October 13, 2022 edition of the Bay Area Reporter

Two queer scientists win Nobel prizes

by Heather Cassell

Two queer scientists, Carolyn Bertozzi and Svante Pääbo, were awarded Nobel prizes for their scientific discoveries.

Swedish geneticist Pääbo, a 67-year-old bisexual man, was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution” and how it impacts humans today, announced Professor Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel Assembly October 3.

Some of Pääbo’s work in the field was accelerated while he was a postdoctoral fellow at the UC Berkeley from 1987 to 1990.

Two days later, Perlmann announced Stanford University chemistry professor Bertozzi, a 56-year-old lesbian, was one of three chemists awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Bertozzi shares the honor with University of Copenhagen Professor Morten Meldal and Scripps Research professor and 1968 Stanford alumnus K. Barry Sharpless, Ph.D., for their work on “the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.”

Bertozzi and Pääbo are the first scientists to join the exclusive club of known LGBTQ Nobel laureates, reported Pink News. All of the other queer winners won the Nobel Prize for literature.

Receiving the honor brings the list to nine known queer Nobel winners, up from seven in 2021, out of 943 people in the prize’s more than 125-year history. Last year, Filipina American lesbian journalist Maria Ressa jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize with Russian publisher and editor Dmitry Muratov for their work defending freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia, respectively, according to the Nobel Prize news release Muratov co-founded and is the editor of Novaya Gazeta, which broke the news about Chechnya’s so-called “gay purge” in April 2017. The Bay Area Reporter could not find information about his sexual orientation.

Pääbo responded to the B.A.R. with a smiley face emoji about he and Bertozzi being the first openly queer Nobel scientists in an email interview October 9.

Bertozzi praised Pääbo’s work. He is married to Linda Vigilant, a geneticist, and the couple have two children.

“He’s an honest person who’s queer and proud,” Bertozzi said.

PRC may shut down residences

by Eric Burkett

Afinancial crisis at PRC Baker Places, a key behavioral health services and HIV/AIDS provider in San Francisco, has left clients housed in the organization’s residential facilities fearful for their futures.

The organization announced October 3 in a letter from interim CEO Chuan Teng to city officials that it was unable to afford to maintain at least three residences, and would have to close them down. The only way out of the predicament was for the city to provide millions of dollars in emergency funding.

Without help Baker Places “will have no other choice than to immediately notify staff of layoffs, discontinue intakes, and wind-down operations,” the letter stated.

PRC officials told the city they wanted to transfer residents from Acceptance Place, Ferguson Place, and Joe Healy Detox – three of the residences operated by the organization – to the Department of Public Health or some other provider, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“As a result of financial hardship, Baker Places has made the difficult decision to transfer some residential programs back to DPH or other providers,” stated PRC’s spokesperson, Tasha Henneman, in a written statement to the Bay Area Reporter. “Baker Places has requested

financial support from DPH to pay for anticipated shortfall in operational expenses over a 6-month transition period, which would allow for an orderly transition that ensures continuity of services and minimizes disruption to clients and staff.”

Founded in 2016 with a merger of PRC – then known as Positive Resource Center – and Baker Places, which operates a collection of residential treatment and detox facilities, the organization has been struggling financially in recent months.

The letter, according to the Chronicle, said that Baker Places “was no longer able to support the operations of these programs due to years of financial hardship,” and cited a loss of more than $4 million over the previous fiscal year.

“The year-over-year deficits have placed an untenable strain on the organization’s cash position, and as a result, the organization does not have the ability to pay the upfront cost of operations and wait for reimbursement in four to six weeks’ time,” the letter continued.

That letter followed an earlier communication between Dr. Hillary Kunins, director of DPH’s Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF program, and Brian Schneider, the president of PRC’s board. Dated September 29, Kunins wrote that DPH “feels strongly that it is in the best interest of our clients, the public, and the Baker/PRC for the city to find alternate care providers,” reported the San Francisco Standard.

In order to transfer Baker Places’ clients to other providers, Kunins asked Schneider to consider a six-month transition period during which clients might be rehoused, and as the Standard story noted, “pointed to a prior emergency grant and other financial concessions by the city in recent months as sufficient to cover that transition period.”

Gay Supervisor Matt Dorsey, whose District 6 includes PRC’s headquarters, told the B.A.R.

See page 4 >>

East Bay awash in LGBTQ candidates

by Matthew S. Bajko

The fall election could bring a number of historic wins for LGBTQ candidates throughout the East Bay. Voters in both Contra Costa and Alameda counties could elect their first out members of their Board of Supervisors.

Meanwhile, the November 8 election could result in the first out state legislator elected to a solely East Bay district. And city councils from Richmond to San Leandro could see LGBTQ members elected to the municipal government bodies.

With out candidates seeking education posts and seats on transit and utility oversight bodies, the LGBTQ community is represented throughout the ballots that began dropping into voters’ mailboxes this week. Based on interviews and endorsements from LGBTQ political groups, the Bay Area Reporter knows of 25 LGBTQ candidates from the East Bay running in general election contests.

The region may soon have two out Assemblymembers representing it in Sacramento. Incumbent Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose), who is bisexual, is expected to easily win reelection to the new 24th Assembly District, which includes the southern Alameda County cities of Fremont, Newark, and Sunol as well as the Santa Clara County city of Milpitas and parts of San Jose.

In the race for the open 20th Assembly District seat wholly within Alameda County, gay Dublin City Councilmember Shawn Kumagai is in a tough election fight against labor leader Liz Ortega, who is straight. She has the endorsement of outgoing Assemblymember Bill Quirk (DHayward), who opted not to seek reelection.

At the county supervisor level, lesbian at-large Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan is vying for the open District 3 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. She would represent the cities of Alameda, San Leandro, a portion of Oakland, and the unincorporated communities of San Lorenzo, Hayward Acres, and a portion of Ashland if elected.

In Contra Costa County, gay Pleasant Hill City Councilmember Ken Carlson is running for the open District 4 supervisor seat. He would represent the cities of Concord, Pleasant Hill, Clayton,

and parts of Walnut Creek if he wins election to the Board of Supervisors.

As for other countywide positions, Marguerite Young, a lesbian single mom, is seeking reelection to the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s oversight body in its Ward 3. First elected in 2014, she was unopposed four years ago and automatically given a second term.

This year water utility planner Mark Seedall, who is straight, is running to replace Young on the board. He picked up the endorsement of the San Jose Mercury News, while the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, the LGBTQ political group for Alameda County, endorsed Young’s reelection bid.

Her bisexual colleague, Andy Katz, who also identifies as gay, for the third election cycle in a row went unopposed for his Ward 4 seat so will be automatically appointed to another four-year term. He was first elected to the EBMUD board in 2006; both Katz and Young represent districts that span Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

Seeking to oust AC Transit Board Vice President Joel Young from his at-large seat on the board that oversees public transportation services in Alameda and Contra Costa counties is nonbinary queer architect and artist Alfred Twu, who serves on Berkeley’s planning and land-

marks commissions. Twu has racked up a broad endorsement list for their candidacy from myriad East Bay elected leaders and Democratic groups, making their contest one being closely watched by political insiders.

Should they win the seat, Twu would serve alongside lesbian AC Transit boardmember Jovanka Beckles. The former Richmond city councilmember won election to her Ward 1 seat in 2020.

With Kaplan potentially departing the Oakland City Council, the governing body is assured of continued LGBTQ representation due to two queer candidates competing for the District 4 seat. Social justice attorney Janani Ramachandran, who lost a bid for state Assembly last year, and sex shop owner Nenna Joiner, who is gender-nonconforming, are vying to succeed Councilmember Sheng Thao, a leading mayoral contender in Oakland this year.

Among the four candidates running for the District 6 seat on the Oakland City Council is tax preparer Nancy Sidebotham, a lesbian making her seventh bid to be elected to a council seat. It is also open this year, as City Councilmember Loren Taylor is another leading candidate running to be mayor of the East Bay city.

The reception desk at PRC’s South of Market headquarters

Courtesy Revel

Stanford University chemistry Professor Carolyn Bertozzi sits at her desk at Stanford on October 5, the day she was co-awarded the prize in chemistry.

Courtesy Andrew Brodhead/Stanford University

Assemblymember Alex Lee and Alameda County Board of Supervisors candidate Rebecca Kaplan are among the dozens of 2022 East Bay LGBTQ contenders.

Courtesy the campaigns

2nd Bearrison Street Fair set for Saturday

by Eric Burkett

October 15 is shaping up to be the final blast in San Francisco’s LGBTQ street fair season.

Several events of interest to bears and their admirers, as well as the leather and kink communities, are planned throughout the day beginning with LeatherWalk, the Bearrison Street Fair, and the San Francisco Leathermen’s Discussion Group’s Fetish Fair followed, of course, with a play party.

Postponed after a rare September rainstorm, LeatherWalk [https:// sfleatherdistrict.org/lw/] will kick off the day’s activities. The march, which has traditionally included participants from myriad leather- and kinkoriented clubs and groups, will begin gathering at 11 a.m. at the Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett steps on the Polk Street side of City Hall. The march departs at 11:30, and after stopping at a number of popular watering holes and

<< East Bay candidates

From page 1

While the Stonewall club didn’t endorse in either of the two council races, statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California this week dual endorsed Ramachandran and Joiner. EQCA also endorsed gay San Leandro City Councilmember Victor Aguilar Jr., who is running unopposed for his District 3 seat but will still appear on the ballot.

It also is backing in the race for the District 1 seat Celina Reynes, a bisexual third generation resident of San Leandro, where she lives near the city’s BART station with her husband, Ted. The longtime teacher is currently pursuing a law degree at UC Hastings and would be the first out woman elected to the City Council.

Also on the ballot in San Leandro

is Abbey Kerins, a bisexual public school leader seeking the Area 2 seat on the city’s school board. If elected, she would serve alongside gay trustee and current school board president James Aguilar, who was unopposed this year for his Area 6 seat.

With Kumagai set to step down from the Dublin City Council, as his term ends in December, lesbian council candidate Lynna Do is aiming to maintain out leadership on it. An interpreter trainer, Do is one of three candidates, including incumbent Councilmember Jean Josey, running for two council seats.

In Union City, bisexual resident Kristy Boer is one of three people seeking the open District 3 seat on the city council. Should she win election, Boer would be the first known LGBTQ person to serve on it.

Gay Richmond resident Cesar Zepeda is again seeking election to his city’s council. This year he is one

locations en route, the walk will end up at Eagle Plaza (398 12th Street) around 2:30 p.m., joining the ongoing Bearrison Street Fair.

“The Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District is thrilled to continue the treasured community tradition of LeatherWalk for a second year,” said cultural district manager Cal Callahan, just before the original walk date. “I was fortunate to have not only participated in the walk in previous years, but to help organize it for AIDS Emergency Fund and then PRC. We are excited that so many younger members of the leather and kink community have embraced LeatherWalk and are making it their own.”

For those with mobility issues, a vehicle (provided by Cruise & Grooves Experience) will be available for those who cannot walk any or all of the 1.25 mile route. Anyone interested in taking advantage of the vehicle should

of two people running for the open District 2 seat.

Looking to join him as the District 4 councilmember is Jamin Pursell, who is nonbinary and queer. A Richmond resident for 11 years, Pursell bought a home in the city’s May Valley neighborhood with their husband, Kelly Nabours, due to transferring to Cal State East Bay, where they earned degrees in philosophy and political science in 2012.

Having worked on the campaigns of gay San Francisco mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty in 2011 and Beckles’ Richmond council bid in 2014, Pursell told the Bay Area Reporter mounting their own electoral bid was always “in the back of my mind.” With the District 4 seat open this year, Pursell began laying the groundwork for a campaign in early 2022 and is one of two people running for it.

email manager@sflcd.org at least 24 hours in advance, as capacity is limited. “The vehicle cannot accommodate wheelchairs, but wheelchair users are welcome to participate,” according to information from LeatherWalk.

The Bearrison Street Fair, organized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Bears of San Francisco [https://www.bosf.org/], will run from noon to 6 p.m., at Harrison and 11th streets, and features numerous performers on the main stage, a wrestling stage, and the first-ever Barbells, Bears, and Butts Deadlift Competition. Organizers call it “a supportive, welcoming, and inclusive event for all members of the adult LGBTQ+ community.” There will be plenty of live entertainment from performers, DJs, and the Boys of Bearlesque.

As if that isn’t already enough, SFLDG will hold its first Fetish Fair since the outbreak of the COVID

pandemic, beginning at 3:30 at Transform1060, 1050 Folsom Street. “Some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s foremost experts on various kinks will present and share some of their best tools and tricks of their kinky trade,” said organizers.

Fetish Fair will be followed, beginning at 8 p.m. in the same location, with Gear Up’s post-Fetish Fair menonly play party, including trans men. The doors will remain open until 11 p.m., with play continuing until 1 a.m. Attendees must be 18 or over to attend. Clothing check will be provided by the SOMA Guardians. General admission is $20, or $10 for military, student (ID required), and play party first-timers.

For more information on Bearrison, go to www.bearrison.org. t

“I started in February canvassing and have knocked on over 3,500 doors. I wanted to talk to as many people as possible,” said Pursell, who has a master’s degree in science of the law from University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law and is planning to launch their own gender-neutral swimwear line next year.

Pursell told the B.A.R. they believe the two out candidates have “a really great chance” of returning out leadership to Richmond’s council. They have worked with Zepeda on the city’s Pride events.

While EQCA has endorsed Zepeda, it has yet to do so for Pursell. The national LGBTQ Victory Fund has endorsed both their candidacies.

“It is huge,” said Pursell of having its support. “It means a lot because it is a national organization, so you know people are looking at you and it really matters.”

Gay El Cerrito City Councilmember Gabriel Quinto, currently serving as mayor, is seeking reelection to a third term. Looking to join him on the council is Carolyn Wysinger, a lesbian who is president of San Francisco’s Pride committee. They both have the backing of EQCA and the Victory Fund.

In Alameda, gay former city councilmember Jim Oddie is seeking to win election two years after voters bounced him off the council. He is one of six candidates running for two council seats in November, with City Councilmember Tony Daysog the only incumbent in the race.

Two gay married dads are among the four candidates vying for two seats on the Alameda Unified School District board. Leland Traiman is running again after losing in 2020, while Ryan LaLonde is making his first bid. The Stonewall club is backing LaLonde and Oddie in their respective races.

Oakland resident Nick Resnick, a married father of two sons, is vying for the District 4 seat on the school

board that oversees the Oakland Unified School District. Should he be elected, Resnick would become the first-ever known LGBTQ person to serve on it and the first known transgender person to be elected to a local school board in California.

Queer labor leader Valarie Bachelor is seeking the District 6 seat on the school board. She is running against board member Kyra Mungia, who was appointed in June to fill a vacancy.

In Berkeley, bisexual single mom Tatiana Guerreiro Ramos is one of six candidates running for three seats on the city’s school board. She and her three children, one of whom is nonbinary, all have ADHD and are “proudly neurodivergent.”

Mounting an underdog campaign to be Concord’s city treasurer is queer candidate D’Marco J. Anthony. Believed to be the first out person to seek the elected position, Anthony is running against longtime treasurer Patti Barsotti.

The 26-year-old Anthony graduated Sonoma State University in 2018 with a degree in political science. He is employed at a Walnut Creek law firm doing support and records, while earlier this year he worked for the San Francisco elections department as a voter data coordinator for the school board recall election in February.

With a bare-bones campaign Anthony told the B.A.R. he knows he faces long odds of being elected. Nonetheless, he hopes his candidacy can inspire other LGBTQ young people and people of color to seek public office.

“I am feeling excited. Win or lose I am going to run the campaign, I am going to run and be an inspiration for people who are part of the queer community, people of color, and young people,” said Anthony, who is Black and of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. t

AC Transit at-large candidate Alfred Twu; Richmond City Council candidate Cesar Zepeda and Concord City Treasurer candidate D’Marco J. Anthony.

