, and outrage. I have served this community for 10 years, and my character, my livelihood, and my family’s safety are all put in jeopardy,” Martinez-Tinnin stated, referring to his partner. “With legislation being passed all over our country that seeks to silence, and erase the queer community, it has arrived here.” t

The Reverend Casey Martinez-Tinnin was the victim of an attack by right-wing provocateur Project Veritas.

Courtesy Martinez-Tinnin’s LinkedIn

San Diego mayor Gloria prioritizes homeless issues <<

by Heather Cassell

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has taken a queer eye to his city’s homeless issue to get people housed and he’s helping other mayors come up with solutions to shelter unhoused residents. However, everyone must do their part, he said.

Gloria, a gay Filipino man and Democratic former state assemblymember, was elected mayor of the state’s second largest city in 2020. He said high rents and crises with addiction and mental health have “supercharged” the homelessness problem not only in California but also in cities across America.

Fentanyl is relatively new, he explained, noting that many of his constituents haven’t made the connection between fentanyl and the homelessness crisis. They haven’t made the connection with how fentanyl is affecting youth and the homeless population who are being preyed upon by drug dealers.

“Of the 800 people who died in our county last year by fentanyl overdose, 113 of them were homeless,” Gloria said. “It is the No. 1 killer of our city’s homeless population. We’ve got to do more on this issue.

“Sanitation and police are blunt instruments for dealing with our homelessness crisis,” he continued. “We need counties in the state to do more and that’s part of the advocacy in Sacramento.”

Gloria spoke with the Bay Area Reporter about homelessness issues at a mixer ahead of the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee’s annual fundraiser brunch at the Signia by Hilton in San Jose April 16, where he was the keynote speaker. He spoke about his tactics to keep people on the brink of homelessness housed, housing people who are unhoused, some of the underlying causes and the most vulnerable populations – especially LGBTQ youth and youth of color, and every city must do its part to solve the problem.

Last year, Gloria was tapped to head California’s Big City Mayors coalition for 2023 and 2024, according to the City of San Diego’s December 15, 2022 news release.

The bipartisan statewide coalition of mayors of California’s 13 most populous cities includes San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Stockton, Riverside, and Irvine. In total, the cities represent 11 million Californians, more than a quarter of the state’s population, according to the release.

The coalition’s focus is advocating for and securing dedicated funding to address homelessness through California’s

Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program. The coalition found success within the past several years and is working to continue building upon the successes to advocate for continued investment at the local level to address the ongoing challenge of homelessness, according to the release.

“We have been nationally noticed for the fact that every nickel the federal government has given to us in terms of vouchers and relief assistance we’ve used. That’s helped thousands of people avoid homelessness or end their homelessness,” Gloria said, noting that in the first two years he’s been in office, his team has been able to increase shelter capacity by 70%, and “most nights we’re no more than 90% occupancy.”

“So, more beds, more occupied that means literally thousands of people off the street every single night,” he said.

Gloria is doubling down on tackling San Diego’s homeless problem with two proposed ordinances: one banning encampments on public property and stronger tenant protections.

He and City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn are proposing a new ordinance banning homeless encampments and directing the homeless to designated areas to park their vehicles or set up their tents, reported KNSD-TV (https://www.nbcsandiego.com/videos/ they-can-not-say-no-mayor-gloria-announces-new-plan-for-homelessnessenforcement/3189181/). The proposed ordinance hasn’t been introduced to the City Council yet. It’s a controversial plan that some critics say ignores the law that already prohibits encampments and demonstrates Gloria’s failure in addressing the homelessness crisis in San Diego, according to the city’s Republican media outlet San Diego Newsdesk.

“Gloria’s proposal is a failure to ad-

DISPLAY OBITUARIES & IN MEMORIAMS

dress the homelessness crisis in San Diego. Instead of providing adequate shelter for the unhoused, he has made this whole situation more difficult for all involved,” the newspaper wrote, accusing the mayor’s recent action on homelessness as “gearing up” for his reelection bid. Gloria’s term ends in December 2024. “Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed ordinance is not a solution but a failure to address the homelessness crisis.

“Gloria’s lack of leadership is not only a moral failure but also a practical one. Homelessness in San Diego is a crisis that affects everyone,” the media outlet stated.

A couple of days after speaking at the BAYMEC brunch, Gloria introduced the Residential Tenant Protections Ordinance to Prevent Displacement and Homelessness

April 18. The proposed ordinance strengthens renters’ rights, shielding them from most evictions in order to stymie the growing homelessness problem.

Gloria did not respond to the B.A.R.’s request for comment by press time.

However, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan disagrees with the criticism Gloria has received. Mahan, who was elected last year, spoke positively about Gloria’s accomplishments, mentorship, and leadership among California’s mayors at the BAYMEC event.

“It’s incredibly helpful to have someone to look up to and learn from,” Mahan told BAYMEC brunch attendees.

“I’ve so enjoyed working with Todd, who’s the fearless leader of the Big City Mayors where he has led us with clarity and conviction and a great dose of humor along the way.”

That clarity produced results tackling the homeless issue that former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo, and now Mahan appear to be replicating. Just last week Mahan unveiled the city’s soon-to-be largest “quick-build” temporary housing community with wraparound services, reported San Jose Inside . San Jose’s homelessness problem –particularly among youth – was not lost on Gloria. The tech capital was ranked (https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/vacanthomes-vs-homelessness-by-city/) No.

1 in the United States with the highest population of homeless youth by the United Way in February.

The report did not address LGBTQ youths’ risks for homelessness or studies showing that queer youth make up the largest percentage of homeless youth.

The National Network for Youth (https://nn4youth.org/lgbtq-homelessyouth/) cited research that found LGBTQ youth have a 120% higher risk of experiencing some form of homelessness and that up to 40% of the 4.2 million youth who experience homelessness identify as LGBTQ. Among youth who are queer Black, Indigenous or otherwise of color, 83% are at a higher risk for experiencing homelessness, with BIPOC queer youth at even higher risk of homelessness, when compared to their non-BIPOC counterparts.

The most recent studies about LGBTQ youth homelessness and homelessness among BIPOC youth, the youth network reported, showed anti-black racism, white supremacy, and housing discrimination put Black LGBTQ youth at significant risk of experiencing homelessness and create many roadblocks to exit homelessness. A 2015 survey highlighted that 20% of Black transgender people were unemployed and 38% in poverty, which are more than two times the average rate of non-transgender Black people. Anti-transgender stigmas, family rejection, and hostile political climates increase the chances of BIPOC LGBTQ youth staying in homeless situations.

When asked about the current homeless crisis and how LGBTQ youth were being counted, impacted, and being served, Gloria said, “We could talk all day about the issues around data collection for homelessness.”

San Diego does its annual homelessness count mandated by the U.S. government every January.

“This is a terrible time to do that,” he said, explaining that it’s cold out and every homeless person is doing everything they can to get out of the cold. “If you’re not in the street that night, we don’t count you.”

Identity is self-reported, he said, but “it’s not always reliable.”

Gloria pointed out that the definitions of homelessness aren’t nuanced enough, particularly among homeless youth. A fact former Bill Wilson Center CEO Sparky Harlan noted in the center’s 2017 report, “Count Me! Hidden in Plain Sight: Documenting Homeless Youth Populations,” which Santa Clara County’s supervisors were implementing using voter-approved funds to tackle the growing homeless youth problem, as the B.A.R. previously reported.

Defining homelessness, especially among youth, is “one of my chief concerns,” particularly LGBTQ youth and queer youth of color, Gloria said.

“I’m often in the position of talking to individuals who are absolutely homeless, but they don’t understand that they actually meet the definition of being homeless,” Gloria said. “They’re couch surfing, and they don’t understand they are doing it.”

for homeless LGBTQ+ youth. Until a permanent site is found for it, two interim locations set to open this summer in Clairemont and Point Loma will have 21 beds, reported the TV station. The city allocated $1.5 million for the firstof-its-kind initiative in San Diego.

“Oftentimes, when it comes to LGBTQ+ youth, they have been rejected by their own families. These types of programs are a real lifeline, right? They instill that hope in them, and we’re going to be excited to see them on that first night when they come to us,” Victor Esquivel, the center’s director of housing and youth homeless services, told the station.

During his visit to San Jose Gloria had noted of the 18 cities in the County of San Diego, “Most don’t have any shelter beds, most don’t provide any kind of transitional housing or permanent supportive housing, but all of them have populations that are homeless. Everyone has to do their part.

“We need counties in the state to do more and that’s part of the advocacy in Sacramento,” he said about his lobbying California lawmakers for help solving San Diego’s homelessness issues. “Every city has to do their part.”

Taking “a comprehensive effort” through the initiatives he’s spearheaded in America’s Finest City has shown results and earned San Diego the designation of being one of only seven prohousing cities in California by the state, he said, adding his city is the biggest by far to receive the designation, which can lead to more funding, “but importantly, every mayor has an opportunity to end someone’s homelessness or make it more likely that a low- or middle-income worker can find housing stability.”

Designations like the pro-housing city demarcation and policies “are critical to solving this particular issue,” Gloria continued, stating he can’t solve other cities’ homeless problems, but he can and is working to solve San Diego’s homeless and housing issues.

“We are pushing the envelope when it comes to housing production,” he said.

“There’s a lot of pushbacks on that but as I tell my constituents, ‘If you want to complain to me about homelessness, you can also explain to me about your housing production,’” he said. “These are not consistent positions.”

Other out mayors working on housing

Gloria isn’t the only gay mayor focused on housing issues. The B.A.R. previously reported Monterey’s newly elected first gay and Black Mayor Tyller Williamson and Pinole’s new gay Black Mayor Devin Murphy are focused on affordable housing as prices skyrocket.

Williamson, who was honored with BAYMEC’s Rich Gordon Elected Official of the Year Award April 16, told the B.A.R. he is focused on ramping up the planning process to meet the city of Monterey’s new housing requirement. Under the state housing mandate, Monterey needs to construct nearly 3,700 units over the next eight years, up from 650 units.

120,000

area residents each week with their display of Obituary* & In Memoriam messages.