Courtesy the campaigns

Bears and their admirers gathered at last year’s inaugural Bearrison Street Fair.

Prop F helps our libraries provide critical literacy and learning support for K-12 students, adults, and non-English speakers.

CA aims to boost underrepresented trades workers

by Matthew S. Bajko

Anew California grant program aims to boost the number of nonbinary, queer women, and other underrepresented groups, entering the construction trades. The $30 million investment over two years is the largest of its kind, according to state officials.

It is known as the Equal Representation in Construction Apprenticeship, or ERiCA for short, and $25 million of the initial investment from the state is earmarked for covering participants’ child care costs and marketing campaigns about the grant program. The other $5 million is covering the cost of state agencies to oversee the initiative, which state lawmakers have pledged to annually support with $15 million budget allocations.

“In California, women and nonbinary individuals make up only 3.5% of active apprentices in the building and construction trades,” said California Labor Secretary Natalie Palugyai. “When we stop to think about why, it’s in large part because construction is widely viewed as a man’s job. We want to change that. By providing child care supportive services and expanding our outreach to new and underserved populations, we will support access and equity in the construction industry, while also helping to meet its urgent need for skilled workers.”

Palugyai joined other state and local female labor officials in San Francisco October 11 to officially announce the launch of ERiCA. They gathered in front of the bayside Mission Rock construction site along the city’s eastern shore where the Giants baseball team is turning a flat parking lot into a mixed-used development with new housing, businesses, and public parks.

“The money from this grant will help remove obstacles to entering this industry,” said Katie S. Hagen, director of the state’s Department of Industrial Relations. “When we spoke with women in construction, they told us child care costs were one of the biggest barriers to working in the trade. We want to encourage organizations to utilize this funding to remove barriers, support parents and get creative in reaching out to these historically underserved groups in the construction trades.”

State lawmakers awarded $15 million toward the program in the

of it, which were informed by conversations they had with people in the field.

Over and over again they heard that child care costs are a major barrier for women and nonbinary folks to enroll in construction sector apprenticeships. They currently account for just 4% percent of active apprentices.

According to an interactive data map maintained by the state’s Department of Industrial Relations, there are currently 54 nonbinary participants of such programs for a number of different careers.

None are living in San Francisco, while Santa Clara County, at eight people, has the most nonbinary participants in such programs of any Bay Area county. But few are in construction. Across the state there are three each in the laborers and plumbing industries, and two in electrical.

Female participants numbered 7,542 throughout the state, while male participants totaled 82,480. The state agency does not track participants by their sexual orientation or if they are transgender.

Anna Fung, 40, a queer San Francisco native and resident, is hoping to take advantage of the new grant program when she and her wife, Julie Wong, who works for the city’s public health department, send their daughter Madi, now 4 months old, to infant care several days a week next year. While the couple can rely on their relatives for now with babysitting Madi, they know the arrangement is only temporary, said Fung.

“It will give us peace of mind to

Formerly a nanny, Fung pivoted to the construction trades when the COVID pandemic hit and was accepted into a program the Giants had launched to attract more women to the field. One of 16 women in the five-week training academy, Fung worked on the Mission Rock construction site and entered into a twoyear apprenticeship program last fall.

She aims to become a journeyman general laborer and has been working on the mixed-use development being built at the Balboa Bart station by Cahill where she helps keep the site clean and the hardware organized. Fung told the B.A.R. she hopes the new ERiCA initiative will allow for other LGBTQ community members to pursue careers in the construction trades.

“I think, especially in San Francisco, it makes sense to have more people who represent this community to build this community,” said Fung, who hasn’t met many other LGBTQ people working in the field.

Iowayna Peña, a real estate project director for the San Francisco Giants’ Mission Rock mixed-use redevelopment, simply said “finally” when asked by the B.A.R. her reaction to the new grant program. Child care was an issue for many of the women in the Giants’ program, noted Peña, so they assisted them in accessing services so their children were cared for while they took part in the training.

Peña, who lives with her wife in Oakland, said more needs to be done to ensure her industry reflects the diversity of Californians. The training program offered by the team was the first to be all women in the city, she noted.

“If we are talking about building an equitable future, we can’t do that without building a diverse workforce,” she said.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were more than 7.7 million people employed in construction and extraction occupations as of September. Women accounted for 1,084,000 of those working in the sector, or 14% of the total workforce.

“It is still unusual to see a woman doing this,” noted Erica Anenberg, a lesbian who founded the Southern California construction and remodeling company Girl Flip, in the Bay Area Reporter’s monthly Business Briefing column in April.

Based on economic data for the San Francisco area released October 3, the construction sector is a growing field. It added 5,700 employees between August of 2021 and this year, an increase of 4.6%.

“Backlog remains stable, and many contractors expect rising sales, employment, and profit margins over the next six months. Many contractors also continue to report operating at capacity. Their primary issue is not insufficient demand for construction services, but rather a lack of access to skilled craft professionals,” stated Anirban Basu, chief economist for the industry group Associated Builders and Contractors, last week in response to the latest national employment numbers for the sector.

Adele Burnes, deputy chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards at the state’s Department of Industrial Relations, told the B.A.R. that the October event was to mark the official launch of the solicitation for propos-

DPH did not return a request for comment from Kunins.

Clients left ‘in the dark’

als for the ERiCA grants. The funds are to be used for two categories and, in addition to women and nonbinary individuals, are to support at-risk youth, people with disabilities, veterans, and people of color.

One use is to provide supportive resources for child care so that parents, including single dads, can apply for pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs in the construction trades. Agencies and nonprofits that apply for the grant program will be able to provide $5,000 per pre-apprentice for supportive services specifically for child care, said Burnes.

For those who are apprentices, the amount will be $10,000 per year to help cover their child care costs. There will be a total grant amount cap of $3 million per agency seeking funds under the child care category.

“We are trying to be flexible for how the money can be spent, so it could be a stipend that goes directly to the parents or toward an in-house daycare at a training center,” said Burnes. “It could also be used for paying for a child care coordinator within a program to help participants with children find child care.”

Proposals will also be entertained from agencies and nonprofits that want to do outreach and community building aimed at increasing the number of women, nonbinary individuals, and people from other underrepresented groups in the building trades. The cap for those grants per agency will be $2 million.

Agencies wanting to offer child care assistance and engage in marketing efforts will have a grant cap of $4 million. The deadline to apply is January 12.

“We are letting people come to us with their proposals,” said Burnes.

The state agency is aiming to announce the grant recipients by February 24, though it could get pushed back into early March. The money should be awarded on April 1, with the funding to be utilized no later than June 30, 2025.

At the one-year mark of the twoyear grant cycle, the state agency is planning to release a preliminary report on ERiCA. At the kickoff event, Palugyai noted one benefit for women, nonbinary individuals, and others pursuing construction careers is such jobs come with “excellent pay and benefits without the requirement of a traditional college degree.” More information about apprenticeship programs in California can be found at https://www.dir.ca.gov/ das/.t

In fact, most of the residents at Ferguson pay only about $200 per month, he said. “Where can we go?” he asked.

he “has every confidence” that the clients affected by PRC’s financial problems will be taken care of, “and no one will end up on the street.”

“Uncertainty isn’t helpful” for those in recovery, he said, so continuity is of the utmost importance. Dorsey himself is in recovery, and has talked about his own past substance use issues.

Dorsey’s counterpart, gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, echoed his confidence but added that, while PRC is asking for city help, it’s not clear if it needs a supplemental cash infusion from the city.

“The PRC board did what a responsible board would do and sounded the alarm,” said Mandelman, but “it remains unclear what the path forward is.”

The city’s nonprofits, which “are functioning as an extension of the city,” are being asked to do more and more with less and less, he said and, while they haven’t reached the existential crisis currently facing PRC, they have been saying they can’t do their work on what the city pays them to do.

The ongoing instability has left some of Baker Places’ clients frightened of an increasingly unsure future, one in which their carefully constructed sobriety may be at risk. The fear of homelessness hangs over their heads, said one resident.

“It’s the threat of homelessness, and for those of us who experienced it first hand, this whole experience is triggering,” said Ferguson Place resident Justin, who requested his last name not be used.

Justin, a 41-year-old gay man, is currently in film school and in the midst of filming his first full-length documentary. About three and a half years sober, he struggled with methamphetamine addiction before Baker Places helped him get his life back together.

Now, he’s a resident of Ferguson Place, one of the houses PRC is trying to offload. It’s allowed him to go to school, and by charging him only 30% of his meager income for rent, he’s been able to take advantage of the stability the program offers, paying only about $150 a month.

“To go from paying $150 to $600 a month, that’s a 400% increase in my rent,” he said. “And when food is already costing so much; we’re all barely holding it together with the rising cost of gas and goods.”

The anxiety in his voice as he spoke with a reporter about his situation was clearly evident, even over the phone. But there’s anger, too. Anger at PRC for what he regards as the abuse of Baker Places’ finances in order to keep PRC going. He said he feels that PRC has been siphoning money from Baker Places and pointed to the organization’s multimillion-dollar move into its new South of Market headquarters as one example of how it has misused funds.

In 2019, PRC moved to its new location at 170 Ninth Street, a 25,000 square foot building constructed in 1934, and requiring “a head-to-toe renovation” according to a news release issued in June of that year. The total budget for the new space was $6 million, the B.A.R. previously re-

Let’s talk cannabis.

Mission Rock Academy graduate, Anna Fung, left, spoke at a press event announcing new state investment to increase access and equity in construction careers at a Mission Rock construction site on Tuesday, October 11.

Christopher Robledo

by Matthew S. Bajko

Shot with black and white film two small children stand outside in a San Francisco public plaza draped in protest signs. One reads, “We’re Proud, Not Stigmatized.” The other declares, “We Love Our Gay Parents.”

In the right background of the photograph, taken June 3, 1977, can be seen Harvey Milk, the gay civil rights leader. He would go on to become the first LGBTQ person elected to public office in both the city of San Francisco and the state of California that November.

The image was taken by photographer Cathy Cade, a longtime lesbian activist, and is titled “Rally for Jeanne Jullion.” According to a note about the photo, Jullion was a lesbian mother ensnared at the time in a custody battle for her kids.

She can be seen on the right side of the photo wearing glasses and a twopiece pantsuit talking to a woman whose back is facing Cade’s camera lens. Jullion is also shown in a smaller picture with her two sons, superimposed on the bottom right of Cade’s photo.

It is part of the online Hormel LGBTQIA Center Collection maintained by the San Francisco Public Library. It consists of digitized photographs, manuscripts, documents, and other primary source materials from the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center housed at the city’s Main Library in the Civic Center district.

The trove of archival materials can be found at https://bit. ly/3Td67jwhere. The site went live last December and allowed the library’s Digi Center to aggregate LGBTQ historical photos that had previously been published in other sections of the library’s main website so they were easier for researchers, students, and others seeking out LGBTQ material to find.

“I think it is a great way to share the archive with the world,” said Dee Dee Kramer, a lesbian who is the manager of the library’s Digi Center, in her first press interview about the LGBTQ archival digitization effort. “People think of libraries as having books you check out. But we also have archives like photos, government records, or people’s personal stuff that is unpublished or unique and doesn’t exist in other places. Being able to share that online I think is really special.”

New LGBTQ archival items have since been uploaded to the library’s online repository, including a microsection titled “Preserving LGBTQ Historical Highlights” that went live in June during Pride Month. It was funded by a $7,020 grant the library received in 2019 from the California State Library and includes a wealth of material related to Milk.

One highlight is an audio record-

ing of one of the three “Political Will” tapes Milk made in case he was assassinated, which tragically ended up occurring the morning of November 27, 1978. Disgruntled former supervisor Dan White shot dead Milk and thenmayor George Moscone inside San Francisco City Hall.

There are also a number of Milk’s writings, such as his “Milk Forum” column that ran in the B.A.R., and an edited copy of his famous “You’ve Got to Have Hope” speech he gave June 24, 1977.

Throughout the 11 pages are handwritten edits made to a typed copy of Milk’s speech, including to the final, and most famous, line of it, “You got to give them hope.” Crossed out is the word “I” and a verb that is unable to be discerned in front of the word “you,” while the word “must” that initially had been typed with an underline is crossed out and replaced with “got to.”

“Harvey’s will and speeches are in such incredible demand,” noted Kramer. “School students from across the country want to look at the speeches.”

Now they can do so without having to physically travel to San Francisco, added Kramer. They also now have digital access to LGBTQ material at a time when public libraries and school districts across the country are banning LGBTQ books and curriculums at the urging of right-wing leaders and conservative parents.

“We live in a time where we can make them available to anyone with a browser and an internet connection. It is just huge,” said Kramer, who formerly had served as program manager for the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center. “I think for queer people, too, it really has changed the game in being able to find context for yourself and other people.”

Effort delayed by pandemic

The effort to digitize the library’s various LGBTQ historical holdings was delayed by the COVID pandemic, as the city in March 2020 shuttered its public libraries and reassigned library staff members to assist in dealing with the health crisis. Kramer worked as a contact tracer, calling people who were potentially exposed to the coronavirus, for instance, and helped distribute food to those in need.

When she returned to her library duties in July 2021, Kramer took over as the Digi Center manager and found the LGBTQ digitization effort among her to-do list. The center oversees DigitalSF, which is the website for the San Francisco Public Library’s Digital Collections, and has wanted to increase its digitized holdings accessible to the public for years.

Kramer and her colleagues first set about on a plan to make it easier for people to find the digital material the library had already posted online. They also worked on how to display the material and what navigation tools to include for them.

They have also been creating a better catalog for the materials already digitized and adding them to the correct collections on the DigitalSF website. For instance, more of Cade’s photos in the library’s holdings should be added in time to the lone one of the Jullion rally currently found on the webpage for the “Cathy Cade Photographs Collection.”

The same is true for the “Chloe Atkins Photographs Collection,” which as of now also has just one photo posted online in it. But a finding aid for the Hormel center’s holdings of Atkins’ decades-long career photographing the Bay Area’s lesbian scene indicates there are countless more of the photographer’s works that could be added to the digital archive.

The library’s digital records for the pioneering gay rights activist Harry Hay are far more extensive. The web-

page for the “Harry Hay Papers” has 50 different items, including a 1935 black-and-white portrait of a dashing Hay with his right arm in salute.

There is also a trove of photos from negatives taken during San Francisco police investigations from 1945 through 1969 into bookstores, sexoriented businesses, theaters, and art shows that featured gay and LGBTQ+ content. Another collection features a scrapbook from the 1950s detailing the arrest and trial of Grace Miller and Joyce van de Veer, the owners of several bars frequented by gays and lesbians.

One project Kramer said the Digi Center is working on is scanning books of mug shots taken by the police of suspects arrested decades ago on sodomy charges and other sexrelated crimes. The historical material provides a unique look into that era of LGBTQ history, she noted.

“It makes for useful research and a whole different kind of lens to look through,” said Kramer.

The Digi Center also wants to digitize the photos in the library’s Tenderloin Times Photograph Archive, which also relates to LGBTQ history. The publication’s coverage of the city’s Tenderloin district and its many LGBTQ residents includes photos of early AIDS protests and other LGBTQ demonstrations and events.

“When you sort of queer the archives, it is not just going to be the Hormel center where these materials arise,” noted Kramer.

There are currently two-dozen different LGBTQ digital collections on the library’s website, with more to be added in the coming months. During LGBTQ History Month in October, Kramer hopes to add two collections featuring the works of photographers Robert Giard and Rick Gerharter, two gay men who helped to document the LGBTQ community on both coasts. Giard, who died in 2002, documented the theater scene in New York City, while Gerharter for decades has taken photos for the B.A.R. of the Bay Area LGBTQ community.

While the digital archives do not replace the need to protect the physical materials housed at the library’s Hormel center and San Francisco History Center, Kramer said, they do play an important role in the preservation and distribution of the archival holdings.