RATES: $21.20 per column inch (black & white) $29.15 per column inch (full color)

DEADLINES: Friday 12noon for space reservations Monday 12noon for copy & images

TO PLACE: Call 415-829-8937 or email advertising@ebar.com

* Non-display Obituaries of 200-words or less are FREE to place. Please email obituary@ebar.com for more information.

The report noted San Jose had the highest population of Gen Z youth experiencing homelessness with nearly 85 unhoused Gen Zers for every 100,000 residents in the U.S. The report also noted that Black and Pacific Islander Americans were the most at risk for homelessness.

Memorial >> Memorial set for Gloria Nieto

A celebration of life will be held Sunday, May 21, for Gloria Nieto, a lesbian and longtime community leader who died September 6, 2022 at her home in Ben Lomond near Santa Cruz. The cause was cancer, which Ms. Nieto battled for many years, said her spouse Jo Kenny.

As the Bay Area Reporter noted in its

“We know that our community is overrepresented in our homeless population,” he said. “We understand the causes and reasons for that, even in 2023 it is still difficult to come out in many circumstances and that rejection leads to people ending up on our streets. [The] question for mayors, like myself, what are you doing about it?”

As KGTV-TV reported in April, the city’s LGBTQ community center has been tapped to open a 45-bed shelter

obituary, Ms. Nieto was active in Democratic Party politics. She was the first Latina lesbian to address a presidential nominating gathering, when she made remarks at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. She served for eight years on the Democratic National Committee, including stints as secretary of the DNC’s LGBT Caucus (now the LGBTQ Caucus).

Ms. Nieto was a member of the 13-person gay and lesbian contingent that met with President Bill Clinton in the White

“The state is requiring every jurisdiction to produce a valid housing element by December of 2023. We haven’t even begun engaging with our larger community around what that looks like,” Williamson said during an interview in midNovember. “I want to really make sure we have a public and transparent process for

See page 20 >>

House in the late 1990s.

The memorial will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at Henry Cowell State Park in Felton (Santa Cruz County). From Highway 9, turn onto North Big Trees Road, turn right immediately after the check-in kiosk, then turn left at picnic area 1. There is a $10 parking fee. People are asked to bring stories of Ms. Nieto and sides and snacks to share, as well as folding chairs.

To RSVP or for questions, contact Anna Nieto at annanrn55@att.net

The Bay Area Reporter can help members of the community reach more than

LGBT

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria addressed the BAYMEC crowd at the South Bay’s LGBTQ political organization’s 39th annual brunch gala in San Jose Sunday, April 16.

Lam Nguyen

t Community News >>

From page 1

Public Health and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation stressed to the Bay Area Reporter that last year’s vaccination efforts paid dividends – the city hasn’t seen a case since January 20, according to DPH’s seven-day rolling average –and also put the city on a better track to face a potential resurgence.

“Last year, SFDPH and the community came together to stop the spread of mpox, and over 50,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered in San Francisco,” the department stated to the B.A.R. “Forty-two percent of all people living with HIV in San Francisco, and 65% of people who had received PrEP at SF City Clinic prior to June 2022 had received at least one dose of mpox vaccine as of November 4, 2022. This is significantly higher than CDC’s nationwide estimate, that nationwide, 23% of the ‘at-risk’ population has been vaccinated.”

In the report the CDC published March 30, prognosticators predict with “moderate confidence” that because of those low national numbers – and in nine mostly Southern states, the percentage of the at-risk population that’s fully vaccinated is in the single-digits – “if mpox reintroduction occurs and no additional

From page 1

the only two candidates for his District 4 seat, then the person who receives the most votes next winter will be declared the winner.

But if more candidates decide to seek the seat, then the top two vote-getters in the March 5 primary race will advance to the ballot next November. The winner will represent East Oakland, Montclair, Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview, El Portal Ridge, and Pleasanton.

This is Esteen’s second time vying for elected office in as many years. In 2021, she launched a bid to represent Alameda County’s 20th Assembly District and racked up early support from LGBTQ leaders on both sides of the bay.

But after Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) decided not to seek reelection, Shawn Kumagai, a gay man then serving on the Dublin City Council, and labor leader Liz Ortega, who is straight, jumped into the contest to succeed him and survived the primary. With Quirk’s endorsement, Ortega defeated Kumagai last November and is now serving in the state Legislature.

Undeterred, Esteen began laying the groundwork for her next campaign and for months had been expected to formally launch her supervisorial bid. She chose May 1 to do so as it is May Day and an important date for union members and other workers.

Talking by phone to the Bay Area Reporter, Esteen said she had repeatedly received encouragement from people throughout the district to again run for elected office. She noted that the Assembly District overlaps with many of the communities represented by Miley.

“People have asked me again and again. They said, ‘You are so amazing. I met you during the Assembly race, and I really want to see you serving, and I really want you to be elected, and I am excited to support you again.’ This would happen in the grocery store or perfect strangers would come up to me in the community,” recalled Esteen. “People

<< Trans activist

From page 10

“Last year, Mayor Breed announced a goal of ending trans homelessness, and the city has created programs to support trans communities through the Our Trans Home SF Coalition, the Taimon Booton Navigation Center, guaranteed income programs, and the Dream Keeper Initiative,” Cretan stated.

“This work is being done in partnership with the community and through multiple city departments, including the Office of Transgender Initiatives and the Human Rights Commission,”

vaccination or sexual behavior adaptations occur, the risk of a resurgent mpox outbreak is greater than 35% in most jurisdictions in the United States.”

“Resurgent outbreaks in these communities could be as large or larger than the 2022 outbreak. This is because immunity is relatively low in populations who are highly affected,” the report continued. “In jurisdictions where immunity is higher in these populations, the risk is anticipated to be low over the next year, although a renewed outbreak could occur. These jurisdictions include most jurisdictions that had large mpox outbreaks in 2022, such as California, the District of Columbia (DC), Illinois, and New York.”

Tyler TerMeer, a gay Black man who is the CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told the B.A.R., “I think we want to exercise an appropriate amount of caution and prevent fear but be grounded.”

During last year’s outbreak, which started in the spring, SFAF was in the forefront of calling for greater supplies of the Jynneos vaccine. The mpox outbreak in the Bay Area mostly affected men who have sex with men and their sexual partners. The vaccine, which was distributed by the federal government, was slow to arrive but eventually there

have continued to remember me and report back they were inspired by the campaign we ran before. They are excited to know I am not giving up.”

When he ran for reelection in 2020 and 2016, Miley both times suggested it could be his last time seeking the supervisor seat he first won election to in 2000. The former Oakland city councilmember now has three young grandkids he would like to spend more time with before they become teenagers.

He told the B.A.R. in a phone interview Monday that he had seriously considered retiring at the end of his current term next year. But then came the deaths of two of his board colleagues, Wilma Chan in 2021 and Richard Valle in February, several years after the retirement of former supervisor Richard Haggerty in 2020, which changed Miley’s calculus.

“I think the Board of Supervisors and the county is in need of some continuity and some institutionalization and knowledge around the challenges we have been facing,” said Miley, who kicked off his reelection campaign with a February fundraiser. “So when I was thinking about not running again, it was prior to Supervisor Chan’s passing away and Supervisor Valle’s passing away. Having two colleagues who served a long time and had a lot of expertise leave us, it impacted my thinking about running again.”

Miley told the B.A.R. there are a number of issues he wants to continue working on if given another term by the voters, from reparations and improving mental health services in the East Bay county to serving the needs of seniors, small business owners and residents of unincorporated areas within the county.

Plus, the recovery from COVID is ongoing, said Miley, and another reason he wants to remain a supervisor.

“But one of the main reasons is the fact we just have seen the turnover of three supervisors on the Board of Supervisors in the last few years. I didn’t contemplate that would happen and I do not think anyone would have contemplated that,” said Miley.

Noting that he has faced opponents

Cretan added. “... Through this work, San Francisco strives to be a national leader in supporting trans communities and helping people on the path to housing and stability in a country where too often the basic rights and safety of trans people are under attack.”

Gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents the district Brown was killed in, offered his “condolences to Banko Brown’s family members” in a statement to the B.A.R.

“Although I didn’t know Banko personally, I’ve read enough about his work as an activist and organizer to know that last Thursday’s homicide in my district

were enough supplies so that anyone could get vaccinated.

“I’ve had a couple internal and community convos about whether or not we should have a significant concern about an mpox surge,” TerMeer said. “We are really asking folks who didn’t get their second dose to get vaccinated.”

The Jynneos vaccine requires two doses, ideally given about a month apart. But health officials said that people who have not yet gotten that second shot should do so.

The city stopped publishing vaccination data December 31, and never tracked the prevalence of vaccine uptake in men who have sex with men and people with multiple sex partners. As of that date 28,874 residents were reported vaccinated.

The daily rolling seven-day average of residents being newly vaccinated, which peaked at 739 on August 15, fell to just five by the end of the year, when DPH stopped collecting data.

“Here locally we have seen a significant decrease since the height of the mpox outbreak and we haven’t seen any confirmed cases at Strut since the height of what happened previously. But with Pride and festivals coming up, it’s very important that folks who didn’t receive both doses check in,” TerMeer said,

nearly every time he has run for office and won, Miley told the B.A.R. he has every confidence of winning reelection next year.

“My goal would be to win outright and get 50% plus one of the vote in March 2024,” he said.

Yet Esteen told the B.A.R. the fact that Miley has been challenged for his supervisor seat during his most recent races is an indication that residents of the district are seeking a new county representative.

“I think it speaks to a desire in the community for change and different leadership,” she said.

The daughter of a Black mom and a Jewish dad who grew up in New Orleans, Esteen was hired as a psychiatric nurse in the San Francisco General Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Room then served as vice president of organizing for Service Employees International Union Local 1021. She is now back working for the city’s public health department as a psych nurse in the community.

Esteen had two children with her exhusband and came out later in life. Her wife, a marriage and family therapist, had a daughter. Their kids are now all young adults.

Not living in an incorporated city, Esteen said her opportunities to seek elected office at the local level are few. She is currently serving on the Eden Municipal Advisory Council.

Health issues a priority

She also is vice president of the board that oversees the Alameda Health System that runs several hospitals in the county with a $1 billion budget. Ensuring the health needs of county residents are being met, in particular mental health services, would be a top priority for her if elected supervisor.

“The supervisors have a tremendous role to play in making sure our safety net has all the resources it requires and, right now, we still need more,” said Esteen, who will turn 43 on Halloween.

Other issues she is prioritizing include the need to build more affordable housing in Alameda County and getting

was a terribly painful loss to a community that loved him very much,” Dorsey stated earlier Monday. “I’m grateful the suspect is in custody, and I hope justice will be done in a manner that brings closure and peace to all who knew him.”

After the news of the DA’s decision to dismiss the murder charge against Anthony due to insufficient evidence was reported, Dorsey texted, “While I’m sure that outcome won’t feel like justice to some who knew Banko, I pray that time and God’s grace can heal the trauma of this tragedy for all involved.”

Davenport declined to state on the record to the B.A.R. which LGBTQ

referring to SFAF’s community health center in the Castro where the Magnet sexual health center is located. “It’s an important time to incorporate mpox vaccination into your sexual health routine as we head toward Pride and the summer season.”

Vaccination urged

The health department also tied the need to get vaccinated to the upcoming summer season.

“SFDPH looks forward to offering the mpox vaccine at community events in the lead-up to SF Pride,” the department stated. “The virus has not gone away, and it is still important for people to protect themselves. We expect that we will see occasional cases in San Francisco. Anyone who wants protection from mpox may receive the vaccine.

“We strongly recommend and encourage vaccination for all people living with HIV, anyone taking or eligible to take HIV PrEP, and all men, trans people, and nonbinary people who have sex with men, trans people, or nonbinary people,” DPH stated.

TerMeer said that Magnet is offering vaccinations every day and that it’s “significantly easier” than last year, when video of long lines of people seeking a then-tight vaccine supply – sometimes

unhoused people off the streets. Esteen told the B.A.R. she feels a sense of urgency to address such issues is lacking from the current Board of Supervisors.

“We have got to move so much faster,” said Esteen. “The current response has been flat-footed for now.”

Her being an out candidate is sure to bring added attention to the race. But it is just part of her background she would bring to the board, said Esteen.

“Really, this is about the values I bring. I am a Black gay woman who also happens to be Jewish. I am masculine presenting,” noted Esteen. “Oakland, some people say, is lesbian mecca, but it doesn’t mean I am going to get elected. I am running because I am a mom, a nurse and an everyday person who struggles to make things work.”

She questioned when was the last time any of the current supervisors faced either paying their rent or putting food on the table for their family.

“They are very out of touch,” said Esteen. “It is why I am running. I would love to make history, but ultimately I just want to do the work to make our community stronger.”

Pitch to LGBTQs

Miley said his pitch to LGBTQ voters will be to look at his record on issues that matter to them. In addition to supporting LGBTQ causes and co-sponsoring Castro Valley Pride, Miley noted he hires LGBTQ people to his staff, has presided over the wedding of a lesbian couple, and is a regular participant at Oakland’s Pride event.

“I think my track record speaks for itself,” said Miley. “These seats aren’t meant to be for a Black person, an Asian person, an LGBTQ person, a female, etc. These seats are meant for the most qualified person who can represent the needs of the public.”

With four of the current five supervisors people of color, and two now women after the recent appointment of Supervisor Elisa Márquez to serve out Valle’s term, Miley pointed out the Alameda board is one of the most diverse of any of the state’s county supervisor

organizations he was referring to, but Socorro Moreland, another Black trans man who also spoke, referred to the San Francisco Equality Awards dinner, held by Equality California on Saturday at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, featuring Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). Tickets to the swanky affair started at $250, the B.A.R. previously reported.“

All these organizations came together. People brought dresses, and drank champagne and pontificated,” Moreland said. “Over here, Banko is being memorialized. … As a Black trans man I never really see people in my corner.”

lining up in the wee hours of the morning – dominated news coverage.

“I think if someone needs an mpoxrelated appointment at SF General [Hospital] or Magnet, there’s no longer a waiting list-type system,” TerMeer said. “I think if you need it, you can get it.”

The health department stated that it will “remain vigilant in responding to outbreaks as needed.”

“Health systems, community clinics such as San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Strut clinic, and SFDPH-affiliated sites, including our sexual health clinic SF City Clinic, will continue to offer vaccines, tests and other mpox resources,” it stated.

The Jynneos vaccine was originally developed to prevent infection with the smallpox virus, which is related to the mpox virus. When faced with a shortage during last summer’s outbreak, the Biden administration allowed the remaining doses to be split into fifths and injected in the forearm, instead of in the muscle. This remains the way Jynneos is administered.

The department maintains an FAQ webpage at https://sf.gov/information/mpox-faq that also links to a page that shows upcoming vaccination appointments available in San Francisco for mpox, the flu, and COVID-19. t

boards. (Like Esteen, Miley is Black.)

As for seeing the election of an LGBTQ supervisor, “I think that day will come,” Miley said. “I just don’t expect that day to come on March 5, 2024, based on what I have done historically as an elected official the last 30 years.”

He told the B.A.R. he relishes having an opponent again in 2024.

“I can’t sit back, twiddle my fingers and get lazy. Opponents help you do that and check in with the electorate to see how you are doing,” said Miley. “I welcome the opportunity and relish the chance to have an opponent and a chance to go back to the electorate to see how they think in terms of my job performance.”

Another issue he is sure to face as he seeks reelection is his age. Miley, who is turning 72 this year, argued his age is beneficial and that serving in political office positively benefits his own faculties. He took pride in the fact that he has now served as president of the group United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County the past eight years.

“I feel great. I am slowed down a little bit but I try to take care of myself both physically and mentally. I try to get exercise and rest, things of that nature, but I still feel I am as sharp as ever in terms of my intellect,” said Miley. “I think my age is an asset; I am providing wisdom.”

That includes knowing how government works at the local, state, and federal levels, said Miley, along with the personal relationships he has built serving alongside other elected leaders on various regional oversight bodies.

“I don’t care how prepared you are. Until you are in this seat, you don’t know all the issues coming at you, all the things we deal with in closed session,” said Miley.

Not wanting to be seen as a “lame duck” if once again elected supervisor, Miley nonetheless told the B.A.R. it is likely going to be his last term. Come 2028 he suspects he will want to focus on spending time with his significant other and grandchildren who will then be ages 6, 8, and 10.

“I will be 76 at that point. I suspect I won’t want to serve any longer,” said Miley. t

Equality California did not respond to a request for comment for this report as of press time.

The Young Women’s Freedom Center has a list of demands and intends to advocate for them at San Francisco City Hall after Tuesday’s arraignment.

These include Walgreens ending contracting with armed security, San Francisco taking responsibility for Brown’s death, and funding for “safe community-based housing that responds to what young people want for themselves” because “shelter and short-term housing options have historically not been safe spaces for trans youth.” t

<< Esteen, Miley

data because a third party, such as a local health jurisdiction or private health care provider, oversees them. And only 17 of the 24 forms that are required to collect SOGI data “do so in a complete manner,” Parks noted.

There is little SOGI data made available to the public, the audit found. It also highlighted the fact that “resource and technical limitations” make it impossible for CADPH to export the SOGI data it collects for over 100 of 128 reportable disease conditions to an electronic database it oversees.

“The lack of consistent SOGI data collection procedures, and ultimately the low number of Public Health forms that currently collect SOGI data, indicate that changes to state law may be warranted to compel more consistent and useful SOGI data collection practices,” wrote Parks in an April 27 letter he submitted to state leaders.

In a statement released April 27 Wiener said he was “seriously considering legislation to implement the auditor’s recommendations.” He reiterated that stance in an interview with the B.A.R., calling the auditor’s report “pretty extraordinary.”

He intends to make sure every single form and survey the state health agency is using asks the SOGI questions, Wiener told the B.A.R. He met with the audit team last week to discuss with it the findings in the report.

“This was so unequivocal and also very clear that whatever the legal requirements are, that CDPH has made a decision not to seek comprehensive data on sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Wiener of the audit report, adding he was surprised to learn just how few of the health agency’s forms include the SOGI questions. “There is nothing preventing them from doing that; they have decided not to include it. That is a huge problem.”

In a response to Parks dated April 7 and released publicly last Thursday, state Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás J. Aragón pledged that the statewide health department would address the SOGI data issues raised in the auditor’s report with updates in 60 days, six months, and a year’s time.

“We believe in the importance of collecting SOGI data to identify disparities and acting to change inequities in California’s health systems,” wrote Aragón, who is also director of the state public health department and formerly worked for the San Francisco public health department.

“Best practices related to SOGI data collection are evolving. Public Health will continue to strive to achieve and improve

<< News Briefs

From page 15

Temple, senior director of the foundation’s Stonewall Project, a state-certified drug and alcohol treatment program.

The event is free. To register, go to https://bit.ly/3Lpxx3z

SF’s Walt Disney museum opens new show

The Walt Disney Family Museum will present “Pencils and Passion: A Student Art Exhibition” that opens Thursday, May 11, and continues through the fall.

<< San Diego mayor

Courtesy CADPH

Tomás J. Aragón

compliance in our data collection efforts and overall use of data to advance health equity in California.”

Aragón noted that the state health agency had “substantially complied” with the original SOGI legislation Assembly Bill 959, known as The LGBT Disparities Reduction Act.

He listed, for example, CADPH adding SOGI questions to its Confidential Morbidity reports and updating the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange known as CalREDIE so it could receive data from local health jurisdictions.

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the auditor’s report highlighted other issues that need to be addressed “that go beyond the requirements” of AB 959, which had been authored by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu when he served in the state Assembly.

“We acknowledge and appreciate the insights shared in the audit report. Public Health will both work to improve our own efforts, as well as support local health jurisdictions and health care providers to collect this data,” he wrote.