“Digitizing is not preserving,” she noted. “But if you have a tape that is 30 years old, the sound quality is going to degrade. So digitizing it is one way to migrate it to a format that people will continue to have access to it. This way it is still playable and listenable.”

Growing up in North Carolina in the 1970s and 1980s, Kramer said she wishes she had access to such LGBTQ material. It can be empowering for people who otherwise feel invisible, she noted.

“When you are able to go on a site and see these things, it changes lives,” said Kramer. “When people go online and find something they recognize or see themselves in, it is a really big deal.” t

The “Rally for Jeanne Jullion” took place in San Francisco on June 3, 1977 to draw attention to Jullion, a lesbian mom, who was involved in a child custody dispute.

Cathy Cade Photographs (GLC 41), LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library

Dee Dee Kramer is the manager of the San Francisco Public Library’s Digi Center.

Noah Berger

HOW THE COMMUNITY WILDFIRE SAFETY PROGRAM IS HELPING TO PREVENT WILDFIRES IN 2022

LESS THAN

PG&E’s Community Wildfire Safety Program (CWSP) will continue to use Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings following the success of its pilot program. Enhanced safety settings allow PG&E to be more surgical in its approach to preventing wildfires. These settings will automatically turn off power within one-tenth of a second if an object comes in contact with a powerline. This approach is just one part of a multifaceted wildfire strategy which includes:

■ Undergrounding 175 miles of powerlines in high fire-threat areas as part of our multi-year goal of 10,000 miles.

■ Strengthening the electric grid with stronger poles and covered lines to reduce wildfire risks.

■ Installing microgrids that use generators to keep the electricity on during wildfire safety outages.

While these safety settings prevent wildfires, they also may result in additional outages for customers.

Public Safety Power Shutoffs

During extreme weather or wildfire conditions, PG&E may proactively turn off power to prevent wildfires.

SECOND

vs.

Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings

Advanced settings on powerlines to quickly and automatically turn off power if a threat is detected.

Learn how to prepare for EPSS and find additional resources to reduce the impact of these safety outages at pge.com/epss.

These enhanced safety settings will automatically turn off power within onetenth of a second if an object such as a tree comes in contact with a powerline.

Volume 52, Number 41

October 13-19, 2022

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 • Eric Burkett

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Tavo Amador • Christopher J. Beale

Brian Bromberger • Victoria A. Brownworth

• Philip Campbell • Heather Cassell • Adam

Echelman • John Ferrannini • Michael Flanagan

• Jim Gladstone • Liz Highleyman • Brandon

Judell • Lisa Keen • Matthew Kennedy • 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 • FBFE

Rick Gerharter • Gareth Gooch

Jose Guzman-Colon • Rudy K. Lawidjaja

Georg Lester • Rich Stadtmiller •

Christopher Robledo • Fred Rowe

Steven Underhill • Bill Wilson

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Familiar, new faces for CA endorsements

In the spring we issued our endorsements for state officials. We stand by the recommendations for U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, Governor Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Treasurer Fiona Ma, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. You can read those endorsements online at https://bit.ly/3rLhaEY

In three other state races, however, our recommended candidates came up short in the June primary and so we have made the following endorsements.

State Controller: Malia Cohen. A former San Francisco supervisor and board president, Cohen currently serves on the state Board of Equalization. Cohen has long been an ally to the LGBTQ community and voted on legislation at the Board of Supervisors to expand access to transitional age youth services, was a strong supporter of restoring funding for gender reassignment surgeries as part of Healthy SF, and helped develop a program to provide those surgeries for uninsured transgender adult residents, among many other policies.

As controller, Cohen would oversee fiscal control of the state’s $100 billion in receipts and spending of public funds. Her experience on the Board of Equalization, which is charged with property tax administration and fee collection, will serve her well.

Courtesy the campaigns

In her Bay Area Reporter endorsement questionnaire, Cohen stated that she would direct state funds to be invested in resources that uplift historically marginalized communities as well as direct funds into sustainable investment sectors.

We recommend Cohen for state controller.

Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara. The only out LGBTQ person elected to statewide office, Lara, a gay man, is poised to win reelection. We previously mentioned our concerns regarding his ethical lapses during his first term and hope that he will assert his independence from the in-

dustry he regulates. He has used his office to benefit LGBTQ Californians, such as an order in support of trans youth accessing medical care.

We would like to see more actions like those, especially since trans rights are under attack in other states and reproductive freedom is on the line after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion.

We recommend Lara for state insurance commissioner.

State Board of Equalization, District 2: Sally Lieber. A strong ally to the LGBTQ community, Sally Lieber is a former state assemblymember who pledges to be a corporate-free candidate. She wants to make the Board of Equalization more transparent and accessible, and work with the Legislature to identify further reforms for the state’s tax system.

We recommend Lieber for the Board of Equalization.

CA Assembly

For the 21st District Assembly seat on the Peninsula, we recommend Diane Papan. This seat is currently held by Kevin Mullin, who’s running for Congress to replace Jackie Speier. We endorsed Mullin in the primary for the congressional seat. Papan is currently on the San Mateo City Council. The only other candidate in the race suspended her campaign, so Papan is all but certain to win this race. She is a proponent of reproductive freedom and is an ally to the LGBTQ community. t

B.A.R. endorsements in Bay Area races

Like the statewide races, the Bay Area Reporter has already endorsed a number of LGBTQ candidates running for various offices in the region who won their primaries and are advancing to the November election. They are Rebecca Kaplan for Alameda County Board of Supervisors, District 3; Laura Parmer-Lohan, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, District 3; and Ken Carlson, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, District 4.

We also previously endorsed Omar Torres, San Jose City Council, District 3; and Amie Carter, Ph.D., for Sonoma County superintendent of schools. You can read our previous endorsements at https://bit. ly/3TbINmd

Other candidates

For the November 8 ballot, there are more LGBTQ candidates seeking election who we recommend.

In Alameda County, Alfred Twu, who is nonbinary, is running for the AC Transit board’s at-large seat. Long active in transportation and housing issues, and currently a Berkeley planning commissioner, Twu would add a fresh voice to the agency that is

still wooing back riders after the first years of the COVID pandemic.

In the Santa Cruz area, Adam Spickler is seeking reelection to the Cabrillo Community College Board, Area 2. He was initially appointed in 2018 when no one else ran for the seat, and took office in 2019. Spickler is a trans man who has done a great job on the college board and deserves reelection.

In Cupertino, J.R. Fruen, an attorney, is making a second bid for a City Council seat and would be its first out member. He is a third generation native of the Peninsula city and has good ideas on housing and other issues.

Marguerite Young, a lesbian, is seeking reelection to the East Bay Municipal Utility District, Ward 3. She has done a good job on the board and, as California is in the midst of a drought, her experience with water conservation and related issues is vital.

In El Cerrito, Gabriel Quinto is seeking reelection to the City Council and is currently serving as mayor for 2022. He is a gay HIV-positive Filipino American man who

has done a significant job advocating for working families.

In Oakland, trans dad Nick Resnick is running for the school board in District 4. Should he win, he would be the first known LGBTQ person to serve on the body. He is running to add representation to the board, which is critical given the national anti-trans attacks on families like his. He would be a solid addition to the board.

In Redwood City, Chris Sturken, a gay man, is running for the District 1 seat. He serves on the city’s planning commission and co-founded the county’s LGBTQ Democratic club. He wants to make the city a more safe, livable, and affordable place to live. Sturken would be a good councilmember.

In Richmond, Cesar Zepeda is making another bid for City Council. This time, he has elected experience as president of the West County Wastewater District, serving San Pablo, parts of Pinole, and the northern areas of Richmond. If elected to the council, See page 18 >>

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In conversation with SFAF’s Tyler TerMeer

by Cleve Jones

Cleve Jones, a co-founder of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, interviewed the agency’s current CEO, Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., about the MPX outbreak, including the community’s response and what it has learned from responding to AIDS. TerMeer, a gay Black man, took over leading SFAF in February. He and Jones are both living with HIV.

Cleve Jones: It’s a pleasure to have this conversation with you, Dr. TerMeer, as you make your way further into your first year as San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s CEO. I must say, between COVID-19 restrictions, the continuing overdose epidemic, and now MPX, you’ve had a wild ride so far at the helm of SFAF.

Tyler TerMeer: It certainly has been an interesting time – with lots of challenges. But I think that’s what we expect as leaders, when we’re at organizations that are fighting for health justice and for the lives of our community members. It’s certainly something that you’re familiar with.

Jones: That’s one of the things I wanted to touch on during our conversation. Some of the fear and the anxiety around MPX did remind me of those early years of the AIDS epidemic. People weren’t dying, of course, but there was something around the really intense fear that the LGBTQ+ community was

Cleve

being ignored and left behind by the federal government that struck me.

TerMeer: I agree. We heard a lot of those fears bubble up from the community during the first few weeks of the MPX outbreak. Thousands of people were calling our hotline with questions. So many people dropped by our health center, Strut, in the Castro to ask about MPX prevention, treatment, and other resources. They wanted answers, and they wanted the vaccine. For a while, we

didn’t have clear and consistent information on when we would get more vaccine.

Jones: It took too long for the federal government to respond adequately to MPX – to declare a state of emergency, and to authorize and secure enough vaccines for local and state governments to distribute. In the meantime, it was heartening to see the community come together and respond in really innovative ways. San Francisco AIDS Foundation – and you – were really at the forefront of that.

TerMeer: Thank you, I’m really proud of our response. Our teams stepped up in really astounding ways to care for our communities. I think in many ways, we felt at the heart of what we were responding to. This was our community being affected, and living in fear. It was us.

We basically created an entire new program around MPX in the last few months. In addition to clinical MPX services such as vaccination, testing, and treatment, we created a hotline in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, established a vaccine waitlist, held protests, created educational materials for the community,

Jones, left, and Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., discuss the response to the MPX outbreak.

Courtesy Cleve Jones

Due to redistricting, CA LGBTQ caucus chair

Low bunks with dad

by Matthew S. Bajko

L ate last year South Bay gay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) found himself a political nomad. Under the decennial redistricting process he was drawn into the new 23rd Assembly District along with his colleague Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto).

Rather than run for reelection against each other, the two legislators came to an agreement where Low would move into the new 26th Assembly District that includes Cupertino, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and parts of San Jose. Doing so required Low to vacate the 1,100 square foot condo in Campbell that he co-owns with his brother, a San Jose police officer.

But finding an affordable place where he could live in AD 26 proved impossible on such short notice. Talking to the Bay Area Reporter by phone last week, Low noted that the median home price in his new district is $2.5 million and average rents for one-bedrooms are near $5,000 a month.

For Low, who earned $111,077.52 in 2021, according to the website Transparent California, such prices are not within his budgetary reach. Thus, he ended up moving into the Sunnyvale home of his father and stepmother.

“This is about the lived experience of so many who cannot afford to live in California and the Bay Area,” said Low, 39, in his first media interview about the housing predicament he faced. “I am in Sunnyvale trying to go back and forth getting my things in Campbell.”

Due to nearing his 40th birthday next June, Low told the B.A.R. he has “felt a little bit sheepish to talk about” where he is now living. For how long he will be without his own place in the legislative district remains unclear.

“I am a 40-year-old moving in with dad,” said Low, who in his 20s served on the Campbell City Council as its first Asian American member.

Low grew up in San Jose, and his parents separated when he was 18. Both remarried and, in what would be a fortunate turn of events years later for Low, his father bought a home in Sunnyvale. But bunking with dad as an adult wasn’t something the San Jose State University alumnus envisioned.

“It is an unfortunate reality,” said Low, adding that, “I am lucky to have family here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Low, who chairs the Legislative LGBTQ caucus, is expected to easily win reelection come November 8. His new district overlaps somewhat with his current 28th Assembly District, which includes Cupertino and parts of San Jose.

He has been introducing himself to his new constituents now that the Legislature is in recess. Last week, Low honored the owners of Pineapple Thai in Cupertino with his 2022 Small Business of the Year Award.

And the day the B.A.R. caught up with Low – Tuesday, October 4 – he was on his way to the Cupertino City Council to announce $6 million in state funding for the city. The money will pay for a new all-inclusive playground at Jollyman Park and the reconstruction

of the McClellan Road Bridge.

“I was born and raised in the South Bay, so I am very familiar with the area,” said Low. “But nothing should be taken for granted. I am excited to get to know a new city and new people.”

He is also focused on helping to elect what is expected to be the largest contingent of LGBTQ legislators in California history. The LGBTQ caucus could grow from its current eight members to having a record 13 members, at least, in the next legislative session.

“As chair, this is my job to help identify, recruit, and get across the finish line LGBT candidates at the state level,” said Low. “We had an incredible opportunity to increase membership significantly this year. It is looking like it could be plus six.”

Also expected to easily win reelection are incumbent Assemblymembers Alex Lee (D-San Jose), who is bisexual; Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), who is lesbian; and Chris Ward (D-San Diego), who is gay. Rick Chavez Zbur , the gay former executive director of statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California, is the predicted winner of the open Assembly District 51 seat in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County is assured of once again having LGBTQ representation in the state Senate due to the contest for the newly drawn 20th Senate District seat. Lesbian social worker Caroline Menjivar and gay hotel manager Daniel Hertzberg are vying to succeed his father, state Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), who is termed out this year.

The victor will become the first out state legislator elected from the San Fernando Valley. After solely endorsing Hertzberg in the June primary, the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus dual-endorsed the two out candidates in the general election.

Gay Chula Vista City Councilmember Steve Padilla appears set to be elected to the open Senate District 18 seat in San Diego County. Corey Jackson , a gay man running for the Assembly District 60 seat in the state’s Inland Empire, is likely to become the first LGBTQ African American elected to the California Legislature.

“This would complete our rainbow in respect to diversity. We still have a long way to go getting trans representation,” said Low.

Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege is set to become the first bisexual female LGBTQ caucus member. Running for the new Assembly District 47 seat, which former Republican

Assemblymember Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage) opted against seeking reelection to this year, Holstege is favored in the race over her Republican opponent Greg Wallis Facing harder roads to election are two gay Navy veterans. Joseph C. Rocha of Escondido is trying to oust state Senator Brian Jones (R-Santee) in the newly drawn 40th Senate District in San Diego County.

In the East Bay race for the open 20th Assembly District seat, Dublin City Councilmember Shawn Kumagai is in a tough election fight against labor leader Liz Ortega , who is straight. She has the endorsement of outgoing Assemblymember Bill Quirk (DHayward), who opted not to seek reelection.

Meanwhile, facing a near impossible path to victory this fall after losing the special election in June to serve in the then-vacant Assembly District 80 seat, queer former San Diego City Council president Georgette Gómez suspended her general election campaign in September. She had lost to David Alvarez , also a former San Diego city councilmember, and the Democratic assemblymember is all but assured of winning a full two-year term next month.

As for the 13 remaining out legislative candidates, Low told the B.A.R. they are a strong slate that can expand out representation into new geographic areas of the state.

“They are high caliber candidates who reflect the diversity of this state,” said Low. “It is very exciting to see.”

While Low will welcome the election winners to Sacramento in December as chair of the LGBTQ legislative affinity group, he will not remain in the position in 2023. He is stepping down and handing over caucus leadership to current vice chair lesbian state Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (DStockton). She had served as caucus chair when she was in the state Assembly. t

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook’s online companion. This week’s column reported on queer Washington state Senate candidate Emily Randall.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/ politicalnotes.

Planning Ahead is Simple

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

Planning Ahead is Simple

The benefits are immense.

The benefits are immense.

ahead protects your loved ones from unnecessary stress

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.

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.

South Bay state Assemblymember Evan Low

Courtesy Evan Low campaign

Day of the Dead exhibition now open in SF

compiled by Cynthia Laird

SOMArts Cultural Center’s annual Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, exhibition is now open for public viewing.

In its 23rd year, the exhibition is one of the most internationally diverse Day of the Dead celebrations in the U.S., a news release stated.

Founded by the late San Francisco artist and curator René Yañez, Día de Los Muertos at SOMArts merges traditional altars with contemporary installations, continuing to be a multigenerational gathering of remembrance while affirming the importance of arts and culture, the release noted.