The state health agency has yet to make Aragón available for an interview with the B.A.R. It has had a SOGI working group comprised of subject matter experts from various departments within it tasked with addressing the myriad issues that are hindering the collection of the LGBTQ health data.

Formed prior to the audit, the working group has tackled such concerns as how to best ask the SOGI questions and what terms to include for how people define their sexual orientation and gender identity. It has also discussed how to aggregate the data collected and if it should be broken down under each segment of the LGBTQ acronym.

The working group has also been examining how to add the SOGI questions to the current systems it uses for gathering

According to a news release, the exhibit is a celebration of the museum’s educational initiatives and the achievements of its students. The show is the 37th original exhibition produced by the museum and highlights both past and current student artwork.

The exhibition includes studentcreated traditional and digital artworks, such as animated short films, which have been produced over the last decade by both the museum and its partner schools and organizations, the release noted.

The exhibition is co-curated by studio manager Anita Meza, studio coor-

and storing data. How to protect people’s information and adhere to privacy laws covering personal health data has also been part of its purview.

Within 60 days it intends to present a roadmap for how the state health department can address the findings of the SOGI data audit. By next April the department is working to see that all 129 of its forms ask the SOGI questions, with the updates rolled out over the coming months.

“Our goal is to be responsive to the auditor and ensure we are addressing the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community. We are committed to getting as many relevant forms completed in the next year as possible while also setting up a data process that ensures long-term success,” said Dana Moore, deputy director of the state agency’s Center for Health Statistics and Informatics.

Moore, who is bisexual and has several young children with her wife, has been part of the agency’s SOGI working group. One change it is implementing is rather than have each program and section within the state health department be responsible for updating its SOGI data collection, the center where Moore works will be taking a lead role on it going forward and facilitating the implementation of it department-wide.

In a video interview with the B.A.R. this week, she stressed that the department is committed to making sure legislators, policymakers, community advocates, and health leaders have the information needed to address the health concerns of LGBTQ individuals.

“Equity is our No. 1 priority for the department, and a key part of that is serving our LGBTQ+ communities and making sure we have the data to do that,” said Moore.

Zbur said he would like for Aragón to meet with the LGBTQ caucus to hear directly from him what his plan is to address the department’s deficiencies in collecting SOGI data.

“I do want to work with Dr. Aragón and the leadership over there. We had a good meeting with DPH senior people so far,” said Zbur. “I think this is an opportunity to demonstrate this report is an opportunity for Dr. Aragón and that senior team over there to demonstrate their commitment to the LGBTQ community that I do believe is there. They have to make it a priority in the department as well.”

Added Wiener, “I am glad Dr. Aragón put a timetable in place. We need to see specific deliverables quickly. There is a lot of unhappiness around this.”

dinator Grace Lacuesta, and director of education Travis Lacina, with director of collections and exhibitions Marina Villar Delgado.

The exhibition is free. The museum is located at 104 Montgomery Street in San Francisco’s Presidio. For more information, go to waltdisney.org.

Drag Out the Vote relaunches

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Drag Out the Vote has announced it’s relaunching its Drag Ambassador Program to educate, register, and get voters to the polls using the artistry of drag.

Plagued by problems

As the B.A.R. has noted in numerous articles over the years, SOGI data collection remains woefully inadequate and plagued with technical problems at every level of government. Even in San Francisco, where the city’s public health department has been on the forefront of LGBTQ health issues, the local agency has been criticized for its inability to collect the SOGI data of the people it treats and provides services to across its multiple health centers and programs.

San Francisco officials and state lawmakers nearly a decade ago had mandated that health officials begin collecting SOGI data. But almost immediately the efforts ran into problems, from how to word the questions asked of patients to needing to update the electronic data record systems health agencies use so the SOGI data could be entered.

Outside of LGBTQ circles, the issues impeding SOGI data collection had largely flown under the radar until the COVID pandemic hit in 2020. The global health crisis brought to the fore just how unknowledgeable health officials remain about the needs of LGBTQ people.

Despite a California law signed by former governor Jerry Brown that had mandated the state’s departments of health care services, public health, social services, and aging begin gathering SOGI data in 2016, state health officials did not know how many LGBTQ residents of the Golden State were infected with the deadly coronavirus when it began ravaging the state three years ago. To this day, no such data is available.

Nor is it known how many LGBTQ people died from COVID or have gotten vaccinated for it. The lack of such data persists despite state lawmakers adopting a bill in 2020 requiring health officials to collect it.

Call for audit

Fed up with the situation, a number of LGBTQ state lawmakers in 2021 had called for an audit of the SOGI data collection efforts. Among them was Wiener, who has been a vocal critic about the lackluster LGBTQ demographic data collection in California for the last three years and authored the 2020 bill requiring SOGI data collection pertaining to communicable diseases.

But issues with gathering the LGBTQ health information remain, as again became apparent during the recent outbreak of mpox primarily among men who have sex with men and their sexual partners, noted Zbur.

“Under Governor Newsom, the public

The B.A.R. reported on Drag Out the Vote in 2020, when it partnered with the California Secretary of State’s office ahead of the November election.

Drag Out the Vote (https://dragoutthe.vote/) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in New York City that signs up drag performers and activists from across the country to utilize their social media and online platforms. Not only targeted at LGBTQ people, the effort is also aiming to connect with young adults age 18 and older who may not be registered to vote yet, as the paper reported.

This year’s relaunch is even more sig-

health department has improved significantly but it still needs a lot of focus,” Zbur said. “They need to do a lot to make sure they are doing for the LGBTQ community what they do for everyone else in collecting the data to know that their health is being protected, that programs are reaching our communities and the data that is being collected is comprehensive.”

Over the last decade there has been some improvement, Zbur acknowledged, as he has personally experienced how he is being asked SOGI questions more often in health care settings.

“We haven’t met the ultimate goal, but I will say we have made progress. At least in some of the larger areas,” said Zbur. “When I go in most of the time, and go to a new health care provider, the forms I sign and intake forms do include data fields requesting voluntary SOGI data. That is very different from 10 years ago.”

Zbur plans to meet with the audit team. He told the B.A.R. that one problem with the past bills adopted by lawmakers was they were too narrow in scope, either due to cost concerns or in an effort to simplify a complicated issue.

“We don’t have everyone who is providing health care services to the broader community collecting data on the LGBTQ-plus community. That was one of the findings of the audit and one of the things that needs to be corrected,” said Zbur, adding that the members of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus will be “very carefully” reviewing the audit report. “It will provide a blueprint for what we need to do both from an advocacy perspective and a legislative perspective in terms of protecting the LGBTQ community’s health.”

The caucus members had met with CADPH leadership earlier this year prior to the release of the audit, said Zbur, “and raised a number of issues with them.” The experiences of the last several years pushing for the SOGI data amid two health crises impacting the LGBTQ community illustrated for Zbur how “very complex” the health care system is, he told the B.A.R.

“Part of the reason I know Senator Wiener asked for the audit is we realized how complex it is. No one was taking a step back to say how are we getting complete comprehensive data to protect our community and if all the forms are being updated,” said Zbur. “In one sense, I am displeased with the fact so many forms haven’t been updated. But frankly, after the years of advocacy related to COVID and monkeypox, I wasn’t that surprised.” t

nificant because of the various legislative attacks on drag performers in many conservative states.

According to an email announcement, those who sign up will be the first to be contacted about paid in-person and digital activations, receive a drag ambassador media kit, have the opportunity to participate in monthly debriefs with Drag Out The Vote’s executives on anti-LGBTQ legislation, and receive the organization’s monthly newsletter.

To sign up, go to https://bit.ly/3LeJngw. t

creating our housing element and working with our community on that.”

<< Political Notebook

From page 7

From page 18 ful and really hateful rhetoric around what it means to be trans is going to lead to children killing themselves,” said Mahogany, adding that trans Montana legislator Zooey Zephyr was correct in saying her colleagues who voted to ban gender-affirming care for youth would have “blood” on their hands. “We have to be very clear about that. They are killing trans children, queer children through their efforts.”

Murphy told the B.A.R. in December 2022 that Pinole’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation of 500 new units is an achievable target. The city is already on its way to meeting the goal with nearly

As for why the San Francisco Republican Party has been getting more involved in LGBTQ legislative matters, Dennis explained it derives from growing concerns about bills focused on youth issues that get passed with little scrutiny.

“We noticed Scott Wiener has put through a number of bills that have passed with little or no pushback around sensitive areas that involved minors. That is a new thing,” said Dennis. “We want to make sure we have a conversation about this and are doing

half, 223 units, approved for a new fivestory residential building set to begin construction in mid-2023, he told the newspaper. Pinole is one of the East Bay’s smaller cities.

it in the right way and that the Republican voice is a part of the conversation.”

Expanding Log Cabin chapter

It comes as Clark, who returned to San Francisco in July 2021 after working for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during the Trump administration, attempts to increase membership in the local Log Cabin chapter, which has roughly 50 active members. He took over as its president last year and was reelected to another term in January.

He also noted that his city was able to secure state funding for the Pinole Satellite Affordable Housing Associates development. Ground should also be broken for that project sometime next summer.

He wants the local chapter to get more involved in the community, similar to its LGBTQ Democratic counterparts. Clark has also been inviting newsmakers to be guest speakers to the chapter’s meetings as draws for more people to attend, with freshman Congressmember Kevin Kiley (D-Rocklin) scheduled to address it May 24 and retired California Supreme Court chief justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye set to speak on July 26.

Asked how having national GOP leaders lead an assault on LGBTQ

“We are very happy about this! This is a 100% affordable housing project, where 33 new low-income housing units will be built,” said Murphy.t

rights impacts his community outreach plans, particularly at upcoming Pride events, Clark didn’t see it as being a hindrance.

“All politics is local but national politics also figures into it. Sometimes it works in our favor; sometimes it works against. I don’t think it is necessarily an anchor,” said Clark, who now works for a local law firm. “A lot of people don’t like what is going on in the schools right now. I think it might benefit local Republican candidates.” t

Director and state Health Officer Dr.

<< Pride

From page 14

but the largest group had to be out of uniform, in shirts with department logos.

“There was really no decision made, we just kept the agreement in place and started to work on it,” Ford said. “We’re just using the agreement from last year.”

Security issues marred 2022 event

At the end of last year’s celebration there were false reports of a mass-casualty shooting that caused a stampede in the Civic Center. Separately, there were physical fights, and someone sprayed pepper spray into the crowd.

“It was very unfortunate that occurred, but overall it was a very safe event and parade, which I was so grateful for on the other side Monday,” Ford said when asked about it.

This year, SF Pride will collect donations

Ford said that JJLA, the Los Angeles-based live event and entertainment company that will be produc-

KEEP UP!

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23557867

In the matter of the application of CINDY PEI-

XIONG CAI, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner CINDY PEI-XIONG CAI, is requesting that the name CINDY PEI-XIONG CAI AKA PEI XIONG

CAI AKA CINDY PEIXIONG CAI, be changed to CINDY PEI XIONG CAI. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of MAY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23557864

ing the event, will be bringing in new security.

“There’s one security contractor

be hiring other security companies. Not just one. And we will hire some queer-owned security companies that will help too.”

JJLA did not respond to a request for comment for this report as of press time.

Ford said there will be metal detectors at the entrance to the celebration grounds, as there have been in years past.

Ford comes from “the packaging industry” and was a regional consultant for Revere Packaging.

“I transitioned in place in Novato and in a quite public way came out at work,” Ford said. “I came out in Novato when my kid was starting in public school and it was quite a public transition.”

Ford’s child is now at Cal Poly. Ford is trying to move to San Francisco in the summer.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399683

The following person(s) is/are doing business as THE LIGHT BOX CAFÉ AND CATERING, 221 MAIN ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed JOSE PEREZNEGRON. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/01/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/02/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399997

The following person(s) is/are doing business as KAMBARA PLUS, 3828 21ST ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94114. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed YAYOI KAMBARA. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/03/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/05/2023.

that reports to them and reports to me,” Ford said. “We will obviously

“I’ll be getting to have my dream, my Mary Tyler Moore moment, and move to the city,” she said. t

hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of MAY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME IN SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FILE CNC-23557862

In the matter of the application of KIM NGAN THI NGUYEN, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner KIM NGAN THI NGUYEN is requesting that the name KIM NGAN THI NGUYEN be changed to KIM NGAN NGUYEN. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of MAY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

In the matter of the application of WAI MING CHOU AKA KEVIN CHOU, for change of name having been filed in Superior Court, and it appears from said application that petitioner WAI MING CHOU AKA KEVIN CHOU is requesting that the name WAI MING CHOU AKA KEVIN CHOU be changed to KEVIN CHOU. Now therefore, it is hereby ordered, that all persons interested in said matter do appear before this Court in Dept. 103N, Rm. 103N on the 18th of MAY 2023 at 9:00am of said day to show cause why the application for change of name should not be granted

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399983

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ALEX R CONSTRUCTION, 76 NEBRASKA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ALEJANDRO ROSILLO. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 06/30/2007. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/04/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

voting, candidates and measures. By law, we must mail you a Pamphlet unless you opt out. There are several reasons to opt out of paper Pamphlet delivery:

•You’ll save the taxpayer dollars we use for printing and mailing.

•You’ll reduce your carbon footprint.

•You can access elections information anytime, anywhere.

Does your household receive more than one copy of the Pamphlet? Consider having all but one voter opt out so your household can share one paper copy. Not sure you will like reading the Pamphlet online? Give it a try -- is just as easy to opt back in!

If you are ready to make the switch to the digital Pamphlet, go to sfelections.org/voterportal or call us at 415-554-4375.

Department of Child Support Services Child support matters can be complicated, stressful, and confusing. The Department of Child Support Services helps parents understand the process so they know their rights and options for making and receiving support payments. We are available to assist you in person or by phone. Call us today at (866) 901-3212 for more information. Apply for services online or schedule an appointment at sf.gov/ dcss

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400012

The following person(s) is/are doing business as ADEL MARKET, 901 GENEVA AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed ADEL AHMED SALEH ALHEMRI. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/06/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/06/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399934

The following person(s) is/are doing business as HENRY’S CARPET AND PAINTING, 2652 SAN JOSE AVE, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94112. This business is conducted by an individual and is signed HENRY ARMANDO REYES RODRIGUEZ. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 03/28/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/28/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400029

The following person(s) is/are doing business as LAS MARGARITAS BAR, 3336 24TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94110. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed FRANCISCO J. VILLALOBOS. The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/10/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/10/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399790

The following person(s) is/are doing business as DANCING AURORAS, 165 N. POINT ST #4152, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133. This business is conducted by an individual, and is signed REANNA WRIGHT. 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 03/10/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0400015

The following person(s) is/are

APR

FICTITIOUS

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SEQUOIA REAL ESTATE; SEQUOIA REALTY; SEQUOIA HOMES, 3595 BALBOA ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94121. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed SEQUOIA REAL ESTATE-CITY PROPERTIES, 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 04/05/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399959

The following person(s) is/are doing business as WESTAR MARINE SERVICES, PIER 50, BLDG C, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed CROSS LINK INC. (CA).

The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 07/01/1993. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/30/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399974

The following person(s) is/are doing business as REMAX PRESTIGIOUS PROPERTIES, 1653 IRVING ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94122. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed BEST ASSOCIATION INC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 11/23/2003. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/03/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399987

The following person(s) is/are doing business as SKOULAS, DDS – THE SF COSMETIC DENTIST, 450 SUTTER ST #1616, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed ANTIGONE SKOULAS, D.D.S., INC. (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 10/01/2022. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/05/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE A-0399972

The following person(s) is/are doing business as AALTO; SELF-SERVICE REAL ESTATE, 572 RUGER ST #A, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94129. This business is conducted by a corporation, and is signed AALTO, INC. (DE). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 04/27/2021. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 04/03/2023.

APR 13, 20, 27, MAY 04, 2023 FICTITIOUS

7TH ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103. This business is conducted by a limited liability company, and is signed SHREE JALARAM INN LLC (CA). The registrant(s) commenced to transact business under the above listed fictitious business name or names on 02/14/2023. The statement was filed with the City and County of San Francisco, CA on 03/24/2023. APR 13,

and administrative citation services under the provisions of California Vehicle Code Section 40200 et seq . The District presently intends to enter into a five-year Agreement with the CONTRACTOR selected with the option to extend the Agreement for one additional year. Accordingly, BART will be accepting proposals (“Proposals”) from proposers (“Proposers”) for consideration for the selection of a CONTRACTOR to perform the scope of services specified in this Request for Proposals (“RFP”). Proposals must be received by BART by 2:00 PM local time on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 . Proposals shall be submitted to the following address: District Secretary’s Office San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 2150 Webster Street, 10 th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 REQUIRED REGISTRATION ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL In order for prospective Proposers to be eligible for award of an Agreement being solicited on the BART Procurement Portal, such Proposers are required to be currently registered to do business with BART on the BART Procurement Portal online at https://suppliers.bart.gov and have obtained Solicitation Documents, updates, and any Addenda issued online so as to be added to the Online Planholders List for this solicitation. If a prospective Proposer is a joint venture or partnership, such entity may register on the BART Procurement Portal with the entity’s tax identification number (TIN) and download the Solicitation Documents so as to be listed as an online planholder under the entity’s name prior to submitting its Proposal. If such entity has not registered on BART Procurement Portal in the name of the joint venture or partnership prior to submitting its Proposal, provided that at least one of the joint venturers or partners registered online on the BART Procurement Portal and downloaded the Solicitation Documents so as to be added to the Online Planholders List for this solicitation, such entity will be required to register with the entity’s TIN as an online planholder following the submittal of Proposals, in order for the entity to be eligible for award of this Agreement. PROPOSERS WHO HAVE NOT REGISTERED ON THE BART PROCUREMENT PORTAL PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL, (OR FOR A JOINT VENTURE OR PARTNERSHIP AS DESCRIBED ABOVE PRIOR TO AWARD) AND DID NOT DOWNLOAD THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS FOR THIS SOLICITATION ONLINE SO AS TO BE LISTED AS AN ONLINE PLANHOLDER FOR THIS SOLICITATION, WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARD OF THIS AGREEMENT. PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING A Pre-Proposal Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 1:30 p.m . local time via either a Microsoft Teams or Zoom videoconferencing session – still yet to be determined. All interested parties must RSVP via email to: rcoffey@bart.gov by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in the subject: RFP 6M5163, PARKING AND ADMINISTRATIVE CITATION PROCESSING SERVICES FOR THE BART POLICE DEPARTMENT. Instructions on attending the Microsoft Teams/Zoom Presentation will be emailed upon receipt of RSVP. At the pre-proposal meeting, the District’s Small Business Program and Non-Discrimination Program for Subcontracting will be explained. Prospective Proposers are requested to make every effort to participate in this only scheduled Pre-Proposal Meeting. At the conclusion of the Pre-Proposal Meeting, participants will be given the opportunity to share their contact information to facilitate networking offline.

5/4/23 CNS-3696301# BAY AREA REPORTER

along the parade route.

Rick Gerharter

by Jim Gladstone

As a child in the 1970s, Billy Porter fantasized about growing up to become “the male Whitney Houston.”

He’ll dip back into that oft-deferred dream later this week, stopping in both San Jose and San Francisco for part of his first full-fledged concert tour heralding the expected late summer release of his new album, “Black Mona Lisa, Volume I.”

While the Pittsburgh native’s public profile has exploded over the past decade thanks to triumphs on stage – two Tony awards, as Best Actor in “Kinky Boots” and co-producer of “A Strange Loop”, television – an Emmy for playing Pray Tell in the groundbreaking “Pose,” and red carpets, where his couture-cum-parade float ensembles

have helped spark a new era of non-gender-specific high fashion; Porter, now 53, still holds tenaciously to his earliest showbiz dream.

It almost came true before Porter began to make a name for himself on the New York stage. Having pursued the pop star path even while earning his degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s acclaimed theater department, Porter appeared on the 1992 season of “Star Search,” the Ed McMahon-hosted “American Idol” predecessor.