This year, Rio Yañez, the elder Yañez’s son, and Anaís Azul are co-curating the exhibition, titled “To Love and Be Loved, Día de Los Muertos 2022.” It exemplifies how the love between the living and the dead continues to help people navigate a world troubled by injustice, organizers stated, adding, “This exhibition asserts that our relationship with our ancestors and with each other is essential to our humanity and livelihood.”

The younger Yañez and Azul, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, have grown up around the annual exhibit and both are part of artistic families who have helped shape the Bay Area’s thriving arts and culture community.

“We are two second-generation artists who grew up watching this exhibit take shape for decades with our families,” Rio Yañez stated. “Our vision for the show aims to embrace the family of artists cultivated by René Yañez and an exciting new generation of artists.”

This is Azul’s first time as a curator, the release stated.

The exhibit is on view through November 4 at SOMArts, 934 Brannan Street (between Eighth and Ninth streets). Gallery hours are Thursday-Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. and 2:30 to 5 p.m. For more information, visit https:// somarts.org/

On Friday, October 21, from 8 to 9:30 p.m., there will be a special Día de Los Muertos drag show. For more information, go to https:// somarts.org/event/toloveandbeloved-drag/.

SOMArts receives programming support from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and the San Francisco Foundation.

DeFrank center marks 40 years

The Billy DeFrank LGBTQ Community Center in San Jose will celebrate its 40th anniversary Saturday, October 22, from 6 to 11:30 p.m., with a gala at the Holiday Inn, 1350 N. First Street.

“We’re Queer and Still Here!” is the theme of the evening, which will include a silent auction. A live auction will feature Santa Clara County Supervisor and San Jose mayoral candidate Cindy Chavez as auctioneer, an event flyer stated.

Emcees will be outgoing San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo; Gregg 3G, a bi radio personality on Mix 106.5 FM; and Gabrielle Anto -

lovich, board president of the DeFrank center. The evening includes a buffet dinner, cash bars, entertainment, and awards.

The keynote speaker will be lesbian retired Santa Clara Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell. She was the first Black Superior Court judge in Northern California and in Santa Clara County’s history when she was elected in 1988. Prior to that, Cordell became the first Black woman judge in Northern California when former Governor Jerry Brown Jr. appointed her to the municipal court during his second term as governor in 1982.

Cordell, 72, retired from the bench in 2001. Since then, she has been an independent police auditor for the city of San Jose, a consultant, and was elected to the Palo Alto City Council in 2004, where she served a four-year term that ended in December 2007. Last year she wrote a memoir, “Her Honor,” about her life. She was honored with a mural in downtown San Jose that was part of the Womanhood Project, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. Tickets for the black tie Halloween-themed gala start at $150. For more information, go to https:// bit.ly/3EzD6dJ.

<< Guest Opinion

From page 8

held vaccination events, worked to establish vaccine equity, and raised awareness of MPX in the media.

Jones: You yourself were very outspoken during the response. What compelled you to speak out?

TerMeer: It didn’t feel optional. I had the opportunity to use my voice, my intersectional identity, our platform, and our experiences to share with the world what our clinic and our community were experiencing. And people listened. There is value in using your voice to ask for what you need. Again, I think that’s something you know well.

Jones: I won’t argue with that point, that’s for sure. There were so many other times when I saw organizations, businesses, volunteers, and our San Francisco Department of Public Health stepping in as well. It felt like in the vacuum of the federal government, our community rallied to

LGBT center honors

LGBTQ History Month

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center is recognizing LGBTQ2S loved ones with a ceremonial altar and in-person grounding ceremony Thursday, October 27, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at 1800 Market Street.

“Honoring our Ancestors: The River’s Journey” will honor queer ancestors and Día de Los Muertos. Interested people can participate by submitting photos, stories, and names for the altar. The ceremony will consist of people gathering around the altar and adding their offerings and intentions, a news release stated.

To submit photos (any size) and names, email miguelb@sfcenter.org. To register for the ceremony, which is free, go to https://bit.ly/3SSeykn.

Pizer now permanent legal officer at Lambda Legal

Jennifer Pizer has shed acting from her title, as it was announced that she is the new permanent chief legal officer at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. The New York Citybased LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS public interest legal organization released the news October 7.

Pizer, a lesbian and longtime member of the agency’s legal staff, had served as acting chief legal officer since June, the agency stated. She

do the right thing.

I saw local bars, like El Rio, Beaux, and The Eagle, holding vaccination events and giving out info about MPX. Party and event producers, like for Castro Street Fair, Folsom, Dore Alley, and Lazy Bear, also stepped up to give folks information and also host vaccination events. They did this with no stigma and no shame.

Just recognizing that there was a need in the community, and that they could help. And there were thousands of people who waited patiently for hours in long lines to protect themselves and their partners, which is incredible.

TerMeer: That’s so true. I think so many folks in our community embraced being part of the solution. And now with case rates really going down, we’re seeing the effects of that. Do you think that – because of the AIDS epidemic – we’re more inclined to work together in response to a health crisis?

Jones: I absolutely think that’s the case. This isn’t our first rodeo.

heads a department of 26 attorneys and 11 paraprofessionals with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., in addition to New York City.

“Jenny Pizer has dedicated her life’s work to the cause of LGBTQ equality and inclusion, and Lambda Legal, specifically, with a history dating back to when she was a legal intern in the 1980s,” stated Kevin Jennings, Lambda Legal CEO.

Jennings, a former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration, recalled that Pizer received the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association’s highest honor, the Dan Bradley Award, in July, as the B.A.R. previously reported. Pizer stated that she looks forward to her new position.

“I am honored to continue to lead Lambda Legal’s team of incredibly talented attorneys during this critical time,” she stated, referencing the “onslaught of attacks in statehouses and the random abuses inflicted daily because too many in this country are still learning who we are – still see us as some kind of dangerous threat.”

Pizer is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Harvard/Radcliffe College.

AIDS 2022 content now online

The International AIDS Society, which held its in-person and virtual AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal, Canada this summer, has announced that anyone can now view over 150 sessions, 2,100 abstracts, and 2,400 e-posters from the meeting online at no cost.

The content includes science presentations, expert discussions on the global HIV response, and much more, a news release stated.

To access the content, go to https://bit.ly/3ViWstu. t

Back then, we created a model for how we can respond. It’s proving useful again and again, with COVID-19, and now with MPX. t

Cleve Jones is co-founder of San Francisco AIDS Foundation, creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, now under the stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial Grove, and author of “When We Rise: My Life in the Movement.” He is a human rights activist with a history of activism spanning five decades.

Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., is CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation and co-chair of the AIDS United Public Policy Council. He is passionate about improving the health of people living with HIV, ensuring that LGBTQ+ people have access to affirming care, and supporting and empowering Black-led organizations and BIPOC leaders. TerMeer has been honored by the White House as one of the “Nation’s Emerging LGBTQ+ Leaders,” and as part of the “Nation’s Emerging Black Leadership.”

SOMArts’ Día de Los Muertos exhibition is now open for the public to visit.

Courtesy SOMArts

Jennifer Pizer is now Lambda Legal’s permanent chief legal officer.

Courtesy Lambda Legal

Trans drag house founder Garza dies

by Cynthia Laird

Garza, a transgender Latina woman who was a recruiter for HIV studies and was the founder of the House of Garza, died September 27 at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco with her mother, Do ñ a Antonia Suárez, and closest friends at her side. She was 60.

The cause of death was organ failure, her close friends Carlos Venturo and his husband, Joseph Copley, told the Bay Area Reporter. Garza had been hospitalized since August battling an infection that originated in her gallbladder, they said.

Garza went by different names over the years, as she herself said in “Garza,” a 2010 documentary produced by Pricilla Murray. She was born José Carlos Asencios Suárez and later, after she transitioned, was known as María José Garza, Venturo and Copley said. Finally, she was mostly just known by one name, Garza.

“She navigated between her boy side and her girl side,” Venturo said.

Garza emigrated from Peru to the U.S. In the documentary, she said that when she was 9 years old in Peru she was raped by a teacher. Later, she said that she was brutally attacked as she returned home from a show. Not feeling safe, Garza decided to leave the country. She came to the U.S. in 2002.

While in Peru, Garza trained as a ballet dancer at the National Ballet School of Peru. Venturo met Garza in 1991 at the Ballet Municipal de Lima, where Garza spent a large part of her career, he said.

In an email, Murray stated that she enjoyed working with Garza on the documentary.

“Her purity and sincerity in helping those in need drew me to Garza as a subject for a photo project,” Murray stated. “We would meet every Monday from 3-6 p.m. Sometimes, we talked in our sessions; other times, I recorded or filmed her. The project evolved into three-year documentation that became a short multimedia documentary that has carried her message of love.”

San Francisco resident and dance icon Carolyn Carvajal first met Garza when she was dancing 19th century waltzes as part of a dance gig at a party for the end of the old Academy of Sciences, she wrote in a text message to the B.A.R.

“Our soul connection was immediately felt. She moved into our home in 2011,” Carvajal wrote, referring to her husband, Carlos, also a well-known dancer. “Over the next nine years we had many late night heart-to-heart talks revealing his/her depth of understanding and sensitivity and kindness.

“She really brought me up to date on gender issues,” Carvajal added.

Carvajal noted that Garza “never missed an opportunity to dress up in glamorous gowns and high heels for gala events or parties at home.”

Garza lived with the couple in the Haight neighborhood until “COVID rearranged all our lives,” Carvajal stated.

House of Garza

In San Francisco, Garza was the mother of the House of Garza, which was founded in 2008, its Facebook page stated. She was also Queen of the Knights of the House of Garza. The house raised funds for countless nonprofit organizations that were meaningful

to the LGBTQIA2S+ community, Copley and Venturo said.

“She was the first drag mother to a lot of people,” Venturo said. Events were mostly held at Cafe Flore “back in the day,” he added, and funds were raised for Latinx community organizations such as AGUILAS: El Ambiente, Hermanos de Luna y Sol (Brothers of the Moon and Sun), El/La Para TransLatinas, as well as groups Dance Through Time, SF is Ready, and others.

Mat Rosswood, a founding member of the House of Garza, fondly recalled his friend. He was a knight and has honorary membership in the house, though he has not performed in many years. A former Bay Area resident, Rosswood now lives in New York state.

“Garza held weekly fundraisers and would invite a different charity every week to benefit,” Rosswood said in a phone interview, adding that she also reached out to the community for raffle prizes. He enjoyed his time in the house.

“The only time Britainya performed was for Garza,” he said, referring to his drag persona.

“Garza was a person of incredible strength,” Rosswood said, adding he was deeply saddened when he learned she was ill. “Her memory endures. She was a beacon of joy to anybody she touched.”

Kippy Marks, a violinist and electronic dance music artist in San Francisco, was also in the House of Garza.

“The way she united so many loving people together was amazing,” Marks wrote in an email. “Garza had a way about her that embraced a tremendous amount of love to everyone she encountered.

“Because of Garza I was blessed to have met people that I consider my chosen family,” Marks added. “The House of Garza is and will always be my true house.”

Titles Garza earned included Ms. Gay Safe Latina (2004, 2005), Ms. Gay Latina (2003), Queen of Krewe de Kinque Mardi Gras Club, AIDS Housing Alliance/SF Miss Desperate Divas (2007), Ms. Esta Noche, Miss La Raza, as well as winning Dancing with the Drag Stars and other honors.

“All of these titles gave Garza great pride, and she continually used her growing platform to give back to the community by mentoring, fundraising, and supporting LGBTQIA2s+ causes and people,” Copley and Venturo wrote in an email.

In 2018, Garza competed for the San Francisco Carnival title.

Before coming to the U.S., she began performing in drag at various gay clubs and bars around Lima, she told the B.A.R. at the

“We are heartbroken to have lost our beloved Garza, a core member of the Bridge HIV team for 17 years, who embodied the heart and soul of who we at Bridge HIV aspire to be,” the statement read. “Garza joined the Community Programs team at Bridge in September of 2005, quickly learning about all of the HIV prevention studies we conduct. She was hired as a recruiter, but became so much more – she was a true liaison to many communities with whom we work.”

Additionally, Garza did community outreach and education about HIV prevention, and later COVID prevention according to the statement. She was a peer health navigator for transgender women, providing counseling and linkage to many different types of services, the agency stated.

“Garza elevated how we support our communities with programs such as Hot and Healthy, a monthly drag production that raised funds for Bay Area HIV/ LGBTQ/trans organizations,” the post stated.

She often wore her Wonder Woman costume, which attracted attention and interest in the health department’s studies and HIV prevention, the agency noted.

“Everyone seemed to want to talk and take selfies with Garza, who was selfless with her time and energy,” the post stated. “Garza was a talented dancer and teacher, leading us to dance through Pride parade formations, ever patient as we strived to learn her dance routines to make her proud.”

In addition to her HIV work, Venturo and Copley said that Garza was a beloved teacher of Movement for Parkinson’s disease in the John Argue Method, a comprehensive exercise program designed to help people improve flexibility, balance, gait, and communication, according to a book Argue wrote on the topic.

Garza was born in Paramonga, Peru on July 7, 1962 to Suárez and the late Máximo Asencios.

In addition to her mother, Garza is survived by her siblings Jesús Renato, María del Carmen, Juan Manuel, and Magaly.

time. Her drag name was a nickname she was given derived from garza blanca, the Spanish name for the great egret, an all-white heron with long legs found in Florida.

“I wasn’t a swan but I was an egret,” Garza explained in a phone interview at the time.

An avid lover of the performing arts and culture, “she could always be found (looking fabulous) at the opening night of the San Francisco Opera season, ODC/ Dance Gala, the San Francisco Ballet, as well as celebrating the talents of performers at the Oasis, The Stud, Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, Marlena’s and more,” Copley and Venturo wrote in an email. “The venue never mattered – wherever Garza stood, it was a performance venue…even her kitchen (if you were lucky enough to have her cooking).”

HIV work

Since 2005, Garza worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Bridge HIV unit. She was a community events specialist who recruited people for vaccine studies and did other outreach, Copley and Venturo said.

Venturo said that Garza’s personality made her a great recruiter. “She was so charismatic,” he said.

Staff at Bridge HIV posted on Facebook and mourned Garza’s passing.

In addition to Copley and Venturo, Garza’s chosen family included Nevér Navarro, and indeed, countless communities are also in mourning, Copley and Venturo stated.

Funeral services, a celebration of life, and interment will take place at the convenience of the family, Venturo and Copley said. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are supporting the planning of events, and the Transgender District leadership is in conversation about a mural commemorating Garza’s contributions to the community, Copley and Venturo said.

Arrangements are being handled by the San Francisco Columbarium. A date for the memorial is expected to be announced soon, Venturo and Copley said. In the meantime, they said that Garza’s family will be in attendance at a fundraiser being produced by Krewe de Kinque at the Midnight Sun, 4067 18th Street, Saturday, October 15, from 4 to 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a GoFundMe that Copley and Venturo have set up to help with memorial and other expenses. To donate, go to https://bit.ly/3SJnHMe. t

Garza in her Wonder Woman costume, which she wore both at performances and when she was doing HIV outreach.

Courtesy Pricilla Murray from “Garza”

Garza’s mother, Doña Antonia Suárez, left, and Garza’s longtime friend, Carlos Venturo, spoke about Garza during the Queerazon event at El Rio in the Mission on Friday, September 30.

Christopher Robledo

mystery, thriller, crime fiction, friendship fiction, LGBTQ fiction, and fantasy, all things considered, “The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern” perhaps best fits into the new genre of self-help fiction.

SF electrologist caters to trans clients

by Matthew S. Bajko

Oddly, there was no record of Leah Fern’s birth. Her mother was a traveling circus performer, and had her on the go in a carnival trailer with magic as her only anesthesia. Soon the sensitive young child was put to work at an early age, billed as the very best fortuneteller in the world even with no experience. And to her own surprise

The demand for electrologists who offer transgender-affirming care in San Francisco is such that within months of Melanie Ampon opening Hearten Electrolysis in June, she had compiled a waiting list of more than 40 prospective clients. She advises people seeking the hair removal treatment that the soonest she can see them is in four to eight months.