All signs seemed positive for jump-starting a solo music career after he won the show’s $100,000 prize as Best Male Vocalist (That same season’s Junior Vocalist competitors included a 10-year-old Britney Spears).

But, Porter explained to the Bay Area Reporter in a recent interview, as radio formats began to splinter and hip-hop overtook the R&B and Qui-

Billy Porter’s big pop tour

et Storm formats that had thrived in the 1980s, the predominant image of Black men in pop music shifted significantly.

In the early 1990s, the music business was no longer particularly interested in the dance and soul music that Porter had mastered, instead leaning hard into toxically masculine thug-anddrug stylings.

“That was when,” recalled Porter, “they kicked my Black faggot ass out” of the music business. Other paths forward

Given his theatrical training and television exposure, there were still opportunities available to Porter. Having debuted on Broadway in 1991 as an understudy in “Miss Saigon,” he made a more significant mark playing Teen Angel in the 1994 revival of “Grease.”

Adrian Santana

Over the following decades, Porter’s stage work included roles in major productions of “Dreamgirls,” Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog” and composer Adam Guettel’s acclaimed song cycle “Myths & Hymns.”

During that period, in which he also played small parts in television series and feature films, Porter released three albums, including both pop and theater music, which made little commercial impact.

Porter has made a stronger mark with more recent work in which he embraced his identity as a gay man and his own femininity.

In 2005, Porter’s solo autobiographical show “Ghetto Superstar” played to acclaim at Joe’s Pub at New York’s Public Theater and was nominated

by Laura Moreno

Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco proudly presents the upcoming show “Transitar por un Mundo sin Tiempo (Passage through a Timeless World)” on Saturday, May 13 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Featuring openly gay dancer Adrian Santana from Malaga, Spain, and Artistic Director Carola Zertuche, they fuse Flamenco with live electronic music, violin, and electric guitar played by amazing musicians.  Other guest artists include guitarist Juani de la Isla, singer Diego Amador Hijo, and electronic musician Pascual Martinez.

The vibrant concert marks the company’s 54th home season and was inspired by Zertuche’s 2021 trip to Jordan in 2021. In her words, “Visiting the Wadi Rum Desert, especially, was one of the most incredible experiences of my life: peaceful energy surrounded me like an inexplicable force. I felt the sensation – with the light, the endless red sand, the stars clear in the night sky – that time had ceased to exist, that everything was perfect, that anything could happen. Flamenco, to me, also has that inexplicable energy, and I’d like the audience to feel those same emotions, even if just for the hour and fifteen minutes of the show.”

This is Santana’s debut with the company. Although he has been wildly received by audiences all over the world, this is his first time performing in San Francisco. He spoke with the Bay Area Reporter about his dancing.

Laura Moreno: One of the best things I ever did was study beginning Flamenco. What is the secret to great Flamenco dancing?

Adrian Santana: The secret for me is first of all to be born with the gift, art appreciation and then to dedicate endless hours to preparing and training yourself well in all its disciplines. And to have a good basis to later be able to use all that knowledge and technique to put them at the service of your art and the heart of each artist, and from there to bring your personality to Flamenco.

What do you love best about Flamenco?

If I have to choose, I identify myself very much with the Soleá. I like to do it with castanets and also with the Taranto, they are two of the flamenco “palos” that I think that my personality identifies me the most.

Flamenco dancer, teacher, and choreographer at the Herbst

by David-Elijah Nahmod

From May 12-14, Z Space will host the world premiere of “Imaginary Country,” a new dance piece that poses the question: what would happen if you could see into the future? The show comes to the San Francisco stage courtesy of Sharp & Fine, a contemporary dance company founded in 2011 by sisters Megan and Shannon Kurashige.

The company prides itself in experimenting with theatrical storytelling combined with exuberant choreography, drawing on ballet and contemporary forms. Over the years Sharp & Fine has collaborated with dancers, composers, authors, a playwright and an opera singer.

According to Julie Crothers, one of the lead dancers in the show, “Imaginary Country” tells its story not only through dance, but through music and spoken word. Crothers brings quite a bit to the table. She is queer and disabled, but has never let her disability stop her from pursuing her passion for dance. Crothers hails from the Nashville area and danced for three years with AXIS Dance Company. She left AXIS in 2017 to focus on her own choreography. She also teaches dance to teens and preschoolers.

“I was born missing half of my left arm,” Crothers explained in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “I danced for the first twenty-two years of my life wearing a prosthetic arm. It took a couple of years to transition, but now I no longer wear a prosthetic. I dance with my body just as it is. In

<<

Billy Porter

From page 23

award. In 2010, he played the nurse, Belize, in a revival of “Angels In America,” and in 2013, he originated the role of drag queen Lola in “Kinky Boots,” the Harvey Fierstein/Cyndi Lauper musical which truly ignited his star power and, he has said “cracked open” his feminine side and helped allow him to embrace his truest self.

It was “Kinky Boots” that paved Porter’s way to “Pose” and his subsequent emergence as an unofficial, but hugely influential, spokesperson for gender fluidity in fashion.

While Porter’s take on male couture has served as a cue for male stars of a younger generation including Harry Styles, Timothée Chalamet, and Ezra

some ways that’s a big part of how I move, but it’s also not a big part, in that not everything I do is related to my disability. Most of the time it feels that people who want to work with me want to do so because of who I am and what I bring to the process. But it influences my artistry and how I move about the world.”

Hero and Oracle

Crothers describes herself as a trained dancer with a technical back-

Miller, its notable that none of these male fashion acolytes have been Black. This despite the androgyny celebrated in “Pose” and the Black ball culture that inspired it.

That said, Porter himself has accrued enough visibility and cultural cachet that he finds himself able to confidently return to the world of pop music he was once edged out of for not adhering to masculine ideals.

The “Black Mona Lisa” tour and album find him working with mainstream pop producers and writers including Justin Tranter and MNEK, who have collaborated on huge hits with everyone from Justin Bieber to Beyoncé.

Porter is a co-writer on all of his new songs, which sparkle with modern studio production technique but also offer throwback glimpses of the

ground. She is also interested in theater, expression and storytelling.

“It’s important to me in the work that I make and the work that I participate in,” she said. “I feel that I can fully show up as who I am. I’m a very animated person, warm and outgoing. I’m a queer person, and it feels important that I work in spaces that feel like they embrace that, and that no part of me has to be minimized, or squished into a mold to fit into what’s being done.”

disco era and provide showcases for his powerhouse vocals reminiscent of Aretha Franklin, Al Green and Gladys Knight.

“I’m embracing the fact that I’ve stood the test of time,” says Porter, of his return to his first love and the opportunity that he has carved himself through years of hard work.

Thinking back on Luther Vandross, the closeted gay R&B superstar of the 1980s, Porter acknowledges, “Luther took the hit for me. It’s because of people like him that I’m able to be here now.”

Porter says it’s now his proud responsibility to blaze trails for future generations of gay black performers.

“We all need a healing and this is my ministry. Daddy’s here for you. Lil Nas X is my child.”

Porter wants fans of his theater

She describes “Imaginary Country” as a show about the future. It’s about the relationship between two characters, the Hero, played by Crothers, and “the Oracle.” The premise of the show is that one day the Oracle can suddenly see into the future. At first the Hero is not interested in knowing much about it.

“But over the course of the show our relationship to this idea of the future and to this new ability that the Oracle has, and the way that it

work to understand that unlike his Joe’s Pub show or the act he brought to Feinstein’s at the Nikko after hitting it big with “Kinky Boots,” the “Black Mona Lisa” show is not a cabaret act.

“Don’t come expecting Brian Stokes Mitchell!” he joked, referencing the Broadway star who has frequently done nightclub performances. “This is a pop concert, with a full band and that big energy.”

plays on that, and how it affects my relationship to the future and to the Oracle kind of unravels,” she said. “It shows a lot more about who we are as characters, and what it means to be in community and move into the future and all of the fears and unknowns that it entails.”

While the piece is primarily a dance performance, Crothers points out that “Imaginary Country” also includes monologues, dialogue and a song. She feels that the show has appeal to audiences beyond the world of dance. The work, she says, is accessible, and that it plays with many different emotions.

And if you’re hesitant to attend this show, Crothers has a few words of assurance for you.

“This show is going to make you think,” she said. “It’s going to make you feel, and in my opinion that’s what the best kind of live performance is doing. I personally don’t want to go to a show where I walk out not caring not caring about what I just saw or not having felt anything about what I just saw. The story of these characters has something specific that you can latch onto. But it’s also going to speak to the more collective experience of something that is universal to all of us, and it is this idea of the future, and this idea of the responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other as we move in this thing that is so full of fear and is so unknown.”t

Sharp & Fine’s ‘Imaginary Country,’ May 12 and 13, 8pm, May 14, 2pm, Z Space, 450 Florida Street, $15-$25. www.sharpandfine.org

And probably a few costume changes to boot.t

Billy Porter’s Black Mona Lisa Tour, May 4, 8pm at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 S. Almaden Blvd. $60-$99. (408) 792-4252. www.sanjosetheaters.org May 5, 8pm at the Golden Gate Theatre. $49.50-$176 (888) 746-1799. www.broadwaysf.com www.theebillyporter.com

Golden & Michael Levy

Billy Porter

Robert

PRODUCER Charles Renfroe

PRODUCERS

Dennis Lickteig & William Giammona Charles Matteson & Oakley Stephens

Andrew Nance & Jim Maloney

Andrew Smith & Brian Savard

for a GLAAD

Caitlin Hicks and Julie Crothers in ‘Imaginary Country’

RJ Muna

Early Bird Tickets until May 5th

Food trucks

Ice Cream

Succulent art

Screen printing

Music Games

Bubbles

Face painting

Beer/Wine/Mocktails

Entertainment includes:

Be Steadwell

Drag Queen Story Hour

Quintessential San Francisco

Drag Show

DJ Livv

SF School of the Arts

Drummers

TICKETS AND SPONORSHIP

SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2023

GOLDEN GATE PARK

What we need right now is a little LGBTQ JOY!

Join us for a day in the sunshine at the majestic National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.

Pride in the Park is a family-friendly event complete with entertainment, great food and drink, activities and an energy only found in spaces created with love and acceptance.

Thank you to our generous sponsors! There is still time to join them in support of NCLR. Early bird tickets are available through May 5th. Grab your friends and reserve yours today!

Dr. Carl Blake Noontime

by Philip Campbell

Noontime Concerts (NTC), a lunch hour tradition in San Francisco for 34 years, keeps the music alive and free of charge at Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral near Chinatown on Tuesdays at 12:30 pm. A recent conversation with Dr. Carl Blake, a board member, artistic advisor and concert pianist, underscored the beneficent mission of the organization and the rich diversity and accomplishments of everyone involved.

Dr. Blake sidesteps most titles, but a look at his impressive CV and fascinating career compels both admiration and respect. Son of a Baptist Minister, he was born in Liberty, Missouri and spent his teen years in Omaha. He later attained three degrees in piano performance: Bachelor of Music (magna cum laude) from Boston University, Master of Arts from San Jose State University and Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University.

Blake has performed three times at Weill Recital Hall (formerly, Carnegie Recital Hall) and has toured in Russia, France, England, Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands as Artistic Ambassador with cellist Kim Cook (Distinguished Professor of Music at The Pennsylvania State University) for the U.S. Department of State. He got two Fulbright grants to teach piano in Honduras: 1999 and 2006. He currently serves as Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco and teaches piano in his private studio in Oakland.

Some illuminating personal remarks from Carl Blake include, “All of

<< Adrian Santana

From page 23

How long have you been dancing? How did you start?

I’ve been dancing all my life. That’s

Concerts keep the music moving

us have multiple identities, innate and acquired… Mine are: Black (African American), Gay, Musician, and Aged.”

He talked about the challenges and blessings that come with each facet of his individuality and how they intertwine. I appreciate his calm self-assurance and “Aged” (mature) understanding of life.

Blake has encountered some thinly veiled condescension over the years about his achievements, “because you are a ‘diversity’ hire,” and even overtly racist epithets shouted on the streets of Oakland today. He also sees a disheartening ageism and lack of inclusivity in parts of the LGBT community, but Blake is still a man who feels “comfortable in my own skin.” He lives to a standard of reaching his own personal best.

An acquaintance and member of the advisory board of Noontime Concerts invited him to one of their meetings, which resulted in his becoming a member. A few years later, the Board of Directors invited him to join them. He has now served in that capacity for four years.

Musical balm

As a pianist during his time on the advisory board, Blake performed the Quintet for Piano and Strings by Amy Beach, paying tribute to the pioneering 19th-century American woman composer on the 150th anniversary of her birth.

Other successful performances have included Juneteenth Video Concerts 2021 and 2022 (with four vocalists) and “Majesty of the Spiritual” collaboration with 11 vocalists (featuring a special guest appearance by beloved

what my mom tells me. My family always danced since I was born. I started to train as a dancer at age 7 with my teacher, Pepito Vargas, and at the Professional Dance Conservatory of Malaga, my hometown.

soprano Frederica von Stade) and four pianists at Herbst Theatre.

During the COVID pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, Noontime Concerts provided some musical balm with previously recorded video performances online. One of the earliest was

I very much enjoyed watching your incredible dance moves to incredibly good music in the videos. Do the musicians and you improvise parts of the performance, as in jazz, or is it all cho-

a piano recital Blake performed in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is not hard to see how Dr. Blake’s serendipitous introduction to Noontime Concerts has benefitted all, from the boardroom to the musical artists onstage, the audience in the pews and

reographed in advance?

Thank you very much for your words, I am very happy that you liked the videos you have seen, although flamenco is not made for the screens. In my opinion, it is very cold. Flamenco has to be seen live. I totally agree!

Well, yes, there is a lot of improvisation, especially in the world of Tablao. There is nothing written or rehearsed from the moment you start until you finish. It is pure improvisation, singing, guitar and dance.

Do you still teach online Flamenco classes? Can anyone join your class?

The online classes have been my latest challenge in these two years since the pandemic. I continue with online

himself. He proudly cites all of NTC’s passionate participants and praises their commitment and vision, while acknowledging the satisfaction it has brought to him as well.

Current programs at NTC include the Emerging Artist series (The Helen von Ammon Fund for Emerging Artists), which provides opportunities and exposure for gifted and promising young artists who are preparing for careers in music.

Noontime Concerts welcomes all K-12 music educators and their classes to attend programs at any time. Noontime Concerts is an independent nonprofit arts organization. Support is provided by public donations, grants and gifts from the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Grants for the Arts, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, William and Gretchen Kimball Fund, Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving and Sue Brown Memorial. Additional support comes from The Helen von Ammon Fund for Emerging Artists and the Ross McKee Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, Fidelity Charitable, Bright Fund and individual donations given at concert time. Regardless of the impressive financial patronage “Always on Tuesday and Always Free” remains an enduring NTC motto. The organization is dedicated to providing an accessible means for the public to experience, enjoy, learn about, and appreciate the presentation of high-quality classical music performances for free.t

Noontime Concerts at Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St. www.noontimeconcerts.org

classes and I have a lot of material stored in the library to offer it to anyone who is interested and wants to study with me. I have techniques for dancing with gowns, shawls, castanets, fans, body technique, and choreography for anyone who wants to contact me. I am happy to hear from people who want to be new students and will send the material that best suits your needs.t

Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco presents ‘Transitar por un Mundo sin Tiempo (Passage through a Timeless World),’ May 13, 8pm at the Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. $25-$55.

www.CityBoxOffice.com

www.theatreflamenco.org

www.instagram.com/ adriansantanaflamenco

Adrian Santana

Dr. Carl Blake

How do artifacts from the past inform our understanding of the future? Get an up-close look at rare specimens from our collections and learn how scientists are unlocking their secrets to help conserve and regenerate our world.

Now open | Get tickets at calacademy.org

Every visit supports our mission to regenerate the natural world.

‘Mama’s Boy’

by Brian Bromberger

It’s one of the most memorable Oscar acceptance speeches, given by Dustin Lance Black when he won Best Original Screenplay for the biopic “Milk” (2008). He thanked Harvey Milk for giving him hope to live his life openly as a gay man, fall in love, and one day get married; told gay and lesbian kids they are beautiful creatures of value no matter what anyone says; and said, “I promise you that very soon you will have equal rights federally across this great nation.”

It’s the moment when Black the LGBTQ activist was born. We are made to realize its importance because we hear the speech twice in the new HBO Max documentary “Mama’s Boy,” based on Black’s 2019 bestselling memoir. This film aims to tell you much more than what it shows you.

The other key moment, again highlighted more than once, is the next morning when Black’s mother Rose(anne) Bisch, who accompanied him to the Oscars wearing a white ribbon supporting marriage equality, asked him how he intended to keep that promise because a promise “is a sacred thing.”

Outside of Black, Bisch is the prime focal point of the documentary. There’s little doubt she was both a remarkable woman and a formative influence/inspiration for Black. However, anyone wanting to learn why Black became a screenwriter and how that career led him to win an Oscar won’t be satisfied by this documentary.

On a mission

From the outset we are informed Bisch was a resilient courageous fighter, starting from her birth to sharecroppers in rural Louisiana, when as a toddler she contracted po-

Dustin Lance Black’s personal cinematic family memoir

Bisch died of breast cancer in 2014. We are told repeatedly she fought her whole life and that’s she’s a brave, resourceful woman, but it gets tedious to hear the same affirmation parroted ad nauseum. The film lacks spontaneity since it’s so heavily scripted, which also blunts any explosion of raw emotions where you might expect them.

Standard structure

“Mama’s Boy” revolves around oneon-one interviews with Black, who also serves as the principal narrator. Black is trying to convey how the values instilled in him by his mother (and indirectly through the Mormon religion) shaped him into a quasi-iconic queer activist.

Yet the narrative seems too one-sided, with just one-sentence references to previous projects before “Milk.”

lio. Informed she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, Bisch, equipped with leg braces, struggled to walk on crutches. She attended her prom, though no one asked her to be his date. Wanting to be a doctor, she attended university on a scholarship.

Converted by missionaries to Mormonism, Bisch’s first husband was a missionary. She gave up her medical career and despite having been told if she got pregnant she would die, she birthed three sons. Her husband abandoned the family and husband number two was physically abusive to her and the children. She eventually divorced him when as an Air Force Sargent he was sent to Korea. The Mormon Church gifted the family money to survive. Husband number three was a keeper, also in the military. She studied to become a medical technologist.

Into activism

Black sensed by age six he was gay. But having been brought up Mormon and worried about going to hell, he remained in the closet. For most of his early life, his mother was Black’s only and best friend. In college he pushed his BBF Ryan to come out, then told him being gay might end their friendship. “I was treating people poorly. If you hate yourself, you will treat other people like shit. You turn into a monster.”

At 21, he finally came out to his conservative mother, struggling to reconcile her religious beliefs with Black’s sexuality. She relented when after Black moved to LA to enroll in the UCLA Film School, on a rare visit, she met his gay friends at a party and opted to put her son ahead of Mormon doctrine, accepting him unconditionally.

Seeing and being seen

by Victoria A. Brownworth

The “Law & Order” franchise has been on TV my entire adult life and in that time has done many groundbreaking stories as well as those stories

“ripped from the headlines.”

Watching old “Law & Order” shows from the ’90s, it’s astonishing how many storylines – particularly

The official synopsis of the April 27 episode of “Law & Order,” “Private Lives,” reads: “Cosgrove and Shaw investigate the murder of a family physician whose outspoken politician wife suspects she was the intended target. Price and Maroun’s case hangs in the balance when the defense calls one of the doctor’s young pa-

Her support and encouragement, coupled with his command and eloquence as a speaker, led Black to suspend his screenwriting career for several years and fight for marriage equality by overturning California’s Proposition 8 (which banned samesex marriage). When he discovered Prop 8 was primarily financed by Utah’s Mormons, he met with church leaders in Salt Lake City to build bridges with people harboring different beliefs and politics.