Author Rita Zoe Chin

most of all, she began telling people’s fortunes, often with amazing accuracy.

When Leah Fern was only six years old, however, her mother struck her a betrayal that would haunt her for most of the rest of life by abandoning her to

ness Hearten, which is defined as “to make more cheerful or confident,” due to the effect electrolysis has on her clients. The vast majority, 98%, are trans individuals with many needing their genital hair removed before they can undergo bottom surgery.

her pricing. She will do a consultation with new clients and discuss with them what the duration and cost of the procedure they need will be.

the care of a kindly old circus gentleman who in time died and also left her to fend for herself.

“I love it. It is what I aim to do,” Ampon said when asked about the name of her business.

“Transcendence” that ran from 2018 to 2020. She became a client last year in order to prep for her bottom surgery.

When a lawyer delivers a mysterious black box, literally, as her inheritance from a recently deceased neigh-

For most trans individuals, their health insurance should cover electrolysis as part of their gender-affirming care. Before opening her doors, Ampon made sure she could be reimbursed by various insurance providers, including Kaiser Permanente

bor she hardly knew, he could not possibly know the good deed he is do ing by thwarting Leah Fern’s intricate plans to commit suicide that day. It her twenty-first birthday and chosen death day. Her careful plans include

“She let me know she wanted to start pursuing a career in electrolysis, and I told her feel free to practice on me,” recalled Tumazi, noting that she has a hairy body due to being Middle Eastern.

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Ampon, 38, who formerly served on the city’s Human Rights Commission, is the first transgender owner of an electrolysis practice in the city. Having undergone the procedure herself for two years to remove her facial hair – it is the only FDA-approved permanent hair removal treatment – Ampon decided to enroll in electrology school and go into business on her own.

Ifyou’re looking for some light, fun reading, look no further than “Tales

“I worked for a few practices to gain

From the Chair: Adventures and Sordid Tales From my Life in the Hair Business” by Len Handeland. The author, a former San Franciscan who now lives in Palm Springs with his husband, worked as a hair stylist and colorist for 27 years, which included stints as a salon owner.

a 300 square foot retail space at 1528

She officially opened on June 3, though she had hoped to welcome her first clients the month prior. While a COVID infection delayed those plans, turning on the lights to her practice during Pride Month “was awesome,” she said.

Over the years Handeland has seen it all; drunk clients, hair professionals who gossip about clients, clients who don’t tip, and inconsiderate clients who had to be “fired.”

“Things happen in mysterious ways and things happen when they are meant to happen,” said Ampon.

“What is amazing in Cali fornia is trans-affirming care is covered by health insurance,” said Ampon, so most of her clients’ out-of-pocket expenses are their co-pays.

As a client of Ampon’s, Tumazi said she feels more confident in pursuing her own career goals. She also praised her “bedside manner” as a practitioner.

Len Handeland’s ‘Tales From the Chair’

In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Handeland addressed why he wrote the book.

Because she uses a probe to individually kill each hair follicle, Ampon said electrolysis is a time-consuming

Handeland writes about these topics, and many others, with wit and candor. Whether you’re someone who patronizes a high-end salon or not, Tales From the Chair will leave you with a newfound respect for hair stylists and hair colorists.

“I know firsthand about having unwanted hair and needing permanent hair removal with my genderaffirming care as a trans woman and the importance of it.”

“I wanted to offer some sage advice to those just starting out in my former industry,” he said. “And to help those that professionally see someone for their hair. Perhaps their hairstylist has had similar feelings about them? The public should understand the challenges of the hair professional despite it appearing glamorous and fun. It’s

STOP THE HATE!

hard work and frequently challenging dealing with the public. These are the many reasons I decided to write my only nonfiction book, the other two books being fiction.”

“I would say in my years of interacting with different health care providers for gender-affirming care that she has always prioritized my comfort, and made me feel safe and heard,” said Tumazi. Due to the demand for her services, Ampon is already looking to expand by bringing on an additional electrologist and possibly opening a second location. She has supported one client, Tessa Delsener, entering into the field and discussed hiring her on when she becomes licensed by the state.

“It is a wonderful career and one of the few that not only pays well but pays really well for the area. It is a living wage,” said Delsener, 52, a trans wom an who is poly and pansexual.

She began seeing Ampon 18 months ago to remove her facial hair and the hairs in her genital area in preparation of having bottom surgery, likely next summer. The San Francisco resident is a public school teacher but needed a second job in order to make ends meet living in the city.

Handeland goes into a good amount of detail regarding badly behaved cli ents, such as people who don’t show up for appointments or cancel at the last minute. He also writes about clients who show up carrying expensive shopping bags, then complain about the price of hairstyling, saying that they “can’t afford it.”

“Melanie told me how much she en joyed what she was doing and thought I would be a good fit,” said Delsener, whose partner is also Ampon’s client. “Basically, she kind of is mentoring me. She would discuss what she was doing when working on me.”

The author admits that there can be a downside to this. There’s always the chance that such a client will leave a bad Yelp review.

Having graduated last month from the same school that Ampon attended, Delsener is now waiting to take her state licensing exam. She told the B.A.R. she is still determining if she will work parttime for Ampon or at another practice, or perhaps open her own.

“I have no hard plan of any of that. I do know Melanie wants to add a scholarship to bring more trans people into the field,” said Delsener. “She definitely is encouraging me to become an entrepreneur as well.”

It can cost upward of $13,000 to attend electrolysis school, noted Ampon, so she wants to launch a scholarship program to help other trans individuals pursue it as a career. She received a $10,000 grant from the city’s Transgender District via its entrepreneurship accelerator program to help her open her practice.

“Unfortunately, we live in a society where people are swift to post some thing negative and rarely take the time to post anything positive,” Handeland said. “The hair professional must ask those appreciative clients who verbally thank them after every hair appoint ment to express that gratitude in writ ing by posting a positive review. I was very fortunate to have many of my former clients leave me positive reviews on Yelp and other online websites.”

“There are 1,500 licensed electrologists in thewholestateof California.Idon’tknowhow many are in San Francisco, but I don’t believe there are more than 15 or 20,” said Ampon, who has clients who drive into the city from TahoeandtheCentralValleyinordertoreceive treatment from a trans provider.

With few providers of electrolysis in the city, Delsener said she isn’t surprised that so many people are on Ampon’s waiting list to be seen. Plus, Ampon is fairly well known within the city’s trans community, she noted.

In addition to her work as a human rights commissioner, Ampon for two decades has worked as a cocktail server at the supper club AsiaSF that employs many trans women who perform lip sync numbers in addition to waiting on tables. She helped to open its second location in Palm Springs right be-

“It is nice to have services provided by somebody who understands what is going on and what your needs are,” said Delsener. “Melanie is just a won-

For more information about Hearten Electrolysis, visit its website at https://www.heartenelectrolysis.com/

Handeland also writes about the other side of the coin, hair professionals whose on-the-job conduct is, shall we say, less than professional. Among the topics discussed are those hair professionals who create a toxic work environment by gossiping, either about their clients or about co-workers. Also discussed is the inappropriateness of using obscene language on the job. Handeland recalls one instance in which he tore up the contract of a hair stylist who was working as an independent contractor and asked her to leave the salon. Other stylists applauded as she made her way outside.

Handeland discussed how

If you have been the victim of a hate crime, please report it.

Hearten Electrolysis owner Melanie Ampon shows off her salon near Polk Gulch.

Rick Gerharter

Newsom nominates 1st lesbian presiding CA appellate justice

by Matthew S. Bajko

Governor Gavin Newsom has nominated Justice Therese Stewart to be the first lesbian presiding justice on a California appellate court. If confirmed, she would be the second out justice to preside over a division of one of the state’s six appellate courts.

The first to do so was gay Justice James M. Humes of San Francisco. Former governor Jerry Brown, who had named Humes to the state’s appellate bench in 2012, elevated him two years later to be the presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division One.

Newsom on October 7 announced Stewart’s elevation to be presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division Two. The UC Berkeley School of Law graduate is set to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of presiding justice J. Anthony Kline.

As the senior presiding justice on the 1st District Court of Appeal,

Humes will vote on confirming Stewart as a member of the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Joining him on the review panel will be outgoing California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and Attorney General Rob Bonta. Stewart, 65, a registered Democrat, is set to earn $262,198 in her new po-

sition. Her confirmation hearing date has yet to be announced.

The news comes nearly two months after Newsom tapped queer Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kelli Evans to the state’s Supreme Court. If confirmed, she will be the first out LGBTQ woman and second out African American to serve on it.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments will hold Evan’s confirmation hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday, November 10. Joining Cantil-Sakauye and Bonta on the review body that morning will be senior Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez of the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division Two.

Stewart, from San Francisco like her colleague Humes, had defended Newsom when he served as mayor of the city and she was a deputy city attorney. Most famously, Stewart was part of the legal team that defended Newsom in state court after he ordered city officials to marry same-sex

couples against California law in the winter of 2014 shortly after he became mayor. She went on to successfully argue for the right of same-sex couples to wed before the California Supreme Court, which overturned the state’s anti-gay marriage statutes in 2008. The court’s ruling led to the ballot fight over the issue and eventual voter passage that November of Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage in the Golden State. She lost a second case before the state high court seeking to overturn Prop 8 but did successfully argue it should not annul the some 18,000 marriages that had taken place prior to Election Day. After two same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit against the homophobic proposition, the city attorney’s office joined the case as an intervener and Stewart was part of the team that worked on it.

In June 2013 the U.S. Supreme

Court dismissed the case on a technicality, allowing lower court rulings striking down Prop 8 to stand. The resumption of same-sex nuptials began shortly thereafter in California.

In 2014, Brown nominated Stewart as an associate justice of the appeal court’s Division Two. She became the first out female appellate court justice in the state and the second LGBTQ appeals court jurist after Humes.

There are now five LGBTQ appeals court justices in the state. Gay Associate Justice Luis A. Lavin serves in the 2nd District, while lesbian Associate Justices Laurie M. Earl and Marsha G. Slough serve in the 3rd District and 4th District, respectively. Newsom appointed Earl to the appellate bench last year, while Brown had named Lavin and Slough as appellate justices.

Both confirmation hearings for Evans and Stewart will be webcast live on the website for the state courts at https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/. t

US Supreme Court declines to hear Prop 8 tapes case

by Eric Burkett

T welve years after the trial they were created to document, the video tape recordings of the 2010 federal trial over Proposition 8 will finally be made public. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of lower court rulings ordering the release of those tapes.

The decision not to hear the appeal, released October 11, ends more than a decade of effort by public broadcaster, KQED, to release the tapes.

The root of the case over the tapes began in 2010. The constitutionality of Prop 8, passed by voters in 2008, was challenged in Hollingsworth v. Perry, a federal lawsuit that appeared in the court of District Court Judge Vaughn Walker.

The idea was floated about broadcasting the trial in other courthouses because of the public interest. The California Supreme Court issued a stay of the proposed broadcast, but Walker continued to tape the proceedings in case the stay was lifted. Subsequently, Walker stated that the tapes were being made in order to aid in his consideration of the testimony and evidence during the trial, saying at the time “it’s not

going to be for purposes of public broadcasting or televising.”

As the court-ordered embargo on the tapes neared its expiry in 2020, Prop 8 proponents sued to stop the release of the tapes, alleging that they may be subject to harassment or intimidation as a result, and that releasing the tapes ever would be a violation of Walker’s statement they’d not be used for broadcast.

In July 2020, a district court judge ruled that the tapes should be released, but the proponents appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which, as the

B.A.R. reported, in 2021 twice ruled for the tapes’ release but kept them sealed while it considered the case.

Scott Shafer, a gay man and KQED’s senior editor for politics and government, said the final appeal had been a surprise.

“We honestly had no idea they would take it to the Supreme Court,” he told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview Tuesday, which coincidentally is celebrated by the LGBTQ community as National Coming Out Day.

But with the Supreme Court declining to take up the appeal,

KQED’s long struggle to make the tapes publicly available has prevailed. KQED’s attorney, Thomas Burke, was delighted.

“It was a very happy moment,” he told the B.A.R. in a phone interview Tuesday.

There had been concern, as the case was kicked up to the Supreme Court, that as the proponents of Prop 8 didn’t see the case the same way as its opponents, the case would have been heard very differently on the high court, said Burke, a straight ally.

“There was concern the court might have thought there was reason to get involved,” he said. “We felt there was no need.”

After what was essentially “a 12-year fight” as Burke described it, the tapes will soon make their way to KQED where scholars, historians, and others simply interested in the case will have access to them, but also where KQED staff will be able to use them for documentary purposes. Interestingly, for all the fighting over the tapes, they’re not particularly high quality, Burke said.

Rather than using the film crew and expensive equipment Burke had arranged to record the proceedings, the judge insisted upon using the courtroom camera, he said.

FIREPLACE

Shafer said he had heard Walker describe the Prop 8 trial as an unusual one for a social issue, which included testimony on history, economics, and sociology. The tapes, Walker told him, would be used in law schools, as well as by people who will be tackling matters such as abortion in future trials.

Prop 8

Passed in 2008 by California voters, Prop 8 banned same-sex marriage in the state. In August 2010, following the trial, Walker, a federal judge appointed by former President George H.W. Bush, ruled that Prop 8 was indeed unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Walker’s ruling could go into effect, two years before the nation’s highest court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. Walker came out as gay after his ruling and retired from the bench in 2012.

The Northern District of California placed the tapes under a 10-year seal in accordance with its rules. Trial transcripts, however, formed the basis of both a stage production and a network television docuseries about the legal proceedings.

See page 20 >>

Valor LX2 3-sided gas fireplace shown here with Murano glass, and reflective glass liner

First District Court of Appeal Justice Therese Stewart has been nominated to be presiding justice of the court’s Division Two in San Francisco.

Rick Gerharter

Clergy members and supporters, totaling more than 200 people, marched to Civic Center on March 26, 2009, following a negative decision on Proposition 8 by the California Supreme Court.

Rick Gerharter

Castro Merchants decline to endorse theater plans

by Eric Burkett

The controversy over the new management of the Castro Theatre continues, with the neighborhood’s business organization declining to sign a letter in support of Another Planet Entertainment’s planned renovations of the movie house.

Another Planet has been working to garner community support in spite of stiff opposition from the Castro Theatre Conservancy, the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, and many others. The groups and individuals are opposed to the concert company’s plans to remove the current banked orchestral seating configuration.

City hearings on those proposed renovations have been pushed back to December, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. (https://www. ebar.com/story.php?319351) APE requested the delay after an August town hall showed that many people were opposed to the seating changes and other issues.

At the October 6 monthly meeting of the Castro Merchants Association, members declined to sign on to a letter in support of those proposed renovations.

The letter, prepared by Another Planet, the Berkeley-based concert promotion company that took over management of the movie palace back in January, “was specific just to Castro Merchants’ endorsement. They have sent other similar letters to individual businesses,” said Dave Karraker, co-president of the CMA and owner of MX3 Fitness.

Beginning with an upbeat description of the theater as “a beacon, worldwide, for its celebration of free expression, creative enterprise, and diversity,” the letter continues, adding, “If the Castro Theatre were to shutter or turned into condos or a gym, it would have a potentially devastating effect on the neighborhood.”

It then goes on to commend APE for the work it’s done in the past, renovating and restoring a number of Bay Area entertainment venues such as the Fox Theatre in Oakland and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, although it doesn’t mention either by name.

“To this end,” the letter states, “Castro Merchants has worked cooperatively with Another Planet Entertainment and has secured in writing the benefits APE will provide local busi-

nesses through their stewardship of the Theatre, as well as how they will mitigate any disruption to my business due to any entertainment programming.”

The plan was to convince CMA members to sign those letters in return for a list of commitments by APE to the Castro business community. Among those commitments are promises to utilize Castro businesses for everything from catering services to office supplies, and for APE to maintain a preferred-vendor list of Castro businesses “for theatre maintenance, ie: painting, electrical, janitorial, as well as hospitality. Preferred vendors will be available to bid on work across the APE theater network, including outside the Castro.”

Promises to be a good neighbor include commitments by APE to install new, improved lighting and sound equipment to mitigate impact on neighboring businesses by reducing the need for loading in such equipment for each show, and enlisting outdoor security for crowd control, in addition to other assurances.

APE spokesperson David Perry and Margaret Casey, APE project manager, attended the virtual CMA meeting. Casey apparently had some technical difficulties and couldn’t get her mic to work. Perry was not available to comment before publication of this article online.

Perry told the B.A.R. October 7 that, while disappointed CMA chose

not sign the letter, APE would continue its outreach efforts and expected that the merchants’ group would eventually sign on.

“I don’t think it’s a serious blow,” said Perry. However, while Casey was unable to address the organization because of mic problems, Perry was busy correcting some misconceptions expressed by CMA members, through chat messages to the group.

One misconception was that, following the planned renovations the theater’s capacity would change from its current 1,400 seats.

“The capacity will not increase,” Perry told the B.A.R. Another misconception, expressed by the owner of a business neighboring the Castro Theatre, is that the ownership of the theater has changed with APE assuming control. Perry had to message the group again to clarify that indeed, the Nasser family – which built the theater back in 1922 – still owns the movie palace.

Finally, Perry reiterated the Nasser family’s continued support for APE’s efforts at the Castro.

“That plan has not changed,” he said.

Echoes of letters to supervisors

The CMA letter is reminiscent of another letter-writing campaign by APE. More than 300 of those form letters were sent by people to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in September, as the B.A.R. reported. Those letters were sent from people from around the Bay Area, as well as other states, and locals included entertainment doyens Donna Sachet and Audrey Joseph, a former president of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission.

The Castro Theatre Conservancy has an online petition opposed to the renovation plans that has over 7,300 signatures. Supporters of keeping the theater seating in recent days have shared on social media photos of actors Isabella Rossellini and Richard Thomas holding signs that say “Save The Seats!”

They also posted a letter famed queer film director John Waters sent to city officials in which he wrote about how the “sloped floor and seats are indeed a big historic” defining characteristic of the Castro Theatre.

Film noir expert and host on cable channel Turner Classic Movies Ed-

die Muller also posted a statement on Facebook explaining why the seating at the Castro Theatre was integral to the success of the Noir City film festival he hosted there. The San Francisco native implored city leaders not to allow the seats to be removed.

“Changing the slope of the floor and replacing actual seats with portable chairs is tantamount to announcing that movies are no longer welcome,” wrote Muller in his letter sent to city officials.

As almost any discussion of the Castro Theatre seems to do, the discussion of the letter at the CMA meeting touched off a lengthy discourse of the perceived shortcomings of the concert promoters and questions about their potential impact on the neighborhood.

Terrance Alan, co-president of CMA and owner of cannabis dispensary The Flore Store, raised a couple of issues as the discussion got underway.

“Concerns are in, kind of, two buckets,” Alan, a gay man, said. In that first bucket were issues about the cultural impact of APE on the LGBTQ neighborhood.

“How can we help Another Planet understand exactly what the community needs, in terms of the unique status of the Castro?” he wondered. Second, there was the far more downto-earth matter of APE’s impact on parking.

“If several thousand people are coming to an 8 o’clock show, how will they get there?” he asked. “How will they leave? That is an issue very important to talk about; it affects not only the businesses but the residential neighbors.”

While the theater capacity is limited to 1,400 people, concern about parking is something that needs to be addressed, said Peter Pastreich, executive director of the Castro Theatre Conservancy, a group founded earlier this year to fight for the preservation of the theater, particularly its raked flooring and seating.

Speaking with the B.A.R. October 7, Pastreich noted that, as the former director of the San Francisco Symphony, which he led from 1978 to 1999, parking for the symphony was a huge issue, particularly as the various artistic organizations – San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and San Francisco Symphony – moved from sharing the same facility into buildings of their own. Thousands of at-

tendees drove in from throughout the region to attend performances, he said, and he doesn’t expect the audiences for live music at the Castro to be any different.

“The need for a garage wasn’t all that obvious with just the opera house,” Pastreich said. “Once you added Davies [Symphony Hall], it was absolutely essential.”

Stephen Torres, a gay man and advisory board executive co-chair of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, was at the meeting representing Friends of the Castro Theatre Coalition, a group concerned about the future of the movie palace in the face of APE’s proposed plans.

“What stands out to us is an absence of consistent LGBTQ-centered programming,” said Torres. “Even at this late date, they’ve alluded to a quarter of the programming the theater had been running prior to the pandemic. They seem to only promise 15-20 days a month of relevant programming, but for now there has only been one event per week.”

In the end, CMA members demurred from signing on, citing too many questions still left unanswered.

“I think the majority of the Castro merchants have not been convinced they won’t get what they asked for in return for signing the letter,” Torres observed following the meeting.

Another Planet leadership has conceded that it hadn’t understood the depth of the community’s cultural attachment to the theater and this isn’t the first time APE sought, but did not receive, support. At a meeting of the San Francisco Small Business Commission on August 22, APE Vice President of Business Affairs Dan Serot acknowledged that the concert promoter had really not been prepared for the backlash from the public once it announced its takeover of management of the theater.

“Unfortunately for us, we didn’t look at this as a community center,” Serot told commissioners, but, instead, as a business venture. The theater’s owners, the Nasser family, which built the theater in 1922 and has held it since, have stated publicly, however, they have full confidence in APE’s abilities to preserve and maintain the old movie house successfully.

The small business commission ultimately tabled a resolution in support of APE’s plans, as the B.A.R. previously reported. t

B.A.R. ENDORSEMENTS CALIFORNIA GENERAL ELECTION

U.S. Senate: Alex Padilla

Governor: Gavin Newsom

Lt. Gov: Eleni Kounalakis

Secretary of State: Shirley Weber

Attorney Gen: Rob Bonta

Controller: Malia Cohen

Treasurer: Fiona Ma

Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara

State Sup.

Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond

Board of Equalization

Dist. 2: Sally Lieber

CONGRESS (BAY AREA)

Dist. 2: Jared Huffman

Dist. 4: Mike Thompson

Dist. 8: John Garamendi

Dist. 9: Josh Harder

Dist. 10: Mark DeSaulnier

Dist. 11: Nancy Pelosi

Dist. 12: Barbara Lee

Dist. 14: Eric Swalwell

Dist. 15: Kevin Mullin

Dist. 16: Anna Eshoo

Dist. 17: Ro Khanna

Dist. 18: Zoe Lofgren

CA ASSEMBLY

Dist. 17: Matt Haney

Dist. 19: Phil Ting

Dist. 15: Buffy Wicks

Dist. 16: Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Dist. 18: Mia Bonta

Dist. 20: Shawn Kumagai

Dist. 21: Diane Papan

Dist. 24: Alex Lee

Dist. 26: Evan Low

SAN FRANCISCO

Board of Supervisors

Dist. 2: Catherine Stefani

Dist. 4: Gordon Mar

Dist. 6: Matt Dorsey, 1st choice, Honey Mahogany, 2nd choice

Dist. 8: Rafael Mandelman

Dist. 10: Shamann Walton

District Attorney:

Brooke Jenkins

Public Defender:

Mano Raju

City College Board

Short Term: Murrell Green

4-year Term: Thea Selby, John

Rizzoand

William Walker

SF Board of Education

Lainie Motamedi, Lisa Weissman-Ward

Karen Fleshman

Assessor-Recorder:

Joaquín Torres

BART Board, Dist. 9: Janice Li

OTHER RACES

AC Transit At-Large:

Alfred Twu

Alameda County

Board of Supervisors

Dist. 3: Rebecca Kaplan

Cabrillo College Board Area 2:

Adam Spickler

Contra Costa County

Board of Supervisors

Dist. 4: Ken Carlson

Cupertino City Council: J.R. Fruen

East Bay MUD Ward 3

Marguerite Young

El Cerrito City Council

Gabriel Quinto

Oakland School Board

Dist. 4: Nick Resnick

Redwood City Council

Chris Sturken

Richmond City Council

Dist. 2: Cesar Zepeda

Dist. 4: Jamin Pursell

San Mateo County

Board of Supervisors

Dist. 3: Laura Parmer-Lohan

San Mateo City Council

Sarah Fields

San Jose City Council

Dist. 3: Omar Torres

San Jose Mayor

Cindy Chavez

San Leandro City Council

Victor Aguilar

San Leandro School Board

James Aguilar

Santa Clara Mayor

Anthony Becker

Sonoma County S

uperintendent of Schools

Amie Carter, Ph.D.

Sunnyvale City Council

Richard Mehlinger

SAN FRANCISCO PROPS

Yes: A, B, C, D, F, G, J, L, N,O

No: E, H, I, M

CALIFORNIA PROPS

Yes: 1, 26, 28, 30, 31

No: 27, 29

The Castro Merchants Association declined to sign a letter submitted by Another Planet Entertainment in support of its proposed changes to the Castro Theatre.

Scott Wazlowski

Prop 8 tapes

From page 15

Holly Kernan, KQED’s chief content officer, called the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision a victory

PRC

From page 4

ported, but the organization said it had, by that time, raised $5 million, and expected to raise $2 million more.

“These problems were not caused by the clients, and we’re going to bear it the most,” Justin said.

Middle-rung employees of Baker Places, the very employees to whom folks like Justin would turn for information, are getting no details from their higher-ups, either, said one case manager who asked to remain anonymous.

“The clients are completely in the dark,” they told the B.A.R. in a phone interview.

Finances have been an issue for a while, the case manager said, and there has been an overall decline “in a lot of things.”

“There’s been a lot of issues with maintenance, basic things our clients need,” they said. “There were issues with our maintenance crew and people have to wait two or three months. There have been rodent issues and, like,

<< Nobel prizes

Pääbo wrote about his attractions to men and women and his scientific life and discoveries in his 2014 memoir, “Neanderthal Man - In Search of Lost Genomes” He declined to disclose personal information about his children to protect their privacy.

Bertozzi didn’t disclose her family’s identities to protect their privacy.

Bertozzi and Pääbo recently spoke separately with the B.A.R. about receiving the Nobel, their respective discoveries and their impact on the world, and what their winning Nobel Prizes mean to LGBTQ scientists and queer people around the world.

Getting the call

The two scientists were still bewildered and overwhelmed by the honor and grappling with the reality of being newly minted Nobel laureates several days after being notified.

“I put it together pretty quickly. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this cannot be happening,’” Bertozzi said in a phone interview October 7 about when she was awoken at 1:43 a.m. October 5 by a call from Adam Smith, chief scientific officer at Nobel Prize Outreach. “It takes a few minutes for you to sort of try to figure out if it’s real or some weird middle-of-the-night hallucination or something.”

Since that day, she said her life has been “totally surreal,” describing it as “a total blur of craziness.”

“It’s wonderful,” she said, stating it is an “opportunity to cast the light on all the wonderful things that chemists bring to the world.”

The news came as an early birthday present for Bertozzi. The chemist turned 56 years old on October 10.

Smith informed her that she was the eighth woman out of 189 people ever awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Bertozzi is Stanford’s 36th Nobel laureate, reported the Stanford Daily Pääbo, too, was caught off guard in the middle of daily routines when Smith called.

“This can’t be true,” Pääbo wrote to the B.A.R. about the award. “I have not really digested

for transparency. “If our systems work behind closed doors, with no press or public access, we have no idea how decisions are made, nor what arguments are leading to these decisions,” Kernan said in a story pub -

little basic things like something wrong in the bathroom. Things that affect our daily lives. Case managers have to push back… it’s been really difficult to get things done.”

Staffing, too, has been an issue, they said, explaining that Baker Places has been “[p]ersistently short-staffed with a full roster of clients. Counselors aren’t able to work with clients one-on-one. Something is always happening.”

As a case manager, they said, they’re also responsible for the billing for each client and, particularly since just before July when PRC went to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors asking for an emergency $3.2 million bailout, “there’s been a massive push for billing,” they said. “It’s clear they need money from the pressure they put on us to get the billing.”

The case manager spoke highly of Baker Places’ services, calling them “some of the best treatment options,” particularly for a demographic that struggles to access quality treatment.

And those treatments, they said, have led to some big successes such as clients, once homeless, who have gone on to

lished on KQED’s website. “KQED wants more sunlight on our legal system and we will fight on behalf of the public to get that access.”

The work to make the tapes available publicly was led by KQED’s Shafer, who covered the Prop 8

law school or finished degrees. That’s what makes Baker Places’ current situation even more tragic, they said.

“It’s just like, I don’t know what is going to happen to them,” they said of the clients. “Case managers will be OK, but they are the ones that matter the most. We’re so worried about them.”

Emergency funding

In July, the organization made an 11th-hour emergency funding request to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, asking for $3.2 million, as the B.A.R. reported. (https://www.ebar. com/story.php?317052) The request infuriated some supervisors as they had approved only one month before a $65 million contract extension – double that of previous years – with Baker Places.

There had been no mention of the organization’s financial concerns at that time, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen noted. (Ronen did not respond to requests for comment for this article.)

While the board did give final approval for $800,000 for PRC and

trial, as well as the subsequent fight over the tapes themselves.

“As someone who sat through the entire Prop 8 trial, I witnessed some very dramatic and moving testimony, as well as riveting cross-examinations,” stated Shafer

$450,000 for Baker Places to help the organizations meet payroll and to avoid displacing clients, that was nearly $2 million less than the original request.

The money was needed desperately, Kunins said at the time. The organization, because of that $3.2 million shortfall, was “at risk of insolvency,” she told the board, and was at risk of insolvency.

The money PRC received helped with immediate cash concerns, said PRC’s Henneman, “while the benefit of others cannot be realized as quickly to fully address the impact of yearover-year shortfalls that have resulted in an ever-widening gap between what programs cost and what contracts pay.”

“The June 2022 emergency funding did not close the organization’s cash shortfall from its last fiscal year ending June 30, 2022,” Henneman stated. “Of the $3.2M request, $1.2M was received, resulting in a deficit of $2 million going into fiscal year 22-23.”

In September, PRC CEO Brett Andrews, who had been with PRC since 2003, announced he was stepping down, and his position was immediate-

shield her from discrimination. She struggled and paved her own path as a woman in science in a mostly male-dominated field. She made her way to the San Francisco Bay Area for graduate school at UC Berkeley’s Department of Chemistry.

It was the ideal environment for Bertozzi to pursue studying cells’ sugars. The organic chemistry arm was well-known, it had a significant female presence, and the university was near San Francisco, the “gay mecca,” reported Stanford magazine. As a postdoc at the university, she worked in a biology lab, a disciplinary taboo, but Bertozzi’s interests and decisions helped her develop a unique and relevant skill set.

in a news release. “I’m glad others will now get to view this important part of the historical record.”

Andrew Pugno, the lawyer representing Prop 8 proponents, did not return a message seeking comment. t

ly filled on an interim basis by Teng, the organization’s recently promoted COO.

Teng inherited an organization that, in recent years, has been struggling with financial shortfalls. In 2020, according to IRS filings, PRC reported total revenues of $9,715,674, against total expenses of $10,431,124 resulting in a shortfall of $715,450. The organization reported another shortfall in 2019, as well, of $384,105. That followed years of positive balances. In 2020, Andrews’ salary and benefits were listed at $293,230. Six other employees’ salaries were cited in the document, ranging from $71,570 to $171,282, excluding benefits.