He reconciled with his extended family in Texarkana. Black’s elder brother Todd came out after years of anguish, but died of cancer in 2012. There’s a very brief interlude concerning Black meeting his husband, British Olympic diver Tom Daley, whom he married in 2017 and parents two children.

It’s a shame that director Laurent Bouzereau stuck with the standard documentary structure because this is one instance where monkeying around with past and present timelines, and a more adventurous parallel narrative juxtaposing Black and his mother, could have yielded big creative dividends, leading to a more engaging, less stilted result.

Black’s message that open dialogue and sharing stories are essential tools for changing hearts, promoting empathy, and healing wounds, seems particularly timely in these days of partisan divisive warfare.

“Mama’s Boy” works more than it fizzles as it showcases two extraordinary lives. Watching this film with Mom could be the ideal Mother’s Day gift as a celebration and tribute to an encouraging, empathetic parent. t

www.hbo.com/movies/mamas-boy

The Lavender Tube on ‘Law & Order’ and lesbian optics

get (and are prepared to despise her, even though she’s played by “Rizzoli & Isles” star Sasha Alexander). But then it looks like her husband, the doctor, might have been doing something creepy with a young 13-year-old patient and is keeping it off the books. Is this going to be a crossover with “Law & Order: SVU”?

And then – wow. The doctor was indeed doing something with the patient. He was giving her gender-affirming care–puberty blockers because the kid, Taylor (Oliver Spenceman), was assigned male at birth, but had been identifying as female for, well, ever.

This is New York City, so no problem with such care, right? Wrong. Taylor’s father, Robert (Christian Conn) was adamantly opposed to his “son” getting the treatment and had forbidden it. Taylor’s mother, Debra, (Kara Jackson) was more conflicted, but didn’t want to contradict her husband. Another angle; the doctor’s sister is Taylor’s guidance counselor at school. Whoa.

A series of twists occur that highlighted the panoply of issues, political and personal, related to genderaffirming care of trans youth. It was a deeply moving episode in which everyone is forced to examine their biases and consider the humanity (remember that?) of the kids involved in this “debate” about their personhood.

Lesbian visibility

Staking her claim for visibility and lesbian humanity is White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre,

an out lesbian. She welcomed cast and creators from the Showtime TV series “The L Word” and “Generation Q,” including Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey, Katherine Moennig and Ilene Chaiken, to talk about Lesbian Visi-

bility Week at the daily White House press briefing on April 25. What a moment.

Highlighting lesbian visibility during this fraught time in American politics exemplified how representation matters. Jean-Pierre said, “So, this week is Lesbian Visibility Week. And as the first openly queer person to hold the position of Press Secretary for the President of the United States, I see every day how important visibility and representation are.”

Chaiken said, “We face new threats against our community, from online harassment to legislative acts of violence to actual physical violence –astonishing, backward, meanspirited attacks by groups and individuals who in trying to deny our humanity only diminish their own.”t

Read the full column on www.ebar.com.

Let’s talk cannabis.

Sasha Alexander in ‘Law & Order’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre welcomed ‘The L Word’ creators and actors to a press briefing.

Dustin Lance Black and his mother Rose Bisch

HBO

Dustin Lance Black

HBO

Spring books round-up, part 2

by Jim Piechota

Continuing with the sequel to our spring book picks, here are many more ways to enjoy new works of fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and even a poetry volume by Eileen Myles. We have a mind-bending tale of a tech worker’s life gone awry, a memoir from a Tony Award-nominated actor, a cult survivor’s childhood memories, and a book exploring how food is used

and Nora is kept front and center in a page-turning novel that explores the emotionally revelatory nature of sexual awakenings. This is a surprising engrossing story of innocence, obsession and desire.

“Flux” by Jinwoo Chong

$26.99 (Melville House)

This debut reads like a fever dream caught in a spinning house of mirrors. There are three central characters and

versity of Nigeria. August struggles with self-confidence and worthiness but these issues take a back seat once he meets confident, unapologetic Segun at a cybercafe and becomes immediately enamored. The taboo nature of their coupling is raw and real since their homeland has essentially outlawed homosexuality. The two must find ways to meet each other in the middle of insecurities, identity struggles, bullying, abuse, and the processes of coming out to a world that seemingly doesn’t want them to. This love story is as beautiful as it is moving

Queer Black author Taylor follows his stellar 2021 story collection, “Filthy Animals,” with another character-driven morsel, this time in

ors, and Fyodor, an employee at a slaughterhouse who argues a lot with his vegetarian partner. Mostly disillusioned by their relationships’ complexities, these folks have lots to say to each other, to the rooms they occupy, and toward contemporary society in general. Though the novel is well written, it’s very busy and readers may find themselves involved in a juggling act to keep everyone in order. It’s a chal-

cal bubbly conversational prose and excessive namedropping, it’s fun to read and refreshingly not too selfabsorbed. There are fights, personal disasters, work-related melodrama, friends, foes, and even elation at receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One place Cohen refuses to go is between the sheets of his dating life, which may annoy some and satisfy others. Overall, Andy Cohen continues to strike gold with this series of memoirs exposing his life for what it is, not for what it may seem on the

“When the World Didn’t End” by Guinevere Turner $28 (Crown Books) May 23 Lesbian actress, screenwriter, and director Turner reflects back on a childhood spent in the care of members of the Lyman Family, a cult-like

‘Widower, 48, Seeks Husband’

Personals Massage>>

I'm a Tall Latin Man. If you're looking, I'm the right guy for you. My rates are $90/hr & $130/90 min. My work hours: 10am-10pm everyday. 415- 5150594 Patrick, call or text. See pics on ebar.com

by Gregg Shapiro

Here’s a funny, gay, “small world” story. In the 1990s, years before I actually met Raymond Luczak, we were both published in the longrunning (1976-1995) gay culture magazine Christopher Street. In fact, “Lincoln Avenue,” the short story of mine published in the issue of Christopher Street which featured Luczak’s “Notes of a Deaf Gay Poet” article on the cover, would go on to be the titular piece of my short fiction collection published by none other than Luczak’s Squares and Rebels Press in 2014.

Minneapolis-based Luczak, a prolific author of 20 books, is not only the publisher at Squares and Rebels, as well as Handtype Press. He’s also the editor of the literary journal Mollyhouse. Additionally, he’s edited numerous anthologies.

The city of Minneapolis figures prominently in his new novel “Widower, 48, Seeks Husband” (Rattling Good Yarns Press, 2023), almost becoming a character in itself. LGBTQ+ history also plays a large role as the book spans 40 years, incorporating many significant community events. Raymond was kind enough to make time during his book tour to answer a few questions.

Gregg Shapiro: You have established yourself over the years as a poet, fiction writer, editor, and publisher. Your new book “Widower, 48, Seeks Husband” is a novel. Do you have a preference for poetry or prose?

Raymond Luczak: I like both genres for different reasons. Poetry is about distilling language itself. Prose is about expanding language itself. Both genres are capable of conveying intense moments of experience whether it be lyrical or narrative. I am fortunate in that I have more tools to work with whenever I write something.

What excites you most, and least, about being a publisher?

I enjoy working with writers to develop and hone their work toward publication. I also love discovering new voices I hadn’t heard of before; that’s how I came across Dan Callahan’s “That Was Something.” I’m still very proud of being the first to publish Kris Ringman’s books. They’ve been nominated twice for the Lambda Literary Award. I wish I could publish more books, but I’ve had to be extremely selective about what I publish.

You populated “Widower, 48, Seeks Husband” with real people and events from gay history. As a longtime Minneapolis resident, was it your intention to call attention to an area that may have been overlooked in the story of the LGBTQ community?

Social history has always interested me. How did people back then used to live, and how did they look at the world at the time? Part of the novel’s impetus came from the fact that when we talk about the national LGBTQ history of political changes, the flyover country, as in the land between the coasts, often gets overlooked, as if nothing much happens there when reality has made it clear that it’s anything but. I did a lot of historical research and conducted a number of interviews with old-timers about what Minneapolis was like in the late 1970s when the novel begins.

You cover a variety of subjects that will be familiar to readers, such as drag, aging, online hookups, bears, AIDS, and body image, to name a few. Did you know that you’d be dealing with these subjects when you first began writing the book or did each topic reveal itself as you wrote?

I write my novels without any outline. It usually begins with me wondering about a new character. What’s

their story? What do they want? And it isn’t usually too long before they make their own desires apparent. All those topics happened quite organically. I like discovering new things as I write along. It’s always terrifying, wondering whether my novel in progress will be any good.

Speaking of bears, the hirsute character Howie comes to terms with his bear-ness in the book. Was it a conscious decision to write for a bear audience?

No, not at all! I was thinking more about the older gay community who don’t always get the attention and respect they deserve. Ageism is unfortunately rampant within the LGBTQ community, particularly when it comes to finding a new partner. I was also fascinated by the idea of featuring a socalled nobody trying to find a husband. I think that’s a much more emotionally interesting challenge to explore. Not only that; Howie would not be considered a typical beauty. I am very interested in dissecting social mores surrounding physical perfection. In that sense, the book was informed by my exposure to disability literature.

Before he passes away in 2008, Timm tries to arrange a new man for Howie because Timm is worried about Howie being alone after all the years they spent together. Is this based on something that actually happened, or is it an invention for the sake of the novel?

Oh, that was a total fabrication on my part! Timm did mean well, but you could say that I wanted to have a cringe-worthy moment here and there.t

www.raymondluczak.com

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com.

415 370 7152 • StevenUnderhill.com

Monday 8am (last seating 9:45pm)

Tuesday 8am (last seating 9:45pm)

Wednesday 8am (last seating 9:45pm)

Thursday 8am Open 24 Hours

Friday Open 24 Hours

Saturday Open 24 Hours

Sunday 7am (last seating 9:45pm)

Author Raymond Luczak

“These places of possibility within ourselves are dark because they are ancient and hidden; they have survived and grown through that darkness. Within these deep places, each one of us holds an incredible reserve of creativity and power.”

—Audre Lorde

SPECIAL KIDS PRICING