A separate 2020 990 for Baker Places, but using the same address as PRC, lists a budget of about $9 million, with $12 million in liabilities, resulting in a deficit of about $2.9 million. The Baker Places 990 lists five people with salaries over $100,000, including positions such as medical director and clinical director. Baker Places and PRC merged in 2016, though it is apparently not finished, as the B.A.R. reported earlier this year. t

Pääbo and his team’s research helped found the study of paleogenetics, which investigates ancient humans and other species using very old genetic materials. They also discovered a new human species called the Denisovans. His research into Neanderthals helped battle COVID-19. He discovered that people with a higher percentage of Neanderthal DNA were more likely to become severely ill with COVID-19. The information allowed scientists to respond better to treating newly infected individuals.

it yet.”

Pääbo’s father, biochemist Sune Bergstrom, won the Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on prostaglandins and related substances in 1982.

However, it was his mother, the late chemist Karin Pääbo, who was the greatest influence on his career, “and supported my interest in archaeology and science,” Pääbo wrote. His mother, who had a lab tryst with Bergstrom that resulted in his birth, died in 2013.

Pääbo expressed sadness that his mother could not enjoy the Nobel Prize with him. “It makes me a bit sad that she can’t experience this day,” Pääbo wrote to the B.A.R.

His colleagues helped him celebrate by tossing him into the pond at the institute after a news conference. Pond-tossing is a tradition for Ph.D. candidates when they pass their exams, Pääbo explained to Nature.

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=POaf2TLQbQA

Nature is the scientific journal that catapulted his career, publishing his first research paper. It led him to UC Berkeley to work with his postdoctoral adviser the late Allan Wilson, whose own research, published in the same magazine, inspired Pääbo to publish his work, he wrote in his memoir. At UC Berkeley, Pääbo started to work on extinct animal DNA, specifically the marsu -

pial wolf, with Wilson until 1990. Pääbo continued to collaborate with UC Berkeley biologists and professors Montgomery Slatkin and Danish Rasmus Nielsen in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology published in 2010, Slatkin wrote in an email to the B.A.R. Slatkin said, “I continued to collaborate with Pääbo for several years after that but no longer do.”

Unusual paths

Bertozzi and Pääbo fine-tuned their careers as young scientists at UC Berkeley in the 1980s. They both said their careers were impacted and shaped by the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. It propelled them to continue pursuing their respective scientific challenges to solve medical problems. Pääbo wrote in his memoir about being deeply engrossed in volunteering at the AIDS Project of the East Bay . APEB did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Bertozzi is the middle daughter of a family of three girls. Her dad, retired MIT physics professor William Bertozzi, 91, and her late mother, Norma Gloria, a homemaker, encouraged the girls to excel academically, especially in math and science, reported Stanford magazine.

The Nobel Prize is the latest in a distinguished career filled with accolades for her work.

However, the awards and being at the top of her class did not

Bertozzi is now the director of Stanford’s Chemistry, Engineering and Medicine for Human Health [LINK: https://chemh.stanford. edu/about] institute, aka Sarafan ChEM-H, and a chemistry professor at the university.

She has co-founded eight biomedical start-ups focused mostly on sugar-based diagnostics or therapeutics, reported Stanford magazine. Two of the companies, Palleon Pharmaceuticals [LINK: https://palleonpharma.com/] and Grace Science [LINK: https:// gracesciencellc.com/], have both a therapy and a drug entering clinical trials in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Pääbo switched from archaeology and being an Egyptologist to medicine and molecular biology early in his college career at Sweden’s Uppsala University, stating he “romanticized” his ideas of archaeology. However, after he married his training and interest changed to studying museums’ collections of ancient animal and human bones.

After completing postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Zurich, the University of Munich, and UC Berkeley, he became a professor at the University of Mu nich in 1990. In 1999, he founded the Max Planck Institute for Evo lutionary Anthropology [LINK: https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/] in Leipzig, Germany, where he remains as the director. He is also an adjunct professor at Japan’s Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.

Bertozzi founded the new scientific field of bioorthogonal chemistry in 2003. Her discovery of cells’ sugar coating acted like a “barcode” and was how cells communicate. She developed ways to see the invisible coating and track, target, and disrupt sick cells without harming healthy cells in the unpredictable environment of living organisms, like humans.

Her findings were also used to battle COVID-19. She and her team were able to use the cells’ barcode to create molecules to target COVID-infected cells to “kind of quench this toxic inflammatory reaction” in patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome, she explained.

Bertozzi called chemists “superheroes” who answer the call and “come to the rescue” when there’s a crisis.

“When there’s a crisis in the world, like a pandemic, the solutions come from chemists,” she said, pointing to vaccines as an example.

Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne stated he “could not be more delighted” about Bertozzi winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

“Her work has had remarkable real-world impact, unleashing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to treat disease,” he stated, expressing Stanford’s pride

Swedish scientist Svante Pääbo looks eye to eye with a replica of a Neanderthal skeleton’s skull at the institute in Leipzig, Germany, April 27, 2010.

Frank Vinken for Max-Planck-Gesellschaft via AP

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Circus Bella, the popular one-ring circus, returns with six outdoor shows for the fall season. Written and directed by Abigail Munn, the show, titled “Flip Flop Fly,” promises a variety of exciting acts, including clowns Jamie Coventry, Natasha Kaluza and Calvin Kai Ku, Elise Hing’s contortion act, Jefferson Freire with his juggling and unicycle, and other exciting performances.

The shows will feature live music composed by Rob Reich and performed by the Circus Bella All Star Band, featuring Shana Evaniuk on the violin, Ian Carey on trumpet, Kasey Knudsen on sax, Michael Pinkham on percussion, and Jonathan Seiberlich on tuba.

The shows are free, and will commence on Saturday October 15 at the SF Mint Plaza (5th and Market) at 1pm and 3pm. Other shows will take place in the East Bay at Alameda Point, 2151 Ferry Point in Alameda on Saturday October 22 and Sunday October 23, at 1pm and 3pm on both days. Seating is not provided. Attendees are advised to bring blankets or small folding chairs.

One of the more exciting acts scheduled to appear at “Flip Flop Fly” might be Joey Moore, who

will thrill audiences with his aerial straps. Moore tells the Bay Area Reporter that prior to his performing career he was an alcoholic chef.

“What happened was that I ended up in the hospital and in rehab,” he recalled. “I ditched my career as a chef and ran off and joined the circus.

I tried a flying trapeze class and I never stopped.”

Moore is now quite adept at dance trapeze and aerial straps.

“Dance trapeze is a trapeze bar but the two ropes come together to a single point at the top,” Moore explained. “It can spin much like a hoop does. It’s a little more flowy and artistic than the flying trapeze that most people think of when you say trapeze. It’s not so much flying back and forth as spinning and moving with gravity and the flow of the bar.”

He describes aerial straps as two simple straps, with which he maneuvers himself into a variety of shapes. The straps involve a lot of spinning.

“I’m a huge fan of spinning, so they both work very well for me,” he said. It’s the aerial straps act that Moore will be bringing to Circus Bella. In addition to his performing career, he is also an aerial straps and trapeze teacher, which he greatly enjoys doing.

“I like the transformation that circus can bring to people, as it did for me,” he said. “I watch people’s

confidence grow, as well as strength levels and learning new skills. Getting to know your body gets you to know yourself in a way that I didn’t think was possible, especially as a trans person. I’ve seen the circus have a similar effect on a tremendous amount of people as it did on me. Some people might even can say that it can save lives. Not to be overly dramatic but I can relate to that sentiment.”

On being out as a trans man, “Visibility goes a long way,” he said. “In general, the queer struggle

is all about being seen and being normalized. The more we’re seen and normalized the more people don’t have to be afraid of what they don’t know.”

Moore added that he’s experienced transphobia in every aspect of his life. He’s sure that he hasn’t gotten jobs due to being transgender.

“But they’re not going to tell me that,” he said. “I live in this bubble (the Bay Area) for a reason. It’s as safe as you can be. I can get healthcare, which is not a great option anywhere else, so that goes a long way.”

Moore admits that he’s afraid of heights, but he pursued trapeze anyway, thinking that the art form would help him conquer his fear, which it has.

“Being a chef was a good channel for the artistic part of me, which is most of me,” he said. “I really loved that part about cooking, it was the running the kitchens that got to me in the end. But this outlet for everything artistic is spectacular. I get to create and get things out of me that need to get out. I get to share stories with people who may be able to relate and grow from them. I get to have fun.”t

www.circusbella.org

www.joeythetiger.com

by Jim Gladstone

Tina D’Elia is serving up a fizzy cocktail of sentiment, schtick and tribute at The Marsh this month. Her solo showcase, “Overlooked Latinas,” pays an affectionate salute to mid-20th-century Hollywood actresses, including Lupe Velez, Rosaura Revueltas and Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Cansino).

D’Elia does brief bits in each of these celebrities’ personae over the course of a cornucopian performance, but the dominant personality in this show –impish, exuberant and inexhaustible– is her own. Had Elia been around in the era of her honorees, one could easily imagine her crashing the era’s most famous comedic fraternity as a self-proclaimed Chica Marx.

(Marxism of another sort rears its head as some of the show’s movie stars get blacklisted in 1950s).

Alone on stage for 75 minutes with no props or scenery other than a few chairs, D’Elia shifts between multiple parts, pulling faces, cracking wise, doing funny walks and quirky voices. But unlike Lily Tomlin or Whoopi Goldberg, whose celebrated one-woman shows found them sequentially embodying each of

Aerialist Joey Moore

Jane Hu

Circus Bella returns with aerialist Joey Moore

Halloween chills with ‘The Summoning’

by David-Elijah Nahmod

Into the Dark, the terrifyingly fun production company spawned from the twisted minds of David Flower Productions, Non-Plus Ultra, Terror Vault and drag impresario and avowed horror fan Peaches Christ, also known as Joshua Grannell, returns with “The Summoning,” an original, fully immersive haunted attraction that can now be experienced at the San Francisco Mint. The show runs on WednesdaysSundays through November 5. “The Summoning,” which allows attendees to get up close and personal with a variety of vampires and demons, is not for the faint of heart.

The show, which lasts for around forty-five minutes, allows the audience to walk through a haunted maze in search of the severed head of an unethical vampire queen named Lucretia. The maze can be a bit of a challenge. As the audience walks from room to room, they are led down a series of dark corridors, up and down dimly lit stairs, and, at one point, even down a slide. All sorts of creatures await you as you make your way through this bizarre netherworld, including mad scientists, dancing skeletons, and a demonic beauty salon. There’s even a séance that the audience gets to participate in.

Grannell told the Bay Area Reporter that some of his favorite tales of terror served as inspirations for “The Summoning.” Elements from movies such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Lair of the White Worm,” “Army of Darkness” and even John Waters’ “Desperate Living” found their way into “The Summoning.” To add to the ghoulish fun, Nancy Drew and Scooby Do also found their way into the proceedings.

“I’ve always loved horror,” Grannell said. “From the earliest time I can remember, and honestly I don’t know why. I’ve just always been drawn to spooky, macabre, horrific stuff and Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It’s kind of like, I don’t know why I’m queer either, I just am, and that’s how I feel about horror. I love it and always have.”

Horror Show

According to Grannell, it’s no small feat to put on a show like “The Summoning.” He and David Flower worked on it for the past year. By the time it opens, 150 people –actors and technicians– are employed in the production. Among the cast are local drag performers Raya Light, Cosimo, Lucinda Puss, Nitrix Oxide, trained actors, and hunky author Stephan Ferris (formerly adult

video performer Blue Bailey).

“It’s a beast of an endeavor,” Grannell said. “Everything from the sets, the costumes, the lighting, the special effects, the make-up, the script, the performances, the show flow, the marketing, are carefully planned and designed and it always feels like we’re barely making it to the finish line. Opening weekend is always a challenge for us as the show gets dialed in with actual audiences. Sometimes I do think we are crazy for doing this.”

In addition to acting as co-creator of the show, Grannell is part of the cast, sometimes as Peaches Christ, sometimes as himself. But he won’t be there for every performance.

“It’s just too grueling to do every single show,” he said. “If you come to the show one night, it will for sure be a somewhat different cast if you come another night. Every actor brings their own flavor.”

Grannell says that reactions to “The Summoning” have been overwhelmingly positive, with audiences applauding at the end of every show.

He doesn’t think this happens at most other haunted attractions, and hopes that more people will come out and immerse themselves in the horrors of the bizarre netherworld that the team has created.

“I hope that people come out for a night of Halloween fun and allow us to scare and entertain them as they forget the outside world,” he said. “I think of horror and fantasy as escape and that’s what we’re trying to create. Whether I’m working on a stage show, a movie or Terror Vault, I just want people to have a good time and forget the outside world.”

Guests are invited to start and end their haunted journey by visiting Fang Bang, an ’80s styled goth/ new wave vampire-themed pop-up bar located in the vault of The Mint. Fang Bang will be open during show hours. A ticket to “The Summoning” is not required to visit the bar, or to visit CreepShop, a pop-up retail shop produced by Kreepsville666.t

www.intothedarksf.com

Peaches Christ in ‘The Summoning’

Cabure Bonugli

Creepy characters in ‘The Summoning’

Cabure Bonugli

‘Phantom Project’ gets ghostly

by Gregg Shapiro

You never know what combination of elements will coalesce into a truly unforgettable movie experience. In the case of writer/director Roberto Doveris’ feature film debut “Phantom Project” (Dark Star Pictures), it includes a mysterious vintage cardigan, abandoned plants, a mutt named Susan, a shapeshifting animated ghost, and a gay, millennial, out-of-work actor in Ñuñoa, Chile named Pablo (Juan Cano).

Struggling to make ends meet, Pablo takes odd acting jobs, such as being a patient for medical students, where he meets gay Cris, with whom he flirts a little, as well as participating in holistic therapy sessions. He is desperately in need of finding a new roommate with the departure of Hector, who not only owes Pablo two months of unpaid rent but also leaves behind his adorable dog Susan and several plants.

The previously mentioned multicolored cardigan, it turns out, has been in the apartment since long before Pablo and his other roomies moved in. Said sweater appears to have a mind of its own, refusing to stay put on hooks or hangers. It does, however, become a source of comfort for Pablo during the stressful time.

Suddenly, Pablo becomes aware of mysterious noises, coffee mugs crashing to the floor, fruit baskets tipping over, and such. He blames Susan and gives her to his parents to take care of until he gets a new roommate. But during one of his medical student acting sessions, it is discovered that his back is covered in bruises.

The source is a line-drawn, shimmering apparition that wanders the halls of the apartment, opens closed sliding glass doors, turns on showers, and generally makes a nuisance of itself. Additionally, Pablo is dealing with the feelings he still has for his ex-boyfriend Francisco (Fernando Castillo) who is making a name for himself as a popular YouTuber.

Pablo has a supportive social circle that help him navigate the challenges. A chance encounter with rising indie-techno artist Sofia (Violeta Castillo), which initially gets off to an awkward start, turns out to be favorable for them both. One outcome is that Pablo gets the opportunity to audition for well-known actress Antonia (Ingrid Isensee) and gets cast in her new movie. Meanwhile, Sofia abandons her previous musical genre for a more organic sound.

The whole time, the ghost continues to make its presence felt, including in Sofia’s rehearsal space, and in the apartment of Pablo’s downstairs neighbor Ana (Natalia Grez). A visit from YouTube horticulturist Tere (Rocío Monasterio) results in the delivery of an herb-of-grace plant to absorb all the bad energy, but it’s no match for the ghost.

“Phantom Project” walks a fine line between being lighthearted and a little to woo-woo/touchy-feely. Nevertheless, Cano as Pablo is adorable enough to keep us watching what will happen to him next. In Spanish with English subtitles. Rating: B www.darkstarpics.com

Juan Cano as Pablo, and his newly acquired pup, Susan, in ‘Phantom Project’

“I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process, an integral function of the universe.”

—R. Buckminster Fuller

Gerard Cabrera

by Greg Shapiro

In his eagerly anticipated debut novel, “Homo Novus” (Rattling Good Yarns Press, 2022), gay writer Gerard Cabrera takes us back to the late 1980s, a time when AIDS was still a death sentence and the pedophile priest scandal that shook the foundation of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts hadn’t yet become front page news. The main characters in “Homo Novus,” Linus (a reprehensible priest) and Orlando (a young and likeable seminarian), two men at very different stages in their lives, become entangled as they navigate the lethal and tragic times. Gerard answered a few questions about his book in advance of the October 2022 publication date.

Gregg Shapiro: Gerard, “Homo Novus” is your debut novel. How long did it take you to complete it?

Gerard Cabrera: I began working on “Homo Novus” in 2009, during the Great Recession. I became unemployed and was out of work for the first time in my life. I had always identified with having a job, and so I had to ask myself a lot of uncomfortable questions, including, who am I? It was an identity crisis!

“Homo Novus” is the second book I’ve recently read, including John D’Emilio’s “Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood,” in which being gay and Catholic are central. Do you think the Catholic Church will ever come to terms with its gay parishioners and what is your current religious status?

I am looking forward to reading his book. It sounds great. But to answer your question, unfortunately, no, I do not think the institution at this time can come to terms with any kind of human diversity outside of its traditional definitions. It has boxed itself into a corner ideologically and even those who would want to be more flexible find the weight of change too heavy.

Let’s take someone like the current pope, who is considered progressive or liberal. Even he can’t seem to do it. For example, his encyclical on the environment was a genuinely important piece of advocacy. There is so much discussion about non-exploitation of resources and respect for the natural diversity of our world, and everyone’s obligation to protect and nurture this diversity. And yet, the argument does

not get extended to its logical next step, human diversity as it is expressed by the LGBTQ+ community.

Linus, another character in “Homo Novus,” is an older priest with AIDS. Am I correct in saying that this is not a subject that has been written about that much before?

Yes, you are correct. There is some writing on this, but not that much, as you say. I do think there has been more memoir and journalism on clergy with HIV/AIDS. Some of it is quite good and some is sensationalistic, and there are studies and surveys about gay priests. This certainly overlaps with AIDS. And if you ask around you can always hear stories about gay priests, priests with AIDS, and predator priests.

I heard a story myself about one of my favorite teachers in high school, that he died of AIDS. I can’t confirm it. As in “Homo Novus,” there is a lot of secrecy around both gay priests and AIDS, disguised often as protecting privacy, but really it is about shame. By way of example, even the characters in “Homo Novus” can only speculate and gossip about the private lives of other priests.

In addition to being addressed in “Homo Novus,” AIDS has been a popular subject in gay fiction in 2022, appearing in new books by John Weir, Andrew Holleran, Bill Konigsberg, and K.M. Soehnlein. Why do you think that is the case, and what do you think it means?

I’ve got all those books on my list and am looking forward to reading them! I wasn’t aware that AIDS had  stopped being a popular subject in gay fiction. It seems to me a foundational event, like Stonewall, and even if it is not explicit, I always feel its presence. One reason it might be having a resurgence is that writers of a certain generation are looking back, some maybe for the first time, and trying to reckon with that history. But I think COVID, too, has brought AIDS/HIV back to the surface, especially for those who lived through that pandemic in the 1980s and ’90s. There are so many uncanny parallels, all frightening, especially the disproportionate effect on marginalized people, and the negligent preparation and response of government. I lost an aunt to COVID in the early days, before the vaccine. No one knew what to do. Orlando, in “Homo

Love and losses in ‘Army of Lovers’

by Jim Piechota

For his latest novel, celebrated Lambda Literary Award-winning novelist K.M. Soehnlein channeled his personal history as a New York City AIDS activist in the 1980s to lend the story authenticity and heartfelt emotion. Embedded within this rich portrayal of a pivotal time in queer history, “Army of Lovers” is an incredibly moving and resonant story of love, anger, betrayal, sex, and the fight for equality.

It’s the 1980s, a time when the murky clouds of sickness and death permeated every corner of homosexual life and Paul, the novel’s lead character, arrives in New York City in his early 20s after a valiant escape from the confines of a stagnant New Jersey youth.

Embracing his new life, Paul is a firecracker, alive with life and the thrill of possibility, immediately syncing up with AIDS activist groups and solidly gelling with the kind of alternative family that offers unconditional love and a sense of belonging (along with cheap rents and plenty of partying).

Overlooked Latinas

From page 21

several roles in a series of discrete monologues, D’Elia pops in and out of her dozen or so characters, often generating rapid-fire banter between them, as she builds an overarching narrative with the appealing shagginess and speed of improv sketch comedy.

But the shine on that sparkly diamond begins to fade once Paul realizes that while Manhattan is a party town full of sex, drugs, and disco tea dances, it also offers lethal danger in the streets and a political atmosphere that would rather see him six feet under than thriving.

He settles in with Derek, and together they carve out a life together making ends meet, and enjoying the electricity of queer activism, which doubles as a chance to cruise, network, and connect on more carnal levels.

When HIV-positive Zack enters the picture, however, things, of course, get complicated and the action moves temporarily to San Francisco where he relocates from New York. Readers will revel in the minor details Soehnlein infuses into the story and those who have been in the Bay Area for the long haul will find themselves briefly pausing midsentence to remember and reflect on how things used to be.

Hot sex proliferates throughout Soehnlein’s novel, and whether it occurs within the gloom of HIV infection or packed inside a hot moment

It’s the story of “butch dykes” Angel and Carla, who successfully pitch a network television executive on their pilot “Overlooked Latinas” (about the social and industry prejudices that effected the aforementioned Latina actresses and their peers). Outlandishly, they have it picked up for 16 seasons before production even begins. They then dive into a shooting schedule

shared between boyfriends, it’s never gratuitous, but instead presents the era as it was in all its erotic folly. Despite the war brewing, in that time, against the gay community from governmental and clinical fronts, there was always time and lots of room to love each other.

While a sense of loss looms large

that bubbles with silly, soapy melodrama. Angel’s partner Lena unexpectedly arrives on set only to discover that her spouse’s sexy ex has been cast in a leading role. Lena is also hell-bent on insemination, and pits her own desire for motherhood against Angel’s nurturing of her TV brainchild.

Actor as athlete

D’Elia always provides enough vocal and physical distinctions to keep it clear which character is which, but she never disappears behind them. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing black track pants and running shoes, D’Elia is actoras-athlete, working out her creative muscles. “Overlooked Latinas” is as much a playground as a play, a space

Novus,” wonders what to do if he tests positive.

“Homo Novus” also deals with the issue of ephebophilia, in other words, pedophile priests, a crisis that had its epicenter in the Boston-area. The Catholic Church somehow survived, but do you think it was changed in any way, or is it still business as usual?

I’m not an expert in any way, but I think, ultimately, the problem remains. There have been attempts at reforms, but fundamentally, it is stuck in the same rut. This abuse is a symptom of the Church’s deeper issues. As long as the Catholic Church remains hostile to human sexual, gender, and affective diversity, this problem is going to continue. Attacks on transgender people is good evidence of this.

Have you started working on or thinking about your next book project?

Yes, I have been working on a collection of short stories for a while, which I started during the pandemic lockdown period here in New York City. It’s roughly based on V.S. Naipaul’s “Miguel Street.” I also have some other ideas.t www.rattlinggoodyarns.com www.gerardcabrera.com

Gerard Cabrera will discuss his book with author Huascar Robles in-person and online, Oct. 29, 4pm PT, hosted by the Bureau of General Services: Queer Division in New York City. www.bgsqd.com

Read the full interview on www.ebar.com.

work of its ancestors; on the backs of queens who paved the way with blood, sweat, wig glue, tears, and tiaras.

In this stunning return to form, Soehnlein’s brilliant novel of love, sex, social activism, and sobering loss will incite nostalgia, pride, and a fierce sense of queer solidarity.t

‘Army of Lovers,’ by K.M. Soehnlein; Amble Press, $20.95

www.bywaterbooks.com

www.kmsoehnlein.com

over the final sections of the book, it is appropriate and necessary and drives home the historical heft of such a memorable, character-driven story as this.

Yes, the New York and San Francisco glory days depicted in the book are long gone, but in its place remains a community built upon the stringent

for its creator to flex and sprint and set her inner child free. Her glee is infectious.

In one of the show’s funniest bits (presented as a scene from the TV pilot), D’Elia plays out a chummy gay flirtation between an out-and-proud Ramon Navarro and a closeted Rudolph Valentino. Yet when it comes to her portrayals of the titular Latinas, D’Elia is at her most serious.

Their brief, passionate speeches about mistreatment at the hands of the U.S. government and the need for solidarity among Latin workers, whether film stars or field hands, are momentarily stirring, but oddly incongruous with the evening’s fundamentally giddy tone. D’Elia gets so caught up in the frantic frame story that her heroes, while not over-

Together with Litquake and Fabulosa Books, K.M. Soehnlein will appear with Jesse Ataide on October 20, 7pm at Strut, 470 Castro Street. Registration is required to attend this event. www.litquake.org

The University of San Francisco Fall Faculty Reading presents Soehnlein along with Ingrid Rojas Contreras and Maw Shein Win on November 15 at 7:45pm at UCSF, 2130 Fulton Street, in the Maraschi Room, Fromm Hall. www.usfca.edu

looked, still end up relatively underrepresented.

More holistically, though, the show depicts a generous, loving bond between Latina and queer women across time. The 20th-century movie stars referenced in “Overlooked Latinas” helped pave the way for a contemporary performer like D’Elia. She, in turn, has invented fictional characters who create their own showbiz success story by honoring their forebears.

The group hug that ends the show holds generations in its embrace.t

‘Overlooked Latinas,’ Thursdays and Saturdays through Oct. 19. $20-$35.

The Marsh. 1062 Valencia St. (415) 282-3055. www.themarsh.org

Gay author discusses his novel, ‘Homo Novus’

Author Gerard Cabrera

Author K.M. Soehnlein

MURDER, MYSTERY, MANIA

SYMPHONIE

FANTASTIQUE

OCTOBER 20 & 22

Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor

Bertrand Chamayou piano

HOCUS POCUS —FILM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA

OCTOBER 25

FRANKENSTEIN & PSYCHO

OCTOBER 27–29

Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor

Christopher Purves baritone

The October 20 & 22 concerts are generously sponsored by the Matthew Kelly Family Foundation. Bertrand Chamayou’s appearance is generously supported by the Shenson Young Artist Fund. sfysmphony.org

‘Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern’ t

by Laura Moreno

Rita Zoe Chin is the author of her groundbreaking and highly acclaimed memoir “Let the Tornado Come” about the incredible power of horses to heal personal trauma. It is a tough act to follow, but she’s done it with this strange and inspiring tale of alienation and belonging that spans the continental United States.

Chin’s truly luminous writing delivers the unexpected at every turn. The themes of the story are derived from her own childhood and are recounted with plenty of suspense, culminating with a dramatic yet hopeful ending. Equal parts feminist fiction, mystery, thriller, crime fiction, friendship fiction, LGBTQ fiction, and fantasy, all things considered, “The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern” perhaps best fits into the new genre of self-help fiction.

Oddly, there was no record of Leah Fern’s birth. Her mother was a traveling circus performer, and had her on the go in a carnival trailer with magic as her only anesthesia. Soon the sensitive young child was put to work at an early age, billed as the very best fortuneteller in the world even with no experience. And to her own surprise

most of all, she began telling people’s fortunes, often with amazing accuracy.

When Leah Fern was only six years old, however, her mother struck her a betrayal that would haunt her for most of the rest of life by abandoning her to

the care of a kindly old circus gentleman who in time died and also left her to fend for herself.

When a lawyer delivers a mysterious black box, literally, as her inheritance from a recently deceased neigh-

bor she hardly knew, he could not possibly know the good deed he is doing by thwarting Leah Fern’s intricate plans to commit suicide that day. It is her twenty-first birthday and chosen death day. Her careful plans include

a death dance to the music of Rage Against the Machine, which she had just begun when she hears the knock at the door. Intending to ignore it, she finds she just can’t, just as she cannot help opening the package she intended to also ignore.

The most intriguing part of her inheritance, aside from a check for $9,999, is a curious letter, the first letter she has ever received, that offers her the chance to embark on a cross-country road trip. At that point, she puts her hand into the box, she accidentally pricks her finger on the unseen razor-sharp beak of a stone crow at the bottom of the box, which immediately makes her feel heavy and woozy, as if the object were imbued with strange powers.

And just like that, fate intervenes, prompting Leah to drop her macabre plans. The day instead marks the beginning of an unforgettable journey that enables her to discover who her mother really was, to heal the broken mother/daughter bond, and to finally have the courage to love.t

“The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern” by Rita Zoe Chin, $21.59, Melville House, mhpbooks.com www.ritazoeychin.com

Len Handeland’s ‘Tales From the Chair’

by David-Elijah Nahmod

If you’re looking for some light, fun reading, look no further than “Tales

From the Chair: Adventures and Sordid Tales From my Life in the Hair Business” by Len Handeland. The author, a former San Franciscan who now lives in Palm Springs with his husband, worked as a hair stylist and colorist for 27 years, which included stints as a salon owner.

Over the years Handeland has seen it all; drunk clients, hair professionals who gossip about clients, clients who don’t tip, and inconsiderate clients who had to be “fired.”

Handeland writes about these topics, and many others, with wit and candor. Whether you’re someone who patronizes a high-end salon or not, Tales From the Chair will leave you with a newfound respect for hair stylists and hair colorists.

In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Handeland addressed why he wrote the book.

“I wanted to offer some sage advice to those just starting out in my former industry,” he said. “And to help those that professionally see someone for their hair. Perhaps their hairstylist has had similar feelings about them? The public should understand the challenges of the hair professional despite it appearing glamorous and fun. It’s

hard work and frequently challenging dealing with the public. These are the many reasons I decided to write my only nonfiction book, the other two books being fiction.”

Handeland goes into a good amount of detail regarding badly behaved clients, such as people who don’t show up for appointments or cancel at the last minute. He also writes about clients who show up carrying expensive shopping bags, then complain about the price of hairstyling, saying that they “can’t afford it.”

The author admits that there can be a downside to this. There’s always the chance that such a client will leave a bad Yelp review.

“Unfortunately, we live in a society where people are swift to post something negative and rarely take the time to post anything positive,” Handeland said. “The hair professional must ask those appreciative clients who verbally thank them after every hair appointment to express that gratitude in writing by posting a positive review. I was very fortunate to have many of my former clients leave me positive reviews on Yelp and other online websites.”

Handeland also writes about the other side of the coin, hair professionals whose on-the-job conduct is, shall we say, less than professional. Among the topics discussed are those hair professionals who create a toxic work environment by gossiping, either about their clients or about co-workers. Also discussed is the inappropriateness of using obscene language on the job.

Handeland recalls one instance in which he tore up the contract of a hair stylist who was working as an independent contractor and asked her to leave the salon. Other stylists applauded as she made her way outside.

Handeland discussed how

he came to decide which topics to raise and which ones not to raise in the book.

“I tried to think back when I first started in my former profession of being not only a hairstylist but also a hair salon owner,” he said. “I had many questions back then, but unfortunately I learned the hard way by making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. I wish there had been a book like this. I surely would have read it, perhaps the mistakes and some awkward encounters could have been avoided. I don’t profess to speak for everyone in my former industry. Still, surely there must be significant hair professionals out there who have similar feelings, having encountered some of the same experiences as me.”t

‘Tales From the Chair: Adventures and Sordid Tales From My Life in the Hair Business’ by Len Handeland. $10.95 paperback. www.lenhandelandauthor.com

Author Rita Zoe Chin

Author Len Handeland

Italian Heritage Festival and Parade

photos by Steven Underhill

The 154th annual Italian Heritage Festival and Parade saw thousands of people enjoying the food and festivities celebrating Italian culture and history in North Beach. The parade included the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, dancers, cheerleaders, local dignitaries, and many members of the Navy, timed as always with Fleet Week. www.sfitalianheritage.org

Enjoy more photos at facebook.com/lgbtsf.nightlife

new exhibit !

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.